Oldest surviving color videotape recording..WRC-TV dedication May 22, 1958

This is the oldest surviving color videotape recording in existence. President Dwight D. Eisenhower in color for the first time as he dedicates NBC's WRC-TV color television studios in Washington D.C. on May 22, 1958. Bonus videos: NBC peacocks and ABC and CBS color presentation logos from the 1950's-60s. The programs starts in black and white, and switches to color later.

NOTE: Color motion picture film was introduced in the 1920s. Motion picture film is a completely different medium than electronic videotape. Black and white videotape recording from electronic television cameras was invented by Ampex Corporation and introduced in 1956. Color videotape recording from electronic color television cameras was introduced in 1958. This videotape is the oldest surviving color videotape recording.

Gone with the Wind and Wizard of Oz are color motion picture FILMS, for theatrical viewing. This is a TELEVISION program recorded on electronic videotape, a completely difference technology.

Before the invention of videotape, the only way to "record" and preserve an electronic television image was the kinescope process, which involved a motion picture film camera pointing at a television set and filming the television image. The quality was greatly inferior to the actual live television picture. With the invention of videotape by Ampex Corporation in 1956 (and color videotape recording in 1958), the "fidelity" of television programs recorded on videotape was far superior to kinescopes.

Another benefit of videotape was immediate playback, compared to film kinescopes which required processing in a laboratory. And videotape stock could be erased and re-used many times. Unfortunately, this is why there are no color videotapes older than this program. The earliest color tapes were erased and recorded over, lost forever. The only reason this program survived is because two copies were preserved. One copy to the Library of Congress, the other copy was sent to the Eisenhower Library in Kansas.

Also on my YouTube channel: "The Edsel Show" starring Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra, the oldest surviving videotape recording from October 13, 1957 (black and white).    • The Edsel Show - CBS-TV (October 13, ...  

And "An Evening with Fred Astaire," the second oldest color videotape recording in existence from October 17, 1958. https://vimeo.com/261611927