Journalism was a respected profession in 1970s San Diego, and people were interested in what they watched on television.
Ron Burgundy is the city's most popular anchorman. He has enjoyed his time at the top for the past five years. His news staff is just as talented as he is. Champ Kind, a professional jock and former professional baseball player, handles sports, Brick Tamland, who is a few channels short of a cable subscription, handles the weather, and ladies' man Brian Fantana, whose collection of fine fragrances would be in the Guinness Book Of Records, handles on-field reporting.
But now everything is going to change. The TV channel where Burgundy works, Channel 4, has embraced diversity by hiring Veronica Corningstone, a stunning new female anchor. Veronica slowly advances to the top as Ron Burgundy and the rest of the Channel 4 news staff enjoy fighting with opponents, partying, and flirting with the girls. Ron Burgundy is enraged at Veronica's success. Because of Veronica's interference, Ron is demoted and then fired from Channel 6.
Now that he's been stripped of everything, Ron must figure out a means to go back to the top, which requires a narrative about a rare Chinese panda giving birth on American territory. Will Ron be the one to break the story across the country?