[QuadList] good thing video came along.....

[David Crosthwait]

NBC TV (probably as well as CBS & ABC) West coast divisions had one full time incoming AT&T video network line from the East and one full time line going West to East (i.e. NBC Burbank to 30 Rock). From my personal experience at NBC Burbank, that line sat with NBC Burbank color bars full time until SC (Switching Central) asked Burbank transmission to put something up on the line to go East. For example, Net A&P (Advertising & Promotion) Burbank produced most of the prime time promos for the network, while New York did all daytime i.e. Soap promos and NBC Sports promos. When net A&P needed to send a timely spot (most usually were) to NY, an order was placed with BOC (Broadcast Operations Coordination) and SC to assign a VTR (2" or 1") and  an operator, to playback the promo or set of promos via videotape, through transmission to the East outbound line. SC co-ordinated with 30 Rock to have someone there receive the incoming feed from Burbank. It was all very organized, as it had to be. Likewise, if Net News (Net EJ) in Burbank had a timely news piece to send East, the same arrangement was made to send it via the Eastbound line.  The same line was used for live shots for Nightly News from West to East.
The Tonight Show had exclusive rights to the line from about 8:15 P.M. till after 10 P.M. to feed Carson West to East.

I say all of the above to make a point, that being before the days of C band satellite, Vietnam news (or any other Asia material) needing a timely delivery NY would hit the West Coast facility first where fast color processing was available. Then it could be sent East to HQ in NY. A hot news item could be rolled from telecine (TK 26, 27 etc.) to the East outbound line, and be integrated into a live news program, feeding the entire U.S., from Burbank.  Therefore, the three networks did not have to lease lines on an item by item basis, as far as I know.
When the NBC Ku system was installed in the early 80's, the flexibility for in/out of the West Coast was greatly expanded and the leased AT&T lines were eventually abandoned.

David
www.dcvideo.com





On Dec 6, 2010, at 12:24 AM, Greg Schmitz wrote:

> 
> Not sure what this has to do with "video" being a "good thing."  Certainly video production and distribution of international news at the time this article was published wasn't much cheaper than film. In fact, it could be argued that, at the time, video distribution was by far the more expensive option.  I would posit that the thrust of the TIME article points more to which segment of the media market TIME thought the money should  have been spent on.  I suppose the key phrase is "leasing a line for $3,000 an hour to transmit
> the pictures to New York"   Many outlets just sent prints of the film to the relevant markets at a much lower cost.
>   
> --greg
> 
> On 12/4/10 5:13 PM, COURYHOUSE at aol.com wrote:
>> 
>> The expense of flying film from Viet Nam,
>> for example, developing it on the West Coast and
>> then leasing a line for $3,000 an hour to transmit
>> the pictures to New York for inclusion in a
>> program, is likely to have an overbearing effect
>> on news judgment. Even if the pictures do not
>> live up to the raves cabled in by the man in the
>> field (who probably had not seen them and was
>> depending on his photographer's word), they may
>> price their way onto the program.^
>>  
>> 
>> ^"Television: The Most Intimate Medium," Time
>> (October 14, 1966), pp. 56-64.
>>  
>> Thanks,
>> 
>> Ed Sharpe, Archivist for SMECC 
>> 
>> See the Museum's Web Site at www.smecc.org
>> 
>> We are always looking for items to add to the museum's display and ref. library - please advise if you have anything we can use.
>> 
>> Coury House / SMECC
>> 5802 W. Palmaire Ave. Phone 623-435-1522
>> Glendale Az 85301 USA
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
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> 
> -- 
> Greg Schmitz
> Alaska Moving Image Preservation Association (AMIPA)
> Anchorage, Alaska
> greg /at/ amipa.org
> 
> The Alaska Moving Image Preservation Association is a 501(c)(3) non-profit dedicated to media preservation and education to ensure long-term access to Alaska’s moving image heritage. 
> 
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