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Remember The Small White Blinking Boxes, Top Right Screen?

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Eyes Of A Generation.com

Do You Remember This? I do…

In the screen shot above from ‘Art Linkletter’s House Party’ on CBS, you can see a small, white square in the upper right corner. If you were watching the show, and paying attention, you may have noticed that soon after it appeared, a commercial would miraculously appear too.

At CBS, this electronically inserted square was called an EPSQ. It stood for Extended Program Que and would appear solid 30 seconds prior to a commercial as a warning to stations along the network, and then just prior to going into the break it blink on and off a few times.

During a live show, as most things were in the 50s and early 60s, this was the signal for a station break, and if I am not mistaken, the number of blinks about 15 seconds out would tell stations how many network sponsor spots were in the break.

NBC also did this electronically but may have called their system something else. ABC would just superimpose an art card with a small white circle in the corner. This stopped when most shows went to tape and the information could be teletyped to the stations.

Thanks to Gady Reinhold for his help with this story.

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13 responses to “Remember The Small White Blinking Boxes, Top Right Screen?”

  1. Nick Grbac

    I remember NBC still used this sometimes as late as about 83-84. I seem to remember it especially during the Tonight Show.

  2. Gady Reinhold

    At CBS the EPSQ was controlled by the TD in the live studio where the show was being produced and was cued by the AD

  3. Chris Clementson

    Who controlled it? The T.D. in network control?

  4. Kris Partridge

    Confirm what Brett R. Henry says about use of the “Cue Dot” by the ITV companies here in the UK.
    As to the timing etc, I’ll get back to you later.
    It was a long time ago, need to pick the ‘grey cells’ of former colleagues,

  5. Janette R. Needs

    So interesting, Frank.

  6. Mark Gulbrandsen

    As close as that is to the corner it could probable only be seen on an under scanned monitor. The typical home viewer would never see it.

  7. Kim Morgan

    don’t know if they still do it. but at the shows there used to be a white circle in the upper right hand corner. that signaled a reel change coming up. had to be quick to see that

  8. Tom Simonton

    I remember it too. I was working in TV at the time and I shared this “secret” with as many friends as I could so they would know how to get a beer from the frige w/ out missing a part of the show.

  9. Sue Chidlovski

    And in the movies, lower right hand of the screen would be the butterfly flash noting time for the projectionist to change films. Working in the hometown movie theater all through high school I was fascinated watching the projectionist prepare the films for showing and change from projector to the other. It took a definite talent.

  10. Frank Gottlieb

    probably based on the circle/hole punch used at the end of feature movie reels to cue the projectionist when to switch projectors

  11. Ron Vecchia

    I actually remember that….only broadcast junkies like us would remember!!!

  12. Brett R. Henry

    This same system involving a rotating black square in the upper right corner of the screen is often employed here in the UK by ITV during the broadcasts of live reality shows like “The X Factor” and “Britain’s Got Talent”.

  13. Albert J. McGilvray

    In my next life, I want to be Art Linkletter.

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