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The Moose Club Studios Inside the Paris Theatre

Until its new studios could be completed in Jack London Square, the station would broadcast from the Paris Theatre of the Moose Club on 12th Street in downtown Oakland. The theatre had been vacant for years.

Moose ClubIt was anything but a state-of-the-art facility. The roof leaked onto the stage, which served as the studio. Planks laid on the audience seats served as camera platforms. The control room was located below the stage.

Sound insulation was so minimal that the flushing of the mens' room toilet could be heard from the announcer's booth.

When KTVU-TV first broadcast from the Paris Theatre in Oakland's Moose Club, many commercials were presented "live"--which sometimes could lead to minor disasters.

There was the time a replica of a sponsor's model home was perched at the edge of the stage area. While the announcer was extolling the virtues of house, a section of the old theatre's plaster ceiling fell down and landed precisely in the living room. This looked to the TV audience as though the sponsor's product had just disintegrated.

Although the television pictures originated from the Paris Theatre, KTVU's administrative offices were located at 51 Webster Street, in the building now known as #66 Jack London Square, currently housing the Oakland Tribune.



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