Television For Minnesota

Jack Benny first appeared on television in a place and time you wouldn’t think.

No, it was not when his show debuted in 1950. It wasn’t in some telecast from Los Angeles or in the mechanical TV days of the early ‘30s in New York.

It was in Minnesota in 1939.

Actually, the city didn’t have a station then. But a company had applied for a license and Benny happened to be there when some test telecasts were being transmitted, so he got stuck in front of the camera.

The station later became one of many to formally debut in 1948—KSTP in St. Paul.

First, some pre-history.

In the mechanical days, the owner of WDGY in Minneapolis, Dr. George W. Young, was granted a license for W9XAT. The station started its life on August 4, 1933 when a picture of WDGY personality Clellan Card and Minneapolis Mayor William F. Kunze shaking hands was transmitted to a receiver at the Minneapolis courthouse. (Media Tales: Stories of Minnesota TV, Radio, Publications, and Personalities by Sheri O'Meara). The Aug. 1938 issue of Radio-Craft magazine reported the station had an approximate schedule of 10 p.m. to 1 a.m., Monday, Tuesday and Thursday, airing film with sound on WDGY. But it also said the license had been defaulted at a hearing called for May 13, 1938.

Enter the National Battery Co.’s KSTP radio in St. Paul. It applied to the FCC for a permit for a new station on December 20, 1938 after RCA announced it would make transmitters available for sale. A construction permit was granted on May 8 and a transmitted ordered from Camden, N.J.

But KSTP couldn’t wait. It arranged a closed-circuit demonstration. The Minneapolis Star-Journal reported on August 3, 1939:

LEGION PARADE TO BE MARKED BY TELEVISION
A pre-convention parade of the American Legion will be "televised" Saturday afternoon [5]. Totton Heffelfinger, president of the convention corporation, announced today after arrangements with Stanley E. Hubbard, president and general manager of KSTP.
• • •
The parade sponsored by the Fifth District Commander Russell F. Bertelsen will start at Pioneer square at 3 p.m. Saturday and will go up Nicollet, then cross on Seventh street, where the television camera will be mounted in front of legion registration headquarters at Radisson hotel.
• • •
Receiving sets will he placed in the Flame Room of the hotel where the marching units will be heard and seen at the same time.

As a side-note, WCCO radio in Minneapolis staged “a tabloid show” (singer, magician, newscaster and comedian) in front of several hundred people in the station auditorium the previous May 4. This involved a portable system set up by Philco.

KSTP decided to try it again. The Star-Journal reported on August 22:

Television Demonstration To Be State Fair Feature
Equipment to Duplicate RCA Faculties in New York
A television demonstration, with equipment and complete production facilities identical to those in the RCA Studios in New York, will be on display as an added feature of the Minnesota State fair, opening Saturday [26].
The demonstration will make this one of only four cities in the United States where such exhibitions are being presented this season.
• • •
The equipment, augmented for state fair showing, will include the latest in television cameras and receivers, all in actual operation. Included in the exhibit will be a complete television show, including many of the fair's highlights.
• • •
At the same time, Raymond A. Lee, secretary, announced that, because of the record number of exhibits arriving for the exposition, judging in four divisions will get under way Wednesday.
• • •
The finest artist in Minnesota; the state's champion home-canners; the leading butter and cheese-maker and the outstanding work of school students will be selected.
The television show will he presented by station KSTP and Stanley R. Hubbard, president.
• • •
"Patrons will have an opportunity to see the finest television show in the nation, with the latest in RCA equipment," Mr. Hubbard said.

More from the paper’s Aug. 25 edition.

Minnesota Has First State Fair to Present Television
Only Two World's Fairs Have Had Radio Show
The Minnesota State fair will be the third fair in the United States to present television to visitors, Stanley E. Hubbard, president and general manager of KSTP, announced today.
KSTP will install complete RCA equipment on the grounds in time for the opening of the Fair Saturday.
The New York World's fair was the first ever to be televised, he said, and television demonstrations likewise were held at the San Francisco fair.
Minnesota thus will be the first state fair ever to offer television to visitors, according to Mr. Hubbard.
The equipment will be set up in a special educational exhibit adjacent to the grandstand. Plans call for televising visitors through the long range lens of the huge television camera, just as radio stars, or entertainment features are being broadcast in New York.
• • •
Special events at the fair, distinguished visitors and others will be brought before the television camera and their images reflected on the silver screens.
• • •
In addition to the television camera and receivers, KSTP also will have a special radio exhibit showing the evolution of receiving equipment from the earliest sets down to the present day.

More from the paper’s Aug. 27 edition.

Television Shown at State Fair
More than 25 broadcasts will be carried by KSTP this week as a part of its extensive coverage of the activities of the Minnesota State fair.
Many of them will originate from the station's sensational 'Television Tour" where visitors will be able to see as well as hear the broadcasts in special television receivers.
The KSTP television demonstration is a duplicate of the exhibit which is drawing thousands daily at the New York World's fair.
Visitors will see the television camera, the control room and the latest models of home receivers. Fifteen television experts from the KSTP engineering staff will be on hand to explain the operation.
The other broadcasts will come from all portions of the fair, from the noisy midway to the educational exhibits. The KSTP special event staff will carry the pack transmitter and mobile transmitter behind the scenes to give listeners an inside picture of the people behind the fair.

Experiments continued. On Sept. 10, the University of Minnesota Gophers scrimmage at Northrop Field was televised, apparently the first time football had been put on television. Radio stars Vic and Sade were part of a TV demonstration on to mark the Minneapolis Century celebration on Oct. 7. There was also talk about televising a performance of “What a Life” starring Jackie Coogan from the Alvin Theatre on either Nov. 10 or 11, but it’s unclear whether it happened.

Back at the FCC on Apr. 12, 1940:

KSTP REQUESTS RIGHT TO BUILD TELEVISION UNIT
KSTP has filed application with the federal communication commission at Washington for permission to build a television transmitter in the Twin Cities.
If the permit is granted, Kenneth Hance, vice president, said, a completely new transmitter will be erected at a probable cost of $350,000.
The communications commission has held up issuance of television licenses pending a hearing at Washington next week to determine its future policy, Hance said, and KSTP will make no plans until conclusion of this hearing and determination of policy. (Star-Journal, Apr. 13)

Nothing happened until June 1945, when KSTP requested 50 to 56 mc. (Channel 1) for a commercial TV station. in April 1946, it amended that to 76 to 82 mc. (Channel 5). Finally, the Commission made a decision. This is from the Minneapolis Morning Tribune, May 18, 1946.

KSTP TELEVISION PLEA APPROVED
Telecasting Awaits Equipment Arrival
Television broadcasts for the Twin Cities moved a step nearer Friday [17] with approval by the federal communications commission of radio station KSTP's television application.
Stanley E. Hubbard, president and general manager of KSTP, Inc., said, however, actual production of television broadcasts is dependent on receipt of equipment ordered before the war but still not delivered.
He hopes, he added, most of the equipment will be installed by August. Plans also call for erection of the 840-foot transmission tower at a site on Snelling avenue, St. Paul.
Hubbard said his station's television broadcasts will cover a 60-mile radius.
KSTP also expects to have its full frequency modulation facilities in operation by Sept. 1, Hubbard added.

The station’s next big event wasn’t until the following year. Here’s Bob Muprhy’s column in the Star-Journal of Jan. 18, 1947.

KSTP Television Sets to 'Scan' Carnival Parade
THE TECHNICIANS OVER AT KSTP have been having a lot of fun testing out a couple of brand new items of equipment which will be used to give the public a new look at television soon.
KSTP has acquired two $15,000 image-orthicon television cameras, the latest type of equipment, and will use them to televise the St. Paul Winter carnival parade Feb. 6. If no actual on-the-air broadcast is arranged, the cameras will be linked by coaxial cable to receivers to give the same effect.
They also will he used soon in a demonstration before the Advertising club, when the types of commercials possible with television will he shown. A coaxial cable link probably will be used there, too.
The camera tests have been revealing a wide latitude of versatility. Using a 25-inch lens—about the equal of a 100-inch lens on a Speed-Graphic camera—one of them, from St. Paul hotel, picked up clearly the images of people on the steps of the state capitol.
The cameras are of the type which can shoot in any light, obviating the huge banks of very hot lights necessary with ordinary television cameras. And they are adaptable to infra-red pickup, with the use of filters. When the St. Paul parade is shot in the arena, most of the light, naturally, will be concentrated on the parade. Interviews, however, will be conducted with spectators in illumination much below normal.
They will be specially lighted, but they won't know it. "Black light"—infra-red—will be focused on the interviewees and the camera's infra-red filter will pick them up.
Each camera is equipped with a four-lens turret permitting switching of lenses, for close-up or distant views, in a fraction of a second. The cameras are about the size of studio type motion picture cameras.
The new Items of equipment are a long advance over the cameras with which KSTP previously had experimented. The station for the last 10 years has been testing television setups getting ready for the inauguration of regular picture broadcasts next fall.

The next big event was the Aquacentennial on July 23. The big guests were Joan Blondell and her husband, Mike Todd. She took part in a TV demonstration. The next month, new property was purchased to house KSTP’s operations, with a 6,350-foot antenna for TV and FM. Later in the month, the FCC approved a coaxial cable between the Twin Cities and Des Moines, which had no television. Also in August, KSTP demonstrated television at the Minnesota State Fair.

Will Jones’ column in the Tribune of Sept. 3 had these anecdotes.

Television Finds a Boy
Tired of training his television camera on weary-looking state fairgoers, engineer John Klug started getting fancy.
From his perch atop the KSTP mobile unit beside the grandstand ramp, Klug began to look for human interest.
Across the street, he spotted a little boy, crying.
"Ah!" he said to himself. "This is it."
Klug slipped the telephoto lens into place on the camera, trained it on the howling lad. The little fellow's twisted features showed up big and clear on the demonstration television screens under the canopy.
From the midst of the crowd, there was a squeal. A woman shoved her way out of the gathering, raced across the street to the crying boy.
Her lost son had been found.
Television, until now largely experimental in the Twin Cities, got in its first lick at public service.
Strictly Bull
John Pricker, KSTP's head television engineer, tried to claim another first for his television unit.
He said they televised a champion bull, making it the first bull ever televised.
"There's been lots of bull on television, but this is the first time there's ever been a real one." he said.
He stuck with that story until he was reminded that bullfights had been televised in Mexico City.
“Oh well,” he retreated, “we televised the first non-fighting bull.”
Next, the RCA travelling road show pushed their wares in Minneapolis. The Tribune of Oct. 10 reported on it. A few years earlier, director Lou Sposa helped his brother get a job at Du Mont. His brother was Dennis James.

