Radio: Screen Scoops

Prince Philip and his bride were hardly back in Buckingham Palace before a plane loaded with BBC newsreels of their wedding was on its way to the U.S. Next day the reels were on New York City, Philadelphia, Washington, Schenectady and Baltimore television screens. That was four days better than the standard newsreel companies could do.

Television newsreelers have several mechanical advantages. By reversing the negative electronically the picture appears as a positive print, and can be televised almost as soon as it arrive-in a studio. With a single print, a television network can reach its full audience; the competitor newsreel company must make prints for each of its subscribing theaters. Background music and sound-track commentary consume time and money in newsreel production; with television, a glib announcer and a handful of records can go directly on the air.

Television newsreel scoops will not make much difference until many thousands of additional sets are in operation, but the demand is growing. One televiser was happy to overhear a newsreel theater patron complain: “Why, that’s old stuff, I saw it last week on television.”