Merchandise Mart: Difference between revisions

Before the location even opened, [[NBC]] announced plans to build studios in the Mart. When opened on October 20, 1930, the nineteenth-floor location covered {{convert|65000|sqft|m2|-2}} and supported a variety of live broadcasts including those requiring orchestras. [[WLS_WENR (AMChicago)#WENR|WENR]] and [[WMAQ (AM)|WMAQ]] broadcast from the location. Expanded in 1935, with office space in the previously unoccupied tower, the additional {{convert|11500|sqft|m2|-1}} provided room for an [[Organ (music)|organ]] chamber, two echo rooms, and a total of 11 studios. A staff of more than 300 produced up to 1,700 programs each month, including ''[[Amos 'n' Andy]]''.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.richsamuels.com/nbcmm/studiof.html |title=WMAQ Studio F| publisher=Samuels| access-date=April 25, 2010}}</ref><ref name="Tour">{{cite web| url=http://www.richsamuels.com/nbcmm/trguide.html |title=A Tour of the 1930 NBC Studios|publisher=Samuels| access-date=April 25, 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.richsamuels.com/nbcmm/birdseye.html| title=Birdseye, cut-away view of the NBC studios| publisher=Samuels| access-date=25 April 2010}}</ref>