134-435: Texaco Star Theater is an American comedy-variety show, broadcast on radio from 1938 to 1949 and telecast from 1948 to 1956. It was one of the first successful examples of American television broadcasting , remembered as the show that gave Milton Berle the nickname "Mr. Television". The classic 1940–1944 version of the program, hosted by radio's Fred Allen , was followed by a radio series on ABC (the former NBC Blue ) in
268-409: A Top 10 rating for the rest of its radio life. In 1949, after 12 years at NBC , the couple took the show back to its original network CBS , where they had risen to fame from 1932 to 1937. Their friend Jack Benny reached a negotiating impasse with NBC over the corporation he set up ("Amusement Enterprises") to package his show, the better to put more of his earnings on a capital-gains basis and avoid
402-543: A Yiddish film producer. Burns started smoking cigars when he was 14. Burns was drafted into the United States Army when the U.S. entered World War I in 1917, but failed the physical examination because he was extremely nearsighted. To hide his Jewish heritage, he adopted the stage name by which he would be known for the rest of his life. He later claimed that he selected the name George Burns because there were two active star professional baseball players with
536-569: A blurry demonstration broadcast showed that it would not be in regular use for several months. The DuMont Television Network , which had begun experimental broadcasts before the war, launched what Newsweek called "the country's first permanent commercial television network" on 15 August 1946, connecting New York City with Washington. Not to be outdone, NBC launched what it called "the world's first regularly operating television network" on 27 June 1947, serving New York City, Philadelphia, Schenectady and Washington. Baltimore and Boston were added to
670-689: A company of their own, McCadden Corporation (named after the street on which Burns's brother lived), headquartered on the General Service Studio lot in the heart of Hollywood, and set up to film television shows and commercials. Besides their own hit show (which transitioned from a biweekly live series to a weekly filmed version in 1952), the couple's company produced such television series as The Bob Cummings Show (later syndicated and rerun as Love That Bob ); The People's Choice , starring Jackie Cooper ; Mona McCluskey , starring Juliet Prowse ; and Mister Ed , starring Alan Young and
804-541: A consolidation of each respective network's higher-rated programs onto one schedule); MyNetworkTV , a network formed from affiliates of UPN and The WB that did not affiliate with The CW, launched at the same time. FCC regulations in the United States restricted the number of television stations that could be owned by any one network, company or individual . This led to a system where most local television stations were independently owned, but received programming from
938-409: A day, and he never used cigarettes or marijuana , saying, "Look, I can't get any more kicks than I'm getting. What can marijuana do for me that show business hasn't done?" His last feature film role was the cameo role of Milt Lackey, a 100-year-old stand-up comedian, in the 1994 comedy mystery Radioland Murders . Eight years before his death, Burns publicly admitted that once in their marriage, in
1072-645: A differentiation between them. Within the industry, a tiering is sometimes created among groups of networks based on whether their programming is simultaneously originated from a central point, and whether the network master control has the technical and administrative capability to take over the programming of their affiliates in real-time when it deems this necessary – the most common example being during national breaking news events. In North America in particular, many television networks available via cable and satellite television are branded as "channels" because they are somewhat different from traditional networks in
1206-540: A government entity that was created in 1926 to regulate the radio industry. With some exceptions, radio stations east of the Mississippi River received official call signs beginning with the letter "W"; those west of the Mississippi were assigned calls beginning with a "K". The number of programs that these early stations aired was often limited, in part due to the expense of program creation. The idea of
1340-543: A half-hour of vaudevillian routines interspersed with music. Wynn's ratings began to slide and the comedian lapsed amidst personal and professional crises, and the show ended in June 1935. Texaco sponsored The Jumbo Fire Chief Program in 1935–36 and The Fire Chief Concert in 1936. Comedian Eddie Cantor was the star of a show called "Texaco Town" from 1936 to 1938. The show's cast featured young singers Bobby Breen and Deanna Durbin , announcer Jimmy Wallington , who read
1474-469: A half-hour show, until he withdrew from work for over a year on his doctor's advice. It was during the half-hour version of the show that the more cerebral (if barbed) Allen premiered the continuing comic sketch for which many remember him best: the ensemble, topical takeoffs of "Allen's Alley". Guests included some of the best comedic actors of the time, including Sam Levene , the legendary Broadway actor and Hollywood film character actor. Though some believe
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#17327915332611608-439: A job as a syrup maker in a local candy shop at age seven, Burns was "discovered", as he later recalled: We were all about the same age, six and seven, and when we were bored making syrup, we used to practice singing harmony in the basement. One day our letter carrier came down to the basement. His name was Lou Farley. Feingold was his real name, but he changed it to Farley. He wanted the whole world to sing harmony. He came down to
1742-547: A joint venture between Time Warner and the Tribune Company , and the United Paramount Network ( UPN ), formed through a programming alliance between Chris-Craft Industries and Paramount Television (whose parent, Viacom , would later acquire half and later all of the network over the course of its existence). In September 2006, The CW was launched as a "merger" of The WB and UPN (in actuality,
1876-521: A large amount of syndicated programming. Other networks are dedicated to specialized programming, such as religious content or programs presented in languages other than English, particularly Spanish. The largest television network in the United States, however, is the Public Broadcasting Service ( PBS ), a non-profit, publicly owned, non-commercial educational service. In comparison to the commercial television networks, there
2010-536: A large number of channels, as does UKTV . Sweden had only one television network from 1956 until the early-1990s: the public broadcaster Sveriges Television (SVT). Commercial companies such as Modern Times Group , TV4 , Viasat , and SBS Discovery have established TV networks since the 1980s although they initially aired exclusively on satellite. In 1991, TV4 became Sweden's first commercial television network to air terrestrially. Most television programming in Sweden
2144-438: A larger area, often an entire state, and become full-time affiliates to one specific metropolitan network. As well as these free-to-air channels, there are others on Australia's Pay television network Foxtel . New Zealand has one public network, Television New Zealand (TVNZ), which consists of two main networks: TVNZ 1 is the network's flagship network which carries news, current affairs and sports programming as well as
