February-March 1940

It’s as if Joe Besser was playing the part of the F.C.C., screeching “Not so faaaaaast!” at the television industry.

NBC was making a big push around the start of 1940. It started airing hockey, basketball and other live sports. It mounted opera and plays—including Shakespeare. Actors Equity was on board. Venerable newsman Lowell Thomas was added to the line-up (although simulcasting with radio). It worked out the bugs in its relay system and started networking programmes to G.E.’s station in Schenectady, New York.

No doubt, the future General Sarnoff and his people thought the time was right to start selling TV sets to the current general public, and cut the price as an incentive. But the F.C.C. was making a tour, getting information about television before deciding whether to allow stations to go commercial. And it kept hearing about technical breakthroughs. Things weren’t settled. So the Commission put a temporary halt to letting TV stations earn some money from ads.

Most of the focus for February and March 1940 will be on NBC’s W2XBS. Little information was published about W6XAO in Los Angeles—not surprising considering the paltry numbers of TV sets there. The same with W2XB in Schenectady and W3XE in Philadelphia.

Thursday, Feb. 1, 1940
2:30—“Isle of Moen,” film.
3:10—“Let’s Go to the Zoo,” film.
3:20-3:30—“Over and Under,” film.
8:30-10:00—Wrestling Bouts at Ridgewood Grove Sporting Club, Sam Taub, announcer.

WILLIAM C. EDDY, NBC video effects man, has perfected a kaleidoscopic effect that is used for intermissions on television programs as the visual equivalent of musical interludes in sound broadcasting. Introduction of the device on recent telecasts from W2XBS, NBC video station in New York, resulted in numerous letters of praise from television audience. (Broadcasting, Feb. 1)

A short film featuring Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy will be shown on the television program tonight over W6XAO, the Thomas S. Lee station. Film runs four and one-half minutes and was prepared and is sponsored by the Community Chest. (Hollywood Reporter)

Friday, Feb. 2, 1940
8:30-9:00—“June Moon,” play by Ring Lardner and George S. Kaufman.

Saturday, Feb. 3, 1940
2:30-3:50—“Little Men,” feature film with Ralph Morgan.
8:30-9:50—“Mill on the Floss,” feature film with Geraldine Fitzgerald, Frank Lawton and Victoria Hopper.

Regular relay of New York-originated programs to the Schenectady area, 130 miles away, is ready. A successful public test has been made, but no date has been set to begin day-to-day operation.
The first retelecast intended for general entertainment reception was coincidental with the visit of members of the Federal Communications Commission to Schenectady in connection with the hearing on television. The relay was carried by the General Electric’s new station, W2XB, which is undergoing its final checkup. Reception was described as good in the immediate area of the originating transmitter, the NBC station in the Empire State Building.
The program from New York is received at Schenectady direct on a special double-diamond-shaped antenna 400 feet across. An amplifier, part of the antenna system, increases signal strength 20 times before it is passed to a wire line feeding the relay receiver below the antenna. From there it is sent by a 10-watt transmitter to the main station, 12 miles from Schenectady, for general telecasting.
When it gets under way, W2XB plans to relay the full NBC schedule, in addition to programs provided by its own studio and film equipment. (C.E. Butterfield, AP column)

Sunday, Feb. 4, 1940
2:30-3:30—Soccer Game. Brookhattans vs. Irish-Americans at Starlight Park, Bronx.
8:30-8:50—A musical Televue of James Shelton’s “Our Town.” A dramatization in music of five of the composer’s songs, with Dorothy Bird and Robert Shackleton.
8:50-9:30—“The Long Christmas Dinner,” a play by Thornton Wilder presented by the American Actors Company.

Wednesday, Feb. 7, 1940
2:30—“Olympics in the Jungle,” film of native sports in rural Mexico.
2:40—“In Old New Orleans,” film study of the quaint Southern city.
2:50—“Burn ‘Em Up Barnes,” film serial Episode IX.
3:10—“Frontiers of the Future,” film showing exploration in the laboratories of science and industry.
3:20-3:30—Overture to “Der Freischuetz,” by Carl Von Weber. Played by the Paris Symphony Orchestra, film.
9:00-11:00—Elimination bouts at the New York Daily News Golden Gloves amateur boxing tournament at Ridgewood Grove Sporting Club. Sam Taub, announcer.

NEW YORK—One week’s salary for each member of the cast must be paid for televising a stage play, it was decided yesterday [6] by the Equity Council in a ruling on the show, “When We Are Married.” Two days of rehearsals will be allowed.
The producers applied to the Council for permission to telecast the play on February 25 and this was granted, on condition of the full week’s pay. Show will be telecast by NBC. (Hollywood Reporter)

Thursday, Feb. 8, 1940
2:30—“Sun Valley,” film. Winter sports at Idaho’s famed resort.
2:50—“Safari on Wheels,” film. Conquering the Sahara with modern trucks.
3:10—“March of Time.” “Uncle Sam the Farmer.”
9:00-11:00—Wrestling bouts at Ridgewood Grove Sporting Club. Sam Taub, announcer.

Friday, Feb. 9, 1940
2:30-3:50—“Bad Boys,” film feature, with Johnny Downes and Rosalind Keith.
8:30-9:30—“Charlotte Corday,” a play by Helen Jerome, with Lucille Watson, Jose Ruban, Frances Reid and Carl Harbord.

Saturday, Feb. 10, 1940
2:30-3:50—“Abraham Lincoln,” film feature in commemoration of Lincoln’s Birthday, with Walter Huston.
7:30-8:00—“Art for Your Sake,” studio feature, with Dr. Bernard Myers.
8:30-9:30—Ballroom dancing lessons, Finnish choir recital, talk on the works of the old masters.

