BT Memories

The spirits that resided within those old walls included Garry Moore, Arthur Godfrey, John Glenn, Dwight D. Eisenhour, Mike Douglas, Matt Dillon, Lyndon Johnson, Pat Lee, Lucy Ricardo, Arthur Smith, Eric Severeid, Captain Kangaroo, Betty Feezor, Lee Harvey Oswald, Ed Sullivan, Alfred Hitchcock, Elvis, Betty Furness, Alan Newcomb, Walter Cronkite...and countless others. After signoff, in the spooky darkness, they would all come out and play, interrupted only by Mr. Vandiver, or some other night watchman, as he made his rounds.

Consider Andy Anderson (shown in foreground) and all the others who sat in this chair for eight hours every day, day after day, year after year, absorbing the coverage of great events, the hundreds of shows and the tens of thousands of commercials. How did they block this kaleidoscope of sights and sounds from their dreams? How many times did they tense up at this: "We interrupt this broadcast to bring you a special news bulletin..."

What was a master control engineer called, and what were his duties? We asked Bill Napier, head of engineering at Channel 3 from the mid '80s until 1999:

"The Master Control Engineer was called 'The Master Control Engineer.' Their duties varied depending on the regime, but in general they did the actual on-air switching between programs, commercials and network. Their 'switcher' was the last one in the line to the microwave that sent the signal to Spencer Mountain. They had 'the final say' before the signal was sent to the 'the Mountain.'' (Can’t you hear George Reynolds saying that?)

"They kept the log and signed on and off that log. They 'shaded' – adjusted video – on the film chain and VTR cameras, and sometimes the studio cameras as well. They 'rode level' on audio and had the final knob for that too.

"They had 'authority' over all other people’s decisions because they had their finger on 'The Button.'

"They all had First Class FCC Radiotelephone Licenses - the 'union card' that kept mere mortals out of engineering. That was a hard test back when they all got it. Yeah, I had one, but I think the test got easier in the 60’s.

"This picture looks like it was taken after the 'first rebuild.' The control consoles were part of the 1960s RCA 'New Look' for all the equipment. Powder Blue and Silver as opposed to the darker 1950s black and white equipment and racks. It appears the controls on the right side of the picture are for two groups of 3 RCA TK-42 'New Look' color cameras. (Worst camera ever built in any century. It was designed by a committee of 'suits' in Camden, NJ to go head-to-head with the new Plumbicon PC-60 (not 70) cameras. Made terrible pictures.)

In addition to Futrel "Andy" Anderson, other master control engineers from the 1950s to the '90s were Wade Lawrence, Sonny Howell, Bob Davis, Jud Gregory and Jack Waynick. In the photo's background, from left: Clif Livingston, Gil Caldwell and Lee Jenkins.

If there was one area at the old WBTV where spirits lived, it surely was Master Control.