DNA of the Chicago School of Television for the news business

When regular commercial television operations began in New York, many programs have incorporated theatrical proscenium or radio layouts, separating the stage from the audience area.

Incidentally, early studio set designs being used by programs from the New York television scene were described as being austere, flat and claustrophobic like a cardboard box.

Plus, in the New York-centric television scene, individuals in radio/television spoke in a loud tone.

During the early years of the era after the Second World War, some television programs emanated from Chicago, where Dave Garroway was a radio disc jockey on WMAQ-AM.

Radio belonged to Dave Garroway since World War II, and his laid-back delivery defined his career.

Television came calling for the radio-friendly Dave Garroway in 1949; his eponymous program called Garroway at Large was a key component of the Chicago School of Television.

For his own Garroway at Large television program, Dave Garroway defied television's early theatrical conventions for a more casual approach, in which the reality of the studio was acknowledged.

Using one camera, Dave Garroway walked around large studios and simple abstract sets as he directly talked to guests and television viewers for his eponymous Garroway at Large program.

Some noted individuals of the production staff behind Dave Garroway's innovative Garroway at Large program include Bob Banner, Bill Hobin, Ted Mills and Jan Scott.

As its co-directors, both Bob Banner and Bill Hobin pioneered a television style, comprising fluid and moving camerawork for Dave Garroway's Garroway at Large program.

The floor in the studio for Dave Garroway's Garroway at Large had no bounds, as treated by both Bob Banner and Bill Hobin.

Having arrived in Chicago from New York, Ted Mills presented Dave Garroway's Garroway at Large program with its unique approach.

Classic Chinese theatre (or Xiqu) is a theatrical art form, which means music, dance, martial arts and acrobats rolled inro one.

Plus, xiqu is where props, stagehands and fluid movements maintain the scenic reality.

Utilizing classic Chinese theatre as its inspiration, Ted Mills structured Dave Garroway's eponymous Garroway at Large program around the pure television idea.

Due to Dave Garroway being dis with a standard performance form being done before a live theatre audience), Ted Mills courageously decided to ditch this form for Garroway at Large.

Jan Scott, who was the woman with the most Emmy Awards, designed the abstract studio sets for Dave Garroway's eponymous and innovative Garroway at Large program.

Some noted television trends pioneered by Dave Garroway's Garroway at Large program included fluid one-camera aesthetics, abstract designs, relaxed tones, studio mechanics, etc.

NBC, which ran the WMAQ media assets, frequently aired Dave Garroway's eponymous Garroway at Large program at 10 p.m. on Saturday nights (later Friday nights and Sunday nights).

The Merchandise Mart, which was NBC's former Chicago headquarters, was the main venue for Dave Garroway's radio and television projects as well, notably Garroway at Large.

However, Dave Garroway's Garroway at Large was cancelled in the early-1950's.

With the news that his Garroway at Large program was cancelled after a short run lasting 2 years, Dave Garroway decided to do something else.

Leaving Chicago in the aftermath of the news that his Garroway at Large program was cancelled, Dave Garroway took his Chicago Style with him to New York.

Sylvester "Pat" Weaver, who, during radio's golden age, worked for the Young & Rubicam agency, was also involved with NBC since 1949, and was creating something of a controversial innovation.

Early-morning television was Pat Weaver's innovative, but controversial dream for a few years, and he tapped Dave Garroway from Chicago to make this dream a reality.

Pat Weaver's successful dream of an early-morning television program was called Today (NBC).

When Today (NBC) began, television was completely absent from the early-morning hours, and critics believed that no one watched TV while getting ready for work.

Just before Today (NBC), Pat Weaver was also trying to find a location for its studio.

Situated in the Rockefeller Centre complex, the RCA Exhibition Hall is based directly across from the iconic and famous headquarters of the Associated Press at 50 Rockefeller Plaza.

Contrasting to the iconic headquarters of the Associated Press, which represented print journalism, the RCA Exhibition Hall represented electronic media's fluid and transparent future.

During the early-1950's era, parts of the floor of the RCA Exhibition Hall were being converted into an early studio space for Today (NBC).

Inside the floor of the RCA Exhibition Hall, portions of which were converted into the first ever studio venue for Today (NBC), was a non-border room with the layout of a newspaper bullpen.

The World Communications Centre was the name of this non-bound room being based inside the RCA Exhibition Hall floor for Today (NBC).

Juxtaposing print journalism's gritty past (via the Associated Press) with electronic media's transparent future (via the RCA Exhibition Hall), the bullpen for Today (NBC) is a TV innovation.

Generally, the bullpen for Today (NBC) was packed with teletypes, rowed desks, shortwave radios and television monitors, all in a non-bound room inside the RCA Exhibition Hall.

