The History Of Live Pool Splashdown Coverage…Part 1B
The History Of Live Pool Splashdown Coverage…Part 1B
Tampa’s CBS affiliate WTVT had a mobile unit that was so good, even NBC used it on their ‘Today’ show trips to Florida, but the unit’s usefulness did not stop at the water’s edge. Prior to being aboard for November 1965’s, first live splash down coverage via satellite, WTVT’s unit and crew had been aboard the recovery ship a couple of times before on Mercury and Gemini missions. On those earlier trips, they were there to videotape the recovery efforts to be broadcast once they got close enough to microwave the signal in. The photo on the left shows WTVT cameraman Jim Benedict with his TK11/31 on the deck of the USS Wasp during coverage of the Gemini 6 and 7 recovery missions. When CBS was chosen for pool coverage, the WTVT was often a first choice. There’s more on this at our friend Mike Clark’s Big 13 site.
is very proud to know Jim “Peaker” Benedict, who served WTVT, Tampa, for 42 years. Jim’s one big mistake: Hiring me back in 1972! (Just kidding)
Art Hackett….to answer your ?…Gaylord Broadcasting-The Oklahoma Publishing Co ..WKY OKC ..did own WTVT Tampa…KTTV Ft Worth..KHTV Houston..WVTV Milwaukee..WUAB Cleveland..KSTW Seattle…the Mobile unit in the post did go to Ft Worth, and fed the world stories of the JFK assassination…then to came to Houston..where It sat in the parking lot..Chief Engineer did not want to bother with it as it was way out dated and used…Houston had a color mobile unit, so the B&W unit was given away…I wish I could have kept one of the cameras..but was told no…I helped sign-on KHTV in 1967, and enjoyed pioneer TV until 1985..then moved to a NEWS station in Houston until 2008.. I was blessed. WTVT was a powerhouse CBS station of Gaylord…KTVT was a powerhouse independent…other stations were indies, were strong in their markets.. Memories
And after participating in those historic telecasts, WTVT’s elaborate remote truck drove 10 blocks down Kennedy Blvd to The Sportatorium – actually a small old warehouse – to tape another weekly episode of Championship Wrestling From Florida With Gordon Solie.
Were they co owned with KTVT in Dallas-Ft Worth They had a truck of a similar design which shows up in pictures of the Kennedy assassination coverage.
During my 23 years in the Navy as a public affairs secialist, it was my job to escort the media around the ship. The first thing they would do is whip out their credit cards and bu everything in the ship’s store that had the ship’s logo on it. There are a lot of ball caps, Zippo lighters and coffee mugs in newsrooms around the world.