On October 17, 1938, NBC opened their new radio (and later television) studios on the northeast corner of Sunset Blvd and Vine St in Hollywood on land that used to house the Famous Players-Lasky studios.
Corner of Sunset and Vine looking north during WWII with streetlamps blacked out:
NBC moved out of the studios in 1962 and relocated to Burbank. The building was demolished in 1964 to make way for a bank.
Love these – and love you, L&M
I worked at the NBC script department from 1946 to 1949 typing and mimeographing scripts. What an exciting place to work, seeing all the celebrities as they came to perform on the radio with a live audience. We received gifts from some of the stars during the Christmas Holidays. Your photographs are a wonderful memory for me and my family
Did you??? What wonderful memories you must have! One of my holy grails will be to find a color photo of that two-story mural in the foyer of the NBC studios at Sunset and Vine. If you ever come across one, I’d love to see it because I imagine it as an explosion of color.
I use to take care of the Pacific Pioneer Broadcasters Archives in the basement of Home Savings, later Wa-Mu, then Chase, at Sunset & Vine. One of the items in our collection was the scale model of NBC that was on display in the lobby of the old building from 1938 until the building was demolished. The model was built by one of NBC’s audio engineers. In 1938, when RCA bought the whole block, from Sunset to Selma, they supposedly paid $200,000 for it. I remember walking along Vine St., when NBC was being demolished, behind it, the wrecking company was selling fixtures from the building. I didn’t see anything interesting out there, except a very long row of toilets & I had this weird thought, what famous people used those vintage articles of plumbing years ago? In 1964, no one cared about saving historical buildings like NBC. Today, if NBC was going to be demolished, I’m sure many steps would be taken to preserve it & probably repurpose it, the way they did Columbia Square. I remember the wonderful mural in the lobby & I wondered what happened to it when demolition occurred. There was a rumor that it was saved, don’t know how that was accomplished. The photo showing the wrecking ball hitting the building shows some of the lobby interior & it appears the mural is gone? Martin, the photos you’ve posted are wonderful, thank you. When I was 5 months old, my family moved from Philadelphia to Burbank in 1947. Over the years, we made many trips, over the hill, to Hollywood, the fun we use to have.
Hi Ron, and thanks for stopping by and taking the time to share your memories with us. I absolutely agree that it’s such a shame that the building wasn’t preserved and reused for some other purpose. I’m quite jealous that you got to see the NBC mural in person. One of my holy grails is to find a color photo of it. If you ever come across one, I’d LOVE to see it! I’ve never heard that it was preserved and has never been mentioned in any of my travels around the internet, but oh boy, wouldn’t that be great if some forward-thinking person did save it. We can but dream!
Martin, I used a colorizing app just to see what it would do to the B&W photo of the mural. I’d send it to you, but I don’t see a way to get that photo to you on this reply. Here’s a rumor about NBC at Sunset & Vine. Supposedly under the parking lot of the bank is buried old broadcast equipment used as land fill. As far as the mural being preserved, if memory serves me correctly, that story was told to me by a friend who was an audio engineer at NBC, Hollywood. I have no idea how they ever removed it from the walls if it was painted on there.
Mr. Wolf. My Grandfather was William “Bill” Ervin who retired at NBC after 34 years there. Before that he was at Radio City in New York.
He lived in Studio City and I believe for a short while my father Dennis Ervin worked there as well.
Why I’m interested is to try and find out what specifically he did there. You were there when he was and I’m wondering if you knew him?
Dennis, When I was young, in the 1950’s, we saw a TV broadcast from NBC Sunset & Vine. I was in the lobby a few times. I worked in the basement of the bank when the Pacific Pioneer Broadcasters had their archives and clubroom there, I was the caretaker for 36 years. I’m sorry I don’t recall knowing your grandfather or father, they may have been members of PPB. PPB was made up of over a 1000 people from the broadcast industry, membership required 20 years in the industry. I was their only employee.
No biggie, it was just a long shot to try and find some information. I appreciate that you responded.
I grew up hearing stories about some of the projects and the who’s who of the time and the parties they had at grandparents house.
What ever position he held he knew alot of the big names. Mr Hope ( whom I met acouple times once at an impromptu stand-up at King Salmon Ak while stationed there in the 80s) Mr. Crosby, Mr. Carson, they knew Mr. Disney, Ms. Funitchelo, and Mr. Martin and Louis, just to drop a few names. Hind sight so many questions I wish I had known to ask. I really do appreciate your time to answer though. Respectfully Dennis Ervin
Dennis, Thank you for the response. There was a PPB member who could have answered your questions, unfortunately he passed away years ago. He was Bob Jensen, he was an audio engineer for NBC in Hollywood and Burbank, he spent 38 years with them, he told many great stores about those days. So many of those people from the broadcasting industry are gone, there’s very few left to ask questions to about what it was like back then.
