Third TV for Philly

Third station. Two birthdays.

1948 is when venerable WCAU got into the television business, becoming Philadelphia’s third TV station. But while it began programming on March 1st, and even relayed network offerings, the station didn’t formally open until May 3rd.

WCAU was one of the 16 original affiliates when CBS radio signed on in 1927. The network was interested in television during the mechanical era ending in 1933 and then again after NBC made a lot of noise with electronic television in 1939 when it launched programming on W2XBS during the New York World’s Fair.

The FCC received an application on September 12, 1939 from WCAU to construct a television station. On June 18, 1940, the Commission announced new TV regulations and noted WCAU had applied to operate on Channel 5. A new application was filed Dec. 26, 1941 for a commercial station (previously W3XAU) on Channel 5.

The company expected to begin operations in early 1942. By July, the FCC denied permission for another delay but ordered another hearing. We don’t hear anything about the proposed station until September 1945, when WCAU asked for permission to change to Channel 6. That was approved on the 25th. The Camden Courier-Post reported on October 29:

TELEVISION CENTER TO BE BUILT BY WCAU
Roof of First in U. S. Will Be Used as Helicopter Field
Plans for the first radio and television centre to the erected in this country exclusively for television and sound broadcasting, complete even to a specially constructed landing field on the roof for helicopters which will be used for television broadcasting from outside points, was announced yesterday [28] by WCAU. Costing $2,000,000, the centre is expected to be completed in December, 1947.
The building plot will be on the site of the old Baldwin Locomotive Works, Philadelphia. Albert M. Greenfield acted as agent. The lot contains 81,765 square feet and the entire block of Broad, Spring Garden, Fifteenth and Buttonwood streets with the main building of the centre a four-story modern fireproof structure, 252 feet on Spring Garden street and 207 feet on Broad street, faced with limestone and stainless steel.
Tower to Be Erected
Piercing the city's skyline will be a television and FM tower extending 612 feet above ground level, more than 72 feet above the famed William Penn statue atop city hall. The tower will also serve for television relay pickups from other cities.
The main floor will have two showrooms, one on the corner of Broad and Spring Garden streets and one on Broad and Buttonwood streets, also a 500-seat auditorium for both sound and television broadcasting. The seating will be horseshoe style, with two stages that will be raised and lowered by hydraulic pressure, one directly in front of the other.
The first stage will be located in the centre of the horseshoe. Both stages can he raised independently and enable television cameras to move all around it so that the action on the stage, as well as the audience, can be televisioned. The stage directly in back can also he raised independently and join the forward stage for larger set-tings when necessary.
Soundproof Partition
There will also be a large television studio which will permit the erection of several sets at one time so that action can be swung from one camera to another. This studio will have a soundproof collapsible partition so that it can be divided into two sections if necessary.
Also included are rehearsal studios for television, film projection rooms, dressing rooms, carpenter shop, scenery painting shop, property storage space and television control room.
The other part of the building will contain seven broadcasting studios, administrative offices, emplayes [sic] and artists' lounges, music library and news room.
All studios will have the latest development in acoustics with a combination of polycylindrical construction and adjustable vanes. This will enable any acoustical effect to be regulated to the size of the group in the studios.
Plan Color Broadcasts
WCAU officials expect that when the new centre is completed, all television broadcasts will be in color and that, with the addition of television and FM, approximately 150 additional employes will be required.
The present ten-story WCAU building on Chestnut street, erected in 1931 as the first building in the country built exclusively for broadcasting, will he abandoned and all facilities moved to the new building. George Daub, of Philiadelphia [sic], is the architect for the new centre. It will be constructed by the Frank J. Larkin Construction Company.

But then NAB Reports of May 6, 1946 the FCC had granted WCAU permission to dismiss its television application. The Camden Post-Courier, two days later, explained it was because CBS was developing colour.

Color television, in the opinion of many experts, has by-passed black-and-white television while the latter was retarded from full development during the war. In fact, WCAU already has withdrawn its application to FCC for low frequency black-and-white television station and will ask, instead, for a permit to build an ultra high frequency station for color and improved black-and-white visual broadcasts.

Things get a little confusing. On Dec. 1, 1947, the Philadelphia Bulletin took over WCAU radio from the Philadelphia Record, which had bought the company the previous year. It already owned William Penn Broadcasting, which had a license for WPEN-TV. It changed the call letters of that to WCAU-TV.

Here’s how things looked according to Broadcasting magazine of Jan. 5, 1948:

WCAU-TV WILL BEGIN TESTING ON JAN. 15
WCAU-TV Philadelphia is slated to go on air with its first test patterns about Jan. 15, according to Dr. Leon Levy, president and general manager. Owned by Evening Bulletin, the station is on Channel 10.
Tower will be the highest structure in Philadelphia when it is completed.
It will be 737 feet above the street, a 256-foot tower atop the 481-foot Philadelphia Saving Fund Building. Most of the girders and the transmitter have been raised to the roof by ingenious use of freight elevators, although some of the larger girders have been lifted by block and tackle. One of the most ticklish jobs foreseen by the riggers is the raising of the two one-ton pylons used for FM to the top of the tower.
The project was planned and is supervised by Robin D. Compton, who participated in the planning and construction of NBC television and FM facilities in the Empire State Building in 1935 in cooperation with Maj. Edwin H. Armstrong. Mr. Compton has been with The Bulletin since May 1945.
When WCAU begins operating its TV station, it will be the third Philadelphia video outlet. Already functioning in that city are WPTZ and WFIL-TV.

Ah, there was another delay, as reported a week later by Broadcasting.

Work Rushed on WCAU TV Operation; Station to Start Test Patterns Soon
DESPITE the handicap of bad weather, construction of The Bulletin's WCAU television tower in Philadelphia is being rushed and the station hopes to be on the air with test patterns this week or next. It will be the third video station in operation in Philadelphia. Its official description will be Bulletin-WCAU-TV.
Workmen putting up the tower on the Philadelphia Saving Fund Bldg. have had to face snow, sleet and bitter cold atop the 481-ft. office building. With the added 256-foot height of the tower, the structure will be the highest in the Philadelphia area—737 feet.
When initial equipment is all acquired and television studios in the WCAU building completed, The Bulletin will have spent about $750,000 to place the video operation on the air, according to G. Bennett Larson, vice president of WCAU Inc. and director of television. Studios, now being pushed to completion, are expected to be the last word in efficiency and appearance. Equipment is RCA-built.
The high altitude tower is expected to cast a video beam for a radius of more than 50 miles in Channel 10, first high-frequency, high-power channel in the Philadelphia area. The tower also will beam FM and facsimile broadcasts.
Opening program material will be largely network and the station intends to move slowly in building its own shows, Mr. Larson said. Mr. Larson will be in charge of the television operation but answerable to Dr. Leon Levy, president of WCAU Inc. Under him will be Roy Meredith, who will be in charge of films and mobile unit events. Mr. Meredith was formerly production manager at WPEN's projected television operation and formerly with NBC. He is also a moving picture engineer.
In charge of the technical aspects of the television operation is Robin Compton. Working under John G. Leitch, WCAU technical director, he has been supervising construction and engineering of the TV operation. He participated in the planning and construction of NBC television and FM facilities in the Empire State Bldg., New York, in 1935.
Among other members of the staff are Don McKay, formerly with Farnsworth and NBC, who will be producer; Len Vallenta, free lance actor and announcer, who has been with WPEN Philadelphia and WPTZ Philadelphia, also a producer, and Bob Heintz, formerly of NBC, a cameraman.
The two video outlets already in operation in Philadelphia are the Philco station, WPTZ, and The Philadelphia Inquirer station, WFIL-TV.

