CBS 1960 Olympic Coverage

CBS’s 1960 Olympic Coverage was the outstanding presentation in all 35 years of broadcast time. Technical problems were surmounted with stunning ingenuity. For the Winter Games, at Squaw Valley, equipment was brought in by toboggan, and cameras were carried up icy slopes on the backs of cameramen. For the Summer Games, at Rome, the events were brought to the American public, (often on the same day they took place), through tape, split-second trans-Atlantic jet schedules, and close cooperation with RAI, the Italian state network. As a result, the American audience participated, winter and summer, in a great international undertaking. Such a television achievement is clearly an outstanding contribution to international understanding and as such is given the Peabody Award in this category.