TV News Hustles on Deadline to Overcome Powerless Feeling

Everything looked normal on Channel 39’s 5 p.m. newscast Thursday. Most viewers were unaware how close they came to seeing a no-frills news show, slapped together with battery-powered lights and the help of rival television stations.

While other San Diegans were struggling through power losses caused by high winds, Channel 39’s problem was brought about by an unnamed sales department employee who reportedly spun out his Porsche in front of the station, obliterating the station’s transformer box. Neither he nor his passenger was seriously hurt.

San Diego Gas & Electric Co. crews came to the rescue, and power was restored at 4:30 p.m., just in time for the evening news, said Channel 39’s general manager Neil Derrough. “We had an interesting afternoon, though.”

News director Nancy Bauer spent the afternoon preparing for what seemed to be the inevitable, and, before the power was restored, said the station would be able to present a competent--if somewhat less glossy--news show. The emergency generator could not run all the systems in the building, so film editing was being done at the studios of Channels 8, 10, 51 and two local production companies, Bauer said. “It will be a remote-powered newscast, just as if we were out on location,” Bauer said before power was restored. “You’ll see a straight newscast, without any of the fancy stuff.”

The station ran network shows picked up via satellite during the blackout, without commercials, and reporters were hustling to get their work done without electronic help. One reporter, who asked not to be named, said, “We were just scrambling, we were just totally berserk. . . . It was kind of exciting, really.”