Broadcasting, Feb. 2nd:

WCAU-TV NOW SLATED TO TAKE AIR FEB. 18
LATEST TARGET DATE for start of telecasting by WCAU-TV Philadelphia is Feb. 16. Cold weather has put the opening back about a month, according to station officials.
Iron workers putting up the 737-foot-high pinnacle and transmitter tower atop the Philadelphia Saving Fund Bldg. have had to stop operators many times because of snow and the bitter weather, it was explained.
WCAU has set up a pair of 200-power field glasses at various busy sections throughout the city—so spectators may have a free look at the workmen clinging to their lofty perches. Reprints of a story in The Evening Bulletin, newspaper owner of the station, telling about the tower, are given away to passersby who are attracted to the field glasses by 3 x 5 signs.
Present plans call for the station to start its telecasts with network shows only. First local show is not expected to be ready until sometime in March. Studios, being constructed in the WCAU building, are being rushed to completion but will not be ready in time for the kick-off telecasts.

Broadcasting, Feb. 16th:

WEATHER AGAIN STOPS WCAU-TV's LAUNCHING
FOR THE THIRD TIME bad weather has postponed the start of telecasting over WCAU-TV Philadelphia, The Philadelphia Bulletin video station, which was scheduled to begin operations today (Feb. 16). The new target date is Feb. 23—next Monday.
Decision to postpone the opening was made Wednesday morning when snow flurries caused iron workers atop the Philadelphia Saving Fund Bldg., where the WCAU-TV antenna is being erected, to come down. Snow and bitter cold had caused a previous postponement of station's opening date.

Finally, an Associated Press story announced on March 1 the Bulletin’s station began operation that day. But Broadcasting of March 8 said there were problems:

Test Patterns Underway
WCAU-TV, the Philadelphia Bulletin's new television station, went on the air with its initial test pattern on Channel 10 on March l and carried its first CBS network show on a "sneak preview" basis on March 3. Actual operations, including showing of local programs, is not expected to be fully under way until April.
The WCAU-TV test pattern created interest and a stir. The interest was evidenced by engineers who admired the clarity of the pattern. The stir was created by the fact that the pattern interfered with reception of WFIL-TV, which is on Channel 6.
The interference resulted in double images impinging on the screens of some television receivers [ones made by RCA]. Word was hastily put out thatthe interference was notcausedby disorders in stationequipmentand set owners were assured service engineers would adjust their receivers as quickly as possible. Meanwhile WCAU-TV decided to curtail its test pattern period to an 8:30 to 7:30 period, instead of from the planned 9 to 9 period, in order not to interfere with WFIL-TV.
The station will have a visual power of 25 kw with an aural power of 26.4 kw.
Construction of the WCAU-TV tower and transmission facilities were harried by inclement weather.
The tower is 737-feet high, 257 feet atop the Philadelphia Saving Fund Building. Work is currently being pushed on the WCAU-TV studios, which station hopes will be ready for use sometime in April. John Dearing, RCA service company engineer, who ran the final tests for WCAU-TV prior to the station's goingon the air, disclosed that the installation was one of the finest he had checked to date and that the transmitter and the antenna were the most efficient he had seen.
Set owners from such distant points from Philadelphia as Metuchen, N. J., only 20 air miles from New York, the Oranges in New Jersey, Cape May Court House on the Atlantic in southern-most New Jersey, Pottstown and Reading, Pa., and Wilmington, Del., have reported that they are receiving strong pictures of the test pattern.
Spots Sold Out
ALTHOUGH only on the air with test pattern one day, and with programs officially still three weeks away, WCAU-TV Philadelphia, the Philadelphia Bulletin's new television station, finds itself sold out of spots. WCAU-TV, which began operating on Channel 10 (192-198 mc) on Monday, March 1, reported that it had so many spot requests by Tuesday that it will be completely sold out for the initial days of programming.

Despite two competitors, Television Digest of March 6 announced it was carrying whatever CBS programming was available and "Initial local accounts include Studebaker, Bulova, Wilf (rugs, appliances), Heinel Motors, Evervess." The station formally signed an affiliation agreement on March 25.

A ban on live music on television by members of the American Federation of Musicians was lifted by union strongman Caesar Petrillo in March 1948 and that resulted in a race between CBS and NBC to bring viewers the first live symphony orchestra telecast. CBS was the winner, with WCBS-TV and WCAU-TV airing Eugene Ormandy and the Philadelphia Symphony on March 20 from 5 to 6 p.m. The broadcast was introduced from New York by CBS chairman Bill Paley, then the switch was made to Philadelphia for the concert (NBC broadcast Arturo Toscanini 90 minutes later). Paul Ackerman’s review in the March 27, 1948 edition of Billboard read, in part:

Pick-up of the Philadelphia Orchestra from the Academy of Music in Philadelphia, where WCAU-TV originated the program, proved excellent video fare despite some obvious production weaknesses. Most noticeable among the latter were the long shots, which were without exception blurred and fuzzy. As the one-hour program progressed, however, the cameras concentrated increasingly on close-ups of Ormandy and middle shots in which various sections of the orchestra could be seen at work. The Ormandy close-ups were excellent—revealing the maestro's luminous face and mobile features in a manner rarely seen by an audience in a concert hall. Ormandy was even seen to place what seemed to be a cough drop into his mouth during the rigors of his performance.
During the telecast of the overture to The Freischutz there was a small amount of initial pick-up trouble resulting in complete loss of the image for a brief time. Once the program got under way, however, no such pick-up difficulty occurred, and by the time Ormandy was conducting the Rachmaninoff's Symphony No. 1, the WCAU-TV cameras had solved a lot of their initial uncertainty and were delivering a better visual job.

WCAU’s test period didn’t go without other troubles. Two stories from Variety, March 31:

UNION TANGLE STYMIES PHILLY TV OPERA SHOW
Philadelphia. March 30. Caught in the middle of an eleventh-hour jurisdictional dispute between unions involved, WCAU-TV this afternoon (Tues.) was forced to call off plans to televise the American Opera Co.'s production of "The Bartered Bride" tonight at the Academy of Music.
Station had cleared pickup with the opera company and with the American Federation of Musicians, but at the last minute the Academy stagehands, members of IATSE (AFL), refused to work with WCAU-TV's tele crews, who are members of the American Communications Assn. (CIO) and IBEW (AFL). Joseph Douglas, business manager of Local B, IATSE, said the only conditions under which the stagehands would work was for the station to substitute AFL technicians. Station pointed out that its contract with the ACA prevented this.
Referred by Douglas to J. B. Bassen, international IATSE rep in New York, WCAU-TV execs sought in vain to reach him today, finally gave up and cancelled the telecast.

SNEAK-PREVIEW OF NEW FEATURE ON TV KAYOED
Plans of Screen Plays execs to sneak-preview Henry Morgan's starrer, "So This Is New York," on television have been discreetly shelved following murmurs of opposition from exhib groups. Indie production outfit had the video stunt all set with WCAU-TV in Philadelphia, but decided not to go out on a limb with their first pic.
Film is slated for release by United Artists May 1. Tight situation among the Broadway showcases currently will result in the pic preeming outside of N. Y., probably Chicago, despite the title.

Broadcasting reported the four-station CBS television network began carrying Tonight on Broadway, which showed scenes from plays and interviewed their creators. The idea was to tempt people to go to the Great White Way. The first weekly broadcast was April 6 from 7 to 7:30 p.m., with “Mr. Roberts” the first production, starring Henry Fonda. Perhaps there were stop-motion cigarettes as well, since the programme was bankrolled by American Tobacco to push Lucky Strikes (with Equity working out a reduced scale for actors).

The station’s daily schedule began appearing in newspapers April 10.

