New York stations preempted regularly scheduled programming this afternoon to bring live coverage of President Obama’s visit to Ground Zero, which occurred around 1:00 p.m. today.
Bill Ritter anchored WABC‘s special coverage from Ground Zero, with Dianna Williams and Sade Baderinwa appearing in the studio. Reporters David Novarro, Tim Fleischer, and Anthony Johnson covered the president’s movements through Manhattan, from a local fire house, to Ground Zero, to an NYPD precinct.
On WCBS, Maurice DuBois was stationed at Ground Zero, in a position similar to Ritter’s, while Marcia Kramer reported live on the president’s appearance, in which he hung a wreath in honor of those that died on 9/11.
“It was truly the most somber ceremony I have ever seen,” Kramer said. “It was a very moving one for the very simplicity… President Obama said much more with his silence than he ever could have with his words.”
WNBC began the 1 o’clock hour with an NBC special report anchored by David Gregory but then switched to local coverage around 1:10 p.m. Tracie Strahan reported live from Ground Zero while Katherine Craig gave a recap of the president’s earlier visit to the Manhattan fire house. Darlene Rodriguez and Michael Gargiulo anchored the special coverage from their 30 Rock studio.
Rosanna Scotto and Greg Kelly anchored WNYW‘s “Good Day New York” this morning from Ground Zero and came back on the air for WNYW’s special coverage this afternoon. Scotto appeared in the studio alongside Dick Brennan while Kelly stayed at the World Trade Center site to report live with help from Tai Hernandez, beginning at 12:35 p.m.
WABC, WCBS, WNBC, and WNYW all went back to regular programming at 1:30.