March 19, 1953: First Coast To Coast Academy Awards

Prior to this, the broadcast could only be seen live in the Los Angeles area, but in late 1952, that changed when AT&T finished the final links of the cross country coax and relay stations.

This is also the first bi coastal broadcast as well, with simultaneous ceremonies in New York and Los Angeles. Since this had never been done before, NBC held several days of rehearsals live in both cities to get the switching down on the coast to coast hookup.

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