Broadcasting (Jan - Mar 1950)

CBS' NEW YORK STATION COMBINES NETWORK AND LOCAL OPERATIONS ON July 21, 1931, with New York's Mayor James J. Walker doing the official honors, W2XAB, forerunner of WCBS-TV, inaugurated the first regular schedule of video broadcasting in the U. S. with a 45minute variety program. The cast included such first-flight talent as Kate Smith, George Gershwin, the Boswell Sisters and, of course, the "Columbia Television Girl," Natalie Towers. The opening program announced: "Following tonight's inaugural of television station W2XAB, sightand-sound programs will be broadcast every afternoon and night by this station." Before the end of 1931, William Schudt Jr., then CBS director of television, now director of station relations, was handling a W2XAB schedule of seven hours a day, seven days a week, practically paralleling the 1950 schedule of WCBS-TV. '■> Operating on a frequency of 2,778 kc, W2XAB covered a wider •area than today's TV stations. But the definition of its mechanically scanned pictures was only 60 lines fi'om top to bottom, in contrast to today's electronically scanned 525 lines. It soon became clear that 60-line pictures were not good enough for a national system of TV programming, and on Feb. 23, 1933, CBS announced: "We now feel that further operation with the present facilities off'ers little possibility of contributions to the art of television, and we have, accordingly, decided to suspend temporarily our program schedule." More than eight years elapsed before W2XAB resumed a regular schedule of TV programs. On July 1, 1941, when it became WCBW, one of the two TV stations authorized to begin commercial operation on that date, it inaugurated a 15-hour-a-week program schedule. But WCBW did not immediately start selling time to advertisers, deciding instead to concentrate on program experiments for the time being. Video coverage of the arts, through a series put on in cooperation with New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art; of the dance, from ballet to ballroom and square dancing; of public aff'airs, through forum discussions; of informal entertainment, such as quizzes and parlor games played by celebrities; of children's stories illustrated by an artist who drew as the storyteller talked; of news, illustrated by maps and other visual material — these were some of WCBW's 1941-42 program experiments. On Dec. 7, 1941, WCBW telecast a 90-minute documentary on the attack of Pearl Harbor and the nation's reaction to it. Followed war bond drives, with notables selling bonds by TV; a National Defense series in cooperation with government agencies; a Red Cross first aid course and other wartime series. On June 1, 1942, to conserve scarce tubes and manpower, WCBW cut its schedule from 15 to four hours a week, all films. Live programming, resumed in May 1944 and gradually accelerated toward today's full-scale operation, continued the prewar experiments in TV presentation of all types of programs, from dance to drama, quizzes to commentaries, fashions to sports. In June 1945, WCBW made its facilities available to advertisers on a "working partnership" basis for testing, developing and broadcasting commercial TV programs. On Nov. 1, 1946, when the station changed to its present call, WCBS-TV, it began full commercial operation charging clients for time as well as for program expenses. WCBSTV now operates on Channel 2 (54-62 mc) with 6.8 kw aural, 13.7 kw visual. * :f: TODAY, WCBS-TV broadcasts something over 50 hours of program service a week, running from midafternoon until after 11 p.m. Analysis of a typical recent week's operations shows a total of 53 hours of program time, divided into 39 hours and 25 minutes of network service and 13 hours and 35 minutes of local programming. Time devoted to vari ous types of programs breaks down as follows: Hrs. & Min Films 11 00 Musical Shows 8 30 Dramatic Programs 6 00 ComedyVariety 5 •30 Children's Shows 4 00 Sports, Fashions & Women's Shows 3 15 News 2 15 "How To Do" Shows 1 45 Situation Comedy 1 .30 Interviews 1 :30 Forums 1 ■30 Talent Shows 1 00 Giveaways 1 00 Quiz Shows 0 30 Religious 0 •30 Exposition 0 :15 Total 53:00 Dividing the 53 hours of video air time into sponsored and sustaining hours — spot announcements are not included in this breakdown — shows an almost even division, if the participating time is consid ered as fully commercial: Net Local work Total Hrs. Hrs. Hrs. Type Min. Min. Min. Sponsored 2:15 12:40 14:55 Partcip. 7:15 5:00 12:15 Sustaining 4:05 21:45 25:50 Total 13:35 39:25 53:00 The division between local and Among the Executives Responsible for WCBS-TV Operations Mr. MINER Mr. SUTTON Mr. VAN VOLKENBERG Mr. ROBINSON Page 4 • TELECASTING January 23, 1950 BROADCASTING • Page 62