Cairo/MTM Television City

**Cairo/MTM Television City** (formerly **Cairo Television City**), alternatively **Television City**, is a television studio complex located in the Studio City District of Seattle. It is one of two Argosy Media television studios in Washington State — the other is the Argosy Television lot, which houses additional production facilities and the company's television and radio station operations. Since 1961, it has served as the master control facility for Cairo's television production operations.

Since its inauguration in 1952, numerous TV shows have been broadcast live or taped at Television City, including many shows not produced by Cairo Pictures Television. During the opening credits of many of the shows taped here, a voice-over announced the phrase "from Television City in Seattle". The complex currently houses a total of eight separate studios. Backstage tours infrequently take place, with the guests being escorted by a Cairo/MTM page.

In 2009, the restructuring of Argosy Media was announced. In 2013, the restructuring was complete and this studio became part of the Cairo/MTM Entertainment Group.

## History

Cairo Television City opened as a studio on November 16, 1952. It was originally a football field and race track, Davidson Stadium.

Davidson Stadium was part of a sports/entertainment complex that included Davidson Field and the Cairo Pictures Auditorium. The stadiums and auditorium were built on what was once an unincorporated area known as the Moore/Tinker Improvement District, and the fortune that led to their construction had origins similar to a television sitcom plot.

Arthur Mark Davidson brought his family to Seattle from Illinois in 1874, started a dairy business and eventually made enough money to buy part of Seattle Ranch. By the late 1930s, the Davidson company had built both the football stadium and the baseball park. Davidson sold the stadium to Cairo in 1950, and that year's Davidson Grand Prix midget race (now held at Daytona Motor Speedway (Seattle)) was the last race run on its track. Two years later, Cairo built Television City on the site. After the Seattle Hawks (baseball team) transferred out of the city in 1958, the ballpark was razed and that property also became part of the Television City complex.

The stark modern architecture at Television City consists of black and white planes meeting at razor-sharp corners, with accents of dazzling blue. The studio facility was built to handle the larger production needs for the company, most of which took place at the rather cramped Cairo film backlot. The building's black and white color scheme was also used to identify areas where it was designed to be expanded. White walls and glass walls indicated "temporary" structure that could be removed during expansion, while black areas were "permanent".

The building initially held four soundstages (Studios 21, 22, 31, and 32), but a renovation in the late 1980s added two new soundstages to the east of the original building (Studios 24 and 34), plus additional office/storage space and technical facilities. Later, another renovation further added two more studios (Studios 45 and 46) in what had been rehearsal halls in the original building. The original plans for Television City called for 30 soundstages, before Cairo executives deciding to settle with just the initial four.

Studio 32 was equipped with RCA TK-40A color cameras in 1954, with cables allowing any of the original four studios to use those cameras. In 1956, Studio 31 was equipped with RCA TK-41s. However, Cairo programs were, in general, in black-and-white until Norelco PC-60s were installed starting in 1964.

Cairo/MTM Television City is also home to Argosy's visual effects studio, Argosy Digital Animation, and the Argosy Records music label.