Truly a wonderful moment!
On April 14, 1967, television watchers experienced the very first transition from black and white to colored shows. Footage of the very moment has resurfaced online, a 58-second clip of WMT-TV Channel 2’s first color broadcast. The Iowa-based show starts with a news anchor named Robert “Bob” Bruner asking his manager what viewers can expect from the shift to color.
According to Doug Grant, the station manager, the change will still affect households that have black-and-white television sets only. “Well, we think you’ll see a big difference on black-and-white receivers,” Grant told the viewers. “The new color cameras will give an improved monochrome picture, and all our new color sets here in the studio were designed with that in mind.”
After that short segment Grant makes his way to the news desk and begins announcing the news. It was during this part, as the broadcaster shares the headlines, that the black and white picture bursts into color. “Well, up first I’d like to say this: that I feel doubly honored to have been chosen to be the first one involved in our big change,” Bruner, who is no longer in monochrome, tells viewers. “Because there are so many, much more colorful characters around here than this reporter.”
We’ve linked the footage above if you’d like to see that magical moment!