Cover of booklet created by NBC to promote Wide Wide World
Wide Wide World is a 1955-1958 90-minute documentary series telecast live on NBC on Sunday afternoons at 4pm Eastern. Conceived by network head Pat Weaver and hosted by Dave Garroway, Wide Wide World was introduced on the Producers' Showcase series on June 27, 1955. The premiere episode, featuring entertainment from the US, Canada and Mexico, was the first international North American telecast in the history of the medium.
It returned in the fall as a regular Sunday series, telecast from October 16, 1955 to June 8, 1958. The program was sponsored by General Motors and Barry Wood was the executive producer. Nelson Case was the announcer.[1] In March 1956, Time magazine reported that it was the highest-rated daytime show on television.[2]
Garroway was the host of the series which featured live remote segments from locations throughout North America and occasional reports on film from elsewhere in the world. The series carried live events into four million households. The October 16 premiere, "A Sunday in Autumn," featured 50 cameras in 11 cities, including a college campus, the fishing fleet at Gloucester, Massachusetts, rainswept streets in Manhattan and Monitor broadcasting in NBC's Radio Central studio. An appearance by Dick Button ice skating at Rockefeller Center was canceled because the rain had washed away the ice, and a curious coverage by a nervous Ted Husing of an attempt by Donald Campbell to break a speed record showed nothing more than his boat, on the other side of the lake, failing to take off. Time reviewed:
Publicity photo from the September 15, 1957 show, The Challenge of Space.
NBC's Wide Wide World whisked its audience all over the map. The camera lazed its way down the Mississippi, poked into a New Jersey lane where lovers walked and old men raked autumn leaves, wandered around Gloucester harbor as fishermen mended nets. There were vivid contrasts between the chasm of the Grand Canyon and the topless towers of Rockefeller Center, the swaying wheat fields of Nebraska and the money-conscious hubbub of the Texas State Fair, an underwater ballet from Florida and the overwater speed trials of Donald Campbell's jet racer at Arizona's man-made Lake Mead. Always there was the immediacy of things happening this very minute, but the real brilliancy of Wide World may lie in its avoidance of the TV interview. The only one attempted, at the Texas Fair, proved again that—given a microphone and someone to interview—an announcer can turn any subject into a crashing bore. The words needed in Wide World were supplied by Dave Garroway and kept to a literate minimum.[3]
Other episodes: "New Orleans" (February 2, 1958), "American Theater '58" (March 16, 1958), "Flagstop at Malta Bend" (March 30, 1958) and "The Museum of Modern Art" (April 27, 1958).
300,000 ducks
ESPN's Steve Bowman described the logistics involved in setting up a live remote at Arkansas' Claypool Reservoir where George Purvis, head of the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, put 300,000 ducks on NBC:
There were many hurdles. Initially Purvis dealt with how to hide TV cameras, crews, control trucks and the necessary workmen and equipment and how to get electricity and telephone lines two miles (3 km) to the woods.
"To start with, the only way to get to the spot selected was over two miles (3 km) of muddy woods roads where only tractors had gone before," Purvis recalls. "The cameras would be two miles (3 km) from the nearest power line or telephone. This meant using power generators placed far enough back in the woods so as not to disturb the wary ducks. Six telephone circuits were needed to send the audio part of the program to New York.
"Even after stringing two miles (3 km) of wire there was just one circuit from Claypool's Reservoir to Jonesboro, 20 miles (32km) away. So a radio loop was installed at the barn to cover the 20-mile (32km) gap." Camouflaged blinds were built for television cameras and operators, one of which was 40 feet (12m) up a hickory tree. An additional blind was built for the remote control truck.
The video would go from the camera to the control truck via the cable, then to an 80-foot (24m) relay tower 1,000 feet (300m) back in the woods, then 35 miles (56km) to another relay tower, then 40 miles (64km) to a third tower before being sent to Memphis. There it was transmitted 1,200 miles (1,900km) to New York where the audio and video were combined to be broadcast live. With the electronics in place, the only thing left was to make sure that at an exact prearranged time there would be ducks in front of the cameras — over a quarter-of-a-million ducks.[4]
Garroway, an inveterate music lover, lent his name to a series of recordings of jazz, classical music and pop released in the late 1950s and early 1960s, including Wide Wide World of Jazz.
Connection with ABC's Wide World of Sports
This television program was also the inspiration for ABC's Wide World of Sports. In the fall of 1960, ABC didn't have any other sports programming to air besides the college football games that Roone Arledge and Ed Scherick produced for the network; Arledge and play-by-play announcer Curt Gowdy were sitting in a hotel room near where one of the college football games they covered took place, brainstorming ideas for sports programming that the network could air the remainder of the year besides the college football games each fall; and Gowdy proposed a take on Wide Wide World that would feature sports of all kinds, well known and lesser-known from all corners of the globe. This idea eventually led to Wide World of Sports; Gowdy was tapped to be the program's host, but was obliged by his duties as the announcer for the Boston Red Sox during this time, and so Arledge hired Jim McKay from CBS as the program's host.
