The Huntley-Brinkley Report, an American television program broadcast by NBC, marked a significant turning point in broadcast journalism. Airing from October 29, 1956, to July 31, 1970, it replaced the Camel News Caravan and was later succeeded by NBC Nightly News. Anchored by Chet Huntley in New York City and David Brinkley in Washington, D.C., the program initially ran for 15 minutes. However, its success and the evolving landscape of television news
led to its expansion to 30 minutes on September 9, 1963, just a week after CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite made a similar move. This expansion reflected the growing importance of television as a primary source of news for the American public.
The Genesis of a Dynamic Duo
The pairing of Chet Huntley and David Brinkley was not an immediate or obvious choice. In 1956, NBC News executives were looking for a way to counter the rising popularity of CBS's Walter Cronkite, especially after his success at the 1952 political conventions. While there was disagreement on who should be the new anchorman to replace John Cameron Swayze, the idea of pairing two reporters emerged. Producer Reuven Frank favored Brinkley, while NBC's director of news, Joseph Meyers, favored Huntley. The decision was made to have both men share the assignment, a move that initially caused some hesitation among NBC's top brass, who delayed announcing the team for two months due to their lack of confidence. However, their concerns proved unfounded, as the on-air chemistry between Huntley and Brinkley was apparent from the start.
Critical Acclaim and Public Recognition
The program quickly gained critical praise and a larger audience. Critics lauded Huntley for possessing one of the best broadcast voices ever heard, while Brinkley's dry, often witty, newswriting offered a distinct contrast to the more sober output from CBS News. This unique dynamic contributed to the program's success. The Huntley-Brinkley Report received a Peabody Award in 1958 for "Outstanding Achievement in News," with the awards committee noting that the anchors had "developed a mature and intelligent treatment of the news that has become a welcome and refreshing institution for millions of viewers." Two years later, they received the award again in the same category, with the committee concluding that Huntley and Brinkley had "dominated the news division of television so completely in the past year that it would be unthinkable to present a Peabody Award in that category to anybody else."
By 1960, the program had surpassed CBS's evening news program, Douglas Edwards with the News, in ratings and maintained higher viewership levels for much of the 1960s, even after Walter Cronkite took over CBS's competing program. The show also garnered eight Emmy Awards during its 14-year run. A survey for NBC later found that viewers particularly appreciated the anchors' on-screen interactions, highlighting their strong chemistry. This connection was largely facilitated by their unique communication method: aside from their famous sign-off, their only direct communication came when one anchor finished a story and handed off to the other by saying the other's name, which signaled an AT&T technician to switch the long-distance transmission lines between New York and Washington.
Cultural Impact and Enduring Legacy
Huntley and Brinkley achieved significant celebrity, with surveys indicating they were better known than prominent figures like John Wayne, Cary Grant, Jimmy Stewart, or The Beatles. Their impact on popular culture was evident in various forms, from a 1961 song by Frank Sinatra and Milton Berle playfully describing them as "One is glum, the other quite twinkly," to their appearance on the cover of Newsweek with a similar tagline. The satirist Tom Lehrer even referenced them in his 1965 song "So Long, Mom (A Song for World War III)." Entertainer Sammy Davis Jr. was photographed in 1964 watching the report backstage, calling it "My only contact with reality. Whatever I'm doing, I stop to watch these guys." By 1965, the program generated more advertising revenue than any other on television, and on November 15 of that year, it became the first weekday network evening news program broadcast in color, further solidifying its pioneering role in television news.
