Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1948-08-15

Any one who has sent aloft over
his rooftop the futuristic, megacycle-
trapping mark of video can tell you
tales about the new arts most fas-
cinated audience. The small fry are
television's stanchest supporters.
There may come a day, when tele-
vision is as widespread as that old
fashioned radio which serves only
the ear, when those now young will
refuse to believe they ever were ex-
cited over such an ordinary adjunct
of life, but their enthusiasm is there
now, all right.
One of those who discovered he
had brought strange new form of
life into his living room with the
television receiver is Earl Hilburn, a
young man loaded to the ears with
technical information, who is The
Evening Star Broadcasting Co.'S as
sistant chief engineer All the chill
dren in his block, Mr.. Hilburn was
saying the other day, know the
scheduled hours for television shows
for the young and troop into the
Hilburn living room to watch them.
This has become, finally, an ac-
cepted part of life in the Hilburn
household and nothing about the
audience ever startled Mrs. Hilburn
very much until one recent after
noon. On this afternoon the neigh
borhood showed up as usual, in
Guiding one tot who was not to be
fooled by any problems of his own
living schedule at home. He was
bearing a plate of food and fork
He was indignant, too, when told
he'd have to stay on the porch until
he finished dinner.
X
There was time, not long ago in
the memories of many, when radio
was in much the same position that
television is in today. The first
radio in the block was the center of
neighborhood attention. 1t burned
away the life of its primitive tubes
and cracked its primitive loud
speaker while surrounded by an
audience filled with admiration and
awe.
Television probably will not re-
main in the scientific class for long.
It has burst suddenly upon us fol-
lowing the war (Which, by squirting
electronic research, was largely re-
sponsible for video's quick arrival at
its present state) and its progress
should be swifter than AM radios
was. You may as well face the fact
that television is here to stay and,
before know it, will be the COM
monplace. 1t moves along every
day.
The major development of the
week, so far as local television view
ers are concerned. was the alloca-
ton of new coaxial cables for the
section OF the Eastern video network
between New York and Washington.
There now are three southbound
cables in operation instead of the
former one, with one cable set aside
rorthbound for Washington orig
nations.
What this means to your home
viewing is a wider variety of pro-
grams available. The local video
stations now may compete for your
attention at any hour of the eve
ming with network programs. 1t
was generally agreed, incidentally,
that one northbound link was plenty
now and for what is laughingly
called the foreseeable future, since
virtually all local ORDINATIONS are
pool" broadcasts of Government
activities.
The ALLEGATION of these additional
coaxial cables to television by the
American Telephone g. Telegraph
Co. caught some local video people
off guard, since they weren't ex-
pecting the boon for another month
at least. In consequence. some of
the programming still is in a state
of fux, but all schedules are due for
expansion.
Telecasting at WMAL-TV, for ex-
ample, is expanding from just over
% hours a week to approximately
50, with the new cable setup and
the opening of WITTY in New
York. Programs being added to
the schedule include Candid Micro
phone" "ABC Varieties and The
Southernaires" on Sundays, "Quizz-
ing the News"ton Mondays, Press
Agents Delight" on Tuesdays,
Critic at Large" and Gay Nine
ties Review" on Wednesdays and
Johnny Thompson's Club Seven"
on Thursdays.
At WNBW it was not certain what