Sunday, Feb. 11, 1940
2:30-4:00—Soccer Game. New York Americans vs. Baltimore Americans at Starlight Park, Bronx.
8:30-9:30—“Jitterdoodle Charades,” a guessing game devised by Norman McLaren, English artist. “Television Explorers’ Club,” a studio feature with Lewis Cotlow and his African films.

Wednesday, Feb. 14, 1940
2:30—“Know Your Money,” film produced by the U.S. Treasury Department.
2:50—“Burn ‘Em Up Barnes,” film serial Episode X.
3:10—“Café Con Leche,” film made in Puerto Rico coffee fields.
3:20—“Fire and Water,” film showing how forest fires are fought with the aid of modern transportation and equipment.
8:30-9:30—“Midweek Varieties,” studio presentation.

Thursday, Feb. 15, 1940
2:30—Meeting of the Associations of Junior Leagues of America, with Helen W. Leovy, president, and Helen Findley, secretary of the arts department.
2:45-3:30—“Electrifying New York,” film prepared by the Consolidated Edison Company.
9:00-11:00—Wrestling matches at Ridgewood Grove Sporting Club. Sam Taub, announcer.

Friday, Feb. 16, 1940
2:30-3:50—“Corsair,” film feature, with Chester Morris, Ned Sparks, Frank McHugh and Thelma Todd.
8:30-9:30—“The Perfect Alibi,” mystery play by A.A. Milne, with Agnes Doyle, William Mowry, Katherine Maskil, Maurice Wells and J.W. Austin. Directed by Thomas L. Riley.

Saturday, Feb. 17, 1940
2:30-3:40—“Thunderbolt,” film feature with Lobo, the dog, in a saga of the old West.
9:00-11:00—Boxing matches at Ridgewood Grove Sporting Club, Sam Taub, announcer.

Sunday, Feb. 18, 1940
2:30-3:40—“City Park,” film feature with Sally Blane.
8:30-9:30—Carveth Wells and his Malay Jungle films, and John Sloane, American artist, interviewed by Caroline Bergh.

Monday, Feb. 19, 1940
9:00-11:30—Finals of the Golden Glove amateur boxing tournament, at Madison Square Garden. Sam Taub, announcer.

Wednesday, February 21, 1940
8:30-9:30—“Highlights in the Women’s World,” an hour of variety with feminine accent.

TELEVISION station W9XBK, Chicago, owned and operated by the Balaban & Katz Corp., theatre chain, on Feb. 21 made its first experimental telecast from the State Lake theatre building which houses its studios. B & K channel is No. 2, 60-66 m.c. using 525 line picture. Antenna is vertical polarized. With equipment manufactured by the DuMont Labs., Passaic, N. J., and B & K engineers. William Eddy is station manager. (Broadcasting, Mar. 3)

Thursday, Feb. 22, 1940
2:30—“News Front of War,” a March of Time.
2:50—“Burn ‘Em Up Barnes,” film serial, episode XI.
3:10-3:30—“Repair, Supply and Relief,” film.
8:30—“Uncle Sam, Farmer,” a March of Time.
8:50-11:00— Wrestling matches at Ridgewood Grove Sporting Club. Sam Taub, announcer.

SCHENECTADY, N, Y., Feb. 22. (AP)—Successful television relay, with which engineers have struggled for years, was declared an actuality tonight by a General Electric Company official.
Solution of this chain, or rely, problem generally is credited with delaying widespread inauguration of television. Otherwise reception theoretically is limited to the visual horizon.
High in the Helderberg mountains, near Schenectady, engineers attacked the problem. For weeks a television station there has picked up and rebroadcast programs put on the air from atop the towering Empire State building in New York City.
Tonight Dr. W. R. G. Baker, manager of the General Electric television and radio department, termed the experiment “highly successful.”
“Within a short time,” he asserted, “people in Chicago may sec the sun set in New York while it still is high above the horizon in Chicago.”
Unlike radio chains, which deliver programs to stations for rebroadcast by wire, the predicted television would go into the nation’s homes by a series of aerial pickups and rebroadcasts.
Without chain operation, each television station must operate independently in a restricted area.
Explaining the experiment, involving receipt of National Broadcasting Company programs from New York City by a receiver 130 miles distant, and simultaneous rebroadcast by Station W2XB, Dr. Baker said advantage is taken of a “trough” created by the Hudson river through a mountain range.
Signals passing through the “trough” are halted by the mountain-top antenna, 1,800 feet above sea level. The station thus overcomes the “visual broadcast horizon” restriction by raising both receiving and sending antennas.
Dr. Baker explains the nearly level Mohawk Valley leading to the West provides a natural spacing of metropolitan centers to make a network relay from New York to Chicago practicable. “Similarly, he explains,” the network could be extended to Boston and New England.

Friday, Feb. 23, 1940
2:30-3:30—“Sensibly Young,” Fashion Show, in co-operation with the United Airlines, at LaGuardia Field.
8:30-9:30—“Prologue to Glory,” a drama by E.B. Ginty, with Stephen Courtleigh, Frances Reid, Ethel Wilson, Eva Condon and Elizabeth Malone. Directed by Anton Bundsmann.

Saturday, Feb. 24, 1940
2:30-3:30—“Emil and the Detectives,” feature film with George Hays and Mary Glynne.
8:30-9:30—“One Night Stand,” a streamlined variety show, written and directed by Donald Davis.

