[3] In 1929, William Fox purchased a former Broadway theater called the Embassy (now a visitor center operated by the Times Square Alliance).[4] He changed the format from a $2 show twice a day to a continuous 25-cent programme, establishing the first newsreel theater in the United States; the idea was such a success that Fox and his backers announced they would start a chain of newsreel theaters across the country.[5] The newsreels were often accompanied by cartoons or short subjects.