Bowl tilt 'clear' over area television sets
By: Bill Allen
Wednesday, January 02, 1952
Television reception in Champaign-Urbana was at its best Tuesday, according to hundreds who saw Illinois topple Stanford in the New Year's day Rose Bowl classic in Pasadena, Calif.
Most of the TV set owners agreed that the picture came clearly with a minimum of fading and "snow" throughout the late afternoon. Most of the better reception came from Indianapolis but some of the TV sets picked up Chicago and St. Louis for good results.
In most cases, comments sounded like a TV commercial and very few TV owners reported no success in picking up the television of the Fighting Illini victory.
The Mark Dillavous, 917 W. Daniel St., held open house during the game and entertained 42 people who saw the parade and the game. Others who reported good reception were P.J. Melahn, Jr., Earl Harrington, Warner Bandy, Walker M. Bongart, W.C. Dallenbach, Jr., and Lowell Colclasure. Colclasure said the reception was "fair to good" and that the picture faded occasionally but that he and his guests got to see most of the game.
Set estimate
Local dealers estimate that there are about 200 sets in Champaign-Urbana, and with all of them in operation Tuesday, the local viewing audience was estimated at well over 3000.
In addition, 90 persons boarded buses early Tuesday morning to go to Chicago to see the game by television and eat a smorgasbord supper in a west side restaurant. At $13.30 per couple for transportation and supper, the tour required two buses. Television sets were taken to Chicago from Champaign.
Private groups paid as high as $30 for suites in Chicago hotels in order to see the Rose Bowl game. And estimated 500 made the trip to Chicago, with still more going to Paxton, Danville, Kankakee, and other nearby cities to see the game.
Chicagoans who were guests in Champaign homes Tuesday said the television reception here was every bit as good as it is in Chicago. One TV dealer called the reception a "lucky accident." Although he sells sets, he says that TV reception in Champaign-Urbana is always at the mercy of good TV weather and that local owners cannot expect to get a good picture all the time because Champaign-Urbana is out of the normal range of Chicago, St. Louis and Indianapolis stations.
Thousands listen
Added to the large television audience, thousands of local residents listened to the game on radio.
Television owners proved to be the most popular hosts in town for the day. In a spot telephone survey conducted late Tuesday and Wednesday by The News-Gazette, all the television sets in town were well-watched, with audiences in some homes running as high as 60.
The technical end of the televising received praise from local viewers who commented on the close-up shots of the parade, and much of the gridiron action.
The performance of the 175 Marching Illini was spectacular, according to the local TV audience. Biggest thrill in the Rose Bowl, as it is in any stadium, came when the mammot gridiron audience became hushed as the Illini musicians played the "Hail to the Orange."
"The only thing we need now is color," one TV owner said Tuesday afternoon. he was able to get the parade from St. Louis, but found game reception best from Indianapolis.
J.G. Lehmer, 804 W. Daniel St., said atmospheric conditions could not have been better for TV reception. About 15 persons in his home saw the game and the related Tournament of Roses in Pasadena./p>
"It was as clear as any program we have ever had," Lehmer said. "We saw Chief Illiniwek. And we even recognized Jane Elliot (Coach Ray Eliot's daughter) on one of the parade floats. We followed the game as well as if we had been in the stadium."
Via Indianapolis
Mr. and Mrs. Robert Abbott, 1506 N. Prospect, also watched the game and the parade on their set. "It was very good," Abbott reported. "For the most part we used the Indianapolis station. It was better than either Chicago or St. Louis."
However, the Indianapolis station did not carry the parade, he said, only the game. "We got the parade out of Chicago." He added that all TV viewers "appreciated the hams staying off the air."
(The hams operate on the same frequency as the TV bands, and the operation of a ham station may ruin TV reception. Following a plea by The News-Gazette, several hams agreed to stay off the air during the game.)
Mrs. George M. Spencer, 805 S. Elm ST., reported fine reception. She and her husband also used the Indianapolis station (WFBM). There was some interference just before half-time, she said, but other than that it was excellent.
Mrs. Kenneth A. Bolish, 1608 W. Springfield St., said their reception "was not so good." She said reception was clear at times, then it would fade away.
Warmer weather with a high relative humidity and low clouds seems to be best for TV reception. This generally was the atmospheric conditions existing Tuesday during the game, which probably accounts for the unusually good reception reported by TV owners.