Lowell Thomas will combine television with his regular radio broadcasts on W2XBS. He’ll be seen and heard thrice weekly at 6:45 p.m. . . . congrats to Alfred H. Morton, NBC vice prexy in charge of television, for shifting the start of the afternoon studio programs to 3:30 p.m. They have hitherto gone on an hour earlier. This makes it easier for kids (but not for mothers) , who have been finding it somewhat difficult to squeeze television and school into the same afternoon. (Jo Ranson, Brooklyn Daily Eagle column)

PHILADELPHIA, Feb. 24.—Three new achievements in television research, described as “important steps forward in solving television’s fundamental problems,” were announced this week by William H. Grimditch, vice-president in charge of the Philco Radio & Television Corp.’s engineering laboratories.
The three Philco advances as described by Grimditch are: (1) Better television pictures; (2) plug-in television, and (3) discrimination against noise. To the public, Grimditch said, these advances will mean a better television receiver at lower cost.
Better tele picture is achieved by reception of a 605-line picture instead of the present 441-lines, giving a 30 per cent increase in picture detail. New 605-line pic has 24 frames per second in accordance with standard motion picture practice. Plug-in feature is reception based on vertical wave transmission permitting built-in vertical loop antennas. With the use of a built-in loop, diathermy and other electrical interference is reduced. One of tele’s most vexing problems has been diathermy interference.
While these advances are important steps forward, Grimditch states there is still “one big problem yet to be solved.” That is “A better, simpler, stronger and more reliable synchronizing system to prevent picture slippage.”
With 605-line television, Grimditch further stated, it will be necessary to make considerable adjustments and changes before receivers already on the market can pick up pictures of the improved type. Philco feels tele is still in the laboratory stage and is against freezing present standards and against limited licensing of television broadcasting stations. (Billboard, Mar. 2)

Sunday, Feb. 25, 1940
3:30-4:40—“Green Eyes,” film feature, with Shirley Grey and Charles Starrett.
8:45-10:45—Professional hockey: New York Rangers vs. Montreal Canadiens, at Madison Square Garden. Bill Allen, announcer.
If a puck were as large as a football, television’s first hockey match would have been swell. But although the capers of the skaters were visible, the televised game between the Rangers and the Canadiens, from Madison Square Garden, was hard to follow. (Ben Gross, Daily News column, Feb. 26)

Marjorie Evans, who is featured in “Songs by Marjorie” on WFIL, will be telecast in a special program on Wednesday [28] at the Philco experimental plant in this city. The telecast will be produced by Helen May Aldrich. (Philadelphia Inquirer)

Monday, Feb. 26, 1940
Edmund G. Kelly, of Passaic, has the distinction of being among the first Union College students to be broadcast over the General Electric Company’s television station, W2XB. Kelly sang with the octet of the Union College Glee Club in a special broadcast Monday night. Made up as for motion pictures, the group sang a series of classical and college songs. (Passaic Herald-Tribune, Feb. 29)

Tuesday, Feb. 27, 1940
SCHENECTADY, N.Y., Feb. 27 (AP)—Rockwell Kent, the artist, introduced a new twist to television programs last night [26] when he appeared on General Electric’s W2XB.
Mr. Kent insisted on knowing how he appeared to his television audience. There was much consideration among engineers until one hit upon the plan of placing a mirror beside the camera lens.
A temporary mirror was found and the show went on with Mr. Kent looking at the audience through the television camera and at the same time keeping an eye on himself in the mirror.
An official said the mirror will be part of the regular equipment henceforth.

Wednesday, Feb. 28, 1940
3:30—“Little Miss Cowboy,” film.
3:40-4:30—“Today We Build,” an FHA film on housing projects in Europe and America.
6:45—Lowell Thomas, news.
8:15-11:15—Intercollegiate basketball: Fordham vs. Pittsburgh, and New York University vs. Georgetown, at Madison Square Garden. Bill Allen, television announcer.

The re-enactment of the Tailwaggers award given to “Daisy,” the dog, will be televised tonight over the Lee Television System with Larry Simms, who appears in the Columbia “Blondie” series, accepting the award in place of the dog’s owner, Rennie Renfro, who is ill. (Hollywood Reporter)

Thursday, Feb. 29, 1940
3:30-4:45—“Three Waltzes,” French film feature with English sub-titles.
6:45—Clem McCarthy, news.
9:00-11:00— Wrestling matches at Ridgewood Grove Sporting Club. Sam Taub, announcer.

Friday, Mar. 1, 1940
3:30—“Jay Alia,” sports film.
3:40—“Burn ‘Em Up Barnes,” film serial, final episode.
4:00—“Construction of Three Small Houses,” am FHA housing film.
4:20-4:35—Thomas J. Watson, president of International Business Machines Corporation, receiving the Golden Gate Exposition plaque.
8:30-9:00—Variety: to be announced.

Saturday, Mar. 2, 1940
3:30-4:45—“Little Red School House,” juvenile film.
7:30-8:00—“Art For Your Sake,” Dr. Bernard Myers.
8:30-9:30—“Out of the Kaleidoscope,” Variety show.
9:30-10:30—IC-4A Track Meet.

Lowell Thomas is turning in good performances on the television channel. Chief criticism, however, comes from women, who say he isn’t as good looking as they imagined him to be. (Jo Ranson, Brooklyn Eagle column)

After the postman rings once or twice at No. 8 Birch Ave., in Chester Park, 5-year-old Charles Amato, who lives there, turns to his father, Mayor Dominic Amato of North Pelham (pop. 5,000) and says:
“Any mail for me?” You can scarcely blame Charles for expecting fan letters, considering his rapid progress since Dec. 2. On that date he played his accordion at a local affair. Last Sunday he was in the role of Pinocchio in NBC’s telecast from W2XBS. Now he’s taking screen tests, the movies are interested in what radio experts call his “unbelievable” talent, plus his photogenic quality. (Julia McCarthy, Daily News)

Sunday, March 3, 1940
3:45-5:30—Amateur Hockey: New York Rovers vs. Valley Field of Quebec, at Madison Square Garden. Bill Allen, announcer.
8:30-10:30—“When We Are Married,” a telecast of Robert Henderson’s production of J. B. Priestley’s comedy with Estelle Winwood, Alison Skipworth, J.C. Nugent, Tom Powers, Ann Andrews, Sally O’Neil and A.P. Kaye. Television direction by Thomas Lyne Riley.

