Inside CBS Studios 41 And 42…Grand Central Terminal, Then And Now
Inside CBS Studios 41 And 42…Grand Central Terminal, Then And Now
In November of 1937, CBS was near completion of their first television transmitter on the 72nd and 73rd floors of the Chrysler Building. Across the street in Grand Central Terminal, work was underway on the new CBS television studios.
The studio space was 40 feet high, 230 feet long and 60 feet wide. There, two live production studios were built…41 and 42. Studios 43 and 44 were control rooms, but called studios. All four structures, plus a dressing room and some engineering space was packed into this room.
In the photo with the many fluorescent lights, we see the largest studio, 41. In the next black and white photo, we see Studio 42. I think there was a movable wall between them for huge productions and election night coverage.
Next is a photo of that space stripped and ready to become The Vanderbilt Tennis Club. In the exterior photo, we see circled the area of the building where this space is located. Finally, here’s a shot of the space as it looked a few years ago. I think the tennis courts are gone now and the space is now a lounge for conductors and engineers. Enjoy and Share! -Bobby Ellerbee
Richard Michalak, re: Kino-Flo lighting…Funny how, “everything old becomes new again”.
GE marketed Fluorescent Tubes in 1936.
Attention CBS! I have an early Studio audio monitor, with the CBS logo on it, which is the size of a home refridgerator, and I would like to find a home for it, with other early studio gear!? Can anyone help me find its rightful place? Message me, please!
That would have to quite an early use of fluorescent lights as they were, I believe, only available in the 30s. And I thought Kino-Flos (fluorescents film lights) were a new relatively new development.
I never knew ….