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Geeky, But Interesting Camera History…CBS And Marconi Color

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Eyes Of A Generation.com

Geeky, But Interesting Camera History…CBS And Marconi Color

Being born on Halloween, things in history that happen on that day intrigue me and here are two biggies. On October 31, 1965, CBS Studio 50 made is debut color broadcast of ‘The Ed Sullivan Show’ with 5 Norelco PC60s.

The very next year, on October 31, 1966, this article appeared in Broadcasting Magazine. It announces the CBS purchase of 39 Marconi Mark VII color cameras, with the first 5 scheduled to arrive in the summer of 1967 at Studio 50.

It has always been my opinion that the Mark VIIs replaced the Norelcos there 18 month after they were first installed. Finally, we have the confirmation. The magnetic field problems at Studio 50 are legendary, and although Norelco modified the 5 cameras they installed to negate that interference, this makes it pretty obvious the CBS was never really happy with the Norelco picture quality from 50.

Somehow when CBS field tested the Mark VII at Studio 50 in 1966, with no modifications to the camera, it worked fine and the magnetic field problems had no effect on it. Enjoy and share! -Bobby Ellerbee


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4 responses to “Geeky, But Interesting Camera History…CBS And Marconi Color”

  1. John Younder

    85k in 1967.. wow. From the online inflation calculator that’s over $600,000 per camera in today’s $.

  2. James Herschel

    Bobby, I have to take exception to some of your facts in this post. I replied to your previous post on the magnetic field problems and the info I posted answers several of your inaccurate statements. First, the five Norelco Color Cameras installed in St 50 were not PC-60’s. They were specially modified PC-70’s that had a PC-71 designation. As I previously stated, CBS was very pleased with the PC 71’s. In fact they offered me an Engineering position shortly after the original PC-71 installation. I was actively involved in all CBS PC-70 installations in my early years at CBS Engineering. If there was a problem with the PC-71 video quality I certainly was never made aware of it. I really do not know who at CBS made the decision to purchase the Marconi Mark VII’s but I do know that the bulk of the purchase were slated for installation in CBS Owned and Operated Stations. To the best of my recollection this was an economic decision rather than a performance decision. The PC-70’s were the mainstay of Studio Cameras in NY, TV City and Remote Operations for several years.

  3. Dave Dillman

    We had Mark VIIs at WFLD Chicago. Those of us on the production staff always wondered why we hadn’t bought Norelcos. The Mark VIIs needed a lot more light.

  4. Jarbas Jam Mesquita

    85k$!!!

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