April 14, 1956…The Videotape Revolution Begins; VR-1000 Debuts
This prototype Ampex VTR called “Mark IV” started a whole new era in television. Taken at the National Association of Radio & Television Broadcasters show in Chicago, the crowd photo shows the first demonstration. When this group of CBS television affiliates saw remarks by CBS’s Bill Lodge miraculously replayed moments later, everything changed! This day, a STAR was born!
Even at $50,000 per machine, the week of the demonstration, Ampex took almost 100 orders for the VR-1000 and all that got you was a space on the waiting list. Fred Pfost, one of the Ampex video tape development team members describes the scene that day.
“On the Saturday, April 14, two days before the convention started, we demonstrated the recorder for about 300 CBS affiliates meeting at the Conrad Hilton Hotel. I recorded (from behind a curtain) the opening speech of Bill Lodge, V.P. of CBS, who described all the activities that CBS had been involved in during the past year, and his announcement of a big surprise, that was about to happen. After I rewound the tape and pushed the play button for this group of executives, they saw the instantaneous replay of the speech.”
“There were about ten seconds of total silence, until they suddenly realized just what they were seeing on the twenty video monitors located around the room. Pandemonium broke out with wild clapping and cheering for five full minutes. This was the first time in history that a large group (outside of Ampex) had ever seen a high quality, instantaneous replay of any event. The experience still brings tears to my eyes when I recall this event.”
“During the week of the convention, the Ampex display area was packed, all day, every day. Orders came so fast and furious, that the Ampex sales staff was writing orders on cocktail napkins.”
It took Ampex a year to fill just the orders taken at the convention. If memory serves me right, CBS got the first 5, NBC got the second 5 and ABC, the third 5, with more on order for all 3 networks. I think CBS put 3 at TVC, and had 2 in NYC. NBC put 3 at Burbank, 1 in NYC and 1 went to RCA Labs in Princeton, with RCA and Ampex starting to share RCA’s color tape ability. I think ABC put 3 at Prospect and 2 in NYC.
Happy Anniversary Videotape! – Bobby Ellerbee
This is some of the most fascinating information. It has answered a couple of questions I never knew I had. We got our first TV in NYC, 1946-’47, and I wanted to crawl inside because I liked “their” house better than the one we lived in.
Brother photogs should read this- great tv history
Very Cool!
And Jonathan Winters was the first entertainer to do a show on videotape, while “Studio One In Hollywood” was the first anthology series top record their show on videotape, and “The Ed Sullivan Show” was the first variety series to do the same.
and that’s the pocket version
It was big enough to have a basement
There is still an Ampex 2 inch color recorder at a station in Vermont.
Here is the first VR1000A being setup at CHCH
I’m a non-techie. I’m more fascinated by the end result. The technological road there is beyond that area of my brain’s comprehension. I kind of understand (not really) why there had to be black and white TV first. I guess it’s monumentally easier to produce, transmit and receive b&w signals than color. In the instance of the VTR though, did b&w come first because that was the overwhelming market demand? It seems like they turned right around and produced color VTRs in short order, unlike the torturous route to color TV. Was it as simple a process as creating a color head?
Nice of them to give me a career that so far has lasted 48 years!
Interesting perspective in that there was just barely home stereo audio tape (from Ampex) and stereo was still sort of a novelty in studio recording and films at the point they introduced video recording.
One of many mighty Ampexes, audio and video…
One of the best technologies ever invented!!!
We had two of these at Channel 8 in Houston when I was there in the 1960’s. Only one of them had been modified to record in color.
We got our VR-1000 in 1962 at KFDA-TV Amarillo, Texas.
from 2″ Tape to USB Digital chip
Wow… this came along just in time for me to make a career out of editing videotape. Could a man be more lucky?
It gives me chills to read about how it was presented. Wish I could have seen it.
I read yesterday, that they had not raised the $25K necessary to transport the machine to NAB. They are campaigning for next year. Here’s a link: http://www.tvtechnology.com/nab-show/0026/plan-to-display-early-vtr-at-nab-show-stalls/278404