Teletape Studios

Teletape Studios was a group of television studios and related production facilities in Manhattan, New York City. The operation was associated with Reeves Communications Corporation and combined studio space with the technical capabilities of companies involved in sound recording, video post-production, remote television production, and studio operations. It emerged in 1974 through the merger of Reeves Sound Services and Tele-tape Productions. Reeves Sound Services traced its corporate lineage to Reeves Soundcraft, the sound-services business founded by Hazard E. Reeves, while Tele-tape Productions was a New York company known for video remote trucks and studio facilities. Rather than functioning as a consumer-facing entertainment brand, Teletape was primarily an infrastructure and services business for television producers, broadcasters, and program makers. Its importance came from the facilities it operated or used in Manhattan and from the productions made there. The studios occupied buildings with earlier histories in American broadcasting and theater, including former CBS facilities and sites that had served vaudeville, theater, network television, and public-television production. This gave Teletape a role in New York's television ecosystem during the period when studio-based programming, videotape production, and remote-broadcast technology were expanding. The best-known facilities associated with Teletape included the Ed Sullivan Theater, also known as CBS Studio 50; the Second Stage, formerly CBS Studio 72; and the Third Stage, formerly CBS Studio 58 and later identified with Studio 55. These locations hosted a broad range of television work. The Ed Sullivan Theater was used by Teletape during the 1980s for productions including episodes of Kate & Allie. The Second Stage had previously been used for major CBS and educational-television programs, and its Teletape-era or associated credits included Sesame Street, The Electric Company, 3-2-1 Contact, Search for Tomorrow, Love, Sidney, and Kate & Allie. The Third Stage was associated with programs including Sesame Street and The Dick Cavett Show. The facilities also illustrate the changing physical landscape of New York television. The Second Stage building was demolished in 1986, with its facade retained, while the Third Stage site was later razed and replaced by the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater's Joan Weill Center for Dance. The Ed Sullivan Theater eventually returned to CBS control in 1993 and subsequently became the home of The Late Show, ending its period as a Teletape-associated facility. Unitel Video purchased Teletape's studio business and assets in late 1986. Unitel continued operating the facilities under its control until at least 1993. Because the available reference material does not establish a later independent Teletape corporate operation, the brand is best treated as a defunct or absorbed studio-services identity rather than an active contemporary company. Its historical significance lies in its role as a New York television-production platform and in the continuity it provided between older network studios, educational television, and 1980s filmed and videotaped programming.

Teletape Studios developed within the New York television-production industry by bringing together two complementary technical businesses. In 1974, Reeves Communications Corporation merged Reeves Sound Services with Tele-tape Productions. Reeves Sound Services was a sound and video post-production company descended from Reeves Soundcraft, the business founded by Hazard E. Reeves. Tele-tape Productions contributed experience in video remote production, mobile television trucks, and studio facilities. The resulting Teletape operation therefore combined production space with the technical services needed to create and finish television programs. The company operated in Manhattan, where television production had long been concentrated in a network of theaters, soundstages, and converted performance venues. Several facilities associated with Teletape had significant pre-existing histories. The Ed Sullivan Theater, identified in the reference material as CBS Studio 50, had been the home of The Ed Sullivan Show. Teletape used the facility during the 1980s, including for episodes of Kate & Allie. The building later returned to CBS control in 1993 and subsequently became the studio for The Late Show. Another important location was the Second Stage, or CBS Studio 72, on Broadway near 81st Street. The building originated as a vaudeville theater constructed in 1916 and later became part of CBS's New York studio network. It was used for CBS's early color-television work and became associated with programs such as Sesame Street, The Electric Company, 3-2-1 Contact, Search for Tomorrow, Love, Sidney, and Kate & Allie. The site was demolished in 1986 apart from its facade, reflecting the redevelopment pressures affecting older Manhattan production properties. The Third Stage, or CBS Studio 58, also had a layered history. The building began as the Chaloner Theater in 1923, was later reduced and renamed the Town Theatre, and subsequently became WNET Channel 13's Studio 55. In the Teletape and Unitel period it was associated with Studio 55 and served as a home for programs including Sesame Street and The Dick Cavett Show. The structure was ultimately demolished, and the site was replaced by the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater's Joan Weill Center for Dance. Teletape's ownership changed in the late 1980s. Unitel Video purchased the studio operation and its assets in late 1986. The available reference indicates that Unitel operated the facilities until at least 1993. This transaction marked the end of Teletape as an independently identified studio group in the supplied history, although the facilities continued to have uses under other operators and owners. The return of the Ed Sullivan Theater to CBS control in 1993 further separated one of the most recognizable Teletape-associated locations from the brand. Teletape's historical role was consequently less that of a programming label than of a behind-the-scenes production platform. Its studios supported network, syndicated, daytime, educational, talk, and situation-comedy television, while its corporate origins connected it to the development of remote-video and post-production services. The brand is no longer documented as an active independent operator in the supplied material, but its facilities remain part of the history of Manhattan television production.