Show Business, the first commercial studio programme, debuted April 12 under sponsorship of Lou Brock Studebaker. It ran 15 minutes. (Variety, Apr. 21). Gillette signed to run the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness and Belmont Stakes on three CBS TV stations, with the Derby aired on film a day later (May 1) because Churchill Downs didn’t have transmission facilities. (New York Herald-Tribune, Apr. 18). WCAU-TV and WPTZ agreed to divide baseball broadcasts from Shibe Park, with WCAU-TV picking up Wednesday, Thursday and Friday night games for three sponsors on a rotational basis. (Variety, Apr. 28)

Variety of May 12 reviewed one test programme.

CAREER FORUM
With Ralph B. Austrian
Producer-Narrator: Norris West
30 Mins.; Thurs., 5 p.m.
Sustaining
WCAU-TV, Philly
This is the first time that the "Career Forum," which has had a long run as a public service feature on WCAU's AM circuit, has been televised and the result, as this type of program goes, is satisfactory. Televising this particular show was apropos since the subject under discussion was television and the speaker was Ralph B. Austrian, vice-prexy in charge of television for Foote, Cone & Belding agency.
After a brief survey of prospects of careers in video, Austrian opened up for questions with the quizzers a group of highschool kids. Earnestness of youngsters as they probed into the question under discussion was the added fillip which video brought to the show, which was being simultaneously broadcast over AM by WCAU. Shal.

The “test” phase was about to end. Several stories:

WCAU-TV Preems Officially May 23.
PHILADELPHIA, May 8.—WCAU-TV, Evening Bulletin's video outlet, late in getting its studios in shape, will mark its official opening May 23. The station is on the video lanes already, with scattered local film pick-ups and depending almost entirely on the Columbia Broadcasting System tele feeds. To mark the official opener, The Bulletin will publish a special edition that day.
While there are reports that the special edition will give space to the other two tele stations in town, The Philadelphia Inquirer, which operates WFIL-TV, is taking no chances. The Inquirer is putting out its own special television edition May 16. (Billboard, May 15)

Philly's WCAU to Tee Off Regular Program Sked With 11 Hours' Airing
Philadelphia, May 18.
WCAU-TV tees off its regular program schedule next Sunday (23) with 11 solid hours of telecasting. The next day, Monday, the outlet, Philly's link in the CBS video skein, gets down to regular operation with a 28-hour week minimum operation.
The opening day celebration gets going at 11:25 a.m., with airing of an introductory show, which will be followed by the telecasting of the Horn and Hardart's "Children's Show," which has been on the air on WCAU's outlet for the past 24 years.
WCAU-TV will also carry the baseball game between the Phils and the St. Louis Cards, regularly carried over WPTZ. Philco's outlet. WCAU-TV shares the telecasting of the night games. Fifteen minutes of clips from "The Paradine Case" and a special CBS "Salute show" will wrap up the opening day ceremonies, with speeches by station and city officials. (Variety, May 19)

In observance of the inauguration Sunday of a regular program service by WCAU-TV, the Philadelphia affiliate of CBS, the television network will carry a full-hour "Open House" from its New York studios, beginning at 9 P. M. Frank Stanton, CBS president, with discuss the relationship of the network to the television station in the course of the salute.
Gil Fates will be master of ceremonies of the program, entertainment for which will include Ed Sullivan in a revue with Hollace Shaw. vocalist, and Bob Evans, ventriloquist. Among those also to perform are Shaye Cogan and Johnny Desmond. singers; the Tony Mottola Trio, Romo Vincent, comedian, and Howard Smith's orchestra. (New York Times, May 20)

Here’s what Broadcasting of May 24 said, in part, about the “change” in status.

WCAU-TV STARTS
Fanfare of Publicity Marks Launching
A BOMBARDMENT of advertising, publicity and promotion preceded the start of regular commercial television programs over WCAU-TV Philadelphia yesterday (May 23). The opening itself was marked by 11 hours of telecasting and by important announcements concerning the station's operations. Station is on Channel 10 (192-198 mc).
The all-out buildup to make the Philadelphia area conscious of the existence of the new station was climaxed by a special 24-page television supplement in the Sunday (May 23) issue of The Evening Bulletin, which owns the station.
The promotional campaign was opened last Monday (May 17) when The Bulletin ran a front-page, two-column box announcing the supplement and telling of WCAU-TV's starting regular programs. The station itself ran three one-column boxes, six two-column by 112 line ads in The Bulletin all through the week. It took a full-page in The Bulletin of Sunday, May 23.
Other WCAU-TV build-up efforts:
Mentions of start of the station on "Bulletin" flashcasts at three of the city's busiest street corners and on the Click Cafe flashcast outside the nightery.
Announcements on WPTZ and WFIL-TV, Philadelphia's other television stations.
Use of WCAU's AM facilities to call attention to its TV opening.
Special movie trailers in four downtown theaters and 16 key suburban locations.
Car card advertisements in 2,600 trolleys and buses.
Notices in Horn and Hardart restaurants, bakery shops and retail food stores.
Tie-ins with Retail Electric Merchants Assn., many of whose members kept stores open May 23 so people could see the WCAU-TV programs on receivers in the merchants' stores.
Tie-ins with Retail Liquor Dealers Assn., which sent notices to its 1,200 tavern-owner members telling of the start of the station and listing the night baseball games it will carry.
Tie-ins with Tele-Screen Co. of Philadelphia, by which 9 by 7 feet projection receivers were on display in the WCAU auditorium and at two Philadelphia hospitals.
Bulletins to all school principals, superintendents, teachers and parent-teacher groups in the area telling of the new service and listing opening programs.
CBS' salute to its new Philadelphia TV affiliate with a full hour program from New York was an opening day feature. Also carried were rushes of "The Paradine Case," David O. Selznik's latest release, starring Gregory Peck and Valli. A special 15-minute section of the rushes was flown to Philadelphia from Hollywood for the event.
Announcements Sold
Start of WCAU-TV's regular telecasts also was marked by important commercial developments, including the sale of some 650 one-minute announcements.

And a review from Variety.

CHILDREN'S HOUR
With Stan Lee Broza
60 Mins. Sun. (23) 11:30 a.m.
HORN & HARDART
WCAU-TV, Philly
For the inaugural of television at WCAU, the station switched to video one of its staunchest AM props, the 20-year old Horn & Hardart "Children's Hour," conducted by Stan Lee Broza.
The oldest program in local radio and probably one of the oldest anywhere, the show is a natural for visual entertainment. The moppets sit minstrel fashion about the stage and wait their turn to do their stuff, mostly song and dance. There is a wide variety of: kids, they are highly photogenic and a number of them are really gifted.
Where the show errs in video is the attempt to do it cold. The camera flashes from Broza to the kids and you find them reading scripts. The technique is still radio and there should be some attempt made to get rid of it, whether the youngsters are rehearsed, or use a blackboard or some other device.
Hugh Walton does the commercials with slides. The show went out both AM and TV simultaneously. Gag.

Finally, a look at programming for the week.

SUNDAY, MAY 23
11:25—WCAU Television Open House. 11:30—Children’s Hour. 12:30—University of Pennsylvania Forum. 1:00—WCAU Television Story. 1:30—Baseball, Shibe Park, Phillies and Cardinals. 6:00—WCAU Television Previews. 6:30—Sports Page with Bill Sears. 6:40—Weather. 6:50—News. 7:00—Island Sweethearts (cartoon) and Previews. 9:00—Salute to WCAU Television. 10:00—Program of reverence and Good Night.

MONDAY, MAY 24
10:00—Test Pattern. 6:30—Sports Page with Bill Sears. 6:40—Weather. 6:50—News. 7:00—Major Sports or “Good Old U.S.A,” Florida. 7:15—“Show Business” with Ethyl Foster, Steve Condos and Sunny King, sponsored by Lou Block Studebaker. 7:30—CBS Television News (CBS). 7:45—“Good Old U.S.A,” Florida or Major Sports 8:00—Sportsman Quiz (from CBS). 8:05—To the Queen’s Taste (from CBS). 8:30—Film Shorts (from CBS).

