First Color TV in Boston

[mgpt6]

In the 1950s , was the old WHDH -TV Ch.5 with RCA TK41 Color cameras the first to have color in Boston or was it WBZ-TV Ch.4 passing NBC Network programs in color? First NBC shows were in color were in 1954.

 

[Laurence Glavin]

Didn't WNAC-TV channel 7 carry early CBS programs in color that were a weird mish-mash on B&W TVs?

 

[pqgeorge]

WNAC-TV (Channel 7, now WHDH-TV) was the first station to broadcast in color in Boston while CBS Color was THE standard for color television in 1952. However, it had a limited audience due to the lack of CBS Color sets available in the market (if any were available). The CBS color system was totally incompatable with the existing NTSC standard for television. SO, it died mainly due to the above stated reason and due to the Korean War effort which banned the use of materiel for color TV manufacturing. (WNAC-TV would not broadcast in color again until 1964 when the new Newton, MA transmitter site was put on the air.) CBS got an "easy-out" with their mechanical scan color system due to the incompatablity with existing sets. NBC continued their research for color TV throughout the Korean War and eventually won the color contest with their compatable color system, the system that until this year was THE system (NTSC/RCA) for color TV. 55 years..... not to shabby. WBZ-TV was the second station to broadcast in color in 1954, though it was through the NBC network. Local color in Boston would not be available until November 26th, 1957 when the original WHDH-TV Channel 5 would sign-on with a full-color facility from day one.

 

[rapking]

My family didnt have a color TV set until 1973 .

 

[CrankyYankee]

While I don't recall the year, the first time I saw color TV was at the Museum of Science in Boston.

 

[Skynet74]

My family didnt have a color TV set until 1973 .

I got you beat. Our family didn't get a color TV until 1978! I swear that we must have been the last people on Earth to make the switch to color.

 

[BRNout]

My family didnt have a color TV set until 1973 .

I got you beat. Our family didn't get a color TV until 1978! I swear that we must have been the last people on Earth to make the switch to color.

My dad was an 'early adopter' and we had a color TV as soon as he was out of college - around 1967. We lived in Andover for a time in 1968 and I vaguely remember that all of the Boston stations were in color by then, as was WMUR (which we could get - albeit a little snowy).

Not all shows were in color, of course, but almost all the network ones were. I so vividly recall the NBC peacock heralding that for almost every show with the words: "this program is brought to you in living color on NBC...[fluorish]"

 

[FRM-Yankey]

WNAC-TV (Channel 7, now WHDH-TV) was the first station to broadcast in color in Boston while CBS Color was THE standard for color television in 1952. However, it had a limited audience due to the lack of CBS Color sets available in the market (if any were available). The CBS color system was totally incompatable with the existing NTSC standard for television. SO, it died mainly due to the above stated reason and due to the Korean War effort which banned the use of materiel for color TV manufacturing. (WNAC-TV would not broadcast in color again until 1964 when the new Newton, MA transmitter site was put on the air.) CBS got an "easy-out" with their mechanical scan color system due to the incompatablity with existing sets. NBC continued their research for color TV throughout the Korean War and eventually won the color contest with their compatable color system, the system that until this year was THE system (NTSC/RCA) for color TV. 55 years..... not to shabby. WBZ-TV was the second station to broadcast in color in 1954, though it was through the NBC network. Local color in Boston would not be available until November 26th, 1957 when the original WHDH-TV Channel 5 would sign-on with a full-color facility from day one.

Peter you have brought back memories to me on this, i remember the old Super Circus and Bonanza on Sunday nights at my Aunts house as they had the only color tv set in our Family....

 

[Skynet74]

I was so excited to see Gilligan's Island in color. After seeing the Skipper and Gilligan in grey shirts for so long, I was happy to see that they were actually wearing Red and Blue!

 

[cdsull502]

My first memory of color TV in Boston was in 1961 or 1962---visiting a neighbor had just bought a color TV--very expensive at the time. On WHDH-TV, I saw a newscast with the late Leo Egan. I was pretty sure that Mr. Egan didn't have green skin in real life, but he did on that TV!

 

[pqgeorge]

My first memory of color TV in Boston was in 1961 or 1962---visiting a neighbor had just bought a color TV--very expensive at the time. On WHDH-TV, I saw a newscast with the late Leo Egan. I was pretty sure that Mr. Egan didn't have green skin in real life, but he did on that TV!

The color TV's were not exactly 100% stable at the time. There were many tubes, many control knob adjustments and they needed plenty of time to "warm up". WHDH-TV (the OLD Channel 5) was a very well engineered color facility since day one (11/26/57). I'm sure they were broadcasting a well calibrated color signal. However, most new color sets (back then) needed some adjustments requiring a TV repair man to visit to "get the color right". After that, it was imperative that the owner should leave the adjustments alone, except for the "HUE" and "COLOR" adjustments. Of course, phantom engineering on the behalf of the owner was a given.

My first exposure to color TV was in early 1967 when WNAC-TV (Channel 7) was running Marvel Comics "Captain America" cartoons every afternoon with a live host, dressed up in full "Captain America" regalia (red, white and blue...... the whole 9 yards worth). I used to watch it at a friend's house every afternoon. They ran a lot of custom promos, in color, for "McHale's Navy" with Carl Ballantine (he played Lester Gruber in the show) during the course of the afternoon. To this day, I wondered who played the "Captain America" host on Channel 7. He was like a cross between Adam West and Bill Shatner (two very over-played actors).

We eventual went color at my home a few years later.

 

[mgpt6]

From TV Guide didnt the old WHDH carry a few NBC's shows that BZ didnt clear. The Tonight Show was one. Not on WBZ until 1965or 66.

 

[pqgeorge]

From TV Guide didnt the old WHDH carry a few NBC's shows that BZ didnt clear. The Tonight Show was one. Not on WBZ until 1965or 66.

That is true! Channel 5 carried "The Tonight Show" for several years. WBZ-TV had a nasty tendency to not carry a lot of NBC's schedule for some reason or another including the "Huntley/Brinkley Report". Another NBC show that aired on Channel 5 was "Meet The Press", which also was aired on Boston's "educational" outlet, WGBH-TV Channel 2 (of course without commercials) as well. Channel 2 carried the entire NBC coverage of President Kennedy's assassination and funeral as well (of course without commercials. NBC and all other networks dropped all commercial content until after the President's funeral).

 

[NHRadio]

1978 was the year my family finally got a color set also...only because our living room set broke beyond repair. It was a used GE, and had terrible issues with the vertical hold circuit as it warmed up.

My family didnt have a color TV set until 1973 .

I got you beat. Our family didn't get a color TV until 1978! I swear that we must have been the last people on Earth to make the switch to color.

 

[KYLEBOOK]

Although WHDH was full-color from their sign-on, does anyone know why they did not begin colorcasting Red Sox games until 1967? I find this odd since NBC was colorcasting World Series games during the 2nd half of the Fifties, and WGN was colorcasting Cubs games by 1962.

 

[mgpt6]

Maybe 4 remote color cameras cost too much until 1967. Old WHDH had 4 RCA TK-43 for Sox games and kept their TK-41s in the studio.