TeleTales #67…A HUGE Beatles SURPRISE!

On February 9, 2015 - TV History

TeleTales #67…A HUGE Beatles SURPRISE!

CBS sent one of their prototype hand held video cameras from Cape Kennedy to Miami to get shots for the February 16, 1964 Beatles appearance on Ed Sullivan.

The man responsible for their creation, Dr. Joe Flaherty, who’s still Senior VP of Technology at CBS, told me a few years back that CBS had teamed up with Ikegami to come up with these cameras.

Their effort had started just the year before in 1963 and this is one of three prototypes Ikegami sent to CBS for use on space mission coverage.

This is the first time one of these cameras was used on anything other than space shots. This photo was taken at the morning sound check which was followed by a dress rehearsal and finally that night’s show.

By late 1964, I think about a dozen had been built and sent out for field tests. Two were sent to CBS O&Os KMOX in St. Louis, two to WBBM in Chicago, two to KNXT in LA, three to WCBS and three were on the CBS mobile units assigned to Cape Kennedy.

Unlike the RCA/NBC portables, I think this has an Image Orthicon tube and not a Vidicon. Enjoy and share! -Bobby Ellerbee

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10 Comments

  1. Ted Langdell February 11, 2015

    Bobby, Did Joe Flaherty say why Ikegami was chosen as a partner, rather than say, one of the European camera makers?

  2. Paul Benjamin Mills February 10, 2015

    The small IO tube was 3inches in diameter. That was one big hand held.

  3. Jay Phelps February 10, 2015

    There was a great DVD released a few years ago with the complete four episodes of “Sullivan” that the Beatles performed on. The Miami Beach episode is especially worth a look because, well, it looks so lousy and pretty slap-dash.. I’m guessing hotel ballrooms do not make the best TV studios.

  4. Randy Cervantes February 9, 2015

    Too cool!

  5. Steven Bradford February 9, 2015

    Is this a single tube?

  6. Mark Tipton February 9, 2015

    We’ve come a long way. I well remember when the holy grail of home receivers was a flat screen too.

  7. Bill Shrode February 9, 2015

    Funny story, sort of… about a year or so after they got it, and promoted the daylights out of it in connection with their “on the spot” news coverage, @ WBBM Chicago (then home to Walter “skippy” Jacobson) one afternoon it was (evidently) left in the open remote truck unattented. the camera (well the “head” anyway) was stolen and they spent 2 days or so begging for it’s return. (wouldn’t work without the CCU anyway) It finally turned up, unharmed. I forget when or where.

  8. Mark Singles February 9, 2015

    A prelude to the “handy looky” generation.

  9. Bryan Durr February 9, 2015

    Wow! I met Joe Flaherty on several occasions when I was a teen. Glad to hear he’s still around. 🙂

  10. Pete Stendel February 9, 2015

    My back hurts looking at it…yipes