Radio showmanship (Jan-Dec 1946)

usual interest have been presented to the television audience. At first this audience was confined to the New York area; later many programs reached a larger audience by means of a three-station network, consisting of the NBC station in New York, the General Electric station in Schenectady, and the Philco station in Philadelphia. UN the opening NBC television program in April 1939, the President of the United States was seen and heard by television for the first time. A few weeks later thousands of people saw the King and Queen of England on their television screens. The national political conventions, campaigns and elections of 1940 and 1944 were thoroughly covered by television. Similarly, the reception to Admiral Nimitz in Washington was shown to the New York television audience that same evening. General Eisenhower's appearance in Washington was handled the same way. On V-E Day, May 8, 1945, the NBC television transmitter was on the air with a continuous series of programs for 16 hours. EDUCATION VIA SIGHT-SOUND Today we are cooperating with the New York Board of Education in planning a series of programs designed to explore the great possibilities of television as an educational medium. During the war years, the NBC television station devoted many hours to the systematic instruction of air raid w^ardens, to War Bond campaigns, and to other programs in support of the war effort. At the present time we are regularly televising, as we have done for six years, productions of drama, grand opera and vaudeville, fashion shows, all types of sporting events, both indoors and outdoors, and numerous other program subjects. NBC has created many original program techniques in the use of live talent, motion picture film, and field pick-up equipment. Advertisers and advertising agencies have shown the keenest interest in the potentialities of television as an advertising medium. Already some 125 advertisers, in every conceivable line of business, have experimented with television presentations. NETWORK IMPORTANCE J\et\vorks will be just as important to television as they have been to sound broadcasting, perhaps more so. The great value to the public of network broadcasting is that it enables people who live far aw^ay from the talent centers to have access to the finest programs which can be produced. Unless the costs of highgrade programs can be distributed among a large number of stations, no one can afford to put the high-grade programs on the air. Unquestionably it is going to cost a good deal more to produce a program designed to be both seen and heard than a program of sound alone. It w^ill be impossible for an individual television station, even in New York or Chicago, to do full justice to the program possibilities of the new medium if it does not have affiliated network stations to deliver programs to a large audience, in other w^ords, to provide advertisers with a large circulation. In view of the time required to develop network interconnections by coaxial cable or radio relay stations, a coastto-coast television network will not come into existence immediately. Initially, we contemplate that we shall operate regional networks, which will later be linked together to form a national network. The social significance of these new developments will be their power to enrich the lives of millions of people, and to help them keep pace with the tempo of the new world that is arising. FEBRUARY, 1946 • 43 •