Learn more
These promotions will be applied to this item:
Some promotions may be combined; others are not eligible to be combined with other offers. For details, please see the Terms & Conditions associated with these promotions.
Your Memberships & Subscriptions

Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required.
Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.
Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.
Who Killed the Big News? Kindle Edition
But in October of 1961 a brilliant television pioneer
named Sam Zelman decided to change the TV news landscape by introducing "The Big News," an hour long broadcast featuring 45 minutes of local news and the 15 minute network broadcast with Douglas Edwards. The newspaper critics scoffed, it couldn't be done. But Sam proved them wrong. He introduced a former TV pitchman from Chicago, Jerry Dunphy, as his anchorman, and almost immediately a news legend was born.
His other hires were Ralph Story, truly one of TV's greatest storytellers, weatherman Bill Keene and sports director Gil Stratton, a baseball umpire and
part-time actor. It was one of the great success stories in the history of TV news with ratings that dominated the marketplace for a dozen years. One of Sam Zelman's other hires was Pete Noyes, a virtual unknown who had worked in the trenches of Los Angeles journalism for a local wire service and had built a reputation for investigative reporting. One of Pete's first stories in 1961 was that Los Angeles Dodger President Walter O'Malley
had built his new stadium in Chavez Ravine with only one drinking fountain, the better to sell lots of beer to thirsty fans.
In 1963 the Big News expanded to an hour and the CBS Evening News, featuring a new anchorman named Walter Cronkite went from 15 to 30 minutes.
It was then Pete Noyes was named producer of the Big News. His exploits were legendary. He exposed the Mafia's plan to steal $14 million in Teamsters money earmarked for a luxury home development near Beverly Hills.
He won the Edward L. Murrow award for investigative reporting when he revealed that
Charles Manson and his so-called family were responsible for the horrific Tate-LaBianca murders.
Pete fought the Bank of America to a standstill when its officers tried to kill his documentary, "The Anonymous Howard Hughes."
And one of TV's most acclaimed programs, "The Mary Tyler Moore Show," had its roots in the Big News where the role of managing editor Lou Grant was based on Pete's daily grind.
Pete describes the factors that led to the death of "The Big News," the TV consultants with their zany ideas, the inexperienced news directors and
the bosses at CBS who looked the other way while the walls came crashing down around them.
Product details
- Best Sellers Rank: #2,786,386 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #13,485 in Historical Biographies (Books)
- #18,723 in Historical Biographies (Kindle Store)
- Customer Reviews:
Customer reviews
- 5 star4 star3 star2 star1 star5 star71%21%8%0%0%71%
- 5 star4 star3 star2 star1 star4 star71%21%8%0%0%21%
- 5 star4 star3 star2 star1 star3 star71%21%8%0%0%8%
- 5 star4 star3 star2 star1 star2 star71%21%8%0%0%0%
- 5 star4 star3 star2 star1 star1 star71%21%8%0%0%0%
Customer Reviews, including Product Star Ratings help customers to learn more about the product and decide whether it is the right product for them.
To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. Instead, our system considers things like how recent a review is and if the reviewer bought the item on Amazon. It also analyzed reviews to verify trustworthiness.
Learn more how customers reviews work on AmazonCustomers say
Customers praise the author's work as one of the best producers and investigative journalists. The book features a compelling narrative, with one customer particularly enjoying the back-stories Pete tells. Customers find the book readable.
AI-generated from the text of customer reviews
Select to learn more
Customers appreciate the investigative reporting in the book.
"...newscast that included in-depth coverage of local events, solid investigative reports, compelling human-interest features, and lively sports and..." Read more
"A great read from one of the best producers/investigative journalists in the history of television news...." Read more
"...He's probably he best investigative reporter tv ever had...." Read more
Customers enjoy the narrative of the book, with one mentioning the engaging back-stories Pete tells.
"...I personally enjoyed the back-stories Pete tells of some of the folks I came to know from the "Big News" period, who were still at Channel..." Read more
"...Noyes chronicles the rise and fall of The Big News in a compelling narrative that harkens back to the days when broadcast news writing was crisp,..." Read more
"...Pete captured the time well ... lot of great stories ... only wish there would have been even more anecdotes ... anyone intererested in local TV..." Read more
Customers find the book readable.
