January 1931

As 1931 began, the interesting television developments came out of Chicago. Los Angeles didn’t have a station. In New York, CBS wasn’t on the air and NBC was broadcasting title cards and dolls on a turntable. The Jenkins station in Jersey City was getting ready to move to New York. In Washington, Jenkins was content with repeating the same silhouettes and photos ad nauseum.

But there was national publicity out of Chicago as the two stations on the air presented live programming, including a dramatic play, a musical comedy and purportedly the first stock market report.

In January 1931, Bostonians were seeing some limited live programming, still in conjunction with radio station WNAC. But outside of Chicago, it seems television was more for the hobbyist and curious than for anyone wanting real entertainment.

Below are some of the highlights of television for the first month of 1931.. Interesting, one article discussed Bill Schudt, who would become the first head of television at CBS.

The New York Sun published one schedule for the De Forest and Jenkins stations. Other schedules found in the papers are maddeningly conflicting. The Boston schedules come from a newspaper in Portland, Maine, and rarely change. Chicago is a problem. The Associated Press published a version that didn’t change in the first two weeks. The Munster, Indiana Times occasionally printed a different schedule, one where one station overlapped with itself in what must be a typo. Then there are conflicts with what was listed on the radio stations which would have aired the sound portion of the telecast. And the three programmes I mentioned above weren’t even on the published schedule.

On top of that, some radio listings say “Television.” But they weren’t broadcasting visually. They were airing a transcribed musical programme from the Radio and Television Institute. And KNX had a “Television Orchestra,” even though Los Angeles didn’t have a TV station (what eventually became KNXT, now KCBS-TV, started out at the end of 1931 as W6XAO). I’ve done the best I could.

Thursday, January 1, 1931
W1XAV-WNAC, Boston, video on 141m, audio on 1230kc.
12:15 to 1:00—From Television Studios: Noon Day Revue.
3:30 to 4:00—From Television Studios: Women’s Federation, conducted by Eleanore Geer.
W9XAP-WMAQ, Chicago, 2800kc.
6:30—With Sound.
6:45 to 7:00—Novelty.
9:00 to 9:30—Novelty.
W9XAO-WIBO, Chicago, 2000kc.
7:30 to 8:00—Variety.

Friday, January 2, 1931
W1XAV-WNAC, Boston, video on 141m, audio on 1230kc.
3:30 to 4:00—From Television Studios: Women’s Federation, conducted by Eleanore Geer.
W9XAP-WMAQ, Chicago, 2800kc.
6:30—With Sound.
6:45 to 7:00—Novelty.
9:00 to 9:30—Novelty.
W9XAO-WIBO, Chicago, 2000kc.
7:30 to 8:00—Variety.

Saturday, January 3, 1931
W1XAV-WNAC, Boston, video on 141m, audio on 1230kc.
12:15 to 1:00—From Television Studios: Noon Day Revue.
3:30 to 4:00—From Television Studios: Women’s Federation, conducted by Eleanore Geer.
W9XAP-WMAQ, Chicago, 2800kc.
12:30 to 1:00, 6:15 to 7:00 [Times]
6:30—With Sound.
6:45 to 7:00—Novelty.
9:00 to 9:30—Novelty.
W9XAO-WIBO, Chicago, 2000kc.
1:45 to 2:00, 4:30 to 5:00 [Times]
7:30 to 8:00—Variety.

Commencing at once the two television transmitters of the De Forest Radio Company at Passaic will be on the air daily except Sunday with a variety program designed to aid both amateur experimenter and casual television enthusiast. The transmitters send out a 48 line picture at the rate of 15 images a second.
M146.5—W2XCD—2050K [De Forest Radio, Passaic]
10 to 12 Noon—Film features.
3:30 to 6— Films.
9 to 11—Films.
M146.5—W2XCR—2050K [Jenkins Television, Jersey City]
2 to 3:30—Direct pickup.
7 to 9—Direct pickup.
M103—W2XR–2900K [Radio Pictures, Long Island City]
Radio Pictures, Inc., an experimental television station located in Long Island City, broadcasts motion pictures and half-tone films daily except Sundays and holidays, from 4 to 10 P. M. The transmitter is synchronized with the public lighting service in Manhattan, Brooklyn, the Bronx, Westchester (as far north as Peekskill), Queens and Nassau counties. The usual 48 lines 15 frames per second at 900 r. p. m. are employed. (N.Y. Sun, Jan. 3)

PLAN TELEVISION TESTS
Washington. Jan. 3.—Authority to experiment with television in the ultra-high frequencies has been granted by the radio commission to the Journal company, which operates WTMJ, at Milwaukee, Wis.
The license is for a channel band 1,000 kilocycles wide, ten times that of other visual broadcasting stations and 500 watts. (Muncie Sunday Star)

TELEVISION'S FIRST PLAY
Chicago Station Test Proves Drama Is Adaptable.
USED SPECIAL MAKEUP
'Maker of Dreams' Seen and Heard by Owners of Televisors.
Special Correspondence to THE SUN.
CHICAGO, Jan. 10. — The simultaneous sight and sound broadcast of a playlet, "The Maker of Dreams, by Oliphant Downs, through the Chicago stations W9XAP and WMAQ last Wednesday night is seen as another step forward in the advancement of the art of television. The presentation represented the first attempt to put on such a program in the mid-West and demonstrated that television drama was not only feasible but practical, according to reports gathered from owners of television receivers in the Chicago area.
Borrowing Film Technic.
The studio arrangement at W9XAP is such that Immediate changes can he made from the long shots or full lengths to semi-close-ups or close-ups. The feat is accomplished through the use of a double installation of scanning mechanisms, one of which takes care of the close-ups, the other the long shots and the semi-close-ups, The change from the long shots to the semi-close-ups is made through a system of lenses installed on one of the scanners, by which the size of the lighted area in the studio is changed and the amount of light reflected upon the photocells is intensified.
Remote control devices that permitted the changing of the light fields from three different positions were installed in the W9XAP studios last week. At one time during the enacting of the play the switching was controlled by one of the participants seated before the close-up position, while that artist carried on a conversation with another located in a distant portion of the room within the semi-close-up area.
Required Special Make-Up.
Experiments had been conducted to determine the importance of the materials and colors for costumes, so that the participants in "The Maker of Dreams" were costumed and made up in accordance with the findings during the last few months. Especially prepared makeup developed by Max Factor for television purposes was used.
The production of a television drama differs radically from the practices employed in talking movies in the movie world the long shots are made at one setting, the close-ups at another and so on, with the film cut and assembled to give the proper sequence in the editorial department. Not so with television. There is no opportunity for editing. What goes out on the air is done, and the close-ups must follow the long shots or vice versa without break in the continuity and with as little intervening time as possible between the break-overs.
Continuity Reported Perfect.
Not a single report of a catch in the continuity of the first presentation of a television drama was received at the station, which further demonstrates that with the exercising of care a television drama can be synchronized with sound with the same accuracy to which the radio listening public has become accustomed. The program did more than demonstrate, however, for it fully convinced the owners and operators of W9XAP and WMAQ that television is a reality, ready for the public. (New York Sun, Jan. 10)

