HISTORY'S Moment in Media: The Apollo 11 Moonshot

In the leadup to the landing a CBS executive promised to Variety that his network39s coverage would be quotthe world39s greatest single broadcastquot And writing in advance of the broadcast for a commemorative issue of TV Guide CBS News anchor Walter Cronkite predicted that his coverage would be quotthe most expensive and extensive television coverage in historyquotThey were both proved rightIn the United States all three networks and there were only three networks then devoted continuous live coverage to the mission the landing and the astronauts39 safe return Some 94 percent of US televisions in use during that period were tuned in to the landing Worldwide more than 600 million people in every country except the Soviet Union and China watched the moon landing live It would remain the most watched television event until 1981 when Prince Charles married Diana SpencerAs much as the Apollo program that brought humans to the moon was a remarkable feat of engineering television39s ability to show the world live pictures of that first moonwalk was a remarkable feat of technology The three American networks spent 13 million to cover the mission or about 103 million in today39s dollars And that39s not including the money NASA spent to make sure its space triumph was also a television triumphThe landing module was equipped with a specially made Westinghouse TV camera that was covered in a protective blanket The signal was beamed to Houston and then instantaneously disseminated via satellites microwaves and cables to TV stations around the world Viewers at home watched Armstrong and Aldrin make those small steps in near realtime with only a 125 second delayThat was groundbreaking Until that time most remote television segments were shot on film which would then have to be processed and shipped to the studio to be broadcast several days later The moon landing was the most significant early use of satellite technology to transmit a live event The first live transatlantic broadcast had occurred in 1962 and in 1967 a satellite broadcast allowed 300 people around the world to watch live as the Beatles performed quotAll You Need Is Lovequot at Abbey Road StudiosNASA had long been invested in turning astronauts into nearmythic figures The networks were only too happy to join in the excitement CBS engaged former astronaut Wally Schirra to join Cronkite in the studio where the legendary anchor was onair for 27 of the 30 hours of coverage NBC built a fullscale replica of the lunar module to explain how Armstrong and Aldrin would handle the operation And at ABC scifi novelist Isaac Asimov chatted with Twilight Zone creator Rod Serling and Duke Ellington performed an original composition quotMoon Maidenquot The BBC was cheekier playing David Bowie39s quotSpace Oddityquot over footage from the moonBut it wasn39t just the accomplishments that made the lunar landing such a compelling TV event It was also the story President John F Kennedy39s famous 1961 vow to land a man on the moon and return him safely to earth the buildup of earlier Apollo missions each testing equipment and processes in advance of the Apollo 11 success even the knowledge that the triumph the world was watching on live TV could very easily turn to tragedy quotIn television termsquot a critic for The Los Angeles Times wrote on the 50th anniversary quotit was both episodic and longarcquotAnd at the center of it was a humbling human accomplishment quotMan on the moon aw geequot was all Cronkite could say as Armstrong took those first steps quotWhew boyquotClick the social buttons to share this content with your friends and colleaguesThe opinions and points of view expressed in this content are exclusively the views of the author andor subjects and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated writers

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HISTORY'S Moment in Media: The Apollo 11 Moonshot

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HISTORY'S Moment in Media: The Apollo 11 Moonshot

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