Not every obscure VHS tape is lost media. A film can be easy to find while the local commercials recorded around it are much harder to track down.
I collect local TV, training videos, and unusual releases, and watch tapes live on Twitch. The archive keeps the program names, station IDs, ads, and other details we find.
What counts as lost media?
Lost media is material for which no surviving copy is known to be accessible, or which survives only in part. An unlabeled cassette isn’t automatically lost media. Neither is a commercially released film simply because this copy is on VHS.
Sometimes the useful find is a particular local break, news segment, or station promo. The tape records distinguish identified playback from label claims and details that still need checking.
Explore the recordings
These are starting points into the archive, not a list of confirmed lost works.
- Columbus TV compilation: Letterman, Auto Showcase and local ads | VHS-2026-1394
An unlabeled Scotch VHS holds Columbus-area news, Letterman, Paul Simon, a long used-car showcase and a drama cut off mid-scene.
- Cleveland TV in 1989: AFHV, News Center 8 and a stack of commercials
A Cleveland TV recording with the AFHV pilot, News Center 8, Siskel and Ebert, daytime shows and individually logged local ads.
- Springer, Jenny Jones, and Columbus in April 1999
WSYX Columbus daytime TV: Jerry Springer, Jenny Jones, a Lost Episodes compilation, and local commercial breaks. First Springer block dated April 14, 1999; tape partly viewed.
The Rewind
One email a week from the tape room. The finds, the oddities, and the stories behind the latest transfers.