Monday, January 5, 1931
W1XAV-WNAC. Boston, video on 141m, audio on 1230kc.
3:30 to 4:00—From Television Studios: Women’s Federation, conducted by Eleanore Geer.
W9XAP-WMAQ, Chicago, 2800kc.
6:30—With Sound.
6:45 to 7:00—Novelty.
9:00 to 9:30—Novelty.
W9XAO-WIBO, Chicago, 2000kc.
7:30 to 8:00—Variety.

Television Receiving Set At State University Gets Pictures Radiocast From Eastern Centers
It isn’t “listen in” any more, it’s “look in” now.
Maybe you cannot go to your home tonight, tune your set to a certain wave length and sit in on a performance of the latest stage success on Broadway. Nor can you be a fireside spectator at the world series, or follow your favorites through an exciting grid season no matter how far they roam in quest of further honors. You cannot do these things; at least, not yet. But you will be doing them before long.
It does not require an individual of unusual foresight to realize that these achievements are imminent features of our universe. Television is here, revolutionizing the world as did the invention of radio, and promising even more drastic changes in our modes of living.
Lexington has its television. It is operating, too. On three different occasions, pictures broadcast from studios in eastern states have been received on a set belonging to the department of physics at the University of Kentucky. The most recent operation of this apparatus was Monday night 5], its performance was remarkable.
In a darkened laboratory on the top floor of the civil engineering and physics building at the University, seven persons were grouped around a table, intently watching a whirling disk through a magnifying glass. The group included three members of the physics department staff, the 10-year- old son of one of them, two senior engineering students and a staring Leader reporter.
Machine Takes Life
Promptly at 7 o’clock, under minor adjustments by the operator, the machine began to take life. In the small focal stage of the disk, flickering specks began to take form, the blurred mass was beginning to mean something. Suddenly, having given not the slightest warning, a figure appeared on the screen. It was a little girl bouncing a ball, a series of repetitions. Her actions were identical for the space of several minutes.
This, we were told, was a moving picture silhouette being transmitted from Wheaton, Md. The broadcasting station, W3XK, is only five miles from the nation’s capital, and, because of the ease of synchronization uses this film as a “theme song” to open each of its programs. Unfavorable atmospheric conditions Monday night made reception difficult but the static disturbances were not sufficient to make the actions of the little girl indiscernible.
In a moment the announcer spoke, giving details of the program to be broadcast. Then followed a series of silhouette films. First shown were scenes at a baseball game, the crowd filing through the turnstiles, players warming up, the bleacherites in some typical antics, and of course the “cold drinks man.” Then pictures were shown of a stunting aviator, followed by a Wall Street stock market episode, all in silhouette.
The first hour’s program was devoted to this type of films. The observers next watched a series of half-tone portraits. A moment later and the machine, responding to the operator’s knowing touch, presented pictures in black and white. There on the flying disk was a moving picture of Dr. Lee DeForest, often termed the father of radio.” This picture was followed by the appearance of others of the studio staff. Then came a group of prominent Americans, including Henry Ford, Thomas Edison and others. But, another surprise, we were informed that this was the DeForest station, W2XCD, located in Passaic, N. J., now broadcasting. Both stations were operating on the same wave length and the reception had been equally good.
Television is yet in its infancy, there can be no doubt of that. But improvements are rapidly being developed; in time, the prodigy will have reached its maturity, its perfection.
20 Licensed Studios
At present, there are about 20 licensed television studios broadcasting regular programs. One corporation is already offering to the public a complete set, fully equipped and ready to plug in a convenient socket anywhere. Others have equipment kits for sale for those who wish to construct their own sets and join in the experimental stages of this great invention.
The set owned by the physics department is operated by a short-wave receiving set, on which broadcasts of the Detroit police force and other short-wave messages have been received.
The principals of television operation briefly, and from a layman’s point of view, are these: The set consists of a thin metal disk, approximately 12 inches in diameter, and around the outer rim of which are 48 minute holes. From the rear of this disk, a neon light is shining through a half-inch square. This light is affected by impressions of a picture acting on the broadcast power in the transmitting studio. The receiving disk, when operating, whirls at a high speed. The impressions given to the human eye by the flickering light flashing through these minute apertures re-forms the original picture. A magnifying glass, afixed as part of the set, enlarges this impression for the observers and makes it clearly visible across the room.
All television broadcasting stations do not use a disk with the same number of holes. Attempts are being made to have the federal radio commission adopt 48 as the standard number, but its decision la still pending. The first attempts to broadcast both pictures and sound accompaniment in synchronization will be made about Feb. 1. (Lexington Va. Leader, Jan. 7)

Tuesday, January 6, 1931
W1XAV-WNAC, Boston, video on 141m, audio on 1230kc.
12:15 to 1:00—From Television Studios: Noon Day Revue.
3:30 to 4:00—From Television Studios: Women’s Federation, conducted by Eleanore Geer.
W9XAP-WMAQ, Chicago, 2800kc.
6:30—With Sound.
6:45 to 7:00—Novelty.
9:00 to 9:30—Novelty.
W9XAO-WIBO, Chicago, 2000kc.
2:00—Studio artists program. [Munster Times]
4:30—Studio artists program. [Times]
7:30 to 8:00—Variety.

Wednesday, January 7, 1931
W1XAV-WNAC, Boston, video on 141m, audio on 1230kc.
12:15 to 1:00—From Television Studios: Noon Day Revue.
3:30 to 4:00—From Television Studios: Women’s Federation, conducted by Eleanore Geer.
W9XAP-WMAQ, Chicago, 2800kc.
6:30—With Sound.
6:45 to 7:00—Novelty.
9:00 to 9:30—Novelty.
W9XAO-WIBO, Chicago, 2000kc.
7:30 to 8:00—Variety.

Television History Made By Chicago Sight-Sound Production
By RUTH BALDWIN COWAN
Chicago, Jan. 8 — (Associated Press) — Side-stepping sinister looking equipment, a small audience squeezed in between humming machinery in the control room of Station W9XAP last night [7, 8:30 CST] and watched from behind the scenes what is believed to have been the world premier broadcast of a synchronized sight-sound dramatic production.
The nerves of Broadway stars nearing a first night were not more taut than those of the trio, Irene Wicker, Vinton Haworth and Douglas Hope, who last night made television history in their appearances in "The Maker of Dreams." The play, a delightful fantasy, portrayed Pierrot and Pierrette about to drift apart when the manufacturer of dreams finds them.
Written by Samuel French, it was produced by special permission of the copyright owners and adapted to television by Mr. Haworth. The special musical score was composed by Sal Stocco.
The Play Goes On.
The cue, "Hey, you guys, ready," marked the arrival of the important moment. Outsiders were ushered out with little ceremony. Chief Engineer William N. Parker of Western Television corporation began throwing switches as did C. P. Lonie in the control room. Lights blazed, machinery hummed.
"The Maker of Dreams" went on the air to be received by those with a television and radio combination set, the effect being a close relative to a small talkie, but not without many flaws as yet. The most disturbing is perhaps the horizontal bars across the image. But the experts say "give science time."
The shades of pioneers in motion picture production might have hovered in an eerie background of receivers and suspended microphones in the small, windowless room watching a new dramatic procedure take its toddling steps in technique and make-up.
Noise Outlawed.
Everything possible was done to outlaw noise. The strings of the piano were muffled with felt pads.
Wrist watches were taboo. The microphone, suspended overhead to keep it out of the picture, was pitched at such a high degree that a lady-like sneeze would have recorded like a dynamite plant heavenward-bound.
Because the creak of shoe-leather would have given the impression of artillery in action, the men played in stocking feet. The girls wore soft sandals. Their costumes were of starchier cotton. The soft rustle of silk would sound like a hen farm on the cackle.
The make-up presents a problem with its individual difficulties. Davis Factor, son of Max Factor, Hollywood cosmetician and make-up artist, and Haworth tussled with it in rehearsal. Much has yet to be done along this line. Experiments to date showed that the best effects were obtained with a thick coating of grease paint with the eye-brows and mouth outlined in a brownish-red. The result seen in person gave the notion of a Halloween ghost gone pale.

Thursday, January 8, 1931
W1XAV-WNAC, Boston, video on 141m, audio on 1230kc.
12:15 to 1:00—From Television Studios: Noon Day Revue.
3:30 to 4:00—From Television Studios: Women’s Federation, conducted by Eleanore Geer.
W9XAP-WMAQ, Chicago, 2800kc.
6:30—With Sound.
6:45 to 7:00—Novelty. [also Times]
9:00 to 9:30—Novelty.
W9XAO-WIBO, Chicago, 2000kc.
7:30 to 8:00—Variety.

2,000 TUNE IN ON TELEVISION PLAY PROGRAM
CHICAGO, Jan. 8. (AP)—Basing his estimates on communications by letter, telephone and telegraph, K. A. Hathaway, technician at WMAQ and W9XAP, said today 2,000 persons heard and saw what was believed to have been the premier synchronized sight-sound broadcast of a dramatic production sent out last night over W9XAP.
The play, "The Maker of Dreams," was broadcast on a short wave length, 2,150 kilocycles. Hathaway said it would have been possible to have picked up the program a thousand miles away, provided the receiving set was of the same manufacture as the broadcasting set.
500 Receiving Sets About Chicago
The production was sent out over a Western Television corporation set and according to Hathaway, it is not believed, with few exceptions, any of the company's sets have been placed outside Chicago territory. There are 500 receiving sets in and around Chicago, and from their owners, Hathaway said, it was learned that reception had been good.
The technician said at the same time last night "The Maker of Dreams" was being sent out here, another television station, presumably in the East, was broadcasting in the same channel. He explained the peculiarity of television at its present development that requires a receiving set of the same manufacture as the broadcasting set kept the images from the other broadcast from being superimposed.
Interference Causes Diagonal Blurs
He said he detected another television station was on the air because of diagonal blurs across the picture. The untrained eye probably saw he explained, only the horizontal bars that crossed the image and which resulted from W9XAF’s broadcast. Hathaway said many radio technicians believed television would be principally local in value for some time due to the peculiarities of the short waves on which the broadcast is made. The territory that could be well served now would range from 250 to 3,000 miles.

Television was demonstrated to the Chicago police recently when images were broadcast by Station W9XAP, which is associated with the regular sound broadcaster WMAQ.
It was pointed out by Clem P. Wade, president of the Western Television Corporation, that with a police television broadcasting station and a television receiver installed in every police station and In every police motor car crime fighters would be provided with the most speedy and effective means of visual communication known to science.
“A habitual criminal’s name may mean little to the policeman on the beat,” said Mr. Wade. “But when that name is visualized for him on the television screen that policeman becomes a vital force in that criminal’s apprehension. Not only does the individual policeman thus become a man hunter in every sense of the word, but the entire police force, as a result, would have an added efficiency which might easily amount to an increase of 100 per cent. “With the aid of clear-cut television pictures it is actually possible for every patrolman, no matter how far removed his station house from headquarters, to attend a daily show-up by looking into a television receiver before he goes out on his beat,” Mr. Wade explained.
“Were this procedure repeated day after day the policeman would be far better equipped to combat the gangsters and habitual criminals because he would be able to recognize them.
“Here is another example of the aid television could give in the capture of criminals. Say a job looks to the investigators, first on the case, like the work of criminal X or Y, whose picture is contained in the identification bureau. The man in charge telephones his superior and immediately the proper photograph is placed before the television camera at headquarters and in a split second every man in a police, auto cruising about the streets and the entire personnel of all station houses knows exactly what the man who is wanted looks like.
“It is this instantaneousness of television that will give the police their big advantage, the instantaneousness of picture transmission. Television would also prove invaluable to the police in the location of missing persons,” said Mr. Wade. (Gibson City [Ill.] Courier, Jan. 8)

Friday, January 9, 1931
W1XAV-WNAC, Boston, video on 141m, audio on 1230kc.
12:30 to 1:00—From Television Studios.
3:30 to 4:00—From Television Studios: Women’s Federation.
W9XAP-WMAQ, Chicago, 135m., 2800kc.
12:15 to 1:00, 3:00 to 3:45, 4:00 to 4:30. 6:00 to 6:45
9:00 to 9:30—Novelty.
W9XAO-WIBO, Chicago, 147m., 2000kc.
1:45 to 2:00, 4:30 to 5:00—Variety, 7:30 to 8:00.

Saturday, January 10, 1931
W1XAV-WNAC, Boston, video on 141m, audio on 1230kc.
W9XAP-WMAQ, Chicago, 2800kc.
6:30—With Sound.
6:45 to 7:00—Novelty. [also Times]
9:00 to 9:30—Novelty.
W9XAO-WIBO, Chicago, 2000kc.
7:30 to 8:00—Variety.

Monday, January 12, 1931
W1XAV-WNAC, Boston, video on 141m, audio on 1230kc.
12:15 to 1:00—From Television Studios: Noon Day Revue.
3:30 to 4:00—From Television Studios: Women’s Federation, conducted by Eleanore Geer.
W9XAP-WMAQ, Chicago, 135m., 2800kc.
12:00 to 1:00, 3:00 to 3:20, 4:00 to 4:30. 7:30 to 8:15 [sic, likely W9XAO], 8:00-9:00
W9XAO-WIBO, Chicago, 147m., 2000kc.
1:45 to 2:00, 4:30 to 5:00—Variety, 7:30 to 8:00.

CHICAGO, Jan. 13—Achievement of another milestone in the advance of television was witnessed by the middle West yesterday [12], when a musical comedy, said to be the first presentation or its kind to utilize all the facilities of the latest television technique, was presented by the Chicago station W9XAO, run in connection with the sound station WIBO.
The station was equipped and is operated by the Western Television Corporation, which also operates W9XAP in connection with the Sound station WMAQ.
The production, which was written and produced by George Gruskin, co-director of the corporation’s program service and managing editor of Radio Industries, was entitled “Their Television Honeymoon,” and lasted for 30 minutes, beginning at 7:45 p. m. central standard time.
About 1000 owners of television receiving sets in the Midwest made up the audience to which this program is available. Only the central section of Chicago, whore television reception is not satisfactory because of a condition which corresponds to static in sound reception, it was anticipated, would be prevented from receiving the program.
“With present-day television facilities,” Mr. Gruskin said, “It is now possible to build presentations combining both stage and moving picture techniques. Though the sets are limited, as in the theater, we are able to switch instantaneously from close-ups to long shots and various perspectives of the players.
“The resultant variety of pictures gives s television production the appearance of a stage play photographed by a moving picture camera, except that it is additionally possible to fade various scenes into one another—movie fashion—without making use of curtains or black-outs. The voice accompaniment, which goes over the regular sound broadcast station, is synchronized more perfectly with the television artist’s lip motions than are the sound and sight effects in the talkies.”
Because of the diminutive size of the screen with which the receiving sets are equipped—approximately four by six inches—the number of figures projected is limited to four when they are shown full length, or to two close-ups. “In the studio demonstration set, however, which is two feet square,” Mr. Gruskin said, “these close-ups are bitter than moving picture close-ups, while on the screens of commercial sets they are better than newspaper half-tones.” (Christian Science Monitor)

Radio Listeners Glimpse Future in Television Broadcast of Play
By FREDERICK C. OTHMAN
Chicago, Jan. 13—(United Press)—An eerie glimpse into the future was afforded last night [12] to guests of L. P. Garner, who watched the first successful attempt to broadcast a musical comedy by television.
The play, “Their Television Honeymoon,” in which the bride was willing to see her husband only by television until a mouse got into her room, was broadcast from Station W9XAO, which is part of radio station WIBO.
In Mr. Garner’s home, several miles away from the studio, the guests saw the play produced upon a tiny screen two feet square, saw clearly the images of the actors and heard every sound, even to the final kiss of the “television honeymooners.”
Garner and his guests sat in a darkened room, in a corner was the television set. A tiny hole in the front of the cabinet gleamed brilliantly. When a switch was turned the light started to race across a screen...Then moved faster and faster until finally it covered the screen with light.
The light merged into shadows and faces appeared. Garner adjusted the dials. The pictures became almost as plain as those projected by the home movie machines. In addition the figures talked and the voices synchronized with the lip movements as perfectly as if the actors had been in the room instead of miles away.
“Their Television Honeymoon” concerned the tribulations of a young man whose bride insisted they live apart and see each other by means of a television set.
The idea worked beautifully until a mouse entered the bride’s apartment. Whereupon Jane called for Fred to appear in person, which made Fred so happy he burst into song.
The show ended in a typical movie clinch with a long, drawn-out kiss which the audience in Engineer Garner’s home could see as well as hear.
The successful broadcast was made possible by new inventions of U. A. Sanabria, 24, an engineer. These inventions make it possible, Garner explained, for the transmitting operator to retouch the images as they go on the air, and do away with the grotesque green make-up hitherto considered necessary for television performers to dab on their faces.
Previously, Mr. Garner said, television broadcasters have used single spirals, but, with the new inventions they use triple spirals in their scanning disks.
The difference, he explained in non-engineer language, is merely the difference between one and three eyes—the operator can see three times as well.

Tuesday, January 13, 1931
W1XAV-WNAC, Boston, video on 141m, audio on 1230kc.
12:15 to 1:00—From Television Studios: Noon Day Revue.
3:30 to 4:00—From Television Studios: Women’s Federation, conducted by Eleanore Geer.
W9XAO-WIBO, Chicago, 147m., 2000kc.
1:45 to 2:00, 4:30 to 5:00—Variety, 7:30 to 8:00.
[Times has 4:30—Studio artists in television program.]

TELEVISION WILL BE SHOWN HERE TONIGHT
Executives’ Group to See First County Demonstration.
Members of the Bergen County Executives and Foremen’s club will have the unusual and exclusive opportunity tonight of being the first gathering in the county ever to witness a practical demonstration of “television,” the new radio innovation.
The demonstration is to be given at a meeting of the club being held in the Hackensack Y. M. C. A., Main and Passaic streets, and will be presented through the co-operation of A. B. DuMont, vice-president of the De Forest Radio Corporation.
The occasion will mark the first attempt to give a demonstration of the radio investion in Bergen county. It will be received through a commercial televisor set manufactured by the Jenkins Television company, of Passaic, a subsidiary of the De Forest Corporation.
The program will be broadcast through stations W2XCD of Passaic, and W2XCR of Jersey City. The programs will be in the nature of music and speaking and by a special arrangement a telephone will be installed on the stage of the “Y” building to enable the audience to ask the speaker questions. The audience will be able to see the speaker and hear their questions answered from Passaic. An orchestra at Passaic will also play musical numbers as requested. In addition to the television program there will be a talk on “Twenty Minutes Interview With A Big Executive” by B. Spencer Newman and musical selections by the Corn Products Refining company orchestra. (Bergen Evening Record)

Wednesday, January 14, 1931
W1XAV-WNAC, Boston, video on 141m, audio on 1230kc.
12:15 to 1:00—From Television Studios: Noon Day Revue.
3:30 to 4:00—From Television Studios: Women’s Federation.
W9XAP-WMAQ, Chicago, 2800kc.
6:30—With Sound.
6:45 to 7:00—Novelty.
9:00 to 9:30—Novelty.
W9XAO-WIBO, Chicago, 2000kc.
7:30 to 8:00—Variety.

Thursday, January 15, 1931
W1XAV-WNAC, Boston, video on 141m, audio on 1230kc.
12:15 to 1:00—From Television Studios: Noon Day Revue.
3:30 to 4:00—From Television Studios: Women’s Federation conducted by Eleanore Geer.
W9XAP-WMAQ, Chicago, 135m., 2800kc.
3:00 to 3:20, 4:00 to 4:30, 6:15—Studio and television stars, 7:00 to 7:30, 8:00-9:00
W9XAO-WIBO, Chicago, 147m., 2000kc.
7:30 to 8:00.

Friday, January 16, 1931
W1XAV-WNAC, Boston, video on 141m, audio on 1230kc.
schedule not available
W9XAP-WMAQ, Chicago, 135m., 2800kc.
3:00 to 3:20, 4:00 to 4:30, 7:00 to 9:00
W9XAO-WIBO, Chicago, 147m., 2000kc.
4:30 to 5:00, 7:30 to 8:00.

NEW YORK, Jan. 17 (AP)—Pictures, transmitted by radio from Washington, are being picked up nightly by a New York enthusiast. The air line distance is approximately 250 miles.
This fan, also closely identified with radio broadcasting, is Bill Schudt, who conducts the Going to Press period on WABC and stations each Wednesday night.
Becoming intensely interested in television, he has progressed far enough to feel considerably elated over the results he has obtained with the simplest of apparatus.
In giving a report of his reception last night [16], he told of picking up W3XK, the station of the Jenkins laboratories in Washington, and seeing a girl dancing; a photograph of Dr. Lee DeForest and the signature picture of the station a film of a girl bouncing a ball.
Although considerable fading was experienced, the pictures came in clearly enough at times to determine what was being televised, he said.
The receiver Schudt used was a regenerative short wave set that he has had for five years. The two stage audio amplifier was transformer coupled, and his picture reproducer consisted of a simple scanning disc of 48 holes, a motor, a small magnifying glass to enlarge the picture slightly and a Neon tube. The output was a 171A having 180 volts on the plate.
The received picture was an inch and a half square. (C.E. Butterfield column, Jan. 17)

Saturday, January 17, 1931
W1XAV-WNAC, Boston, video on 141m, audio on 1230kc.
12:15 to 1:00—From Television Studios: Noon Day Revue.
3:30 to 4:00—From Television Studios: Women’s Federation conducted by Eleanore Geer.
W9XAP-WMAQ, Chicago, 2800kc.
6:30—With Sound.
6:45 to 7:00—Novelty.
9:00 to 9:30—Novelty.
W9XAO-WIBO, Chicago, 2000kc.
7:30 to 8:00—Variety.

Sunday, January 18, 1931
A television transmitter associated with WABC and the Columbia System is expected to begin image broadcasts on an experimental basis in March or April, according to a representative of the station. The new 50,000 watt WABC broadcast transmitter is scheduled to go on the air late in the Autumn. (Orrin E. Dunlap, New York Times, Jan. 18)

Monday, January 19, 1931
W1XAV-WNAC, Boston, video on 141m, audio on 1230kc.
12:15 to 1:00—From Television Studios: Noon Day Revue.
3:30 to 4:00—From Television Studios: Women’s Federation conducted by Eleanore Geer.
W9XAP-WMAQ, Chicago, 135m., 2800kc.
3:00 to 3:20, 7:00 to 7:30, 7:30-8:15 [sic], 8:00-9:00
[AP says 6:00—Cartoons; 6:15—Recital with Sound, 6:30—Cartoons (15 mins.)
W9XAO-WIBO, Chicago, 147m., 2000kc.
4:30 to 5:00.—Variety.
[AP says 7:30 to 8:00—Variety]

