Even more absurd - NBC using tape in 1963. Ampex recorders were in use in studios in the mid 1950s (based on older Nazi technology) but film was still used for field reporting.
“Even more absurd - NBC using tape in 1963. ... film was still used for field reporting.”
Probably the word, “tape” here was in a generic sense. It’s just the most common way people refer to being spied on with audio.
Like when Trump said he was secretly being “taped”, people (jerks) made fun of him because it technically was digital, not taped. Everyone knew what he meant.