Tuesday, 3 September 2024

night owl (11. 812)

Wanting to garner greater influence in Nevada feeling past his prime in California, a reclusive and withdrawn Howard Hughes (see previously), at sixty, took up permanent residence at the Desert Inn of Las Vegas, occupying both upper storeys of the hotel—eventually to the proprietor’s consternation over the extended stay to which Hughes responded by purchasing the entire building—and remained holed up there. An avid fan of television, particularly movies, Hughes’ tendency towards insomnia turned into an acute frustration, given the limited choice of three networks and broadcasters signing off at 2300. Leaning heavily on his preferred local CBS affiliate KLAS (channel eight on the dial), Hughes had his employees often make requests to the station, Westerns or aviation dramas, and even would have regularly scheduled programming preempted or replayed if he happened to miss a part. Rather than dealing with upset sponsors, the network’s manager eventually suggested that Hughes buy the station and run things his way, which in 1967 he did, essentially turning it into a personal streaming service. The daytime schedule mostly stuck to CBS shows but late nights (the station airing on a twenty-four schedule) were Hughes’ playlist, to the confusion of other viewers, with films (including ones still in theatres through special deals with studios, owning RKO Pictures personally) sometimes paused, rewound or switched to an entirely different one without warning. It sounds like a more benign version of other contemporary vanity projects though just as audacious. More from Mental Floss at the link above.

synchronoptica

one year ago: the life of a DJ (with synchronoptica)

seven years ago: a top-down review of quantum mechanics plus a trip around the Rhรถn

eight years ago: the Frank Reade Library specialising in the genre of science fiction

nine years ago: the myth of medieval torture chambers, assorted links to revisit plus the Albigensian Crusade

ten years ago: the gig-economy versus registered taxis, accommodations