• Get involved.
    We want your input!
    Apply for Membership and join the conversations about everything related to broadcasting.

    After we receive your registration, a moderator will review it. After your registration is approved, you will be permitted to post.
    If you use a disposable or false email address, your registration will be rejected.

    After your membership is approved, please take a minute to tell us a little bit about yourself.
    https://www.radiodiscussions.com/forums/introduce-yourself.1088/

    Thanks in advance and have fun!
    RadioDiscussions Administrators

Early Color TV Broadcasts

E

EJ204

Guest
We were talking about the early days of Color TV in the thread below about Jack Paar's days on The Tonight Show. His show, as mentioned in the thread, began broadcasting in color in 1961, the first to do a nightly videotaped show in color.

But NBC had color broadcasts well before then. According to Wikipedia, the first color broadcast was Jan. 1, 1954, The Tournament of Roses Parade on NBC. I have an April 2, 1955 NYC TV Guide and several shows that week on NBC was broadcast in color, including "Your Hit Parade," "Producer's Showcase" (this week featuring Greer Garson in "Reunion in Vienna") and "Norby" (a sitcom that someone mentioned was sponsored by Kodak, so was filmed in color).

I see from an article in TV Guide, Sept. 9, 1961, that there were 55 million TV sets in American homes that year but only 700,000 were color. The article also says NBC is still the only network broadcasting color shows, although that may change the following year. NBC was partially owned by RCA. It was in their interest to air color programs to spur the sale of RCA color TV sets. As color TV was improving and more shows were broadcast in color, they expected sales of color sets would increase, perhaps even boosting the economy as auto sales did in the 1930s and 40s.

While ABC was still all black and white, they were already filming some shows in color, just in case. ABC lost the black and white show "Walt Disney" to NBC, where it was re-named "Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color." (Ironic that Disney owns ABC today!) And NBC got Kodak to cancel its sponsorships on CBS, including Ed Sullivan, because that network was still black and white.

(Actually, in my 1955 TV Guide, CBS had one show in color that week, a "Best of Broadway" production of "Stage Door" with Rhonda Fleming. But I guess CBS discontinued any attempts at color broadcasts till the 60s.)

Here are some of the NBC shows in color, in the 1961 TV Guide...

Shari Lewis
King Leonardo
Pip The Piper
Play You Hunch with Merv Griffin
The Price is Right with Bill Cullen (daytime and Wed. night)
It Could Be You (game show - daytime and Wed. night)
Concentration with Hugh Downs
Jan Murray (weekday variety)
Five Star Jubilee (variety)
Preview Theater (variety, this week with Benny Goodman)
Tennis from Forest Hills
Dinah Shore (Today, JLTV runs this show late at night but all their episodes are b/w)
Bonanza (all shows were in color from the earliest episodes)
Shirley Temple Show
Sunday Mystery (this week with Janet Blair in "Femme Fatale")
Tonight Show with Jack Paar

The article also says new color picture tubes are brighter. You no longer have to watch color TV in a darkened room. It says even if you watch black and white shows on your color set, they'll look better. You may need a better antenna because poor reception is more of a problem on a color set.

Interestly, this TV Guide, which covers New England, shows WHDH 5, the CBS affiiate in Boston, with a number of their own shows and newscasts in color, even though CBS network shows were still in black and white. No other TV station in New England was doing local prodicution in color, not even WBZ 4, the NBC affiliate.
 
EJ204 said:
Dinah Shore (Today, JLTV runs this show late at night but all their episodes are b/w)
Click to expand...

They are all kinescopes of pretty poor quality.
 
WHDH-TV began local telecasts in color from their very first day on the air in November of 1957. Local programming was in color, but everything from CBS at that time, with the exception of Red Skelton on a few occasions, was black and white. The sad fact is that videotape recordings of most of those color broadcasts are long gone, except for a few Bozo the Clown shows and a Look back at the 1967 Impossible Dream Team Red Sox, which can be found on You Tube.
 
Actually WHDH was an ABC affiliate until January 1961, but they cleared some shows not aired on WBZ and WNAC. Since ABC didn't have any color programming at the time prime time was still black and white. Some of the NBC shows they cleared (Huntley/Brinkley, Meet the Press, Tonight) were in color.

The local Bozo show was taped by Larry Harmon in 1965-66 to serve as a syndication package for stations that did not want to have its own Bozo show. Harmon thought Frank Avruch was closest to his vision of Bozo.
 