Wednesday, March 6, 1940
3:30—“Miracles of Modernization,” an FHA film.
3:40—“Yours Truly, Ed Graham,” film.
4:00-4:30—Shoe Style Show.
6:45-7:00—Lowell Thomas, news commentator.
9:00-11:00—Boxing: Golden Gloves Tournament of Champions, at Madison Square Garden. Sam Taub, announcer.

Birds-eye views of Manhattan are scheduled to be flashed on television screens at 1:30 p.m. today [6] from a transmitter-equipped plane which is to take off from LaGuardia Field and transmit the pictures to the National Broadcasting Company station, W2XBS, atop the Empire State Building from where they will be telecast across the metropolitan area. The demonstration is designed to show the advanced nature of television development and to indicate some of the future possibilities of television in conjunction with aviation. (Brooklyn Daily Eagle)

SCHENECTADY, N.Y., March 7. (INS)—A radical development which may revolutionize artillery warfare was tested Thursday when an airline flying over New York City sent by television to Schenectady the scene over which it was flying.
The air view of Manhattan and vicinity, relayed by the National Broadcasting Company’s facilities, was so clear when receive at General Electric’s station W2XB here, even the waves in New York Harbor were distinguishable. Through similar devices in warfare it will be possible for a general far back behind the lines to watch his men attack, or for an artillery officer to spot the fall of his every shell.
Captain Isaac D. Van Meter, commander of the Schenectady army depot, termed it “an extremely significant development,” adding:
“It is likely to revolutionize artillery fire. It would take no time at all to get on a target.”

AIRPLANE TELECAST
45 Mins.
Wednesday (6), 1:30 p.m. RCA-NBC, New York
Those with television receiving sets were provided an early afternoon thrill last week when the first pictorial broadcast of the metropolis from the air was demonstrated. Start was from LaGuardia field. New York’s new flying field at North Beach, Queens.
Demonstration which may prove valuable from a military standpoint was accomplished by the teaming of RCA, NBC and the United Air Lines. New lightweight television apparatus was installed in the research ship of United. Marked a long step towards spot telecasting. Heretofore that type of televized broadcasts required two 10-ton trucks. Reception was sometimes vague because ground conditions were murky, but as the plane went back and forth over the city, crossing and recrossing the Hudson and East rivers, many landmarks were clearly seen, including the aquarium at Battery Park, the Statue of Liberty, buildings of the financial district, RCA building and Empire State from whence telecasts are sprayed on the air. Other familiar scenes included motor cars speeding along the westside express highway, liners at their docks and the elevated train lines. Views of the World’s Fair buildings added to the exceptional program, as did scenes over Central Park.
Ray Forrest, who announced the trip, kept up running comment. At times his voice was partly drowned out by the noise of the plane’s exhaust but the whirr of the propellers heightened the effect on the receiving end.
An added kick was provided by the sight of an accompanying plane, a regulation Douglas Mainliner used in transcontinental flights. The Douglas kept at the level of the telecast ship, about 100 yards away. It had a receiving set so that those aboard saw the pictures of their ship in flight. The Mainliner’s propellers appeared to be turning very slowly whereas they spin at the rate of 1200 revo1ution per minute. In flight propellers cannot be seen by the naked eye but electronic camera pictured the blades clearly. That is explainable by the fact that the camera snaps a picture every 60th of a second.
Reception on a plane was demonstrated several months ago when a broadcast from NBC registered on a set in a ship flying over Washington at a height of 22,000 feet. Telecast from the United ship was from 2,000 feet. Ibee. (Billboard, Mar. 13)



Thursday, March 7, 1940
3:30-4:40—“The Phantom Fiend,” thriller film, with Ivor Novello.
6:45-7:00—Lowell Thomas, news commentator.
8:45-10:30—Hockey: Boston Bruins vs. New York Americans, at Madison Square Garden. Bill Allen announcer.

Friday, March 8, 1940
3:30—“Washington, Shrine of Patriotism,” film travelogue.
3:50—“Cliff Friend,” musical film.
4:00—“Ten Minutes in Sweden,” film, with Eric Mann, narrator.
4:20-4:30—“Westminster Kennel Club Show,” a Newsreel Theater film record.
6:45-7:00—Lower Thomas, news commentator.
8:30-9:30—“Dangerous Corner,” a drama by J.B. Priestley, with Ruth Weston, Alexander Kirkland, Helen Craig, Barry Thompson and Helen Brooks. Directed by Edward Padula.

Saturday, March 9, 1940
3:30—The Children’s Matinee.
4:00—“Jasper National Park,” film travelogue.
4:15-4:30—“Sunday in Mexico,” film travelogue.
7:30-8:00—“Art For Your Sake,” with Dr. Bernard Myers, a radio-television feature.
9:30-10:30—Knights of Columbus track meet, at Madison Square Garden. Jack Fraser, announcer.

