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NBC Tour Book: 1939 World’s Fair…America’s View of Television
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The first big push to bring television to the public’s attention was mounted by RCA at the 1939 World’s Fair in New York. This is a rare survivor…the 32 page tour book handed out at the RCA Pavilion, that attempts to cover many aspects of the new media. It is packed with rare photos…
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Studio 8H and the Chapman crane
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Among the very few things that have not changed since Saturday Night Live debuted in 1975 are the studio it originates from, and the constant use of this Chapman Electra stage crane on the show. We’ve all seen it a thousand times, but never like this before. Above is the driver’s seat, and you…
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1931: Tour Of CBS Experimental TV Studio, W2XAB New York
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Complete with pictures and drawings, this 1931 article from Science and Mechanics takes us on a tour of CBS’s W2XAB facility in New York…one of the first experimental television stations in the U.S.
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A Production Primer By Television’s First Cameraman
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In a photo taken in NBC’s historic Studio 3H, we see Albert Protzman, the first camera person hired to operate RCA’s new all-electronic television apparatus. Studio 3H was the first all-electronic television studio ever built and efforts began by RCA in May of 1935 converted this former NBC radio studio into the epicenter of…
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Philips Norelco PC70 Catalog
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From the early 1970s, here a copy the 31 page Norelco PC 70 catalog. This was television’s “new kid on the block” camera…the one that gave the big kid on the block (RCA) a run for the money and brought the Plumbicon tube to the forefront. Thanks to our friend Scott Baker for the…
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The Rarely Seen GE PE 25 Color Camera
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Thanks to our friend Martin Perry, this catalog is the only piece of GE information we have ever seen on this rare color camera. It was preceded by the GE PE 15 model, of which there were less than a dozen made. There may have been as many as 20 to 25 of these…
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‘Hour Glass’…A Television First
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This show was network television’s first rehearsed, non-reality program. It was a one hour variety/sketch comedy show hosted by Helen Parrish. Parrish had been a child film star and she became the first popular TV star. With the lessons learned and a new host and sponsor, NBC would bring this show back in 1948…
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My Conversation with CBS VP Technology, Joe Flaherty…RARE HISTORY!
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Dr. Joe Flaherty was the Senior Vice President of Technology at CBS and at the bottom of my story is an article with industry colleagues sharing their memories of the icon of television innovation. There are few that have seen more television history than Joe Flaherty. There are fewer still that have made as…
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CBS Broadcast Center…1964 Introduction Book
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This 60 page book was presented at the 1964 NAB Convention to introduce the new CBS Broadcast Center in New York. Half of it is a description of how the building was converted and what is inside – the other half is full of illustrations and photos of the magnificent new facilities. I had…
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NBC’s Legendary Technical Director…Heino Ripp
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FIRST, Don’t miss this! The Television Legends Interview Series taped six half hour segments with Mr. Ripp and the first of the series is linked below. https://interviews.televisionacademy.com/interviews/heino-ripp?clip=102062#interview-clips In the photo above, we see Heino starting his career in Studio 3H behind an RCA A500 Iconoscope camera. Below, he is literally the “right hand man”…
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April 5, 1948, Chicago’s WGN Signs On…Great Vintage Pictorial
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Above is a shot of my RCA TK10 from WGN…one of the original eight TK10s the station had in their studios, with four RCA TK30s in use on two mobile units. WGN, Channel 9, is one of the nation’s first and only enduring independent stations, but it wasn’t always that way. In the beginning,…
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April 4, 1967…Johnny Carson Quits “Tonight”! Remember This?
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When people think about hosts quitting the “Tonight” show, Jack Paar’s famous walk off is the one that comes to mind, BUT…few remember that Johnny did it too. Here is the only interview he gave during this three week period that began Tuesday April 4, and lasted until Monday April 24th. It is quite interesting…
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February 25, 1950…”Your Show Of Shows” Debuts On NBC!
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February 25, 1950…”Your Show Of Shows” Debuts On NBC! To really appreciate the historical importance of “Your Show Of Shows” in television history, just remember…this is the format that “Saturday Night Live” is built on, it was the first “participating sponsor” show, and a program that lead launched several of the industry’s top comedy…
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Rare Details Of RCA’s First Reseach Lab…7 Van Cortlandt Park South
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Finally! The RCA New York Lab Address Was 7 Van Cortlandt Park South…. Since the first pictures of Felix The Cat on the mechanical television turntable set began to be seen on this page over 5 years ago, people have asked me where that Van Cortlandt Park testing facility was. Finally, today I found…
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SPECIAL!! EARLY TELEVISION SURPRISES, Part 1 of 3
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SURPRISE #1. If you always thought those were spotlights mounted in the black frame, you (and I) are wrong. They are actually quite the opposite of lights. SURPRISE #2. If you always thought the contraption shooting through the opening was a camera, you (and I) were wrong. It actually quite the opposite of a…
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SPECIAL!! EARLY TELEVISION SURPRISES, Part 2 of 3
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Surprise #1…THIS IS A PREVIOUSLY UNKNOWN PHOTO OF THE WORLD’S FIRST TELEVISION REMOTE BROADCAST, three years before John Logie Baird’s 1931 Epson Derby remote in England. Surprise #2….This was also the first live television news event. Or, was supposed to be. It seems that all went well in rehearsal, but when Gov. Smith came…
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SPECIAL!! EARLY TELEVISION SURPRISES…PART 3 of 3
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With so many overlapping and similar events happening not only in the US and UK, but at RCA, Westinghouse, General Electric and AT&T, writing this synopsis is a real challenge. That’s why, as this final part leads us into electronic television, I am only hitting the major events, and giving you links to fill…
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The Early History of Howdy Doody…Television’s First Hit Show
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“The Howdy Doody Show” was network television’s first daily show, and later, the first daily color show. With the help of Howdy expert Burt Dubrow, In this 41 page report, I have assembled some first hand, hard to find history including rare photos and passed on exclusive information from my interviews with Howdy veterans…
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“Big Bang Theory”….THE ANSWERS TO, The Stair Case Mysteries
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This article and the two videos will answer three questions many of us have about the “Big Bang” set and, the plot line too. 1. Is the staircase set a multi story set shot with a jib? 2. If not, is the stage raised or is there a hole in the floor? 3. Will…
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RCA Red Book, “The Equipment”…Holy Grail Of Early Color Television History, Part 1 of 2
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In 1953, RCA submitted 700 pages of documentation to the FCC as a “Petition For Approval of Color Standards for RCA Color Television System.” Due to the bright red cover, it is generally referred to as “The Red Book,” and every detail you could possibly want to know about RCA’s color system is included.…