3-Year-Old Blond 'Actress' Gets Television Spotlight
Three-year-old Mary Ann Steffes joined the ranks of television pioneers at the demonstration of equipment by the RCA Victor television caravan in the L. S. Donaldson Co. store Thursday [9].
On a shopping trip to Minneapolis with her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Rodney Steffes of Rochester, Minn., the little blond smiled politely for the cameras while her parents simultaneously watched her performance on the television screen.
A bag of candy was her reward for the team act with Irene Murphy of New York, one of the caravan actresses.
The staff of nine caravan technicians and actors will complete their three-day series of shows at Donaldson's today. Performances under the direction of Louis A. Sposa, New York, one of the country's leading television technicians, will begin at 11 a.m.
Highlight of today's shows will be the appearance of James Melton, Metropolitan Opera tenor, before the cameras at 2 p.m. Mellon is here for a concert at St. Paul auditorium Tuesday.
The shows, a combination of commercial demonstrations of new Donaldson store merchandise and a local talent tie-in with radio station KSTP, are typical of what Minneapolis will see on home television sets within a year or two, Sposa predicted.
He and the caravan have presented their RCA Victor demonstrations in 21 cities in the last 21 weeks before audiences totaling more than 1,500,000 persons. Their equipment is valued at $150,000.
Home television sets on today's market sell all the way from $169 to $2,495, with screens ranging in size from five to 20 inches wide.

Variety of Dec. 17, 1947 reported on the end of a dispute over a federal ruling permitting KSTP to build a 568-foot tower; it had been using a temporary 75-foot transmitter pole until this.

At this point, there wasn’t much of an audience for the station’s sporadic programming, as Bob Murphy in the Star revealed on Dec. 23.

Television to Sprout in Minneapolis Soon
AS OF TODAY, THERE ARE 16 television receiver sets in Minneapolis, four of them in private homes.
But after Jan. 1, look again.
The experts tell me the rush will be on. KSTP will begin broadcasting television shows from its new tower in April. Plans call for 30 hours a week of broadcasting. Up to now, it has been broadcasting experimentally.
By April, it is expected several hundred sets will be sold, installed and ready. Installing a television set is a bit more complex than moving a new radio into your living room.
You have to have an antenna, and an expert hooks it up. Dealers are now getting their sample sets. KSTP already has lined up first call on televising auditorium prize fights, but with a gimmick.
Television of fights is all right as long as it doesn't hurt attendance.

On January 15, 1948, Murphy quoted the station’s engineer as saying a test pattern would be broadcast starting March 1 with regular programming on April 27. But KSTP-TV’s mobile unit was put to use on January 28. Jack Horner called the play-by-play. The Tribune’s Jones reported on Jan. 29:

NOW WELL SEE IF IT'S TRUE
Television Comes to Twin Cities
In assorted sizes, and at prices ranging from $169.50 to $1,195, television made a shaky but promising bow in the Twin Cities last night [28].
Some 600 people—most of them radio dealers and their families—crowded into rooms in three hotels to watch a basketball game on television receivers.
In a handful of stores and private homes where private sets have been installed, smaller groups watched.
It was the fast telecast made to any kind of a large audience here. Station KSTP, which expects to start regular video broadcasts in April, set up a special transmitter in Minneapolis auditorium to broadcast the Minneapolis Lakers-Rochester Royals game.
TROUBLE REARS
Originally they planned to relay the images from the auditorium to the Rand tower, from there to the regular transmitter in Midway, and from there to receivers in this area. But engineers had trouble with the microwave relays. So the 500-watt transmitter was lugged from its Midway location to the auditorium and set up there. An 18-foot steel pipe was set up on the roof of the auditorium for a broadcasting tower.
The whole affair was arranged for the benefit of distributors of television sets, who were showing off their models for dealers.
RCA-Victor distributors had five sets going in the ballroom of The Leamington. There were three Stewart-Warner models set up in a suite on the 12th floor of the Curtis. At the Radisson, two Admiral receivers were installed in a room on the 10th floor.
Even more dealers are expected to watch similar demonstrations when prizefights [Jackir Graves vs Eddie Dumzel; Horner calling the bout] are telecast from the auditorium tonight.
BATTLE SEEN
From the dealers' standpoint, it looked as though a "Battle of Television" was shaping up in the Twin Cities. At all the demonstrations there was more talk of prices, delivery dates, sales angles, production figures.
And if the number of generals in the field means anything, the RCA-Victor people seemed to have the edge in this battle. Before they turned on their television sets, eight gentlemen with fancy titles—including a couple of vice presidents—made talks.
They talked so long about television that the basketball game was half over before the curious visitors got to see what it looked like on a television screen.
On the 10 sets used for the hotel demonstrations, results ranged all the way from poor to excellent. How the sets were installed had a lot to do with it.
CHEAP SET SCORES
Strangely enough, the best images were on the cheapest set and the most expensive one. The $1,195 job had a large screen, which made it easier to distinguish players' numbers. But the cheap set, with its small screen, came up with better images than some of the more expensive models.

The test patterns began on schedule but Jones, in his column of March 3, 1948, noted they weren’t satisfactory.

KSTP has what it probably television’s first Miss Hush. Every day, the station sends out an experimental television signal. It's so dealers can tune up the television sets they're installing.
At first the station telecast a slide that had a lot of geometric curleycues on it. That got to be kind of dull. So they rounded tip a brunet cutie. Every day at 3:55 they put her in front of the tele camera and have her smile for the customers.
People with television sets like the idea of having the same nice face show up on their screens each day. They're beginning to wonder who she is.
I'm saving you a couple hundred bucks today by reprinting the mystery girl's face here. You don't have to buy a television set to see it now.
But I can't reveal name or phone number. Reveal it? I can't even GET it.

The station was offering more than this by mid-month and was set to expand its test programming. Jones wrote in his March 18 column:

First Video Contract
Stan Hubbard, president of KSTP, yesterday [17] signed up KSTP-television as an affiliate of NBC-television.
Then there was shaking of hands and popping of flash bulbs in NBC's New York offices. It was, they said, the first such contract in television history. Until now, television networks have either been owned entirely by the parent company, or independent stations have been linked with the network on an informal, no-contract basis.
NBC will service KSTP by air with news and feature films starting next week. A direct hook-up with the east coast network will have to wait until a coaxial connection can be made with Minneapolis.
• • •
KSTP this week moved its video transmitting equipment to a permanent University avenue location on the Minneapolis-St. Paul line.
Starting next week, two telecasts will be aired daily from the new location. One will be in mid-afternoon, one in the evening. About 100 feet of the projected 568-foot tower has been completed. So the daily broadcasts will be made via a temporary antenna atop the partially-completed tower. As the tower goes up, the antenna will be moved up.
Until regular broadcasts begin in April, programs will he devoted largely to Twin Cities sports events and the NBC films.
The Star published photos on March 23, saying the “first regularly scheduled television programs start tonight.” But Jones in the Tribune reported the next morning on a series of 12-minute packages:

Although T-Day—the day television makes its big bow—is officially April 27 in the Twin Cities, the first sponsored television program will start next Monday [29]. Philco Corp. will bankroll a series of films to be flown from the spring training camps of nine major league baseball teams. The series, “1948 Baseball Preview,” will be narrated by Bill Slater. KSTP-television will carry the films Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 8 p.m.

The papers weren’t carrying the experimental schedules, but Tribune’s George Grim describes what he watched on KSTP-TV on March 29 in his column two days later.

Television Preview: It's Good If It Behaves
I’ve just heard a distant rumble—heard it from a comfortable chair in the living room of a friend who has a television set. We had dropped over to see one of the experimental telecasts of KSTP-TV.
"Remember, the tower isn't up yet," said the friend, who also happens to be a KSTP executive. "And we don't start boasting about our pictures until April 27, when we start officially. But take a look anyhow."
It was 7:50 p.m. and there was music playing in the background for a black-and-bluish thing called a "test pattern." It has lots of lines and crosshatches in it so you can tune your set.
Like the Old Movies
That's something to watch. What appears on the little screen is what, when you were a kid, caused you to whistle at the operator in the local movie theater. Curved lines were succeeded by a jumping image which then locked itself into place and turned into the beginning of a newsreel.
In rapid succession, we saw King Michael of Romania flying his plane over New York . . . Jane Fromen's wedding . . . Mrs. Lee Hutton of Excelsior talking to President Truman.
That was the newsreel. At Intervals, the picture seemed as though you were looking at it through the thin seat of an old pair of herringbone trousers. "Remember, this is experimental," said my friend.
(And, having seen television in England and New York, I agreed: the picture, when all the machinery runs right, is about the same as a good home movie in quality.)
Next came the television commercial . . . a demonstration of a record player that played records without anybody watching. While the girl poked the record into a machine, a gentleman put his arm around her and said, "Let's dance."
Baseball, and Barn Dance
Next was a baseball picture from a training camp. We saw Florida palm trees and group pictures of the players . . . individual shots of old timers and rookies. It was a warmup to the St. Paul Saints games which will all be played in your living room—if you have a television receiver.
After that came the first television appearance of Dave Stone's KSTP barn dance unit. Now, I'm not a fan of hillbilly entertainment—but these people just ignored the cameras and had a wonderful time. They told corny jokes and tap danced. Billy Folger sang a couple of ballads, and Dave carefully showed you the songbook the boys sell.
Somehow, it was all very friendly and very informal. It gave you a preview of something television could do: come down off its high horse and just act like someone having fun in your amusement room.
That lasted for half an hour. Then it was over for the evening.
You heard the distant rumble of a new form of entertainment.
You felt, too, the dangers television faced. It was so personal, there in your house. It had to behave like a guest or else. If it behaved, it would become a member of many a family. If not . . .

