ABSTRACT
One of the primary reasons for the transition of radio not only to recordings, but to specialized ‘‘formats,’’ was not its programming per se, but rather the concomitant development of a new broadcasting medium: television. The dominant interests in radio broadcasting-the national broadcast networks-were keenly developing television throughout the 1930s and 1940s. Though publicized and legally designated as ‘‘experimentation,’’ the television broadcasts of this period were not only exercises in electrical engineering; they were also attempts to gauge the public efficacy of various forms of programming, including extant motion picture film. Although commercial broadcasting would not commence until 1945, the networks focused public attention on an imminent system of live transmission while more covertly exploring the business of television film distribution.
