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Frank StantonFrank Stanton
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Session:         Page of 755

Stanton:

There was not much talk about it. There was more talk about television in the halls of NBC than in the halls of CBS.

Q:

When was the first, would you say, successful demonstration of television that you saw at CBS?

Stanton:

Well, before World War II they were on the air with experimental broadcasts, so there wasn't any question about seeing a picture. But it was a very limited schedule and the programming was just enough to have a moving object in front of the camera. Remember, Sarnoff demonstrated black and white television at the World's Fair in 1939. And I went out to the Fair to see it because I was interested in seeing what they were doing. But I wasn't in any way directly involved with that side of the business at that time. I was interested in it just as a nosy junior executive.

Q:

When did you become more interested in it, and more responsible?

Stanton:

Well, immediately after the war, because I knew that it was right outside my door.

Q:

How did you know that?

Stanton:

How did I know that? Well, there was a lot of activity, both internationally and nationally, about television. BBC was already broadcasting a regular schedule. They were doing Wimbledon, things of that kind. NBC was programming. CBS was not doing much. Just before the war, we opened the studio down at Grand Central, in the building down





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