CBS New York Video Tape Facilities

In the spring of 1958, the CBS Television Network inaugurated a full schedule of video tape recording activity from a newly completed installation in the Grand Central Terminal Building in New York City. During the ensuing daylight-saving period, these facilities provided service to 98 stations of the CBS Television Network. Combined with the service from the installation already in existence in Hollywood, over 50% of the audience covered by the network received their programming from video tape. Representing a capital investment of over $1,000,000, the New York installation presently is the largest single video tape installation in the world. This paper relates the background which led to the need for these facilities, and describes the technical and operational features of the installation.