Due to its role in the history of the motion picture business, the site was designated as a Historic Cultural Landmark in LAHCM 1977.

The distinctive Executive Office Building, part of Warner Brothers' original studio lot, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2002.

In 1923, the Western Motion Picture Advertisers' Association held its "WAMPAS Frolic" at "the new Warner Brothers' studio on Sunset Boulevard" with "a great aggregation of film luminaries present.

"[2] The site has been recognized as historically significant in large part due to its having been the location where the first talking feature-length motion picture, The Jazz Singer was filmed in 1927.

[6][10] In 1933, the Los Angeles Times reported that Warner Bros., "contrary to the popular view, is keeping its Sunset Boulevard studio in active use, with a company or two shooting there each day, and is also using the old Vitagraph plant.

At the time of the fire, Jack L. Warner noted: "We have ample facilities at our Sunset Boulevard studio to take care of all immediate mechanical and constructional requirements.

studio where the nasal voice of Al Jolson recorded on Vitaphone, first made talking pictures a commercial reality.

"[3] At the time, Klaus Landsberg noted that "only the older buildings, including the historic Stage 1, are being destroyed, that newer facilities on the big lot are being renovated and reconditioned for the television operation.

[16] In 1977, a celebration was held in Hollywood marking the 50th anniversary of the talking motion picture, including a parade of old cars ending at the KTLA studios where The Jazz Singer had been filmed 50 years earlier.

The United States Postmaster General Benjamin F. Bailar and MPAA President Jack Valenti were on hand for the first-day issue ceremony of a commemorative stamp honoring the 50th anniversary of the first "talking picture.

[5][a] With the sale of KTLA from Golden West in 1982, the studios had three owners in the 1980s, with Kohlberg Kravis Roberts owning them from late 1982 until 1984, when Tribune Broadcasting acquired them.

[23] An iconic 160-foot former radio tower was dismantled in December 2014 to make way for construction of an office building by Hudson Pacific Properties.