Very Old Pictures from KRLD Radio and TV
Several years ago I rescued a number of "medium format" negatives from the trash at KDFW-TV.  They were being thrown away, along with the rusty old file cabinet where they resided, because the old (obsolete) film lab on the second floor was being transformed into a graphics design area.

For those of you who are not familiar with the television business, I should explain that the people at TV stations sometimes throw away large quantities of cool stuff without asking if anyone wants it.  (I think all TV stations do this, to some extent.)  Apparently eBay is out of the question because of bookkeeping concerns:  Certain assets are retained until they depreciate sufficiently, and then they must be destroyed.  At least that's the way I heard it.

The result of this mode of operation is that entire tape machines, microwave antennas, lighting panels, audio consoles, tons of office furniture and miles of copper wire are just thrown away.  One weekend, a few years ago, I saw three dumpsters full of old camera cables.  (I try to recycle as much as I can, because I've heard that copper mines are really bad places to work.)   Old pieces of equipment are locked away and heavily guarded one day, and in the dumpster the next day, without regard for their value to anyone else.  I've seen this happen five or six times in the last twenty years, and it's pretty sad every time.  Apparently the business has to be run this way, but it seems aggressively wasteful.

Anyway I took several old negatives home and stored them, not really knowing if I would ever have them printed.  (I couldn't really tell exactly what the pictures showed, but thought they'd be better off in a museum than a landfill.)  As it turned out, I never did have them printed.  In the intervening years, the Internet became popular and scanners were invented; specifically, scanners that can convert a photographic negative into a computer-readable file.  It isn't necessary to go out an buy such a scanner, because several companies can be found on the internet that will scan stuff for you.  All you do is send them your negatives, slides or prints, and they scan them and put the resulting files on a CDROM.

This is an unpaid advertisement I happened to select a place called Dig My Pics.  Their prices were competitive and the scans look good, even though a few of the negatives were overexposed or underexposed.  Turnaround time in my case was a couple of weeks.

The pictures were scanned at 1000 pixels per inch, which resulted in TIFF files of about 20 megabytes for each picture.  I could have specified 2000 or even 3000 ppi, but the resulting files would have been colossal and I'm not sure if much more detail would have been gained.


Disclaimers:

Of course, all of the terms and conditions of our general disclaimer apply to this page.

I shouldn't have to say this, but please note that  akdart.com  is in no way affiliated, associated, or in partnership with the past, present or future owners of KRLD (AM), KRLD-TV, or KDFW-TV.  I am speaking on behalf of myself only, and the opinions expressed herein are mine alone.

While I have made reasonable efforts to ensure the accuracy of the information found here, and while I naturally intend for the information on this page to be accurate, beneficial and informative, I do not guarantee that this information is without error, nor do I make any other representation, certification, warranty or guarantee that the information on this page is accurate, complete, understandable, verifiable, correct, and completely free of technical inaccuracies, factual errors, or typographical errors.  In particular, I make no guarantees that dates specified are accurate or that specific people or locations have been correctly identified.

 This page is protected as a collective work or compilation under U.S. copyright and other laws and treaties.  You may not use, copy, reproduce, transfer, create derivative works from, distribute or republish the material on this page for commercial purposes without permission.  I know you wouldn't, of course, but it had to be said.  Non-commercial, private and personal use is allowed, within reason.  For example, if you print out one of these pictures and hang it on the wall in your home or office, that's perfectly okay.


 Please note:   The pictures are now displayed on a series of smaller pages, instead of being lumped together on one excessively large page.  Here are your choices:

Pictures pertaining to KRLD Radio.

Pictures of the first videotape machines at KRLD-TV.

Control rooms and studios of KRLD-TV.

The Ampex AVR-1 demonstration on July 10, 1971.

KRLD-TV News personalities and publicity photos.

The downtown Dallas skyline including then-and-now comparisons.

Pictures of the Cedar Hill Tower and the surrounding area.

RCA Broadcast News, October 1955  Includes a couple of lengthy articles about the fabrication and construction of the Cedar Hill tower.

Other old pictures including pictures pertaining to the Dallas Times Herald.

NFL Coaches Meeting in 1963.  Famous faces from 50 years ago.

The Charley Dobkins Collection.  This new page is just a sample of the pictures that were just recently sent to me by KRLD-TV engineer Charley Dobkins.  Great stuff!

The Gene Dimock Collection.  Photos sent in by Gene Dimock's son, Jim.

The Richard Bauer Collection.  Updated 11/27/2009.

KRLD-TV Monoscope Test Pattern.  Two artifacts found recently at the KDFW-TV transmitter site.

Leslie Turner's Old Pictures from KRLD.

 New:   The Richard Bauer Collection — Part 2.


Here's a sample

Eddie Barker This is one of six pictures of Eddie Barker in the newsroom.  At the time this picture was taken, the newsroom was in the basement, directly under its current location.

What is conspicuously absent in this picture?  This appears to be a video-free zone.  There are no TV sets, no video monitors, and certainly no computer terminals anywhere, and the only wires in sight are telephone cords and the power cords for the electric typewriters.  Assuming they had just cleaned up the place before this picture was taken, it still appears that today's "paperless" newsroom uses about 500 times as much paper as the 1964 newsroom.

(See more of these at the bottom of this page.)


are always welcome.  I really appreciate all the positive feedback and information I have received already.  I have received email from several giants of the broadcast business, which has been great fun.


If you like to study broadcast history, be sure to see my page about The EBS Authenticator Word List.


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Updated August 30, 2010.
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