Captain Bob on WHDH-TV5

[mgpt6]

Does anyone remember tje old Capt. Bob show on the old Ch.5 in the 60s. I remember that there was 1 year in 1962 or 63 that it was on the NBC Saturday morning line-up. IIt was at 9:30am on Ch.5 in Boston , with Boomtown on until 10am on Ch.4 WBZ. Then at 10 -11 am on Ch.4 and NBC was Shari Lewis and Fireball XL-5. Was the Capt Bob done at Ch.5 for NBC or was it done out of NYC?

 

[Fenway1912]

Does anyone remember tje old Capt. Bob show on the old Ch.5 in the 60s. I remember that there was 1 year in 1962 or 63 that it was on the NBC Saturday morning line-up. IIt was at 9:30am on Ch.5 in Boston , with Boomtown on until 10am on Ch.4 WBZ. Then at 10 -11 am on Ch.4 and NBC was Shari Lewis and Fireball XL-5. Was the Capt Bob done at Ch.5 for NBC or was it done out of NYC?

Bob Cottle did indeed do the NBC shows from WHDH-TV - much to the dismay of NABET techs at 30 Rock ( WHDH-TV was IBEW )

The Herald-Traveler wanted to be a NBC affiliate from day 1 and to curry favor they spent a small fortune in buying RCA color equipment.

NBC wanted to ditch WBZ-TV in the worst way as Westinghouse did not clear the full network in both Boston and Philly - BUT NBC would never make the switch until WHDH-TV got a free and clear license which of course never happened.

A footnote - the famed Captain Bob set was destroyed when water pipes burst at the Lowell studios of the ill fated WXPO-TV back in 1970.

 

[MarcB]

I remember when I was growing up in the late 80s and early 90s (born in 82) Captain Bob aired Saturday Mornings at 6AM (or some other ungodly hour) on WFSB Channel 3 in Hartford.

 

[mgpt6]

Fenway, NBC did make it to WHDH-TV in the 90s. Ch.7-owned by Sunbeam. In the early 90s, WMFP-TV62 carried a large amount of NBC shows not cleared by WBZ . NBC never really got it wish until 1995 when the big CBS/NBC affilate switch happened.

 

[mgpt6]

I t seems that WHDH 5 was the secondary affilate for NBC in the early and mid60s. Then WSBK TV38 became the secondary affilate for NBC in the late 60s and 70s. And WMFP TV62 in the early 90s.

 

[mysticnitekatt]

I t seems that WHDH 5 was the secondary affilate for NBC in the early and mid60s. Then WSBK TV38 became the secondary affilate for NBC in the late 60s and 70s. And WMFP TV62 in the early 90s.

I still find it amazing that as late as the early 1990's some affiliates were not clearing the whole line-up of shows.

I've looked over TV GUIDES from the 1960's and was amazed how much the daytime-weekend line ups of the 3 networks were either on secondaries in Boston, or not cleared at all.

 

[dhoule]

Right, as a secondary affiliate I think 5 carried Carson through NBC while 4 carried Steve Allen late night. I remember TV Guide had Carson on 5 and 10.

 

[whdh1920]

i remember ch5 didn't carry the view for some reason when it first debut

 

[mysticnitekatt]

Right, as a secondary affiliate I think 5 carried Carson through NBC while 4 carried Steve Allen late night. I remember TV Guide had Carson on 5 and 10.

...Because Steve Allen's show was produced by...Group W!

 

[mgpt6]

I wonder what 5 would have done if CBS had a late night show when they carried the Tonight Show before WBZ finally carried it in the mid 60s?
Was there other NBC programs that WHDH 5 carried in the period of 1957-1961? Those years I was too young to remember.

 

[Joseph_Gallant]

Mgpt6:

According to the Match 11th-17th, 1961 Eastern New England edition of TV Guide, there were three other NBC shows that the old WHDH-5 cleared besides "Captain Bob" and Jack Paar:

One was the 6:30-7 A.M. portion of "Continental Classroom" on weekday mornings (WBZ-4 cleared the 6-6:30 A.M. portion), which was NBC's answer to CBS's "Sunrise Semester".

The second was an early-morning agriculture show on Saturdays called "Today On The Farm".

The third was late on Saturday afternoon, something called "Saturday Prom", a variation of "American Bandstand" hosted by, of all people, Merv Griffin.

And the old Channel 5 carried the network version of "Captain Bob" because his contract with that station prevented him from having his show appear anywhere else in Boston. Thus, even if WBZ wanted to carry the show (under it's NBC affiliation), it could not.

