KDKA used to do the same thing, pre-empting "As the World Turns" for "Pittsburgh 2Day" (KDKA is on analog Channel 2), and "ATWT" would usually turn up on Channel 53 (although the CBS stations in Wheeling, Altoona, and Youngstown had it). That ended when Channel 2 became a CBS o&o.
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They preempted that for this?
- Thread starter Stanislav
- Start date
In Atlanta, WSB was the NBC affiliate at the time but it never carried the second game of NBC's doubleheaders until 1973, opting for movies and ensuring that the news got on at 6. The second game (shades of things to come) was on Channel 11, and they had the Jets-Raiders game that Sunday in 1968. "Heidi" was due to start at 7 on Channel 2 while "Land of the Giants" was scheduled at 7 on Channel 11. This would not have been a problem for 11 if NBC had stayed with the game; "Land of the Giants" could have been joined in progress. But I don't know how Channel 2 would have handled those last few minutes (real time, not playing time) before "Heidi" would have come up.Re: Most Inexplicable Network Program Pre-Emption
Re the "Heidi" game:
In Alabama, there was barely a peep. As mentioned earlier, Birmingham's primary NBC station, WAPI-TV 13 (WVTM) originated The Bear Bryant Show, the weekly U. of Alabama football review program at 4 PM ... and Montgomery NBC affil WSFA-12 produced The Auburn Football Review ("You're so right, Carl!"), which followed at 5:00. Both programs, back to back, were relayed to all NBC stations in the state. No big surprise, Alabama and Auburn trumped pro football.
The only station in Alabama airing the Jets/Raiders game from NBC was little ol' Channel 42 in Birmingham. (Okay, MAYBE Tuscaloosa station WCFT-33 picked up the game, too) Bottom line: that game had next to zero viewership. Most people watched Bear talk about yesterday's game while chugging Coke after Coke and munching on Golden Flake potato chips, followed by Shug Jordan - jealous of Bear because it's a little hard to eat a Princess telephone.(Bell sponsored Auburn's program)
Imagine the MAJOR tension that had to have permeated in the master controls of both Channels 13 and 42 when 6:00 (CST) approached, and 13 - planning to air "Heidi" - wondered if Curt G. and company were going to clear the air in time!!
More can be found here:
The Heidi controversy - as it played out in Birmingham
--Russell
WITI had “Thicke of the Night”. WTMJ had delayed Carson to 11pm until 1984.
Did WSB air the World Series or MLB playoff games from NBC if the game was at 4:30 or did WXIA air it to ensure that the news got on at 6?
When it came to baseball or the Super Bowl, WSB carried them and pre-empted the news. WXIA never carried a Super Bowl until 1981, just after it became an NBC affiliate (both CBS and NBC carried Super Bowl I, then alternated coverage until ABC joined them in 1985), and prior to that it carried all ABC baseball games (regular and post-season).
For the record, from 1973 until it went to ABC in 1980, Channel 2 did carry all available NFL games from NBC.
For the record, from 1973 until it went to ABC in 1980, Channel 2 did carry all available NFL games from NBC.
My mistake. You're right on both counts.
WSB's handling of pro football must have driven Lawrence Welk fans crazy. Most of the years he was on Channel 2 he was on Saturdays at 5 during football season (WXIA had college football) and Sundays at 5 from January-August. When Channel 2 went to ABC, what with college football and "Wide World of Sports," they dropped him and he ended up on now-CBS affiliate Channel 46.
You know what, I do stand corrected...I could have sworn at one point that ABC programmed that 9am CT hour, unless I was watching an ABC affiliate airing a delayed network show at the hour. Such a long time ago...
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There were a few aborted attempts to program that slot in the '60s. In 1964, "The Price Is Right" (Cullen version) was on at 9:30 as part of a Goodson-Todman block which included "Get the Message" at 10 and "Missing Links" at 10:30. In 1967, the talk show "Dateline: Hollywood" was on at 9:30 and "The Children's Doctor" at 9:55. They were replaced by Donna Reed reruns from December 1967 to March 1968, when Dick Cavett was placed in the 9:30-11 AM slot. After that show was canceled, ABC never again programmed 9:30 (CT) and has never, to my knowledge, programmed 9 AM (CT). In fact, for a time in 1969, ABC didn't come up until 11 AM (CT) with "Bewitched" reruns.
But the late start to ABC daytime also meant the network was the last to program 4:30 (ET)/3:30 (CT); "Where the Action Is" ended in March 1967 (possibly in part to give affiliates time that was taken away when Peter Jennings' newscast went from 15 minutes to 30, nearly four years after Cronkite and Huntley-Brinkley did so).
