Night Watch

Broadcast History: April 1954 to April 1955

The idea of reality as entertainment seems fairly modern. But if you ever listened to Night Watch, you know it’s nothing new. Instead of reality TV Night Watch is reality radio that aired from 1954-1955. The closest modern-day equivalent of Night Watch is the television show Cops.

Following the success of Dragnet, Night Watch was a crime documentary that highlighted real footage of real cases. The crimes were caught on tape as reporter Donn Reid wore a wire and rode along with police office Sergeant Ron Perkins. The show was taped in Culver City, CA. Reid rode with the police on the night shift – from 6 p.m. to 2 a.m. when crimes were most likely to occur. By the time the show stopped airing, there were over 100 incidents caught on tape.