[78-L] NBC (was: YOU)

[Michael Shoshani]

On Thu, 2010-10-14 at 11:23 -0700, Sammy Jones wrote:
> I didn't mean to imply that I'd seen a script where the longer name was crossed out.  I've never seen a facsimilie, only the reprints that appeared the the Invasion from Mars book published shortly after the broadcast and a book (whose names escapes me) by Howard Koch.
> 
> Both of these versions say "Columbia Broadcasting System."
> 
> Orson's use of "THE" has always stuck out in my mind.  I wonder if that's how CBS insiders may have referred to the network in conversation.  

I'm guessing that in this instance "The CBS" was shorthand for "The
Columbia Broadcasting System", and that it would have been read "in
full" rather than by letters.

Internal NBC memos from the 1930s do often refer to "The N.B.C.", making
me wonder whether it was actually intended to be read as "The National
Broadcasting Company" in those instances. 

According to Tom Lewis in "Empire Of The Air", When David Sarnoff was
testifying in Howard Armstrong's major FM suit, he repeatedly referred
to "The NBC" and "The RCA". I don't know whether he said it in full
during the trial and the trial notes were truncated, or whether he
actually said "The En-Bee-See" and "The Ar-See-Ay".