Monday, June 8, 2015

Bob Caudle on WRAL's "Dateline News" (1971)

I came across this image of an ad from a 1971 TV Guide magazine advertising the six o'clock news hour on WRAL-5 in Raleigh. The block was called Dateline News and was anchored locally by Sam Beard, with Bob Caudle doing his "Atlantic Weather Show" during the broadcast at 6:15 PM.

The ABC Evening News with Harry Reasoner and Howard K. Smith began at 6:20 PM and Jessie Helms finished things off at 6:50 with his Viewpoint Editorial segment.

WRAL was an ABC affiliate at this time. They became a CBS affiliate in 1985.

What a great photo of Bob! One I had not seen before in my days of collecting memorabilia about him for the Mid-Atlantic Gateway and associated blogsites.

There are several similar ads for various WRAL news, sports, and weather broadcasts featuring Bob on this site. Another Dateline ad can be found here. To see all posts here related to Bob, simply click Bob's name in the "Crockett On-Air Talent" list on the right side of this page.

Regarding Jessie Helms and wrestling connections, he would be elected to his first U.S. Senate term the following year. Bob Caudle would later work for Sen. Helms in his constituency office in Raleigh. Johnny Weaver, one of the Mid-Atlantic area's most popular wrestlers ever, did a TV and radio spot in support of Helms' candidacy for re-election in 1978.