TUESDAY, MAY 25
10:00—Test Pattern. 6:30—Sports Page with Bill Sears. 6:40—Weather. 6:50—News. 7:00—Tonight on Broadway—“Look, Ma. I’m Dancin’,” excerpts from the comedy hit starring Nancy Walker, Adelphia Theatre (from CBS). 7:30—CBS Television News (CBS). 7:45—Stump the Artist. 8:00—Nancy Niland, the Federal Girl. 8:15—How Does Your Garden Grow? 8:30—Watch Your Step. 9:30—United Nations Appeal for Children, Madison Square Garden (from CBS).

WEDNESDAY, MAY 26
10:00—Test Pattern. 6:30—Sports Page with Bill Sears. 6:40—Weather. 6:50—News. 7:00—“Good Old U.S.A,” Erie, Pennsylvania. 7:15—“Face the Music,” vocalists Shaye Cogan and Johnny Desmond, with Tony Mottola Trio (CBS). 7:30—CBS Television News (CBS). 7:45—“Putting on the Dog,” St. Bernard. 8:00—Film, “Dickinson College.” 8:15—Mummers Contest, Fire Fighters Band. 8:30—Sports Album. 8:35—Baseball at Shibe Park, Phillies vs. Pittsburgh.
Two Saint Bernard dogs owned by residents of Liftwood will appear tonight on a television show over WCAU-TV. The show, “Putting on the Dog,” will be seen and heard at 7:45 o’clock and is the first in a series of 12 programs which will present a different breed of dog each week. The nine-month-old dogs are Faerie Queen of Liftwood, owned by Walter Gehret, and Snow King of Liftwood, owned by James Keenan. (Wilmington Journal)

THURSDAY, MAY 27
10:00—Test Pattern. 6:30—Sports Page with Bill Sears. 6:40—Weather. 6:50—News. 7:00—Let’s All Sing with Melody Mac. 7:15—Face the Music. 7:30—CBS Television News (CBS). 7:45—Mad Hatter, Dorothy Nugent. 8:00—Film “Music From the Stars.” 8:15—Mummers Contest, Fralinger Band. 8:30—Sports Album. 8:35—Baseball at Shibe Park, Phillies vs. Pittsburgh.

FRIDAY, MAY 28
10:00—Test Pattern. 6:30—Sports Page with Bill Sears. 6:40—Weather. 6:50—News. 7:00—“Good Old U.S.A,” Elmira, New York. 7:15—Face the Music (CBS). 7:30—CBS Television News (CBS). 7:45—Formula for Champions. 8:00—Film, “Strength of the Land.” 8:15—Mummers Contest, Ferko Band. 8:30—Sports Album. 8:35—Baseball at Shibe Park, Athletics vs. Yankees.

SATURDAY, MAY 29
10:00—Test Pattern. 2:00—IC4A Track Meet. 4:10—Test Pattern.

March 1933

Everything is up to date in Kansas City, went the old saying, and it was certainly true in one aspect in March 1933.

W2XAB, the CBS TV station in New York, had suddenly halted its broadcasts in February. With that, the main experimental television transmissions were coming from the Midwest.

The big station seems to have been W9XAL. It was owned by the Kansas City Journal-Post, which also owned KMBC radio. The paper’s Sunday broadcasting page columnist was a chap named John Cameron Swayze (right), who did a six-day-a-week noon newscast that went to the air on both stations. Other radio shows were simulcast. One was a variety show hosted by Emil Chaquette. He was a well-known local bandleader. Swayze profiled him in the paper’s March 5, 1933 edition, including this tale:

The scene was the studios of television station W9XAL. One of the officials was watching the picture produced by the evening television jubilee program. Suddenly he looked at his watch. "I thought that cartoonist was supposed to finish at 8 o'clock," he remarked.
A student spoke up: "Pardon me, sir, but the cartoonist has finished, the jubilee program is on now." He looked at the picture in the receiving set. "That's our program' director's picture you see."
The official started, then looked closer.
It was Emile!

I wonder if the watch was a Timex.

By month's end, Chaquette's show was off the air. An evening interview programme was added.

Also on W9XAL with Ted Malone was singer/announcer Hugh Studebaker, who left for Chicago in 1933 and was part of the supporting company on Fibber McGee and Molly. While he doesn’t talk about television, he does talk about working with Malone in an interview with chronicler Chuck Schaden.



W9XAK at Kansas State College in Manhattan began its programming this month. Other stations were on the air, including W9XK at the University of Iowa, W9YH at the University of Illinois and Purdue University’s W9XG, judging by a story about someone who had built a TV set (not included in this post). Their broadcasts were not for mass entertainment. Elsewhere, W6XAO was still broadcasting limited programming from Los Angeles.

Here are some items for the month, with W9XAL getting the focus. There is an unusual entry about a television show from the National Radio Broadcasting Company in Los Angeles. The next day, the Pasadena Star-News declared “Visual and audible reception of the program were excellent.” I cannot find the company in the 1933 or 1934 City Directories, nor any of the company's principals, and the only TV station license in Los Angeles was held by the Don Lee Broadcasting System.

Wednesday, March 1, 1933
W9XAL, Kansas City
12:00—Journal-Post News Flashes, with John Cameron Swayze, KMBC.
12:15—Tex Owens, KMBC.
4:30—Between the Bookends with Ted Malone and Hugh Studebaker, KMBC.
8:00—Emile Chaquette with Rose Nutter and Rhythm Sweeties.

FIRST TELEVISION SET.
The first television radio set to reach this city is now in operation. The set is in the possession of Wade Patrick, pioneer radio dealer of Brookfield [Missouri].
In a broadcast last night [1] the stations of Iowa City, Iowa, and Kansas City, featuring singers, were seen and heard. Television in a commercial sense is still in its infancy, but the set shows what the "hand writing on the wall" for the future of radio will be. The set has seven tubes, and a receiving panel in the top part of the cabinet, which transmits the pictures.
Wade, who was the first to develop the radio business in Brookfield, is still holding to his prestige by being the first with television. (Brookfield Argus, Mar. 1)

W3BBD Known to Hundreds of Operators in All Parts of the World—Owner Also Experiments Successfully With Television
The brilliant flashes of a blue tube and the insane acrobatics of a half dozen dials are the only visible signs to inform the novice that a powerful short wave radio station is operating with the skilled hand of one with years’ of experience at the key.
The station is W3BBD, owned and operated by Conard M. Gilbert, 206 Harding avenue, Collingswood. . .who is 27. . .
Gilbert recently built and operated a television outfit, and succeeded in receiving several pictures from Washington via that channel. However, the pictures were almost illegible, and Gilbert gave up the set until such time as method of sending shall be improved. (Post-Courier, Camden, N.J.)

Thursday, March 2, 1933
W9XAL, Kansas City
10:00 a.m.—Uncle Ezra’s Ramblings, KMBC.
12:00—Journal-Post News Flashes with John Cameron Swayze, KMBC.
12:15—Tex Owens, KMBC.
4:30—Between the Bookends with Ted Malone and Hugh Studebaker, KMBC.
8:00—Emile Chaquette with Judy Conrad and Leo Bates, WLBF.

Sound-Sight Program Will Be Open to the Public Friday Over Stations WSUI, W9XK
First public demonstration of a sound-sight program broadcast over radio station WSUI and television station W9XK at the University of Iowa will he made Friday evening [3] at 6:15 o'clock in the chemistry building corridor.
The program will be under the direction of Prof. E. B. Kurtz, head of the electrical engineering department and "father" of the university television elation, first one operating at an American university. The demonstration will precede Professor Kurtz' Baconian lecture at 7 o'clock on "Problems in Television."
A regular WSUI feature will be sent out over the television and radio microphones in the electrical engineering building studios. The program will he received in sound-sight in the corridor of the chemistry building, where visitors will pats on their way to the auditorium for the lecture.
Professor Kurtz in his lecture will explain the fundamental processes of television used in the local station, W9XK. The talk will be illustrated by stereopticon slides showing the principle of operation, as well as pictures of the equipment used. After describing the method of operation involved in transmitting and receiving, he will discuss and explain the important problems that must be solved in order to transmit pictures of larger area and finer texture.
Professor Kurtz has been head of the department of electrical engineering for the last four years. He received his bachelor's degree in 1917 at Wisconsin, and holds the degrees of M.S. in electrical engineering from Union college, Schenectady, N. Y., and E.E. and Ph.D., from Iowa State college at Ames. He was head of the electrical engineering and acting dean of engineering at Oklahoma A. and M. college before coming to Iowa. Sound-sight demonstrations for several faculty groups have been given recently, with Friday night's program the first that has been opened to the public. (Iowa City Press-Citizen)

Mechanism Being Built at K. S. C. Will have Only One Other Equal
A scanning disc which will have but one equal in the United States is now under construction in the college television laboratory by L. C. Paslay and H. H. Higginbottom. The disc is one of the most important parts of the television set and must be constructed with extreme accuracy, said Mr. Paslay. It must be balanced so that it can run smoothly at 1,200 revolutions per minute. This part would take but a short time in comparison with arranging the holes through which the light must be filtered. (Manhattan, Kan. Journal)

Marceline News— Marceline [Missouri] has been well represented on radio programs within the last week. Friday afternoon, Lawrence Patrick, son of Dr. and Mrs. P. L. Patrick, sang from station KMBC, Kansas City. He appeared on the television experimental program. (The Bulletin, Linneus, Mo., Mar. 2)

Friday, March 3, 1933
W9XAL, Kansas City
12:00—Journal-Post News Flashes with John Cameron Swayze, KMBC.
12:15—Tex Owens, KMBC.
4:30—Ted Malone and Hugh Studebaker, KMBC.
8:00—Emile Chaquette with Rev. Earl A. Blackman, Youth’s Forum, and Four Molton Bros., WLBF.
9:00—Ed Cochrane’s Sports Chat, KMBC.

Kurtz Demonstrates Sight-Sound Program Over W9XK and WSUI
Demonstration and explanation of sound-sight broadcasts as sent out by radio station WSUI and television station W9XK at the University of Iowa was given to about 1,000 persons Friday evening [3] at the chemistry auditorium. It was the first public demonstration of television, with Prof. E. B. Kurtz, head of the electrical engineering department, explaining the operation in his Baconian lecture which followed the broadcast.
The reception was made in the corridor of the chemistry building from 6:45 to 7 o'clock, with the large crowd permitted only a short view and then moved on to make room for others. In his lecture, Professor Kurtz explained the process of changing the light waves reflected from the subject to be broadcast into electric current through a photoelectric cell, transmitted to the receiver, and changed back by the "glow lamp" to the image seen on the screen. (Iowa City Press-Citizen, Mar. 4)

Saturday, March 4, 1933
W9XAL, Kansas City
12:00—Journal-Post News Flashes with John Cameron Swayze, KMBC.
12:15—Tex Owens, Texas Ranger, KMBC.
6:30—Kansas City Bar Association, James M. Johnson, speaker, KMBC.
8:00—Emile Chaquette with Judy Conrad and Bill and Mary, WLBF.

W9YH, University of Chicago
11:00 to 11:15 a.m.—Television program.

Combined Pictures, Sound Will Be Broadcast Today in First Program Over WILL, W9YH
Combined pictures and sound will be broadcast today by the University on its first publicly announced television program via station W9YH, located in the radio laboratories of the department of electrical engineering, Electrical Engineering laboratory, and the University's radio station, WILL. The program will go on the air from 11 a. m. until 11:15.
F. J. Darke, Jr. '33 and D. E Chapman, graduate student, both of them majors in electrical engineering, are operators of the television set. They have been working on it since last September. Prof. Hugh A. Brown of the department of electrical engineering has acted as their technical adviser.
Last Saturday [Feb. 25] the first program —an experimental program — was broadcast. Today will begin regular Saturday broadcasts with the exception of March 11 and 17, when a conflict on WILL'S program will make television broadcast via that station impossible at 11 a. m.
Ukelele selections and singing by E. J. Emery '35 and a four-minute talk on the history of television by Darke will make up the program which will be broadcast. Darke will be the announcer.
The subjects to be broadcast will stand in the television booth in the radio laboratory with the pictures being sent out directly from W9YH while a wire will carry the sound over to WILL where it will be broadcast. W9YH operates on a frequency of 1884 kilocycles and WILL on 890 kilocycles. W9YH has a 500-watt transmitter, and sends out 45 hole, three spiral, 900 revolutions-per-minute television signals. (Daily Illini)

Monday, March 6, 1933
W9XAL, Kansas City
11:50—Journal-Post News Flashes with John Cameron Swayze, KMBC.
12:15—Tex Owens, KMBC.
4:30—Between the Bookends, with Ted Malone and Hugh Studebaker, KMBC.
8:00—Emile Chaquette with Gladys Schnorf, pianist, WLBF.

GLADYS SCHNORF ON TELEVISION JUBILEE
Gladys Schnorf, Kansas City pianist will again be featured on the Television Jubilee program, Monday night [6] at 8 o'clock over television station W9XAL.
Her numbers will be "The Fountain" by Provaznik and "The Legend" by Albeniz.
Other artists that have a prominent part in the program during the week are Emile Chaquette, Judy Conrad, Don Watson, Gaylord Bentley. Doris Bicknell, Kitty Evers, Rose Mary Dougherty, Bill and Mary and the Four Milton Brothers. (Kansas City Journal, Mar. 5, 1933)

Masons To See Demonstration Of Television
Pictures Of Dancer, Chief Will Be Broadcast
Pictures transmitted by television will be shown at the stated meeting of Pasadena Masonic Lodge, No. 272, tomorrow night at the Masonic Temple. It will be the first television demonstration held in Pasadena.
Dance Program
Collenette, former Pavlowa dance artist, and one of her ballets will appear on the program, and the Venetian Trio, composed of Robert Olson, piano; Hamilton Lawrence, violin; and Winslow Adams, 'cello,' will play. This year marks the golden anniversary of Pasadena Lodge, the oldest Masonic group in the city and the program is one of a series to mark the fiftieth anniversary.
The television demonstration will tie up a Los Angeles broadcasting station one hour and involve the services of nearly fifty persons. Collenette and Police Chief Charles H. Kelley, the latter a past master of Pasadena Lodge, will be televised from the National Radio Broadcasting studio. Collenette, following her appearance on the dance program, will be taken with Chief Kelley to the television studio by a police escort.
Two Numbers Planned
The Collenette ballet will appear in two numbers, "The Awakening" and a comedy feature. There will also be solo and duet dances. Those to appear are Dorothy Dean, Joanne Turner, Ida Lee, Inetta Buell, Anne Abbott, Phyllis Lee, Mary Beauchamp, Helene Richards, Shirley Nash, Barbara Brooks, May Belle La Rue and Joan Roamer, while principles will be Evelyn Le Moene, Lysle Winter, Thelma Hersey, Jean Allen and Nata Lane.
The television experiment will be explained by Thomas Nikert, radio engineer, and Mr. Haroldsen of the National Radio Television School. L. Rosencranz, also of the television school will be in charge of the receiving equipment. W. G. Patterson of the radio shop bearing his name, will be chairman of the program. Ralph T. Merriam, Pasadena Lodge worshipful master, will preside. The program will follow a short business session. (Pasadena Post, Mar. 5)

Tuesday, March 7, 1933
W9XAL, Kansas City
11:50—Journal-Post News Flashes with John Cameron Swayze, KMBC.
12:15—Tex Owens, KMBC.
4:30—Between the Bookends, with Ted Malone and Hugh Studebaker, KMBC.
8:00—Emile Chaquette with Emma Pritchard and Dorothy Lang, WLBF.