The last bit of news before the start of regular programming came on April 22, when an agreement was signed to air games of the American Association’s Minneapolis Millers. The deal affected all home games except on Sundays and Holidays. Minneapolis Ford picked up sponsorship, the reason the station gave for dropping plans to broadcast games of the rival St. Paul Saints.

This was a complete turnaround for Millers’ General Manager Rosy Ryan told KSTP-TV its cameras weren’t welcome. Why the change? He explained to the Trib’s Joe Hendrickson:

"A year ago I didn't know much about television so I refused to give the okay pending a survey the New York Giants were taking,” Ryan declared.
"They discovered that television has not hurt baseball attendance, and they suspect it has helped it.
"With a strong 50,000 watt station like KSTP doing the job, it is probable our games will reach many of the rural communities of Minnesota which cannot get our regular broadcast. I am hoping that the interest stimulated by this television spread throughout the state will help our drawing power. It will make more people interested in baseball and bring more people to Minneapolis.
"We are willing to pioneer in KSTP’s project. If television is the coming thing in radio, we want to go along with it.
"We did not go into it for the money we will receive for the contract."

Newspapers jumped to sell space to stores either selling TVs for able to fit TV into their ads. There were lots of television stories as well the day before The Big Day. Jones’ wrote a feature story for Aug. 26.

DIRECT NETWORK LINK STILL IN FUTURE
Telecast Fare to Range From Fights to Drama
No matter how much you pay for a television set, how big the screen is, or how bright the picture, the most important thing anybody wants to know about a set is:
What kind of programs are going to come out of the thing?
Until late this year, at least, the answer to that question can come only from the program department of KSTP-TV.
After its T-day opening, with a Minneapolis-Louisville baseball game, the KSTP television station will broadcast some 12 to 14 hours a week, Monday through Friday.
HOPE FOR INCREASE
After that, the station hopes gradually to increase the number of hours it is on the air. Some 18 to 25 hours of weekly programs should be available during the summer.
The exact number will depend upon the Millers' baseball schedule. Eventually the station hopes to offer about 30 hours of programs a week.
Baseball telecasts are scheduled every afternoon during the first week of KSTP's operation. Evening programs will be divided about 50-50 between films and programs originating in the studio.
Studio programs include a half hour with the Sunset Valley barn dance gang, a program on which hobbyists are interviewed, an amateur half-hour under the heading "Television Audition," a couple of scenes from Shakespeare by a Macalester college drama group, a program on which a family is interviewed and a wacky disc jockey program.
NEWSREELS PLANNED
Films scheduled the first week include a 10-minute daily newsreel, possibly a half dozen short subjects and a western.
That lineup is pretty much the same as the television fare offered in other cities. Quiz shows and how-to-do-it programs for housewives undoubtedly will be developed. Puppet shows for children are planned. Television crews will be sent out to pick up special events whenever possible. KSTP also will air a newsreel of Twin Cities events twice a week. Other newsreels will be supplied by NBC.
The day when you'll be able to sit at home and watch a three-act play or a brand new Hollywood movie still is some time away, however. The same goes for big-time musical and variety programs originating at network studios in New York and Hollywood.
It will be two years before local stations can be linked with the east via a direct network. It will take that much time to install necessary cables and relay systems to bring programs to the Twin Cities.

Jones’ column that day in the Trib profiled the “wacky disc jockey.” It was KSTP “Clock Watcher” morning man Roch Ulmer.

Jockeying records for television presents a problem. You can't just sit there and talk about records. People have to have some reason to watch you, too.
Ulmer has attacked the problem directly. I'm not sure he has come up with a real reason for watching him. But at least he has figured out a number of things to do in front of a television camera which are watchable.
Watch Him Crank
He plays the records on a battered old victrola. It has to be cranked. You can watch him crank it.
He has a table full of assorted junk with which he plays while the records are spinning. His costume is a derby hat and a set of white grease monkey overalls. He introduces himself as "scientist, inventor, lecturer."
He was working on a complicated record-tipper all during the pre-T-day program that I watched. It was made of two-by-fours.
He'd place a record on one end of the contraption, slam his foot down on the other end. It would flip the record into the air.
Sometimes he caught the record in mid-air. Sometimes the record crashed to the floor. It never flipped onto the victrola.
Ulmer's deadpan clowning was at least as amusing as in Edgar Kennedy short subject, and much quieter.
He Hammers
He got noisy a few times. Once he had to saw a piece of wood. The sawing all but drowned out the record which was playing. The record was "Babyface," I think, so it wasn't any real loss. Later Ulmer indulged in some loud hammering. That didn't disrupt any important music, either. Now that I think it over, none of the music he played could be hurt by any amount of noise.
Ulmer also managed to show off a couple of other inventions. One was a "safety cigar lighter." It was designed, he said, "with the cooperation of the Minneapolis and St. Paul fire departments."
It was a fire siren. He turned a crank. The siren screamed. He placed a kitchen match against the whirring wheel inside. The match ignited. Ulmer lighted his cigar.
Safety Cigar
The cigar was his own invention too. It had a piece of rope and a piece of rubber wrapped near the mouth end.
"If you fall asleep with the cigar in your mouth,” said Ulmer, “you don't have to worry about burning yourself.
"When the cigar burns down so far, the rope burns. The smell of burning rope wakes you up. If that doesn't work, the rubber burns. The smell of burning rubber is sure to wake you up."

Another Trib story pointed out:

TOWER WILL BE READY
When KSTP-TY makes its formal bow tomorrow [27], it is expected that some 2,500 television receivers will have been installed in the Twin Cities area.
The station's 568-foot transmitter tower at 3415 University avenue is being finished in time for the opening. In its first weeks of operation, however, the station will use a temporary 500-watt transmitter.
It will take several weeks for engineers to finish the 27,000-watt transmitting equipment to bring the station to its full power. The equipment was designed by John Fricker, technical director.
A new $500,000 studio plant is under construction at the University avenue address. It straddles the Minneapolis-St. Paul city line.
TWO ROOMS COMPLETED
Only two large rooms of the studio have been completed. They are in use now for television broadcasts.
By fall, KSTP hopes to have the studio building finished to the point where offices and regular broadcasting studios can be moved to the University avenue site. Present offices and studios in the Radio City theater will be vacated.
For covering sports events and affairs away from the studios, the station uses a large specially-equiped bus.
Dorothy Spicer has been named television program director, Hubbard said. Don Hawkins, until now an announcer and disc jockey, is the television producer.
Television news coverage is directed by Walt Raschik, head of the KSTP news room. The news staff will use 16-millimeter movie equipment to cover news events, as well as television cameras for on-the-spot coverage.

The only newspaper reviews after the first day of broadcast involved the baseball game, being the season opener. The Star declared: “Visually, reception was reported varied, from needle-sharp in some localities to fuzzy in others. In a more general aspect, reception was excellent.” The Trib’s Hugh Harrison talked about the reception in bars and taverns: “In some, the players were pin-point clear. In others, the screen was so blurred that it was impossible to tell second base from the umpire’s whisk broom. Patrons at the Andrews hotel saw both extremes. Those sitting in the cocktail lounge found it difficult to follow the game on the large projection-type screen, but those standing at the bar saw it clearly on a small direct image screen. The way the television camera was operated made a difference, too. A neat double play by the Millers brought gasps of admiration at the Dyckman hotel, not only for the players’ skill but also for the accuracy with which the camera operator followed the play.” He added sometimes the ball’s travels could be seen on the screen, but sometimes not.

Despite the newspaper hoopla, none of the papers immediately added TV listings to their radio schedules. However, the Star published a list for the week.

MONDAY, APRIL 27
7:15-7:30—Test pattern. 7:30-8:00—T-day banquet, Prom ballroom. 8:00-9:00—Floor show, Prom ballroom.

TUESDAY, APRIL 28
2:30—Test pattern. Baseball—Louisville at Minneapolis. 7:30-7:50—Test Pattern. 7:50-8:00—Local news. 8:00-8:30—Sunset Valley Barn Dance. 8:30-9:25—Knights of the Plains, (Paramount, 1939).

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 29
2:30—Test pattern. Baseball—Louisville at Minneapolis. 7:30-7:50—Test Pattern. 7:50-8:00—National news. 8:00-8:20—What’s Your Hobby? with Jimmy Valentine. 8:20-8:30—Jungle Playmates, (Van Beuren, 1937). 8:30-9:00—Daffy Disks with Roch Ulmer.

THURSDAY, APRIL 30
2:30—Test pattern. Baseball—Louisville at Minneapolis. 7:30-7:50—Test Pattern. 7:50-8:00—Local news. 8:00-8:30—Television auditions. 8:30-9:00—Film feature.

FRIDAY, MAY 1
2:30—Test pattern. Baseball—Columbus at Minneapolis. 7:30-7:50—Test Pattern. 7:50-8:00—National news. 8:00-8:30—Pencil Mania, cartoon, (Van Beuren, 1932). 8:10-8:30—Dramatic Vignettes, scenes from “Twelfth Night.” 8:30-8:40—Pack and Saddle, Grantland Rice Sportslight, (Van Beuren, 1931) 8:40-9:00—At Home With Your Neighbors, with Ben Leighton.

KTSL is Finally Here

Los Angeles got a new TV station on May 6, 1948.

It really was an old one.