2278-587: A lecherous old man. He always smoked a cigar onstage and reputedly timed his monologues by the amount the cigar had burned down. For this reason, he preferred cheap El Producto cigars as the loosely wrapped tobacco burned longer. Burns once quipped: "In my youth, they called me a rebel. When I was middle-aged, they called me eccentric. Now that I'm old, I'm doing the same thing I've always done and they're calling me senile." Arthur Marx estimated that Burns smoked around 300,000 cigars during his lifetime, starting at age 14. In his final years, he smoked no more than four
2412-523: A man-hungry spinster in love with Bill Goodwin . The characters of Harry and Blanche Morton became a mainstay of the program. As with The Jack Benny Program , the new George Burns & Gracie Allen Show portrayed Burns and Allen as entertainers with their own weekly radio show. Goodwin remained, and the music was now led by Meredith Willson (later to be better known for composing the Broadway musical The Music Man ). Willson also played himself on
2546-474: A married couple. Artie Shaw , who also appeared as a character in some of the show's sketches, was the show's bandleader at one time. Allen's character also changed slightly during this era, often being mean to Burns. As this format grew stale over the years, Burns and his fellow writers redeveloped the show as a situation comedy in 1941. The reformat focused on the couple's married life and their friends and neighbors, including Elvia Allman as Tootsie Sagwell,
2680-456: A method called "broadcast syndication", and today nearly every television station in the United States obtains syndicated programs in addition to network-produced fare. Late in the 20th century, cross-country microwave radio relays were replaced by fixed-service satellites. Some terrestrial radio relays remained in service for regional connections. After the failure and shutdown of DuMont in 1956, several attempts at new networks were made between
2814-464: A national basis. Currently, licensed national or provincial networks must be carried by all cable providers (in the country or province, respectively) with a service area above a certain population threshold, as well as all satellite providers. However, they are no longer necessarily expected to achieve over-the-air coverage in all areas (APTN, for example, only has terrestrial coverage in parts of northern Canada). In addition to these licensed networks,
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#17327915332612948-541: A network system which would distribute programming to many stations simultaneously, saving each station the expense of creating all of their own programs and expandingus transmitted from station to station to listeners across the United States. Other companies, including CBS and the Mutual Broadcasting System , soon followed suit, each network signed hundreds of individual stations on as affiliates: stations which agreed to broadcast programs from one of
3082-488: A network, becoming Ostankino Channel One . The other five networks were operated by Ground Zero. This free airwave space allowed many private television networks like NTV and TV-6 to launch in the mid-1990s. The 2000s were marked by the increased state intervention in Russian television. On 14 April 2001 NTV experienced management changes following the expulsion of former oligarch and NTV founder Vladimir Gusinsky . As
3216-405: A quartet of Texaco singers opened each week's show with the theme song. They did not settle on Berle—who hosted a freshly revived radio version in spring 1948—as the permanent host right away; he hosted the first television Texaco Star Theater in June 1948 but was originally part of a rotation of hosts (Berle himself had only a four-week contract). Comedian Jack Carter was host for August. Berle
3350-401: A rate of more than $ 5.00 per subscriber to ESPN). The providers also handle the sale of advertising inserted at the local level during national programming, in which case the broadcaster and the cable/satellite provider may share revenue . Networks that maintain a home shopping or infomercial format may instead pay the station or cable/satellite provider, in a brokered carriage deal. This
3484-502: A result, most of the prominent reporters featured on NTV left the network. Later on 22 January 2002, the second largest private television network TV-6 , where the former NTV staff took refuge, was shut down allegedly because of its editorial policy. Five months later on 1 June, TVS was launched, mostly employing NTV/TV-6 staff, only to cease operations the following year. Since then, the four largest television networks (Channel One, Russia 1, NTV and Russia 2) have been state-owned. Still,
3618-491: A second channel, BBC 2 (with the original service being renamed BBC 1 ). A second national commercial network was launched Channel 4 , although Wales instead introduced a Welsh-language service, S4C . These were later followed by the launch of a third commercial network, Channel 5 . Since the introduction of digital television, the BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5 each introduced a number of digital-only channels. Sky operates
3752-468: A second or even third station providing a greater variety of content. Commercial television services also became available when private companies applied for television broadcasting licenses. Often, each new network would be identified with their channel number, so that individual stations would often be numbered "One", "Two", "Three" and so forth. The first television network in the United Kingdom
3886-427: A series of nightclub dates to which Benny had committed around the U.S. Burns, who enjoyed working, accepted the job for what would be his first feature film appearance for 36 years. As he recalled years later: Ill health prevented Benny from working on The Sunshine Boys ; he died of pancreatic cancer on December 26, 1974. Heartbroken, Burns said that the only time he ever wept in his life other than Gracie's death
4020-508: A single company (as is the case with the BBC), each local area had a separate television channel that was independently owned and operated, although most of these channels shared a number of programmes, particularly during peak evening viewing hours. These channels formed the ITV network . When the advent of UHF broadcasting allowed a greater number of television channels to broadcast, the BBC launched
4154-446: A small number of stations still operating as affiliates. Most television services outside North America are national networks established by a combination of publicly funded broadcasters and commercial broadcasters. Most nations established television networks in a similar way: the first television service in each country was operated by a public broadcaster , often funded by a television licensing fee, and most of them later established
Texaco Star Theater - Misplaced Pages Continue
4288-539: A successful season at Carnegie Hall , where he wowed a capacity audience with his show-stopping songs, dances, and jokes. In 1974, Jack Benny signed to play one of the lead roles in the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film version of Neil Simon 's The Sunshine Boys ( Red Skelton was originally the other, but he objected to some of the script's language). But Benny's health had begun to fail, and he advised his manager, Irving Fein, to let Burns fill in for him on
4422-399: A superstar was clearly spent for steam and fresh ideas, and two subsequent attempts at television comebacks hosting his own show lasted barely a year each. (Berle did, however, contribute his part to the making of a rock and roll legend: in his final season, he opened his stage to Elvis Presley amid the beginning of the hip-swiveling singer's international popularity.) Part of the problem
4556-437: A talented "talking" horse. Several of Jack Benny 's 1953–55 filmed episodes were also produced by McCadden for CBS. The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show ran on CBS Television from 1950 to 1958, when Burns at last consented to Allen's retirement. The onset of heart trouble in the early 1950s had left her exhausted from full-time work and she had been anxious to stop, but could not say no to Burns. Burns attempted to continue
