''The Camel News Caravan'' or ''Camel Caravan of News'' was a 15-minute

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

television news program aired by

NBC News NBC News is the news division of the American broadcast television network NBC. The division operates under NBCUniversal Television and Streaming, a division of NBCUniversal, which is, in turn, a subsidiary of Comcast. The news division's v ...

from February 16, 1949 to October 26, 1956. Sponsored by the Camel cigarette brand and anchored by

John Cameron Swayze John Cameron Swayze (April 4, 1906 – August 15, 1995) was an American news commentator and game show panelist during the 1940s and 1950s who later became best known as a product spokesman. Early life Born in Wichita, Kansas, Swayze was the ...

, it was the first NBC news program to use NBC filmed news stories rather than movie newsreels. On February 16, 1954, the ''Camel News Caravan'' became the first news program broadcast in color, making use of 16mm color film. In early 1955, the R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company, maker of Camel cigarettes, cut back its sponsorship to three days a week. Chrysler's Plymouth division sponsored the other days, and on those days, the program was labelled the ''Plymouth News Caravan''. The program featured a young Washington correspondent named

David Brinkley David McClure Brinkley (July 10, 1920 – June 11, 2003) was an American newscaster for NBC and ABC in a career lasting from 1943 to 1997. From 1956 through 1970, he co-anchored NBC's top-rated nightly news program, '' The Huntley–Brinkl ...

, and competed against ''Douglas Edwards with the News'' on rival CBS. With greater resources, the ''News Caravan'' attracted a larger audience than its CBS competition until 1955.Matusow, Barbara. The Evening Stars: The Making of the Network News Anchor (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1983), pp. 62-63, 69. John Cameron Swayze News Caravan 1955

Launched on February 16, 1948, by NBC as '' NBC Television Newsreel'', and later '' Camel Newsreel Theatre'' it began as a 10-minute program that featured

Fox Movietone News Movietone News is a newsreel that ran from 1928 to 1963 in the United States. Under the name British Movietone News, it also ran in the United Kingdom from 1929 to 1986, in France also produced by Fox-Europa, in Australia and New Zealand until 197 ...

newsreels. John Cameron Swayze provided voice-over for the series. The ''Camel News Caravan'' was an expanded version of the ''Camel Newsreel Theatre'' and featured Swayze on-camera. It was also known as the ''Camel Caravan of News.'' The ''Camel News Caravan'' was replaced by the '' Huntley-Brinkley Report'' on October 29, 1956. President Dwight D. Eisenhower had word passed to NBC's

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in ...

correspondent that the president was displeased by the switch. In late 1961 and early 1962, Swayze served as one of three anchors of

ABC News ABC News is the news division of the American broadcast network ABC. Its flagship program is the daily evening newscast '' ABC World News Tonight with David Muir''; other programs include morning news-talk show '' Good Morning America'', '' ...

's evening news program but became best-known for his appearances in commercials for Timex watches.''John Cameron Swayze dead at 89''
CNN (1995-08-16).

Notes

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External links

''Camel News Caravan'' at IMDB

''60 Years of Nightly News on NBC''
NBC original programming 1948 American television series debuts 1956 American television series endings 1940s American television news shows 1950s American television news shows NBC News Black-and-white American television shows English-language television shows R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company