The local papers all covered the story. Here’s the Hollywood Reporter’s version from the next day:

Don Lee Given Commercial Greenlight For TV Station
Don Lee's W6XAO went commercial yesterday, giving Los Angeles its second commercial television outlet. Notification came by telephone to Lewis Allen Weiss, Don Lee vice-president, from the firm's Washington, D. C., attorneys, and will be followed by a confirming wire. Okay was effective immediately, making for a newly titled KTSL.
Long-awaited FCC green light will mean immediate activation of expansion plans, said Weiss last night. Within days the commercial and production heads will be named, with Carlton Winckler reportedly set for the latter post, and the technical operation continuing under director Harry Lubcke.
Lee will spend $250,000 for equipment now on order and transfer its transmitting operation to a 120-acre site at Deer Park, Mt. Wilson. Another $75,000 will be spent on buildings there. The present Mt. Lee studios in cresting the Hollywood Hills will also be retained for programming space, relaying to Mt. Wilson like the new Vine Street studios now under construction. Weiss characterized the move as "a blue chip deal," adding that nothing would be spared to get the revitalized unit into top shape and class "A" operation. As soon as contractors can be set the expansion will get underway, he said.
The station's programming schedule will be increased instantly, it was indicated, rather than wait for any physical improvements or expansion, with the schedule to be hypoed to a daily presentation. The first two probable commercials will be "Queen For a Day" and "Heart's Desire," both of which have been experimented with for some time. Six months after work starts it is likely that the entirely new operation will be rolling, giving Don Lee a class "A" permanent set-up as of the end of this year. New film channels are expected momentarily, to be followed by added cameras and a brand new transmitter.

There was a little more going on. Broadcasting of May 10 revealed the station only received…

…special temporary authority to operate commercially 90 days. It must use the present experimental call, not KTSL which it sought.
Grant conditioned on ultimate FCC decision on Don Lee AM and FM renewals.

Don Lee Broadcasting had put W6XAO on the air on December 23, 1931, airing between 6 and 7 p.m. with “a regular daily television service using electrical scanning” for the first time in the U.S., as the company announced at the time. The company was granted a commercial license for KTSL on Channel 1 in 1941 but gave up the license, continuing to keep the experimental, non-commercial W6XAO on the air.

In August 1945, it reapplied for a commercial construction permit, but the application got bogged down in hearings, while other companies were given commercial TV licenses for the city and began signing on through 1948 and early 1949. The problem, as Variety reported on Feb. 20, 1946:

A sweeping investigation of the net practices of the Don Lee Broadcasting System was ordered yesterday (18) by the FCC. The commission will look into the Pacific Coast regional net’s contracts for alleged violation of the FCC anti-monopoly rules on time options and exclusivity.

The FCC was loath to give Don Lee a commercial TV license until the radio situation had reached a conclusion. The situation still wasn’t resolved at the time the commercial license was temporarily granted.

“Temporary” was, in reality, permanent. The station never stopped running commercials and, for almost two years, used both sets of call-letters.

Who was the first sponsor? The Hollywood Citizen-News’ Zuma Palmer stated in her May 15, 1948 column it would be the “Fight For Lives” benefit boxing card for the Duarte Sanitarium that evening.

It looks like that equipment KTSL ordered got to Los Angeles post haste. Allen Rich, in the Valley Times of May 17, 1948, said some of it was on display in the Biltmore Hotel ballroom and that it was “open for public inspection.”

KTSL was named for Thomas Stewart Lee, Don Lee’s son. His end was truly unfortunate. After battling in court for 14 years over his inheritance and being awarded $5,000,000 in July 1948, he was declared mentally ill less than three months later and forced to hand over his broadcasting and car businesses to two court-appointed guardians. Lee died at the age of 43 after falling from the 12th floor of a building on Wilshire Boulevard.

The first week’s schedule for KTSL likely looked like this, judging the Los Angeles press. It would appear the station left evening programming, much of the time, to KTLA.

FRIDAY, MAY 7, 1948
10:30 a.m.—Test Pattern, music. 11:00—“Queen For a Day.” 11:30 to 11:45—Test Pattern, music. 1:00—Test Pattern, music. 1:15—“Heart’s Desire” with host Ben Alexander and announcer Cliff Johnson. 1:45 to 2:00—Test Pattern, music or Telenews. 7:30—Test Pattern, music. 8:15—Telenews. 8:25—V. A. Report. 8:30—Boxing from the Hollywood Legion Stadium, Earl Turner vs. Jackie Wilson, 190 pounds, 10 rounds; Lou Filippe vs. Lem Thomas, 136 pounds, six rounds; four bouts on the under-card.

SATURDAY, MAY 8, 1948
Off the air.

SUNDAY, MAY 9, 1948
Off the air.

MONDAY, MAY 10, 1948
7:30—Test Pattern and Music. 8:00—Wrestling Card 8:15—News. 8:30—Wrestling Matches at the Hollywood Legion, Prince Mikalaskis vs. Honest John Cretorio; crowd picks tag-teamers in tournament.

TUESDAY, MAY 11, 1948
10:30 a.m.—Test Pattern, music. 11:00—“Queen For a Day.” 11:30 to 11:45—Test Pattern, music. 1:00—Test Pattern, music. 1:15—“Heart’s Desire” with host Ben Alexander and announcer Cliff Johnson. 1:45 to 2:00—Test Pattern, music or Telenews.

WEDNESDAY, MAY 12, 1948
10:30 a.m.—Test Pattern, music. 11:00—“Queen For a Day.” 11:30 to 11:45—Test Pattern, music. 1:00—Test Pattern, music. 1:15—“Heart’s Desire” with host Ben Alexander (right) and announcer Cliff Johnson. 1:45 to 2:00—Test Pattern, music or Telenews.

THURSDAY, MAY 13, 1948
10:30 a.m.—Test Pattern, music. 11:00—“Queen For a Day.” 11:30 to 11:45—Test Pattern, music. 1:00—Test Pattern, music. 1:15—“Heart’s Desire” with host Ben Alexander and announcer Cliff Johnson. 1:45 to 2:00—Test Pattern, music or Telenews.

FRIDAY, MAY 14, 1948
10:30 a.m.—Test Pattern, music. 11:00—“Queen For a Day.” 11:30 to 11:45—Test Pattern, music. 1:00—Test Pattern, music. 1:15—“Heart’s Desire” with host Ben Alexander and announcer Cliff Johnson. 1:45 to 2:00—Telenews. 7:30—Test Pattern, music. 8:15—Telenews. 8:25—V. A. Report. 8:30—Boxing from the Hollywood Legion Stadium, Tommy Campbell vs. John L. Davis, 135 pounds, 10 rounds; Gene Loughridge vs. Joe Hartfield, 160 pounds, six rounds; four on the under-card.

W6XIS and KDYL

Attempting to settle when a TV station first went on the air can be a challenge. There are test transmissions. Then there is a regular schedule of test transmissions. Then there are transmissions containing programming. And that’s if the information is recorded somewhere.

This brings us to W6XIS. Well, actually it brings us to KDYL.

KDYL was a radio station in Salt Lake City that decided it wanted to broadcast pictures, too. So it did. Here’s what the Salt Lake Tribune of Sept. 16, 1939 had to say:

S. L. Will See Television Tests Tonight
KDYL, NBC Invite Public to Demonstration
Arrangements for the first in a series of television demonstrations to be given during the next two weeks, beginning Saturday evening at the Park company, 28 East Broadway, were completed by television and radio engineers Friday night [15].
One of the first public demonstrations of its kind in the United States, the television show will formally signalize completion of an extensive renovation program at the Paris company, officials stated Friday.
Many thousand dollars have been spent in remodeling the store's interior and exterior. An entire new facade has been completed after several weeks' work.
In cooperation with KDYL and the National Broadcasting company, the first demonstration will be given Saturday from 7:30 p. m. until 10 p. m. on the second-floor studio especially constructed in the store.
Will Explain Method
City, state, church and other dignitaries will participate on the program, in addition to a variety show including dancing, musical numbers and an explanation of the revolutionary radio development by John M. Baldwin, chief engineer for KDYL.
Among those scheduled to speak on the program are the Most Rev. Duane G. Hunt, bishop of the Catholic diocese of Salt Lake; President Heber J. Grant of the L. D. S. church; Rabbi Samuel H. Gordon of Temple Israel; The Very Rev. Franklin L. Gibson,-dean of St. Mark's Episcopal cathedral; The Rev. Jacob Trapp, minister, First Untarian [sic] church; Herbert A. Snow, president of the Salt Lake chamber of commerce; Major John T. Zellers of Fort Douglas; City Judge Reva Beck Bosone; S. O. Bennion, Hamilton G. Park, LeRoy D. Simmons, Earl J. Glade, S. S. Fox, E. F. Dreyfous, Frank C. Carman and Mrs. Elizabeth M. Felt, only surviving member of the original company of the old Salt Lake theater. David N. Simmons will be master of ceremonies.
First Time in S. L.
The program will originate in a special studio on the second floor. From there, television sets will transmit by direct wire to six portable receivers scattered in various parts of the store, affording visitors an opportunity to see the radio image for the first time.
At 9:30 p. m., the sound program will also be broadcast over KDYL. President Grant will speak, and a series of dramatic sketches depicting various periods in western history will be presented. By means of television sets in the store, visitors will see styles of each period modeled to the accompaniment of music typical of each period.
The public also will be able to witness the broadcast procedure through glass panels in the studio.
After the initial show Saturday night, a daily program for two weeks will be "telecast" from 11:30 a. m. until 4:30 p. m. in the store.

This wasn’t a true television broadcast with a signal being sent out over the air. The story makes it clear this was a closed-circuit affair; there were a number of these happening in various parts of the U.S.

However, the owner of KDYL, was serious about television and applied to the FCC for a license. The Deseret-News reported on Nov. 17, 1943:

Television Station Sought By KDYL
Application for permission to operate an experimental television station has been filed by the Intermountain Broadcasting Company—operators of KDYL—with the Federal Communications Commission, it was announced today. S. S. Fox, president and general manager of the corporation, said the station will begin the broadcasts as soon as permission is granted. Receiving sets will be placed in several downtown areas for daily one-hour broadcasts, he added. Range of the broadcasts will be about five miles.

This was at a time when almost all television had been curtailed as the war sucked away all the electronics the industry needed. The application seems to have sat there. Then the weekly NAB Reports reported on Sept. 29, 1944 about the following application:

NEW — Intermountain Broadcasting Corp., Salt Lake City, Utah — Construction permit for a new experimental television station to be operated on Channel #1 (50004-56000 kc., A5 and special emission. Amended to also request Channel #17 (282000-288000 kc.) with power of 50 watts (200 peak) for visual and 100 watts for aural.