4690-406: A telephone improvement device. Its high capacity (transmitting 240 telephone calls simultaneously) also made it ideal for long-distance television transmission, where it could handle a frequency band of 1 MHz. German television first demonstrated such an application in 1936 by relaying televised telephone calls from Berlin to Leipzig , 180 km (110 mi) away, by cable. AT&T laid
4824-507: A third party company (for example, the TV2 programme Shortland Street is produced by South Pacific Pictures ). The networks produce their own news and current affairs programs, with most of the content filmed in Auckland. George Burns George Burns (born Nathan Birnbaum ; January 20, 1896 – March 9, 1996) was an American comedian, actor, writer, and singer, and one of
4958-531: A unionwide network. Until 1989, there were six television networks, all owned by the USSR Gosteleradio. This changed during Mikhail Gorbachev 's Perestroika program, when the first independent television network, 2×2 , was launched. Following the breakup of the Soviet Union, USSR Gosteleradio ceased to exist as well as its six networks. Only Channel One had a smooth transition and survived as
5092-488: Is TV3 , which competes directly with both TVNZ broadcast networks. MediaWorks also operates a second network, FOUR , which airs mostly imported programmes with children's shows airing in the daytime and shows targeted at teenagers and adult between 15 and 39 years of age during prime time. MediaWorks also operates a timeshift network, TV3 + 1, and a 24-hour music network, C4 . All television networks in New Zealand air
5226-523: Is centralised except for local news updates that air on SVT2 and TV4. Until 1989, Netherlands Public Broadcasting was the only television network in the Netherlands, with three stations, Nederland 1 , Nederland 2 and Nederland 3 . Rather than having a single production arm, there are a number of public broadcasting organizations that create programming for each of the three stations, each working relatively independently. Commercial broadcasting in
5360-418: Is especially common with low-power television stations, and in recent years, even more so for stations that used this revenue stream to finance their conversion to digital broadcasts, which in turn provides them with several additional channels to transmit different programming sources. Television broadcasting in the United States was heavily influenced by radio. Early individual experimental radio stations in
5494-407: Is explained by author Tim P. Vos in his abstract A Cultural Explanation of Early Broadcast , where he determines targeted group/non-targeted group representations as well as the cultural specificity employed in the television network entity. Vos notes that policymakers did not expressly intend to create a broadcast order dominated by commercial networks. In fact, legislative attempts were made to limit
Texaco Star Theater - Misplaced Pages Continue
5628-548: Is no central unified arm of broadcast programming, meaning that each PBS member station has a significant amount of freedom to schedule television shows as they consent to. Some public television outlets, such as PBS, carry separate digital subchannel networks through their member stations (for example, Georgia Public Broadcasting ; in fact, some programs airing on PBS were branded on other channels as coming from GPB Kids and PBS World ). This works as each network sends its signal to many local affiliated television stations across
5762-544: Is the British Broadcasting Corporation ( BBC ), which is perhaps most-well known for its news agency BBC News . Owned by the Crown , the BBC funds itself in two ways. UK services branded under BBC are funded by the television license paid by British residents, as a result no advertising appears on these services. The advertising-funded arm ( BBC Studios ) employs 23,000 people worldwide including
5896-736: The BBC , CBC , PBS , PTV , NBC or ABC in the US and in Australia evolved from earlier radio networks. In countries where most networks broadcast identical, centrally originated content to all of their stations, and where most individual television transmitters therefore operate only as large " repeater stations ", the terms "television network", " television channel " (a numeric identifier or radio frequency ) and "television station" have become mostly interchangeable in everyday language, with professionals in television-related occupations continuing to make
6030-1059: The Big Three television networks , the American Broadcasting Company (ABC), CBS (formerly the Columbia Broadcasting System) and the National Broadcasting Company ( NBC ); however, the Fox Broadcasting Company (Fox), which launched in October 1986, has gained prominence and is now considered part of the "Big Four". The Big Three provide a significant number of programs to each of their affiliates, including newscasts , prime time, daytime and sports programming, but still reserve periods during each day where their affiliate can air local programming , such as local news or syndicated programs . Since
6164-466: The Hollywood Walk of Fame : a motion pictures star at 1639 Vine Street , a television star at 6510 Hollywood Boulevard , and a live performance star at 6672 Hollywood Boulevard. The first two stars were placed during the initial installations of 1960, while the third-star ceremony was held in 1984, in the new category of live performance, or live theatre, established that year. Burns is also
6298-553: The Nine Network ; while their equivalents on VHF channels 7 and 10 respectively formed the Seven Network and Network 10 . Until 1989, areas outside these main cities had access to only a single commercial station, and these rural stations often formed small networks such as Prime Television . Beginning in 1989, however, television markets in rural areas began to aggregate, allowing these rural networks to broadcast over
6432-510: The "prime-time" programs that the network offered. Local stations occasionally break from regularly scheduled network programming however, especially when a breaking news or severe weather situation occurs in the viewing area. Moreover, when stations return to network programming from commercial breaks , station identifications are displayed in the first few seconds before switching to the network's logo. A number of different definitions of "network" are used by government agencies, industry, and
6566-567: The 1950s and the 1970s, with little success. The Fox Broadcasting Company , founded by the Rupert Murdoch -owned News Corporation (now owned by Fox Corporation ), was launched on 9 October 1986 after the company purchased the television assets of Metromedia ; it would eventually ascend to the status of the fourth major network by 1994. Two other networks launched within a week of one another in January 1995: The WB Television Network,
6700-477: The 1950s, he had cheated on Allen. In guilt over the one-night affair, Burns gave Allen a $ 10,000 diamond ring and a $ 750 silver centerpiece. Allen learned about the affair but never let on to Burns that she knew, and the couple never discussed it. Burns was still appearing at major hotel/casinos in Las Vegas, Reno, and Lake Tahoe during the early 1980s. When he turned 90 in 1986, the city of Los Angeles renamed
6834-569: The 1975 film The Sunshine Boys , for which he won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor . George Burns was born Nathan Birnbaum ( Yiddish : נתן בירנבוים ) on January 20, 1896, in New York City, the ninth of 12 children born to Hadassah "Dorah" (née Bluth; 1857–1927) and Eliezer Birnbaum (1855–1903), known as Louis or Lippa, Jewish immigrants who had come to the United States from Ropczyce , Galicia , now Poland . Burns
