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)

January 1933

Before Walter Cronkite, before Huntley and Brinkley, before Douglas Edwards, there was John Cameron Swayze.

You may be thinking “Didn’t Doug Edwards anchor the evening TV news on CBS before Swayze did the same thing on NBC?” You’d be right. But that wasn’t Swayze’s debut on television.

Swayze was a radio news anchor on KMBC in Kansas City and the broadcasting columnist for the Kansas City Journal. The city had a television station called W9XAL that had signed on in late 1932 with periodic broadcasts that seem to have consisted of three-minute interviews. The station began daily programming on Monday, January 23, 1933. The following day, a noon-hour TV newscast debuted. It was anchored by John Cameron Swayze.

W9XAL didn’t have a lot of programming. But it was live, which is more than could be said about almost every other station on the air in the U.S. at the start of 1933. The exception was the CBS operations in New York, and they would go silent in weeks.

Among the other stars at W9XAL was organist Hugh Studebaker, who became a radio actor in Chicago and played a black dialect character on Fibber McGee and Molly. Studebaker provided background accompaniment for a programme of poetry by Ted Malone, who later moved to CBS then ABC radio. Swayze was on the air from noon to 12:15, Malone from 4:30 to 4:45, while silent shows aired from 10 to 10:30 a.m., 4 to 4:30 and 8 to 8:30. For a couple of Tuesday evenings, a girls singing group was beamed out for 15 minutes.

There was one problem with the station. Unless you got your electricity from Kansas City Power and Light, the TV sets being sold in the city wouldn't work.

New York City started the year with three stations, but little media coverage. The New York Sun had stopped listing individual TV programmes and, instead, provided hours of operation in its Saturday radio column along with technical information and diagrams for the tele-curious who wanted to build their own sets. There are some DX reports as well. Here’s the schedule, as of Saturday, Jan. 9th:

Saturdays
W2XBS, NBC, New York, 143 meters (No sound)
2:00-5:00—Experimental programs.

W1XAV, Boston, 179 meters (Sound on W1XAU, 193 meters)
8:00-9:00—Experimental programs. 9:00-10:00—Sketch.

W2XAB, W2XAX, W2XR off the air

Sundays
New York, Boston and Los Angeles stations off the air.

Mondays
W2XAB (CBS), New York, 107 meters
8:00-10:00—Experimental programs.

W2XAX (CBS), New York, 6.9 metres (no sound)
4:00-4:45—Experimental programs.

W2XBS (NBC), New York (No sound)
7:00-10:00—Experimental programs.

W2XR (Radio Pictures), Long Island City 179 meters (sound on W2XAR, 193 meters)
5:00—Experimental programs. 7:00—Cartoons. 8:00—Film with sound. 9:00—Cartoons.

W1XAV, Boston
8:00-10:00—Experimental programs.

Tuesdays
W2XAB (CBS), New York
8:00-10:00—Experimental programs.

W2XAX (CBS), New York
4:00-4:45—Experimental programs.

W2XBS (NBC), New York
2:00-5:00—Experimental programs.

W2XR (Radio Pictures), Long Island City
5:00—Experimental programs. 7:00—Cartoons. 8:00—Film with sound. 9:00—Cartoons.

W1XAV, Boston
8:00-11:00—Experimental programs.

Wednesdays
W2XAB (CBS), New York
8:00-10:00—Experimental programs.

W2XAX (CBS), New York
4:00-4:45—Experimental programs.

W2XBS (NBC), New York
7:00-10:00—Experimental programs.

W1XAV, Boston
8:00-10:00—Experimental programs.

W2XR (Radio Pictures), Long Island City
5:00—Experimental programs. 7:00—Cartoons. 8:00—Film with sound. 9:00—Cartoons.

Thursdays

W2XAB (CBS), New York
8:00-10:00—Experimental programs.

W2XAX (CBS), New York
4:00-4:45—Experimental programs.

W2XBS (NBC), New York
2:00-5:00—Experimental programs.

W1XAV, Boston
8:00-10:00—Experimental images.

