January 30, 1950…NBC Studio 8H Debuts As A Television Studio
January 30, 1950…NBC Studio 8H Debuts As A Television Studio
Actually, “The Voice Of Firestone” radio show had been simulcast from Studio 8H on September 5, 1949, and before that, at least two simulcasts of Arturo Toscanini conducting the NBC Symphony Orchestra were done from 8H as early as 1943. All of those broadcasts had all been handled as remotes though, as there were no television facilities in the studio then.
Around the end of August of ’49, 8H was closed and totally redone at a cost of over a million dollars.
The first show that we know of that came from the new television studio was NBC’s new one hour anthology series, “Robert Montgomery Presents”, with the debut episode “The Letter” being broadcast at 8 PM January 30, 1950, for a double debut of sorts.
Seen above it Robert Montgomery opening the show in it’s usual way, perched above the studio floor where the live production is about to take place in 8H.
When NBC began broadcasting from it’s new 30 Rockefeller Plaza location on November 11, 1933, the first radio show came from 8H, or as it was called then, The Auditorium Studio. It was the largest of the 27 studios in the building with 8G, also known as The Radio Guild Studio, second in size.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY 8H! -Bobby Ellerbee
The director Normal Felton also produced Dr. Kildare and The Man from Uncle
The last spot (Johnson’s Wax) at 57:00 in–why, it’s Sgt McDonald! (Was he on HIGHWAY PATROL by 1954?) And who was the announcer on this commercial? It sounds a little like Johnny Jacobs.