“Experimental” wasn’t enough. A new application was revealed by NAB Reports of Oct. 27:

NEW — Intermountain Broadcasting Corp., Salt Lake City, Utah. — Construction permit for a new commercial television broadcast station to be operated on Channel #1 (50000-56000 kc.).

This gets confusing as Intermountain had two applications—one for a commercial station (KDYL-TV) and one for an experimental station (W6XIS). The Deseret-News of Dec. 30, 1944 reported:

S. L. To Have Television Testing Station
The Itnermountain [sic] Broadcasting Corp. of Salt Lake has been granted a permit by the Federal Communications Commission for construction of an experimental television broadcasting station, it was announced today. The permit to the Intermountain firm, which operates radio station KDYL, will provide for the first television broadcasting unit between Chicago and the Pacific coast.
"KDYL has been interested in television for five years and this license justifies our experimental work in what we feel will be the great postwar industry." said S. S. Fox, president and general manager of the corporation.
Mr. Fox explained that KDYL had bought a standard RCA boradcasting [sic] unit with a number of receiving sets in 1939 and has been making laboratory experiments since then preparatory to obtaining this license. The equipment originally produced a 441 line picture but KDYL's technical staff, under direction of John M. Baldwin, has converted it to the current standard of 525 lines.
Mr. Baldwin said the experiments so far had been conducted without radiated waves but that with the granting of this license the station expects to undertake transmission of television waves early in the spring.

The red tape gets a little confusing from here. The next development was an FCC Board decision on May 17, 1946 to grant a permit to build a commercial station to operate on Channel 2. But then on July 3, the FCC “re-instated” a construction permit for W6XIS to operate on either Channel 2 or Channel 9 and to move the proposed transmitter.

Here’s an update from the Dec. 14, 1946 edition of the Deseret News, with a description of the experimental programming.

TELEVISION: Utah Station Experiments With New Media
By King Durkee
Activities are now under way that will see the telecasting of commercial television programs in Utah in the not too distant future.
Experimental telecasts are already being transmitted by KDYL, the National Broadcasting Company affiliate. Operating as experimental television station W6XIS, the present telecasts are purely of a technical nature, according to S. S. Fox, president and general manager of KDYL. Operation consists mainly of tests patterns and live views of activities in downtown streets as picked up by the television camera from the KDYL Playhouse windows on First South St.
That possible projection of films over the air might be in store for Utahn's even as early as the first of the year was disclosed by Mr. Fox who said the New York City manufacturer of a 16-millimeter television film projector held out prospects of being able to make delivery to the Salt Lake station early in 1947.
"Station KDYL has already been granted a construction permit by the Federal Communications Commission to build a commercial television station under the call letters KDYL-TV," Mr. Fox said, but added that "such an undertaking must await completion of current experimental work."
Mr Fox declared that his station's work with experimental television is the only such actitity of its kind in the Intermountain West. The station's telecasts are also unique, he pointed out, in that transmission is accomplished from the heart of the city faced on two sides by towering mountains.
Mountain Influence
"In their experimental transmission," the station executive said, "KDYL engineers are seeking to determine the effect of signal reflections from these mountains.”
Technically, he explained, this means the engineers must develop a signal strong enough to cover the broadcast area without a reflection strong enough to confuse or distort the television picture.
"Because the signal traveling directly to the home receiver has less distance to cover," Mr Fox said, "it will reach the receiver a fraction of a second ahead of the reflection which travels to the mountains and 'bounces back.' "
If the reflection or "bounce" signal doesn't virtually dissipate itself, he added, it will overlap the direct signal and give a fuzziness or out-of-focus effect to the picture.
"The work of engineers on this problem is expected to produce findings helpful to the industry in meeting similar problems elsewhere," Mr. Fox declared.
Television Tower
KDYL's broadcast tower atop the 16-story Walker Bank and Trust Company Building, tallest structure in the city, places the antenna 330 feet above Salt Lake's Main St., and in full command of the Great Salt Lake Valley.
"The two-bay turnstile, constructed by KDYL engineers, is identical in principal to the one designed by Dr. George H. Brown of the Radio Corporation of America Laboratories for the National Broadcasting Company on the Empire State Building in New York City," Mr. Fox said.
The station official also declared that the tower is built to accommodate an FM (frequency modulation) antenna.
Transmitter equipment in the penthouse on the Walker Bank Building roof was constructed in the KDYL laboratories under the direction of John M. Baldwin, technical director. The work was completed under war-time difficulties including shortage of parts and materials.
"A coaxial cable has been installed between the KDYL Playhouse at 68 Regent St., to the transmitter, and Mr. Baldwin expects to develop the film projection facilities in the playhouse," Mr. Fox said.
Mr. Baldwin reported that he was recently advised that the first hundred thousand television receivers built by RCA will be distributed in the New York and Philadelphia area, where successful television is already under way.
Television Sets
"RCA's second hundred thousand receivers probably will go to the Los Angeles area," Mr. Baldwin continued, "and Salt Lakers should be able to draw from that allotment, possibly by the middle of next year."
When the receivers are available, it was pointed out, KDYL's immediate aim will be to provide service only for Salt Lake City. Eventually, it was added, in order to extend service to surrounding cities, it will be necessary to locate a powerful transmitter on one of the mountains in the area.

The Salt Lake papers had very little in 1947 about local television, though some test broadcasts were reported. Broadcasting of Feb. 2, 1948 announced “experimental broadcasts will start this month.” But definitive word was published in the Salt Lake papers on March 17 that W6XIS would officially begin regularly scheduled experimental telecasts on Monday, April 19 at 8 p.m.

This is the Tribune’s version of the story the following day:

PICTURES ON THE AIR
Utah Notables Praise First Scheduled Telecast Show
Television—long heralded as one of the 20th century's major scientific strides—came to Salt Lake City Monday night.
Still not perfect, but a good barometer of what is to come, station W6XIS, operated by KDYL, went on the air with the first scheduled telecast in the intermountain area.
And with the phrase "We're on the air," many notables of the city and state, tensed for their first appearance on the new medium. The "cameramen" and technicians tensed also as the first sound and pictures were telecast.
Welcome Station
Gov. Herbert B. Maw, Mayor Earl J. Glade, Frank S. Streator, Salt Lake Chamber of Commerce president, and Dr. A. Ray Olpin, University of Utah president, were among those to welcome the station and participate in the program.
Gov. Maw noted that Salt Lake City is the 13th city in the United States to have regularly scheduled television. Dr. Olpin, no newcomer to the field since he specialized in electronics and television pioneering more than 20 years ago, spoke briefly.
All went smoothly on the initial broadcast. But just in case, the cameramen had a sign ready for emergencies. It read: "Oops, sorry."
Free Demonstrations
Besides Salt Lakers with television sets in their homes, some free demonstration shows to interested patrons.
Station employes watched the televised, program on sets in adjoining studios. Besides the speakers, news reels, travel films and "live" singers and players were televised.
Programs will be broadcast regularly each Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 8 p.m. Test telecasts will be conducted Monday through Friday at 3 p.m.


The papers don’t provide any programme listings, though the Apr. 21st Deseret News mentions a local broadcast on traffic safety called “Your Chance to Lose” at 8:30 p.m. However, Variety of May 12 reported the station had something other experimental stations did not: commercials. (That issue, it was mentioned W6XAO in Los Angeles had been given 90-day approval to air spots). W6XIS’s programming highlight was kinescope highlights, documentary films and background from the Republican National Convention in Philadelphia that began June 21 that were flown to Salt Lake City. Large newspaper ads touted the LIFE-NBC coverage that could be watched from 3 to 4 p.m. at several stores (coverage resumed from 8 to 9 p.m.).

There was a channel change. Broadcasting magazine of May 31, 1948 reported the FCC had authorised KDYL-TV to move from Channel 2 (54-60 mc) to Channel 4 (66-72 mc) and increase effective radiated power to 14.5 kw.

Nat Berlin in Variety of June 22 explained the problems the new station was dealing with.

Pioneering in Smallest Center Yet, TV Finds It Tough Going in Salt Lake
When W6XIS, KDYL’s video outlet, hit the air six weeks ago with the first of its regularly scheduled telecasts, it was pioneering in the smallest population center yet to have television broadcasts. The teeoff was accompanied by plenty of fanfare, amid the presence of the usual brass from the governor of the state down. Public interest was high, and dealers around town reported satisfactory buying of sets.
Since then, interest has dropped, and set buying has slumped along with it. Programs not up to the standards set by AM or pictures, are blamed. W6XIS is on the air three times a week for about an hour each. Programs consist of a mixture of local productions and film. The film is old stuff, considered without enough interest to keep a family’s attention, and the local programs are basically not television. They’re AM with pictures.
(Difficulties encountered by the Salt Lake City station are indicative of those found by other stations opening up throughout the country, who don’t have access to network shows originating in N. Y. Solution to the problem, according to tele officials, lies only in providing better programming fare to keep the public’s interest at the high pitch engendered by the prebroadcast ballyhoo. Otherwise they point out, the consistent dropoff in viewer interest may result in irreparable damage both to the station and to the industry in general.)
W6XIS claims it hasn’t as yet completed its setup. According to Harry Golub, director, mobile units should be available by the end of June, and when they arrive a heavier schedule of outside telecasts will be used.
Tele faces two main problems in the Salt Lake City area. Because the valley is completely surrounded by mountains, the maximum potential audience, considering present population figures, is in the neighborhood of 250,000. This limits the market. In addition this area is not known for its spending and with video sets running from about $750 up, not too many customers are going to beat a path to the dealers. Right now there are about 200 sets in operation.
With a nut of about $300,000, W6XIS will undoubtedly do something to make the current picture a lot brighter. S. S. Fox is owner and general manager.
W6XIS is operating with a small staff, headed by Golub, former theater operator and outdoor show producer. The production staff has Dan Rainger in the program slot, Keith Engar handling production, Emerson Smith announcing, and Gloria Clark taking care of scripts.

Finally, everything was in place to drop the “experimental” moniker. Broadcasting magazine reported:

KDYL-TV Salt Lake City Makes Commercial Start
COMMERCIAL operations were commenced July 7 by KDYL-TV Salt Lake City, owned and operated by The Intermountain Broadcasting Corp., on Channel 2 (54-60 mc) with an effective radiated power of 4 kw visual and 2 kw aural.
The NBC affiliate, which is said to be the first commercial video outlet between St. Louis and the Pacific Coast, has been on the air experimentally as W6XIS since last April 19. Studios are located in Television Playhouse, 68 Regent Street, and the transmitter is located atop the Walker Bank building in downtown Salt Lake City.
Personnel actively engaged in operation of KDYL-TV are S. S. Fox, president and general manager; John Baldwin, vice president and technical director; Harry Golub, television director; Allen Gunderson, chief television engineer: Dan Rainger and Keith Engar, programming and production, and Gloria Clark, film librarian.

What’s maddening today is either the station didn’t provide, or the newspapers decided not to publish, the daily programme schedule. Stories got out, however. In July, the Democratic National Convention, the Gene Autry rodeo, the Days of ’47 Parade and, on the 29th, the first baseball game from Derks Field was put on the air (for Petty Motor, your friendly Ford dealer).

It’s difficult to say when the station gave up the call-letters W6XIS. They could still be found in local newspaper stories and ads as late as April 1949. But the papers still didn’t have any listings.

Second Station For The Second City

Television got a huge boost in 1948, not only from a show that brought you a guy in drag and men who work from Maine to Mexico, but from the end of war-time restrictions on the material needed to build TV sets and the studios/transmitters that sent out programmes.

Viewers in New York, Los Angeles and Chicago could tune in new stations that year. For Chicagoans, one that formally began on April 5 was WGN-TV.

Chicago had plenty to pick from back in the spinning-disc days, when the city’s U.A. Sanabria was promoting a mechanical system he developed. W9XAA (as WCFL) was put on the air in 1928. W9XAP, W9XR and W9XAO followed, but all faded away. At the end of the 1930s, what stood were W9XZV (owned by Zenith), which had a chequered history, and W9XBK (Balaban and Katz), which went commercial as WBKB.

WGN’s television story begins in late January 1944; the Chicago Tribune put WGN radio on the air in 1922. Here’s what the Trib’s radio editor wrote on Jan. 30.

W-G-N ORDERING EQUIPMENT FOR TELEVISION ERA
Preparing for Post-War Telecasting Service.
BY LARRY WOLTERS.
Looking forward to the expected era of television after the war, W-G-N Inc. has placed an order for a 40,000 watt transmitter, and filed an application for a television wave-length and construction permit with the federal communications commission in Washington. This announcement of W-G-N's intention to enter the field of visual radio was made yesterday [29] by W. E. Macfarlane, vice president of the station. The transmitter and the elaborate studio equipment for telecasting, costing more than a quarter of a million dollars, will be built by the General Electric company for delivery after the war or as soon as priorities, as determined by the war production board, permit its construction. The W-G-N television order will be the first to be filled when the company is released from production of war communications equipment in which all radio manufacturers now are exclusively engaged.
New Building Planned.
Television is to occupy an important place in the great new building which W-G-N will construct loiter the war on the site recently purchased by the CHICAGO TRIBUNE, south of Tribune Tower, fronting on Michigan avenue and overlooking the Chicago river. W-G-N announced on New Year's day plans to build the most modern and spacious radio structure in the world, costing several million dollars, as soon as wartime construction restrictions are lifted.
The new W-G-N structure, to be seven or eight stories high, will be designed to take full advantage of the expected tremendous developments in many fields of radio after the war. Besides television, these include frequency modulation [FM], the high fidelity, noise-free system of transmission; fascimile, the reproduction of printed and pictorial matter by radio, as well as in standard, or amplitude modulation [AM] radio.
Spacious Rooms Required.
Since the techniques of television in many respects resemble those of movie making more than standard broadcasting the new W-G-N building will contain large spaces suggestive of the Hollywood movie stages. Big room and high ceilings will be required to accommodate the television cameras which can be rolled about; overhead microphones on long booms, elaborate lighting equipment, and other apparatus that will be required in the new art The entire top floor of the building will be devoted to television, under plans tentatively approved.
W-G-N's order includes both video [picture] and audio [sound] transmission equipment. W-G-N also has applied for a 20,000 watt transmitter license to carry the sound portion of the television programs. The sound would be broadcast by FM, but on other wave lengths than those assigned to WGNB. W-G-N's sister FM station now in operation.
New Lights Developed.
Years of television research, speeded by discoveries and emergency developments under the impact of war will be reflected in peace-time telecasting, it is expected. General Electric has developed a mercury vapor type of watercooled lights, with intensity much the same as sunlight, which are said to overcome several of the hurdles previously confronting television.
The new lights eliminate the necessity for studio makeup, a complicated art in movie making. And the mercury lamps give out almost no heat. The incandescent lighting systems employed in other television systems are torturous to performers. The exclusive new lights, of course, will be included in the new W-G-N equipment.
W-G-N has ordered four television cameras, two equipped with telephoto lenses for handling "live talent" productions. The other two are specially designed for transmitting sound motion pictures of either 35 or 16 milimeters. [sic]
Less Light Required.
The newest television cameras require less light than demanded by movie cameras. A great deal of improvements in the character of the television images has been made in the last three years, W-G-N engineers report. The pictures are now in black and white with a good graduation between highlights and shadows.
The largest pre-war receivers showed pictures of about 12 by 15 inches; smaller models, 5 by 7 inches. Post-war screens providing for pictures of 18 by 24 inches have been promised.
Much of television's fare to date has been sound movies. Drama, musical shows, sports and news all seem to offer promise for telecasting. W-G-N directors say that such productions as the Chicago Theater of the Air operettas, when given in costume, as on Jan. 22, will lend themselves naturally to telecasting. W-G-N expects to transmit both movies and "live shows."
Experiments Lay Groundwork.
Considerable experimenting in the telecasting of drama has been done. Boxing bouts and baseball games have been fairly satisfactorily televised. Telecasts from airplanes in flight have been made. Before the war a television camera recorded a young woman's suicide leap from a skyscraper in New York. In England the telecamera recorded the action of the fanatic who broke thru police lines to lunge at King George. Comics, cartoons, theaters, movies—all appear to be within the range of television, altho staggering economic problems must be solved before these potentialities may be realized.

Little seems to have happened until September 13, 1946. Broadcasting reported WGN had amended its application to change from Channel 4 (78-84 mc.) to Channel 9 (186-192 mc.) The application was granted. Broadcasting reported in its Nov. 11, 1946 issue:

WGN Building on TV Is Started Immediately
CONSTRUCTION of transmitter facilities for WGN's new television station, granted Nov. 1 by the FCC, will get underway immediately, Carl J. Meyers, WGN director of engineering, has announced.
Transmitter will be located in the Tribune Tower, Chicago, with the antenna atop the tower, 500 feet above ground level.
Call letters for the new station have not yet been decided. With the addition of television, the Chicago Tribune climaxed 25 years in the broadcasting field during which time it has operated WGN, FM, which it began with WGNB in 1941, and facsimile broadcasting, resumed last July after experimental broadcasting in 1939.
The new station expects to be on the air by next May or June, according to Frank P. Schreiber, WGN general manager.

The Trib added, on Dec. 11, 1946:

WGNA will be the call letters of W-G-N’s new sister television station, Frank P. Schreiber, W-G-N general manager, announced yesterday. The use of the call letters was authorized by the federal communications commission in Washington, D. C. W-G-N’s frequency modulation station has the call letters WGNB assigned to it. W-G-N’s mobile transmitter, which has been operating under the call WONA has been assigned WGNM.
WGNA will telecast on channel 9 (196-192 megacycles) with an effective video (sight) power of 18.1 kilowatts and an audio (sound) power at 11 kilowatts, Carl J. Meyers, director of W-G-N engineering announced. The new television station expects to be programming by next May or June after necessary cameras and other equipment, flow on order, are delivered. Preliminary construction work is already proceeding, Meyers said. WGNA’s transmitter will be located on the 29th floor of Tribune tower. The antenna structure will be placed atop Tribune tower, rising 505 feet above street level.

A projected air date was set, and the Tribune of Jan. 18, 1948 announced the call-letters had changed.

PLAN WGN-TV PROGRAMS TO BEGIN MARCH 1
Video Station to Cost $500,000
BY LARRY WOLTERS
W-G-N's new television station will be on the air with test patterns around Feb. 1 and regular programs will start by or before March 1, Frank P. Schreiber, manager of W-G-N, Inc., announced yesterday. The television station, which will bear the call letters WGN-TV, will be located atop the Daily News building, 400 W. Madison st., pending completion of the Centennial building adjoining Tribune tower.
WGN-TV will occupy studio and office space on the 24th, 25th and 26th floors at 400 W. Madison. The transmitter is being installed on the 26th floor. A mast will be erected atop the building to which the antenna structure, rising 427 feet above street level, will be attached.
Plan Program Schedule
“Employing the extensive facilities of W-G-N we here begun developing a well rounded program schedule for WGN-TV,” Schreiber said. “This schedule will include studio and remote originations, films and news events—both on the spot and newsreel features to be included in the latter.”
The investment in WGN-TV by the time it has launched a regular telecasting schedule will run to about a half million dollars,” Schreiber said. Originally assigned the call letters WCNA, the station will be identified as WGN-TV under a recent FCC ruling providing that all video stations shall have the letters TV added to some combination of three or four letters.
Assigned To Channel 9
WGN-TV will operate on channel 9, occupying the 186-192 megacycle band. Its programs will greatly enlarge the program availability for the 14,000 television set owners in the Chicago area limited up to now to the offerings of WBKB, operating on channel 4.
While WGN-TV is testing its equipment, teleset owners during February will have an opportunity to have their receivers checked by service men, Carl J. Meyers, director of engineering of W-G-N, pointed out. Many antenna installations were made with reference only to pickup of WBKB and some adjustments may have to be made to get the best reception from WGN-TV. A test pattern is merely a pictorial or graphic station identification on a slide. "It shows no action, but it is sufficient to guide men in making any needed adjustments.
Best Of Equipment
The WGN-TV installation includes the newest and best in camera, transmitter and studio equipment and facilities. General offices will be located on the 24th floor. Two studios, master control and studio control rooms, a work-shop, property and dressing rooms and some additional office space are provided on the 25th floor. Besides the transmitter the 26th floor will accommodate a projection room for 16 and 55 milimeter [sic] movies and for slides; a music library, and some added studio space.
The main studio is a commodious room 40 by 50 feet. The smaller studio is 12 by 16 feet.
A complete mobile transmission unit will be delivered to WGN-TV Feb. 10, Meyers said. This car will be used to relay sports shows and special events from points of origination to the main transmitter where they will be put on the air for viewers.
Meanwhile the American Broadcasting company and the National Broadcasting company announced that they will be on the air with additional television stations in Chicago. ABC's station is expected to be in operation in early August; NBC's on Sept. 1. Thus, Chicago televiewers may have four video stations available by fall.