For years, KDKA carried Pirates games and CBS had no problem because, as you said, we're talking about one of the highest-rated stations in the country. But when WMAR did the same thing with the Orioles (along with several daytime pre-emptions), CBS took its affiliation to WBAL; WMAR is the perennial third-place station in Baltimore and ABC took a hit later when Scripps got ABC away from WJZ. That move was a catalyst for Westinghouse to buy CBS although I'm not sure WJZ is as strong now with CBS as it was with ABC. WBAL, back with NBC, seems to have been the big winner (CBS doesn't do as well north of DC as it does south).
I do remember one KDKA program change that made more than a few people angry. It was when the station flip-flopped "Guiding Light" and Dr. Phil. Dr. Phil never got the ratings "GL" did at 3. I suspect CBS was pressuring KDKA to make the move; all of its o&os in the Eastern time zone had "GL" at 10 AM.
KWTV dropped "Search for Tomorrow" before it left CBS and expanded its noon newscast to 11:30-12:30. (This is when "Y&R" was still a half-hour at 11 AM.) OTOH, if memory serves, it stayed with "Love of Life" to the bitter end (3 PM CT).
KPIX got in a heap of trouble (remember those Dodge commercials with the hick sheriff?) when it dropped "Secret Storm" not long before CBS canceled it anyway. Mike Douglas took over the timeslot (3 PM PT) and on the first day of the new arrangement, the station was bombarded with calls from irate viewers wanting to know about some of the show's most popular characters. But Douglas was a Group W show so I suppose he had a certain priority. However, since "Secret Storm" was about to be canceled anyway, why didn't KPIX just go ahead and play it out, then run Mike in place of "Tattletales"?
WSLS Roanoke, VA used to pre-empt "Daniel Boone" on Thursday nights (an odd choice given the part of the country), but I know a guy in Reidsville, NC who could get Roanoke, Lynchburg, Greensboro, High Point, and Winston-Salem. In 1966 Virginia went on EDT in the summer, while North Carolina stayed on EST and got everything an hour later than the Virginia stations (exception: Channel 12 in New Bern but I won't get into that). On Thursdays he would watch "Batman" on Channel 13 Lynchburg at 6:30, then "Daniel Boone" on Channel 12 Winston-Salem at 7:30. ("The Munsters" also got bumped on Channel 2 Greensboro; that station apparently decided to go with a show with no kid appeal: the Stonemans, unless you were a boy my age and thought Donna and/or Roni to be hot.)
Meh, the nursing home staff just needed to change the channel.
That didn't stop WLOS in Asheville from carrying Welk; you'd think WSB could have aired Welk after "Wide World Of Sports" at 6:30.
Although the one year WLOS tried airing syndicated stuff and the news over college football from ABC, the ratings were very poor and the station had to switch back the next year.
In Greenville-Spartanburg-Asheville Welk and "Hee Haw" were on different channels; Welk on WLOS and "Hee Haw" on WSPA, and the two shows went head-to-head Saturdays at 7. In Atlanta WSB had them both, and "Hee Haw" had been number one on Saturdays at 7 ever since it went into syndication in 1971. Also, WSB wasn't going to drop its local newscast.
WXIA had had Welk that first year the two shows were in syndication. He had a half-hour's head start (6:30) on the Kornfield Kounty gang but was still beaten by about 100,000 viewers. So when John Tyler became general manager in the fall of 1972, he dropped Welk as part of a massive overhaul of Channel 11's schedule, which placed more emphasis on news. WAGA didn't want Welk, although I think he would have been perfect for a CBS station. Bottom line: WSB spent eight years (1972-80) shuffling Welk around, until the switch to ABC gave them a reason to drop him.
WXIA had had Welk that first year the two shows were in syndication. He had a half-hour's head start (6:30) on the Kornfield Kounty gang but was still beaten by about 100,000 viewers. So when John Tyler became general manager in the fall of 1972, he dropped Welk as part of a massive overhaul of Channel 11's schedule, which placed more emphasis on news. WAGA didn't want Welk, although I think he would have been perfect for a CBS station. Bottom line: WSB spent eight years (1972-80) shuffling Welk around, until the switch to ABC gave them a reason to drop him.
I probably said this already but I had to watch "Hee Haw" on WSPA if I wanted to see it on Saturday because WSOC showed it later in the week.
This reminds me "The Waltons" was always a week late on WBTV and I think this had something to do with "The Muppet Show".
We had two TVs but when we were in a motel I had to watch Welk instead of "Hee Haw". I liked the music but it wasn't funny.
And there we have today’s visit to the Twilight Zone.
My NBC station WYFF always carried the 2nd game of the doubleheader, preempting it's news at 6. They usually did a halftime news brief then. I do wonder if they did the news at 7, subject to game overruns.
I noticed recently that WSOC (also an NBC affiliate at the time) also didn’t air the Heidi game. Makes sense as WSB and WSOC were and are sister stations.
I double checked the listings and neither WTCU nor WCCB aired it either. WCCB was ABC but I think they could have as I don’t see any ABC sports programming listings. WSOC aired SD/BUF followed by the Bill Dooley show. He was the Carolina Tar Heels football coach at the time.
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