Retro; NBC (W2XBS), New York, Week of May 14, 1939-May 20, 1939)

[MATTROSE94]

Sources: Billboard. 27 May 1939; Variety. 24 May 1939; Television Obscurities; Old TV History

W2XBS, Channel 1 (45.25 m. c.; 49.75 m. c.) (experimentally licensed predecessor of present-day WNBC channel 4)


Sunday, May 14, 1939
11:00 AM to 4:00 PM —World’s Fair Demonstration.

Monday, May 15, 1939
11:00 AM to 4:00 PM - World’s Fair Demonstration.

Tuesday, May 16, 1939
11:00 AM to 4:00 PM—World’s Fair Demonstration.

Wednesday, May 17, 1939
4:00 PM-5:45 PM—Columbia-Princeton baseball game at Baker Field, Bill Stern announcing.
8:00 PM-9:00 PM—Variety: Hal Sherman, pantomimist from “Hellzapoppin;” The Three Smoothies, rhythm singers; Martha Sleeper, Broadway and Hollywood actress, in “The Smart Thing,” a modern comedy by Frank Conlan, supported by Ned Wever and Burford Hampden; selected film short subjects.

Thursday, May 18, 1939
4:00 PM -8:00 PM—World’s Fair Demonstration.

Friday, May 19, 1939
4:00 PM -8:00 PM—World’s Fair Demonstration (films).
8:00 PM-9:30 PM—Variety: Grant Irwin and Anna Athy, stage stars, in “Our Family,” comedy of American home life; Clyde Hager, vaudeville pitchman; Ann Miller, Hollywood tap dancer; Bill Burns and His Canary Circus.

Saturday, May 20, 1939
4:00 PM-8:00 PM – Films.
8:30 PM-9:00 PM – Six-Day Bicycle Race, at Madison Square Garden, Bill Stern announcing.

 

[Joseph_Gallant]

The college baseball game between Columbia and Princeton on May 17th, 1939 was the first live sports telecast on American television (although the BBC had televised some London area sports events as early as 1937).

The first professional sports event on American television was a Major League Baseball game between the Brooklyn Dodgers and Cincinnati Reds later that summer at Ebbets Field, Brooklyn which was also seen over W2XBS.

 

[MATTROSE94]

The college baseball game between Columbia and Princeton on May 17th, 1939 was the first live sports telecast on American television (although the BBC had televised some London area sports events as early as 1937).

The first professional sports event on American television was a Major League Baseball game between the Brooklyn Dodgers and Cincinnati Reds later that summer at Ebbets Field, Brooklyn which was also seen over W2XBS.

You are right. I didn’t see reference to any sports telecasts during the first two weeks of television programming. Perhaps some of the films broadcasted during the first few weeks were sports related, but the titles weren’t listed in the schedules. Sports telecasting by W2XBS really started picking up in the fall of 1939 as the television audience began to grow a little bit.