[WTTW pledge night]

The bulk of the tape is an off-air recording of Tom Weinberg and Jack Wilson running WTTW's pledge drive, explaining how it works and asking for donations. Operators answer phones in background. Before and after there are brief clips from several other channels.

0:00Copy video clip URL Off air news report on an Easter Parade featuring dramatic hats. Bill Greenwood reports from ABC News, New York.

0:48Copy video clip URL Channel changes to WGN. TV clip about local police shooting of Jose Cruz.

1:03Copy video clip URL Channel changes to boxing match.

1:24Copy video clip URL Channel changes. WTTW Pledge Drive. Number on screen, people answering phones. Tom Weinberg and Jack Wilson talk about how to subscribe to Channel 11. Call 312 372-1200.

2:05Copy video clip URL Premiums to choose from: for $35 get Sneak Previews calendar, for $60 get Crockett’s Indoor Garden book, for $120 get WTTW sports bag with strap.

2:45Copy video clip URL Weinberg tells us that it doesn’t matter if you give a little or a lot, because everything helps, and because everything is needed.

3:30Copy video clip URL Wilson reminds us that we are the “public” in “public television” and talks about WTTW’s unique programming.

4:55Copy video clip URL Weinberg describes the different payment possibilities.

5:34Copy video clip URL Weinberg announces Monty Python to come up in just a minute

5:40Copy video clip URL Shots of the volunteers helping out by answering phones while Wilson lists groups that did phone shifts that day.

6:22Copy video clip URL Wilson explains that John Cleese will visit Chicago next year and they hope he will appear on Channel 11.

6:53Copy video clip URL Weinberg describes payment options again and Wilson shows premiums again.

7:47Copy video clip URL Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert promote Sneak Previews.

8:03Copy video clip URL Channel change. Fred Villanueva stands in front of Calder sculpture at Federal Plaza in downtown Chicago, reporting on FALN threats to 1980 DNC for Channel 7 news.

8:20Copy video clip URL Mark Wolin reports on a gunman, 28-year old Jose Cruz, who held 10 hostages during a two and a half hour standoff with police and eventually shot his sister-in-law at 1453 N. Campbell in Humboldt Park. Witness Ben Santiago helped her to the hospital. This was only one of four shootings in the past few hours in the immediate area.

10:02Copy video clip URL Back to the studio, a report on the surprising statistic that tobacco use in 1979 went down 2%, to the lowest point since 1898. Sources at the USDA say that the current average per capita consumption of 8 lb. of tobacco per year will continue to decrease. Brief report on Mt. St. Helens eruption before channel change.

10:37Copy video clip URL Back to WTTW. Jack Wilson says 68% of entire operating budget of WTTW comes from pledgers. This is one of the most watched public television stations in the country.

11:35Copy video clip URL Tom Weinberg talks about the show he produces, Image Union, and how now there are many imitations of this independent film and video showcase on other stations around the country. If it wasn’t for subscriber money, this show wouldn’t exist.

12:15Copy video clip URL Weinberg and Wilson thank specific recent donors.

13:05Copy video clip URL A scrolling message announces that W.C. Fields: My Little Chickadee is on next, while Wilson and Weinberg continue to explain the pledge process and where subscription money goes.

14:15Copy video clip URL The subscription rewards are shown again.

15:14Copy video clip URL Brief, possibly recorded over footage from what appears to be a Warren Leming political campaign spoof for Helen Lishman for mayor.

15:35Copy video clip URL End of tape.