All the shows, all in pattern, all the time

[Stanislav]

We've had many, many discussions of and references to the historical scheduling practices of various network affiliates. What shows aired in pattern, which were tape-delayed, which were regularly pre-empted or just not carried at all, etc.

I wonder if there are any "Big Three" affiliates (not O&Os) that had a consistent practice over a significant period of time of clearing every network program (even the obscure ones, like some of the Sunday morning and late afternoon shows), in pattern, all the time -- no tape-delays, no regular pre-emptions. (Occasional pre-emptions, such as the odd Billy Graham Crusade or two, are fine.) I'll bet there are damn few that did this.

I'm theorizing that this may have occurred more often with marginal, small-market affiliates than in big cities. Stations hurting for enough programming to fill the day, and running everything their network threw at them.

I'm sure I'll be proved wrong. But that's part of the fun of these discussions.

 

[azumanga]

When WJJY in Jacksonville, Illinois started in 1969, it brought ABC programming into Quincy full-time, all in pattern with no pre-emptions, from a blowtorch 4.5 million watt UHF transmitter overlooking a bluff. Its unrealistic dreams of being a profitmaker from day one, as well as being in a traditionally all-VHF market, caused WJJY to hemorrhage red ink immediately, leading to its closedown in 1971.

More here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WJJY-TV

 

[Tim L]

Looking over years of TV Guide Schedules for WFMJ-TV 73/21, Youngstown, Ohio..As far as I can tell, they pretty much aired NBC in pattern the whole time, at least through the 50's and 60's...

 

[bpatrick]

WNBE (WCTI)/12 New Bern, NC tended to carry all ABC
programming in pattern in the 1960s. The only exception
I recall pre-1970 was in the summer of 1966, when it was
airing everything an hour earlier (North Carolina did not go
on EDT at the time, but Ch. 12 followed EDT, meaning that
its primetime was 6:30-10 PM); the exception was "Supermarket
Sweep," which should have aired at 10 AM (EST). But since
Ch. 12 had a movie from 9-10:30 AM, "Sweep" aired at 4 PM.
When fall came and the East Coast was back on EST, "Sweep"
reverted to its in-pattern time of 11 AM.

In the '70s and '80s Ch. 12 was more likely to pre-empt; for
example, it carried "Edge Of Night" for a time, then dropped it.
There was also a period when it aired movies instead of Dick
Cavett at 11:30 PM.

I also remember, around 1967, that WAVY/10 Norfolk, VA pre-empted
only NBC's "Scherer/MacNeil Report" on Saturdays. The show that
aired instead? Wrestling.

 

[mleach]

Harrisonburg, VA's WHSV-TV 3 for a good 20+ years aired everything ABC had in pattern even the 4pm Edge of Night right up until the end of that show.

When WHSV celebrated their 50th birthday several years ago they actually bragged about their lack of ABC pre-emptions on the air during their anniversary special.

 

[rwells2265]

KFVS-12 (CBS) in Cape Girardeau, Mo. is a good example. When we lived up there (1978-82), I'd say they were 98% faithful to the network, and just about always in pattern. The ABC station in the market (WSIL-3/Harrisburg, Ill.) I seem to recall also ran with the network most the time. (The NBC station, otoh, made up for both - entire primetime schedules getting blown up for Kentucky Wildcat basketball come to mind, despite the state of Kentucky making up less than 1/4 of the total coverage area!)

Can't think of any others I'm aware of that were "perfect attendance" affils in the day.

As for reasons a smaller station would be less likely to preempt, I'd suggest a lack of leverage with the network might play a role, too. NBC might've tolerated WSB in Atlanta making swiss-cheese out of its schedule, while threatening to pull the affiliation of, say, little Channel 41 down the road in Macon for just half the preemptions WSB would make. And in a town the size of Macon, 41 couldn't afford to operate as an indie, so they toe the line. Just my theory, anyway.

--Russell

 

[gr8oldies]

I can't think of any with no sports pre-emptions or anything. When I worked in Lafayette IN CBS got prempted for Purdue basketball often and somehow we were allowed to carry the Chicago Bears instead of the game WISH was airing

 

[firepoint525]

KFVS-12 (CBS) in Cape Girardeau, Mo. is a good example. When we lived up there (1978-82), I'd say they were 98% faithful to the network, and just about always in pattern. The ABC station in the market (WSIL-3/Harrisburg, Ill.) I seem to recall also ran with the network most the time. (The NBC station, otoh, made up for both - entire primetime schedules getting blown up for Kentucky Wildcat basketball come to mind, despite the state of Kentucky making up less than 1/4 of the total coverage area!)

