Radio age research, manufacturing, communications, broadcasting, television (1941)

Record Details:

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An air view of NBC's Color City, the new West Coast headquarters for the network's color programming. Color City C ,/Olor City, one of the world's largest television studios and the first ever designed from the start specifi- cally for color TV, opened in a blaze of color on March 27 as the West Coast color programming headquarters of the National Broadcasting Company. A 90-minute "spectacular," "Entertainment 1955," with an all-star cast, dedicated the great new studio before an assembly of motion picture, theatre and broad- casting celebrities including Sylvester N. Weaver. Jr., President, and Robert W. Sarnoff, Executive Vice- President of NBC. Color City is the latest and most impressive addition to NBC's array of color facilities, already the most exten- sive in the television broadcasting industry. Opening the entire field of Hollywood talent to NBC color cameras, it permits an early increase in the network's schedule of colorcasting. The combined engineering talents of RCA and NBC make of Color City one of the most elaborate and versa- tile television studios ever built. Taking its place with two existing studios and a service building on NBC's 50-acre tract in Burbank, the new building incorporates television's largest lighting system and a major air- conditioning system designed to handle the problem of heat generated by the lights required for color telecasting. A touch reminiscent of the Elizabethan theatre is provided by an "audience pit"—an area sunk below the studio floor level so that spectators may watch a produc- tion at close quarters without interfering with the cam- eras. When it is not in use, the pit is covered to become part of the studio floor. Equipped as a "Nerve Center" Besides the main studio building, the new construc- tion includes a technical building which serves as the "nerve center" for all NBC facilities at Burbank. Among its features are audio and video control centers, a film center equipped with two RCA 3-Vidicon camera chains, and an announcer's booth for newscasts and commercials. Commenting on Color City as a unit, Progressive Architecture magazine described it as a successful effort "to provide as much flexibility as possible, allowing for future changes as new factors become known." "Many exceptional things were done here," the maga- zine commented, "both to make the facilities as efficient 22 RADIO AGE