The London Palladium Show

[PHNEILL]

The 1966 Palladium color shows are on 525 line NTSC. They were made for the US market. This was confirmed to me by someione on the production staff of a Channel 4 programme which used clips from the tape.

The only 405 lines colour tapes which I know of were made by ABC around 1965/66. They were SECAM (the French system) which ABC was experimenting with at that time. SECAM had the advantage that it could be recorded on unmodified monochrome VTRs. ABC used the RCA TR4 and TR 22 Quadruplex machines. This was told to me by Michael Cox who was employed by ABC at the time and heavily involved in their colour experiments. The tapes were wiped shortly after they were made so they nolonger exist.

[H Hartley]

PHNEILL said:

The 1966 Palladium color shows are on 525 line NTSC. They were made for the US market. This was confirmed to me by someione on the production staff of a Channel 4 programme which used clips from the tape.

The only 405 lines colour tapes which I know of were made by ABC around 1965/66. They were SECAM (the French system) which ABC was experimenting with at that time. SECAM had the advantage that it could be recorded on unmodified monochrome VTRs. ABC used the RCA TR4 and TR 22 Quadruplex machines. This was told to me by Michael Cox who was employed by ABC at the time and heavily involved in their colour experiments. The tapes were wiped shortly after they were made so they nolonger exist.

Some of the later London Palladium shows were made on 525 line and had American hosts which as you say was to intended to try and sell to the US market.

However you must be joking if you think the colour show like on 20 march 66 was intended for the American market. Just what would have American audiences made of a Liverpool accented compare like Jimmy Tarbuck or the Australian group 'The Seekers' ?
Americans would have thought it came from the planet Mars not the UK.

Yes ABC uk did favour Secam . While the BBC and Rediffusion favoured NTSC . Indeed the BBC helped Ampex improve color NTSC recording, which helped usher in the American color revolution of 1966.
Of course ATV favoured anything that paid money.

[gary]

yes the 1966 colour show did go on ebay for £240