• 1993

  CBS regained the Ed Sullivan Theater

  [1]Teletape Studiosen.wikipedia.org

  CBS regained control of the former CBS Studio 50 facility, ending its Teletape-associated period there.

• 1986

  Second Stage site demolished and Teletape assets sold

  [1]Teletape Studiosen.wikipedia.org

  The Second Stage structure was demolished except for its facade, and Unitel Video acquired Teletape's studio operation and assets later that year.

• 1974

  Teletape Studios established

  [1]Teletape Studiosen.wikipedia.org

  Reeves Communications formed the Teletape Studios group by merging Reeves Sound Services and Tele-tape Productions.

• 1954

  CBS acquired the future Second Stage facility

  [1]Teletape Studiosen.wikipedia.org

  CBS acquired the former vaudeville venue for use as a major New York color-television studio.

• 1923

  Third Stage building constructed as the Chaloner Theater

  [1]Teletape Studiosen.wikipedia.org

  The building later associated with CBS Studio 58 and Teletape's Third Stage was constructed as the Chaloner Theater.

• 1916

  Second Stage building constructed as a vaudeville theater

  [1]Teletape Studiosen.wikipedia.org

  The future CBS Studio 72 and Teletape Second Stage site was built as a vaudeville theater associated with the Keith-Orpheum circuit.

A New York television-production infrastructure and services operator, combining studio facilities with technical capabilities in remote video, sound, and post-production.

• Studio operations · 1974

  Television studio facilities

  Teletape's core offering was access to Manhattan television studios used for network, syndicated, educational, daytime, talk, and situation-comedy production. The facilities provided production space within buildings that had previously served as theaters, CBS studios, and public-television locations.

• Broadcast production services

  Remote video production

  Through the Tele-tape Productions heritage, the business included video remote-production capabilities and television trucks. These services supported production outside a conventional studio and complemented Teletape's fixed-stage operations.

• Post-production services · 1974

  Sound and video post-production

  The Reeves Sound Services side of the operation supplied sound and video post-production expertise. This technical capability formed part of the business created by the 1974 merger and helped position Teletape as more than a space-rental company.

• 1986

  Unitel Video acquisitionM&A

  Background

  Teletape operated a group of New York television studios and associated production assets.

  Action taken

  Unitel Video bought the studios and assets in late 1986.

  Aftermath

  Unitel continued operating the facilities until at least 1993, while individual sites later changed ownership, use, or physical form.

  Source

• 1974

  Creation of Teletape through corporate mergerM&A

  Background

  Reeves Communications controlled businesses covering sound and video post-production, remote production, and studio facilities.

  Action taken

  The company merged Reeves Sound Services with Tele-tape Productions to create the Teletape Studios group.

  Aftermath

  The combined operation provided Manhattan studio facilities and related television-production capabilities under a single identity.

  Source

• 1993

  CBS regained control of the Ed Sullivan Theater[1]Teletape Studiosen.wikipedia.org

  Other

  CBS regained control of the former CBS Studio 50 facility, which later became associated with The Late Show.

• 1986

  Unitel Video acquired Teletape's studios and assets[1]Teletape Studiosen.wikipedia.org

  M&A

  Unitel Video purchased Teletape's studio operation and assets in late 1986 and continued operating the facilities for several years.

• 1974

  Teletape Studios was formed through the merger of Reeves Sound Services and Tele-tape Productions[1]Teletape Studiosen.wikipedia.org

  M&A · Other

  Reeves Communications Corporation formed the Teletape Studios group by combining a sound and video post-production company with a New York video-remote and studio-facility business.

1. 1Teletape Studiosen.wikipedia.org