Family history, film history: Dad & the Telenews Theatre Corporation

The Telenews Theater chain flourished in the United States between 1939 and 1967, offering its audiences continuous newsreel presentations in an age before CNN and other cable news services. While not the first newsreel chain, Telenews was unique in providing local managers the ability to personalize each theater's program by splicing together selected clips from various competing reels. By adapting to the needs of local television stations, Telenews survived well into the video age. The authors relate the history of Telenews through an account of their own investigations of its role in their family history.