Re: First in color in Boston ?

[fybush@world.std.com (Scott D Fybush)]

> 
> WBZ had a local film chain in late 65, and I "recall" that the news went
> color in 1966 (with gawdaful RCA TK 42's).  I believe that Boomtown stayed
> B&W mainly because of lighting. BTW does anybody remember what year WBZ
> ripped out their studio seating?

1993 or 94...whenever People are Talking ended! :-)  And in fact,
several tiers of the seating were still in place in the old "large
studio" when last I was there.  

Until the noon news went to an hour, the news set was in the smaller
of the two studios, and PAT and special programming came from the
big studio.  When they built the "news from heaven" blue-background
set, it was in the big studio.  Since the change to News 4 New England, 
there's been yet a third studio (built out of the old scenery shop
that used to be across the hall from the big studio).

But of course the PAT seats were on risers that could be rolled in and
out...the fixed studio seating disappeared, along with the studio at the
front of the building adjacent to the lobby, in the early '70s rehab
of the building.  That area became TV master control and tape ops,
and is now part of the new lobby.

Here in Rochester, WROC-TV (nee WHAM-TV) still does its news from
the original, 1949-vintage, WHAM AM/TV audience participation studio,
complete with fixed seating.  It's an amazing building; it's barely
been touched over the years, and the original WHAM radio studios are
still there, albeit now in use as TV master control, TV weather,
and edit bays.  The public hallways are all paneled in dark wood;
behind the scenes, all the corridors are tiled just like an elementary
school of the era.  It's a huge building and much of it is just used
for storage nowadays.  It would make an amazing museum if channel
8 ever wanted to move to a smaller facility...

Down in the basement is all the newsfilm from 1962 until the conversion
to tape circa 1978.  (Here in Rochester, WHEC-TV was first with ENG
gear in early 1978; everyone else followed within the year).

- -s

------------------------------