Noted teletypes used in the bullpen being based inside the RCA Exhibition Hall for Today (NBC) came from the Associated Press, United Press and the International News Service.

Pedestrians on the sidewalk looked through the windows of the RCA Exhibition Hall to experience the Today (NBC) broadcasts in action.

For this non-boundary room inside the RCA Exhibition Hall floor for Today (NBC), it was known as a Window on the World or a glass fishbowl.

Besides, the visual at the bottom of the television screen for Today (NBC) featured scrolling text, which depicted the news headlines (typewritten on paper), and the clock display, both for its debut.

This visual being used on Today (NBC) during its first broadcast was a direct translation of the physical clocks and teletypes surrounding the bullpen inside the floor of the RCA Exhibition Hall.

Dave Garroway's laid-back approach, which had its roots in radio, was adapted for television.

Specifically, the blueprint being created by the borderless room being based inside the RCA Exhibition Hall for Today (NBC) under Dave Garroway birthed modern broadcast design elements.

Noted elements of the boundless room being based in the RCA Exhibition Hall for Today (NBC) under Dave Garroway include newsroom sets, street-side studios, news tickers and clock displays.

Just before Dave Garroway, television news featured anchors who delivered the day's stories in a studio resembling a claustrophobic box/theatrical and radio stage with journalists backstage in a bullpen.

However, Dave Garroway's innovations, including Garroway at Large and Today (NBC), tore down the walls, juxtaposing the main stage in the news studio with the backstage workspace bullpen.

Returning to the Midwestern United States, innovative concepts (which were built on Dave Garroway's television aspects) also metamorphosed the way television news was presented.

WBBM-TV, WJW-TV and WCCO-TV are some local television stations in this Midwestern region that changed television news studio set designs, all connected to NBC's rival CBS.

In television's early years, the studio and the newsroom were separate.

News anchors delivered the day's stories from an isolated and enclosed studio, while journalists in the bullpen physically sprinted across a high catwalk to deliver scripts to them.

This frantic setup was impossible to maintain for a longer, fast-paced newscast.

For television newscasts extending beyond the quarter-hour time limit, however, news anchors sat in a bullpen, surrounded by busy journalists, plus the teletype and its clattering sound.

Silent computers replaced the teletype and its clattering sound in the newsroom.

Hugh Raisky, who was involved with CBS, designed the WBBM-TV news studio, featuring a regular backdrop evoking the gritty bullpen of the East Coast, introduced in March 1973.

During the first of the 1960 presidential debates, a total of 380 reporters were inside Studios 3 and 4 at WBBM-TV's headquarters in the former Chicago Arena.

The pre-1973 era for the WBBM-TV news operation was a gap between the anchors in an isolated and enclosed news studio and the journalists in the bullpen hand-delivering stories.

Robert Wussler and Van Gordon Sauter, both involved with WBBM-TV, were the geniuses behind the creation of its regular newsroom-as-set trend in 1973.

For the regular newsroom-as-set trend that WBBM-TV had made, under both Robert Wussler and Van Gordon Sauter, it shattered the rigid and isolated television news studio set trends.

Evoking a raw, gritty and unpolished newspaper feel, the WBBM-TV news studio, featuring a regular bullpen backdrop, has a mantra: It's not pretty, but it's real news.

Just before the innovative news desks, made in the 1960's by both WJW-TV and WCCO-TV, television newscasts featured one anchor in one desk and three separate segments (news-sports-weather).

However, in this 1960's era, both WJW-TV and WCCO-TV built wider and unified news desks to bring anchors/segments (news-sports-weather) together in one desk and one program.

Fred Harpman, a science fiction designer in Hollywood, is involved with his work on NBC's sci-fi spy television series Search and its 1972 pilot television film Probe.

Both Search and Probe use the Probe Control Centre, a high-tech, NASA-like nerve centre.

The Probe Control Centre, which Fred Harpman had created for both Search and Probe on NBC, is the direct inspiration for his studio set design for this network called the NewsCentre.

Plus, Fred Harpman's NewsCentre design is based upon his nerve centre design being used in the 1966 science fiction adventure film Fantastic Voyage, for which he is assistant art director.

CMDF's nerve centre uses its high-tech and futuristic feel for Fantastic Voyage (1966).

With its roots in the cinematic Hollywood sci-fi scene, Fred Harpman's NewsCentre design serves as a radical departure from the austere news set designs, like WBBM-TV's bullpen studio.

Fred Harpman's NewsCentre design is being created to have a working newsroom feel (doubling as an industrial factory for television news and information).

Plus, Fred Harpman's NewsCentre design paralleled the borderless room being located inside the RCA Exhibition Hall for Today (NBC) under Dave Garroway.

Using architectural geometry, angled desks and glass partitions, Fred Harpman's NewsCentre set design contrasts with traditional ones whose framing was flat, shallow and two-dimensional.

