Buffalo, NY November 30, 1958

[tomp]

Source: TV Guide Lake Ontario Edition

2-WGR (NBC)
4-WBEN (CBS)
7-WKBW (ABC--first day of operation)

9am

2 The Christophers
4 Let's Open the Door

9:30

2 Christian Science

10am

2 Church Invitation
4 Lamp Unto My Feet

10:30

2 This is the Life
4 Uncle Jerry's Club (Kids talent show with Jerry Brick)

11am

2 This Morning's Gospel
4 Church Service (from St. Francis De sales Church)

11:15

2 Sacred Heart

11:30

2 Industry on Parade

11:45

2 Faith of Israel

12 noon

2 Zero 1960!
4 News and Weather

12:15

4 Film Feature

12:30

2 Kenmore Sr. High School
4 Face the Nation

1pm

2 Movie "Tom, Dick, and Harry"
4 Film feature

1:45

4 Sports Page

2pm

4 Washington Redskins at Cleveland Browns (Ch. 4 carried Browns games before networks picked up entire leagues/conferences)

3pm

7 Rick Azar signs on WKBW-TV, hosting the movie presentation "Yankee Doodle Dandy"

3:30

2 Sea Hunt

4pm

2 Kraft Music Hall starring Milton Berle

4:30

2 Bat Masterson
4 Inside Football

5pm

2 Buckskin
4 Leonard Bernstein (He looks like Kramer from "Seinfeld" in the TV guide ad)
7 Peter and the Wolf (starring Art Carney--first ABC show carried on Ch. 7)

5:30

2 Science Fiction Theater

6pm

2 Tugboat Annie
4 Small World
7 Sgt. Preston of the Yukon

6:30

2 Bishop Sheen
4 20th Century
7 Playhouse 7

7pm

2 Saber of London
4 Lassie
7 You Asked for It

7:30

2 Northwest Passage
4 Jack Benny
7 Maverick

8pm

2 Steve Allen
4 Ed Sullivan

8:30

7 Lawman

9pm

2 Dinah Shore
4 Special "Wonderful Town" (pre-empts GE Theater, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Keep Talking, and What's My Line)
7 Colt .45

9:30

7 How to Marry a Millionaire

10p

2 Loretta Young
7 Theater

10:30

2 Boots and Saddles
7 Movie

11pm

2,4 News (Roger Lund would anchor CH. 7's first newscast the next evening)

11:15

2 Movie "All My Sons"

11:30

4 Movie "Lady with Red Hair"

 

[mleach]

Not sure the exact date but it was in 1958 when WKBW radio started their long running top 40 format.

For some reason I seem to remember reading in the Washington Post back in the mid 80s where Buffalo's channel 7 was planning to drop the WKBW calls in favor of WKVW. This was the same time when Cap Cities sold WKBW radio and TV to seperate owners. I wonder if the originial plan was to save WKBW for radio but use WKVW for TV? I do remember when WWKB a few years back was doing the oldies Entercom was looking at changing the calls from WWKB back to WKBW but WKBW-TV bulked at the idea. Wonder why?

Of course everyone knows the call letters WKBW stood for "Well Known Bible Witness", even though last year on another site I got into this "online fight" LOL with a 17 year old who SWORE that WKBW meant "We Know Buffalo is Watching".

Go ahead and laugh now. Actually considering how bad the ratings have been for WKBW-TV's news in recent years that IS funny ! !

 

[tomp]

July 4, 1958 to be exact is when Futuresonic Radio on KB began.

I never heard that possibility of WKVW-TV when CapCities was selling off stations, but I doubted that would have ever happened.

As far as what the WKBW call letters stand for, you're BOTH right. WKBW began as Well Known Bible Witness, but We Know Buffalo's Watching was a slogan for Channel 7.

 

[w9wi]

As far as what the WKBW call letters stand for, you're BOTH right. WKBW began as Well Known Bible Witness, but We Know Buffalo's Watching was a slogan for Channel 7.

It is very likely WKBW didn't stand for anything when the calls were issued. It was likely a sequential call, issued only because they got their license after WKBV and before WKBX.

In general, early stations (first licensed before, say, 1930) with W prefixes and "A" or "B" as the third letter are probably sequential calls. Most three-letter calls were also sequentially issued.

It was not unusual for such stations to create a slogan to match the sequentially-issued call letters. (rather than the other way around)


(likewise, K stations with "Y" or "Z" as the third letter)