October 31, 1953…NBC’s First Network Colorcast: “Carmen”

In essence, the opera “Carmen” was broadcast nationally in black and white with the color burst removed. BUT, the color broadcast was fed via closed circuit to viewing parties in New York, possibly Washington and to Chicago.

The colorcast was live from NBC’s first and only color facility, The Colonial Theater in New York. At the time, the only color equipment was here. No one had color transmitters and there were very few color monitors, even in the NBC O&O stations control rooms where the closed circuit feed came in. As the article states, WNBQ’s single 12″ color monitor, provided by RCA, was at the off site viewing party next to a 24″ black and white set that was carrying the nationally telecast monochrome broadcast.

The cameras used were the four RCA TK40 prototypes. The one hour presentation of the opera “Carmen” also included an audio trick or two. In passages where the vocal performance was critical, but extreme movement in dance numbers was too, look-alike actors were subtly inserted on stage to dance and lip synch while the principal operatic stars sang off stage. The principals would quietly return to stage and sing in more static shots. This is the only surviving photo. Enjoy and share! -Bobby Ellerbee

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