Besides, the NewsCentre design by Fred Harpman features NASA-like banks of active video feeds/data monitors.

In addition, mezzanine/stairs also add to Fred Harpman's NewsCentre design.

Lee Hanna and Earl Ubell, both news executives involved with WNBC-TV, are the geniuses behind the creation of its NewsCentre, featuring Fred Harpman's futurist, high-tech and cinematic design.

What inspired Lee Hanna to envision the NewsCentre (NBC) is an episode of Search that he saw on his home television, featuring Fred Harpman's high-tech Probe Control design.

Jim Kitchell is the mastermind behind NBC's space broadcast unit to cover NASA events.

Due to his interest in NASA's nerve centres, Jim Kitchell managed the futurist, space-age and high-tech NASA-like aesthetics at NBC News, specifically Fred Harpman's NewsCentre design.

So successful was the NewsCentre philosophy (in branding, visuals and design), which WNBC-TV had originated, that NBC's other owned-and-operated television stations began using this one.

NBC commissioned modular and scaled-down structural clones of the original NewsCentre incarnation that WNBC-TV originated in New York.

KNBC adopted the NewsCentre to capture the same cinematic energy as WNBC.

Given its proximity to Hollywood, KNBC utilized the multi-angle geometry and workstations banks for bringing the NewsCentre to this place, which is Fred Harpman's primary base.

In Chicago, in a poetic twist of television history, this NewsCentre traces back to Dave Garroway's old stomping grounds: the Merchandise Mart.

WMAQ-TV used the NewsCentre as a multi-tiered and active newsroom atmosphere that proved news reporting in the Midwest in an industrial and fast-paced nature.

Still in the Midwest, non-NBC stations used undertones of the NewsCentre design that Fred Harpman created, notably WJKW-TV and WTHR.

WJKW-TV's NewsCentre design, which its art director Hilton Murray created, used undertones of the NewsCentre design that NBC commissioned.

Meanwhile, during its initial years under the ownership of the Columbus Dispatch newspaper, WTHR utilized Fred Harpman's NewsCentre design, mixed with Al Primo's Eyewitness News format.

Besides WTHR, WLW used a street-side place called the Communications Exchange (COMEX).

For COMEX, it housed WLW's radio operations (and television news facility) for about 20 years from 1957 to America's bicentennial year.

Paralleling the RCA Exhibition Hall in New York's Rockefeller Plaza, COMEX comprised pedestrians looking through windows to see WLWT's newscasts or radio programs on WLW radio.

Ever since its 1974 inception, NBC's NewsCentre philosophy (as being emphasized by Fred Harpman's cinematic design) has led to copycats, similar to WBBM-TV's studio with a bullpen backdrop.

In addition, since its 1974 inception, the NewsCentre (for NBC) has also divided North America's local television news scene into two camps.

For one camp, local television outlets in the United States that retrofitted studio spaces with faux-wood panels, extra monitors and a chroma key backdrop represented the old guard.

Local CBS television stations, many featuring the newsroom/bullpen as a regular studio backdrop, also represented the old guard (w/wo chroma key), evoking the gritty newspaper feel of the East Coast.

Conversely, advanced and forward-thinking television stations used the NewsCentre model under Fred Harpman, Lee Hanna, Earl Ubell and Jim Kitchell (for NBC), representing the new guard.

This NewsCentre concept (for NBC) evoked the NASA-like nerve centres of Hollywood.

By all means, like WBBM-TV's studio with a regular bullpen backdrop, Fred Harpman's NewsCentre design served as a radical departure from the austere news studio set designs.

Eyewitness NewsCentre 13 is a unique, hybrid and innovative television news concept being made for WTHR, in which anchors walked around the studio and talked to anchors and reporters.

Using its innovative hybrid newsroom-control room set, BCTV fuses the old and the new guards of the local/regional television news industry across North America, influencing CNN.

For Ray Peters, BCTV's innovative hybrid newsroom-control room studio, which he co-conceived with Cameron Bell and Ernie Rose, paralelled the open area for Today (NBC) under Dave Garroway.

Incidentally, Today (NBC) is the television program of which BCTV's Ray Peters was an avid viewer.

WMAQ-TV's NewsCentre, in a poetic twist of television history, traces back to Dave Garroway's old stomping grounds: the Merchandise Mart.

Rival WBBM-TV pioneered the news studio with a regular bullpen backdrop.

Upon its June 1, 1980 launch, CNN used its BCTV-inspired hybrid newsroom-control room studio set design, which serves as the DNA for 24-hour television news.

BCTV, incidentally, juxtaposed CBS (bullpen, Robert Wussler, Daniel Schorr, Bernard Shaw and Sam Zelman) with NBC (NewsCentre, Mary Alice Williams and Jim Kitchell), all used by CNN.