New York.—Paramount and RCA are understood to be negotiating with Philo T. Farnsworth for the rights to his patented television tube which is reputed to be the simplest and most nearly perfected, scientifically, for television and reception. The inventor, who is 25 years old, lives in Los Angeles and is not anxious to dispose of any of his rights. Paramount, which owns half of Columbia Broadcasting system, and RCA, which owns National Broadcasting, both companies, through subsidiaries, controlling theatres, are anxious to get the rights for television. However, attempts at getting commercial broadcasting rights from the Federal Radio Commission have been unavailing up to now. (Hollywood Reporter, Jan. 19)

Tuesday, January 20, 1931
W1XAV-WNAC, Boston, video on 141m, audio on 1230kc.
12:15 to 1:00—From Television Studios: Noon Day Revue.
3:30 to 4:00—From Television Studios: Women’s Federation conducted by Eleanore P. Geer.
W9XAP-WMAQ, Chicago, 135m., 2800kc.
[AP says 6:00—Cartoons; 6:15—Recital with Sound, 6:30—Cartoons (15 mins.)
W9XAO-WIBO, Chicago, 147m., 2000kc.
2:00—Studio artists and television program.
[AP says 7:30 to 8:00—Variety]

Chicago is planning another television demonstration. This one is to be visual transmission of New York and Chicago stock exchange ticker tape quotations, the first on Jan. 26. Thereafter it is planned to make the transmission a regular feature of WXAP [W9XAP], the television station of WMAQ. (C.E. Butterfield, AP Radio Day By Day column)

Wednesday, January 21, 1931
W1XAV-WNAC, Boston, video on 141m, audio on 1230kc.
12:15 to 1:00—From Television Studios: Noon Day Revue.
3:30 to 4:00—From Television Studios: Women’s Federation conducted by Eleanore P. Geer.
W9XAP-WMAQ, Chicago, 135m., 2800kc.
[AP says 6:00—Handicraft; 6:15—Cartoons (15 mins.)
W9XAO-WIBO, Chicago, 147m., 2000kc.
[AP says 7:30 to 8:00—Variety]

TELEVISION IS GETTING ALONG
More Programs Coming and Sets Will Cost Less.
Back of the scenes where their labors are not realized by the great body of experimenters engineers are concentrating on television plans for 1931 and 1932. The one objective appears to be the establishment of satisfactory serviee for that portion of the public awaiting the call to look-in on televisors.
At any other time during the last decade if television development had been in its present condition, these pioneers insist that the acceptance by the public would have been instantaneous, but business conditions in general have had their effect in retarding the promotion of this new industry.
Better Service For N Y.
According to the announcement of D. E. Replogle of the Jenkins Television Corporation, a new location is being sought for station W2XCR, heretofore located at Jersey City, N. J., in order to provide better service to the lookers-in of the New York metropolitan area. The station may be transferred to the heart of New York city, thereby securing maximum program material quite as well as proper coverage of the territory.
At Passaic, N. J., the DeForest Radio Company is building an elaborate studio and laboratory for its experimental radio television station, W2XCD. This station, which includes a radio telephone feature and operates on a choice of wave lengths, is to become the testing ground for new television equipment, thereby leaving the regular radiovision program service to W2XCR.
Covers Most of Country.
The Jenkins transmitter near Washington, D. C., W3XK, has had its effective transmitting power materially increased by several changes in the equipment. The W3XK programs are now being received practically throughout the United States under favorable conditions. The programs are being carefully selected from available films, suitable direct pickup means are being developed and plans are under way for a tie-up with a voice channel. Also, the power of W3XK is to be further increased for a greater service range.
A reduction in the cost of television equipment announced this past week by the only firm in the New York area equipped to supply the material is expected to create additional sales. A complete televisor can now be had, it is pointed out, for not more than the cost of a good broadcast receiver. As the demand for the machines increases it is natural to expect that the unit cost will be further reduced. (New York Sun, Jan. 24)

Thursday, January 22, 1931
W1XAV-WNAC, Boston, video on 141m, audio on 1230kc.
12:15 to 1:00—From Television Studios: Noon Day Revue.
3:30 to 4:00—From Television Studios: Women’s Federation conducted by Eleanore P. Geer.
W9XAP-WMAQ, Chicago, 135m., 2800kc.
12:15 to 1:00; 3:00 to 3:20, 4:00 to 4:30, 7:00 to 7:30, 8:00 to 9:00.
[AP says 6:00—Cartoons; 6:15—Songs; 6:30 to 6:45—Cartoons]
W9XAO-WIBO, Chicago, 147m., 2000kc.
1:45 to 2:05, 7:30 to 8:00.
[AP says 7:30 to 8:00—Variety]

Friday, January 23, 1931
W1XAV-WNAC, Boston, video on 141m, audio on 1230kc.
12:15 to 1:00—From Television Studios: Noon Day Revue.
3:30 to 4:00—From Television Studios: Women’s Federation conducted by Eleanore P. Geer.
W9XAP-WMAQ, Chicago, 135m., 2800kc.
[AP says 6:15—Cartoons; 6:15 to 6:30—Sports ]
W9XAO-WIBO, Chicago, 147m., 2000kc.
[AP says 7:30 to 8:00—Variety]

Saturday, January 24, 1931
W1XAV-WNAC, Boston, video on 141m, audio on 1230kc.
12:35 to 1:00—From Television Studios: Noon Day Revue.
4:00 to 4:30—From Television Studios: Women’s Federation conducted by Eleanore P. Geer.
W9XAP-WMAQ, Chicago, 135m., 2800kc.
[AP says 6:15—Cartoons; 6:15 to 6:30—Sports ]
W9XAO-WIBO, Chicago, 147m., 2000kc.
[AP says 7:30 to 8:00—Variety]

