The Paley Center for Media, Broadcasting museum in Midtown Manhattan, US
The Paley Center for Media is a nonprofit institution in Midtown Manhattan dedicated to preserving and presenting broadcasting history. The collection holds 150,000 television and radio programs spanning more than seven decades of American media production.
William S. Paley opened the Museum of Broadcasting in 1976 on East 53rd Street with an initial investment of two million dollars. The museum later changed its name and moved to larger quarters to house the growing collection.
The name honors William S. Paley, founder and longtime head of the CBS network, whose collecting passion laid the foundation for the archive. Visitors today select programs at interactive stations and watch them in small screening rooms, with choices ranging from early radio broadcasts to recent television series.
The center opens Wednesday through Sunday between noon and 6 PM and provides access to digital archives through computer stations. Visitors can watch programs in small screening rooms assigned on request.
The oldest television program in the archive dates from 1939 and shows NBC's production of The Streets of New York as a silent film. This early recording documents the experimental beginnings of American television before World War II.
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