Watch online: a selection of KTLA news stories are available for streaming on the Archive website. Watch clips of Mayor of Los Angeles Tom Bradley or explore a range of subjects from civil rights to economics.
The first commercial television station west of the Mississippi, KTLA has been a prominent independent television station in the Los Angeles area for more than 60 years, bringing local, national and world news to a regional audience. The KTLA Newsfilm Collection at the UCLA Film & Television Archive primarily encompasses footage from circa 1958 to 1981.
Moments of national significance in the KTLA collection include: Robert Kennedy in Los Angeles in 1966, numerous illustrative stories documenting the Vietnam War, the Watergate hearings and President Nixon's subsequent resignation, the Apollo missions, the opening of China to the West, and the Iranian hostage crisis. Major sensationalist events are covered extensively, including the Charles Manson trial and the kidnapping and trial of Patty Hearst. The collection also documents significant social and cultural movements, such as the women's movement and activism by Asian American, Chicana/o/x and LGBTQ+ communities. Footage documenting African American history includes the 1972 trial of activist Angela Davis and the career of Tom Bradley, former Mayor of Los Angeles. On a local level, the collection includes thousands of stories relevant to Los Angeles and California history, ranging from the impact of crime in cities, coverage of natural and human-made disasters, milestones of state, city and county politics and elections, Hollywood and the entertainment industry.
Much of the footage in the newsfilm collection consists of cut and unedited stories, outtakes and fill footage. The original film is 16mm reversal film stock with magnetic soundtrack. However, some of the film, particularly the outtake material, has no synchronous sound.
Copyrights to the footage in KTLA Newsfilm Collection at UCLA are assigned to the University of California, enabling the Archive to commercially license select newsfilm material in support of Archive initiatives. All licensing requests should be directed to Media Licensing at footage@cinema.ucla.edu.
Please note that the UCLA Film & Television Archive's Television Collection also includes many additional KTLA news, entertainment and public affairs programming produced and aired on the station during the 1950s, 1960s and early 1970s that are available for research only. To browse the Archive's catalog records for academic research, please visit the UC Library Search catalog. To arrange on-site academic research viewing of the KTLA Newsfilm Collection, please contact the Archive Research and Study Center (ARSC).
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