Rocket From the Crypt shows you around San Diego in this March 1994 TV news report that includes footage of Shelter Island (where frontman John Reis points out his granddad's name on a Tuna fisherman memorial), the Casbah, Live Wire, and elsewhere. The BetaGems channel also has "1989 MTV Museum of Unnatural History Mall Tour TV ad," "MTV 1987 ad No more heavy metal! popular demand," "1987 1st MTV ad for Remote Control with Ken Ober," "1985 animated MTV promo bumper underground art," and "Mojo Nixon & Skid Roper "Are You Alive?!" 1987 network promo."

BetaGems are culled from an archive of over 1000 beta video tapes recorded between from 1983 into the 1990s. Most feature live music performances broadcast on television in San Diego CA, though there are also rarely seen commercials, comedy clips, and other material that doesn't seem to be anywhere else on Youtube or online. Most of the tapes were recorded on a Sony SL-HFT7 Super Beta Theater Hi-Fi Stereo - the same model was refurbished and is being used for these digital transfers and uploads.

In rare occasions where a BetaGems clip does appear elsewhere, we're only uploading if our own beta master is better quality or contains material not seen previously. Much footage comes from public television and public access broadcasts that the taper, who worked for a local cable TV production company in the 1980s, monitored nightly for several years. Some of the programming is strictly regional, mostly from the San Diego area.