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"chain" because it included everything needed from end to end to turn film into TV signals; "island" because it stood in the middle of the floor so you could get at all the pieces.
Besides kinescope recordings, it was used to broadcast locally made news films before the days of camcorders, and also possibly 16 mm prints of syndicated TV shows and old movies. Some facilities could do 35 mm (I think mostly networks). If it was built to handle the real old nitrate prints, it wouldn't be an island, but would have a separate fireproof projection room.
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