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Ted Koppel on his longtime friend Charles Osgood
“Sunday Morning” senior contributor Ted Koppel remembers Charles Osgood (who died January 23, 2024 at age 91) and their adventures in broadcast journalism:
I guess that I’m the oldest member of the “Sunday Morning” cast of characters; and so it’s reasonable to assume that I have the earliest memories of Charlie.
As it turned out, we were hired the same week, in June of 1963, to do a soft news program – “Flair Reports,” it was called – on ABC Radio. Charlie had previously been the general manager of a television station, WHCT in Hartford, Connecticut. He recalled his departure from the job with the same wry humor that marked so much of his work in years to come. “They left me off the hook very gently,” Charlie remembered. “They said, ‘You’re fired.'”
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He had been the youngest station manager in the country. Taking on this new job in journalism at ABC made him, Charlie thought, the oldest cub reporter in the country. He was 30; I was 23, making me the youngest network reporter in the country. We were destined to be friends.
We also believed that we were destined to make it into television.
At the time, NBC was the only network with a morning program, the “Today” show. Charlie and I decided to create a similar program for ABC. We were ambitious, but we knew they wouldn’t hire us as hosts, so we reached out to Dave Garroway. He had recently been let go as the host of the “Today” show. Older viewers will remember that he had a chimpanzee, J. Fred Muggs, as his occasional co-host. Charlie and I thought we could probably match that standard. We were wrong! The network brass at ABC liked the show but felt they could do it without us.
One weekend, I recall, this would have been 1966 or so, Charlie and I drove up to Providence, Rhode Island. There was an FM radio station for sale, and we thought about buying it. I think it was going for about $250,000. Charlie and I were a quarter of a million dollars short.
That next year, I went off to Viet Nam to cover the war for ABC television, and Charlie traded networks, and became one of the most beloved voices on CBS Radio.
It wasn’t until 1994, as I’m sure someone has probably mentioned by now, that Charles Kuralt retired, and Charles Osgood applied for the impossible job of replacing him. It is probably safe to mention now, finally, after Charles has passed on, that some of the CBS brass didn’t think he was quite right for the job – thought his bow ties were silly (!), and his delivery was off.
Well, for the record, Charlie: They were wrong, just like that other batch of executives over at ABC nearly 60 years ago.
You were so, so right for the job.
Story produced by Jon Carras.
NEW YORK — Former New York Gov. David Paterson and his stepson were attacked in New York City on Friday night, authorities said.
The incident occurred just before 9 p.m. on Second Avenue near East 96th Street on the Upper East Side, according to the New York City Police Department.
Police said officers were sent to the scene after an assault was reported. When officers arrived, police say they found a 20-year-old man suffering from facial injuries and a 70-year-old man who had head pain. Both victims were taken to a local hospital in stable condition.
In a statement, a spokesperson for the former governor said the two were attacked while “taking a walk around the block near their home by some individuals that had a previous interaction with his stepson.”
The spokesperson said that they were injured “but were able to fight off their attackers.”
Both were taken to Cornell Hospital “as a precaution,” he added.
Police said no arrests have been made and the investigation is ongoing.
The 70-year-old Paterson, a Democrat, served as governor from 2008 to 2010, stepping into the post after the resignation of Eliot Spitzer following his prostitution scandal. He made history at the time as the state’s first-ever Black and legally blind governor.
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A 17-year-old boy was critically injured and a person is in custody after a gunman opened fire on a SEPTA bus in North Philadelphia Friday evening, police said.
At around 6:15 p.m., Philadelphia police were notified about a shooting on a SEPTA bus traveling on Allegheny Avenue near 3rd and 4th streets in North Philadelphia, Inspector D F Pace told CBS News Philadelphia.
There were an estimated 30 people on the bus at the time of the shooting, Pace said, but only the 17-year-old boy was believed to have been shot. Investigators said they believe it was a targeted attack on the teenager and that he was shot in the back of the bus at close range.
According to Pace, the SEPTA bus driver alerted a control center about the shooting, which then relayed the message to Philadelphia police, who responded to the scene shortly.
Officers arrived at the scene and found at least one spent shell casing and blood on the bus, but no shooting victim, Pace said. Investigators later discovered the 17-year-old had been taken to Temple University Hospital where he is said to be in critical condition, according to police.
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Through their preliminary investigation, police learned those involved in the SEPTA shooting may have fled in a silver-colored Kia.
Authorities then found a car matching the description of the Kia speeding in the area and a pursuit began, Pace said. Police got help from a PPD helicopter as they followed the Kia, which ended up crashing at 5th and Greenwood streets in East Mount Airy. Pace said the Kia crashed into a parked car.
The driver of the crashed car ran away but police were still able to take them into custody, Pace said.
Investigators believe there was a second person involved in the shooting who ran from the car before it crashed. Police said they believe this person escaped near Allegheny Avenue and 4th Street, leaving a coat behind.
According to Pace, police also found a gun and a group of spent shell casings believed to be involved in the shooting in the same area.
“It’s very possible that there may have been a shooting inside the bus and also shots fired from outside of the bus toward the bus,” Pace said, “We’re still trying to piece all that together at this time.”
This is an active investigation and police are reviewing surveillance footage from the SEPTA bus.