I have an episode of "Howdy Doody" on DVD in B&W, but they proudly proclaimed they were in "compatible color"---I believe this was from 1955, one year before the NBC Peacock was introduced. Wesley Hyatt's "Encyclopedia of Daytime Television" said that H Doody started color that year.

As I mentioned on another thread, I also have the final original Howdy Doody on color videotape from NBC Video, Sep 1960, with Clarabell speaking, and after the show a promo for the debut of the Shari Lewis Show the next week.

Question---were the few CBS shows in color from 1955-1964 compatible with the RCA system? I know that CBS gave in to it, in 1965.

Many already know, but the first ABC show to go color was "The Jetsons" in '62, and many of their cartoons followed suit within a month. ABC showed the first 2 seasons of "The Flintstones" in B&W, but Hanna & Barbera knew to produce the show in color from the start.

cd
 
cd637299 said:
Question---were the few CBS shows in color from 1955-1964 compatible with the RCA system? I know that CBS gave in to it, in 1965.
Click to expand...

Yes. The CBS mechanical system died a quick death in 1951, "officially" temporarily, because of the Korean War effort. CBS killed it completely in 1953, when it was clear that the NTSC system was going to win out.
 
EJ204 said:
Here are some of the NBC shows in color, in the 1961 TV Guide...

Shari Lewis
King Leonardo
Pip The Piper
Play You Hunch with Merv Griffin
The Price is Right with Bill Cullen (daytime and Wed. night)
It Could Be You (game show - daytime and Wed. night)
Concentration with Hugh Downs
Jan Murray (weekday variety)
Five Star Jubilee (variety)
Preview Theater (variety, this week with Benny Goodman)
Tennis from Forest Hills
Dinah Shore (Today, JLTV runs this show late at night but all their episodes are b/w)
Bonanza (all shows were in color from the earliest episodes)
Shirley Temple Show
Sunday Mystery (this week with Janet Blair in "Femme Fatale")
Tonight Show with Jack Paar
Click to expand...

Unless "Concentration" had a nightime version, it was one, if not the last show on NBC to go color, late in 1966. "Concentration", afaik, was not in color in 1961.

Joe
 
MCarney said:
Here's a site with some info on programming and scheduling for the CBS mechanical color system:

http://www.novia.net/~ereitan/CBS_Color_Programming_rev_h.htm

As for NBC, since color videotape was so expensive they backed everything up on B&W kinescopes and reused the tapes.
Click to expand...

I have read that both Jack Benny and Burns and Allen filmed shows in color using the CBS system. I have never seen these shows, and since they are film I would think they would still exist. But I cannot find them, even for sale.

Are you sure that NBC backed everything up with kinescopes? Where are those films today?

Joe
 
Not sure if it was everything, but a good deal of NBC's color output that was live or on videotape was kinescoped. How long they kept the kinescopes around varies. Some still exist (such as copies that may have been given to a producer or those that have fallen in the hands of collectors) and some have been junked over the years.
 
joeybabe25 said:
EJ204 said:
Here are some of the NBC shows in color, in the 1961 TV Guide...

Shari Lewis
King Leonardo
Pip The Piper
Play You Hunch with Merv Griffin
The Price is Right with Bill Cullen (daytime and Wed. night)
It Could Be You (game show - daytime and Wed. night)
Concentration with Hugh Downs
Jan Murray (weekday variety)
Five Star Jubilee (variety)
Preview Theater (variety, this week with Benny Goodman)
Tennis from Forest Hills
Dinah Shore (Today, JLTV runs this show late at night but all their episodes are b/w)
Bonanza (all shows were in color from the earliest episodes)
Shirley Temple Show
Sunday Mystery (this week with Janet Blair in "Femme Fatale")
Tonight Show with Jack Paar
Click to expand...

Unless "Concentration" had a nightime version, it was one, if not the last show on NBC to go color, late in 1966. "Concentration", afaik, was not in color in 1961.

Joe
Click to expand...
NBC twice had Concentration on in prime time: for four weeks in Oct-Nov 1958, with Jack Barry, and from Apr-Sept 1961 with Hugh Downs. Barry had essentially been blackballed after his role in the quiz show scandals.
 
joeybabe25 commented: said:
Unless "Concentration" had a nightime version, it was one, if not the last show on NBC to go color, late in 1966. "Concentration", afaik, was not in color in 1961.
Click to expand...

