It is 7:14 P.M., Monday, September 22, 1975, and we are watching the network news programs on CBS, NBC, ABC and UBS-TV, the network of our story. The AUDIO is OFF; and head shots of WALTER CRONKITE, JOHN CHANCELLOR, HOWARD K. SMITH and HARRY REASONER, and of course, the anchorman of our network, HOWARD BEALE, silently flit and flicker across the four television screens, interspersed with the news
Network Script
This story is about Howard
Beale, the news anchorman on UBS TV.
In his time, Howard Beale
had been a mandarin of televisin,
the grand old man of news, with a HUT
rating of and a audience share.
In however,
his fortunes began to decline.
He fell to a share.
The following year his wife died
and he was left a childless widower
with an eight rating and a share.
He became morose and iso