NBC Transmitter (Jan 1943-Sept 1944)

]0 NBC Transmitter H.V.K. HOME AGAIN NBC Commentator Makes Swift Round Trip to South Pacific War Zone NEW YORK. -H. V. Kaltenborn, NBC’s noted news commentator, recently returned from an inspection trip of Pacific fighting fronts under the auspices of the United States Navy. He returned more convinced than ever that victory in the Pacific will be a long, hard struggle. During his brief tour, Kaltenborn spoke to every important commanding officer in the Southwest Pacific, including General Douglas MacArthur. Admiral Chester W. Nimitz and Admiral William F. Halsey. At Bougainville, Kaltenborn moved directly into the front lines where, as he put it, he could “smell the Japs. Kaltenborn left New York believing the war against the Japanese would be over in 1945; he returned convinced that victory would not be achieved before 1946 at the earliest. While on his tour. Kaltenborn heard many a United States Marine chant the slogan, “The Golden Gate in 48.” but he believes the Marines are a bit pessimistic. Kaltenborn visited every one of the important islands in the Solomons and shared the hardships of the troops. He waded through muck deeper than his knees and dived into fox holes during two air raids. The next two years will be largely a naval and air show in the Pacific. Kaltenborn believes, but the final blow may have to come from land troops. Among his other conclusions from the trip is that General MacArthur is not, and will not be. a Presidential candidate in 1944. MacArthur. Kaltenborn says, has his heart and mind set on the reconquest of the Philippines and this cannot be accomplished in time for MacArthur to be a candidate, or to serve if elected. Kaltenborn was escorted on his trip by the SCATS and NATS (Southern Pacific Combat Air Transport Service and Navy Air Transport Servicel. It was the NATS who arranged for him to go out on a night mission in Empress Augusta Bay on a PT boat. He traveled on a route which no war correspondent had followed before. Before leaving, he climbed into the official Navy war correspondent’s uniform — the second time in 45 years he has worn a uniform of the United States armed forces. Back in 1898 Kaltenborn was first sergeant of Company F of the 4th Wisconsin Volunteers. He was a war correspondent in those days, too, and covered regimental acti\ ities for the Milwaukee Journal, the Merrill (Wis. I Advocate and the Lincoln County I Wis. ) Anzeiger, a German language newspaper. It seems a top kick had time to dash off stories during the Spanish-American War. His latest trip was the fourth journey through key war areas which Kaltenborn has undertaken in the past 15 months. Although he usually sets out with a definite itinerary, the veteran broadcaster frequently pops up in unexpected quarters of the globe. Last February, he went for a trip as guest of the Army Air Transport Command. to cover developments in Cuba. Puerto Rico, Brazil. Trinidad, the Canal Zone and Mexico. But when he got down to Natal, he suddenly decided to take a quick look at the African scene. So he flew to the African Gold Coast, spent about 12 hours there speaking to Lord Swinton and American and British commanding officers, and returned by plane to continue on his scheduled journey. In August of last year, he broadcast one Sunday over the NBC network from Radio City in New York and surprised everybody by showing up in the BBC studios in London the next da\ . H.V.K. IN SAN FRANCISCO-Passing through the Gohlen Gate City, the commentator (tight) visited John W . Ehcood. general manager of Station KPO. Up-to-Minute War Films Thrill Video Audience NEW \ ORK.— Official Army films of the recent Cairo and Teheran conferences between President Roosevelt, Marshal Stalin, Prime Minister Churchill and Generalissimo Chiang Kai-Shek, followed b\ a film of the landing of our troops on Tarawa atoll in the South Pacific, were televised over NBC's television station WNBT on December 13. It is estimated that these news features, distributed to the television studio at the same time they were made available to theatres, were viewed by audiences sitting before 4.000 television receivers in the metropolitan area. In addition, WNBT's signals were picked up by WPTZ, Philadelphia, and rebroadcast to television set owners in that city. This telecast established a new “first " for NBC. C. L. Menser, vice-president in charge of programs, who arranged for the showings, disclosed that similar up-to-theminute reels w ill be transmitted by WNBT in coming weeks. “These reels,’ he said, “point the wax to television’s possibilities. After the war. when television has hit its stride, NBC will have its own newsreel cameras alongside those of the film companies and newsworthy scenes will be rushed to the air. Looking still further ahead, Menser added that ultimately NBC cameras will be spotted in all important news centers and the pictures will be telecast even as the event is taking place. History -in-themaking will be a regular highlight. WBZ Boosts School Sports BOSTON. MASS.— Outstanding Massachusetts schoolboy football players were recently selected by Irving D. “Bump Hadley — former New York Yankee star who is heard regularly as a WBZ sportscaster— as members of his All-Scholastic Football Team for 1943. During his final “Saturday's Children” broadcast for the 1943 season. “Bump” made the formal presentation of certificates to his AllScholastics. So successful— in both program and promotional ways — was the broadcast that the selection of the AllScholastic Team will be made an annual feature of the program.