NBC will give away cash with “Minute Mysteries” which debuts next Saturday . . . Last Wednesday’s telecasting from an airplane over New York City was really something . . . According to O. B. Hanson, NBC chief engineer, the success of the demonstration was “little short of astounding.” The experiment was a sequel to a plan experiment conducted last October when a program transmitted from New York was received in an airplane flying above Washington, D. C., at an altitude of 22,000 feet. (Jo Ranson, Brooklyn Eagle column)

Residents of the New York area may look into television receiving sets next Wednesday, March 13, at 8:30 p. m., E. S. T., and see a typical mother and daughter shopping expedition in progress.
Telecast from NBC Radio City studio over station W2XBS and staged by the Tailored Woman, Fifth Avenue specialty shop, this unique fashion show will demonstrate how mother and daughter look over smart spring styles for a variety of occasions, try them on and make their selections.
Evening gowns for the matron and young girl will feature a purple chiffon with white daisy print to be worn by a gray-haired matron, a pencil-silhouette dinner costume in rough linen, a picture gown of rose print mull with matching parasol in the fashion of the Old South and cotton evening gowns of exquisite workmanship and original design.
Other costumes to be shown will be daytime and evening outfits for wedding guests, Molyneux’s casha and print suit with blouseback lumber jacket to be worn with this French designer’s fur jackets and various other models from the spring collection.
This television fashion show will be viewed in the salons of the Tailored Woman by clients of the shop as it is picked up by television sets placed there during the week. (Central New Jersey Home News)

Sunday, March 10, 1940
3:30-4:30—“The Glory Trail,” Western film feature, with Tom Keene.
8:00-9:00—Met Opera Program. Armand Tokatyan, Hilde Reggiani, Bruna Castagna, Frederick Jagel, Leonard Warren, others. Edward Johnson, master of ceremonies. Frank St. Leger, conductor.

Metropolitan Opera will go before television cameras for the first time today when Edward Johnson, general manager of the Metropolitan, and 10 stars of the opera participate in a premiere president by the National Broadcasting Company over Station W2XBS. The telecast will begin at 8 P. M., E. S. T. [10], and continue for one hour.
Mr. Johnston will be master of ceremonies for this program, the sound portion of which also will be heard over WJZ. He will make a brief appeal to televiewers for support of the Metropolitan Opera Fund.
The finale of the telecast, the first operatic venture to be undertaken by American television, will be Act of “I Pagliacci.” The setting in NBC’s television studio in Radio City will be molded after the Metropolitan’s mise en scene for the Leoncavallo opera, with a small outdoor theatre as the principal point of interest. Armand Tokatyan will he Canio, with Hilda Burke as Nedda and Richard Bonelli in the role of Tonio. Silvio will be sung by George Cehanovsky ane Peppe by Alessio de Paolis. Frank St. Leger will conduct.
Others to appear on the television opera concert will be Bruna Castagna, singing the Haanera from “Carmen,” and Licia Albanese ini Je dis que rien ne m’eprouvante, from the same opera. Frederick Jagel will sing the area [sic], Cielo e mar! from Ponchielli’s “La Gioconda,” and Leonard Warren will be heard in Largo al factotum, from “The Barber of Seville.” The quartette from “Rigoletto” will bring Jagel and Warren before the battery of NBC’S electronic cameras. (Philadelphia Inquirer)

The first U. S. A. television broadcast of Grand Opera took place Sunday (10), from a stage at NBC in Radio City and under the auspices of the Metropolitan Opera Co. The telecast proved that as yet, and probably for quite some time to come, Grand Opera does not lend itself to visual presentation on the air.
The telecast was conducted in conjunction with the Met’s drive for $1,000,000 to purchase its present home. The program was continually spotted with appeals for money from Gene Hamilton, the announcer, and Edward Johnson, general manager of the Met, who acted as commentator. With fewer than 1,000 television sets in existence this appeal couldn’t produce much.
The program presented consisted of two parts, the first being the usual concert platform, presentation with the singers appearing in formal dress, and the second a much abbreviated version of ‘Pagliacci’ in costume.
From a television standpoint, the first portion of the program was the best. It is unfortunate, but true, that motion pictures has injured television’s chances. The screen has led the public to expect good acting, and some degree of good looks. Most opera singers are too mature for the snakehips camera silhouette. The Met went to some lengths to use singers who were most nearly photogenic, but in comparison to what the screen has led the public to expect, the results were miser able. As a straight concert program, the spectator was less ill at ease, although the sight of wide open straining mouths, and stretched neck cord muscles, brought murmers of disapproval and a tendency to laughter.
Camera Trouble
In the ‘Pagliacci’ presentation, the lack of an adequate size camera forced the focus into a 10-15 foot dimension, causing any action on the tiny screen to be considerably lost. The exaggerated scenery-chewing opera-style acting of the singers seemed a throwback to the silent days of the screen.
The first portion of the program was presented against a silver curtained backdrop. The second portion, found an attempt made at a setting done in considerable miniature, and forcing the elimination of a large part of the act which normally contains chorus, and donkey with a cart, etc.
The actual singing was just fair. The program opened with Bruna Castagna singing the ‘Habanera’ from ‘Carmen’ adequately, but without the life and zest that the aria calls for. Frederick Jagel followed with a well sung ‘Cielo e mar’ from ‘Gioconda.’ Lucia Albanese’s Michaelia’s aria from ‘Carmen’ did not come off well, with shrill top tones and not so good French, spoiling the effect on one hand, and extremely ridiculous facial grimaces on the other. Leonard Warren sang a pretty good Largo al Factotum from the ‘Barber of Seville,’ and the first half closed with a poor rendition of the quartet from ‘Rigoletto’ with Jagel, Castagna, Warren and Hilde Reggiani. Here the screen was unable to absorb four singers at one time, and was forced to concentrate on two at a time. Then followed ‘Pagliacci.’|
Bonelli, Tokatyan Okay
The singing in ‘Pagliacci’ was featured by a well sung Prologue by Richard Bonelli, and ‘Vesti La Guibba’ by Armand Tokatyan. It was spoiled by Hilda Burke’s yowling as Nedda. The soprano’s voice was unpleasant in the upper register, where it also fell short of the required top tones. George Cehanovsky, as Silvio, mugged the camera in great style, turning Miss Burke’s head from the lenses and grinning vociferously into them. The program closed with another appeal for money.
Until the size of the screen can be considerably enlarged, and close-ups are abolished, or singers taught to act, television will have to take a back seat to opera at actual performances, or in films. The supposedly excellent sound, as a result of the coordination between screen and voice, another feature advertised by television was lacking. The recording was no better or worse than in an ordinary radio performance. (Variety, Mar. 13)

