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January 1, 1961…Behind The Scenes At KTLA & The Rose Parade

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Eyes Of A Generation.com


January 1, 1961…Behind The Scenes At KTLA & The Rose Parade

The events in this great fourteen minute clip, were all filmed in the last week of December, 1960, and lead up to the air date of Sunday, January 1, 1961.

We’ll see how on this day, KTLA produced a Sunday news show at 1 PM, a live musical show at 2, and at 3, a color-cast of the Rose Parade.

This is full of RCA TK10s and TK41s, familiar faces like announcer Tom Kennedy, newsman Clete Roberts, cameraman Dick Watson, great control room and mobile unit shots and more. If the director looks familiar, you may have seen him in NBC’s Studio 3H, where electronic TV began. His name is Bill States and he was one of TV’s first technical directors and later worked closely with the legendary Fred Coe before he moved to the west coast.

I hope the KTLA vets among us will point out faces and places. Although we don’t get inside the color mobile unit, or the Telecopter (America’s first), built by Klaus Landsberg and John Silva, at least we get to see them in action. -Bobby Ellerbee

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6 responses to “January 1, 1961…Behind The Scenes At KTLA & The Rose Parade”

  1. A Guided Tour Of Television's First Studio…NBC's 3H, 1939 – Eyes Of A Generation…Television's Living History

    […] At 6:17, notice the man on the far right. He is the director and as of late, I have identified him as William States who went on to be a technical director for the great Fred Coe. States later moved to Los Angeles and was a director at KTLA and can be seen there at this link  https://eyesofageneration.com/january-1-1961-behind-the-scenes-at-ktla-the-rose-parade/ […]

  2. Judy Watson

    I worked for John Silva back in 1959 as the telecopter was being finalized. We caught up sometime in the 2000’s and kept in touch until his death. The telecopter was John’s invention, not Klaus ‘. I am pretty sure I have a copy of the SMPTE DVD re the telemobile and telecopter. Email me Bobby if you want a copy and will mail to you. Thought you had it.

  3. Jonathan Allen

    The Telecopter may have been Klaus Landsberg’s idea, but sadly, he didn’t live long to finally see it come to fruition (Klaus died two years before the Telecopter’s maiden voyage in 1958).

  4. Curtis Bohl

    KTLA engineering guru Klaus Landsburg died of cancer in 1956 at age 40. Would the implementation of color have been accelerated had the loss of this engineering and programming not occurred.

  5. Preston Trusler

    HAPPY NEW YEAR BOBBY! Best to you and “Eyes”.

  6. Eyesofageneration.com

    Here is the KTLA built color unit.

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