DETROIT – WDIV is preparing to air its special documentary Friday night showcasing the rise of Local 4 News throughout history in honor of the station’s 75th anniversary.
Getting in the spirit, Local 4 meteorologist Paul Gross is sharing a photo and a story from when he got his start at the station. Gross has been with WDIV for 40 years, and has the hair story to prove it.
Learn more in the video above.
Local 4 News’ “Going 4 It” special will air at 9 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 4, and will walk through the station’s operations, challenges and triumphs over the last 75 years. Viewers will get a look at footage and film reels that were dug up and restored from decades ago during the station’s early years.
“As it turned out, uncovering the station’s history was a formidable challenge. Video tape didn’t come into use until about 1980, so the first 30-plus years of the station’s history existed solely in hundreds of film reels that had been stored at Wayne State’s Walter Reuther Library,” said Eli Zaret, former WDIV sports anchor. “Film deteriorates, breaks, loses color and clarity, and we spent months screening thousands of feet of footage and laboriously and frustratingly splicing it together when it would inevitably break.”
Be sure to tune in to Local 4 News at 9 p.m. Friday on TV, or stream live on Local 4+ or on ClickOnDetroit.com.
‘Going 4 It’: Watch the trailer for our new documentary on history of WDIV