W2XR (Radio Pictures), Long Island City
5:00—Experimental programs. 7:00—Cartoons. 8:00—Film with sound. 9:00—Cartoons.

Fridays
W2XAB (CBS), New York
8:00-10:00—Experimental programs.

W2XAX (CBS), New York
4:00-4:45—Experimental programs.

W2XNS (NBC), New York
7:00-10:00—Experimental programs.

W1XAV, Boston
8:00-10:00—Experimental programs.

W2XR (Radio Pictures), Long Island City
5:00—Experimental programs. 7:00—Cartoons. 8:00—Film with sound. 9:00—Cartoons.

Some listings for John Hogan’s W2XR simply say “5:00—Experimental programs.”

There were other developments in the Midwest. The station at the University of Kansas tried to improve its signal, while the University of Illinois promised to send visual signals over its amateur radio station. And there was talk of television in Spokane, though the city's first station didn't go on the air until the end of 1952.

Here are some clippings from the industry for the first month of 1933. The poor photocopies of the CBS television stars come from the Sun.

Sunday, January 1, 1933
W9XAL, Kansas City
8:30 to 8:33—First National Television.

Monday, January 2, 1933
W9XAL, Kansas City
9:30 to 9:33—Television interview.

Plans for bringing television into Spokane as soon as it becomes practical now are taking definite shape.
Station KFPY will complete the remodeling of its studios in the Symons building within two weeks, including in the alterations arrangements for handling television. Plans at the station call for the ability to originate and rebroadcast any such programs as may be made available as television advances.
The approximate date when such broadcasts will be feasible can not even be suggest at this time. Shortly after the first of the year, regular television broadcasts will emanate from the Don Lee chain stations in Los Angeles. As soon as practical, the facilities will be extended into the northwest.
Frank W. Prince of the Spokane Radio company and recognized as technical radio and television authority, gives a graphic picture of television in its present form.
“Television definitely is to be the next entertainment in the home,” said Mr. Prince. “Just how son it will become practical, both for commercial broadcasting and reception in the home, can not be guessed at this time. It may come within a year, perhaps before five or 10 years. No one can say.
“The technical development of television is advancing as rapidly as appropriations for such study are being made available. Prices for sets for both broadcasting and receiving still are high, These will have to be reduced for general use. Simple subjects now are being presented. More work is necessary in this field, for the television must be cleared up.
“Under the terms of the federal radio commission, no advertising now is to be allowed on television broadcasts. How the cost of programs will be met when such development warrants the commercial broadcasting of television entertainment yet must be determined. (Spokane Chronicle, Jan. 2)

Tuesday, January 3, 1933
W9XAL, Kansas City
10:00 to 10:03—Television interview.

The television artist at W2XAB had finished her act. Bill Schudt, the announcer, made the usual sign off and gave the cue which is the same as used on the air by WABC. “This is the Columbia Broadcasting System.”
When the new artist heard this cue she thought all was over because that is how it sounds on the average radio receiver. So she signed and calmly said into the nearest microphone:
“Whoopee. Was that an ordeal for me. Bet they thought I was some kind of an animal act. . . .” (Brooklyn Eagle, Jan. 3)

Wednesday, January 4, 1933
W9XAL, Kansas City
9:00 to 9:03—Television interview.

The cause of aviation received another boost yesterday afternoon [4] when Garth Cate of the executive staff of The Eagle spoke over the entire facilities of the Columbia Broadcasting System, which included a coast-to-coast hookup, short wave (world wide in reach) and television (W2XAB).
Facing the photelectric cells in the television studio, he told lookers and listeners-in of his latest flying trip to the coast and back. In referring to his Arizona vacation he told of the new 16-mile scenic highway to the thirteen thousand foot summit of the San Francisco peaks near Flagstaff and also related how Arizona’s famous Natural Bridge built itself.
Californians who heard him should have been pleased with his comments on the “unimaginable transfiguration of the Western sky” as he soared above San Francisco By at sunset time. (Brooklyn Eagle, Jan. 5)

Thursday, January 5, 1933
W9XAL, Kansas City
10:00 to 10:03—Television interview.

