1313 Vine Street Studios Debut & TV’s Top Shows Follow
August 18, 1948…Vine Street Studios Debut
Did you know this was originally the home of The Don Lee – Mutual Network? Or, that this is the first place Johnny Carson ever went on network television? This was also the home of “The Dating Game”, “The Joey Bishop Show”, and more.
The building, at 1313 Vine Street in Hollywood, was constructed in 1948 as a radio and television studio facility at a cost of $3 million. The dedication of the Don Lee-Mutual Broadcasting building was held on August 18, 1948. It is the oldest surviving structure in Hollywood that was originally designed specifically with television in mind. As you can see from the layout image, it was huge and very well planned.
Cadillac dealer Don Lee got into broadcasting to stay competitive with his friend Earle C. Anthony, a Packard dealer, who bought radio station KFI as a method of appealing to his customers. Lee bought KFRC in San Francisco and KHJ in Los Angeles, ultimately building the chain to 12 West Coast stations. Though named for him, Lee, who had died 14 years earlier, never saw this building.
The building was the original home of Los Angeles Channel 2, which is now KCBS-TV, through the 1950s. KCBS-TV is one of the oldest television stations in the US. It was signed on by Don Lee Broadcasting, and was first licensed by the FCC as experimental television station W6XAO in June 1931. The station went on the air on December 23, 1931, and by March 1933 was broadcasting programming one hour each day only on Monday through Saturdays.
During World War II, programming was reduced to three hours, every other Monday. The station’s frequency was switched from Channel 1 to Channel 2 in 1945 when the FCC decided to reserve Channel 1 for low-wattage community television stations. The station was granted a commercial license (the second in California, behind KTLA) as KTSL on May 6, 1948, and was named for Thomas S. Lee, the son of Don Lee.
Don Lee’s broadcasting interests were placed for sale in 1950 following the death of Thomas S. Lee. General Tire and Rubber agreed to purchase all of Don Lee’s stations, but General Tire chose to sell KTSL, and the building at 1313 Vine Street to CBS. On October 28, 1951, KTSL changed its call-sign to KNXT to coincide with CBS’ Los Angeles radio outlet, KNX (1070 AM). In April of ’84, it became KCBS.
These are the studios where Johnny Carson’s earliest mid-’50s television appearances, including “Carson’s Cellar” and “The Johnny Carson Show” were done.
ABC bought the building from CBS around 1967, installed GE color cameras and produced shows like “The Joey Bishop Show”, “The Dating Game” and “The Newlywed Game” from 1313 Vine Street.
Today, it is the home of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science’s Pickford Center for Motion Picture Study. It was dedicated in honor of legendary silent film actress Mary Pickford in 2002. Pickford was one of the founding members of the Academy. Enjoy and share! -Bobby Ellerbee
For me this was perhaps the most fascinating,vibrant, sharp-looking tv studio I worked in for ABC of all their facilities. I started early 70s with The Newlywed Game here.Chuck Barris had his production company right here.Family Feud was here.Mark Goodson had his production company here as well. Password was here.Barney Miller was here.This facility was beautifully laid out as far as choreography.We had rehearsal halls for Perry Como’s Christmas special here,an all-star tv special with Raquel Welch,Debbie Reynolds, Gene Kelly,and many more stars rehearsing here.Vincent Francis VP at ABC had his offices here.Curiously some of the rehearsal halls were actually other radio and or tv studios complete with theater seating.This place is HUGE ! On weekends I worked in the basement of this facility.It was set up with various offices.Ticket offices and program information regarding all of the ABC tv shows.Tickets were mailed out from down here.All usable space.The ticket counter was in the main lobby and while shows were in production you would see from time to time movie stars,tv stars here.It was like Grand Central.Very exciting.All in a day.Waiting for the next day.I loved it and miss it.The good old days.One great big family.Thank you Bobby again for putting up this wonderful site !
At what point did “The Dating Game” and “The Newlywed Game” move from Prospect Avenue to Vine Street?
When I was about 14 I would take the bus to Hollywood just to walk around. At that time KCET was using part of the the Vine Street theatre as their home. I snuck in and checked out the studio and control room. After I was asked to leave, I went around the corner of the building and watched them load a set for the Joey Bishop Show for that night. This was a long time ago and still a good memory.
It was also the home of public TV station KCET for awhile. Don Lee (and its interest in Mutual) was bought by the General Teleradio division of General Tire. It would become RKO General in 1957 after the purchase of RKO from Howard Hughes in 1955.
We were just there a while back to donate some personal archives to the Academy and received a personal tour. The place is enormous and fascinating!
Cool!
Spent a few years there on the second floor in the mid 80s which was ABC On-Air Promotion. I had heard that Ernie Kovacs had done his show there as well.
Loved reading the history of this wonderful facility. Many thanks, Bobby!
At least this wonderful building is being put to good use.
Did Steve Allen’s show come out of this studio?
Just wow — fascinating.
Wonderful screening & restoration facility today. Hollywood chapter of SMPTE often meets there.