The Papal Visit : Papal Digest : TV Station Won’t Miss a Single Blessed Minute

Forty-eight hours of nonstop local coverage. That’s what KTLA-TV Channel 5 promised during the papal visit and that’s what they began delivering at 9 a.m. Tuesday.

Anchorman Hal Fishman camped out at the station overnight in between his continuing reports. Eighty free-lance production workers were hired to supplement Channel 5’s 70-strong news team for what the independent station was calling its largest news mobilization to date. And previously prepared footage, along with commentary, was interspersed with live coverage to help fill the hours.

Meanwhile, KTLA boasted the first locally televised glimpse of the Pope’s arrival in Los Angeles. “We were (televising) the plane before anyone else in the market,” gloated news director Jeff Wald.