KRLD-TV camera #3 and tripod #1 used the weekend of November 22, 1963
KRLD-TV Camera #3 can be seen set up in the basement assembly room at Dallas police headquarters for the Oswald press showing at midnight on November 22, 1963 in this Dallas Times Herald photograph: https://emuseum.jfk.org/objects/3957. Bill Mercer, the KRLD-TV broadcaster who ultimately informed Lee Harvey Oswald that he was being charged with President Kennedy's murder, can be seen next to the camera wearing a suit coat and tie.
In January 2023, we had the great honor of reuniting 96-year-old Bill Mercer with KRLD-TV Camera #3 for the first time in nearly sixty years. A video documenting his visit can be found here: Rediscovering History: KRLD-TV Camera 3 with Bill Mercer - YouTube. - Stephen Fagin, Curator
In addition to the midnight press showing of Lee Harvey Oswald at Dallas police headquarters, this camera - or an identical KRLD-TV camera - may have been used on November 22, 1963 for pool coverage of the Dallas Trade Mart luncheon.
In 1963, a major news event like a presidential visit generated a significant amount of local coverage by newspaper, radio and television outlets. Large locally-broadcast events during President Kennedy’s trip to Texas, such the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce breakfast and the arrival of the Kennedys at Dallas Love Field, were often managed by cooperative pool coverage among local TV stations. In those instances, one outlet—such as ABC affiliate WFAA-TV at Love Field and CBS affiliate KRLD-TV at the Dallas Trade Mart luncheon—set up a camera to capture a pool feed that would be distributed to other local television stations for broadcast. This allowed for immediate coverage of an evolving news story in a practical and efficient manner, considering the transportation and setup logistics for bulky equipment and mobile news cruisers. - Stephen Fagin, Curator