NBC Eyewitness: The Story of Television - from1948, when there were abou...

Notes by Bill Russo From February 26, 1948. Ben Grauer hosts a show explaining the 'miracle' of television. It's live TV and it was a learn-as-you-go experience for the TV staff as well as the few thousand viewers who had a tiny 8 or10 inch receiver. Grauer, a longtime radio man, looks uncomfortable and flubs a few lines in his introduction and that's something he rarely did in his radio work. The sound goes off at one point. There's some great history in the broadcast though and also a few 'live' sketches including one with a character who sounds like Regis Philbin and another with a German scientist who has trouble with his lines. There were no cue cards or teleprompters back then.