Ultra Rare! CBS Studio 43 And 44 (Grand Central) Spec Sheets

Yesterday, I showed you Studio 41 and tomorrow, we’ll see Studio 42. Today we are going to look at “Studio” 43 and 44 which are actually control rooms. This has caused some confusion over the years as the Grand Central location has always been listed as the location for Studios 41, 42, 43 and 44, but there are only two real live production stages there…41 and 42. Studios 43 and 44 were PC Studios or Program Control Studios where video tape and telecine operations were located. 43 was the main control room where all the network and WCBS shows were rolled from and where the live announcing for local and network shows came from. 44 was used to roll in sectional commercials when a sponsor wanted to sell two different products, or air different versions of spots to different parts of the country, like Ford airing Mustang spots in the south and Falcon spots in the west during their 30 seconds of air time within the same broadcast. When networks aired pre recorded shows, there was always an A and B version, a master and a backup, rolling in sync in case the film broke or the tape warbled and 43 was where most of that came from. Master control was also in Grand Central which was in use from 1936 till 1964 when the move was made to the Broadcast Center. As always, thanks to Gady Reinhold for the images as well as the explanations.

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