Here’s the schedule for NBC’s experimental station W2XBS in New York City for the week beginning Sunday, July 28th, 1940, straight from television listings printed in The New York Times. The station went off the air following its Wednesday, July 31st broadcast so that its channel allocation could be shifted. According to The New York Times the station would be off the air as long as three months and it was [1]. W2XBS began broadcasting again on Sunday, October 27th but for some reason The New York Times didn’t begin publishing schedules again [2].
Monday, July 29th, 1940 [3]
12:30-1:00PM – Arrival of United states liner America at New York from her maiden trip from Newport News.
8:00-11:00PM – Amateur boxing, at Jamaica Arena.Tuesday, July 30th, 1940 [4]
3:30-4:00PM – Films.
6:45-7:00PM – News, Lowell Thomas.
9:00-10:00PM – Fiesta, Latin-American Music and Dance; Travel Talk, by Carveth Wells.Wednesday, July 31st, 1940 [5]
3:30-4:00PM – Film, False Prestenses.
4:40-4:50PM – Model Aircraft Exposition, World’s Fair.
6:45-7:00PM – News, Ray Forrest.
9:00-10:00PM – Variety: Eugene Jelesnik’s Orchestra, With Amelia Hull and Eleanor Steber, Sopranos; Charles Altoff, Comedian; Drums of Oude, Dramatic Sketch.
Works Cited:
1 “Breaking a Deadlock.” New York Times. 28 Jul. 1940: 102.
2 “Television Station to Reopen.” New York Times. 23 Oct. 1940: 25.
3 “Today on the Radio.” New York Times. 29 Jul. 1940: 20.
4 “Today on the Radio.” New York Times. 30 Jul. 1940: 25.
5 “Today on the Radio.” New York Times. 31 Jul. 1940: 18.
This was the end of the “first phase” of NBC’s experimental television station in New York. By the time W2XBS took their “summer break” in 1940 to enable them to transmit as “channel 1” on the TV dial [eventually moving, as “WNBT”, to “channel 4” in 1946], several hundred sets (mostly manufactured by RCA, NBC’s parent company) were tuned to their frequency in the New York area. The TIMES did resume printing schedules for W2XBS, but not until early 1941.
MRS. Carveth Wells (her first name was actually “Zetta”, but preferred to be known professionally by her husband’s name), alongside her husband, was a well-known traveler and lecturer; she later appeared on NBC in a brief 1946 series, “GEOGRAPHICALLY SPEAKING”, featuring footage she photographed of her many travels with Mr. Wells around the world; it ended after less than three months when she had no more film to show. She eventually turned up as a contestant on Groucho Marx’s “YOU BET YOUR LIFE” in February 1958 [I’ve heard the radio version of that episode].
The “Model Aircraft Exposition” was the last televised event carried by W2XBS from the World’s Fair. By the time they resumed broadcasting that October, the Fair had closed for good.
From what little I’ve seen, NBC did very little studio programming after going back on the air late in 1940 until their commercial bow in summer ’41. I wonder if anyone with access to private sources could confirm this.
Hi,
I was able to find listings for W2XBS from November 1940 though the beginning of February 1941. The only date that I have missing is October 28, 1940, which was when W2XBS aired coverage of President Roosevelt’s Madison Square Garden Rally.
I also found most of the listings for WNBT and WCBW from February and March of 1942. Both stations seemed to have reduced their programming drastically at the end of March 1942 and only broadcasted films and slde programs until early 1944 and didn’t resume their pre-war schedule of broadcasting until the Spring of 1946.
I am a bit held up with school work right now, but would be happy to send you a Word document with all the listings in a few weeks if you’d like.
PM published schedules from Sunday, Oct. 27 onward.
For the 28th, it reads on page 27:
TELEVISION
P.M. Today
8.30 W2XBS (NBC-RCA) Democratic Rally—at Madison Square Garden; President Roosevelt.
Unfortunately, a complete run of the paper isn’t on-line.