32,000 HOURS A YEAR 01965 by Time Inc. All rights reserved. Library of Congress catalogue card number 65-25388. Printed in U.S.A. TIME LIFE BROADCAST At KOGO-TV San Diego, the early -evening local news is a pioneering full -hour effort. TIME 32,000 HOURS A YEAR LIFEROADB INTRODUCTION "...FROM 4 HOURS TO 32,000 A YEAR" Four Hours A Year was the title of a remarkable picture book about a remarkable film series, THE MARCH OF TIME . It was published in 1936 by Time Incorporated, then publisher of TIME The Weekly Newsmagazine and FORTUNE. Four Hours A Year was a one-shot book. It celebrated the first year of THE MARCH OF TIME, destined to become a land- mark in the history of motion pictures. As a book, it served- some said-as the dummy for a magazine that made its bow later in that year of 1936-LIFE. In that first year, and for seventeen news -packed years to fol- low, THE MARCH OF TIME's total annual output amounted to just four hours. There was an eagerly -awaited release every four weeks in theaters all around the world; each film ran approxi- mately eighteen minutes. Today Time Incorporated is the world's largest magazine publisher, one of the six largest book publishers, and owner- operator of five broadcasting properties embracing television, radio and FM. On the five television stations in Time Inc.'s broadcasting divi- sion, pictures that move illuminate the TV screens in more than 232 million homes. In combination, they add up to 32,000 hours a year. This book is about those hours, those stations, and that division of Time Inc. known as Time -Life Broadcast. Inside, you will find a sampling of the achievements of our stations and the contributions of the entire division to the pub- lics it serves. As Henry R. Luce, founder of Time Inc., wrote in 1936 about Four Hours A Year, "... this book will be used for certain promotional purposes, but it will not be edited in any ballyhoo spirit and will not have any particular `selling job' in mind. All that it will attempt to do is to portray what THE MARCH OF TIME is today-and if it can do that adequately, it will be as handsome a tribute as this organization ever paid to itself." 1 For THE MARCH OF TIME in the mid -thirties, substitute "Time -Life Broadcast" today. 4 San Diego Cameraman Bob Lampert at the Republican Convention. HISTORY "A PUBLISHING COMPANY IN BROADCASTING? ONLY SINCE 1924..:' Long before Time Inc.'s first venture into station own- Crusade In Europe, a 26 -week series of half-hour films ership -management in 1952, the publishing company from Dwight D. Eisenhower's famous book. The made a name for itself in broadcasting and motion pic- March of Time Through the Years, Crusade in the tures. Pacific and other more experimental programs fol- It began in 192.4, when radio was still the Atwater lowed. Kent in the parlor and the crystal set in the cellar. The In the 1950's, both LIFE and TIME magazines pro- first stations in the nation were only a couple of years duced or sponsored television programs on the net- old, and so was TIME The Weekly Newsmagazine. works and on local stations. The late Briton Hadden, its editor and co-founder At Time -Life Broadcast, experimental program- along with Henry R. Luce, and Circulation Director ming, drawing on the resources of Time Inc.'s maga- Roy E. Larsen sat before a soup -dish microphone in zine and book divisions, began in 1959, continues to- New York's WJZ studios and played The Pop Question day (see p. 37). Game each week. (The questions, naturally enough, Time Inc. at one time owned a minority interest in could be answered from the current TIME.) the American Broadcasting Company, disposed of it Next step was a weekly script, . mailed to stations in 1945. For two years in the 1940's, the company was around the country, called NEWSCASTING; that, in a part-owner of New York radio station WQXR, now turn, led to NEWSACTING, where intriguing stories owned by The New York Times. of the week were acted out and the resulting record But in 1952, Time Inc.'s board of directors author- mailed to stations who would play it and credit TIME. ized the company's first,participation in television sta- Thus, the stage was set for one of the memorable ra- tion operation, with the investment of one half million dio programs of all time-THE MARCH OF TIME. dollars for 5o% ownership of stations KOB-TV and KOB, Albuquerque, N. M., in partnership with the late TIME-MARCHES ON! Westbrook Van Voorhis and the cast of Wayne Coy. In 1953, Time Inc. acquired 8o% interest radio's MARCH OF TIME re-enact an THE MARCH OF TIME first took to the airwaves in in Salt Lake City's KDYL and KTVT, and in 1954. was historic moment. 