Thursday, May 7, 2026

Television innovations in the Anglosphere

The BBC Television Service started its operations on November 2, 1936 as the first regular television service in the world.



In its first 13 years on a regular basis from 1936 to 1949 (except WWII), the BBC Television Service covered London and the Home Counties in the United Kingdom.




On July 1, 1941, just prior to Independence Day, both WNBT and WCBW-TV received a commercial license (the first two in the United States), with the earlier starting one hour earlier than the latter.

September 1, 1941 was when WPTZ got a commercial license, the first of its kind outside New York.




Nearly 6 months later, on February 26, 1942, WRGB got a commercial license, the second of its kind outside New York (and fourth overall).




During the US participation in WWII (from 1941 to 1945), WABD earned a commercial license.

The call letters for WABD stand for the namesake of its parent company DuMont Laboratories.



Just a year after WWII ended, WBKB earned a commercial license (the first in the post-WWII era).

For WBKB, receiving a commercial license made it the first outside the Eastern Time Zone (and sixth overall); it was also the first in the Central Time Zone.

Besides, the calls for WBKB stand for Balaban and Katz, run by Paramount Pictures Corporation.







Shortly after WBKB went commercial, WABD's new sister station WTTG, whose call letters stand for Thomas T. Goldsmith, a friend of its parent company's namesake, did the same.





KTLA won a commercial license, the first based west of the Mississippi River (and eighth overall).

Plus, KTLA was America's first television station not using the traditional W calls, doubling as the first located in the Pacific Time Zone.



Meanwhile, KSD-TV began as the second commercial television station in the US not using the W call letters, but also the second based west of the Mississippi River (and ninth overall).

As St. Louis, Missouri is based west of the Mississippi River, KSD-TV has innovations in television.




Still in the Midwestern US, Detroit and Cleveland WWJ-TV WEWS



Not long after, in April 1948, both KTVX and WTVR flickered to life.

Incidentally, KTVX was the first television station in the Mountain Time Zone, but also the first to be owned independently; WTVR was the first south of the nation's capital.




WDTV joined both WABD and WTTG in the DuMont-owned television group in January 1949.

The mid-January 1949 launch of WDTV also marked a milestone in the television industry: linking the Eastern and Midwestern stations via coaxial cable for the first time.


Due to the unique geographical location of its base, WDTV's coaxial cable link allowed stations in the Eastern and Midwestern regions to simultaneously air the same program, a trend still used.


Besides Balaban and Katz, which ran WBKB, Paramount ran a minority stake in DuMont, which also owned WABD, WTTG and WDTV, together with KTLA.



KCTY, which operated from June 6, 1953 to late-February 1954, served as the Kansas City, Missouri affiliate of the DuMont network, which also ran this station at the end of 1953.


Also in 1949, Paramount's movie theatre chain was spun-off into United Paramount Pictures (UPT).

Leonard Goldenson, who led Paramount's theatre chain since 1938, remained as the UPT President.



Moving across the pond, in December 1949, the BBC Television Service began expanding its coverage outside London and the Home Counties.







Monday, May 4, 2026

Maybelline

Maybelline is one of the world's greatest and most famous companies. Based in New York and held by L'Oréal, it has made girls/women look beautiful since its inception.


Since the early-1990's era, Maybelline has used the iconic and world-famous slogan: Maybe she's born with it. Maybe it's Maybelline.

Lynda Carter, who plays Wonder Woman, is one of the early faces representing Maybelline.




Christy Turlington, regarded as one of the most famous supermodels in fashion, is also one of the most famous models representing Maybelline.

Josie Maran also represents Maybelline.






Tia Texada is the voice of Maybelline New York for over fifteen years, during which her own sexy and sultry tone has made the Maybe it's Maybelline tagline one of the best in the advertising world.



During the Tia Texada era, Maybelline's iconic slogan had been divided into two parts.

For the first portion of the iconic and famous Maybelline slogan (Maybe she's born with it), it utilized a telephone effect, with its second portion (Maybe it's Maybelline) as a melodic musical jingle.



In addition to the iconic and famous Maybelline slogan, the telephone effect was also utilized to deliver action verbs and product names.


Also adding to the sexy voices during the Tia Texada era for Maybelline is the vocal fry.

Plus, an aspirate offset is used at the end of this famous Maybe it's Maybelline jingle to give it a sexy effect during the Tia Texada era.




Overall, during the Tia Texada era, the sonic branding for Maybelline New York is often described as a modern, sexy, sultry and intimate aesthetic.