Friday, January 6, 1933
W9XAL, Kansas City
8:15 to 8:18—First National Television.

Saturday, January 7, 1933
W9XAL, Kansas City
9:00 to 9:03—First National Television.

Television
By Benn Hall
Movies and Television
In the excitement of reading last week’s special issue of The Billboard, and looking again and again at those excellent pictures of Wirth & Hamid’s attractions, some of my flock may have failed to have spotted the letter in The Forum from a movie-house operator in Texas, Blanche Schuyler. Miss Schuyler’s letter deserves, I think, special emphasis—and for that reason I am running the risk of duplication. She says, in part: “. . . My conviction is that when television is perfected in color and size—and the equipment sold at a reasonable price—if the motion picture interests do not secure the monopoly talking pictures in theaters will be ancient history. . . .Because when the public can sit at home and see a good show for nothing the reduced attendance will cut clown the profits of the average exhibitor to practically nothing, as his expenses during the past have been from 50 to 85 per cent of the gross receipts.” Miss Schuyler adds that she has been a m. p. exhibitor for 15 years and that she feels that televiz will seriously and adversely affect show biz.
Miss Schuyler is, I think, partly right. Television will keep many away from theaters, particularly film houses. But movie magnates are not so intensely stupid when it comes to new inventions. For example, RCA with its host of affiliated companies is doing a tremendous amount of experimentation—without ballyhoo and behind tightly locked portals—NBC and RKO-Radio Pictures will benefit. Other film companies are television-minded, and are investigating this new field. I think, without doubt, that television will be a part—a major portion of many film companies’ activities. Television will not kill the film footage firms, but it will seriously affect attendance. Exhibitors, indie as well as chains, will feel the inroads that television will make on their box-office lines. Altho televiz will widen the range of picture houses’ activities by making sports and other news events regular attractions just as they are occurring, television will also make every home a potential Tom Thumb movie palace. And others have expressed their belief that television will enable many folks thruout the country to see stage productions—legit, vaude et al.—and special picture presentations. But I think that while television will never entirely eliminate the theater, it will, even after its novelty has lost its dazzling brilliance and freak aspect and television becomes an accepted “household necessity,” materially lower attendance and eventually result in the elimination of many movie houses.
And quite apropos of Miss Schuyler’s letter was a recent talk by Robert Robins, secretary of the American Society for the Protection of Motion Picture Theaters. Robins contended that television is a competitor to movies, altho still “far off,” and he suggested that movie people begin to protect themselves against its possible inroads.
Roses and Lemons Revue
Again the awards—the Hand-Plucked Rose and the Hand-Squeezed Lemon to the fairest and foulest in television. I toss a rose to Orrin E. Dunlap, radio ed. of The New York Times, for those shrewd lines of his in that television article Sunday. In part: “. . . The denizens of research have been busy on many things and have been more faithful to ideas which on the surface seemed insignificant. The depression has afforded an opportunity to delve deeper into the heart of science. They have learned much. When the time is opportune they will announce new electrical wonders. . . . Television rests on a firmer foundation than at the beginning of 1932. . . . Television needs more intense illumination on the screen and more brilliancy from the economic angle.” And the Lemon is flung at those phony fly-by-nights, ready to spring into action, that will try to sell worthless stock, as well as worthless sets, to a gullible public that is fascinated by the magic and mystic term—Television.
Telling Visions
At W2XAB. . . . One of the best televiz singers . . . I’ve heard in a long, long while is Thomas Connors . . . has done plenty musical, vaude, radio and concert work. . . . In Desert Song, Loew and Fox time vaude, and just entered concert field. . . . Debut at Barbizon-Plaza . . . on television, a splendid voice; rich, warm and with an indefinable radio and television personality. . . . Muriel Asche . . . producer of entertaining kiddie revues . . . and active at two schools for youngsters . . . doing much benefit work. . . . Jane Jonson, formerly of W2XAB, opened in the legit production of Girls in Uniform. . . . Jane’s missed at the studio, but the televiz mob are glad to know of her good fortune. (Billboard, Jan. 7)

