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FIRST EVER VIDEO RECORDING…September 20, 1927? YES! Until yesterday, I had never heard of this and found it hard to believe, but here is the amazing proof laid out, fittingly…in 3 video reports. In the 1996 report (top video), a single disc of the John Logie Baird video record or Phonovision had just been…

How The First Music Video Package Helped Create “American Bandstand” The Snader Telescriptions were not only the first ever music videos…these classic music shorts also played a direct role in the creation of “American Bandstand”! We’ll get to the Bandstand part after this short fact packed video on the history of the Snader project.…

RCA’s Version Of Television History: 1956 You won’t hear David Sarnoff or Vladimir Zworykin mention Filo Farnsworth here, but, this is quite interesting none the less. $50 Million to develop electronic TV and $70 Million to develop color are just a few of the interesting tidbits here. The color discussion starts at around 16:15…

MUST SEE HISTORY OF EARLY LOS ANGELES TELEVISION! KTLA’s 70th Anniversary Is Today! January 22, 1947 – 2017 This amazing video is packed with ultra rare historical footage of not only KTLA, but from the early days of all the Los Angeles television stations! The show is hosted by Bob Hope, Betty White, Steve…

A Guided Tour Of Some Of Television’s Early Studios… You may have seen this before, but may not have known the historic places you were seeing. Today, we will remedy that with a guided tour of this film, so let’s get started. At 1:58 we are in GE’s WRGB in Schenectady NY. RCA began…

This is a close to “being there” as we’ll ever get. This clip, from an “I Love Lucy” movie, takes us inside the Desilu Playhouse and gives us an ultra rare glimpse of what it was like on the set of one of television’s most famous shows. The location is General Services Studios, Studio…

Covering College Football…ABC Sports, October 4, 1975 This is the best ever look at how 60 men brought 30 million viewers these great games every Saturday. “Second’s To Play” is presented in it’s original 30 minute format. This is the most extensive look you’ll ever get of how ABC Sports crews covered the games…

July 17, 1955…Behind The Scenes With ABC At Disneyland Opening This is the only place you can see this rare 14 minute video of ABC’s preparations for the 29 camera live remote, of the 90 minute opening ceremony show at Disneyland. 61 years ago today, what was then television’s largest remote took place at the…

June 17, 1959…”I’ve Got A Secret”; Tour Of CBS Studio 59 To celebrate their seventh anniversary on the air, all from Studio 59, “I’ve Got A Secret” host Garry Moore takes us on a tour of The Mansfield Theater, better known to us as CBS Studio 59 at 256 West 47th Street. As you’ll…

Television’s Oldest Surviving Color Videotape…May 22, 1958 This is the dedication of NBC’s new studios for WRC Radio and TV, it’s owned and operated station in Washington DC. President Eisenhower is on hand for the occasion, as are David and Robert Sarnoff, and many distinguished guests. NBC’s David Brinkley narrates much of the opening…

A Brief History Of The Kinescope…Historic Images & The Machine The first official use of the RCA Kinescope process was the week of June 21, 1948, at the Republican National Convention in Philadelphia. NBC affiliates not connected via coaxial cable or microwave would would receive the film, the next day via Rail Express. As…

A Guided Tour Of Television’s First Studio…NBC’s 3H, 1939 The things I have learned from NBC vets, and visits to 30 Rock, allow us to see this old video with new eyes. This is an RCA promotional film from 1939 designed to introduce television to the public and would have been broadcast on NBC…

Rare Classic! Ed Sullivan Taping Holiday On Ice With TK41s Here is some great home movie footage of the taping at Madison Square Gardens in 1967. I notice Producer Bob Precht and Floor Manager Eddie Brinkmann are wearing different clothes in later shots, but I think this was all shot in one day. They…

The Final Days Of ‘Tonight’ With Johnny Carson… Since so many of you enjoyed our trip to Burbank yesterday, I though we would take another day there. This clip ran in Johnny’s last week on the air. I have seen a version of this from the show and in his intro, he said what…