Wednesday, March 8, 1933
W9XAL, Kansas City
11:50—Journal-Post News Flashes with John Cameron Swayze, KMBC.
12:15—Tex Owens, KMBC.
4:00—Interview with Karl Moore, KMBC.
4:30—Between the Bookends, with Ted Malone and Hugh Studebaker, KMBC.
8:00—Emile Chaquette with Judy Conrad and Ester Nelson, WLBF.

Thursday, March 9, 1933
W9XAL, Kansas City
10:00 a.m.—Uncle Ezra’s Ramblings, KMBC.
11:50—Journal-Post News Flashes with John Cameron Swayze, KMBC.
12:15—Tex Owens, KMBC.
4:30—Between the Bookends with Ted Malone and Hugh Studebaker, KMBC.
8:00—Emile Chaquette with Ethel Osborne, Mickey and Margie, WLBF.

BEGIN TELEVISION BROADCASTS SOON
University of Iowa Ready To Begin Regular Schedule of Illustrated Lectures Over Air.
IOWA CITY—University of Iowa's radio and television stations, WSUI and W9XK, are ready to present the first scheduled series of sight-sound educational programs every given by an American university, Prof. Edward B. Kurtz, head of the department of electrical engineering, announced Friday.
Details of the broadcasts are now being arranged and it is expected that a regular schedule of illustrated lectures will commence next week. Illustrated lectures have been chosen for program material because they are adaptable to radio and television synchronization, pictures being confined to small areas with limited details.
At first the broadcasts will probably be made once a wekk, between 7 and 7:30 p.m., the exact evenings being undetermined as yet. Later in the year programs may be given twice or even three times weekly.
While the number of Iowans owning television receiving sets is not known, Prof. Kurtz predicted that the number will increase as sigh-sound programs go on the air. A set can now be purchased for as little as $85.
The first sight-sound program from the synchronized stations was broadcast in January before a group of faculty members. Two later demonstrations, one of them public, have proved that the broadcasts are practical.
Granted in January, 1932, the license for W9XK was the first for a visual station west of the Mississippi. Broadcast hours are unlimited and experimental work, especially that requiring operation of a transmitter, is permitted. (Cedar Rapids Gazette)

Former Eldon Boy’s Work Is Recognized at U. of Minnesota
Max Risley, a former student of Eldon High School, is one of the co-builders of a television set —the first ever constructed at the University of Minnesota—which was the subject of a recent article in The Minneapolis Tribune. His partner in the construction was Robert Campbell and both of them are graduate students at the University.
The set was constructed largely of old parts reclaimed from the university's electrical department "morgue" and made its initial public appearance at a recent meeting of the student chapter of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers.
The construction required eight months, the students working six hours a day during the first four, and three hours a day during the last two. At present the contrivance is in an elementary stage, but will project a small picture two inches square. The students hope, with more labor, to be able to produce larger and clearer images.
The apparatus is equipped only for direct wire transmission, but Risley and Campbell have been receiving radio television programs nightly from Chicago and Kansas City. Since television broadcasts rarely can be dependable over a distance of more than twenty-five miles, the record is considered remarkable.
Max is the son of Mrs. Ella Risley, of Sherburn, Minn. and the brother of Mrs. John Gattermeir of Olean. (Eldon Advertiser)

Friday, March 10, 1933
W9XAL, Kansas City
11:50—Journal-Post News Flashes with John Cameron Swayze, KMBC.
12:15—Tex Owens, KMBC.
4:30—Ted Malone and Hugh Studebaker, KMBC.
8:00—Emile Chaquette with Judy Conrad and Bruce Robbins, WLBF.
9:00—Ed Cochrane’s Sports Chat, KMBC.

Saturday, March 11, 1933
W9XAL, Kansas City
11:50—Journal-Post News Flashes with John Cameron Swayze, KMBC.
12:15—Tex Owens, Texas Ranger, KMBC.
4:30—Ted Malone and Hugh Studebaker, KMBC.
6:30—Kansas City Bar Association, presenting T.J. Madden, speaker, KMBC.
8:00—Emile Chaquette with Pearl Silvers, WLBF.
W9YH, University of Chicago
11:50 to 12:00 noon—Television program.

'BOOKENDS' DEDICATED TO GIRL SCOUTS
KMBC's popular feature, "Between the Bookends," is to be dedicated to the twenty-first birthday anniversary of the Girl Scout organization when it takes the air at 4:30 o'clock Saturday [11]. The anniversary is on Sunday the following day.
The program will be conducted, as usual by Ted Malone, with Hugh Studebaker furnishing suitable organ music.
Digressing from his usual readings and philosophy, Ted Malone will present Margaret Fifield, leader of the Kansas City Girl Scouts, and a select chorus of girls from the organization.
As "Between the Bookends" is to be broadcast by more than twenty stations of the Columbia network throughout the West, arrangements have been made with the national headquarters to have all troops of the Girl Scouts in Kansas City and in the West gather and tune in for the program. When the group of Kansas City girls sing the Scouting songs, these troops will be requested to join them, making in actuality, the greatest chorus of Girl Scouts ever to sing at one time. (Kansas City Journal-Post, Mar. 5)

Sunday, March 12, 1933
Her Singing Assists In The Emergency Relief Drive, Boston
Miss Sheila O’Donovan Rossa, a mezzo soprano, who has been heard locally many times, is taking an active part in the Boston Emergency Relief drive. Miss Rossa has sung the campaign song “The Mother’s Prayer” in practically every ward in the City, softening the hearts of her audiences and spurring the solicitors on to greater efforts.
Her appearances have been sponsored by Mayor James M. Curley as one of his official efforts.
Miss Rossa is known as “Miss Television” and sings over the international short wave station every Friday night [W1XAV]. (Portland Press Herald)

Monday, March 13, 1933
W9XAL, Kansas City
11:50—Journal-Post News Flashes with John Cameron Swayze, KMBC.
12:15—Tex Owens, KMBC.
4:00—Roscoe Ates interviewed by Dick Smith, KMBC.
4:30—Between the Bookends, with Ted Malone and Hugh Studebaker, KMBC.
8:00—Emile Chaquette with Gladys Schnorf, pianist, WLBF.

How about Roscoe Ates’ stutter on the radio, would you like it? The stuttering comic arrived in the Heart of America Saturday morning [11] for his 6-say appearance at the Sni-a-Bar Gardens to announce that he was willing to do some air work if he found the right vehicle. So at 4 o’clock Monday you can hear him stuttering at Dick Smith over KMBC and see him over W9XAL. (Kansas City Journal-Post, Mar. 12)

BARKER BROTHERS TO OPEN ELECTRIC SHOW
Starting Monday Barker Brothers are presenting an electrical show, featuring the newest developments in radio refrigeration and electrical aids for the home. A magic electrical kitchen has been constructed where everything is done electrically and which will be open to the public daily. Through the courtesy of the Don Lee television stations and the National Radio and Television School, Barker Brothers will present continuous television programs each day during the exposition from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
[Don Lee was broadcasting W6XS on 140 metres and W6XAO on 6 ¾ metres, 80 line single spiral image repeated 15 times a second.] (Los Angeles Times, Mar. 11)

Tuesday, March 14, 1933
W9XAL, Kansas City
11:50—Journal-Post News Flashes with John Cameron Swayze, KMBC.
12:15—Tex Owens, KMBC.
4:30—Between the Bookends, with Ted Malone and Hugh Studebaker, KMBC.
8:00—Emile Chaquette’s Television Jubilee, WLBF.

