[QuadList] Quad tapes of First SuperBowl--Recorded at WDAU-TV--More about station

[Ted Langdell]

On Feb 5, 2011, at 5:54 PM, Dennis Degan wrote:
> 	Wow, that's great.  It's been known for some time that recordings  
> of SB I were not saved by the networks (this was the only SB game  
> aired on TWO networks at the same time).
>
> 			Dennis Degan,


This is likely to be the CBS version.

WDAU-TV (22) Scranton was the CBS affiliate in the market at the time.

May have been recorded on 2nd generation Ampex VR-1200 gear:
http://www.carlabraham.com/wdau.htm

Scroll down to the photo with the Ampex Quad on the left.
Joe Jones Web.jpg
http://www.carlabraham.com/Joe%20Jones%20Web.jpg

Wonder if the employee who recorded the tape is pictured... either at  
the recorder or the photo to the right.

The network feed recorded may actually have been an off-air feed of  
WCBS-TV, NYC:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WYOU

Despite its link with one of Northeast Pennsylvania's most prestigious  
broadcasters (the AM station had been founded in 1925), WGBI-TV  
operated on a tight budget. For example, the Megargees (station  
owners) found AT&T's rates for a dedicated network feed line too high  
for their liking. This forced station engineers to switch to and from  
the signal of WCBS-TV in New York City whenever CBS programming was on- 
the-air. As a result, picture quality for network programming left  
much to be desired. The switchover was a delicate process requiring  
tight coordination between engineers stationed around the clock at the  
transmitter site and directors at the studios since no one there could  
see the WCBS feed.
WGBI went into a limited partnership with the Philadelphia Bulletin in  
1958 and was renamed WDAU-TV after WCAU-TV in Philadelphia, which was  
also owned by the newspaper. The Federal Communications Commission  
(FCC) ruled that there was so much signal overlap between the two  
stations that they were effectively a duopoly. Its Grade B signal  
reaches the Lehigh Valley, which is part of the Philadelphia market.  
The Bulletin opted to retain WDAU-TV, and sold WCAU-TV to CBS. Even  
with new ownership, WDAU continued to rebroadcast WCBS's signal for  
network programming until the 1970s, when complaints about the poor  
quality of color network programming led it to buy a network feed.

The station also had a bat invade the newscast in 1980:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pqc5587f6UY

What cameras are in use?

Ted


Ted Langdell
Secretary
Skype: 	TedLangdell
e-mail:	ted at quadvideotapegroup.com

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