Monday, January 26, 1931
W1XAV-WNAC, Boston, video on 141m, audio on 1230kc.
12:15 to 1:00—From Television Studios: Noon Day Revue.
3:30 to 4:00—From Television Studios: Women’s Federation conducted by Eleanore P. Geer.
W9XAP-WMAQ, Chicago, 135m., 2800kc.
3:00 to 3:20, 7:00 to 7:20, 7:30 to 8:15, 8:00 to 9:00
[AP says 7:00-7:30—Variety; 8:00-9:00—Studio]
W9XAO-WIBO, Chicago, 147m., 2000kc.
4:30 to 5:00.
[AP says 7:30 to 8:00—Variety]

Television Flashes Prices Of Stocks in Chicago Test
W9XAP Broadcasts Ticker Tape, Covering 150 Mile Radius
CHICAGO, Jan. 26 (AP).—A few blocks from the financial hum of La Salle Street, men who make the wheels of Chicago’s markets rotate attentively watched an experiment today to simplify things for those who dabble in stocks.
These brokers attended the first television broadcast of stock quotations over television station W9XAP in a test conducted by the Chicago Daily News under the direction or Clem F. Wade, president of the Western Television Company.
Quotations Screened
An announcer was flashed on the slide, and he spoke to the audience, preparing them for the joy or sorrow to come.
The ticker tape was broadcast in silence by means of special apparatus rigged up in the control room. In its reception, the tape resembled that which runs across the top of bulletin boards in brokers’ offices and stock exchanges. The words were black against a reddish-brown background, and could be seen from a distance of twenty-five feet.
Fred Hathaway, radio technician, in explaining the procedure, said he believed that today’s broadcast could be received within a radius of 150 miles by those having television reception sets.
At the present state of development, he said, a broker could sit comfortably in his office, smoke a stogie, and watch the tape flicker across a television set at his elbow.
Residents in outlying districts and guests at hotels could get the quotations in the same manner.
Markets in Auto
Then Hathaway began to visualize:
He saw small television reception sets installed in automobiles and brokers watching the quotations as they drove to lunch, home or the office.
But he qualified: “Of course, they would have to have chauffeurs, or the accident rate—and perhaps the suicide rate—would come up.

Television Transmission May Become Daily Feature Through Chicago Station
CHICAGO—Broadcasting of stock market quotations through television apparatus, which was tested successfully January 26 through radio station WMAQ, subsidiary of Chicago Daily News, may be made a daily feature of about 15 minutes duration if minor technical difficulties are satisfactorily ironed out and status of such news dissemination is established by the radio station as falling within the restrictions imposed by stock exchanges in their contracts with Western Union Telegraph Co.
However, in view of the fact that broadcasting would not be in the nature of continuous quotations, there is little likelihood of such broadcasting coming ‘under restrictions which are set up as a safeguard against bucket shops or other illegal users of the information.
Apparatus used by WMAQ is manufactured by Western Television Corp., Chicago, which has been one of the early makers and marketers of television sending and receiving apparatus for home use. WMAQ is one of the first commercial radio stations to equip its plant for “televising” its programs and is currently offering limited visual broadcasts as part of its daily programs.
Principal backer of Western Television Corp. is Clem F. Wade, president, who was originator of the “Eskimo Pie,” a frozen confection. The corporation has authorized capitalization of 100,000 no-par shares, of which 50,000 are now outstanding. Western Television is currently offering at public sale through its own offices 20,000 additional shares at price of $12.50 each. It employs no broker. Application to list on Chicago Curb Exchange is contemplated in the future, according to officials. (Wall Street Journal, Jan. 29)

Tuesday, January 27, 1931
W1XAV-WNAC, Boston, video on 141m, audio on 1230kc.
12:15 to 1:00—From Television Studios: Noon Day Revue.
3:30 to 4:00—From Television Studios: Women’s Federation conducted by Eleanore P. Geer.
W9XAP-WMAQ, Chicago, 135m., 2800kc.
8:15 to 8:30—Frank Conville, Sunny Dale, Helen Yorke, Virginia Johnson and other stage stars in combined radio and television program.
[AP says 7:00-7:30—Cartoons; 8:00—Sound, 8:30--9:00—Studio]
W9XAO-WIBO, Chicago, 147m., 2000kc.
2:00-Studio artists and television program.
[AP says 7:30 to 8:00—Variety]

New York, Jan. 27.—(AP)—Television on a commercial basis has made its appearance in Boston.
Announcement from that city says that a local television company has made available simple apparatus for home use through a chain store group. It is in kit form and consists of a receiver and a radiovisor for reproducing electrical impulses as pictures. (C.E. Butterfield column)

Chicago. Jan. 27. Radio talent appearing at the R-K-O Palace here will shortly go on the air over W9XAP, Chicago’s one television broadcast station, owned and operated by the “Daily News,” also operating WMAQ.
This marks the first time R-K-O talent has appeared on the regular look-and-hear air programs. George Brown, of R-K-O, closed the deal here which calls for a broadcast once weekly.
WGN broadcasts for the Chicago “Tribune” will be continued.

Wednesday, January 28, 1931
W1XAV-WNAC, Boston, video on 141m, audio on 1230kc.
12:15 to 1:00—From Television Studios: Noon Day Revue.
3:30 to 4:00—From Television Studios: Women’s Federation conducted by Eleanore P. Geer.
W9XAP-WMAQ, Chicago, 135m., 2800kc.
8:15 to 8:30—Frank Conville, Sunny Dale, Helen Yorke, Virginia Johnson and other stage stars in combined radio and television program.
[AP says 6:00—Handcraft; 6:30—Cartoons; 7:00—Variety, 8:00—With Sound, 8:30--9:00—Studio]
W9XAO-WIBO, Chicago, 147m., 2000kc.
2:00-Studio artists and television program.
[AP says 7:30 to 8:00—Variety, 8:15—to be announced]

Thursday, January 29, 1931
W1XAV-WNAC, Boston, video on 141m, audio on 1230kc.
12:15 to 1:00—From Television Studios: Noon Day Revue.
3:30 to 4:00—From Television Studios: Women’s Federation conducted by Eleanore P. Geer.
W9XAP-WMAQ, Chicago, 135m., 2800kc.
12:15-1:00, 3:00-3:330, 4:00-4:30, 6:15-Studio and television stars. 7:00-7:30, 8:00-9:00.
[AP says 7:00—Variety, 8:00—With Sound, 8:30--Cartoons]
W9XAO-WIBO, Chicago, 147m., 2000kc.
1:45-2:05, 7:30 to 8:00
[AP says 7:30 to 8:00—Variety]

