In Concert (TV series)

In Concert
David Bowie performing on In Concert in 1974
Genre	Concert
Created by	Don Kirshner
Country of origin	United States
Original language(s)	English
Release
Original network	ABC
Original release	November 24, 1972

In Concert is a late-night television series created by Don Kirshner. Hosted by Don Branker, the series was a showcase for bands of the era to be taped "in concert" and then broadcast on ABC on Friday nights.

The series premiered on November 24, 1972, preempting The Dick Cavett Show. The first episode was the broadcast of a concert taped at Hofstra University on September 21, 1972 with Alice Cooper, Bo Diddley and Seals & Crofts. The second episode, broadcast on December 8, 1972 and again preempting Cavett, featured The Allman Brothers Band and Chuck Berry. David Sontag became the Executive Producer of "In Concert" starting with the 3rd show and for the rest of the first season. Don Kirshner had no direct connection with the show after the second episode except that the production credits listed "In Concert" as a David Sontag Production and a Don Kirshner Production. Starting with the 3rd episode there was no host; Joshua White (Joshua Lightshow) became the director and the voice-over announcing the acts, and serving as the production stage manager was Chip Monk, often known as the voice of Woodstock.

The first "In Concert" broadcast was terminated early in Cincinnati, Ohio; the station manager of then-ABC affiliate WKRC-TV was watching Alice Cooper's segment and was so disgusted by it that he called the station's master control room and ordered the station to take it off the air. A rerun of Rawhide was hastily substituted; both WKRC and Cincinnati newspapers received numerous nasty phone calls in protest, which included several bomb threats against the station. The story became front-page news in Cincinnati newspapers for the next several days.

In January 1973, both The Dick Cavett Show and In Concert became part of ABC's Wide World of Entertainment programming block. Kirshner left in late 1973 to produce the syndicated series Don Kirshner's Rock Concert. In Concert continued to appear approximately every other Friday night until 1975 when it left the ABC schedule.