Bay Area Television Archive

The Bay Area TV Archive (BATA) preserves local TV newsfilm, documentaries and programs donated by broadcasters and private individuals. Watching our unique film and video brings the Bay Area's history of cultural revolution in the twentieth century to life. You can browse through over 2800 clips in SF State's Digital Information Virtual Archive (DIVA) or try a database search to discover material not yet available to view online.

The Archive’s digitization projects are supported in whole or in part by the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act, administered in California by the State Librarian.

Short Film Introducing BATA

Editing KQED 16mm film featuring Dr. May Angelou, from 1968.

Featured

A KRON 4 feature report from 2021 by Noelle Bellow, about how the archive helped a Bay Area woman discover a 1965 documentary about her adoption process.

Database Search

Search 75,000 film and video records. New records are added on a regular basis.

Online Archive Access

More than 300 hours of video can be accessed online in SF State's Digital Information Virtual Archive (DIVA). New material is added regularly.

Additional online content is available from our Quartex platform, which also provides users with access to closed captions and transcripts.

View clips from any computer, tablet or smartphone.

On-Demand Collections

The Bay Area Television Archive works with SF State faculty to create custom collections in DIVA to support course work and for special projects. Contact the television archivist for further details.

TV Archive in the Media