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#17327915332616968-465: The 2000s saw a rise of several independent television networks such as REN (its coverage increased vastly allowing it to become a federal network), Petersburg – Channel Five (overall the same), the relaunched 2×2 . The Russian television market is mainly shared today by five major companies: Channel One, Russia 1, NTV, TNT and CTC. The major commercial television network in Brazil is Rede Globo , which
7102-469: The 80% taxes levied on very high earners in the World War II period. CBS executive William S. Paley convinced Benny to move to CBS (Paley, among other things, impressed Benny with his attitude that the performers make the network, not the other way around, as NBC chief David Sarnoff reputedly believed); Benny in turn convinced several NBC stars to join him, including Burns and Allen. Thus, CBS reaped
7236-477: The Almighty engages a precocious schoolgirl played by Louanne Sirota to spread the word) and Oh, God! You Devil —in which Burns played a dual role as God and the devil , with the soul of a would-be songwriter (played by Ted Wass ) at stake. After guest-starring on The Muppet Show and Alice , Burns appeared in 1978's Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band , the film based on The Beatles ' album of
7370-578: The CRTC: government-owned CBC Television (English) and Ici Radio-Canada Télé (French), French-language private network TVA , and APTN , a network focused on Indigenous peoples in Canada . A third French-language service, Noovo (formerly V), is licensed as a provincial network within Quebec , but is not licensed or locally distributed (outside of carriage on the digital tiers of pay television providers) on
7504-536: The Internet Archive, it appears the series typically ran 48–50 minutes excluding commercials. Texaco dropped its sponsorship of the show and Buick became the new sponsor in 1953, prompting the show's name change to The Buick-Berle Show . Two years later, it became, simply, The Milton Berle Show , its title until its run ended at last in June 1956. By then, Berle and his audience had probably burned out on each other, and Buick had even dropped sponsorship of
7638-549: The NBC television network in late 1947. DuMont and NBC would be joined by CBS and ABC in 1948. In the 1940s, the term "chain broadcasting" was used when discussing network broadcasts, as the television stations were linked together in long chains along the East Coast . But as the television networks expanded westward, the interconnected television stations formed major networks of connected affiliate stations. In January 1949, with
7772-492: The Netherlands is currently operated by two networks, RTL Nederland and SBS Broadcasting , which together broadcast seven commercial stations. The first television network in the Soviet Union launched on 7 July 1938 when Petersburg – Channel 5 of Leningrad Television became a unionwide network. The second television network in the Soviet Union launched on 22 March 1951 when Channel One of USSR Central Television became
7906-573: The Pee-Wee Quartet. We started out singing on ferryboats, in saloons, in brothels, and on street corners. We'd put our hats down for donations. Sometimes the customers threw something in the hats. Sometimes they took something out of the hats. Sometimes they took the hats. One of the Burns brothers' first regular gigs was operating the curtains at the vaudeville and nickelodeon theatre of Frank Seiden , father of Joseph Seiden , who later became
8040-611: The United States began limited operations in the 1910s. In November 1920, Westinghouse signed on "the world's first commercially licensed radio station", KDKA in Pittsburgh , Pennsylvania. Other companies built early radio stations in Detroit, Boston , New York City and other areas. Radio stations received permission to transmit through broadcast licenses obtained through the Federal Radio Commission (FRC),
8174-406: The age of 93. After that, Burns had chauffeurs drive him around. In his later years, he also had difficulty reading fine print. Burns suffered a head injury after falling in his bathtub in 1994 and underwent surgery to remove fluid in his skull . He never fully recovered, and his performing career came to an end. In February 1995, Burns, in one of his final television appearances, was presented with
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#17327915332618308-415: The basement once to deliver a letter and heard the four of us kids singing harmony. He liked our style, so we sang a couple more songs for him. Then we looked up at the head of the stairs and saw three or four people listening to us and smiling. In fact, they threw down a couple of pennies. So I said to the kids I was working with: no more chocolate syrup. It's show business from now on. We called ourselves
8442-413: The benefits when Burns and Allen moved to television in 1950. On television, The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show put faces to some of the radio characters audiences had come to love (they already knew Burns and Allen's faces from their films). A number of significant changes were seen in the show: Burns and Allen also took a cue from Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz 's Desilu Productions and formed
8576-432: The commercials for Fire Chief gasoline, Harry Park , and bandleader Jacques Renard . The show was a combination of comedy and music. Cantor frequently sang a tune about the "mayor of Texaco Town". Texaco Star Theater (spelled Theatre for most of the radio show's run) was first broadcast on October 5, 1938, and it continued on the air until June 26, 1940. Initial host Adolphe Menjou was succeeded by John Barrymore , who
8710-480: The completion of May sweeps . In the 1954–1955 season, the half-hour Texaco Star Theater offered in alternation The Jimmy Durante Show and The Donald O'Connor Show on the NBC Saturday evening schedule. As a Top 30 program, Texaco Star Theater has an average rating of 47.3. Television broadcasting A television broadcaster or television network is a telecommunications network for
8844-625: The corner of Burns & Allen. At my age, it's good to be anywhere!" George Burns Road and Gracie Allen Drive cross just a few blocks west of the Beverly Center mall in the heart of the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center . Burns served as honorary chairman of the center's endowment drive. Burns remained in good health for most of his life, in part thanks to a daily exercise regimen of swimming, walks, sit-ups, and push-ups. He bought new Cadillacs every year and drove until
8978-399: The country. These local stations then carry the "network feed", which can be viewed by millions of households across the country. In such cases, the signal is sent to as many as 200+ stations or as little as just a dozen or fewer stations, depending on the size of the network. With the adoption of digital television , television networks have also been created specifically for distribution on
9112-440: The creation of Fox, the number of American television networks has increased, though the amount of programming they provide is often much less: for example, The CW only provides fifteen hours of primetime programming each week (along with three hours on Saturdays), while MyNetworkTV only provides ten hours of primetime programming each week, leaving their affiliates to fill time periods where network programs are not broadcast with
9246-503: The digital subchannels of television stations (including networks focusing on classic television series and films operated by companies like Weigel Broadcasting (owners of Movies! and Me-TV ) and Nexstar Media Group (owners of Rewind TV and Antenna TV ), along with networks focusing on music, sports and other niche programming). Cable and satellite providers pay the networks a certain rate per subscriber (the highest charge being for ESPN , in which cable and satellite providers pay
