This story is about Howard Beale, who was the news anchorman on UBS TV. In his time,...

[first lines] Narrator: This story is about Howard Beale, who was the news anchorman on UBS TV. In his time, Howard Beale had been a mandarin of television, the grand old man of news, with a HUT rating of 16 and a 28 audience share. In 1969, however, his fortunes began to decline. He fell to a 22 share. The following year, his wife died, and he was left a childless widower with an 8 rating and a 12 share. He became morose and isolated, began to drink heavily, and on September 22, 1975, he was fired, effective in two weeks. The news was broken to him by Max Schumacher, who was the president of the news division at UBS. The two old friends got properly pissed. Howard Beale: [on the street] I was at CBS with Ed Murrow in 1951. Max Schumacher: Must've been 1950 then. [Beale nods] Max Schumacher: I was at NBC, uh, associate producer. Morning News. I was just a kid. 26 years old. [Not interested, Beale wanders off, until Schumacher stops him] Max Schumacher: Anyway... anyway... they're building the lower level of the George Washington Bridge. [Interested, Beale listens] Max Schumacher: We were doing a remote from there. Howard Beale, Max Schumacher: [start to laugh and snicker in unison] Max Schumacher: And nobody told me! [Beale keeps laughing, very interested] Max Schumacher: Ten after seven in the morning, I get a call, "Where the hell are YOU? You're supposed to be on the George Washington Bridge!" [Beale and Schumacher exchange laughs] Max Schumacher: I jump out of bed, throw my raincoat over my pajamas. I run downstairs and out into the street... [Schumacher runs into the street] Max Schumacher: ...hail a cab, and I say to the cabbie, "TAKE ME TO THE MIDDLE OF THE GEORGE WASHINGTON BRIDGE!" [Beale laughs] Max Schumacher: And the cabbie turns around and he says... [giggles] Max Schumacher: ...he says "Don't do it, buddy! You're a young man! You got your whole life ahead of you!" Howard Beale, Max Schumacher: [shriek in hysterics, as Beale gives Schumacher a hug] Max Schumacher: Didn't I ever tell you that one before?