Preserving Local Television: Prioritization by Format

Abstract

Local television stations have covered and continue to cover both regional and national stories and events throughout the history of this mass communication medium and are an important part of our global cultural heritage. Efforts must be increased to save what is left of historic broadcast video before it is lost forever. Given the limited resources of archival repositories, preservation efforts should currently be focused on the oldest and most at-risk video format, 2” Quadruplex video (2” Quad). The following is a brief history of this video format and how a small, public university in a working class American city has taken steps to initiate preservation and access to its 2” Quad holdings.