9380-407: The distribution of television content , where a central operation provides programming to many television stations , pay television providers or, in the United States, multichannel video programming distributors . Until the mid-1980s, broadcast programming on television in most countries of the world was dominated by a small number of terrestrial networks . Many early television networks such as
9514-430: The end of a 1949 broadcast) joked, preened, pratfell, danced, costumed, and clowned his way to stardom, with Americans discovering television as a technological marvel and entertainment medium seeming to bring the country to a dead stop every Tuesday night, just to see what the madcap Berle might pull next. With Berle at the helm, Texaco Star Theater was largely credited with driving American television set sales heavily;
9648-407: The end of the tour. Burns normally partnered with a girl, sometimes in an adagio dance routine, sometimes in comic patter . Though he had an apparent flair for comedy, he never quite clicked with any of his partners until he met Gracie Allen , a young Irish Catholic woman, in 1923. "All of a sudden", he later said, "the audience realized I had a talent. They were right. I did have a talent—and I
9782-546: The federal regulator enacted the Prime Time Access Rule , which restricted the amount of time that the networks could air programs; officials hoped that the rules would foster the development of quality local programs, but in practice, most local stations did not want to bear the burden of producing many of their own programs, and instead chose to purchase programs from independent producers. Sales of television programs to individual local stations are done through
9916-441: The few entertainers whose career successfully spanned vaudeville , radio, film and television. His arched eyebrow and cigar-smoke punctuation became familiar trademarks for over three-quarters of a century. He and his wife Gracie Allen appeared on radio, television and film as the comedy duo Burns and Allen . At age 79, Burns experienced a sudden career revival as an amiable, beloved, and unusually active comedy elder statesman in
10050-559: The film as well as the club tour, a move that turned out to be one of the biggest breaks of his career; his wise performance as faded vaudevillian Al Lewis won him the 1975 Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor and permanently secured his career resurgence. At 80, Burns was the oldest Oscar winner in the history of the Academy Awards , a record that stood until Jessica Tandy won an Oscar for Driving Miss Daisy in 1989. In 1977, Burns made another hit film, Oh, God! , playing
10184-614: The first L-carrier coaxial cable between New York City and Philadelphia , with automatic signal booster stations every 10 miles (16 km), and in 1937 it experimented with transmitting televised motion pictures over the line. Bell Labs gave demonstrations of the New York–Philadelphia television link in 1940 and 1941. AT&T used the coaxial link to transmit the Republican National Convention in June 1940 from Philadelphia to New York City, where it
10318-604: The first SAG Lifetime Achievement Award by the Screen Actors Guild . When he was 96, he had signed a lifetime contract with Caesars Palace in Las Vegas to perform stand-up comedy there, which included the guarantee of a show on his centenary, January 20, 1996. But when that day came, he was too weak to give a performance. In December 1995, Burns was well enough to attend a Christmas party hosted by Frank Sinatra (who turned 80 that month), where he reportedly caught
10452-443: The first in a long-running and popular series of "Road" films. Burns and Allen first appeared on the radio as the comedy relief for bandleader Guy Lombardo . In his memoir The Third Time Around , Burns shared a letter from a college fraternity complaining that its weekly dance parties were interrupted by Burns and Allen routines. Burns and Allen found their own show and radio audience, first airing on February 15, 1932. Their show
10586-497: The flu, which weakened him further. He released a statement joking about how he would love for his 100th birthday to have "a night with Sharon Stone ." His last television appearance came in a commercial for the Australian Football League 's centenary season in 1996, which aired after his death. On 9 March 1996, 49 days after his centenary, Burns died in his Beverly Hills home of heart failure. His funeral
10720-606: The four major television networks originally only broadcast a few hours of programs a week to their affiliate stations, mostly between 8:00 and 11:00 p.m. Eastern Time , when most viewers were watching television. Most of the programs broadcast by the television stations were still locally produced. As the networks increased the number of programs that they aired, however, officials at the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) grew concerned that local television might disappear altogether. Eventually,
10854-573: The general public. Under the Broadcasting Act , a network is defined as "any operation where control over all or any part of the programs or program schedules of one or more broadcasting undertakings is delegated to another undertaking or person", and must be licensed by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC). Only three national over-the-air television networks are currently licensed by
10988-403: The height of his popularity. He began losing many of his former fans, who preferred when he kept things more unpredictable, and it would be years before his kind of manic balance would find a television home again. NOTE: The most frequent time slot for the series is in bold text . Note: Each U.S. network television season starts in late September and ends in late May, which coincides with
11122-490: The idea of networking television signals (sending one station's video and audio signal to outlying stations) was born. However, the signal from an electronic television system, containing much more information than a radio signal, required a broadband transmission medium. Transmission by a nationwide series of radio relay towers would be possible but extremely expensive. Researchers at AT&T subsidiary Bell Telephone Laboratories patented coaxial cable in 1929, primarily as
11256-540: The line from affability to effrontery. At its worst, the underlying tone of the Berle programs can appear to be one of contempt should the audience not respond approvingly. In some cases, this led to a surprising degree of self-consciousness about TV itself—Texaco's original commercial spokesman, Sid Stone, would sometimes hawk his products until driven from the stage by a cop. But the uneven balance of excess and decorum proved wildly successful." Based on episodes that appear on
11390-443: The majority of the locally produced shows broadcast by TVNZ and imported shows. TVNZ's second network, TV2 , airs mostly imported shows with some locally produced programs such as Shortland Street . TVNZ also operates a network exclusive to pay television services, TVNZ Heartland , available on providers such as Sky . TVNZ previously operated a non-commercial public service network, TVNZ 7 , which ceased operations in June 2012 and
11524-565: The manufacture of television and radio equipment for civilian use from 1 April 1942 to 1 October 1945, temporarily shutting down expansion of television networking. However, in 1944 a short film, " Patrolling the Ether ", was broadcast simultaneously over three stations as an experiment. AT&T made its first postwar addition in February 1946, with the completion of a 225-mile (362 km) cable between New York City and Washington, D.C., although
11658-694: The name ( George H. Burns and George J. Burns , unrelated), each of whom accumulated more than 2,000 hits and held some major-league records. Burns also was reported to have taken "George" from his brother Izzy (who had first adopted the name because he hated his own) and "Burns" from the Burns Brothers Coal Company, from whose trucks he stole coal as a youth. His first wife was Hannah Siegel (stage name Hermosa Jose), one of his dance partners. The marriage lasted 26 weeks and occurred only because Siegel's family would not permit her to tour with Burns unless they were married. They divorced at
