The Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953 prompted a transatlantic airplane race between major US television networks, as they rushed to deliver the newsreels from the UK for broadcast across North America. Both CBS and NBC had promised to be the first, aiming to broadcast the evening of the Coronation instead of a day later as originally planned.
The potential benefits for their reputations and influence in the US, with the expanding television revolution, were great. CBS used a BOAC Stratocruiser, then the largest airplane used to fly across the Atlantic, while NBC opted for a Pan Am DC-6 charter. Both used propellers, and both left London for Boston aiming to arrive in time for the late evening news. At that time a flight from London to Boston took approximately 10 hours. The aircraft flew to Boston instead of New York because it was closer and they could land an hour sooner.
At the time, television was really taking off and the coronation had been widely seen as a trigger…
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