Wide Wide World was a 90-minute documentary series telecast live on NBC on
Sunday afternoons at 4pm Eastern. Hosed by Dave Garroway (above), Wide
Wide World was introduced on the Producer’s Showcase series on June 27,
1955. The premiere episode, featuring entertainment from the US, Canada
and Mexico, was the first international North American telecast in the history
of television. It returned in the fall as a regular Sunday series, telecast from
October 16, 1955 to June 8, 1958. The program was sponsored by General
Motors. In March 1956, Time magazine reported that it was the highest-rated
daytime show on television.