Anyone who loves pre-recorded entertainment will appreciate a visit to the world of broadcasting from yesterday and today at the Paley Center for Media.

More than 140,000 programs are available at the Paley Center. Visitors daily tune into radio broadcasts from the 1920s, watch news from the 1950s, and view classic television that spans from The Honeymooners to The Simpsons. Educational programs that explore and celebrate the creativity and innovations of those who shaped media can be experienced in the Paley Center's theaters and screening rooms.

In 1975 broadcast pioneer and CBS mogul William S. Paley founded the Museum of Broadcasting at 1 East 53^rd St. in Manhattan. His intention was to collect and preserve historic broadcast programming that reflected American culture and make it accessible to the public. Programs were chosen that demonstrated artistic achievement, social impact or historical significance. The name changed to the Museum of Television and Radio in 1990 and the institute moved to 25 West 52^nd St. In 2007 it became the Paley Center for Media to reflect the ongoing changes in the media landscape. The collection has since continued to expand and the center has grown into a cultural destination.

Productions

The Paley Center is located inside a 16-story building in midtown Manhattan and is a one-stop shopping experience for everything broadcast-related. Educational shows and classic TV are presented in the Mark Goodson Theater on the second floor, the Annenberg Foundation Screening and Education Room, and two smaller screening rooms. To keep things fresh, the productions change daily. There may be compilations like Funny Women of Television or episodes of The Muppet Show, The Simpsons and the Carol Burnett Show. Historic footage, such as the Frost/Nixon interviews also regularly appear on the screens.

Live bands perform in the Concourse Theater on the lower level in front of an audience of 200. Some events are recorded, and Web surfers can view them on Yahoo TV and the Paley Center homepage. The Goodson Theater seats 90 and is ideal for small shows. WFAN's Mike and the Mad Dog afternoon sports show broadcast live from the Goodson Theater in December, 2007. The extra space was needed for television cameras.

On the fifth floor is the Ralph Guild Radio Listening Room. In here, visitors wearing private headsets can hear audio clips and radio programs. Selector boxes are used to choose from five programmed channels featuring different series that highlight the diverse themes of the collection. A Toast to Dean Martin, Salute to Sonheim and Black Radio: Telling It Like It Was are three of the many programs that can currently be heard.

In 1992 a unique radio studio was built inside the Ralph Guild Listening Room. It was funded by award-winning radio veteran and then Chairman of the Board Ralph C. Guild. Visiting broadcasters now had the ability to conduct remote broadcasts and out-of-town interviews from the Center via ISDN. Since then, the studio has played host to music groups, U.S. presidents and hundreds of radio personalities. Some are regular clients, but many are one-time-only events.

New equipment

The studio was a resounding success. But a decade later, the early-1990s equipment was worn out. Technology had changed. With new equipment, the studio could better serve the radio stations that relied on it for broadcasting. And maybe sound a whole lot better, too.

All the old stuff had to go: the mixing console, Tascam DA-30 DAT machine, and Telos One and Zephyr. Making things worse, the mic picked up the room's air conditioning noise. Sound insulation for the ceiling was needed. Some of the building's exhaust fans were old or inadequate and had to be replaced.

In 2007 plans were enacted to redesign the equipment layout and improve sound quality without knocking down any walls. Doug Warner, Paley Center director of engineering, took the helm as project manager. Daking Plus donated the audio equipment and chipped in to help.

The process took only three months and installation was a breeze. That August, the ribbon was cut on the rebuilt Ralph Guild Radio Studio. The doors were open to radio hosts from across the region and around the world.

Staff and visitors find the new furniture comfortable and the equipment easy to use. The real magic, though, is created behind the scenes. The goal was to bring the studio up to date given the needs of the Paley Center. A new Sierra Automated Systems Rubicon SL-16 audio console takes the place of the old board. RJ-21 and CAT 5 cables are terminated on SAS/Krone blocks, which made installation easy. Because SAS does not offer a mic preamp for that console, a Daking Mic-Pre IV preamp has been integrated into the system. It takes just one rack-space and delivers four channels of high-performance, Class A preamplification. Geoff Daking and David Thibodeau of Daking Plus arranged for the Rubicon's RS-485 protocol, MIDI and USB to digitally control the Mic-Pre IV. The front panel of the Rubicon console easily loads any of the Mic-Pre IV settings with a simple click of a button.