11792-565: The nearly 69-year-old Burns watching his younger neighbor's activities with amusement, just as he had watched the Burns and Allen television show while it was unfolding to get a jump on what Gracie was up to in its final two seasons. Also as in the Burns and Allen television show, George frequently broke the fourth wall by talking directly to viewers. The series only lasted a year. In a promotion, Burns had joked that "Connie Stevens plays Wendy, and I play 'me'." After Gracie died in 1964, Burns immersed himself in work. McCadden Productions co-produced
11926-577: The network for their own programming, a method known as regional variation . This is common where small networks are members of larger networks. The majority of commercial television stations are self-owned, even though a variety of these instances are the property of an owned-and-operated television network. The commercial television stations can also be linked with a noncommercial educational broadcasting agency. Some countries have launched national television networks, so that individual television stations can act as common repeaters of nationwide programs. On
12060-530: The network through a franchising contract, except in a few major cities that had owned-and-operated stations (O&O) of a network and independent stations. In the early days of television, when there were often only one or two stations broadcasting in a given market, the stations were usually affiliated with multiple networks and were able to choose which programs would air. Eventually, as more stations were licensed, it became common for each station to be exclusively affiliated with only one network and carry all of
12194-490: The network's preferred position. As to individual stations, modern network operations centers usually use broadcast automation to handle most tasks. These systems are not only used for programming and for video server playout , but use exact atomic time from Global Positioning Systems or other sources to maintain perfect synchronization with upstream and downstream systems, so that programming appears seamless to viewers. A major international television broadcaster
12328-458: The networks. As radio prospered throughout the 1920s and 1930s, experimental television stations, which broadcast both an audio and a video signal, began sporadic broadcasts. Licenses for these experimental stations were often granted to experienced radio broadcasters, and thus advances in television technology closely followed breakthroughs in radio technology. As interest in television grew, and as early television stations began regular broadcasts,
12462-582: The next. Citytv originally began operating as a television system in 2002 when CKVU-TV in Vancouver started to carry programs originating from CITY-TV in Toronto and adopted that station's "Citytv" branding, but gradually became a network by virtue of national coverage through expansions into other markets west of Atlantic Canada between 2005 and 2013. Most local television stations in Canada are now owned and operated directly by their network, with only
12596-402: The northern end of Hamel Road "George Burns Road." City regulations prohibited naming a city street after a living person, but an exception was made for Burns. In celebration of Burns's 99th birthday in 1995, Los Angeles renamed the eastern end of Alden Drive "Gracie Allen Drive." Burns was present at the unveiling ceremony (one of his last public appearances), and quipped: "It's good to be here at
12730-718: The number of TV sets sold during Berle's run on the show was said to have grown from 500,000, his first year on the tube, to over 30 million when the show ended in 1956. Texaco Star Theater was also the highest rated television show of the 1950–1951 television season, the first season in which the Nielsen ratings were used. Uncle Miltie was far from alone in keeping the show alive and kicking. His support players included Fatso Marco (1948–1952), Ruth Gilbert as "Maxine", Milton's love-starved secretary (1952–1955), Bobby Sherwood (1952–1953), Arnold Stang (1953–1955), Jack Collins (1953–1955), and Milton Frome (1953–1955). The show's music
12864-400: The omnipotent title role opposite singer John Denver as an earnest but befuddled supermarket manager, whom God picks at random to revive his message. The image of Burns in a sailor's cap and light springtime jacket as the droll Almighty influenced his subsequent comedic work, as well as that of other comedians. At a celebrity roast in his honor, Dean Martin adapted a Burns crack: "When George
12998-522: The operation of broadcaster UKTV in the UK itself. Experimental television broadcasts were started in 1929, using an electromechanical 30-line system developed by John Logie Baird . Limited regular broadcasts using this system began in 1934 and an expanded service (now known as BBC Television ) started from Alexandra Palace in November 1936. Television in the United States had long been dominated by
13132-410: The other hand, television networks also undergo the impending experience of major changes related to cultural varieties. The emergence of cable television has made available in major media markets, programs such as those aimed at American bi-cultural Latinos. Such a diverse captive audience presents an occasion for the networks and affiliates to advertise the best programming that needs to be aired. This
13266-502: The public and the broadcasters themselves will often refer to them as "networks" regardless. Some of these systems, such as CTV 2 and the now-defunct E! , essentially operate as mini-networks, but have reduced geographical coverage. Others, such as Omni Television or the Crossroads Television System , have similar branding and a common programming focus, but schedules may vary significantly from one station to
13400-643: The same name . In 1979, at 83, Burns starred in two feature films, Just You and Me, Kid and Going in Style . He remained active in films and TV past his 90th birthday. One of his last films was 1988's 18 Again! , based on his half-novelty, half-country music-based hit single, "I Wish I Was 18 Again". In this film, Burns played an 81-year-old self-made millionaire industrialist who switched bodies with his awkward, artistic, 18-year-old grandson (played by Charlie Schlatter ). Burns also did regular nightclub stand-up acts in his later years, usually portraying himself as
13534-899: The same programming across the entire country with the only regional deviations being for local advertising; a regional news service existed in the 1980s, carrying a regional news programme from TVNZ's studios in New Zealand's four largest cities, Auckland, Wellington , Christchurch and Dunedin . In the 1960s, the service operated at the time by the New Zealand Broadcasting Corporation was four separate television stations – AKTV2 in Auckland, WNTV1 in Wellington, CHTV3 in Christchurch and DNTV2 in Dunedin – which each ran their own newscast and produced some in-house programmes, with other shows being shared between
13668-562: The sense defined above, as they are singular operations – they have no affiliates or component stations, but instead are distributed to the public via cable or direct-broadcast satellite providers. Such networks are commonly referred to by terms such as " specialty channels " in Canada or " cable networks " in the U.S. A network may or may not produce all of its own programming. If not, production companies (such as Warner Bros. Television , Universal Television , Sony Pictures Television and TriStar Television ) can distribute their content to
