This morning, it was the telephone lady. This afternoon, it is a jazz singer.
Well, the former site of the Jazz Singer. According to the LA Times (who should know), Tribune has put the KTLA Studio property on Sunset Blvd on the block. The 10-acre lot just west of the Hollywood Freeway was the site of the first Warner Bros. Studio. It is where talking pictures were born when Al Jolson recorded his first words in “The Jazz Singer” in 1927. In later years, Warner used the site to produce musicals and dramas. Paramount Pictures Corp. purchased the studio in 1954 as an annex its studios a few blocks to the south Van Ness and Melrose avenues. In 1956, KTLA, then owned by Paramount, moved onto the lot, according to KTLA. Cowboy star Gene Autry bought KTLA and the studio from Paramount in 1964. It was sold to Tribune Broadcasting in 1986.
The city is hoping it remains a studio. It likely will: Even after a sale, KTLA would remain at its current location as a tenant for an indefinite period, but they hope to start planning for a new facility either somewhere else on the site or nearby. Additionally, television shows filmed at production facilities on the property include “Judge Judy,” “Judge Joe Brown” and “Hannah Montana.”
KTLA, of course, is one of the first TV stations in Los Angeles. They just lost their senior TV newsman, Hal Fishman.
I should note this property isn’t too far from a new high school being built in Hollywood… on the former site of the KTTV studios and the former home of “The Mighty Met”, KMET.