Wednesday, March 15, 1933
W9XAL, Kansas City
11:50—Journal-Post News Flashes with John Cameron Swayze, KMBC.
12:15—Tex Owens, KMBC.
4:30—Between the Bookends, with Ted Malone and Hugh Studebaker, KMBC.
8:00—Emile Chaquette with Helen Lindsey, WLBF.

Thursday, March 16, 1933
W9XAL, Kansas City
11:50—Journal-Post News Flashes with John Cameron Swayze, KMBC.
12:15—Tex Owens, KMBC.
4:30—Between the Bookends with Ted Malone and Hugh Studebaker, KMBC.
8:00—Emile Chaquette’s Television Jubilee, WLBF.

Motion Pictures Of Quake Sent By Radio Television
LOS ANGELES, March 16.— (AP) —For the first time in history, the station claims, motion picture scenes [Pathe news reel] of a major disaster were transmitted by television, as W6XS, the Don Lee television station here, broadcast scenes of the Long Beach-Compton earthquake area.
Operating simultaneously, the 1,000-watt W6XS and the ultra-short wave sister station, W6XAO, broadcast film scenes showing the survivors, wrecked buildings and the general havoc wrought by last week's shocks.

Friday, March 17, 1933
W9XAL, Kansas City
11:50—Journal-Post News Flashes with John Cameron Swayze, KMBC.
12:15—Tex Owens, KMBC.
4:30—Ted Malone and Hugh Studebaker, KMBC.
8:00—Emile Chaquette’s Television Jubilee with Four Milton Brothers, WLBF.
9:00—Ed Cochrane’s Sports Chat, KMBC.

Engineers’ open house, which last year attracted nearly 7,000 visitors and 5,000 the year before, again will be given for students, townspeople, and the public in general Friday night [17] and all day Saturday at Kansas State. This is the thirteenth presentation of the event.
This year a complete television demonstration will be given as one of the outstanding features of the free educational show. (Manhattan, Ks. Mercury, Mar. 16)

TELEVISION TO START FRIDAY
University Stations to Open Sight-Sound Programs
Inauguration of a regularly scheduled sight-sound series of programs will he started over the University of Iowa's synchronized television and radio stations, W9XK and WSUI, Friday evening at 7:10 o'clock. The sight-sound programs will be given each Friday evening at 7:10 o'clock during the remainder of the semester, according to Prof. E. B. Kurtz, head of the department of electrical engineering who is in charge of the television station.
Friday evening's initial broadcast will include an illustrated lecture on art under the direction of Mr. Aden Arnold [right], instructor in the graphic and plastic arts department, and some readings by speech department members under the direction of Prof. H. C. Harshbarger.
Granted a federal government license in January, 1932, the first synchronized broadcast was given early this year by the university stations. The university license, permitting experimental work in all of the field with unlimited broadcasting time, was the first license issued for a visual station west of the Mississippi river.
Plan of Professor Kurtz and Dr. Bruce E. Mahan, chairman of the radio board, call for the sight-sound series to present a varied type of programs. (Iowa City Press-Citizen)

Television Popular.
Combined television and radio broadcasts, which were put on the air from University of Iowa stations WSUI and W9XX [sic] in the first regular program of a series Friday evening [17], will be continued at least until May, according to Prot. E. R. Kurtz, head of the university electrical engineering department. The presentations are believed to be the first made on a fixed schedule by an educational institution in the United States.
Illustrated lectures, contributed by faculty members, are planned for the series of broadcasts, altho present equipment will make it necessary to confine illustrations to those of a small area, with limited detail. (Quad City Times, Mar. 19)

Saturday, March 18, 1933
W9XAL, Kansas City
11:50—Journal-Post News Flashes with John Cameron Swayze, KMBC.
12:15—Tex Owens, Texas Ranger, KMBC.
6:30—Kansas City Bar Association, presenting James P. Aylward, speaker, KMBC.
8:00—Emile Chaquette with Judy Conrad and Gaylord Bentley, WLBF.
W9YH, University of Chicago
11:50 to 12:00 noon—Television program.

Sunday, March 19, 1933
Radio School's Music Division Will Be Opened
The National Broadcasting School this evening will entertain the musical world of Los Angeles at the formal opening of its music department. Following a reception in the auditorium of the school a program will be presented, in which modern methods of broadcasting and some tricks of the trade will be displayed. Musical broadcasting, both instrumental and vocal, will be featured, with some discussion by Alexander Bevani, head of the department. Dr. Charles Frederick Lindsley, head of the announcers' school, will be heard in a literary broadcast and Marta Oatman players will present a short radio drama. Harold Isbell, Los Angeles and Chicago announcer, will conduct the program and add to it a number of back-stage novelties. A special feature of the evening will be a television broadcast, in which both the sound and picture will be sent out on the air and received again in the studio. Alberta Campbell Simmons, director of the National Broadcasting School, and Alexander Bevan, head of the department of radio singing, have been figures in the musical life of Los Angeles for the past decade. (Los Angeles Times)

Monday, March 20, 1933
W9XAL, Kansas City
11:50—Journal-Post News Flashes with John Cameron Swayze, KMBC.
12:15—Tex Owens, KMBC.
4:30—Between the Bookends, with Ted Malone and Hugh Studebaker, KMBC.
8:00—Emile Chaquette with Gladys Schnorf, pianist, WLBF.

Tuesday, March 21, 1933
W9XAL, Kansas City
11:50—Journal-Post News Flashes with John Cameron Swayze, KMBC.
12:15—Tex Owens, KMBC.
4:30—Between the Bookends with Ted Malone, KMBC.
8:00—Emile Chaquette’s Television Jubilee, WLBF.

Wednesday, March 22, 1933
W9XAL, Kansas City
11:50—Journal-Post News Flashes with John Cameron Swayze, KMBC.
12:15—Tex Owens, KMBC.
4:30—Between the Bookends with Ted Malone, KMBC.
8:00—Emile Chaquette with Judy Conrad and Gaylord Bentley, WLBF.

VERGIL TACY ANNOUNCES TELEVISION PROGRAMS
Vergil Tacy, son of Mr and Mrs. T. O. Tacy, 471 Park avenue, is announcing the weekly television programs for stations WSUI and 49XU at the University of Iowa, Iowa City.
The programs, which are believed to be the first of their kind broadcast regularly west of the Mississippi river, are on the air every Friday at 7:10 p. m. Tacy not only announces the programs but also takes part in them.
He is a junior in the college of liberal arts and will enter the law school next year. He is a graduate of Abraham Lincoln high school. (Council Bluffs Nonpareil

Thursday, March 23, 1933
W9XAL, Kansas City
10:00—Uncle Ezra’s Ramblings, KMBC
11:50—Journal-Post News Flashes with John Cameron Swayze, KMBC.
12:15—Tex Owens, KMBC.
4:30—Between the Bookends with Ted Malone and Hugh Studebaker, KMBC.
8:00—Emile Chaquette’s Television Jubilee, WLBF.

Friday, March 24, 1933
W9XAL, Kansas City
11:50—Journal-Post News Flashes with John Cameron Swayze, KMBC.
12:15—Tex Owens, KMBC.
4:30—Between the Bookends with Ted Malone and Hugh Studebaker, KMBC.
8:00—Emile Chaquette with Judy Conrad, WLBF.
9:00—Ed Cochrane’s Sports Chat, KMBC.

