75 years of WOWT: 6 News looks back on decades spent reporting history, keeping you safe

OMAHA, Neb. (WOWT) - Since flipping the switch in 1949, WOWT has been a part of 75 years of industry firsts.

From Johnny Carson to John Knicely, the people at 6 News have spent 75 years keeping the Omaha-metro in the know; keeping you safe; and giving you a front-row seat to local, state, and national history.

75 years of bringing you live pictures and video is quite the milestone. If this were a wedding anniversary, wouldn’t that call for diamonds?

WATCH OUR SPECIAL REPORT

A half-hour special report celebrating our 75th anniversary aired commercial free.

The special will feature some never-before-seen footage of the people who made this station a success while covering some of the biggest stories to keep you safe. A video of the full airing will be available for viewing online, in our apps, and on our YouTube page later Thursday evening.

With so many changes that have happened over these many decades, 6 News wanted to share a special look at where it all started — on Aug. 29, 1949 — with the people who have trusted us all that time.

“It’s a great night for all of us and I know it’s going to be a great night for the entire middle west surrounding this great territory. Flip the drivers in place Bill.”

“This is WOW-TV Channel 6 Omaha, Neb. The following are live studio telecasts.”

“Good evening Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to our first television program on WOW-TV.”

75 years ago, we made history. And if you were one of the 1,5000 people who owned a TV set in Omaha at the time, you saw us on the air.

That set the stage for a decade of firsts.

WOW-TV was first television station not only in in Nebraska, but Iowa, Kansas, and the Dakotas.

Prepping for such a groundbreaking technology took practice. First, Creighton joined us to show people what televisions looked like at this exhibition in 1947. Months later, the Midwest’s first televised surgery took place at St. Joseph’s Hospital to staff members.

All the while, we first had to build a tower and expand the space around the WOW radio studios.

In 1948, a year before the WOW-TV signal was live, we televised the nation’s first dental operation. No question: maneuvering big cameras for that had to be difficult.

We also experimented with closed-circuit TV with Creighton, and microwave links on top of the Blackstone Hotel, working out any kinks before sending 6 News programming into your living room.

“I was just amazed that I was in television. Because television was something brand new and no one knew anything about that,” said Pete Petrashek, a former station photographer.

When we first went on the air in 1949, we joined NBC and the Dumont Television Network.

“WOW-TV is the only TV station in Omaha with a farm department. And one of the few stations in the country to have such a department.”

Those relationships remained until CBS came calling in the mid-1950s.

In 1953, bye-bye black and white. WOW-TV brought color television to local programming for the first time in Omaha — even though most people didn’t have a color television until the 1960s.

In 1960, WOW-TV and WOW radio build studios at 35th and Farnam streets.

In 1975, the new owners came calling, which required the TV side of WOW to the call letters to WOWT.

“Back then, you had to physically take pience of film and splice them together with glue in a little splicer,” former anchor Gary Kerr said. “And invariably the people that did the splicing — as you got closer to the deadline — they would fudge a little bit the number of seconds that you would leave the film in the splicer so that the glue would harden properly. What you ended up with was film breaks on the air.”

A year later, WOWT became the first Omaha station capable of doing on-the-scene live news with a microwave truck. We aired promos sharing the feat.

“Catch the spirit that makes Action News Omaha’s most popular news at noon, at 6 and at 10. Action News was the first to bring you electronic news gathering — and the first to bring you live news with live action cam. Follow the leader in Omaha. Action News on Action 6.”

The more portable equipment allowed reporters to gather video and information in the field to get it more quickly into the newscast.

“The fastest 90 minutes of news starts at 5 on Channel 6.”

In 1982, WOWT became the first Omaha TV station on the air 24 hours a day.

In 1985, WOWT was one of 30 stations in the country with a satellite truck, allowing us to broadcast from anywhere we could drive. We called it Newstar 6.

In 1986, WOWT rejoined the NBC network.

“Hey. Boy are we celebrating,” Willard Scott said on “The Today Show.” “It simply means that the No. 1 network in the country, joins the No. 1 news station in mid-America.”

The promotions department worked overtime to make sure viewers understood what changing network affiliiations meant.

“We’ve simply put a new roof on our house. The old roof was CBS, the new one NBC. Same house, same friendly people.”

NBC Nightly News Anchor Tom Brokaw took a stroll in Gene Leahy Mall with our Gary Kerr.

