September 2, 1963…A Red Letter Days At CBS News

On a Monday evening 53 years ago today, the first half hour network news show debuted. From the CBS newsroom studio in the Graybar Building, adjacent to the Grand Central studios, Walter Cronkite reported for twice as long as anyone ever had on an evening news show.

The next Monday, September 7, NBC’s “Huntley Brinkley Report” did the same. Compared to today, their 22 minutes were full of the news they thought you needed to know, as opposed to today’s news fare which is “news” they think you would like to see.

The real news is in the first two blocks…the rest of it, you can find here on Facebook. -Bobby Ellerbee

“Evening News” marks golden anniversary of 30-minute broadcast

On Sept. 2, 1963, the “CBS Evening News” revolutionized journalism when it doubled in length — just in time for some of the most momentous stories in U.S. history

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Television’s First Live Animation Project…January 1940, NBC Studio 3H

Although commercial television was sill about 18 months away, NBC was preparing for it. In this sequence of photos, we see a “Rube Goldberg” style presentation board on which all the parts move, to tell the story of Bulova’s new 23 jewel-movement watch.

At the time Bulova was the nation’s top advertiser over all media, including print and radio, and at their annual convention in New York in January of 1940, their ad agency was planning for the future. On the second day of the convention, the agency arranged a closed circuit television program to demonstrate the power of television ads. It originated in NBC Studio 3H and was viewed by Bulova executives several floors above the studio.

NBC knew television’s ability do demonstrate and showcase products would be revolutionary to advertisers, so to help them allocate budgets and think about their creative messages, the network set out to work with national accounts to showcase TV’s abilities. This must have worked, because the day NBC’s W2XBS became WNBT, the first commercial was for Bulova.

This was one of the first of the NBC closed circuit presentations, but others followed soon after, including Ford, American Tobacco, Colgate, Proctor & Gamble, Coca Cola and more. -Bobby Ellerbee

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August 30, 1957…Ten Years Of “Kukla, Fran & Ollie” Come To An End

At the link is KFO creator Burr Tillstrom’s timeline of the shows milestones, starting with their October 13, 1947 debut as “The Junior Jamboree” on WBKB in Chicago, to their last show, which was also on WBKB.
http://www.richsamuels.com/nbcmm/kuklapolitans/kuklapolitan_chronology.html

In the five years that the show ran on NBC nationally, fan mail averaged 5,000 letters a day, and the show’s ratings rivaled Milton Burle’s and even Ed Sullivan’s at CBS. Be sure and click through the attached images…there is a surprise on one of them.

Thanks for the memories, Burr, Fran, Kukla and Ollie! By the way, KFO are also a big part of a post here from earlier today on an NBC color milestone, so visit the page by clicking on the blue EOAG text at the top left of this post. -Bobby Ellerbee

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August 30, 1953…A Milestone For RCA Compatible Color Television

On this day in 1953, the first publicly announced experimental broadcast in compatible color (all the other tests had been unannounced), of a network program, was presented by NBC. It was the production of an original play called “St. George And The Dragon” on the “Kukla, Fran, and Ollie Show”.

Based on the 11th century tale, it was written by KFO founder Burr Tillstrom, with The Boston Pops Orchestra providing the pre-recorded musical score. The show originated at the The Colonial Theater in New York. A few weeks later, KFO went to Boston to perform this with the Pops before a live audience.

With so few color sets available, you may wonder why they would broadcast this in color, but the answer is in the “compatible” part of the common name for the RCA Dot Sequential System. RCA’s big advantage over the CBS Field Sequential System was that RCA’s promise, was to offer a color signal that would be compatible with the many black and white sets that had already been sold. CBS’s would require a new set, or a special conversion kit to existing sets.

The “TV Guide” story from May 15, 1953 offers a fuller description of that April 15th performance, and comparative color and black and white monitor shots.

The Colonial Theater…A Refresher Course

NBC/RCA leased the building in October 1951 in anticipation of moving their color tests here. In early ’52, RCA exhibited a color TV receiver-projector here which provided color pictures on a 9 x 12 foot theater screen.

In May of ’52, RCA/NBC began the process of making the theater into the first all color television studio. By October of ’52, it was ready, and 4 RCA TK40 prototype cameras, plus new color film chains were in use. Daily closed circuit test shows then moved from the experimental color Studio 3H at 30 Rock to The Colonial.

The second public NBC colorcast came from this studio on October 31, 1953 and was a one hour presentation the opera “Carmen”. The third colorcast was the November 22, 1953 “Colgate Comedy Hour”, with Donald O’Connor (the first commercial colorcast).

There is more on Kukla, Fran & Ollie coming today. Enjoy and share! -Bobby Ellerbee

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August 28, 1922…The First Radio Commercial Airs On WEAF

Did you know that AT&T invented radio advertising? It’s true, and their first and only involvement with broadcast radio, as a station owner, left a lasting legacy.

It’s only fitting that the story be told here by radio, and this five minute NPR piece tells it in detail using what radio is most famous for…theater of the mind. To hear it, click the large blue play button at the top left on the page that is linked below. Enjoy and share! – Bobby Ellerbee

http://www.npr.org/2012/08/29/160265990/first-radio-commercial-hit-airwaves-90-years-ago

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Great Behind The Scenes Footage…”Let’s Make A Deal” 1977

At the link is a 6 minute clip from the 1977 documentary “Deal” that gives us a good look at the show in ABC’s Studio 54 at the Prospect lot in Los Angeles.

