The First Television News Footage? Quite Likely…

In 1933, the Don Lee owned experimental station in Los Angeles, W6XAO is reported to have acquired film shot the afternoon of March 10, 1933 of the Long Beach earthquake. It was almost 6PM local time when it hit, but using rapid processing film development (where the negative is shown with reverse polarity to make it appear as a positive print) they were able to get it on the air that night. These were the days of mechanical TV and only a few sets even existed, but this is an important event because even network television news shows which started after WWII used newsreel footage acquired from outside sources. The early local television stations were the pioneers in news film because, unlike the networks, there were no big newsreel companies that they could rely on for images of local news events. Thanks to EarlyTelevison.org for the photo.

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