13802-410: The show (for new sponsor Colgate-Palmolive on NBC ), but without Allen to provide the classic Gracie-isms, the show expired after a year. Burns subsequently created Wendy and Me , a sitcom in which he co-starred with Connie Stevens , Ron Harper , and J. Pat O'Malley . He acted primarily as the narrator, and secondarily as the adviser to Stevens's Gracie-like character. The first episode involved
13936-640: The show as naïve, friendly and shy with women. The new format's success made it one of the few classic radio comedies to completely reinvent itself and regain great success. The supporting cast during this phase included Mel Blanc as the melancholy, ironically named "Happy Postman" (his catchphrase was "Remember, keep smiling!"); Bea Benaderet (later Cousin Pearl in The Beverly Hillbillies , Kate Bradley in Petticoat Junction and
14070-409: The show at the beginning of the 1955–1956 season (opting to sponsor Jackie Gleason 's half-hour filmed edition of The Honeymooners ), after ratings fell dramatically during the 1954–1955 as well (the higher ratings of his 1955–56 competition, The Phil Silvers Show on CBS, did not help Berle either); though Berle would remain one of the nation's beloved entertainers, overall, the show that made him
14204-498: The show re-titled Texaco Star Theater with Fred Allen and the program airing on October 2, 1940. Allen's previous sponsor, Bristol-Myers ' Ipana toothpaste and Sal Hepatica laxative, decided to cease their tandem sponsorship of Allen's successful hour, first known as Town Hall Tonight and then, for its final season, The Fred Allen Show . He presided over Texaco Star Theater from 1940 to 1942 as an hour-long show on Wednesday and then Sunday nights, and from 1942 to 1944 as
14338-440: The show's announcer for most of its life with Allen as the feature (he succeeded George Burns and Gracie Allen sidekick Harry Von Zell ), though for a brief spell during its third season the announcer was budding radio personality and future television legend Arthur Godfrey . Kenny Baker also remained for the first two seasons, his previous role with Allen's "rival" Jack Benny serving for a number of situations, although his role
14472-519: The sign-on of DuMont's WDTV in Pittsburgh, the Midwest and East Coast networks were finally connected by coaxial cable (with WDTV airing the best shows from all four networks). By 1951, the four networks stretched from coast to coast, carried on the new microwave radio relay network of AT&T Long Lines . Only a few local television stations remained independent of the networks. Each of
14606-463: The spring of 1948. When Texaco (now Chevron Corporation ) first took it to television on NBC on June 8, 1948, the show had a huge cultural impact. Once Texaco ended its sponsorship in 1953, the show became known as The Milton Berle Show for its final few seasons. The roots of Texaco Star Theater were in a 1930s radio hit, Ed Wynn , the Fire Chief , featuring the manic "Perfect Fool" in
14740-624: The stations. Programmes and news footage were distributed via mail, with a programme airing in one region being mailed to another region for broadcast the following week. A network was finally established in 1969, with the same programmes being relayed to all regions simultaneously. From the 1970s to the 1990s, locally produced programmes that aired on TV One and TV2 were produced out of one of the four main studios, with TVNZ's network hub based in Wellington. Today, most locally produced programmes that are aired by both TVNZ and other networks are not actually produced in-house, instead they are often produced by
14874-484: The television series No Time for Sergeants , based on the hit Broadway play; Burns also produced Juliet Prowse 's 1965–66 NBC situation comedy, Mona McCluskey . At the same time, he toured the U.S. playing nightclub and theater engagements with such diverse partners as Carol Channing , Dorothy Provine , Jane Russell , Connie Haines , and Berle Davis. He also performed a series of solo concerts, playing university campuses, New York's Philharmonic Hall and winding up
15008-526: The title Texaco Star Theater was retired temporarily, in favor of Texaco Time , after Allen scaled the show back to a half-hour, the show retained the Texaco Star Theater title officially, the confusion likely stemming from the announcers' first words of introduction: "It's Texaco time starring Fred Allen." They customarily continued the introduction, as the opening music continued, by referring to Texaco Star Theater . Jimmy Wallington became
15142-545: The two main private English-language over-the-air services, CTV and Global , are also generally considered to be "networks" by virtue of their national coverage, although they are not officially licensed as such. CTV was previously a licensed network, but relinquished this license in 2001 after acquiring most of its affiliates, making operating a network license essentially redundant (per the above definition). Smaller groups of stations with common branding are often categorized by industry watchers as television systems , although
15276-471: The various networks, and it is common that a certain production firm may have programs that air on two or more rival networks. Similarly, some networks may import television programs from other countries, or use archived programming to help complement their schedules. Some stations have the capability to interrupt the network through the local insertion of television commercials, station identifications and emergency alerts . Others completely break away from
15410-569: The voice of Betty Rubble in The Flintstones ) and Hal March (later the host of The $ 64,000 Question ) as neighbors Blanche and Harry Morton; and the various members of Gracie's ladies' club, the Beverly Hills Uplift Society. One running gag during this period, stretching into the television era, was Burns's questionable singing voice; Gracie lovingly called him "Sugar Throat". The show received and maintained
15544-477: The years went on, as more television performers and creators found their on-camera legs, and brought new or at least more polished ideas to the air, Berle tried refining his camera persona and evolving from the freewheeling, manic style he cultivated so successfully in the Texaco years. The net result: the balance between excess and decorum now weighted more toward decorum, which wasn't exactly what Berle represented at
15678-490: Was Burns's last film for nearly 40 years, though Allen starred in two more pictures without him. In 1938, Paramount producer and managing director William LeBaron was planning a vehicle for Burns and Allen to team with established star Bing Crosby, with a script written by Don Hartman and Frank Butler . But the story didn't fit Burns and Allen's style, so LeBaron ordered rewrites to fit two male co-stars: Crosby and Bob Hope . The project became Road to Singapore (1940),
15812-508: Was a member of the First Roumanian-American Congregation . His father was a substitute cantor at the local synagogue but usually worked as a coat presser. During the influenza epidemic of 1903, Lippe Birnbaum contracted the flu and died at the age of 47. Burns, called Nattie or Nate at the time, went to work to help support the family, shining shoes, running errands and selling newspapers. When he got
15946-483: Was based on their classic stage routines and sketch comedy in which their style was woven into multiple smaller scenes, in a manner similar to that of the short films that they had made in Hollywood. They were also known for clever publicity stunts, such as Gracie's hunt for her missing brother that carried over into guest spots on other radio shows. In April 1935 they added Ferde Grofé as musical director. The couple
