If you haven't seen it, there is a site called the Lost Media Wiki that compiles various forms of entertainment, mostly commonly TV shows that have had their tapes lost. In the world of radio, this could mean DJ talk, artist interviews, community events, live concerts, local ads, and more. In the 1970s, there is currently lots of media that has been recorded yet has bitten the dust, never to see the light of day again, with the possible exceptions if somebody had recorded a reel-to-reel tape, an audio cassette (no video, just sound if it was for TV), primitive videotaping systems like Sony U-Matic, or late in the decade, on a VCR.

Unfortunately, until the very end of the '70s, tape was expensive and numerous programming (including newscasts, local kids shows, talk shows, and even some sports broadcasts) were usually wiped over by recycling the same tape over and over again. And people tended to prioritize what they wanted to save the most, meaning that theatrical movies were at the top of the list, followed by popular primetime TV shows and specials, and then major sporting events. This also applies to the '80s and '90s, even though more media from those decades still survive. Of course, only a small fraction of various media produced exists, whether it survives via reel-to-reel transfer, audio/video cassette, or a kinescope, and an even smaller fraction of live programming.

In terms of what I'd love to have seen, I would love to see the artist interviews with popular bands and singers back then, along with local commercial jingles heard during those commercial breaks. A close second would be live video footage from large cities as that decade was the peak of urban decay, followed by daytime soap operas that don't begin with the letter D.

Ahhhhhhh I would love getting my hands on as much analog media as I could from the 70s!!!

All in the family,etc.........

I would have liked to have saved the media from Studio 54.

I would like to have saved a lot of the historical silent movies that ended up being lost forever

I would like to have saved a lot of the historical silent movies that ended up being lost forever


Those are from the early 20th century though, but I hear that 50% of all movies from the 1930s and 40s are lost forever, and around 85% of all silent films. Pretty much every movie made from around 1950 onwards (for the big screen of course) is intact, with the exception of a few by the smaller, indie studios. The thing was a lot more TV reflected everyday life better than Hollywood did, even among many films set in the present. But since is the '70s board, the "historical silent movies" would of have been personally shot off of Kodak Super 8 cameras, much like you see on the opening credits of The Wonder Years with either no noise or an overlayed soundtrack that could play anything from Bach to the Bee Gees in the background. Most of them aren't that great and are of a crude quality with lots of turning, low resolution, lots of "visual noise", and a bias towards birthdays, holidays, and weddings in a neutral site that isn't very recognizable, though some with vintage city streets and stores turn up now and then.

I wish I could see the first 10 years (1962-72) of the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, which were wiped without Carson's knowledge. I'd like to see his first show after the Kennedy assassination and his monologues about/reaction to the Beatles.

Plus we could all find out if the urban legends about Zsa Zsa Gabor and Arnold Palmer were true. ;D

My family homevideo from 1979. We accidentally threw the vhs transfer away in the early 2000s. It breaks my heart knowing it is lost forever.  :\'(