Incidentally, a story in the Jan. 25 Tribune mentioned W9XZV was “on the air from time to time.”

Wolters reported on Feb. 2 that “WGN-TV will go on the air with test patterns next week.” On Feb. 17, his column mentioned “W-G-N’s new television station has been on the air with test patterns” but they didn’t appear on a regular basis until March 3, 1948. The Tribune story that day:

WGN-TV TO BEGIN VIDEO PATTERN TESTING TODAY
BY LARRY WOLTERS
W-G-N's new television station, today will begin a regular schedule of test pattern transmissions to enable video service men to make adjustments on sets and antennae to receive the station properly.
WGN-TV will operate on channel 9 on the 186-192 megacycle band. WBKB, the Balaban and Katz station, operates on channel 4 on the 66-72 megacycle band. Many telesets now in operation may require servicing to insure proper reception when WGN-TV begins regular operations in a few weeks.
Detects Flaws Better
The test pattern transmission will be telecast daily from 10 a.m. to noon and from 2 to 4 p.m. The pattern is made up of a series of lines, circles, and shaded areas with a small Indian head at the top. Such a design provides a more critical means of detecting difficulties than a picture because the black lines against a light background show flaws and distortions more clearly.
The viewer may encounter “ghosts.” Thus, if he sees ten shadowy circles instead of one, or duplication of the lines instead of a clean-cut pattern, adjustments are indicated. Often service men can make adjustments on the direction of the antenna to eliminate the shadows. However, sometimes different settings may have to be made in the telesets themselves.
No Motion Shows
Test patterns, unlike regular television programs, have no motion or action in them. They are like a slide film.
The first scheduled WGN-TV telecast is scheduled for Friday evening [5] when a crew of engineers will set up special equipment to cover the Golden Gloves finals. This telecast will start at 8 p.m.

Columnist Wolters waited until March 14 to write about reception of the boxing telecast.

WGN-TV URGES FANS TO HAVE SETS ADJUSTED
Report Varied Reception on 1st Telecast
BY LARRY WOLTERS
The family and a few friends had gathered about the television receiver to watch WGN-TV do its first scheduled telecast—the Golden Gloves finals. The test pattern came in fine. But when the engineers switched to Chicago Stadium we got only the pictures—not Jack Brickhouse's voice. No amount of tinkering with knobs would bring in the sound.
We hurried over to a neighbor's house. They were getting good pictures (on a different brand set) and also the excellent commentary of Brickhouse. Next we called on another neighbor who has a set exactly like ours. He was getting swell pictures. Also Mr. B.
Our experience wasn't unusual. WGN-TV engineers got more than 300 calls from teleset owners that evening. Many calls came in congratulating the station on the excellence of the pictures and sound. Among these was one from a viewer in Crystal Lake, 47 miles out, who reported good reception and another from a looker at Kenanee, 140 miles away, who got faint reception (He shouldn't have expected anything at all at that distance!).
Many Have Problems
Many callers complained that they weren't getting any sound but were getting pictures, and vice versa. Others got nothing at all. This reaction was in line with the expectations of WGN-TV engineers. All who called were advised that their receivers and antennas might require adjustments by service men before they could expect to receive WGN-TV signals clearly. Many expressed complete surprise that such measures are indicated when a new station comes on the air.
Some unfortunate teleset owners telephoned that they couldn't even find channel 9 (assigned to WGN-TV). Some persons reported their sets had only five or seven channels marked on the dial. WGN-TV engineers explained that these sets are obsolete. They were manufactured before the federal communications commission allocated 13 channels for commercial television. Seven channels ultimately will be assigned to Chicago.
Blames The Station
One irate televiewer in Glencoe, a suburb from which WGN-TV had received several reports of excellent reception, refused to believe that his set might need adjustment. He told an operator that he had a brand new $1,000 set and it was obvious to him that the trouble must lie with WGN-TV's transmission. Despite assurance that no matter how expensive a set night be, it still might require some antenna modification. The caller indignantly banged down the phone.
Since the night of the Golden Gloves WGN-TV has received hundreds of calls and postcards inquiring what to do to get ready for WGN-TV's regular programs when they come on. The official opening date is Monday, April 5 Before this opening WGN-TV engineers urge all teleset owners who have not done so already to tune in the station's test pattern and sound any day between 10 and noon or between 2 and 4 p.m. and then report the results to their service man.
Some May Be Okay
Many teleset owners will not be able to obtain satisfactory reception from WGN-TV until the proper adjustments are made by competent service men.
Other set owners may find their installations okay. One antenna company installed its serials on telesets in five widely scattered sections of the metropolitan area from Mundelein to the south side. These aerials were adjusted to WBKB and when the sets were tuned to WGN-TV excellent reception was reported from all locations.

There was another test, but only of the closed circuit kind, later in the month, as reported on March 24.

WGN-TV GIVES PREVIEW OF SIX KINDS OF SHOWS
1,200 Attend Half Hour Demonstration
BY LARRY WOLTERS
More than 1,200 television retailers and manufacturers were treated to a preview of WGN-TV's telecasts last night [23] in the Sheraton hotel at a meeting sponsored by THE CHICAGO TRIBUNE. WGN-TV is to start regular programming Monday, April 5.
During a 30 minute demonstration, piped exclusively to the meeting and not transmitted to the public, the television people viewed on a 9 by 12 foot screen samples of six types of programs to be carried by WGN-TV. These included a marionette show, a vocal quintet, a sports film with Jack Brickhouse as narrator, a feature for homemakers, a dancer, and a video newsreel. There also was a dramatic showing of a dealer's show room, with the manager and a salesman discussing television merchandising technique.
Outline WGN-TV Plans
Frank P. Schreiber, manager of W-G-N, and Carl J. Meyers, director of engineering, outlined the plans for WGN-TV. Vernon Brooks, operations manager, read a greeting from Mayor Kennelly.
Tribune representatives told the television men how to utilize the newspapers' promotion ideas, complete with banners, pennants, and special displays.
The speakers included Paul Fulton, Edward Tukey, Pilchard Swank, and Philip Cooper. Don Nightingale served as chairman.
Urge Sets Be Checked
Further details about WGN-TV's programs are to be announced Sunday, April 4. Meanwhile, WGN-TV engineers again urged all television receiver owners who have not had their sets checked to do so. Test patterns and sound are transmitted daily from 10 to 3 p.m. over WGN-TV to enable service men to get receivers and antennae into alignment to insure the best possible pictures.
In the meantime, the station made two huge programming deal. The first was reported on March 8, the next the following day.

WGN-TV WILL TELECAST CUB HOME GAMES
Boon to Game, Says Wrigley
BY LARRY WOLTERS
The first move by WGN-TV to provide full coverage of major sports to Chicago area televiewers was made yesterday [7] with the announcement that W-G-N's new television station will carry all home games of the Chicago Cubs this season. The announcement was made by Philip K. Wrigley, president of the Cubs, and Frank P. Schreiber, treasurer of W-G-N, Inc.
The first Cub game to be played before WGN-TV cameras will be the home opener against St. Louis in Wrigley field on Friday, April 23.
Stimulates Attendance
“As pioneers in the televising of baseball games as they were in the radio broadcasting of baseball,” said Wrigley, “the Chicago Cubs are happy to have WGN-TV telecasting the Cubs home games from Wrigley field this year.
“The Cubs are gratified that the televising of baseball games, which we inaugurated from Wrigley field, is not meeting with the resistance that greeted the pioneer efforts in radio broadcasting we inaugurated in 1925.
“For many years there was a suspicion among baseball people that broadcasting would hurt attendance at ball games. Now, of course, everyone recognizes that radio broadcasting has been a potent factor in stimulating baseball attendance.”
Expects Similar Effect
Wrigley expressed the view that telecasting will have a similar effect on the box office.
“We are confident that television, handled with imagination and understanding,” he said, “will bring baseball closer to vast numbers of Americans, and will result eventually in bringing many more persons to ball parks, to get a closeup, personal view of the dramatic scenes and colorful characters they become acquainted with on the television screens.”
Schreiber said that WGN-TV will have the newest in camera equipment at Wrigley field, assuring fans excellent pictures of the action on the diamond.
Jack Brickhouse will give the commentary. Brickhouse was recently appointed sports service manager for W-G-N, WGN-TV, and WGNB.

