TV History

December 1, 2004…Tom Brokaw Steps Down At NBC On this day in 2004, NBC anchor Tom Brokaw made he final appearance as anchor on ‘NBC Nightly News’. He began his run on the show in April 1982. Although he has already coined the phrase “the greatest generation”, he does not use the term when…

December 1, 1975…’The Edge Of Night’ Moves From CBS To ABC This was the first serial in television history to switch networks. By the way, did you know the famous skyline in the opening is Cincinnati, Ohio as seen from Kentucky? April 2, 1956 was a big day at CBS, as two of the…

Having Your Cake, And Eating It Too…Live, But With Instant Replay After posting the story yesterday on the anniversary of the first Instant Replay, there were some comments on how naked a game would be without what we’ve all become accustomed to. As I read those and thought about how much fans at the…

ABC Hollywood & Vine Studio History Update…Firm Date Located At the link below is my original story from November 19th in which I speculated on the date ABC took it over, but thanks to Steve Dichter, we now have a firm date. This clipping is from the July 4, 1949 issue of Broadcasting –…

Given what you are about to read, it makes what you are about to see all the more amazing! Did you know that long before the Muppets were created, Paul Winchell had come up with moving arms on Jerry Mahoney and Knucklehead Smiff? It’s true, and became necessary when he came to NBC television…

A Tribute To Instant Reply Inventor…Director Tony Verna This video from WCAU in Philadelphia has some very interesting footage at the start from the 1985 Live Aid Concert with Tony Verna directing the US portion of the world wide broadcast. WCAU is where he started and as you’ll see, he blazed quite a trial.…

November 30, 1956…First Videotape Delayed Broadcast, CBS Television City CBS made broadcast history when they replayed ‘The Evening News With Douglas Edwards’ to the west coast. After recording the live feed coming down the network line from New York at 4 p.m. Pacific time, the program was played back three hours later. In the…

A Fascinating History Of Video Tape And Editing Milestones From Film Maker IQ, here is John Hess with another very interesting look at the development of videotape, it’s uses and the early editing process used. There are some great stories here and some little known facts, including some astounding financial considerations. Did you know…

NBC Studio 8H…December 31, 1955, ‘Your Hit Parade’ This clip starts at the introduction of the principal singers and just after the intro of Russell Arms, goes directly into Arms singing “Memories Are Made Of This” as a floor director. We’ll get a good look at the studio and something quite interesting around 4:05.…

Post Your “Yes, I’m Working Today” Pictures Here! MANY ALREADY ADDED In Comments Section…Click There To See Them! For our friends working parades or football games today, or even on duty at local stations and cable networks covering the news, editing video or in the control room…take some pix and post them in the…

The Macy’s Parade…How It’s Done & How It All Started Our friend Joel Spector will be playing all the music today for the broadcast, just like he has for over 25 years. That alone is a massive undertaking, but just one of many parts to one of television’s largest jigsaw puzzles. This video should…

The Fun Has Begun At Macy’s! Actually, It Started At Midnight… Here’s our friend Charlie Huntley on the job this morning about 3 AM. Charlie will be doing the honors on the host camera today, but for the past few weeks, and till December 4, he’s been rehearsing with about a dozen more top…

Anyone On Parade Duty Or Other Live Coverage Tomorrow? Got Pictures? I know some of you will be and hope that you’ll get some pictures, especially at The Macy’s Parade. Please message them to me, or better yet, just add them here on this post. Today, I hope those who have pictures from prior…

The Emmy Awards…The Early Years, Rare Video And Photos Here is the first video we have of the ceremonies on February 11, 1954. Vivian Vance is shown winning Best Supporting Actress and notice just before the 1:00 mark, the two KHJ cameras she walks between. With those long lenses, they had to be careful…

Speaking Of Camera Drawings…Here’s An Interesting Twist From The UK The gallery of “kid camera” drawings this week reminded our friend Dicky Howett in England of something he did a few years ago as a competition of sorts…a challenge to see who could name the cameras he drew here. Can you name them? Take…

The KTLA Tower Comes Down…For Now I’ve avoided writing about the renovations at historic KTLA because I haven’t been able to find a clear story on what’s going on, but I think they are taking down part of the main (front) building and a couple of storage buildings to put up a big office…

New NBC Marquee On 6th Avenue Unveiled This Week In the style and tradition of the 49th and 50th Street entrances, NBC has erected the first ever 6th Avenue marquee to celebrate the return of ‘The Tonight Show’ to New York. “The new marquee is a bold reminder that ‘The Tonight Show’ is back…

November 26, 1942…’Casablanca’ Debuts…Piano Auctioned Monday Just as Allied Expeditionary Forces were landing in North Africa, ‘Casablanca’ debuted in New York, the same city where a huge movie memorabilia auction was held Monday at Bonham’s. The “Play It Again Sam” piano sold for over $3 million. At the same auction, the Cowardly Lion costume…