Yesterday’s News is a project by librarians and archivists at the University of North Texas to showcase digitized news footage, photography, original broadcast scripts and other archival materials in the NBC 5/KXAS (WBAP) Television News Archive.

UNT Libraries house the complete news archive of NBC 5/KXAS (formerly WBAP), the oldest television news station in Texas. The archive contains historic broadcast footage, scripts, advertisements, still photography and research files dating from 1950 through 2012. Film and video in the archive remain in its original physical format, such as 16mm film and obsolete video formats such as UMATIC tape, making it difficult to view and preserve.

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Access to the NBC 5/KXAS Archive is extremely limited due to the fragile condition of the film and video. We need your help to raise the funds necessary to clear, repair, and digitize this important piece of North Texas history. The first phase of the digitization project involves the oldest portion of the archive, all on 16 mm film, dating from 1950-1979. It costs approximately $7,500 to digitize and permanently preserve one month of film. Please consider a tax deductible gift today to assist us in meeting our goal. DONATE NOW

Access to the collection is currently limited, however, we are able to locate and digitize footage on demand. Footage researchers and others interested in accessing footage in the collection are encouraged to read our News Archive Research Procedures prior to contacting our department to become familiar with the policies and procedures for this archive.

UNT Libraries holds the exclusive right to preserve, reformat, permanently store and present the NBC 5/KXAS collection online. UNT Libraries has also agreed to act as the licensing agent for the broadcast footage. Any questions about licensing footage should be directed to archivesrarebooks@unt.edu.

If you have identified footage or associated still images (photographs/scripts) which you would like to license, please complete the following Licensing Request Form.

 

Footage from the NBC5/KXAS (WBAP) Archive has been licensed by many television and film projects including:

American Experience on PBS

Vanity Fair Confidential on Investigation Discovery

NFL Films

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