Bump for Dan O'meara
From experience I know that it is normal LN procedure to simply abandon/ignore a conversation when faced with a problem, but I would like to get an answer to this fairly straight forward question;
And I know from my experience of dealing with the Tinfoil Brigade that the only answer that matters is the one they already have and they will go to any extent to defend their "truth", as we have already seen.
Your lame self-portrayal as a man of reason is a joke. You have your answer already even though the unreliability of Roberts timestamp has been held up for all to see.
And even though continuing this discussion with you is a farce I will try to answer your question as openly and as honestly as my limited abilities allow.
You do remember that Roberts said that Oswald entered the rooming house when she was trying to get a better picture on the television, right?
Now, if Roberts was watching "As the world turns" and saw the special bulletin at 12:40 - as you claimed - she already must have had a good picture, right? So what's all this stuff about turning the TV on and trying to get a better picture when Oswald walked in? It doesn't add up, does it now, Sherlock?
Do you think I will have a credible answer before the year is out?
It doesn't matter how credible the answer is with you, you already know it all.
But here goes.
My first port of call was David Von Pein's website, an invaluable research tool. Without genuine researchers such as David, Robin Unger and Pat Speer a novice such as myself wouldn't have a clue what to do. It's all been done for me.
From there I found a video of the CBS channel showing it's contents uncut from just after the time of the assassination. This is the channel Roberts was watching according to her interview. It starts with As The World Turns, a popular soap opera. A quick Google search of the show threw up this image:
These are the two actors in the opening sequence of the video confirming it is As The World Turns.
I found a timestamp at 58:50 in the video where Walter states that JFK died at 1:00 PM "some thirty eight minutes ago".
Therefore 58:50 on the video = 1:38 PM in "real time" [RT] (obviously this is not to the second, just an approximation. But a close one)
The following analysis of the first part of the video is based on this approximate timestamp.
0:00 [ 12:39.10 RT ] -- "As The World Turns" is on
1:50 [ 12:41 RT ] -- The first bulletin flashes on (this is the one shown in the Roberts interview)
2:50 [ 12:42 RT ] -- First bulletin ends, followed by various ads
4:57 [ 12:44.07 RT ] -- Second Bulletin flashes on
7:08 [ 12:46.18 RT ] -- Second Bulletin finishes and "As The World Turns" resumes
8:50 [ 12:48 RT ] -- "As The World Turns" goes into an ad break
9:34 [ 12:48.44 RT ] -- Third bulletin begins. This runs continuously until the 1:00 PM news comes on with Walter Cronkite
My best interpretation of Roberts testimony and the interview she gave is that her friend sees either the first or second Bulletin and rings Roberts to tell her the news.
Roberts switches on the TV and "As The World Turns" is on which goes into an ad break shortly after which the third and final bulletin comes on. This is the bulletin Roberts reports seeing. This bulletin begins around 12:49 PM. For whatever reason her TV starts playing up and she has to try to fix it. She can hear the report but the picture isn't any good. It is around this time Oswald comes in.
Remember - this is my best, most honest interpretation.
It's not the only interpretation and it doesn't account for every statement Roberts made in her various testimonies and interviews, but it accounts for a lot of them.
Obviously the timings are not perfect to the second but they are probably within a minute.