Tuesday, Mar. 12, 1940
At 11 o’clock this morning, the Philco Radio and Television Corp. will telecast two United Charities films from the television studios, and at 2:30 P. M. Margalo Gilmore, appearing here this week in “No Time for Comedy,” will open the penny safe in front of Wanamaker’s Chestnut st. entrance. (Philadelphia Enquirer)

New York, March 12 (AP) — Radio Corporation of American announced today a $200 reduction in the price of television receivers an increase in the National Broadcasting company’s picture program schedule, and plans for a relay to link New York and Philadelphia.
Altho the announcement did not mention this point, it was learned that a refund probably would be made to purchasers of receivers at the original price.
The announcement was made at a meeting of dealers at which plans were discussed for a campaign to put 25,000 rece1ver in New York area homes within the next 12 months, compared with 1,500 to 2,000 sets in operation now.
The price cut would reduce the $600 receivers with an 8 by 10 inch screen to $395 and other models in proportion. Installation costs also are to be lowered. The television network to Philadelphia, it was stated, would be a start towarc1 linking other nearby cities. Among cities which may be included later would be Washington, to permit televising of the next presidential inauguration.

Wednesday, March 13, 1940
3:30-4:30—“Cheating Blondes,” film with Thelma Todd.
6:45-7:00—Lowell Thomas, news commentator.
8:00-8:15—Fashion Show.
8:15-11:15—Basketball, semi-finals of the national intercollegiate invitational tournament, at Madison Square Garden.

Thursday, March 14, 1940
3:30-4:40—“Wolves of the Underworld,” feature film, with Godfrey Tearle.
6:45-7:00—Lowell Thomas, news.
8:45-10:45—Hockey, Boston Bruins vs. New York Rangers, at Madison Square Garden.

Friday, March 15, 1940
3:30-4:40—“Yellow Cruise,” film travelogue.
6:45-7:00—Lowell Thomas, news.
8:30-9:30—“Julius Caesar,” play in modern dress, with Stephen Courtleigh as Brutus, Patrick Ludlow as Cassius, Judson Laire as Caesar, Muriel Hutchinson as Portia, Douglas Gilmore and Evelyn Allen.

Television Review
Reviewed Friday, 8:30-9:30 p.m. Style—Drama. Reviewed on RCA Receiver TRK 12.
Only the desire to experiment can justify NBC’s television production of Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar in modern dress. To see a group of actors parade around In military garb that makes them resemble a gang of Kremlin or Berlin fanatics and then to hear them deliver the Bard’s classic lines is as farcical as was Tony Galento’s grappling with Romeo and Juliet. The difference is that the Galento stunt was admitted as such, while this television production is supposed to be, presumably, an advance in a new dramatic form. If the Shakespearean form must be advance, which is debatable, it had best be left to mountebanks, of which the theater has enough, or else it should be done the whole hog. If there’s to be a modern dress let there be the modern idiom. If there’s to be modern dreas and modern idiom then it’s not Shakespeare, which is as it should be. After all, he was a pretty good playwright.
There were few changes, among them having Caesar riddled by bullets, omitting the “unkindest cut.” This scene is supposed to be pretty exciting, but it came over with all the thrill of a bowl of oatmeal, which may also be said of the entire production. Shakespeare brings out the ham in most actors, and even a pig would have blushed had he been of a mind to take in a television show on Friday evening (15).
Part of the modernization, which was effected by Wallace Wade, was to use motion picture footage to depict crowd and war scenes and to use the noises these scenes carry as background during several speeches, notably those of Brutus and Mark Antony at the funeral. The sound production was pretty bad there.
Only Patrick Ludlow as Cassius managed to play with any success, while Stephen Courtleigh as Brutus and Judson Laire as Caesar were vapid. Atrocious performances were those of Eric Mansfield as Casca and Douglas Gilmore as Antony. Others in the cast included Evelyn Allen, Stefan Schnable, Arthur Anderson, Francis Cleveland, Leslie Austen, Grant Gordon, Jack Parsons and Richard Coogan.
Now, now, Bill, stop spinning around like that. Franken. (Billboard, Mar. 23)

Saturday, March 16, 1940
2:30-4:00—St. Patrick’s Day Parade on Fifth Avenue.
7:30-8:00—“Art For Your Sake,” radio-television feature with Dr. Bernard Myers.
8:30-9:30—Variety, with Roy Post and “Minute Mysteries,” a new audience participation game; Winifred Osborn on “Bridge Made Easy;” the Chocolate Eclairs harmony team, others.
FIRST PRIZE contest for televiewers will start March 16 on W2XBS, New York, with NBC offering $25 for the correct answers to 15 questions based on a 10-minute mystery film which will be telecast. Contest, a pictorial version of the “Minute Mysteries” newspaper series, will be given a four-week test by NBC, which has scheduled it at 8:30 p.m. Saturdays. Question cards will be mailed in advance to set-owners receiving NBC’s program service, with the network expecting that the contest will add a quantity of new names to its list. (Broadcasting, Mar. 15)

Sunday, March 17, 1940
3:30-4:30—“Man of Sentiment,” film feature, with Marian Mash, Owen Moore and William Bakewell.
8:30-9:30—Sunday Varieties, with Tex O’Rourke’s Round Up, featuring famous personalities, and the Explorers’ Club program, with Commander Donald MacMillan and his Arctic films.

