Our World (1967 TV program)

nicknamed "Early Bird", one of the satellites used The project was conceived by British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) producer Aubrey Singer. Due to the magnitude of the production, its coordination was transferred to the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), with Singer as the project's head. The master control room for the broadcast was the TC1 studio control room at the BBC Television Centre in London. Contributions from North America, Japan and Australia were routed to London by the CBS Switching Center in New York. It was rented because none of the big-three American networks was directly involved with the broadcast. Contributions from continental Europe and Tunisia were routed to London by the EBU Centre in Brussels. These centres were also in charge of distributing the live master feed from London to the broadcasters in their assigned area. To illustrate the introductory segments, a large set was built at BBC's TC1 studio, which was operated by the TC2 studio control room. To solve language issues, each receiving broadcaster had its own narrator – such as Cliff Michelmore at BBC, or James Dibble at ABC – reading in their own language the script written by Antony Jay. Since the contributions from the participating broadcasters were in their native language, a team of interpreters located at BBC's TC2 studio provided simultaneous translation into English, French and German to the receiving broadcasters, where local commentators voiced-over in their own language the original sound from other broadcasters when in another language. In the dress rehearsal, conducted the day before broadcast, the head of the production noticed that in violation of one of the ground rules, the Mexican broadcaster had pre-recorded their main segment. They included singers, dancers and a flock of white doves taking off right on cue and attempted to pass it off as live. Replicating that scene for the actual broadcast was impossible. So, it was decided to show some of the performers watching their taped performance live on monitors. == Participants ==

Fourteen national broadcasters participated in the program, which was transmitted live to 24 countries, with an estimated audience between 400 and 700 million people. Eighteen national broadcasters were intended to participate, but those of the Eastern Bloc countries – Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Hungary, Poland and the Soviet Union – pulled out four days before the broadcast in protest of the Western nations' response to the Six-Day War. Due to this withdrawal, a request was made to the Danish broadcaster, which was not originally a participant, for a contribution. == Broadcast ==

Each broadcaster had an explanatory pre-transmission introduction from their studios to their viewers – such as the introduction by Cliff Michelmore at BBC's TC5 studio in London for BBC1, the one by James Dibble at ABC's studio 23 in Sydney for ABC-TV and the interview to philosopher Marshall McLuhan at the television control room in Toronto for CBC Television – just before connecting to the live master feed from London at 7:00 p.m. GMT. The program was divided into six sections: the Opening, This Moment's World, The Crowded World, Aspiration to Physical Excellence, Aspiration to Artistic Excellence and The World Beyond. These sections were divided into live segments provided by the participating broadcasters. Just before The Crowded World section, another section was scheduled – The Hungry World. But, due to the withdrawal of the Eastern Bloc countries' segments, that section was eventually removed and its remaining segments were incorporated into The Crowded World section. The program began with an introduction from the BBC's TC1 studio in London and went on attending the births of four children in the delivery rooms at Hokkaido University Hospital in Sapporo, Japan; at Aarhus University Hospital in Aarhus, Denmark; at Hospital de Obstetricia III in Mexico City, Mexico –reported by Pedro Ferriz–; and, at Charles Camsell Hospital in Edmonton, Canada – reported by the CBC's Libbie Christensen. This Moment's World Back in BBC's TC1 studio in London, a journey around the world was begun by switching to Austria's national broadcaster Österreichischer Rundfunk-Fernsehen. They showed the United Austrian Iron and Steelworks in Linz. France was the next destination, aboard a Protection Civile helicopter flying over the returning weekend traffic at Porte de la Chapelle in Paris. It was reported by Office de Radiodiffusion Télévision Française's Joseph Pasteur. Next, it was off to the monuments in Medina, Tunis in Africa. This segment was provided by national broadcaster Radiodiffusion-télévision tunisienne (RTT). The program switched back to Europe aboard some fishing vessels sailing in the Gulf of Cádiz, Spain. Televisión Española showed fishermen at work and praising the country's fishing industry. At 7:17 p.m. GMT, the show switched to Glassboro, New Jersey, in the United States (3:17 p.m. EDT local time). This was the location for the Glassboro Summit Conference between American president Lyndon Johnson and Soviet premier Alexei Kosygin. It was reported by National Educational Television's Dick McCutcheon who ended up talking about the impact of the new television technology on a global scale. Since no politician could be shown, only the exterior of the Hollybush Mansion – where the conference was being held – was televised. and finishing back in BBC's TC1 studio in London for a closing segment intercutting live footage from several of the locations already shown. == Legacy ==

The Beatles' segment performing "All You Need Is Love" (colourised version from The Beatles Anthology) As the broadcast took place at the height of the Vietnam War, the Beatles were asked to write a song with a positive message. They topped the event with their debut performance of "All You Need Is Love". They invited many of their friends to the event to create a festive atmosphere and to join in on the song's chorus. Among the friends were members of the Rolling Stones, Eric Clapton, Marianne Faithfull, Keith Moon and Graham Nash. The sequence opens in its original monochromatic format and rapidly morphs into full colour, conveying the brightly coloured flower power and psychedelic-style clothing worn by the Beatles and their guests that was popular during what was subsequently dubbed the "Summer of Love". Exhibition A permanent exhibition at London's Science Museum opened in 2018, telling the story of the transmission using footage from the show itself and video interviews with surviving members of the production team, recalling the technical challenges involved and the legacy created by the broadcast. ==See also==