To accommodate “Monitor,” NBC tore up its existing studios on the 5th floor of the RCA Building in New York and created “Radio Central,” the best (for its time) radio facility anywhere.
Radio Central, which NBC called “a listening post of the world,” cost $150,000 — an immense amount in 1955 and the equivalent of about $1.6 million in 2022. It consisted of a mammoth control room, several announce booths and a tape room.
Below are some great pictures of Radio Central — and Monitor communicators — over the years.
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Outside Radio Central, looking in |
Radio Central Studio 5B, where Monitor’s hosts sat. |
 Pat Weaver and Robert Sarnoff looking into Radio Central during a 1955 Monitor broadcast. |
From left: Pat Weaver, Robert Sarnoff, unidentified man and Dave Garroway, inside Radio Central, 1955. |
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From left: Monitor’s first executive producer, Jim Fleming, and communicator Dave Garroway, inside Radio Central, 1955. |
From left: “Miss Monitor” (Tedi Thurman), Ben Grauer and Frank Gallop in Radio Central during a Sunday afternoon segment. |