DENTAL TALK BY TELEVISION
Dr. Charles L. Drain to Give Address Over Station Here
Believed to be the first dental talk ever carried by a television station in the world, Dr. Charlee L. Drain of the college of dentistry faculty will speak Friday night in the sight-sound program over the University of Iowa radio and television stations, WSUI and W9XK. Doctor Drain will talk on the subject of "Oral Hygiene" at 7:10 o'clock.
Following the lecture, selections will be given by members of the music, speech and arts department, according to Prof. E. B. Kurtz, head of the electrical engineering department and director of the television station. The sight-sound programs were inaugurated last week as a regular Friday evening feature. (Iowa City Press-Citizen)

Saturday, March 25, 1933
W9XAL, Kansas City
11:50—Journal-Post News Flashes with John Cameron Swayze, KMBC.
12:15—Tex Owens, Texas Ranger, KMBC.
6:30—Kansas City Bar Association, presenting Henry M. Beardsley, speaker, KMBC.
W9YH, University of Chicago
11:00 to 11:15 a.m.—Television program.

VACATE ORDER OF ASSET SALE
WILMINGTON, Del., March 25—(AP)—Judge John P. Nields in federal court today vacated his recent order for the sale next Tuesday of assets of the Jenkins Television Corporation.
The court stated that it had not been sufficiently advised as to the value of the corporation’s assets and of the necessity for the sale.
It was stated here that the proposed sale of the assets of the DeForest Radio Corporation to the Radio Corporation of America for about $500,000 was contingent on the ability of the receivers also to deliver the assets of the Jenkins Corpoation.

Sunday, March 26, 1933
Television Permit Denied
Application of the Visual Radio Corporation of Watsontown, Pa., for authority to erect a new 1,000-watt experimental television station later to be operated in Philadelphia, has been denied by the Federal Radio Commission, which has sustained the finding of its examiner that the proposed venture would not add to the scientific knowledge or development of television. (Washington Sunday Star)

Monday, March 27, 1933
W9XAL, Kansas City
11:50—Journal-Post News Flashes with John Cameron Swayze, KMBC.
12:15—Tex Owens, KMBC.
4:30—Between the Bookends, with Ted Malone and Hugh Studebaker, KMBC.

Sending and receiving of radio programs by television in full view of the audience, will be demonstrated at the Minneapolis Auto, Home and Flower show, which opens next Monday [27] at the Minneapolis Auditorium. Arrangements for this feature were completed today by George K. Belden and H. H. Cory, show manager, following a conference with Dr. George W. Young of WDGY.
A 500-watt broadcasting station, the first of its kind in the northwest, will be installed in the auditorium. The broadcasting and receiving booths will be located so show visitors will be able to watch both operations. The receiving set will reproduce a picture 14 inches square, and represents the latest equipment in this branch of radio. (Minneapolis Star, Mar. 20)

Lou Breese will attempt a novel experiment in that he will direct the orchestra by remote control, the musicians responding to the waving of his baton as his image is shown on the screen. (Minneapolis Journal, Mar. 26)

One of the spots that attracted much attention was the television booth. Starting at 1 p. m., demonstrations were staged every 20 minutes. That schedule will be maintained the remainder of show week. Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Mar. 28)

Tuesday, March 28, 1933
W9XAL, Kansas City
12:15—Tex Owens, KMBC.
4:30—Between the Bookends with Ted Malone, KMBC.

Wednesday, March 29, 1933
W9XAL, Kansas City
12:15—Tex Owens, KMBC.
2:45—Television interview with Ted Malone, KMBC. 4:30—Between the Bookends, KMBC.
9:30—9:30—First National Television interview, KMBC.

Thursday, March 30, 1933
W9XAL, Kansas City
12:15—Tex Owens, KMBC.
4:30—Between the Bookends, KMBC.
9:30 to 10:00 p.m.—Television interview with Ted Malone, KMBC.

TELEVISION!
An event of unusual interest from both a scientific and entertainment standpoint is slated for next Thursday [30] and Friday when, for the first time, a complete motion picture feature production will be broadcast over radio-television. "The Crooked Circle," World Wide picture, featuring Ben Lyon, Zasu Pitts, James Gleason and Irene Purcell has been selected. A special demonstration, open without charge to the public, will be on view at Barker Brothers' radio department. [The film aired without sound] (Los Angeles Evening Post-Record, Mar. 25)

SCIENCE MEET SET
Gathering at Manhattan to Be April 13-15.
MANHATTAN, KAS., March 30.— (Special)—Dr. George F. Johnson, secretary of the Kansas Academy of Science, has announced the program of the sixty-fifth annual meeting of the academy, to be held at Kansas State college here April 13, 14 and 15. . . .
Plans are being made to stage a television exhibition for the visiting academy members. An address by Dr. J C. Peterson of Kansas State college will be broadcast from Denison hall and flashed on the television screen in Engineering hall, through the equipment of television station W9XAK. (Kansas City Journal, Mar. 30)

Friday, March 31, 1933
W9XAL, Kansas City
11:50—Journal-Post News Flashes with John Cameron Swayze, KMBC.
12:15—Tex Owens, KMBC.
4:30—Between the Bookends with Ted Malone and Hugh Studebaker, KMBC.
9:30—Interview with Ted Malone, KMBC.

PLAN EVENING OF FELLOWSHIP
Junior, Senior Chambers Of Commerce Will Dine Friday
Members of the Iowa City senior and junior chambers of commerce will meet together Friday night [31] for an evening of entertainment, fellowship, and fun, the feature of which will be a program of television, to be broadcast by station W9XK of the University of Iowa.
The special event has been called, "Goodfellows Night", and will begin with a dinner at 6:15 o'clock Friday night at the American Legion Community building. Community singing will follow the dinner and shortly before 7:10 o'clock, the television will get underway.
The television broadcast, enabling the members to not only hear but see the broadcast, will he made from the television studios in the electrical engineering building of the University of Iowa and will be received at the Legion building on one of the latest approved commercial television receiving sets.
Prof. E. B. Kurtz, of the college of engineering, director of the television station, will be in charge of the program and will present a brief explanatory address before the broadcast. Mr. Carl Menzer, director of radio station WSUI, will announce the program over the air and Mr. J. L. Patter, operator of station W9XK, will have charge of operating the station. (Iowa City Press-Citizen, Mar. 30)

Complete Program For Joint Meeting Chambers Commerce
Program for the joint meeting of the Iowa city junior and senior chambers of commerce, to be held beginning at 6:15 o'clock Friday night [31] at the American Legion Community building, was announced Thursday by Mr. D. W. Crum, senior secretary. . . .
The feature of the program will be the receiving of a television program to be broadcast from the University of Iowa television station W9XK and WSUI. The television program will include a skit by Wanda Mathison and Bernice Erlandson of the university speech department, and a short talk, "The Language of the Architect," by Prof. F. G. Higbee, of the college of engineering. (Iowa City Press-Citizen, Mar. 30)

REGULAR TELEVISION SCHEDULE AT COLLEGE
Programs on Tuesday and Thursday Evenings Broadcast Over W9XAK
The Kansas State college television broadcasting station W9XAK went on the air this week on regular schedule. Two broadcasts are scheduled for each week, one Tuesday and the other Saturday, from 6:30 to 7:15 o'clock. Those participating in the programs this week were Miss Roberta Shannon, reader; Max Burk, trombone; W. M. Sandel, harmonica; Tom Haines, trumpet and guitar; and William Fitch, oboe. Vinton Johnson has been in charge.
The broadcasts have been confined to pictures of those taking part in the program, no sound being broadcast. It is hoped that station KSAC can be synchronised with the picture broadcasts so that sound and pictures can be put onto the air at the same time.
Prof. R. G. Kloeffler, head of the electrical engineering department, and H. H. Higginbottom, one of the men who set up the station, went toward Topeka Thursday afternoon in automobiles with television receivers and tests were made at various points. The college station was on the air with a test program. (Manhattan Morning Chronicle, Mar. 31)