The recent telecast from Radio City of J.B. Priestley’s comedy, “When We Are Married,” played by the Broadway cast, has been voted the most popular production yet performed, according to viewer surveys. With three as a perfect mark, the play is rated 2.85. “Jane Eyre,” with a standing at 2.76. Of the 1,350-odd ballots mailed weekly to set owners by the NBC, about 33 per cent or approximately 450 are returned, offering a barometer of program popularity. (New York Times)

Plans for giving Philadelphia regular television broadcasts are now under way by the National Broadcasting Company, with the announcement that application for the construction and operation of a television transmitting station in this city were filed last week with the Federal Communications Commission. “R. C. A. Communications, Inc., shortly will file applications to cover television relay service between New York and Philadelphia, supplementing the radiotelegraph and facsimile service, which the company now renders,” said David Sarnoff, president of RCA and chairman of the Board of the National Broadcasting Co. The construction of the television relay system between New York and Philadelphia,” continued Sarnoff, “will enable these two great metropolitan centres to exchange programs and the varied forms of education and entertainment made possible by television.” Relay systems will be built in other cities following the initial step between New York and this city. (Philadelphia Inquirer)

Monday, March 18, 1940
9:00-11:00—Golden Gloves Tournament, intercity championships, at Madison Square Garden. Sam Taub, announcer.

Wednesday, March 20, 1940
3:30-4:40—“End of a Day,” French film feature, with Louis Jouvet, Madelaine Ozeray, Victor Francen and Michel Simon.
6:45-7:00—Clem McCarthy, news.
8:50—The Reporter, news feature.
9:00-10:00—“Juggernaut,” film feature with Boris Karloff.

A new program service for owners of television receivers will be introduced tonight [20] at 7 o’clock in which regular network radio programs are to be broadcast on the sound channel of W2XBS when the sight-sound station atop the Empire State Building is not projecting pictures into the air, the National Broadcasting Company announced yesterday.
The plan, as outlined by Alfred H. Morton, NBC vice president in charge of television, calls for the use of the sound channel three hours each night at such times as television programs are not scheduled. With the addition of sound transmissions, he said, television sets would be operable about twenty-five hours a week. Visual programs are on the air five days a week for an average of fourteen hours.
“For some time now we have felt that television’s high-fidelity sound channels could be made more serviceable both to televiewers and to families owning late model radio sets equipped to receive the sound portion of telecasts,” Mr. Morton said. (New York Times)

NBC introduces the Esso Television Reporter over W2XBS today (Wednesday), with William Spargrove on the announcing assignment. Series’ routine will consist of news dispatches, news photos, maps and graphic diagrams. It will be a weekly event, 8:50-9 p.m.
Unlike Esso’s radio programs, the television stanza will have a musical background, supplied by an organist. The plug will include demonstrations of the varìous Esso products. Marschalk & Pratt is the agency. (Variety, March 20)

Thursday, March 21, 1940
3:30—“Country Fair,” a film record of the famous Danbury Fair.
3:40—“Broken Earth,” film musical.
3:50-4:30—“The Continent is Bridged,” a film on the nation’s telephone system.
6:45-7:00—Lowell Rhomas, commentator.
8:45-10:45—Professional Hockey, Stanley Cup play-off matches, at Madison Square Garden.

Friday, March 22, 1940
3:30-4:30—“Cloistered,” a documentary on convent life.
6:45-7:00—Lowell Rhomas, commentator.
8:30-9:30—“The Passing of the Third Floor Back,” a drama by Jerome K Jerome, with Mildred Natwick, Charles Bryant, Sylvia Field, Muriel Starr and Zolya Talma. Directed by Donald Davis.

WASHINGTON (U.P.)—National Broadcasting Co. yesterday [22] applied to the Federal Communications Commission for authority to construct three new television stations and five new high frequency broadcast stations.
Television stations would be located in Washington, Philadelphia and Chicago, the high frequency units in Washington, Cleveland, Chicago, Denver and San Francisco. Latter would be for frequency modulation, a new system of broadcasting not affected by static.

Saturday, March 23, 1940
3:30-4:30—“The Adventures of Chico,” a document film on Mexican peasant life.
7:30-8:00—“Art For Your Sake,” a radio-television feature, with Dr. Bernard Myers.
8:30-9:30—Katherine Dunham and her Negro dance group in “Trophies,” a panorama of primitive West Indian dances; also “Minute Mysteries.”