“I’m very sensitive to Omaha when I’m working in New York. We were always paying attention to what’s going on in the Midwest,” Brokaw said. “Some of my friends who are New Yorkers and come from different parts know that if there’s a big story that has to do with the Midwest, NBC better be right on top of it because Brokaw’s going to want us on top of it.”

The next 30 years included even more firsts for WOWT.

“Hi. Join a great group for ‘The Betty White Show’ tonight at 8. And join another great group — the Action News team tonight at 10.”

We were first among Omaha’s TV stations to have a website; and the first to switch from analog to digital in 2009.

WOWT was also the first Omaha news station to be honored with a national Edward R. Murrow Award for storytelling.

In 75 years, televisions went from a big piece of furniture in the living room to what you now hold in your hand to make phone calls. And in 2022, we made the move to NEXTGEN TV.

A FRONT SEAT TO HISTORY

WOW-TV covered not just Omaha and its surrounding communities, but the big stories nationwide, too.

In 1963, we had a team on the ground in Dallas the day after President Kennedy was shot.

“This is Dallas, Texas, the day after infamy.”

“The day before the assassination, the doctor had told my wife any day now for the birth of our first child,” said anchor Steve Bell, who eventually left WOW-TV to anchor the news on “Good Morning America.” “And so the following day when the shooting took place, I immediately was sent to Dallas. I said, ‘I can’t go; my wife is having a baby.’ And my wife... Bless her. She said, ‘You go. I’ll stay with friends... This is too important.’”

“This is the first time that a sitting president has visited North Platte since Harry Truman rode through. That was back in 1950.”

“When the pilot told me we were flyijng over Lincoln County and Ben (Nelson) pointed out the Republican River, I knew I’d feel right at home here,” we heard Ronald Reagan say on his visit to North Platte.

In 2001, 6 News was there as President George W. Bush flew to Nebraska as the nation was under attack. All commercial flights had been grounded as terrorists highjacked planes to crash into buildings. The president walked into a bunker at Offutt Air Force Base in Bellevue and took the 77 steps to the bottom to meet with his national security team.

“President Bush sat in the center with the head of Stratcom at the time.”

The president wanted the latest intelligence. Was the threat over? Nebraska is the nerve ceter for our nation’s defense system; he could have launched an attack from here.

After 90 minutes, with two fighter jets as escorts, Bush chose to return to the White House to address the nation.

“Attacks can shake the foundations of our biggest buildings; but they can’t touch the foundation of America.”

Omaha’s innocence of mass violence changed forever on Dec. 5, 2007, when a teenaged gunman upset with his girlfriend and fast food job walked into the Von Maur department store and unloaded his gun.

The damage was done within seconds.

By the time investigators arrived on scene, eight innocent victims were dead. Shopping bags had been dropped in the chaos. All that was heard was the Christmas music on the speakers and cellphones ringing from loved ones wondering if someone was OK.

Across WOWT’s 75 years, we’ve covered many dangers. in the late 1950s, 19-year-old Charles Starkweather terrorized the Midwest. He murdered 10 people in eight days. It kept people up at night.

The same happened in the 1980s with John Joubert. He kidnapped and murdered two young boys in sarpy county. For that, he was executed.

In the 2000s, Omaha faced two unique killers: Anthony Garcia harbored a grudge for being kicked out of Creighton University’s pathology department. He killed four people in Omaha over five years who he believed had connections to the program, then sat through hearings during his trial in 2016 unresponsive with his eyes closed as his lawyers presented a defense.

Garcia is currently on Nebraska’s death row, along with Nikko Jenkins, an Omaha spree killer.

In 2013, Jenkins said the voices in his head told him to kill once he was released from prison — and he did. Four people in 10 days, including several family members who went along with him, including his sister and mother.

KEEPING YOU SAFE

Unusual weather did its share of damage, too, while our meteorologists worked to keep you safe. It’s striking how many similar weather disasters hit home during our 75 years on air.

In 1952, it was deep snow in Montana and the Dakotas that when melted, zeroed in on Omaha and Council Bluffs.

Then it rained. And 35,000 people moved from their homes.

Nearly 60 years later, in 2011, it seemed like the sequel. Record snowfall in the Rocky Mountains and spring rains that came later threatened communities up and down the Missouri River.

Floodwaters destroyed thousands of homes and three miles of Interstate 680 between Omaha and Council Bluffs while threatening the Fort Calhoun nuclear power plant for months.

