The ''DuMont Evening News'' was an American
news program
News broadcasting is the medium of broadcasting various news events and other information via television, radio, or the internet in the field of broadcast journalism. The content is usually either video production, produced local programming, ...
which aired Monday through Friday at 7:15pm ET on the
DuMont Television Network
The DuMont Television Network (also known as the DuMont Network, DuMont Television, simply DuMont/Du Mont, or (incorrectly) Dumont ) was one of America's pioneer commercial television networks, rivaling NBC and CBS for the distinction of being ...
during the 1954–1955 season. Presented by
Morgan Beatty Morgan may refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Morgan (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters
* Morgan le Fay, a powerful witch in Arthurian legend
* Morgan (surname), a surname of Welsh origin
* Morgan (singer), ...
, the 15-minute show was the network's third and final attempt at a nightly news broadcast.
History
The network's previous attempts at successful news broadcasts were ''
The Walter Compton News
''The Walter Compton News'' is an American television news series that aired from 1947 to 1948 on the DuMont Television Network Monday through Friday from 6:45 pm to 7 pm ET.
Broadcast history
''The Walter Compton News'' premiered on DuMont statio ...
'' (June 1947 to 1948, moving from
WTTG
WTTG (channel 5) is a television station in Washington, D.C., airing programming from the Fox network. It is owned and operated by the network's Fox Television Stations division alongside MyNetworkTV outlet WDCA (channel 20). WTTG and WDCA share ...
in Washington DC to the network on August 25, 1947) and ''
I.N.S. Telenews
''I.N.S. Telenews'' was an American news program aired on the now defunct DuMont Television Network from 1948 to 1949.
Broadcast history
Each episode was 15 minutes long, made by International News Service, and aired weekly, each Tuesday at 7:45 p ...
'' / ''
Camera Headlines
''Camera Headlines'' was an early American television series that aired from January 1948 to 1949 on the DuMont Television Network.
Broadcast history
DuMont's previous national news program, ''The Walter Compton News'', had premiered on DuMont sta ...
'' (January 1948 to 1949).
The ''DuMont Evening News'' was shown from 7:15-7:30 PM ET, immediately following the popular ''
Captain Video
''Captain Video and His Video Rangers'' is an American science fiction television series that aired on the DuMont Television Network and was the first series of its genre on American television.
The series aired between June 27, 1949, and Apri ...
''. The show was one of the many axed due to the network's financial problems.
Beatty had been lured over from
NBC News
NBC News is the news division of the American broadcast television network NBC. The division operates under NBCUniversal Television and Streaming, a division of NBCUniversal, which is, in turn, a subsidiary of Comcast. The news division's var ...
. After DuMont's newscast folded, he returned to NBC. He is best known for being the first to broadcast a news bulletin announcing that the Russians had launched
Sputnik 1
Sputnik 1 (; see § Etymology) was the first artificial Earth satellite. It was launched into an elliptical low Earth orbit by the Soviet Union on 4 October 1957 as part of the Soviet space program. It sent a radio signal back to Earth for t ...
on October 4, 1957, over the
NBC Radio Network
The NBC, National Broadcasting Company's NBC Radio Network (known as the NBC Red Network prior to 1942) was an American commercial radio network which was in operation from 1926 through 2004. Along with the Blue Network, NBC Blue Network it was ...
.
Episode status
As with most DuMont programs, no episodes are known to exist. Kinescopes were not available until the fall of 1947, and were used sparingly in its early years.
See also
* ''
The Walter Compton News
''The Walter Compton News'' is an American television news series that aired from 1947 to 1948 on the DuMont Television Network Monday through Friday from 6:45 pm to 7 pm ET.
Broadcast history
''The Walter Compton News'' premiered on DuMont statio ...
''
* ''
Camera Headlines
''Camera Headlines'' was an early American television series that aired from January 1948 to 1949 on the DuMont Television Network.
Broadcast history
DuMont's previous national news program, ''The Walter Compton News'', had premiered on DuMont sta ...
''
* ''
I.N.S. Telenews
''I.N.S. Telenews'' was an American news program aired on the now defunct DuMont Television Network from 1948 to 1949.
Broadcast history
Each episode was 15 minutes long, made by International News Service, and aired weekly, each Tuesday at 7:45 p ...
''
*
Television news in the United States
Television news in the United States has evolved over many years. It has gone from a simple 10- to 15-minute format in the evenings, to a variety of programs and channels. Today, viewers can watch local, regional and national news programming, in ...
*
List of programs broadcast by the DuMont Television Network
This is a list of programs broadcast by the DuMont Television Network, which operated in the United States from 1942 to 1956. All regularly scheduled programs which were aired on the DuMont network are listed below, regardless of whether they orig ...
*
List of surviving DuMont Television Network broadcasts
The DuMont Television Network was launched in 1946 and ceased broadcasting in 1956. Allen DuMont, who created the network, preserved most of what it produced in kinescope format. By 1958, however, much of the library had been destroyed to recover ...
Bibliography
* David Weinstein, ''The Forgotten Network: DuMont and the Birth of American Television'' (Philadelphia:
Temple University Press
Temple University Press is a university press founded in 1969 that is part of Temple University (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania). It is one of thirteen publishers to participate in the Knowledge Unlatched pilot, a global library consortium approach t ...
, 2004)
* Alex McNeil, ''Total Television'', Fourth edition (New York:
Penguin Books
Penguin Books is a British publishing, publishing house. It was co-founded in 1935 by Allen Lane with his brothers Richard and John, as a line of the publishers The Bodley Head, only becoming a separate company the following year.[Ballantine Books
Ballantine Books is a major book publisher located in the United States, founded in 1952 by Ian Ballantine with his wife, Betty Ballantine. It was acquired by Random House in 1973, which in turn was acquired by Bertelsmann in 1998 and remains ...]
, 1964) {{ISBN, 0-345-31864-1
External links
''DuMont Evening News'' at IMDBEarly TV Anchors
1954 American television series debuts
1955 American television series endings
1950s American television news shows
Black-and-white American television shows
Lost television shows
DuMont news programming