WASHINGTON—The immediate future of commercialized television received a sharp setback here on Saturday [23], when the Federal Communications Commission suddenly revoked, until further notice, its recent order permitting limited television commercialization starting Sept. 1. At the same time, the FCC ordered a further hearing, beginning April 8, to determine whether research and experimentation of higher standards of television transmission are being duly retarded by RCA through its promotional activities.
“The current marketing campaign of RCA is held to be at variance with the intent of the commission’s television report of February 29th,” it was stated. “Such action is construed as a disregard of the commission’s findings and recommendations for further improvement in the technique and quality of television transmission before sets are widely sold to the public.
“Promotional activities directed to the sale of receivers not only intensifies the danger of these instruments being left on the hands of the public, but may react in the crystallizing of transmission standards at present level. Television is here to stay, but conceivably present day receivers may, for practical purposes, be gone tomorrow.”
HOLLYWOOD—The stop-order on commercialization by the FCC is a blow to television officials here, who were rushing plans for the September start. A check-up also reveals that manufacturers of receiving sets have been stepping up production to meet increased demands.
At the present time only a few hundred sets are in circulation in this area, most of these owned by picture people. In all, it has been estimated, there are no more than 1500 such sets all over the country. Current purchase price of teleceivers is $395 plus additional cost of about $50 for installation. Local factories have been trying to bring down that cost to less than half that amount, with television heads feeling that unless more sets are available to the public it will be more difficult to interest commercial sponsors. (Hollywood Reporter, Mar. 25)

Sunday, March 24, 1940
11:30—Protestant Easter service, Dr. Samuel McCrea Calvert officiating, with music by the Westminster Choir under the direction of Dr. John Finley Williamson.
12:00—Easter Parade on Fifth Avenue. Amelia Umnitz and Jack Fraser, announcers.
12:30-1:00—Roman Catholic Easter service, the Rt. Rev. Mons. Fulton J. Sheen officiating. Music by the Paulist Choristers, under the direction of Father William J. Finn, C.S.P.
3:00—Rockefeller Center Choristres, under the direction of John R. Jones, in an Easter concert at Rockefeller Center Plaza.
3:30-5:00—“King of Kings,” Cecil B. DeMille’s motion picture production.
8:30-9:30—NBC Pages and Guides on Broadway, a minstrel show; also Televues Picture Contest.

LAKE PLACID, N. Y., March 24. (AP)—An Easter service reached the top of Whiteface Mountain, third highest peak in the Adirondacks, by sight and sound today when three weather observers, snowbound since January, “went to church” by television.
The devotions came to the weather-locked meteorological station from the television studios of the National Broadcasting Company in New York City through General Electric’s new television relay station near Schenectady, N. Y. Total airline distance of the telecast was about 250 miles. The three-man staff of the observatory maintained by Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and New York University saw and heard service conducted by Dr. Samuel McCrea Cavert of the Federal Council of Churches of Christ in America, and a mass celebrated by the Right Reverend Monsignor Fulton J. Sheen of Catholic University. They also saw the Fifth avenue Easter parade.
Engineers hauled equipment to the weather station by ski, toboggan and snowshoe over four miles of impassable mountain highway and drifts 25 feet deep.

Tuesday, March 26, 1940
WASHINGTON—NBC officials state that a television station in Washington is not an immediate prospect. The projected television network will first be tried out in New York and Philadelphia and if it should prove successful, an outlet will be sought in the district.
NBC is definitely pushing plans for a television network and considers Washington a key city in the projected network, it was said, but it is too early, however, to predict when this will take place. (Hollywood Reporter)

Wednesday, March 27, 1940
3:30—“Aesop’s Fables,” film.
3:40-4:40—“Fighting Trooper,” film feature with Kermit Maynard.
6:45-7:00—Lowell Thomas, news commentator.
8:30-9:30—“See-Hear,” a visual digest of the news of the month by Leopold Atlas and Anton Bundsmann.
9:30-9:45—News feature.
“See and Hear,” an impressionistic monthly review of news, devised by Leopold Atlas and Anton Bundsmann, had its premiere on television station W2XBS last night [27] (8:30 to 9:30). Here is a real novelty, employing puppets, motion picture sequences, montage effects and episodes enacted by living actors. An outstanding production, marked by poetic feeling and dramatic imagination . . . It made the sponsored telecasting of news, which followed, seem very pale and undramatic. (Ben Gross column, Daily News, Mar. 28)

Thursday, March 28, 1940
3:30—“Florida’s Golden Harvest,” film.
3:50—“Yankee Doodle Goes to Town,” film.
6:45-7:00—Lowell Thomas, news commentator.
8:30-9:30—“Happiness C.O.D.,” film.

Friday, March 29, 1940
3:30-4:30—“Thanks for Listening,” film feature, with Pinky Tomlin.
6:45-7:00—Lowell Thomas, news commentator.
8:30-9:30—“A Good Place to Visit,” documentary program.

Steve Sekely, noted European director, will stage two hour-long television broadcasts from LA Station W6XAO, the first on March 29. (Pittsburgh Press, Mar. 24)

CHICAGO’s only television transmitter, W9XZV, owned and operated by Zenith Radio Corp., celebrated its first anniversary on the air March 29. The station has transmitted experimental visual programs on a five-days-weekly schedule during the year. Although a number of television receivers manufactured by Zenith have been loaned to experimenters and technicians in the Chicago area for observation and suggestions, E. F. McDonald Jr., president of the company, has announced that Zenith will not manufacture receivers for sale to the public during the present stage of television. (Broadcasting, Apr. 15)

Saturday, March 30, 1940
3:00-5:00—Intercollegiate baseball: Fordham University vs. St. Peter’s College, at Fordham Field. Jack Starr, announcer.
7:30-8:00—“Art for Your Sake,” a radio-television feature, with Dr. Bernard Myers.
8:30—Carveth Wells, explorer, on “Tamest Africa, or Debunking Big Game Hunting.”
9:00-9:30—Variety.

Sunday, March 31, 1940
3:30-4:40—“Man in the Mirror,” film.
8:45-10:30—Finnish Relief Fund track meet, Madison Square Garden. Taisto Maki, Finnish runner, competes against America’s bets three-milers: Gregory Rice, Don Lash and Joe McClusky.