You are absolutely correct, Russell, but you forgot about channel 6 delaying Saturday Night Live by an hour for close to 20 years!

I was a little further south than you, so the ABC affiliate for me was WBBJ in Jackson, Tennessee. I recall them bumping programming periodically for no apparent reason, although not enough for me to detect a pattern in their doing so. I remember them airing The Gong Show in place of SOAP.

 

[Prais]

Plenty of affiliates moved or did not carry Soap, because of its content. It certaily was NOT 99 44100 percent pure!

 

[azumanga]

Plenty of affiliates moved or did not carry Soap, because of its content. It certaily was NOT 99 44100 percent pure!

I read somewhere that ABC offered a separate feed for is Central Time affiliates, so they could show Soap later in the schedule, instead of the local 8PM hour, when more kids would be watching.

 

[FreddyE1977]

Looking over years of TV Guide Schedules for WFMJ-TV 73/21, Youngstown, Ohio..As far as I can tell, they pretty much aired NBC in pattern the whole time, at least through the 50's and 60's...

Interesting because their CBS competitor, WKBN-TV 27 broke from the network pattern for large swaths of the
day outside prime time (ran movie after the noon news and Money Movie in late afternoons)

 

[Tim L]

Looking over years of TV Guide Schedules for WFMJ-TV 73/21, Youngstown, Ohio..As far as I can tell, they pretty much aired NBC in pattern the whole time, at least through the 50's and 60's...

Interesting because their CBS competitor, WKBN-TV 27 broke from the network pattern for large swaths of the
day outside prime time (ran movie after the noon news and Money Movie in late afternoons)

True about WKBN-TV 27-From The 1950's until no later than January 1980 they ran a movie, usually 12:35-2:30, preempting CBS programming all that time..Earlier in the 50's they would run other programs 12:30-1:30 and have a movie 1:30-3..

 

[Stanislav]

I was a little further south than you, so the ABC affiliate for me was WBBJ in Jackson, Tennessee. I recall them bumping programming periodically for no apparent reason, although not enough for me to detect a pattern in their doing so. I remember them airing The Gong Show in place of SOAP.

That's odd -- if the reason were objectionable content, one could make as much a case for not showing The Gong Show as could be made for Soap. The former was full of double-entendres and racy remarks (especially out of the mouth of Jaye. P. Morgan).

 

[bpatrick]

Plenty of affiliates moved or did not carry Soap, because of its content. It certaily was NOT 99 44100 percent pure!

I read somewhere that ABC offered a separate feed for is Central Time affiliates, so they could show Soap later in the schedule, instead of the local 8PM hour, when more kids would be watching.

During "Soap"'s first season ABC's Central Time Zone affiliates could carry "Soap" at 8:30 and "Family" at 9, or
"Family" at 8:30 and "Soap" at 9:30. I remember that WFAA Dallas opted for the first option, while KSAT
San Antonio took the second. The practice was discontinued after the first season, if not sooner.

 

[firepoint525]

Plenty of affiliates moved or did not carry Soap, because of its content. It certaily was NOT 99 44100 percent pure!

I read somewhere that ABC offered a separate feed for is Central Time affiliates, so they could show Soap later in the schedule, instead of the local 8PM hour, when more kids would be watching.

I was 13 or so at the time, so I preferred having The Gong Show in that spot, because the regular daytime airing was at 2:30 or 3:00 in the afternoon, and of course, I could not get home from school in time to see it! :'( (But Stanislav is right about the double entendres, although I would not have been aware of that in 1977 or 1978! : )

 

[FreddyE1977]

Looking over years of TV Guide Schedules for WFMJ-TV 73/21, Youngstown, Ohio..As far as I can tell, they pretty much aired NBC in pattern the whole time, at least through the 50's and 60's...

Interesting because their CBS competitor, WKBN-TV 27 broke from the network pattern for large swaths of the
day outside prime time (ran movie after the noon news and Money Movie in late afternoons)

True about WKBN-TV 27-From The 1950's until no later than January 1980 they ran a movie, usually 12:35-2:30, preempting CBS programming all that time..Earlier in the 50's they would run other programs 12:30-1:30 and have a movie 1:30-3..