Gowdy did, however, appear in hunting and fishing segments with Arledge during the early years of Wide World of Sports; and this led to a spinoff by ABC into a program hosted by Gowdy specifically about hunting and fishing: The American Sportsman.
Gowdy later moved to NBC, where he became well known for calling the network's MLB coverage until 1975 and its NFL coverage until 1978.
Selected episodes
November 27, 1955 – "America’s Heritage." Includes shots from San Francisco, New Orleans and lower Manhattan. Carlsbad Caverns is seen, as is Vancouver, British Columbia. Grandma Moses is seen painting in New York.[5]
January 1, 1956 – "New Year’s Day." Scenes of New Year’s observances around the world are shown. Diplomats from various nations offer greetings for peace in the coming year.
January 22, 1956 – "Portrait of an American Winter." Children skating in Burlington, Vermont. Cameras captured live shots of Milwaukee, Palm Beach, Omaha, Niagara Falls and Valley Forge.
January 29, 1956 – "Two Ways to Winter." Seasonal festivities in two very different places – Minnesota and the Bahamas – are shown. The program includes the two governors shaking hands, courtesy a split-screen effect.
February 12, 1956 – "Abraham Lincoln." Tied to Lincoln’s birthday, Wide Wide World looks at the sixteenth president’s life and legacy.
April 15, 1956 – "In Pursuit of Happiness." Americans’ Sunday leisure activities are the topic of this broadcast. In Phoenix, people visit a dude ranch; beachcombers spend time on the shore at Hermosa Beach, California; and a concert in Seattle is shown.
September 30, 1956 – "The Hollywood Story." The history of Hollywood and its film industry. Walter Brennan, Debra Paget, Ginger Rogers and Roy Rogers are among those who make appearances to talk about the business of showbusiness.
October 14, 1956 – "The American Dream." An examination of industrial, scientific and cultural development in America. Includes shots of steel mills in Pittsburgh, preparations for an Antarctic expedition and the Rochester (NY) Symphony Orchestra. Music from Copland is played.
March 3, 1957 – "American Theater." Rehearsals for Tennessee Williams' Orpheus are shown. Williams sits down for an interview with himself, via special effects.
May 12, 1957 – "Armed Forces Week." Garroway narrates a taped piece on the function of the four branches of American military. Army, Navy, Marine Corps and Air Force training exercises are shown.
November 10, 1957 – "The Fabulous Infant." An historic joint broadcast among NBC, ABC and CBS, looking at the achievements of the then-young television industry. Clips from important news events are shown, as are representative samples of comedy, drama and children’s programs.
April 27, 1958 – "A Star’s Story." What does it mean to be a celebrity? Wide Wide World's cameras profile some of the era's stars, including Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward. Stars of the art world are also shown, and Garroway muses about what, exactly, makes a celebrity.
May 25, 1958 - "The Sound of Laughter" Features clips and commentary by Bob Hope, Steve Allen, Smith and Dale, Robert Benchley, Mort Sahl, Claude Rains, Al Capp and Peter Ustinov.
Roone Pinckney Arledge Jr. was an American sports and news broadcasting executive who was president of ABC Sports from 1968 until 1986 and ABC News from 1977 until 1998, and a key part of the company's rise to competition with the two other main television networks, NBC and CBS, in the 1960s, '70s, '80s and '90s. He created many programs still airing today, such as Monday Night Football, ABC World News Tonight, Primetime, Nightline and 20/20. John Heard portrayed him in the 2002 TNT movie Monday Night Mayhem.
The following television-related events took place during 1961.
The year 1958 in television involved some significant events. Below is a list of television-related events during 1958.
The year 1955 in television involved some significant events. Below is a list of television-related events during 1955.
David Cunningham Garroway was an American television personality. He was the founding host and anchor of NBC's Today from 1952 to 1961. His easygoing and relaxing style belied a lifelong battle with depression. Garroway has been honored for his contributions to radio and television with a star for each on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and the St. Louis Walk of Fame, the city where he spent part of his teenaged years and early adulthood.
Curtis Edward Gowdy was an American sportscaster. He called Boston Red Sox games on radio and TV for 15 years, and then covered many nationally televised sporting events, primarily for NBC Sports and ABC Sports in the 1960s and 1970s. He coined the nickname "The Granddaddy of Them All" for the Rose Bowl Game, taking the moniker from the Cheyenne Frontier Days in his native Wyoming.
