Suncoast Digest (partially found Christine Chubbuck episodes of WXLT talk show; 1973-1974)

Colourised photo of Chubbuck smiling and posing with a WXLT camera.

Status: Partially Found

Suncoast Digest was a WXLT-TV channel 40 (now WWSB, ABC-7) morning talk show broadcast out of south-central Florida. It originally ran from 1973 to 1974 and featured Christine Chubbuck reporting on and discussing community affairs within Sarasota and Bradenton. While both Chubbuck and the show earned praise for their indepth vision and scope, executive meddling due to low ratings also became a prime source of frustration for the ambitious young woman, leading to her infamous on-air suicide at the beginning of one episode. Due to this stigma, the scant viewership and lack of convenient professional or home recording methods at the time, most of Chubbuck's prior run as host is considered lost.

Background

Suncoast Digest was an early-morning local talk show, airing around 9 AM for thirty minutes from Monday to Friday. created specifically to cover the subjects relevant to the communities Channel 40 served. WXLT decided that then-new hire Christine 'Chris' Chubbuck, a strikingly attractive, fiercely ambitious young woman with a film & broadcasting degree from Boston University, would make the ideal host. Chubbuck had considerable relevant experience within the television industry and according to colleague Craig Sager, her intelligence, wit, and writing skills impressed everyone at the station. In an interview, production manager Gordon Acker said that Suncoast Digest would strive to feature "lost segments of the community", including alcoholics and drug users.

Chubbuck threw herself wholeheartedly into the project, seeing it as a prime opportunity to advance her broadcasting career as a serious, hard-news journalist. She wanted to delve deeper than was typical for the morning show genre, and instead provide indepth discussions of real issues. In keeping with this, she frequently interviewed local politicians, police, and other authority figures. In one episode - which became mildly notorious after her death - Chubbuck interviewed a deputy sheriff regarding means and methods of committing suicide via handgun; the sheriff would later recall actually describing such an act at her request, complete with the most plausible weapon & ammunition.

Suncoast Digest was by all accounts a great success in journalistic terms, with both Chubbuck's family and co-workers praising her work ethic and talent as a reporter. Her mother, Peg, went so far as to purchase her daughter a high-end designer wardrobe to help her look and feel more confident on-air. She gained considerable recognition for spotlighting relevant local issues, at one point being nominated for a Forestry and Conservation Recognition Award. A talented hobbyist puppeteer, Chubbuck occasionally showcased her creations on Suncoast Digest as well as at local children's hospitals. Despite all these efforts, however, the show struggled to attract an audience; whereas some WXLT shows scored upwards of 10K viewers, Suncoast Digest often failed to even reach 500, with its maximum viewership being about 1,000.

This led WXLT management to demand the show be revamped and focus on providing more standard, hihgly sensationalized news reports. Chubbuck strongly objected, not wanting to thus - as she saw it - cheapen and degrade her pet project. This led to frequent conflicts with management, who insisted on the "if it bleeds, it leads" philosophy increasingly common at news stations across the country. Other more cosmetic changes, such as allowing some of her colleagues to conduct interviews and adding plastic flowers to the set, also greatly angered Chubbuck. Nevertheless, she carried on with hosting duties, expanding into occasionally providing news reports during the weekends. Chubbuck's final broadcast on 15th July 1974 ended in tragic circumstances. Suncoast Digest continued for at least another three years, with two other reporters taking over as hosts during that time period.

Availability

Only very limited footage of Chubbuck's Suncoast Digest run has resurfaced. A few seconds of her conducting an interview (without audio) can be found online, as part of the 40th anniversary of WXLT (now WWSB). The snippet was also showcased in the film Kate Plays Christine, as part of a 21-minute tape which is in the possession of weatherman Steve Newman. Ultimately Newman decided not to fully release the tape, being concerned that people only cared about Chubbuck thanks to her suicide. Rebecca Hall, who portrayed Chubbuck in the 2016 biographical film Christine, claimed she had viewed 15 minutes of interview footage featuring Chubbuck in preparation for the role, but it is unknown if this refers to Newman's tape or other archives. This, alongside most other footage of Suncoast Digest, remains publicly inaccessible.

Gallery

Videos

Footage of Chubbuck on Suncoast Digest.

Footage provided as part of WWSB's 40th anniversary (4:59-5:24).