Hard to believe a few years later, in March 2019, one of the costliest floods in U.S. history hit here, too: $3 billion in damage in Omaha alone.

High water and ice obliterated the spencer dam. Camp Ashland was unrecognizable. Offutt Air Force Base lost more than 60 buildings — and is still trying to recover.

Few communities were let off the hook.

1975 was an awful year when it came to weather disasters. In January, the city was hit by one of the worst blizzards in its history: 19 inches of snow, 60 mile per hour winds.

A few months later: a monster tornado powered down 72nd Street in Omaha. Three people were killed. Decades later, we caught up with the police officer who relayed the path to his bosses – saving countless lives.

In April of this year, a tornado turned several Elkhorn neighborhoods into rubble. Many foundations were all that was left.

6 News First Alert Weather early warnings let viewers know how to stay safe.

SPORTS HIGHLIGHTS

Every summer, Omaha is on the national stage with the College World Series.

After 60 years of growing the game at Rosenblatt Stadium, the city built a new ballpark downtown. it opened in 2011; the contract for “The Greatest Show on Dirt” runs through 2035.

The world also watched Omaha put on a show in 2008, 2012, 2016, and 2021 that led to Beijing, London, Rio, and Tokyo. But Team USA’s swimmers first passed through our neighborhood at the Olympic Trials.

The growth of women’s sports came with a major push from Nebraska Volleyball in 2023 when 92,000 fans set a record by packing into Memorial Stadium for the outdoor match against Omaha.

Nebraska volleyball was involved in the Top 11 most attended NCAA matches in history — and five National Championships.

Nebraska football fans were patient. In 75 years, the Huskers waited for championships, then racked up five of them from 1970 to 1997.

6 News’ Dave Webber still hangs on to the corncob with, in his view, magical qualities.

A MOST FAMOUS ALUM

Before Fallon, Leno, Letterman — there was Johnny.

Johnny Carson ruled late-night television for 30 years as the host of “The Tonight Show.”

Born in Iowa, he grew up in Norfolk, Neb. The comedy and TV legend got his start on WOW radio just a few months before we became a TV station.

“The original application — I was 23. I put down all my good qualities. Single. Typing speed. 35 words a minute. I thought that was very important. Other business experience: I said ‘selling.’”

He had a radio show in the morning, and a TV show in the afternoon.

“My name is Johnny Carson and this is ‘The Squirrel’s Nest.’ A lot of you are probably watching this show for the first time with your Christmas television sets.”

That Christmas episode was the online live WOW-TV Carson program we found recorded.

“We went shopping late and most of the nice trees were picked over. It’s fairly sturdy. Isn’t that nice.”

“We hope a good many — we hope, we hope a good many of you — are enjoying time with your families today. Probably had a nice Christmas dinner. You’ll sit down and enjoy Christmas with the gang here at WOW-TV.”

Even after hitting it big, Carson would tell his audience about his time in Omaha and the challenges he faced at the start of his career.

“I only had one suit when I worked in Omaha. I had a radio show. I ran out and pressed the suit and go to the television station and press the suit. I think it’s because we’re on so many hours of the week. I’m not a clothes nut, particularly. It’s the demands of being on every night.”

“The Squirrel’s Nest” is where he honed his calling card: working without a script — something that came as a suprise to some of his early guests.

Elaine Jabenis would explain that to him later.

“‘The Squirrel Cage’ show you had — I had never ad-libbed live. And I handed you my script, and the first thing you did was, ‘We need to clean up this desk.’ And you tear up the script and ask, ‘Elaine, now what did you want to say?’ That taught me.”

Carson said a lot of the material he created during his time in Omaha easily translated to Hollywood.

“I’ve done things on ‘The Tonight Show’ — we did something the other night called Homework School for the Air. I did it on WOW in 1949. I had these purported questions sent in by young kids to help with their homework. I’d play professor so and so and answer them.”

He even turned his long-distance calls to Iowa into material for his audience.

“I remember getting a bill for 20 cents for a phone call I had made to Council Bluffs. And they wanted to be reimbursed.”

His bosses said that happened a lot.

Carson spent a little more than two years in Omaha, but his impact is still felt here 75 years later.

THANK YOU!

What a ride it’s been. Thank you for being a part of it and trusting us to get the job done.

Here’s to the next 75 years.

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Find more 75th Anniversary coverage — including vintage videos, promos, photos, and more — at WOWT.com/75.

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