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WIS-TV News Collection

This collection contains outtake footage shot by the news crews of Columbia, South Carolina's NBC affiliate from 1959 to 1978, and scripts for news broadcasts dating from 1963-1979. Comprised of approximately one million feet of 16mm color and black and white films, both sound and silent, the collection documents people, events, and the political and cultural history of South Carolina.

About the Collection

WIS-TV, NBC’s Columbia affiliate, started as a radio broadcaster in 1930 and launched a TV station in 1953. With the only VHF license in the Midlands region, WIS reached audiences outside the Columbia area and was the top-rated station in South Carolina for decades. The collection:

  • is the largest of MIRC’s local television collections with approximately 1.5 million feet of film (~1958 – 1980)
  • includes outtakes from daily news broadcasts and outtakes for two news magazine shows: Awareness (~1970 - 1980) and Carolina Magazine (~late 1970s – early 1980s)
  • includes paper records including broadcast scripts and index card file

A more detailed inventory of the broadcast scripts is available in the collection finding aid.

Other Local TV News Collections at MIRC

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