From the Vault began as two separate weekly half-hour programs that could be played back to back to form a one-hour program block, allowing for maximum versatility among various station program directors, but as the show began to evolve over the first 50 weeks, it became apparent that the effort and value in producing the two separate shows was taxing on the limited resources of the Archives. So, a continuous straight one-hour format was adopted, and is now the standard for each week’s show.

From the Vault was the co-creation of Archives Director Brian DeShazor and producer Christopher Sprinkle in late 2005, with the first show broadcast in early 2006.