Broadcast Wars

Stanley E. Hubbard is an early pioneer in radio and television, and KSTP is the top local TV news for decades. That is, until a fresh-faced Dave Moore and his team launch a new kind of newscast at WCCO that ignites a fierce war for ratings which still rages today. Women and people of color fight their way into smoky, insular newsrooms, proving themselves to everyone, and paving the way for others.

KSTP hires a consultant to find the perfect anchor, reporters of color begin to find slightly greater welcome in local newsrooms, while stations dabble with putting women at the anchor desk. Meteorologists transform weather news, videotape kills onerous film processing, while trauma and toxic stress lead some to substance abuse. By the late 70s, local TV news is slick, sexy and highly profitable.

After decades of local news irrelevance, perennial also-ran KARE11 goes from laughingstock to ratings powerhouse in just a few short years. The Hubbards pour millions into a technological breakthrough that is still in use today. Seismic shifts are felt when major anchors swap stations or get the axe. Newscasters chafe as the public and media take heightened interest in their private lives.