National Educational Television Center (NET) Collection

[robertboon]

In an article about National Educational Television Center (NET) we have:

By 1958, NET's programming had acquired a well-deserved reputation as dull, plodding, and pedantic. NET officials recognized that if it was to survive and move beyond its "university of the air" status, NET needed strong leadership and a new program philosophy. They hired the station manager of WQED-Pittsburgh, John F. White, to take over the presidency of NET. An extremely ambitious proponent of the educational television movement, White believed that the system would grow and thrive only if NET provided strong national leadership. Consequently, White saw his task as that of transforming NET into a centralized network comparable to the three commercial networks. First, he moved NET headquarters from Ann Arbor, Michigan to New York City, where it could be associated more closely with its commercial counterparts. Next, he declared his organization to be the "Fourth Network," and attempted to develop program strategies aimed at making this claim a reality. No longer relying primarily on material produced by affiliated stations, NET officials now sought high quality programming obtained from a variety of sources including the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) and other international television organizations.

So from 1958 onwards NET was acquiring programming from the BBC and other international broadcasters. As PBS was founded in 1969 and superceded NET a question mark hung over what happened to the NET programme archive. However in a statement by the Associate Director, PBS Program Data & Analysis to the  Library of Congress on Archival Preservation in 1996 we have:

The PBS archival collection consists of two major subcollections, including
 PBS programs and series and the National Educational Television era.
 National Educational Television was the public television organization
 that preceded PBS, distributing programs by mail and/or national
 interconnection from the late 1950's until approximately 1970.


Acquired by PBS in the late 1970's, the NET collection consisted of over
 9,000 videotapes and films. Slightly over half of the collection was on
 16mm film; the remainder was on 2" videotape.


So the obvious question is, has the collection ever been contacted to checked to see if there are any UK programmes in the collection?

[peterleslie]

Yes. As detailed in some detail towards the end of the "Native Hue of Resolution" documentary that screened at BFI Southbank "Missing Believed Wiped 20th Anniversary" a couple of years ago and then got a limited Kickstarter funded release on a Farcial Films/Kaleidoscope DVD.

[David Buck]

The material was passed on to the Library Of Congres - this list is from the Radiers / other recoveries list pinned at the top of this forum

Major find of British TV at U.S. Library Of Congress (BBC / various ITV companies). Over 100 hours of BBC / ITV programmes made between late 1950s and early 1970s. Format: 525 line 2" quad and 16mm t/r. Recovery negotiated and implemented by the B.F.I. and Kaleidoscope. List of programmes (as supplied by Chris Perry of Kaleidoscope) is as folows:

Plays Unattached to a Series
27.10.59 Antigone* (BBC) w/Dorothy Tutin, David McCallum
1961 The First Gentleman* (Rediffusion) w/Susannah York
20.04.62 The Winter’s Tale* (BBC)
18.12.69 Rembrandt* (BBC) dir (Rudolph Cartier)
05.02.67 Much Ado About Nothing* (BBC)

Blood and Thunder (Granada)
04.01.65 The Changeling*

Victoria Regina (Granada)
20.11.64 Summer*
27.11.64 Autumn*

The Wednesday Play (BBC)
21.04.65 Auto Stop* w/David Hemmings
01.12.65 The Bond*

Play of the Month (BBC)
27.09.66 Defection! The Case of Colonel Petrov*
03.12.67 Romeo and Juliet*

Thursday Theater (BBC)
24.12.64 The Young Elizabeth*
18.03.65 Anatol*
11.02.65 Naked Island*

Played Upon a Stage (Rediffusion)
She Stoops to Conquer
11.05.60 Part 1*
18.05.60 Part 2*
25.05.60 Part 3*

Theatre 625 (BBC)
26.09.65 Rosmersholm* (Rosmesholm)
28.11.65 The World of George Orwell: 1984*
29.05.66 She Stoops to Conquer*?
20.03.66 A Month in the Country*
02.01.66 Dr. Knock* w/Leonard Rossiter, John Le Mesurier (check this)
13.03.66 The Queen and the Welshman* w/Dorothy Tutin
27.03.66 The Seagull*
12.06.67 The Blood Knot*

Drama Playhouse (BBC)
07.12.70 The Onedin Line - The Wind Blows Free*

Play of the Week (Rediffusion)
30.01.57 The Wild Duck*
27.01.59 Killing of the King*
28.07.59 Dandy Dick*
02.02.60 The Flowering Cherry*
18.09.62 Freedom in September*w/Patrick Troughton
20.11.62 The Typewriter*
03.09.63 The Three Sisters*

The Sunday Night Play (BBC)
16.04.61 Charley’s Aunt*
21.01.62 The Rivals*

Sunday Night Theatre (BBC)
16.11.58 The Lower Depths*

Festival (BBC)
09.10.63 Fallen Angels*
16.10.63 The Duel*
20.05.64 Everyman*

Twentieth Century Theatre (BBC)
17.01.60 Colombe* w/Sean Connery, Dorothy Tutin
19.06.60 Insect Play (comedy)*