I believe the same situation that existed with "Captain Bob" also existed with a children's show in the early 60's on ABC (I don't recall who hosted it), but the host worked locally in New York on WNEW-5 and that in the Big Apple, WNEW and not network flagship WABC-7 carried his ABC network show.

Bob Cottle did some shows for successor WCVB called "Drawing From Nature". I'm not 100% sure, but I thought that psychologist Tom Cottle (who himself did some work at WCVB in the 1980's) was Bob Cottle's son.

BTW, the old WNAC-7 also cleared two NBC shows that week in 1961: the daytime version of "It Could Be You" (weekdays 12:30-12:55 P.M.; taken live because it was in color; it was the only color show on WNAC at the time) and "People Are Funny" (Sundays 6:30-7 P.M.; that show would be cancelled at season's end)

 

[Bill-in-CT]

I t seems that WHDH 5 was the secondary affiliate for NBC in the early and mid60s. Then WSBK TV38 became the secondary affilate for NBC in the late 60s and 70s.

In the early 70s, TV38 was the secondary affiliate for all three networks.

 

[Fenway1912]

Captain Bob draws a cat

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3WMIBg3cASU&feature=related

 

[mgpt6]

In the late 60s TV38 did have a lot of ABC daytime. Barnabas Collins cracked open his coffin on Dark Shadows on TV38.not 7

 

[DougD]

Westinghouse and NBC had a somewhat tenuous relationship for a long time.

In 1955, NBC and Westinghouse exchanged their TV and radio stations in Philadelphia and Cleveland. Philadelphia was the nation's third largest city at the time, and NBC wanted O&Os there. The company made a deal that was basically extortion, telling Westinghouse, "If you don't sell, we'll drop the affiliation from both of your Philly and Boston stations." So Westinghouse's KYW and WPTZ (TV) in Philadelphia came under NBC ownership as WRCV and WRCV-TV; NBC's WTAM and WNBK (TV) in Cleveland came under Westinghouse ownership with the KYW calls. A short time later, Westinghouse cried "Foul" to the FCC over the deal. Ten years of legal battles ensued. KYW-TV did very well during that time, Westinghouse pouring money into the Cleveland station, establishing "The Mike Douglas Show" there and pretty much turning the station into the focal point of its expanding empire.

In the meantime . . . In the 1950s, all of Westinghouse's radio stations, with the exception of WOWO, were long-time NBC affiliates. (Indeed, Westinghouse was originally a part-owner of the network.) In 1957 Westinghouse, which wanted to expand its broadcasting operations, dropped the NBC connection ostensibly in order to focus on local programming and to create its own news operation, but probably in part to retaliate for NBC's shady dealings with them. NBC/RCA was not at all happy over this; it meant the loss of several major-market clear-channel affiliates. In addition, as has been said, the Westinghouse TV stations that were NBC affiliates --- KYW and WBZ --- were not clearing certain important chunks of the network's programming.

In 1965, the station swap was reversed by order of the FCC. NBC made no money on the deal. KYW and KYW-TV were moved back to Philly (along with Mike Douglas); the Cleveland stations, now back under NBC ownership, altered their call letters to WKYC and WKYC-TV. (WKYC, while becoming an NBC O&O, retained KYW's Top 40 format as well as its air personalities, IIRC.) As a concomitant of this reversed swap, though I believe not officially part of it, there was a proposal that WBZ-TV would drop its NBC affiliation and join ABC, while NBC would purchase WNAC, WRKO-FM and WNAC-TV, making them NBC O&Os. The deal fell apart at the eleventh hour. The FCC may have had something to do with it, but I don't remember.

I DO remember Captain Bob being on NBC's Saturday morning lineup, and I remember The Tonight Show being carried by Channel 5 for several years. Even as a young kid I thought those were oddities.
IIRC, even after WBZ-TV picked up The Tonight Show, it didn't clear the first 15 minutes of it (11:15-11:30), which I would enjoy watching on WJAR or WRGB.

 

[Fenway1912]

Westinghouse competed against NBC's Tonight Show in the 1960's with shows hosted by Mike Wallace, Steve Allen, Regis Philben and Merv Griiffin.

I can't remember exactly when WBZ-TV picked up Carson ( I think it was after the Regis disaster ) as I do recall they ran Merv in the afternoon.

I do remember WHDH-TV5 then signed on with the Overmyer/United Network and ran Bill Dana's latenight show for a month until the network folded because they could not pay AT&T for the network lines.

Westinghouse and NBC had a somewhat tenuous relationship for a long time.

