[QuadList] Superbowl Stories--Got any?

[Ted Langdell]

With the 48th Super Bowl set for tomorrow, it prompts me to ask whether any QuadListers have related stories.

These might be from working the game for one of the networks... at a local station that aired the game or some other experience involving the Superbowl and work.

The first game in 1967 was simulcast on CBS and NBC, due to their contracts with what were then separate football leagues. The same feed was used by both networks.

Who provided facilities and crew? 

What truck(s) and equipment were used.

Did each network have its own replay capability?  If so, what?  How was it integrated into that network's feed?

This was before frame stores were available.  How did the networks synchronize the feeds to their New York operating centers? 

(With two networks involved it might have been a bit complex)

There were a number of locking methods routinely used at the time.  Information specific to Superbowl 1 or to routines used  pre-framestores are welcome.

Perhaps CBS NYC retiree Harold Deppe, Sr. in Tucson might be able to shed some light on that,  or anyone who worked at the networks or at local stations that originated feeds or broadcasts for the networks.

What happened to video recordings of the game broadcast?  Seems there aren't any in either networks' archives.

But, an employee at WDAU-TV in Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, PA recorded the show on Quad tape, hoping the recordings might someday be valuable.  

They were stored in a Pennsylvania attic for decades.  More here:

http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052748704709304576124373773290508

http://www.paleycenter.org/simon-first-super-bowl-broadcast-found

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/lets-go-to-the-videotape-of-super-bowl-i/

The large, beige object seen in Jim Axlerod's report is an Orcon Xenon lamphouse attached to a Simplex XL 35mm projector in the CBS News Archive across the street from the CBS Broadcast center on W. 57th St. in New York City.



And there is A LOT of Quad tape, along with two AVR-1s, which QuadLister George Keller has maintained.

Here are other "lost broadcasts."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_lost_television_broadcasts


And some other interesting links found in the course of googling (or should that be Googling?) for this post:

A National Bureau of Standards clock-synchronizing method using the three major TV networks and line ten of the odd field:
http://tf.nist.gov/general/pdf/237.pdf  has some interesting network paths.  Look at how CBS got to Denver.

Another article here (PDF download): 
http://www.researchgate.net/publication/3092613_Nationwide_Precise_Time_and_Frequency_Distribution_Utilizing_an_Active_Code_within_Network_Television_Broadcasts/file/9fcfd5089a1d534c56.pdf&ei=W0HtUuHtFY-DogT2uIK4DA&usg=AFQjCNGw2wK-8_RYN98R_72AlRLcm2BAUA&sig2=bDViAh-6YUslwBcw2vEXqQ&bvm=bv.60444564,d.cGU

An article by BBC engineer Dick McCarthy 
http://www.bbceng.info/Operations/studio_ops/reminiscences/tvc/d-mccarthy-tvc.htm

This has quite a lot of detail about BBC's methods for standards conversion.  It's a bit visually "dense" due to the formatting, but quite interesting.  Trivia question:  What BBC program was originated in 525 line color?

Tomorrow, may you be warm and the beer be cold.

Ted

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

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