The Victorians (Granada) (entire series)
31.05.63 The Rent Day *
07.06.63 London Assurance*
14.06.63 Society*
21.06.63 The Ticket-Of-Leave Man*
28.06.63 Two Roses*
05.07.63 Still Waters Run Deep*
12.07.63 The Silver King*
19.07.63 Sweet Lavender*

Thirteen Against Fate (BBC) (complete)
26.06.66 Trapped*
10.07.66 The Widower*
17.07.66 The Judge*
24.07.66 The School Master*
31.07.66 The Witness*
07.08.66 The Friends*
14.08.66 The Survivors* dir (Rudolph Cartier)
28.08.66 The Murderer*
04.09.66 The Suspect*
11.09.66 The Consul*

Paris 1900 (Granada) (entire series)
02.10.64 Ribadier System*
09.10.64 Fashions for Ladies*
16.10.64 Lambert Affair*
23.10.64 Half a Husband*
30.10.64 The Ribbon*
06.11.64 Luck of the Game*

For Schools: Associated-Rediffusion ITV
18.03.59 Twelfth Night*
1962 Romeo and Juliet w/Jane Asher (third reel of three is missing)
Hamlet (edited together without program divisions)
22.10.63 Episode 1*
05.11.63 Episode 2*
12.11.63 Episode 3*
19.11.63 Episode 4*
26.11.63 Episode 5*

Television Playhouse (From Dupont Show of the Week)
04.01.63 The Ordeal Of Doctor Shannon* Rediffusion
12.09.63 To Bury Caesar* Rediffusion

[robertboon]

In the Guardian report of the recovery it states:

After months of negotiation, the library and the New York-based public service television station WNET have agreed to allow the British Film Institute in London to showcase the highlights in November, an occasion that is certain to generate intense nostalgia for what many critics maintain was the golden age of television.

Why were negotiations with WNET, when the 1996 statement by PBS to the Library of Congress, says that they acquired the material themselves in the late 1970's? Or did WNET acquire the the material on behalf on PBS and were regarded as owners of the films and tapes rather than PBS itself?

[rmackenziefehr]

Nov 24, 2016 21:58:39 GMT robertboon said:

In the Guardian report of the recovery it states:

After months of negotiation, the library and the New York-based public service television station WNET have agreed to allow the British Film Institute in London to showcase the highlights in November, an occasion that is certain to generate intense nostalgia for what many critics maintain was the golden age of television.

Why were negotiations with WNET, when the 1996 statement by PBS to the Library of Congress, says that they acquired the material themselves in the late 1970's? Or did WNET acquire the the material on behalf on PBS and were regarded as owners of the films and tapes rather than PBS itself?

When the Public Broadcasting Service replaced National Educational Television as the chief public broadcasting distributor in 1970, it did not directly take over NET- rather, that entity was merged with WNDT (the public broadcasting station for New York) to create WNET. Because of that, WNET, and not PBS, would be the successor to NET in terms of ownership of materials acquired by NET, which, in turn, meant  that they were the donors of record (rather than PBS), and that they were the ones who had to give approval for the production of duplicate copies. 

[Ray Langstone (was saintsray)]

Nov 24, 2016 16:08:18 GMT robertboon said:

In an article about National Educational Television Center (NET) we have:

By 1958, NET's programming had acquired a well-deserved reputation as dull, plodding, and pedantic. NET officials recognized that if it was to survive and move beyond its "university of the air" status, NET needed strong leadership and a new program philosophy. They hired the station manager of WQED-Pittsburgh, John F. White, to take over the presidency of NET. An extremely ambitious proponent of the educational television movement, White believed that the system would grow and thrive only if NET provided strong national leadership. Consequently, White saw his task as that of transforming NET into a centralized network comparable to the three commercial networks. First, he moved NET headquarters from Ann Arbor, Michigan to New York City, where it could be associated more closely with its commercial counterparts. Next, he declared his organization to be the "Fourth Network," and attempted to develop program strategies aimed at making this claim a reality. No longer relying primarily on material produced by affiliated stations, NET officials now sought high quality programming obtained from a variety of sources including the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) and other international television organizations.

So from 1958 onwards NET was acquiring programming from the BBC and other international broadcasters. As PBS was founded in 1969 and superceded NET a question mark hung over what happened to the NET programme archive. However in a statement by the Associate Director, PBS Program Data & Analysis to the  Library of Congress on Archival Preservation in 1996 we have:

The PBS archival collection consists of two major subcollections, including
 PBS programs and series and the National Educational Television era.
 National Educational Television was the public television organization
 that preceded PBS, distributing programs by mail and/or national
 interconnection from the late 1950's until approximately 1970.


Acquired by PBS in the late 1970's, the NET collection consisted of over
 9,000 videotapes and films. Slightly over half of the collection was on
 16mm film; the remainder was on 2" videotape.


So the obvious question is, has the collection ever been contacted to checked to see if there are any UK programmes in the collection?

[Ray Langstone (was saintsray)]

Yes.