Hey Dennis,
I was looking through this thread of NBC photos and just happened to see your post. This is Jim Ervin — Bill was my grandfather as well (my dad is Gerald Ervin, your dad’s brother). I’m sure he’d enjoy chatting with you about Bill, so if you’d like, reach out and we can see about connecting the dots: 323-924-1095 (Extension 707).
Any idea what the square footage was of the NBC facility?. Obviously the bank that replaced it was tiny in comparison. I believe one reason that NBC foolishly demolished the building was due to their inability to secure an AM-FM O&O in what was then market #3. Jump up 25 years or so and they outright sold the radio division, as they were consistently 3rd among the the three radio networks. Those stations went on in new ownership to generate 100’s of million dollars over the years. The other puzzle is why no one apparently at NBC had the foresight to professionally photograph the interior of the facility, utilizing color film.?
That’s a good question, Wade, but I don’t know the square footage of the facility. I was hoping this might be able to tell us – https://classicsailboats.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/CBS-West-Coast-Studios-History.pdf – but alas not. And boy, oh boy, I sure do wish somebody had thought to photograph in color that wonderful mural in the foyer. Finding a color photo of it is one of my holy grails, so if you ever come across one, please send it along!
In the Pacific Pioneer Broadcasters Archives, formerly located in the basement of the bank at Sunset & Vine, we had a set of blueprints of the NBC studios, they would have answered the question of the square footage. NBC had nothing to do with the demolition of the studios & offices. The property was sold to Howard Ahmanson, who’s company operated Home Savings. After NBC left, one of the studios was used for a live performances, hosted by Francis X. Bushman, called “How Movies Are Made”, I think admission was charged for these shows. When the Ahmanson Co. received the property tax bill for NBC & the RCA Victor building, they had the buildings demolished in 1964. In 1949, NBC built studio E&F, for television broadcasts. The radio studios couldn’t accommodate the lighting for TV.
Thanks for that background info, Ron. I didn’t know that nugget about the Bushman show, or about the room-for-lighting issue.
Maybe I read this wrong. Sorry 😞
I thought I saw you were there in 64.
Small words old eyes.
My father was Director of local and network news and would take my brothers and myself to work with him on some summer days in the late 50’s and early 60’s. I have so many memories of being in that building, exploring empty studios, talking to the news camera men and many others. I remember when my father was moved to Burbank and I was sad to know the building was gone.
Hi Kirby, and thanks for stopping by and sharing your memories with us. I’m actually quite jealous that you got to experience that building. It’s one of my favorites of all of LA’s lost buildings.
One of my holy grails is to find a color photograph of that huge mural in the foyer. Even in black and white it looks specular, I can only imagine what it must have looked like in real life. I don’t suppose you remember it clearly enough to at least describe the color palette?
No, I don’t recall it. The last time I was there I was 9 years old. We generally entered building from the parking lot side, so I saw that front entrance only once or twice. My memories of those visits to NBC in Hollywood remain very special and magical to me, seeing it all through the eyes of a child. Seeing the Capitol Records building was how I knew we were getting close when we drove there. The collection you have posted here is wonderful and very much appreciated.
Was that zipper above the building in the late 1940’s/early 1950’s a Trans-Lux Flashcast, or from Naxon Telesign? Can’t tell from the nighttime pics. Any film footage shot in that time period which would have shown them? I know it was deactivated and taken down within a few years of Channel 4 becoming KRCA in 1954.
Hi Martin;
THANKS FOR THE GREAT JOB OF COLLECTING PICTURES OF THE OLD NBC RADIO CITY. ABOUT 20 YEARS AGO, IN AN OLD RECORDING STUDIO, SOMEONE SHOWED ME A COPY OF AN ARCHITECTURAL DIGEST FROM EITHER THE LATE 30S OR EARLY 40S . THERE WERE PICTURES OF THE INTERIOR OF THE STUDIOS IN ALL THEIR ART DECO GLORY. THERE MUST BE A OLD COPY AROUND SOMEWHERE
Thanks for stopping by, Andre. I’ll have to see if I can track down that “Architectural Digest”!
Thank you for these incredible photos! I love seeing them!
I’m glad you enjoy them, Kate. Thanks for stopping by!
I will never understand how the citizens of Hollywood could ever allow a gem of history like this building to be torn down like it was some eyesore!!!! It was such a streamline art deco design and just one more icon that is now forever gone. No imagination in what is being built today, just a bunch of steel and glass. I could just cry.
Anybody know how I can find out information about what past employees did at NBC during the 40s-60s?