Is there any particular reasons the tapes for Mindreaders are missing, given that G-T was generally good at archiving?
After a show is broadcast, what happens to the tape? I'm guessing it's held by the network for a period of time but is it at the network's discretion to decide what happens to it after that, or is it up to the producer to request it for their archives?
Maybe NBC figured G-T wouldn't want it because the show wasn't a success(?)
My interpretation is that any decision to destroy a tape was totally up to the producer/packager who owned the show. Producers paid NBC for everything from the tape stock itself to studio facilities and editing, and the packager owned the intellectual property, i.e. the program concept and content. The packager also paid the performers - contestants, models, emcees, announcers.
It seems improbable that Goodson would have authorized the destruction of Mindreaders tapes because he kept so much else.