"A great read from one of the best producers/investigative journalists in the history of television news...." Read more
"...It's a great, albeit sad, read." Read more
""Who Killed The Big News?' is as great read for anyone interested in broadcast journalism..." Read more
Top reviews from the United States
There was a problem filtering reviews. Please reload the page.
- Reviewed in the United States on July 9, 2015Pete Noyes tells stories of local TV news in Los Angeles like no one else. He's seen and experienced it all - starting with the legendary "Big News," a broadcast that was ahead of its time in every way. I personally enjoyed the back-stories Pete tells of some of the folks I came to know from the "Big News" period, who were still at Channel 2 when I came to work there in 1977 (after KNXT's glory years had passed). Whether a broadcast news student or a retired veteran of our business, "Who Killed The Big News?" brings a lot to learn for everyone interested in journalism. If you'd like to know more about the major crime and political stories Pete covered over the years, be sure to also read his "The Real L.A. Confidential" (also available on Amazon).
- Reviewed in the United States on December 17, 2015In the early days of television, local stations presented nightly 15-minute newscasts for no other reason than to fulfill an FCC license requirement. No one expected them to attract big ratings -- and they didn’t. But the better ones did attract awards that provided the stations with a certain cachet. And then in 1961 KNXT, the CBS-owned station in Los Angeles, launched a radical experiment -- The Big News, a 45-minute-long newscast that included in-depth coverage of local events, solid investigative reports, compelling human-interest features, and lively sports and weather coverage. all stitched together by a charismatic anchor, the late Jerry Dunphy. The ratings soared. Pete Noyes was there at the beginning as city editor and, in a variety of succeeding editorial and administrative roles over the years, saw the experiment eventually become a local broadcasting mainstay -- only to end up becoming a victim of its own success, as programming executives, consultants, and focus groups each manipulated the program’s content and form in a vain effort to produce ever bigger ratings. Noyes chronicles the rise and fall of The Big News in a compelling narrative that harkens back to the days when broadcast news writing was crisp, concise, and thought-provoking. Keep in mind, however, that in TV news, the AP and Chicago Style books defining the rules of punctuation and spelling don’t count for much, and some newspaper reporters may cringe at the errors in the book that could not be caught by spellcheckers and the like. But imagine the book being voiced by a first-class TV news reader. If you’re from L.A., keep Jerry Dunphy in mind.
- Reviewed in the United States on February 16, 2016I worked at Columbia Square from '68 to '75 ... wrote for Jerry Dunphy for a number of years when he had a CBS Radio Network daily show ... so I not only knew Jerry well, but a number of the names mentioned. Pete captured the time well ... lot of great stories ... only wish there would have been even more anecdotes ... anyone intererested in local TV news and it's various machinations, read this. And keep in mind that THE BIG NEWS might have been the best local news show ever in the US!
- Reviewed in the United States on July 16, 2017A great read from one of the best producers/investigative journalists in the history of television news. I know because I joined Pete Noyes and the Big News team in 1963, the second woman in the newsroom. I thought I knew everything about that era but upon reading Pete's book I learned more about the mysterious Howard Hughes, and murderous Charlie Manson and his followers. The Big News became the number one watched news broadcast in the country with a news team led by Pete Noyes, affectionately known as The Captain. It was a privilege to work with Pete. The Big News team was a family. Pete's book honors our history.
- Reviewed in the United States on July 7, 2015No one can tell the story of TV's rise and fall better than Pete Noyes. He's probably he best investigative reporter tv ever had. Pete's recollection of the time news was replaced by nonsense, smart news editors were replaced by bean counters and professional were replaced by long-haired blondes who can read. It's a great, albeit sad, read.
- Reviewed in the United States on May 30, 2015An important book on one of the greatest local television news shows in Los Angeles history, remembering people and events that would have been lost in time except for Pete Noyes' wonderful book. Noyes is one of the best investigative reporter-producers ever to work in television and he doesn't mince words in this fast-moving, always fascinating recounting of the early days of television news. A valuable addition to Los Angeles history and one of the few books available on what the beginnings of television news were all about. Don't miss it.