First Television, Part 1

Saturday, April 3, 2004

Tomorrow is the anniversary of North Dakota’s first television station,, going on the air as a regular commercial station. It was 1953, and that first year, Minot’s KCJB – now KXMC – chartered a plane to fly in, from Minneapolis, taped coverage of each day of the World Series.

Most of the shows KCJB aired were live programs put together by local teachers, ministers, county agents and actors.

The first woman on the air was Cis Hadley, who produced a regular show about style and fashion. She soon learned that filming live shows wasn’t without its problems.

When she was once doing a live commercial with fashion models, an oblivious new janitor walked between her and the camera with his broom and wastebasket. Another time, she was directing a style show during which she had to use headphones. When the cameraman abruptly pulled back to do a wide shot, Ms. Hadley’s head went with him, followed by the sound of her hitting the floor.

Stay tuned for more tomorrow…

Dakota Datebook written by Merry Helm