NBC ran a prime-time version of "Concentration", in color, for 20 weeks as a Summer replacement in 1961.

In his memoir, Hugh Downs (who hosted the daytime show from it's 1958 premiere until early 1969) wrote that he had been told that there would be a prime-time version for the Summer of '61, but that the network wanted either Hal March or Milton Berle to host. Downs went to his bosses and convinced them that since he did the daytime show, he should also host the prime-time version.

It is my understanding that the daytime version of "Concentration" was occasionally colorcast in the early and mid 1960's, once or twice a year and usually one week at a time (likely to coincide with color TV sales promotions being held at RCA Victor dealers; NBC often would broadcast more color shows than usual during these periods), but regular colorcasts did not begin until November of 1966.

If only some color tapes of the 1961 prime-time version would show up!
 
BD Sullivan said:
NBC twice had Concentration on in prime time: for four weeks in Oct-Nov 1958, with Jack Barry, and from Apr-Sept 1961 with Hugh Downs. Barry had essentially been blackballed after his role in the quiz show scandals.
Click to expand...

I didn't know "Concentration had a primetime run. Were they both in color and live?

Joe
 
Joseph_Gallant said:
NBC ran a prime-time version of "Concentration", in color, for 20 weeks as a Summer replacement in 1961.

If only some color tapes of the 1961 prime-time version would show up!
Click to expand...

Joseph, was this a live broadcast? Also, even one night a week had to play a little havoc with Down's schedule, if it was live at or near the time Jack was taping.

Joe
 
joeybabe25 said:
Joseph_Gallant said:
NBC ran a prime-time version of "Concentration", in color, for 20 weeks as a Summer replacement in 1961.

If only some color tapes of the 1961 prime-time version would show up!
Click to expand...

Joseph, was this a live broadcast? Also, even one night a week had to play a little havoc with Down's schedule, if it was live at or near the time Jack was taping.

Joe
Click to expand...

The nighttime version began at 9:30. My guess it was probably videotaped earlier in the day, since there was an almost 12-hour gap between the end of the daytime version and Paar, and given that they had the technology, why drive Hugh crazy--especially for the temperamental Paar?
 
Aside from Mom & Dad, I as practically weaned on "Concentration."

Norm Blumenthal, who designed every single rebus on the original show AND the home games, protested the use of color, due to him feeling that the rebuses (rebi?) would be too easy, like a yellow banana for instance.

It finally went all color in late 1966, with Blumenthal winning out by having all rebus images in a pinkish color against a maroon background.

Here is a link to a promotional photo of the color 1961 "Concentration":

http://www.wtv-zone.com/dpjohnson/concentration/conc61color.jpg

(I wish I could solve that rebus---anybody?)

Blumenthal recently authored a game show book---check amazon.com

Man if only more original Concentrations showed up on YouTube! Here is one that's an absolute blast, with Bob Clayton as MC:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7D2LkVbNvcU

cd
 
>>>Unless "Concentration" had a nightime version, it was one, if not the last show on NBC to go color, late in 1966. "Concentration", afaik, was not in color in 1961.

Joe <<<


You're right that the daytime Concentration was not in color at this time, only the primetime version. Looking at my Sept. 9, 1961 New England TV Guide, Concentration, hosted by Hugh Downs, airs weekdays at 11:30am. That game show and Say When do not have the (COLOR) designation, even though other weekday game shows on NBC do, 10:30am Play Your Hutch with Merv Griffin, 11am The Price is Right with Bill Cullen, 12:30pm It Could Be You with Bill Leyden, and the Jan Murray variety show at 2pm.

I notice WBZ 4 runs Truth or Consequences at 9:30am and that has no (COLOR) designation, so I'll assume that's syndicated and not an NBC network game show. The NBC soap operas, Dr. Malone and From These Roots, aren't in color. And reruns of Loretta Young and Make Room for Daddy on the NBC daytime schedule are also in black and white.

At 9:30pm on Monday, the nighttime version of Concentration is in (COLOR). It's NBC's only color program that evening, other than Jack Paar. Shows such as Barbra Stanwick, Wells Fargo and Whispering Smith (a 30 minute Western with Audie Murphy) are all in black and white. There is a note that next week, The Price Is Right replaces Wells Fargo, which is moving to another night. So that will add another color show on Monday nights for NBC.
 
Status
This thread has been closed due to inactivity. You can create a new thread to discuss this topic.
Back
Top Bottom