Monday, January 9, 1933

Television has arrived in Kansas City dressed up in 1933 regalia The first factory shipment of new type home television receivers has been received at First National Television, Inc., twenty-ninth floor of the Power and Light Bldg., Kansas City, Mo. “First National” has studios and television broadcasting station W9XAL located in the three top floors of the Power and Light building They have been "sight casting" on a daily schedule for the past sixty days with more or less DX testing for distance.
With the advent of the new type television receivers, First National expects soon to increase their daily schedules so that Kansas City "fans" will be able to participate in television activities.
The new set with modernistic lines is a product of the Echophone Radio and Television corporation of Waukegan, Ill., a radio factory recently acquired by the Western Television corporation of Chicago.
The new receiver incorporates the latest development and improvement in television receivers and projects a picture on a translucent screen in the front of the cabinet. The television image is transmitted on a radio short wave of about 134 meters. A conventional type radio receiver picks up the sound.
Setup Is Simple.
The set for use in the home is merely plugged into the light socket, an aerial and ground attached, the current is turned on and the set is tuned to the television station desired and the picture appears on the screen. A television set is similar to a radio in many respects, only that the output on the radio incorporated in the cabinet is fed into a neon crater lamp instead of a loud speaker as in the common home radio.
The television set receives the picture only; the sound or audible portion of a television broadcast is received in the home by the present radio as usual.
Supposing a synchronized radio television broadcast was to be made from First National studio in the Power and Light building. The performers or artists would put on their act in front of the television pickup camera where the sight portion would be broadcast from the transmitter and aerial located in the tower of the Power and Light building. This is flashed out on an assigned frequency of 2250 kilocycles and the program picked up by the television receiver, but this is just half of the picture and comparable to silent movies.
Sound Over KMBC.
The sound or music starts from the same studio and is picked up by a microphone placed near the performers. The voice is then carried by wire to KMBC in Kansas City where it is broadcast as usual over the radio station's regular frequency. The fan then tunes to this station with his regular radio and the voice arrives in unison with the performers.
The sets will soon be on public display at radio dealers. The Walter I Ferguson company, 801 Dwight building, is factory distributor for Echophone Radio and Television corporation. A companion radio set will soon be on the market in the same cabinet with the television receiver. (Kansas City Journal, Jan. 9)

Tuesday, January 10, 1931
Actions of the Federal Radio Commission
Shortwave & Television Corp., Boston [W1XAV]–Granted extension of time from Jan. 16 to Feb. 10, in which to file exceptions to Examiner's Report No. 440.

Wednesday, January 11, 1931
A new vertical antenna, 140 feet high has been erected in back of the Engineering building at the college in an attempt to better the television broadcasts. The previous horizontal antenna did not five signal strength of sufficient strength for good reception of nearby stations. However, signals transmitted from the college television station [W9XAK] are reported to have been received as far as Elmira, N. Y.
The new antenna, designed by L. C. Paslay, instructor in electrical engineering, and H. H. Higginbottom, graduate assistant in charge of the television station was put in place by faculty members, students and United Power and Light company employees. (Manhattan Morning Chronicle, Jan. 11)

“This is station W9YH in the Electrical Engineering laboratory at the University of Illinois at Urbana, Illinois.” Those words have been heard in every part of the world, and as far away as it is possible to go without starting to come back on the other side [...]
But the station’s work is not confined to radiotelephone and code work. It is used also for television broadcasts, such as were demonstrated at the Electrical Engineering show last year, and its pictures have been reproduced in Hartford, Conn., and Rio Vista, Tex. A power of 500 watts is used, with either of two complete transmitters available.
Start Television
A regular schedule of television transmissions is expected to be inaugurated in a week or two. Broadcasts will be made between 7 and 8 o’clock Tuesday and Thursday or Monday and Saturday evenings of living subjects and still pictures, using a 45-line three-spiral scanning disk. A possible arrangement for the simultaneous broadcasting of sound is also being considered. (Daily Illini, Jan. 11)