16080-1486: Was founded in 1965. It grew to become the largest and most successful media conglomerate in the country, having a dominating presence in various forms of media including television, radio, print (newspapers and magazines) and the Internet. Other networks include Rede Bandeirantes , RecordTV , SBT , RedeTV! , TV Cultura , and TV Brasil . Australia has two national public networks, ABC Television and SBS . The ABC operates eight stations as part of its main network ABC TV , one for each state and territory, as well as three digital-only networks, ABC Kids / ABC TV Plus , ABC Me and ABC News . SBS currently operates six stations, SBS , SBS Viceland , SBS World Movies , SBS Food , NITV and SBS WorldWatch . The first commercial networks in Australia involved commercial stations that shared programming in Sydney , Melbourne , Brisbane , Adelaide and later Perth , with each network forming networks based on their allocated channel numbers: TCN-9 in Sydney, GTV-9 in Melbourne, QTQ-9 in Brisbane, NWS-9 in Adelaide and STW-9 in Perth together formed
16214-666: Was greatly reduced by 1942, partly because Baker had become difficult to manage, particularly after a controversial performance of "Ave Maria" sung in German weeks after the United States officially entered World War II. Allen was forced to leave the show in 1944 due to hypertension ; he returned with a different sponsor on NBC , while staying with and further refining his half-hour format a year later. Texaco Star Theater' s next hosts included James Melton (1944–1947), Tony Martin (1947–1948), Gordon MacRae (1948), Jack Carter (1948), and Milton Berle (1948–1949). In 1945 Annamary Dickey
16348-609: Was growing up, the Top 10 were the Ten Commandments ". Burns appeared in this character along with Vanessa Williams on the September 1984 cover of Penthouse magazine, the issue that contained Williams's notorious nude photos, as well as the first appearance of underage pornographic film star Traci Lords . A blurb on the cover announced "Oh God, she's nude!" Oh, God! inspired two sequels, Oh, God! Book II (in which
16482-886: Was held three days later at the Wee Kirk o' the Heather church in Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery , Glendale. As much as he looked forward to reaching age 100, Burns also said, about a year before he died, that he also looked forward to death, saying that on the day he would die, he would be with Gracie again in Heaven . Upon being interred with Gracie, the crypt's marker was changed from, "Grace Allen Burns—Beloved Wife And Mother (1902–1964)" to "Gracie Allen (1895–1964) & George Burns (1896–1996)—Together Again". George had always said that he wanted Gracie to have top billing. George Burns has three stars on
16616-676: Was married to her for 38 years." Burns wed Allen in 1926. Burns and Allen began their career in motion pictures with a series of comic short films in the late 1920s and early 1930s, such as The Big Broadcast (1932) with Bing Crosby , International House (1933) and Six of a Kind (1934) with W.C. Fields , The Big Broadcast of 1936 with Crosby again, The Big Broadcast of 1937 with Jack Benny , A Damsel in Distress (1937) with Fred Astaire and Joan Fontaine , and College Swing (1938) with Bob Hope and Martha Raye . Honolulu (1939) with Eleanor Powell and Robert Young
16750-436: Was named the permanent host that fall. He was a smash once the new full season began, Texaco Star Theater hitting ratings as high as 80 and owning Tuesday night for NBC from 8 to 9 p.m. ET . And, as the show landed a pair of Emmy Awards in that first year (the show itself, for Best Kinescope Show; and, Berle as Most Outstanding Kinescoped Personality), Uncle Miltie (he first called himself by that name ad-libbing at
16884-431: Was operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation ( BBC ). On 2 November 1936 the BBC opened the world's first regular high-definition television service, from a 405 lines transmitter at Alexandra Palace. The BBC remained dominant until eventually on 22 September 1955, commercial broadcasting was established to create a second television network. Rather than creating a single network with local channels owned and operated by
17018-577: Was portrayed at first as unmarried, with Allen the object of Burns's affections as well as those of other cast members. Bandleaders Ray Noble (known for his phrase "Gracie, this is the first time we've ever been alone") and Artie Shaw played Gracie's love interests. Singer Tony Martin also played Gracie's unwilling love interest, whom she comically threatened to fire if he did not reciprocate her romantic interest. With ratings declining and their audience familiar with their real-life marriage, Burns and Allen adapted their radio show in 1941 to present them as
17152-604: Was provided by Alan Roth (1948–1955) and Victor Young (1955–1956). As phenomenally popular as Texaco Star Theater was, it was hardly an undisturbed appeal. "Berle presented himself as one part buffoon and one part consummate, professional entertainer—a kind of veteran of the Borscht Belt trenches," the Museum of Broadcast Communications would observe decades after the show left the air. "Yet even within his shows' sanctioned exhibitionism , some of Berle's behavior could cross
17286-426: Was replaced by Ken Murray . During the almost two-year span, Una Merkel , Irene Noblette, Charlie Ruggles , and Ned Sparks appeared as comedians. Kenny Baker , Jane Froman , and Frances Langford sang, with David Broekman leading the orchestra. Jimmy Wallington was the announcer. The show began as a variety show with dramatizations and songs by guest stars. In 1940, the show became a star vehicle for Allen, with
17420-441: Was replaced by the timeshift channel TV One Plus 1. The network operated by Television New Zealand has progressed from operating as four distinct local stations within the four main centers in the 1960s, to having the majority of the content produced from TVNZ's Auckland studios at present. New Zealand also has several privately owned television networks with the largest being operated by MediaWorks . MediaWorks' flagship network
17554-448: Was signed to a three-year contract co-hosting the radio program with James Melton through 1947. On television, continuing a practice long established in radio, Texaco included its brand name in the show title. When the television version launched on June 8, 1948, Texaco also made sure its employees were featured prominently throughout the hour, usually appearing as smiling " guardian angels " performing good deeds of one or another kind, and
17688-719: Was televised to a few hundred receivers over the NBC station W2XBS (which evolved into WNBC ) as well as seen in Schenectady, New York via W2XB (which evolved into WRGB ) via off-air relay from the New York station. NBC had earlier demonstrated an inter-city television broadcast on 1 February 1940, from its station in New York City to another in Schenectady , New York by General Electric relay antennas, and began transmitting some programs on an irregular basis to Philadelphia and Schenectady in 1941. Wartime priorities suspended
17822-491: Was variety shows becoming costlier to produce, compared to the Texaco days when, among other factors, name guest stars did not mind the low appearance fees they got for appearing, because they could bank the exposure they got from even one appearance on the Berle show; or with Fred Allen and Ed Wynn in its earlier radio incarnations. But part of the problem was Berle himself: with competition ( Jack Benny , George Burns , Bob Hope , Perry Como , etc.) crowding him more and more as
17956-477: Was when Benny died. He was chosen to give one of the eulogies at the funeral and said, "Jack was someone special to all of you, but he was so special to me ... I cannot imagine my life without Jack Benny, and I will miss him so very much." Burns then broke down and had to be helped to his seat. People who knew Burns said he never really came to terms with Benny's death. Six weeks before filming started, Burns had triple bypass surgery. Burns replaced Benny in
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