T.V. Radio Coverage of Funeral
Moscow TASS International Service in English 1803 GMT 25 November 1963--L
(Text) Moscow--Soviet televiewers watched President John
Kennedy's funeral ceremony today. The transmission from Washington via the
Telestar communications satellite began at 1935 hours Moscow time. During the
30-minute transmission from Washington, Muscovites watched the ceremony on their
television screens as if they were paying their last respects to John Fitzgerald
Kennedy along with the American people.
Televiewers saw the gun carriage with the President's body
covered by the U.S. flag, the funeral cortege proceeding from the Capitol to St.
Matthews Cathedral, and the pontifical requiem mass. At the same time, Moscow
radio broadcast a reportage of the funeral ceremony and funeral music.
This direct television program was preceded by excerpts from
films showing John Kennedy addressing a preelection meeting in Los Angeles in
1960. Televiewers also saw and heard Kennedy taking the oath of office in
January 1961 and scenes from a documentary of John Kennedy's meeting with Nikita
Khrushchev in 1961.
(Editor's Note: Moscow Domestic Service 0300 GMT 25 November describes in detail the mourning procession moving with the coffin from the White House to the Capitol.)
(Moscow Domestic Service 1600 GMT 25 November broadcasts an unscheduled news
bulletin devoted entirely to President Kennedy. The 15-minute bulletin includes
a description of the Washington scene, gives reports on the arrival of foreign
dignitaries, including Mikoyan, for the funeral, and a biography of the late
President. In the latter, President Kennedy is praised as a realist whose "great
contribution" to the cause of peace could be seen in the Moscow test-ban treaty.
The bulletin ends with a roundup of world tribute to the late
President and was followed by solemn music. This is interrupted three minutes
later for an announcement that the funeral cortege is approaching St. Matthews
Cathedral for the requiem mass.)