The Press: When the News Tickers Fell Silent

On ABC Baretta was solving a murder. A new pair of made-for-TV lovers (Italian and Jewish, natch) were trying to get it all together on CBS. Susan and Sam, an NBC comedy pilot, was getting a midsummer test flight. Then—phfft!—all over the U.S.

So heavy is the concentration of communications operations in midtown Manhattan that the New York blackout had an impact that was immediately felt throughout the nation—and the world as well. All three networks transmit their signals from New York by air waves to relay towers and satellites—or by cables—for pickups by...