Growing up in Pittsburgh in the pre-cable era, you found the WKBN afternoon movies pretty quickly if you had a sick day home from school.
(particularly if you were a young male and not amenable to soaps). Their late afternoon Money Movie was also fun because the numbers were chosen at random and the host never knew who or what he was dialing.

I always found the scheduling interesting as Youngstown was only an hour away, and yet down here KDKA had a HUGE following for their
Bill Burns Noon News leading into an afternoon of soaps (I think capped off with The Mike Douglas Show before the 6PM newscast) So
many grey-hairs here who could not go a day without "their stories" on KD.

 

[firepoint525]

KFVS-12 (CBS) in Cape Girardeau, Mo. is a good example. When we lived up there (1978-82), I'd say they were 98% faithful to the network, and just about always in pattern. The ABC station in the market (WSIL-3/Harrisburg, Ill.) I seem to recall also ran with the network most the time. (The NBC station, otoh, made up for both - entire primetime schedules getting blown up for Kentucky Wildcat basketball come to mind, despite the state of Kentucky making up less than 1/4 of the total coverage area!)

To add to what I posted earlier, channel 6 once aired The Cosby Show (!) half an hour early (at 6:30 p.m.) just so they could air UK basketball at 7:00 that evening! The rest of the NBC Thursday evening schedule was, I believe, put on "VCR alert" (aired during overnight hours so that anyone interested in doing so could tape them). I am guessing that they must have received a special early feed of Cosby from NBC in order to be able to air it ahead of the regular schedule.

 

[firepoint525]

I was a little further south than you, so the ABC affiliate for me was WBBJ in Jackson, Tennessee. I recall them bumping programming periodically for no apparent reason, although not enough for me to detect a pattern in their doing so. I remember them airing The Gong Show in place of SOAP.

That's odd -- if the reason were objectionable content, one could make as much a case for not showing The Gong Show as could be made for Soap. The former was full of double-entendres and racy remarks (especially out of the mouth of Jaye. P. Morgan).

Years later, channel 7 aired Solid Gold in place of prime-time evening programming. I remember them doing so on Friday evenings, but I also recall seeing it on Monday evenings. But I believe the Monday airings were on a UHF station that later became a Fox affiliate.

 

[bpatrick]

KFVS-12 (CBS) in Cape Girardeau, Mo. is a good example. When we lived up there (1978-82), I'd say they were 98% faithful to the network, and just about always in pattern. The ABC station in the market (WSIL-3/Harrisburg, Ill.) I seem to recall also ran with the network most the time. (The NBC station, otoh, made up for both - entire primetime schedules getting blown up for Kentucky Wildcat basketball come to mind, despite the state of Kentucky making up less than 1/4 of the total coverage area!)

To add to what I posted earlier, channel 6 once aired The Cosby Show (!) half an hour early (at 6:30 p.m.) just so they could air UK basketball at 7:00 that evening! The rest of the NBC Thursday evening schedule was, I believe, put on "VCR alert" (aired during overnight hours so that anyone interested in doing so could tape them). I am guessing that they must have received a special early feed of Cosby from NBC in order to be able to air it ahead of the regular schedule.

When then-ABC affiliate WRAL Raleigh was showing The Winds Of War they got a special dispensation to run the Thursday episode at 7 instead of 9. Reason? The station had committed to an ACC basketball game. Peter Jennings was also affected, since WRAL usually carried him at 7. On that night he was on at 6:30.

 

[only1moore]

Plenty of affiliates moved or did not carry Soap, because of its content. It certaily was NOT 99 44100 percent pure!

I read somewhere that ABC offered a separate feed for is Central Time affiliates, so they could show Soap later in the schedule, instead of the local 8PM hour, when more kids would be watching.

During "Soap"'s first season ABC's Central Time Zone affiliates could carry "Soap" at 8:30 and "Family" at 9, or
"Family" at 8:30 and "Soap" at 9:30. I remember that WFAA Dallas opted for the first option, while KSAT
San Antonio took the second. The practice was discontinued after the first season, if not sooner.

KSAT wasn't the only one. WISN/Milwaukee, WLS/Chicago, WKOW/Madison, and WREX/Rockford also had opted for the second feed during the first season.