In 1955, NBC and Westinghouse exchanged their TV and radio stations in Philadelphia and Cleveland. Philadelphia was the nation's third largest city at the time, and NBC wanted O&Os there. The company made a deal that was basically extortion, telling Westinghouse, "If you don't sell, we'll drop the affiliation from both of your Philly and Boston stations." So Westinghouse's KYW and WPTZ (TV) in Philadelphia came under NBC ownership as WRCV and WRCV-TV; NBC's WTAM and WNBK (TV) in Cleveland came under Westinghouse ownership with the KYW calls. A short time later, Westinghouse cried "Foul" to the FCC over the deal. Ten years of legal battles ensued. KYW-TV did very well during that time, Westinghouse pouring money into the Cleveland station, establishing "The Mike Douglas Show" there and pretty much turning the station into the focal point of its expanding empire.

In the meantime . . . In the 1950s, all of Westinghouse's radio stations, with the exception of WOWO, were long-time NBC affiliates. (Indeed, Westinghouse was originally a part-owner of the network.) In 1957 Westinghouse, which wanted to expand its broadcasting operations, dropped the NBC connection ostensibly in order to focus on local programming and to create its own news operation, but probably in part to retaliate for NBC's shady dealings with them. NBC/RCA was not at all happy over this; it meant the loss of several major-market clear-channel affiliates. In addition, as has been said, the Westinghouse TV stations that were NBC affiliates --- KYW and WBZ --- were not clearing certain important chunks of the network's programming.

In 1965, the station swap was reversed by order of the FCC. NBC made no money on the deal. KYW and KYW-TV were moved back to Philly (along with Mike Douglas); the Cleveland stations, now back under NBC ownership, altered their call letters to WKYC and WKYC-TV. (WKYC, while becoming an NBC O&O, retained KYW's Top 40 format as well as its air personalities, IIRC.) As a concomitant of this reversed swap, though I believe not officially part of it, there was a proposal that WBZ-TV would drop its NBC affiliation and join ABC, while NBC would purchase WNAC, WRKO-FM and WNAC-TV, making them NBC O&Os. The deal fell apart at the eleventh hour. The FCC may have had something to do with it, but I don't remember.

I DO remember Captain Bob being on NBC's Saturday morning lineup, and I remember The Tonight Show being carried by Channel 5 for several years. Even as a young kid I thought those were oddities.
IIRC, even after WBZ-TV picked up The Tonight Show, it didn't clear the first 15 minutes of it (11:15-11:30), which I would enjoy watching on WJAR or WRGB.

 

[mysticnitekatt]

In the late 60s TV38 did have a lot of ABC daytime. Barnabas Collins cracked open his coffin on Dark Shadows on TV38.not 7

I was going through some old TV GUIDES and noticed AMERICAN BANDSTAND wasn't cleared on 7 as well, but I didn't find it airing on any of the secondaries - 1966-1967 period.

 

[Bill-in-CT]

>I can't remember exactly when WBZ-TV picked up Carson ( I think it was after the Regis disaster )

Had to be before the Fall of 1969 because Carson was always on BZ during my college days.

>In 1957 Westinghouse, which wanted to expand its broadcasting operations, dropped the NBC connection ostensibly in order to focus on local programming and to create its own news operation

Group W News had an excellent service, with audio being shared among its station. I seem to remember reading that Group W had an 18-person news operation in D.C. for its stations.

 

[Fenway1912]

>I can't remember exactly when WBZ-TV picked up Carson ( I think it was after the Regis disaster )

Had to be before the Fall of 1969 because Carson was always on BZ during my college days.

>In 1957 Westinghouse, which wanted to expand its broadcasting operations, dropped the NBC connection ostensibly in order to focus on local programming and to create its own news operation

Group W News had an excellent service, with audio being shared among its station. I seem to remember reading that Group W had an 18-person news operation in D.C. for its stations.

WBZ-TV had Carson by 1967 as WHDH-TV joined Overmyer Network for the month it was on.

Sid Davis was the main person at Group W News - He is still with us.

http://www.publicpolicyseminars.com/davis.html

 

[CdSull502]

The Tonight Show starring Johnny Carson moved from WHDH-TV to WBZ-TV on 9/5/1966. WHDH-TV then changed to an hour-long newscast called "The 24th Hour" with Roger Goodrich and Dick Wood (not the Providence Dick Wood) At midnight, WHDH followed with an hour long syndicated former network show--- a different one each night, ie Maverick, Secret Agent, etc. I don't think this schedule lasted very long, if memory serves correctly. Removing Jack Hynes from the 11:00 News was not well received. My source for the 9/5/66 date is the Boston Globe Archive.