Northeast Blackout of 1965 - Radio

Radio

An aircheck of New York City radio station WABC revealed Dan Ingram doing his afternoon drive time show, in which he comments that the music sounds slow. The music playback equipment used motors that got their speed timing from the frequency of the powerline, normally 60Hz. Comparisons of segments of the hit songs played at the time of the broadcast, minutes before the blackout happened, in this aircheck, as compared to the same song recordings played at normal speed reveal that approximately six minutes before blackout the line frequency was 56 Hz, and just two minutes before the blackout that frequency dropped to 51 Hz. Ingram mentioned that it seemed the electricity is slowing down, and he didn't know that could happen. He also stated that lights were dimming in the studio. When Action Central News came on at 5:25 pm (ET), the staff remained oblivious to the impending blackout. The lead story was still Roger Allen LaPorte's self-immolation at United Nations Headquarters earlier that day to protest American military involvement in the Vietnam War. The newscast gradually fizzled out as power was lost by the time the second story was beginning to be read.

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