WGN WGN-TV TO TELECAST SOX HOME GAMES
Exclusive Tieup Revealed
BY LARRY WOLTERS
The White Sox baseball games, for the first time, will be televised this season. The entire home schedule will be presented exclusively over WGN-TV, new television station of W-G-N. This announcement was made yesterday [8] by Leslie M. O'Connor, general manager of the White Sox, and Frank P. Schreiber, treasurer of W-G-N. Inc.
This deal with the White Sox will make WGN-TV the first television station in the nation to offer a complete 154 game schedule of major league baseball. It was announced Sunday that WGN-TV would telecast the home games of the Chicago Cubs.
The arrangement to telecast the White Sox games marks a change in the club's policy regarding television. The deal, also, will bring a new experience to Chicago tele-viewers—the first opportunity to see big league night games thru television cameras. WGN-TV will telecast all of the 21 night games—the first with the Philadelphia Athletics on May 25.
Televise Spring Series
Televiewers will get their first look at both teams in the annual spring series. The Cubs and Sox will meet April 16 and 18 at Wrigley field and April 17 in Comiskey park. The first regular Sox game to be televised will be the season opener against the Detroit Tigers on April 20.
“We are looking forward with a great deal of interest to our entrance in television,” said O'Connor. “We are happy that the games can be made available, especially to people in hospitals who are unable to attend in person.”
Brickhouse At Microphone
Jack Brickhouse, sports service manager for W-G-N, Inc., will be at the microphone for the Sox telecasts. Brickhouse formerly broadcast baseball on W-G-N and spent the 1946 season reporting the Giants games over a New York station.

Monday, April 5, 1948, WGN-TV finally went on the air. To be honest, too much of it sounds like radio. There was an awful lot of talk with one message—gee, aren’t WGN and the Tribune great?

100,000 SEE GALA DEBUT OF WGN-TV
Hail ‘Television Adventure’
BY RITA FITZPATRICK
History was in the making last night [5], and thousands of Chicagoans were part of it. Not long ago, people said it couldn't happen.
Hundreds gathered in flood-lighted W-G-N studio theater and an estimated 100,000 men and women clustered around 16,000 telesets in homes and retail establishments for the official premiere and dedication program of Chicago's newest television station, WGN-TV.
There were men and women who remembered when "flickers" were new; others who had shaken their heads in disbelief when music first came out of the air because of a needle and a crystal. Among them, too, were folks who had scoffed at the idea that men and women on a movie screen could be heard. There were others who had exclaimed, “It can't be done,” when visionary men began to try to send pictured motion thru the air.
Distant Screens Come Alive
But last night, with the speed of light, a stellar program was flashed in all its sparkling beauty to screens as far away as 45 miles, WGN-TV's first “live” broadcast, “WGN-TV Salute to Chicago.” When he first began to envision such a night as last, Col. Robert R. McCormick, editor and publisher of THE CHICAGO TRIBUNE and president of W-G-N, Inc., termed it “an experiment and an adventure.” “Since this is a pioneering venture, I should like to record my own feelings in having a part in it,” he said last night in a speech delivered for him by John Mallow, noted radio reporter. (Col. McCormick was prevented from attending the dedication because of a cold.) The pioneer, of course, sought new lands, new opportunities, new wealth, and a finer future. But he also sought something else. And that something was not material. The pioneer sought new scenes and new horizons.
Invited To Share Adventure
“He felt that in casting off the old he was adventuring toward something more splendid and more spacious. He marked out the trail, not only for himself, but for others. He went among the first, and there was high adventure in his going.
“It is this feeling of adventure that I would communicate to you. In television we have embarked upon another of America's adventures. Come along with us! Let us share the adventure together.” This pioneering on the part of Col. McCormick and his associates in W-G-N, Inc., was warmly lauded by three men who realize the great service WGN-TV can give to the public—Sen. Brooks, Gov. Green, and Mayor Kennelly. The three public officials appeared before the television cameras with ease and naturalness at the beginning of the show.
Hail Service To Public
Sen. Brooks saluted Col. McCormick as one of “the greatest living Americans" and pointed out the many services THE TRIBUNE and W-G-N, Inc., have performed. Mayor Kennelly emphasized how much a major television station, such as WGN-TV, will do for Chicago, and the great influence it will exert.
“In these exciting times as we witness the development of television,” Gov. Green stated, “citizens of Illinois can welcome the advent of station WGN-TV as a manifestation of the role their state is playing in the perfection of this new communication form. As governor, and on behalf of the citizens of Illinois, I wish the fullest measure of success to Chicago's new television station, WGN-TV.”
It looked as the the governor's wish would come true. From, the very first to the end of the two hour program, it was good theater. Hollywood style, celebrities among the “first nighters” were interviewed and televised in the lobby of W-G-N studio theater as they entered.
Celebrities Interviewed
There were plenty of them, among them such stage lovelies as Jan Sterling and Fay McKenzie, both appearing as leading ladies in hit comedies here. Jack Brickhouse, W-G-N, Inc., sports service manager, was the genial interviewer.
Except for the dedicatory service, in which tiny Patricia Ann Murray, 7, of 830 N. Massasoit av., appeared as the spirit of WGN-TV and promised to “grow and grow,” the show could sell have been a variety bill of the old days at the Palace. There was lots of action, beautiful dancers, ventriloquists, fancy roller skaters, impersonators, animals, and comedians specializing in visual comic effect. It seems that vaudeville isn't dead after all.
Tito Guizar, handsome troubadour, who has made a hit on stage and screen, looked and sounded like a natural for television. “Two Ton” Baker, a great favorite on W-G-N, looked twice as big on WGN-TV. For the first time in Chicago, viewers saw a full scale orchestra and chorus on television. Bruce Foote, Chicago Theater of the Air star, was soloist and Robert Trendler, director.
Best of all, Larry Wolters, radio editor of THE TRIBUNE, reported that reception of the show had been excellent.
So the cameras whirred and out into the night, in rain and fog, went pictures and sound together. “The experiment,” as Col. McCormick had called it, was a success.

Here’s the first week of programming, with an in-depth rundown of Sunday’s offerings.

MONDAY, APRIL 5
7:45—Launching of station WGN-TV, with Jack Brickhouse interviewing celebrities. 8:00—“WGN-TV Salute to Chicago,” with talks by Col. Robert R. McCormick, Gov. Green and Mayor Kennelly.

TUESDAY, APRIL 6
2:00—Newsreel. 2:10—Woman Speaks. 2:20—News. 2:30—At Home with Barbara Barclay. 5:00—Wonder House, television show for children with Dick (Two Ton) Baker. 7:30—Scrapbook. 8:00—Newsreel. 8:10—Weather predictions. 8:15—Sportsman’s Corner. 8:30-10:00—Feature film: “It Happened Tomorrow,” with Dick Powell and Linda Darnell.

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 7
2:00—Newsreel. 2:10—Film. 2:20—News. 2:30—At Home with Barbara Barclay. 5:00—Wonder House, television show for children with Dick (Two Ton) Baker. 7:30—Stephen Foster Melodies. 7:50—Film. 8:00—Newsreel. 8:10—Weather predictions. 8:15—Sportsman’s Corner. 8:30—Highlights of Notre Dame-S. Cal. Football game. 9:15—Teleades.

THURSDAY, APRIL 8
2:00—Newsreel. 2:10—Woman Speaks. 2:20—News. 2:30—At Home with Barbara Barclay. 5:00—Wonder House, television show for children with Dick (Two Ton) Baker. 7:30—Travel Guide. 8:00—Newsreel. 8:10—Weather predictions. 8:15—Sportsman’s Corner. 8:30—Wrestling from Madison Athletic Club, with Jack Brickhouse.

FRIDAY, APRIL 9
2:00—Newsreel. 2:10—Short Subject film. 2:20—News. 2:30—At Home with Barbara Barclay. 5:00—Wonder House, television show for children with Dick (Two Ton) Baker. 7:30—Variety Show. 8:00—Newsreel, local and national news. 8:10—Weather predictions. 8:15—Sportsman’s Corner. 8:30—Film. 9:00—Boxing from Madison Athletic Club, with Jack Brickhouse.

SATURDAY, APRIL 10
5:00—Film, “Secret Valley” with George O’Brien. 7:50—News. 8:00—Newsreel, local and national news. 8:10—Water Polo Championships.
WGN-TV will televise the semi-final and national A.A.U. water polo championship matches tonight in the Illinois Athletic Club pool starting at 8:10 o’clock. The Central A.A.U. 3 meter high board diving event will be telecast between the completion of the semi-final water polo matches and the start of the title contest. Illinois A.C., Northwestern, University of Illinois, Town club, and Lake Shoe A.C. divers will be seen in action. Jack Brickhouse will do the commentary.

SUNDAY, APRIL 11
6:30—Pump Room Show. 7:00—Music Corner. 7:30—Minor Opinions. 8:00—Newsreel, local and national news. 8:25—Global Glimpses. 8:45—Cross Questions.
WGN-TV, Chicago's newest television station, which began regular programming last Monday, will offer its first Sunday schedule today. Until the baseball season opens WGN-TV will be on the air Sundays only during the evening hours.
For the present the evening schedule will run from 6:30 to 9:15 p. m. The schedule opens with a *first* for WGN-TV as well as for metropolitan televiewers—Sunday Night at the Pump room. Lee Bennett, WGN-TV singer and master of ceremonies, will be on hand to introduce televiewers to Host Ernie Byfield.
Cameras will be trained on celebrities and well known guests at this gustatory and entertainment rendezvous.
Quiz School Kids
“Music Corner,” a film, will run for the half hour starting at 7 o'clock. This will be followed by a juvenile show (expected to interest parents, too) called Minor Opinions. A panel of Chicago school children will offer some refreshing and candid comments on current events and public issues.
At 8 p.m. the WGN-TV Newsreel will be presented. This will be a review of the week's news. The Newsreel is assembled and edited by an eight-man staff headed by Spencer Allen. A United Press news period follows at 8:15 p.m.
From 8:25 to 8:45 Sunday nights WGN-TV is to telecast a series of movies titled Global Glimpses. The first one is a documentary titled “Small Town, U.S.A.” Sub-sequent shows will take viewers to many points around the world.
Plan Bar Program
At 8:45 WGN-TV will introduce Cross Questions, a new kind of ad lib show featuring two members of the Chicago Bar association each week. A legal problem will be presented to the two lawyers. One will be designated for prosecution, the other for defense. Witnesses will be introduced, and an unrehearsed trial will be conducted.
A guest *jury* each week will decide the winner.
After the baseball season starts WGN-TV will telecast both the home games of the Cubs and the White Sox. The first Sunday baseball telecast will be the Cubs-Sox city series next Sunday. (Larry Wolters column)