NBC Color Kinescopes Continued…Surprises & Rare Footage

Yesterday, we discussed the RCA/Eastman Lenticular Color Kinescope process here, and from that we have gained more insight as well as two interesting new color kinescopes.

First, a few surprises. Surprise 1. It seems that one reason there are so few early kinescopes left is because the unions objected to more than one showing of the programs and demanded they be destroyed. The primary opposing force was the Musician’s Union, but others joined in too, claiming that, in an era when there was no such thing as residual payments, it was an unfair financial situation.

Surprise 2. NBC, the major innovator in kinescope use did not object to this…much. Yes, it was an expensive process for them to create and distribute the kines to affiliates not able to get live feeds yet, BUT…by it kept new live programming in demand. Dependency on them for content was important to the bottom line. It also kept the stations without live linkage from turning to outside film sources or local programming.

Surprise 3. It is not a surprise to say that color television was a lot more expensive than black and white, but the lengths to which RCA/NBC went to entice advertisers into becoming color sponsors was. Which helps explain the color kinescopes we are seeing here today.

These two color kinescopes we will see today, were more than likely created as pitch tools for the NBC ad sales department. The same is probably true of the Kovacs color kine we saw yesterday.

To be clear, Kovacs, the Perry Como and Arthur Murray color kinescopes were shot with regular 16mm Eastman color film and not on the lenticular Eastman film. The lenticular color process was used solely for the purpose of time shifting…so that Burbank could record live color feeds from NY, and develop the film in a 3 hour window to air in the west.

Since there was no urgency on the kinescopes made to show (via projector) at client meetings, they were done a different way, but they are indeed color kinescope recordings. Because of the difference in TV’s fields per second and film’s frames per second, only a kinescope camera could shoot this, as opposed to a regular motion picture camera.

Although the Kovacs, Como and Murray shows were live color broadcasts from NY, all three of these were most likely recorded at NBC Burbank on a modified kine machine there. All of these 3 videos fall within the time window that we believe the lenticular color kine system was in use at Burbank.

It is known that Burbank began experimenting with the RCA TRT-1 color video tape machine April 27, 1958 and that the new color capable Ampex VR1000 debuted at the April ’58 NAB convention, which Burbank had shortly after.

What we do not know, and never can know is this…are these recordings shot from the live feed from NY, or are these recordings of the lenticular playbacks on the west coast?

If they are the playbacks, they are not too shabby. If they are images of the live feed, still not too shabby and remind us how great the RCA TK41 was. What do you think?

Enjoy and share! -Bobby Ellerbee

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DBZgR8DHwM0 Perry Como
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGoEXINk76Y Murray/Cooke
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lEBg6ansaJA Ernie Kovacs

Thanks to Troy Walters in Australia for the Como, Murray clips!

This is an ultra rare colour kinescope recording of the Perry Como Show which aired in living colour on NBC on 12th April 1958. Colour kinescope film recordi…

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