Saturday, January 14, 1933
Television
By Benn Hall
Conservative “Hello”
The greeting extended television at the turn of the new year was cautiously cordial. No wild predictions were made for televiz’s immediate perfection. People quoted were generally quite frank and all too willing to grant that television is on its way in, but no one could say when or where it might dock. No statements such as William S. Paley, prez of CBS, made some time ago were uttered. Paley said: “I believe television will be in operation on a commercial basis by the end of 1932.” But television, unfortunately, is not.
One thing is clear. Despite any and all prophecies, television will not be here until the depression bye-byes and normalcy is approached. This does not mean necessarily that a business uplift will ballyhoo in television. It does mean that many companies are laying low, quietly experimenting, and expecting to continue to lay low until economic conditions start a climb uphill—should they ever. We will not have televiz before general conditions make a change for the better.
Columbia and Columbia
Columbia University recently sent a visitor to Columbia Broadcasting System’s W2XAB. And when Columbia meets Columbia — there’s generally a story in it. This time Lucy Katz, a future journalist now studying at CU, dropped in at CBS to see if there really was such a thing as television. She discovered that there was—wrote a story about it—and sent us a copy. It was extremely refreshing to read something at somebody else wrote about television—something nontechnical and yet quite comprehensive. The piece is far too long to be quoted here, but I am going to post it on the W2XAB bulletin board—I’m sure it will give many tleviz artists an idea, of what television appears to be like to an observing stranger. Incidentally, Miss Katz enjoyed the whole thing, and her article presses this enjoyment.
A Celebration

Ten years ago C. Francis Jenkins, w. k. inventor, televised a picture of President Harding from Washington to Philadelphia. A tremendous event at that time, when radio was still crude, when picking up a program from another city was a sure-fire thriller. Radio’s made huge advances since then; television—slow, crawlish, timid steps, but we’re getting there.
Boston Visitor
A. M. Morgan, of the Shortwave and Television Corporation, of Boston, visited W2XAB last week. Morgan was especially pleased with the moving sign that makes visual station announcements and which may be used for televising news flashes. Sign somewhat resembles the news bulletin electric light ribbon on The Times building in New York at night. Morgan expects to install a similar sign announcer in his Boston station, W1XAV.
Telling Visions
Grace Voss at W2XAB gave one of the best dramatic numbers I’ve seen as yet on televiz . . . last Wednesday night. . . . Simple, almost trite tale or a oman at her first-prize fight. . . .Without the use of props or other, devices Miss Voss put on a solo-woman show that held one’s interest to it finish. . . . An example of the type of material and playing that will click on television even in this experimental stage . . . something every other dramatic act should study. . . . Levine Radio Electric Company, of Des Moines supplied many State fairs last year with their televiz equipment. . . . Here’s a large field for alert manufacturers. . .W9XAL, Kansas City, Mo., offers radio televiz technical course, $245. . . . Let’s watch to see how the fireworks at Radio City will affect television’s status there. (Billboard, Jan. 14)

Friday, January 20, 1933
LOS ANGELES, Jan. 19—(AP)—An extensive test of television, designed to gather data on the most favorable periods for reception, will begin here to-morrow [20] at 6 P.M. when engineers of W6XS, new Don Lee, 1000-watt transmitter, start a twenty-four-hour continuous broadcast of images.
Harry R. Lubcke, director of television for the Don Lee system and a pioneer in the use of the cathode ray for television said television, like radio, apparently has periods when broadcasts and recepetions are superior.
“We want to determine,” he said, “at what times the best image is received at various distances by the majority of looks and listeners with a view to establish a future schedule.”

