USS Shaw at Pearl Harbor. Defense Department Photo.
Contrary to popular belief, the networks never broke into live programming to announcing the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. The first broadcast announcement came at about 2:30 Eastern Time on CBS, during a scheduled newscast.
But you tell me that you’ve heard an announcement breaking into a symphony mid-note, with the words: “We interrupt this program to bring you a special news bulletin. The Japanese have attacked Pearl Harbor, Hawaii by air.” This was actually from a record produced by CBS in 1948. The second sentence came from an actual broadcast later in the day. You can hear the original at this link.
There was apparently no recording made of the first announcement, and there was apparently no interruption of regular programming.
A recording from Minneapolis CBS station WCCO is available at RadioTapes.com. While there’s no time stated on the WCCO recording, this was apparently recording during the break in the New York Philharmonic concert, which started at 3:00 Eastern Time. Therefore, the WCCO recording probably starts at about 3:30 Eastern Time.
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