August 4: This Day in TV History

[Stanislav]

Just a few random TV related events that happened on August 4. Discuss or comment as you please……

1933: What is believed to be the first television broadcast in Minnesota takes place over experimental station W9XAT. The 120-line mechanical transmission features a handshake between WDGY radio personality Clellan Card and Minneapolis mayor William Kunze.

1942: Actor Don S. Davis (Stargate SG-1) is born in Aurora, Missouri.

1954: WGTH-TV (channel 18 – later WHCT, now WUVN) begins operations in Hartford, Connecticut, as a CBS affiliate, beginning a long and complex history that cannot be briefly summarized. (See their Wikipedia page for details…)

1968: WXTV, channel 41 (licensed to Paterson, New Jersey) begins broadcasting in the New York City TV market.

1980: The soap opera Texas (a spin-off from Another World) debuts on NBC. It is the first soap to run in an hour-long format from its inception.

1983: The cast of Search for Tomorrow performs an episode of the soap opera live for the first time since the series moved to videotape in 1967. Allegedly, the live broadcast is necessitated by the loss of both master and backup tapes for the episode. Some, however, believe it to be a calculated ratings stunt, inspired by a similar event in the movie “Tootsie.”

1985: WRAL-TV (channel 5) takes over the CBS affiliation for the Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina market as WTVD (channel 11) switches to ABC. Within six months, WRAL becomes one of the most successful and profitable affiliates in their new network.

1987: The FCC rescinds the Fairness Doctrine, which had required radio and television stations to "fairly" present controversial issues.

1989: TV gets a bit less schmatltzy as Highway to Heaven airs its final network broadcast on NBC.

1992: Twin actors Dylan and Cole Sprouse (The Suite Life of Zach & Cody) are born in Arezzo, Tuscany, Italy. (Their American parents were teaching at an English-language school at the time.)

2004: Voice actor/writer/producer Lorenzo Music (Rhoda, Garfield and Friends) dies in Los Angeles, aged 64.

(Just a little featurette I hope to do as time permits…..don’t expect it every single day. It’s an entirely random selection based on a quick Net search, and is not meant to be comprehensive. So, don’t post nasty messages about “you forgot THIS” or “how could you not mention THAT?” Do so, and I’ll just take my keyboard and go home…..)

 

[easttxtv]

1980: The soap opera Texas (a spin-off from Another World) debuts on NBC. It is the first soap to run in an hour-long format from its inception.

Texas would also be the first hour-long soap to be cancelled.

1983: The cast of Search for Tomorrow performs an episode of the soap opera live for the first time since the series moved to videotape in 1967. Allegedly, the live broadcast is necessitated by the loss of both master and backup tapes for the episode.

And your announcer was...Don Pardo. I mean, has been, is Don Pardo, I mean..... 8)

 

[KML0224]

Ah yes! Channel 18 of Hartford! That station was definitely a train wreck! The history will also mention that the late Dr. Gene Scott, the horse-loving, hat-wearing, cigar-smoking preacher who told you to "Git on the telephone!" owned the station for a time until 1985. He was seen round the clock except for one 1/2 hour at his peak.

 

[RicoGregg]

Discuss or comment as you please……

1987: The FCC rescinds the Fairness Doctrine, which had required radio and television stations to "fairly" present controversial issues.

The FCC rescinded the Fairness Doctrine at the urging of Ronald Reagan, who had been wanting to get rid of it since long before he was President. I'm mildly surprised that it took him 2 years into his second term to accomplish it.

I'm reminded of a cartoon that ran on the op/ed pages when Ronald Reagan died. A bunch of people, including Ronald Reagan, are walking past St. Peter on their way into the Pearly Gates. St. Peter, noticing the former president, says "Just a moment, Mr. Reagan."

 

[bpatrick]

The day "Texas" debuted was also the day WSB/2 and
WXIA/11 began the switchover of networks in Atlanta:
2 from NBC to ABC, 11 going the other way. 11 had
already picked up David Letterman's morning show, but
on August 4, 1980, 2 picked up "Love Boat" reruns, "Family
Feud," "One Life To Live," "General Hospital," and "Edge Of
Night," while 11 got "The Doctors," "Another World," and
"Texas." The rest of the schedule changed on September 1,
the official day of the switch.

I should have mentioned, and will now since you mentioned
the WRAL/WTVD switch, that on August 1, 1962, WRAL moved
from NBC to ABC, an unusual move for the time, but ABC had
only one affiliate in North Carolina then: WLOS/13 Asheville.
WRAL was always one of ABC's strongest affiliates (having Jesse
Helms didn't hurt either).

 

[Tim from Springfield IL]

1923: Australian media and TV mogul Reg Grundy born (as Reginald Roy Grundy) in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. His credits include the creation of the game shows "Sale of the Century," "Time Machine," "Scrabble," and "Scattergories."

 

[Tim from Springfield IL]

1958: Actress Kym Karath, best known for her role in "Sound of Music," is born in El Lay. Her TV appearances include guest roles on shows including "Archie Bunker's Place," "Brady Bunch," "Family Affair," and "Lassie."

 

[FreddyE1977]

Discuss or comment as you please……

1987: The FCC rescinds the Fairness Doctrine, which had required radio and television stations to "fairly" present controversial issues.

The FCC rescinded the Fairness Doctrine at the urging of Ronald Reagan, who had been wanting to get rid of it since long before he was President. I'm mildly surprised that it took him 2 years into his second term to accomplish it.

I'm reminded of a cartoon that ran on the op/ed pages when Ronald Reagan died. A bunch of people, including Ronald Reagan, are walking past St. Peter on their way into the Pearly Gates. St. Peter, noticing the former president, says "Just a moment, Mr. Reagan."

If I recall the story correctly, the Reagan Administration wrote up the administrative rule change and delivered it to the Congress about a half-hour before they all left for August recess (leaving them no time to try and to anything about it).
Rush Limbaugh began his show almost a year to the day afterward.

 

[RyanHoward]

1961: Current U.S. President Barack Obama is born in Honolulu, Hawaii.