Radio age research, manufacturing, communications, broadcasting, television (1941)

Aiding Schools Through TV T JLh .HE National Broadcasting Company has expanded its program information service to reach the nation's school children and alert them to the network's cultural and informational programming. In this expanded service, NBC provides schools not only with its long-established Program Information Bulletin, but with scripts, study guides, commentaries and RCA Victor long-playing records—all designed to encourage students to tune in to fine programming and to benefit from it. NBC's full publicity and exploitation facilities are brought to bear on these activities, since the objective is not only larger audiences for the network's current programs, but the building of a more mature and appre- ciative audience for cultural programming of the future. Before the telecast of Sir Laurence Olivier's "Richard III,'' for example. NBC sent the following material to schools around the nation: a bulletin with background information on the play, the cast, costumes, settings and the lively debate about Richard Ill's place in history; a commentary by dramatic critic Walter Kerr discussing the difficulties in presenting the drama; and an RCA Victor long-playing record made from the film's original A scene from the NBC telecast of "Richard III," featured in NBC's extensive service to schools around the nation. soundtrack, with a specially-recorded introduction by Sir Cedric Hardwicke. NBC has distributed similar material for such pro- grams as "Peter Pan," starring Mary Martin; "Cyrano de Bergerac," starring Jose Ferrer; "The Taming of the Shrew," starring Maurice Evans; "Nightmare in Red," the documentary on Russian Communism; "Sleeping Beauty," performed by the Sadler's Wells Ballet Com- pany; and the "Festival of Music," featuring many of the world's foremost opera and concert artists. Plan Draws Praise from Educators Teachers and school officials have put the NBC information to effective use and they have been lavish in their praise of it. Study guides, commentaries and other written material serve as a basis for classroom discussion of the program. Long-playing records are played over school radio stations or other communica- tions systems. The "Richard III" recording was played three times over WBEZ, the Chicago radio station operated by the Board of Education. The RCA-Victor original-cast "Peter Pan" recording was played eight times on the school radio station in Miami, Fla. An official of the Detroit Public Schools thanked NBC for the study material on "Sleeping Beauty," including the RCA- Victor recording of the Sadler's Wells production, and added: "I also made a survey with our school audiences after the program. I was astonished to discover that third and fourth graders were thrilled with the perform- ance, and as they told me, they did not need words to explain the story. The dancers did it!" A continuing phase of the service to schools is the NBC Program Information Bulletin, which calls atten- tion to, and provides background for, upcoming pro- grams of special educational interesr. The bulletin, which has been published by NBC for nearly two decades, now has a distribution of about 27,000 copies. Its readership, however, is estimated in the hundreds of thousands, since it is circulated largely among schools, libraries and civic organizations. Recently an official of The Florida State University wrote NBC asking to receive the bulletin and added: "It is written with an integrity that compliments both writer and reader. . . . My congratulations on the very high, cultural and informational-type programs you so faithfully pioneer." RADIO AGE 29