Friday, January 30, 1931
W1XAV-WNAC, Boston, video on 141m, audio on 1230kc.
12:15 to 1:00—From Television Studios: Noon Day Revue.
3:30 to 4:00—From Television Studios: Women’s Federation conducted by Eleanore P. Geer.
W9XAP-WMAQ, Chicago, 135m., 2800kc.
[AP says 7:00—Cartoons. 8:00 to 9:00—Variety]
W9XAO-WIBO, Chicago, 147m., 2000kc.
[AP says 7:30 to 8:00—Variety]

Saturday, January 31, 1931
W1XAV-WNAC, Boston, video on 141m, audio on 1230kc.
12:36 to 1:00—From Television Studios: Noon Day Revue.
W9XAP-WMAQ, Chicago, 135m., 2800kc.
[AP says 6:45—Sports. 8:00—Variety, 8:30--Sound]
W9XAO-WIBO, Chicago, 147m., 2000kc.
[AP says 7:30 to 8:00—Variety]

Boston Crowd Sees Television In Chain Store
4,000 Enthusiasts File in Line Before Small Kit Receiver Tuned to W1XAV Programs
Televisor Parts for $90
Station Uses 48-Hole Scanner and Has 50-Mile Range
BOSTON, Mass., Jan. 31.—Television crashed the gates of Boston, not only figuratively but literally, last week when 4,000 people crowded and swarmed through the basement of a local chain department store to get a peep at television. Employees strove to keep the mob in a line which wound back and forth among counters, up a flight of stairs and thence out on to the sidewalk where the line continued.
News men came, then photographers, then sound news trucks and then the police. The mob was orderly but determined. They were going to see some television.
No Radical Improvement
From such a demonstration one might think that something radical in television improvement had arrived. But this was not so. What had happened had been the old story of early radio days, something to tune in on and something to make to receive it which could be afforded by the average person. Thus did common sense planning succeed where spectacular claims and exaggerations had failed in the past.
Without broadcasting stations no one would ever have tried to hear radio. Something on the air all the time was stimulus for the early years of that art. Next came the opportunity of getting a good set for listening, at a reasonable price if one built it himself.
Set building entranced the tinkerer, the results gave him a use for his device after he had built it and the broadcasting stations gave him the programs that made it useful. Thus did sound broadcasting succeed and thus does history seem to be repeating itself in television.
Distributing Parts
One single change, however, has been overlooked by the television promoters up to date which the Short Wave and Television Laboratory has carefully worked out, and that is the method of parts distribution. In radio the chain department stores are about the only places that are selling parts. Their prices are low enough to attract people away from complete receivers.
Such television receivers as now exist in complete form are very expensive, too much so for the amount of entertainment one can get at this period in the development of the art. Building your own from parts properly priced makes the limited material now available worth while. The public in Boston does not seem to expect too much in the way of fine definition. They are willing to take what they can get, as in the early day5 of sound broadcasting, if they are not misled by exaggerated claims.
Receiver for $90
The Short Wave and Television Laboratory, after several years of work, has completed a receiver for television which can be marketed in kit form through the chain department stores at around $90. The public seems to accept this price as fair enough for such a new art. But this outfit has not stopped there. It guarantees the purchaser something to look at by a television signal on the air day and night, with some one sitting in front of the television all the time, talking, singing and doing anything else which will lend movement to a countenance.
This combination, plus the opportunity of passers-by to see television as given at the store, seems to be the answer to starting television popularity, at least in Boston.
Stat1on W1XAV is operated by the Short Wave and Television Laboratory on about 140 meters with 500 watts. The equipment is of the best design and generously proportioned, and decorated studios feature this station.
New Scanning System
The television system used is the forty-eight-hole plan in common use, except that this concern has worked out a different scanning arrangement making for compactness and good subject analysis. Instead of the usual disk, a so-called scanning spider revolves in a plane at right angles to the scanning light beam. Around the edge of this spider, fastened along one edge in an upright position, is a steel strip in which are punched the scanning holes. The whole thing looks like an inverted enlarged coffee can cover, the spider being the circular flat area and sides the scanning strip.
With this method of scanning the subject is analyzed in a series of absolutely straight lines rather than the slight curve obtained with the usual scanning disk arrangement. The holes are square to get the maximum amount of light and definition.
This scanning spider is only about ten inches in diameter, permitting the whole television end of the receiver to be kept in a very small space. Station W1XAV uses a scanning spider for the broadcasting as well.
The receiver used with the system has a single stage of radio frequency followed by a detector. The audio amplifier consists of three stages of resistance coupled heater type tubes, since the whole set is A. C. operated.
The signals from W1XAV have been heard over 1,000 miles away and pcitures actually seen at that distance. A good, steady signal gets out for about fifty miles day and night. The Short Wave and Television Laboratory has just received a license for a 190-meter experimental voice station to accompany its picture transmissions, which will insure its offering the listener and see-er-in a complete combination.
The programs other than the steady pictures of various people offered so far have consisted of different popular Boston radio entertainers. The high spot was the arrival in the studios of none other than Rudy Vallee last week who was televised as well as forty-eight holes could do it.
The scanning system used permits the quick change to a sixty-hole system by the substitution of a sixty hole strip around the edge of the spider in place of the regular forty-eight-hole affair. Alternate programs with forty-eight and sixty holes are planned for the future, which will give the experimenters at home something to tinker with, the thing television needs most of all at this stage of the game.
During the store tests last week, since the sound station was then available, the voice part of the demonstration was carried by telephone lines from the broadcasting station to the store. The television came over the air from W1XAV.
Some reports have been about that this station was to go into paid advertising television, but this distinctly denied by the owners, since an experimental license does not permit sales of time. This station will be operated on the basis of aiding in television development. (Herald Tribune, Feb. 1)