J. Fred Muggs is a chimpanzee born in the African colony of French Cameroon that forms part of modern-day Cameroon. Brought to New York City before his first birthday, he was bought by two former NBC pages and eventually appeared on a host of television shows on that network including NBC's Today Show where he served as mascot from 1953 to 1957. Muggs worked in several television shows including a short-lived eponymous series, toured the world and worked at Busch Gardens in Tampa, Florida. He officially retired at age 23. As of March 2018, Muggs was still alive. Chimpanzees have been known to live up to 70 years, though 50 is more commonly the animal's lifespan.
ESPN on ABC is the brand used for sports event and documentary programming televised by the American Broadcasting Company (ABC) in the United States. Officially, the broadcast network retains its own sports division; however, for practical purposes, ABC's sports division was merged into ESPN Inc. In 2006, which is the parent subsidiary of the cable sports network ESPN that is majority owned by ABC's corporate parent, The Walt Disney Company, in partnership with Hearst Communications.
The NFL on NBC is the branding used for broadcasts of National Football League (NFL) games that are produced by NBC Sports, and televised on the NBC television network in the United States.
Robert Alfred Wolff was an American radio and television sportscaster.
Monitor was a U.S. weekend radio program broadcast from June 12, 1955 until January 26, 1975. Airing live and nationwide on the NBC Radio Network, it originally aired beginning Saturday morning at 8am and continuing through the weekend until 12 midnight on Sunday. However, after the first few months, the full weekend broadcast was shortened when the midnight-to-dawn hours were dropped since few NBC stations carried it.
The Major League Baseball Game of the Week (GOTW) is the de facto title for nationally televised coverage of regular season Major League Baseball games. The Game of the Week has traditionally aired on Saturday afternoons. When the national networks began televising national games of the week, it opened the door for a national audience to see particular clubs. While most teams were broadcast, emphasis was always on the league leaders and the major market franchises that could draw the largest audience.
Jack Lescoulie was a radio and television announcer and host, notably on NBC's Today during the 1950s and 1960s; a newspaper source lists his date of birth as May 17, 1912. Lescoulie was also known for his voice impersonation of comedian Jack Benny.
In 1950, the Mutual Broadcasting System acquired the television as well as radio broadcast rights to the World Series and All-Star Game for the next six years. Mutual may have been reindulging in dreams of becoming a television network or simply taking advantage of a long-standing business relationship; in either case, the broadcast rights were sold to NBC in time for the following season's games at an enormous profit.
In 1960, ABC returned to baseball broadcasting with a series of late-afternoon Saturday games. Jack Buck and Carl Erskine were the lead announcing crew for this series, which lasted one season. ABC typically did three games a week. Two of the games were always from the Eastern or Central Time Zone. The late games were usually San Francisco Giants or Los Angeles Dodgers' home games. However, the Milwaukee Braves used to start many of their Saturday home games late in the afternoon. So if the Giants and Dodgers were both the road at the same time, ABC still would be able to show a late game.
By 1969, Major League Baseball had grown to 24 teams and the net local TV revenues had leaped to $20.7 million. This is in sharp contrast to 1950 when local television brought the then 16 Major League clubs a total net income of $2.3 million. Changes baseball underwent during this time, such as expansion franchises and increasing the schedule from 154 games to 162, led to a wider audience for network and local television.
The NFL, along with boxing and professional wrestling, was a pioneer of sports broadcasting during a time when baseball and college football were more popular than professional football. Due to the NFL understanding television at an earlier time, they were able to surpass Major League Baseball in the 1960s as the most popular sport in the United States.
During the early 1960s, NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle envisioned the possibility of playing at least one game weekly during prime time that could be viewed by a greater television audience. An early bid by the league in 1964 to play on Friday nights was soundly defeated, with critics charging that such telecasts would damage the attendance at high school football games. Undaunted, Rozelle decided to experiment with the concept of playing on Monday night, scheduling the Green Bay Packers and Detroit Lions for a game on September 28, 1964. While the game was not televised, it drew a sellout crowd of 59,203 spectators to Tiger Stadium, the largest crowd ever to watch a professional football game in Detroit up to that point.
Sports programming on the American Broadcasting Company is provided on occasion, primarily on weekend afternoons; since 2006, the ABC Sports division has been defunct, with all sports telecasts on ABC being produced in association with sister cable network ESPN under the branding ESPN on ABC. While ABC has, in the past, aired notable sporting events such as the NFL's Monday Night Football, and various college football bowl games, general industry trends and changes in rights have prompted reductions in sports broadcasts on broadcast television.
References
↑ Alicoate, Jack, Ed. (1957). The 1957 Radio Annual and Television Year Book. Radio Daily Corp. P. 1196.
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