Seventy-five years ago tomorrow, March 13th, 1938, CBS News launched a new kind of radio news program, and arguably, the first "instant news special".
With Hitler's forces marching into Austria, the network's fast-growing news division decided to produce a special program on the crisis, since it looked like Europe would be plunged into war.
The network decided to pre-empt a couple of quarter-hour programs that evening from 8 to 8:30 P.M. Eastern time, for a special news program which would feature on-the-spot reports from the only two broadcasters the network had in Europe at the time (William L. Shirer and the soon-to-be-famous Edward R. Murrow) along with reporters from American newspapers and analysis from a congressman and a member of Britain's parliament.
It was not called a "World News Roundup" at first (that title came later), nor was it a series. It was a one-shot which was done again several times in the next few days and again during the "Munich Crisis" that September, soon becoming a regular daily program.
For generations, it has been broadcast weekday mornings at 8 A.M. EDT/EST; in recent years, an evening edition has been added which airs at 7 P.M. EDT/EST (prior to that, CBS had an ten-minute evening radio newscast at 6 P.M. EDT/EST which was titled "The World Tonight").
CBS News story on the "Roundup"'s 75th Anniversary:
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-201_162...history-cbs-world-news-roundup-marks-75-years .
And on You Tube, you can find this partial (the middle portion is missing) recording of the first "Roundup":
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DIyKcuVqSG4 .
With Hitler's forces marching into Austria, the network's fast-growing news division decided to produce a special program on the crisis, since it looked like Europe would be plunged into war.
The network decided to pre-empt a couple of quarter-hour programs that evening from 8 to 8:30 P.M. Eastern time, for a special news program which would feature on-the-spot reports from the only two broadcasters the network had in Europe at the time (William L. Shirer and the soon-to-be-famous Edward R. Murrow) along with reporters from American newspapers and analysis from a congressman and a member of Britain's parliament.
It was not called a "World News Roundup" at first (that title came later), nor was it a series. It was a one-shot which was done again several times in the next few days and again during the "Munich Crisis" that September, soon becoming a regular daily program.
For generations, it has been broadcast weekday mornings at 8 A.M. EDT/EST; in recent years, an evening edition has been added which airs at 7 P.M. EDT/EST (prior to that, CBS had an ten-minute evening radio newscast at 6 P.M. EDT/EST which was titled "The World Tonight").
CBS News story on the "Roundup"'s 75th Anniversary:
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-201_162...history-cbs-world-news-roundup-marks-75-years .
And on You Tube, you can find this partial (the middle portion is missing) recording of the first "Roundup":
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DIyKcuVqSG4 .