While there have been many radio romances, about the first television mating will be the wedding, a few weeks hence, of Lillie Mae West and Eugene Marck, both of CBS’s W2XAB. (Brooklyn Times-Union, Jan. 20)

Saturday, January 21, 1933
Television
By Benn Hall
Onward, CBS
Last Tuesday night I drifted up to W2XAB with a vauge idea and hope that possibly there I might find me a few lines of that elusive commodity—news. But not a few lines were there for me—just about a column. W2XAB is starting something akin to a campaign; many, many improvements are being made and will be made to improve picture transmission. These developments are not tremendous advancements, but they are steady advances that will bring televiz that much closer to an earthy reality.
Bill Schudt and Engineer Harry Spears are enthused over what they are doing, and when these two enthuse, particularly the conservative and cautious guardian of the sight mechanism, Spears, it’s generally justified.
Glass Dropped
One improvement is the elimination of a plate-glass window between the studio and the control room. Few performers are conscious of this change, as the rays of light which strike them do not seem to be altered. (Original purpose of glass was to dim humming sounds from control room.) But this glass absorbed and reflected light to an extent of 7 per cent. The much-desired blue light was often lost in passing thru the plate glass and this light is needed by the photo-cells to aid in good picture transmission. This improvement is somewhat noticeable even in the so-so receiving set in the studio. The pictures seem a slight bit sharper. I have not, at this writing, had an opportunity to spot the pictures that other television bugs’ sets show since this change, but I surmise that a change for the better is noticeable.
Scanner Changes
Improvement No. 2 is somewhat more complicated. But if successful should enlarge the scope of televiz entertainment.
Engineer Spears is going to somewhat alter the construction of the present scanner and change the lenses, the mirror and the carbons. This, he hopes, will give brighter illumination and will improve the clarity and strength of pictures. Another feature of this advancement will be the possibility for longer “pickups.” This to the performer may mean that simple plays and skits with several characters may be intelligently produced and will interest audiences. The players will stand several feet away from the light source and have several square feet in which to perform.
Schudt believes that plays somewhat similar to movie shorts will be developed. I suggested that possibly entertainment will be patterned after the formula of vaude productions, but Schudt feels that the peculiar technic of shorts will be more suitable for televiz productions. This, remember, is not a case of televising films; it is a case of actual “flesh” entertainers being televised. Many studios use films; W2XAB sticks to live flesh and blood entertainers. Merely the technic will be more similar to film, Schudt feels, than vaude.
Screen Changed
Engineer Spears had made a change in the set in the studio. He has inserted a Trans-Lux screen in place of the ground glass and other screens previously used. I noticed that the new screen does give a slightly better picture. It seems, as Spears told me, to give a “wider angular field of view”; that is, one does not have to be directly in front of the set to see the picture. One may go to either the right or the left of the screen and still see the picture. Five per cent is the estimate of this improvement.
These improvements are, of course, not epic-making seven-day wonders. But they are growing Indications of what ingenuity can do, even with limited resources. And Schudt told me that these advances are just the beginning of a series.
The possibility for longer “pickups” with the use of several artists particularly arouses my interest. As I have said, much to some players’ dissatisfaction, present-day television plays are rather excruciatingly boring affairs to witness. They are surpassed by every other form of television entertainment flow being offered. But players will not have to labor under such terrific handicaps if these improvements are made at W2XAB. (Billboard, Jan. 21)

Gets W2XBS Good.
HARRY LARKIN, Brooklyn, N. Y.—For the last few weeks I have been looking in on some of the local television stations with my six-tube screen grid receiver, which I remade over for operation on the television band. The stations that I get best are W2XBS and W2XAB. As yet I have no device that will pick up the sound from W2XAB, since It broadcasts sound on the same wave length. W2XR comes in with good detail. The words "Radio Pictures, 41 Park Row, New York City," come through very distinct and clear.
My set uses two stages of tuned screen grid amplification, a power detector and a resistance coupled amplifier with a —45 power tube in a single stage. My scanner is a 60-hole job having a universal motor. The aerial is approximately eighty feet in length with a lead-in of about twenty feet.
Is W3XK Off the Air?
LESTER JONES, Stapleton, Staten Island—What has happened to W3XK in Washington? My television receiver only brings in the local stations W2XBS, W2XAB and W2XR. W3XK was probably my best bet. Has he gone off the air or has the transmitter been changed to another frequency?
Reply—According to our records this station has been closed down, but is expected to reopen shortly with a new transmitter working on the ultra short waves below 10 meters. Gets Good Results.
L. BROWN. Jamaica, L. I.—Recently I remade, over my broadcast receiver into one designed for the television band, that is, from 100 to 185 meters. The set was rewired with new coil and condensers for two stages of tuned screen grid amplification using the -24 type tubes with a detector and a resistance coupled amplifier, having a -45 tube in the power stage. In operation the following stations were I heard on the loud speaker: W2XBS, W2XAB and W2XR. (New York Sun, Jan. 21)