1931. A full-fledged,, "live" show complete with king- licensed to operate KLZ and KLZ-TV in Denver. sized orchestra and the thrilling words "Time . marches on!" it soon caught the imagination of the A RECORD PRICE American people, settled in to a 14 -year run on the Three years later, Time Inc. paid a then -record price CBS and NBC Radio networks. Radio's top actors vied of $16 million for the Bitner TV and radio stations in for the roles of FDR, Hitler, Huey Long, Mussolini Grand Rapids, Indianapolis and Minneapolis/St. Paul. and other headline names of the era, delivered such In compliance with the FCC rule limiting ownership realistic performances that President Roosevelt him- to five VHF television channels, the KOB-TV proper- self complained that too many of his friends were call- ties were sold to Hubbard Broadcasting Inc., and later ing the White House to know when he'd made such - the Salt Lake City properties were acquired from Time and-such a speech, and why hadn't they been notified Inc. by Columbia Pictures Corporation. at the time. In 1962, Time -Life Broadcast became the owner of Out of THE MARCH OF TIME on radio grew its log- KOGO-TV-AM-FM, San Diego, and in 1964 added its ical visual counterpart, MARCH OF TIME in the mov- first UHF station, KERO-TV, Bakersfield, to the group. ies. Born on a relatively few movie screens in 1935, it Also in 1964, the division sold Minneapolis/St. Paul's grew to attract a world-wide audience in 15,000 thea- WTCN-TV to Chris-Craft Industries and its sister radio ters during its stormy, controversial 17 -year run. Start- operation,WTCN, to the Buckley Jaeger Broadcasting ing where the unsatisfying, repetitive newsreels of the Corporation. day left off, THE MARCH OF TIME'. every -four -weeks, Thus by 1965, Time-Life Broadcast owned and op- two -reel film brought clarity, controversy and show- erated four VHF television stations (KOGO-TV, NBC, manship to the events of the day, won a special "Os- Channel 10 San Diego; KLZ-TV, CBS, Channel 7 Den- car" for its contribution to the motion picture industry. ver; WFBM-TV, NBC, Channel 6 Indianapolis and Hardly a network news and documentary producer WOOD -TV, NBC, Channel 8 Grand Rapids); one UHF today will deny his debt to the pioneering efforts of television (KERO-TV, NBC, Channel 23 Bakersfield); Louis de Rochemont and Roy E. Larsen and their four AM radio stations (KLZ and WFBM, CBS; WOOD MARCH OF TIME. and KOGO, NBC) and four FM radio stations (KOGO- Producer Richard de Rochemont discuss- By the late 1940's, THE MARCH OF TIME was FM, KLZ-FM, WFBM-FM and WOOD -FM). ing details of THE MARCH OF TIME's ready to try its skill at television. First production was A Johnny -come -early, Time Inc. in broadcasting. first television film series, "Crusade in Europe," with the author. Roy E. Larsen, founder of THE MARCH OF TIME, admires his special Academy Award with another Oscar -winner. INDIANAPOLIS "HOOSIERLAND: A FAR CRY FROM THE CORNFIELDS" Indianapolis grade schoolers visit the Art Museum or instruction. WFBM A number of years ago a local civic graphical center of the state, it serves as a vital trans- TIME booster labeled Indianapolis the portation hub whose spokes radiate to most of the na- LIFE "most XBCiXgAXIPoIE6 BROADCAST American of cities in the most tion's major markets. Total retail sales for the area American of states," and with some reach up toward the $1.5 billion mark. The Indianapolis Symphony played for justification. Even a man from Missouri can be shown Its strategic midland position, enhanced by the cli- WFBM's Anniversary 4oth party. evidence to support that forthright view. mate of growth, has attracted to Indianapolis an in- The Hoosier capital is widely celebrated as the creasing variety of business and manufacturing enter- home of James Whitcomb Riley and Booth Tarking- prises. Based here are such diversified companies as ton, whose homespun writings evoke the apple-pie Eli Lilly & Co. ( pharmaceuticals ), Stokely -Van Camp flavor of American boyhood. It is also the place that ( food packing) and P R. Mallory & Co., which pro- produced the Gumm brothers. Better known as Harry duces everything from electronic components to spe- and Al Von Tilzer, they composed such memorable cial metals. In addition, several industrial giants like musical tributes to American ideals as "I Want a Girl General Motors, Ford, Chrysler, Western Electric, In- Just Like the Girl That Married Dear Old Dad," and ternational Harvester, RCA and U.S.