About five years ago, I found this classic 1948 movie short on YouTube. It was a bad dub of a bad dub, but at least it was a rare glimpse into the history of NBC when radio was king and TV was just getting started.

As a matter of fact, this film gives us the only video record of NBC Studio 8G in action with it’s unique NBC built Image Orthicon cameras in use(https://eyesofageneration.com/the-nbc-nd-8g-cameras/)

The show they are broadcasting is television’s first non-scripted entertainment show, “Hourglass”. When you see the unusual looking cameras and the acrobatic, dancing Costello Sisters in their mini costumes, you’ll be one of the few people to not only have seen this show, but also to know what the show is and who the dancers are.   https://eyesofageneration.com/?s=hourglass 

I was fascinated by all the studio and building décor we were seeing…places and features that were no longer there…overcome by the march of time and the need for space to evolve at 30 Rockefeller Plaza. Before I posted the video back then, I sent a link to Joel Spector and Dennis Degan; two NBC friends that have spent decades waking these halls and noting the changes. We compared notes and I compiled a written narrative that timed with the who, what and where we were seeing on the screen.

A year later, Matias Bombal contacted me and told me he had just located at pristine copy of the 1948 movie short “Behind Your Radio Dial” there in California. His efforts led to the digitizing of that print, but he thought it would be a shame to clutter it up with “lower third” graphics and explanations on screen, so…he narrated and enlarged upon what we are seeing using his own research and updated notes from myself, Joel and Dennis.

In the top video presentation, Matias does a masterful job of narrating and showing us what we will see in the second, or bottom video presentation, which is the completely digitized, HD version of the 35 millimeter print he found in California. Our great thanks to Matias Bambal and all the people that helped find and digitize this and to NBC veterans Joel Spector and Dennis Degan. ENJOY! -Bobby Ellerbee

The Introduction:

Below “Behind Your Radio Dial” The Movie Short: