You Mean They Used Color Cameras For B\/W Broadcasts? <\/p>\n
Yes, they did and WICU was not alone…so did WSB in Atlanta, and many other local stations in the mid ’60s. <\/p>\n
This photo is one I recently found, and it reminded me of a the disbelief many young people had on an article I did here, a year or so back on the conundrum that the ’65 network color conversions had caused at the local level. <\/p>\n
From ’65 till about ’67, RCA’s booth at the NAB had the TK60 B\/W camera next to their TK42 color camera, and lot of local stations were struggling to decide how to handle local color. <\/p>\n
Many had just plopped down a hefty sum for a new color transmitter and support equipment, but what was next? How long could they hedge their bets on local B\/W? <\/p>\n
To add to the problem, the TK42 was not as good a camera as the TK41, and most knew it, but RCA didn’t have a fix yet. They had discontinued the TK41 in 1964, and the TK44 didn’t come till ’68. On top of that, Norelco’s PC60 came to the market in ’65, and CBS was all over that, and ordered them by the dozens, crowding out local orders. <\/p>\n
Back then, sometime the best idea was to buy a color camera and use it without the colorburst on two + camera shows. I know it is hard to believe, but believe your eyes…it happened. -Bobby Ellerbee<\/p>\n