Sunday, January 22, 1933

Daily television broadcast will be inaugurated in Kansas City Monday [23] when KMBC and W9XAL combine their efforts and present "Between the Bookends” with Ted Malone at 4:30 o'clock. This program will be repeated at 8:30 for the Western Columbia network, making the first daily network television broadcast.
At 12 o'clock Tuesday [24] another dally program will bow in when "Journal Post New Flashes" with John Cameron Swayze will be made visible as well as audible. The noon broadcast will be the only one televised. The other two broadcasts, 7:30 in the morning and 4:15 in the afternoon, will continue as usual.
Listeners should bear in mind that all the broadcasts will be heard just as before, the only difference being that they are visible if you have a television receiving set. In the case of "Between the Bookends," the organ music will be played by Hugh Studebaker from the Pickwick hotel studio of KMBC, while Malone broadcasts from the studios of W9XAL experimental visual broadcasting station of First National Television, inc., in the Power and Light building.
At 7:30 o'clock this Tuesday night a special television program is planned featuring "Those McCarty Girls,” popular KMBC trio.
Due to the use of direct electric current in the downtown district many of the stores handling the new sets will be unable at present to give demonstrations. However the programs just mentioned may be seen and heard daily at the following places:
Kansas City Power & Light Co., Fourteenth street and Baltimore avenue.
Kansas City Power & Light Co., Country Club Plaza store, 243 West Forty-seventh street.
Kansas City Power & Light Co., North Kansas City Branch, 412 Armour road.
Western Applicance Co., 500 East Thirty-first street.
Butler Music Co., 530 Minnesota avenue.
Mace-Ryer company, 1120 Grand avenue.
L. B. McCreary, president of the Western Appliance company, distributor of the Western Television corporation’s sets, the first to be placed on the market in Kansas City, was also one of the first distributors of radio sets here. His business then was located on the site of the building which houses the First National Television studio. McCreary at that time operated station WOQ.
Walter I. Ferguson and company are factory representatives of the Western Television Corporation of Chicago makers of the sets. George Hartman is the manager of the television department of the factory representative. The television pictures will be broadcast with a power of 500 watts and should be easily received within a 150-mile radius. Fan mail has been received by W9XAL from a distance of 600 miles under good reception conditions. (Kansas City Journal-Post, Jan. 22)

W2XAB, the 500-watt experimental sight and sound television station associated with the Columbia Broadcasting System in New York City, is stepping out, according to Columbia publicity. In one day alone the station received seven letters from distant points. The correspondence came from St. Louis, Mo.; Indianapolis, Ind.; Flint, Mich.; Boston, Mass.; Dover, N.J.; Houlton, Me., and Shreveport, Louisiana.
All report excellent reception of moving images as projected by the Columbia station at 485 Madison avenue, in New York City. G.H. Hanson, the looker-in at Houlton, Me., sent in the most complete review of the week’s television entertainment. His detailed log checks accurately with W2XAB’s program schedule for seven days.
Western lookers-in report to the Columbia system that W2XAB is a nightly visitor and comes through clear and strong. (St. Louis Globe-Democrat, Jan. 22)

Monday, January 30, 1931
ROBINSON, Kan., Jan. 30—(U.P.)—Mr. and Mrs. S. T. Parker believe they have the only radio television set in Kansas in a private home.