I’ve added this photo, so you can more easily identify 40 year camera vet Jan Lowery, in this video. The announcer is Jay Stewart, but aside from Monty Hall, Jan and Jay, I can’t identify the other people…can you fill in the blanks? The cameras are Norelco PC60s, and this clip come from our friend James Shea. Thanks James! Enjoy and share! -Bobby Ellerbee

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August 27, 1968…48 Years Ago Today

Dan Rather was manhandled at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. For us Boomers, this is classic footage of a well remembered event. -Bobby Ellerbee

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wItUjFU1i4M

For more presidential election videos go to electionwall.org

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The “TONIGHT” Show’s Oldest Surviving Color Video…Sept 1, 1964

Above is a very rare piece of tape, that survived only because Stan Zabka, a former AD on the show, and a musical guest on this occasion, had a pal roll tape on his segment. A few years ago, he had our friends at DC Video in LA transfer the tape to a digital format.

This was in NBC’s Studio 6B in New York, just three years after Johnny and Ed took over. The cameras were the great RCA TK41s, which for that day and age, made very good color pictures.

As I write this, I am reminded of a story told to me by NBC’s John Pinto, who came to “Saturday Night Live” the year it started, and is now Camera 1, on the crane. John started in the summer, just before the show started, and to give him something to do for a few weeks, NBC sent him to New Jersey, where he spent a whole week bulk erasing “Tonight” show tapes. John said “his heart hurt” every time he hit the button. So glad the Armed Forces Radio and Television Service had archived many years of the show, or all of it would be gone! Enjoy and share! -Bobby Ellerbee

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August 26, 1939…First MLB Game On TV + Other Sports TV Firsts

The first ever Major League Baseball game was televised on August 26, 1939 on experimental station W2XBS, which is now WNBC. With Red Barber announcing, the Brooklyn Dodgers and the Cincinnati Reds played a doubleheader at Ebbets Field. The Reds won the first, 5–2 while the Dodgers won the second, 6–1.

Barber called the first game on NBC Radio and moved to TV for the second game which he did without the benefit of a monitor, and with only two cameras capturing the game. One camera was close to Barber who had to sit in the stands near home base. The other was on the first base side up high. During the game, Red’s headset also went out so he was winging more than just the play by play action.

At the time, the New York World’s Fair was in full swing, as was RCA and NBC’s first big television push. Including the sets RCA had installed at the fair and around town, there were only about 400 receivers in the NYC area.

The first-ever televised baseball game had actually come four months earlier on May 17, 1939. That was a college game between Princeton and Columbia; Princeton beat Columbia 2–1 at Columbia’s Baker Field. The contest was aired on W2XBS and was announced by Bill Stern. Stern almost did not make the opening pitch of that game as he rushed home to get his hair piece.

On May 20, 1939, the first television picture was sent over telephone lines as NBC sent television images from Madison Square Gardens, to 30 Rockefeller Plaza via AT&T lines. Over the course of the six day bicycle race event, three broadcasts were done, with each being a little better than the last, due to some tweaking along the way by both AT&T and NBC.

On June 1, NBC would go on to bring boxing to television for the first time with the Lou Nova-Max Baer fight at Yankee Stadium.

September 30, NBC broadcast the first college football game, followed on October 22, by the first pro football game. Hockey made it television debut on NBC February 25, 1940, and basketball came to TV February 28th, with track and field events debuting on March 2, from MSG.

Remember, all this activity started in April of 1939 with the opening of The World’s Fair, when David Sarnoff told the nation that RCA had “added radio sight to sound”, and officially kicked off the age of television. -Bobby Ellerbee

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Remember This? I Had One, Who Else Had One?

“Plunk your magic twanger, Froggy”! Sound familiar? Ever seen it said in COLOR? No? Then click this link for a surprise, and read on for more surprises. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L9pPFCjRPvM

I watched “Andy’s Gang” on NBC, which ran from August 20, 1955, to December 31, 1960. It was hosted by actor Andy Devine and was the successor to the radio and television programs “Smilin’ Ed McConnell And His Buster Brown Gang”, later shortened to “Smilin’ Ed’s Gang”. Devine took over the television program when Ed McConnell died suddenly from a heart attack in 1954. McConnell took it to TV in 1951. Devine inherited a number of the characters on the show and the sponsor, Buster Brown shoes.

When Devine took over, some episodes of the show began to be shot in color at The Nassour Studios in Los Angeles, which later became Metromedia Square. This was the first television job for a lady that would become one of the top cartoon voices in the business…June Foray (voice of Rocky on “Rocky & Bullwinkle”, among many others).

Thanks to Barry Mitchell for sending this picture of Froggy, which is in the window at Antiques & Collectibles at 40 West 25th Street, New York, in case you need another. Froggy squeaks and sticks his tongue out when you squeeze him…much like Arch Presby, the show’s announcer and voice of Froggy. Enjoy and share! -Bobby Ellerbee

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