Echoing the title of a monster film, for the hybrid newsroom-control room set design that BCTV/CNN created, the bullpen of the East Coast meets the NASA-like nerve centres of Hollywood.

Upon its relocation from 99 Queen Street East to 299 Queen Street West, CityTV began to use a unique format for its CityPulse newscasts similar to Eyewitness NewsCentre 13 for WTHR.

Moses Znaimer, who masterminded CityTV since its debut in September 1972, is the genius behind the creation of its CityPulse newsroom-as-set trend.

During its 99 Queen Street East era, CityTV's CityPulse program featured anchors sitting at a desk in a studio with 2 orange-red-black striped beams and a television monitor between the anchors.

Incidentally, during its 99 Queen Street East era, this CityPulse studio (for CityTV) had an isolated and claustrophobic box-like look and feel.

With its move to CityTV's new headquarters at 299 Queen Street West, the CityPulse walls were being torn down, juxtaposing the main stage in the news studio with the backstage workspace bullpen.

Lowell Thomas delivered the first television news broadcast on a commercial basis on July 1, 1941 via WNBT (and NBC), which Sunoco sponsored, at fifteen minutes to 7 p.m. (or a quarter to 7).

Richard Hubbell delivered the second commercial television news broadcast at 8 p.m. via WCBW (and CBS) after the Sunoco-sponsored news by Lowell Thomas via WNBT, also on July 1, 1941.

In the days after July 1, 1941, Richard Hubbell competed against Lowell Thomas on WNBT by airing visual-heavy newscasts on WCBW at 30 minutes past 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.

May 1948 is when Douglas Edwards took over the visual-heavy mantle that Richard Hubbell had left behind, but backed by a larger corporate budget in the post-war era, via WCBS-TV.

Contrasting to Richard Hubbell, who relied on studio maps and grease pencils, Douglas Edwards used rapidly developing newsreel footage, live interviews and professional graphic overlays.

Douglas Edwards is the first individual on television to be delivering the news stories of the day, on a national basis, coast-to-coast, and on an appear routine.

In addition, Douglas Edwards is also the first person on television to have a broadcast on videotape.

John Facenda is the main news anchor for WCAU-TV from 1948 to 1973, during which it became the ratings leader in the Delaware Valley.

Some notable innovations shaping the modern local television news concept, which John Facenda had pioneered at WCAU-TV, include the 11 p.m. news and a four-person news team.

Plus, WCAU-TV is a pioneer of the format being used in television news: news-sports-weather.

Altogether, both Douglas Edwards and John Facenda are the first individuals to be presenting the news stories of the day on television in front of the camera on both a national and a local level.

Whereas early newscasts relied on newsreels, audio-over-slides or behind the camera readers à la radio news, both Douglas Edwards and John Facenda were telegenic newsreaders.

Lowell Thomas and Richard Hubbell were pioneering, yet unseen newsreaders on television.

CBS, through both Douglas Edwards and John Facenda, pioneered elevating newsreaders from unseen individuals to telegenic ones.

Eyewitness News

Staying with the subject of NBC, another innovative television station was KYW-TV.

Al Primo, a noted innovator in television news born in the Appalachian region, created the innovative Eyewitness News concept at KYW-TV in Philadelphia in the mid-1960's.

Just prior to Al Primo's Eyewitness News, news reporters were being used behind the cameras to avoid paying extra fees; this was the format of a radio-style newscast.

Due to Al Primo's Eyewitness News, news reporters made their appearances with their own story.

By relocating from Philadelphia to New York City, Al Primo's Eyewitness News concept innovated the happy talk trait, in which anchors and reporters have a light-hearted conversation.

In addition, the New York version of the Eyewitness News concept via Al Primo opened new doors for female and minority journalists in major markets.

Happy talk is a trait being used in television news, in which, instead of a simple handoff to some news personnel, anchors can use informal ad-libbed humour.

Even so, the Eyewitness News title originated in Cleveland, which is another place using the KYW-TV letters, but also a place near the Appalachian region.

Styaing in Cleveland, Dorothy Fuldheim is American television's first female newscaster.

Responding to Al Primo's Eyewitness News format, network newscasts changed formats.

For instance, in America's bicentennial year, Barbara Walters was named the first female evening news anchor on network television in the United States.

In 1978, Max Robinson became US network television's first minority evening news anchor.

Christine Craft stopped anchoring the news at KMBC-TV in 1981, because station executives said she deemed herself "too old, too unattractive and wouldn't defer to men."

Due to Christine Craft, television news was sued for how it treated women's appearance and authority.

With separate juries being found in Christine Craft's favour, girls/women in television news (not just in their appearance, but their authority) made changes.