Color broadcasting timeline

[Steve D.]

Here's a bit more info on the 1958 American Bandstand color telecasts that originated from WFIL-TV in Philadelphia. "It was briefly shot in color in 1958 when WFIL-TV began experimenting with the then-new technology. Due to a combination of factors that included the size of the studio, the need to have as much space available for the teenagers to dance, and the size of the color camera compared to the black-and-white models, it was only possible to have one RCA TK-41 where three RCA TK-10s[1] had been used before. WFIL went back to the TK-10s two weeks later when ABC refused to carry the color signal and management realized that the show lost something without the extra cameras."

So, it seems ABC, while carrying AB on its network, did not provide a color feed from WFIL-TV. I doubt that in 1958 many ABC affliates were equipped to transmit a color signal in any case. Must have been tough to shoot a teen dance show with only one camera. The first color program on the ABC-TV network was the Jetsons which premiered in Sept. 1962.

-Steve D.