Evening star., 1953-01-21
Inauguration Believed Viewed
BY 20 Million on TV Screens
By Harry Macarthur

by nary MocArfnur
More than 10 million persons
watched yesterdays inaugura-
ton, ceremonies.
That. at any rate, is the esti-
mate of the audience made by
many of those in charge Of the
first Nationwide telecast of a
Presidential Inauguration.
The telecaSts went to a record
118 stations in "a cities-the
largest network TV hookup yet.
The telecast of President Tru-
mans Inauguration four years
ago went only to a 17-city metz
work extending from the East
Coast to st. Louis.
The pictorial coverage Of the
oath-taking, President Eisen-
hower's inaugural address and
the long parade that followed
was carried yesterday by sta
tions of the ABC-TV, CBS-TV,
DuMont and NBC-TV networks.
It was available to about 10 per
cent of the Nations population.
It could have been seen on some
81 million sets.
Living History for Children.
The millions of viewers in
cluded school children from
coast to coast. Hundreds of
schools set up television sets for
pupils to watch. Others re-
leased students to watch the hv-
ing history lesson at home.
Some State Legislatures re-
cessed so their members could
see the new President sworn in.
Many business houses. accord
ing to an Associated Press check,
suffered slack business owing to
the competition of the inaugural
telecaSt. Restaurants with TV
sets had full houses, those with
out had slow business.
During the ceremonies at the
Capitol, trading on the New
York Stock Exchange dropped to
little more than half the volume
of the previous hour. At the
same time, the exchanges lunch
con club, which has a television
set. was jammed.
WMAL Stays to Finish.
One station in the country
The Evening Stars WMAL-TV
stayed with the parade long
after darkness fell. 1t did not
shut down it's cameras in Lafa-
yette Square until the last pa
rade unit had passed the re-
viewing stand and the President,
Vice President Nixon and their
wives had turned to go into the
White House.
To facilitate the after-dark
telecast, emergency lighting was
set up with equipment from a
mobile unit and an assist from
the metropolitan Police Depart
ment. The Bethesda Chevy
Chase Rescue Squad was stand
ing by with additional lights
when the parade ended just be-
fore z pm.
The master controls of ABC's
television and audio networks
were set up on two floors of The
Star Building. About so techni-
clans and announcers took part
in the operation which was di-
rected by Thomas c. Velotta, vice
president of the network in
charge of news and public events.
He was assisted by John Madi-
gan. director of news. The net
work had worked since last Mon
day installing the equipment.
An improyised studio provided
the setting for the commentary
by John Daily.
One network - NBC-TV -
scored news beat on the other
three by starting it's telecast at
IL am. Those tuned to Channel
4 here and to other NBC sta
tions throughout the country saw
the new President arrive at the
White House and saw the EiSen-
hoWers exchange warm greetings
with the Truman family.
The other networks-ABC-TV,
DuMont and CBS-TV-came on
at 1880, just as the new and old
Presidents left the White House
for the ride down Pennsylvania
avenue to the Capitol.
TV Cameras Missed Little.
Those viewing the days activi-
ties in living room, restaurant
-and-grill or electrical appli-
ance store saw much more than
did those at the Capital plaza or
along the parade route. The fes-
tive feel of joining a crowd and
watching parade was lacking,
and the colors of uniforms and
floats were reduced to shades of
gray. But television didn't miss
much else.
This was not a pooled telecast,
as was the TV industry's cover
age of President Truman's in
auguration. Each network had
it's own cameras, crews and COM
mentators spotted at vantage
points. There were cameras high
on the Capitol to look down on
the crowd, cameras facing the
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