I've seen this listing in a number retro listings here, and old TV Guides. Was this educational programming, or an early "infomercial"?
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"Film"?
- Thread starter bhayes1016
- Start date
> I've seen this listing in a number retro listings here, and
> old TV Guides. Was this educational programming, or an early
> "infomercial"?
>
Actually, both -- most films are educational, public-service fims, but some were indeed early forms of infomercials, One of these was "Shop Smith" tools, who regularly had infomercial films scheduled into the 1980s.
> old TV Guides. Was this educational programming, or an early
> "infomercial"?
>
Actually, both -- most films are educational, public-service fims, but some were indeed early forms of infomercials, One of these was "Shop Smith" tools, who regularly had infomercial films scheduled into the 1980s.
> Actually, both -- most films are educational, public-service
> fims, but some were indeed early forms of infomercials, One
> of these was "Shop Smith" tools, who regularly had
> infomercial films scheduled into the 1980s.
>
If memory serves, weren't those Shop Smith films kines? They would run them usually on Sunday afternoons on the channel that did not have the 4 PM NFL game here.
> fims, but some were indeed early forms of infomercials, One
> of these was "Shop Smith" tools, who regularly had
> infomercial films scheduled into the 1980s.
>
If memory serves, weren't those Shop Smith films kines? They would run them usually on Sunday afternoons on the channel that did not have the 4 PM NFL game here.
K
KMRichards
Guest
> > I've seen this listing in a number retro listings here,
> and
> > old TV Guides. Was this educational programming, or an
> early
> > "infomercial"?
> >
>
> Actually, both -- most films are educational, public-service
> fims, but some were indeed early forms of infomercials, One
> of these was "Shop Smith" tools, who regularly had
> infomercial films scheduled into the 1980s.
I remember that at KKOG/16 Ventura CA -- that poor little UHF that couldn't survive trying to be all-local in 1969 -- we would run such films when someone failed to turn up for their unpaid show. Most were what you would call "corporate promotion" educational (like U.S. Steel producing a half-hour film on how steel is manufactured), but my favorites were the travelogues that various tourism boards would send out.
These were made available free of charge to any station that would run them, regardless of time slot. All you had to do was agree to mail them back along with marking on a card when you ran the film. We used to get at least two a day in the mail.<P ID="signature">______________
</P>
> and
> > old TV Guides. Was this educational programming, or an
> early
> > "infomercial"?
> >
>
> Actually, both -- most films are educational, public-service
> fims, but some were indeed early forms of infomercials, One
> of these was "Shop Smith" tools, who regularly had
> infomercial films scheduled into the 1980s.
I remember that at KKOG/16 Ventura CA -- that poor little UHF that couldn't survive trying to be all-local in 1969 -- we would run such films when someone failed to turn up for their unpaid show. Most were what you would call "corporate promotion" educational (like U.S. Steel producing a half-hour film on how steel is manufactured), but my favorites were the travelogues that various tourism boards would send out.
These were made available free of charge to any station that would run them, regardless of time slot. All you had to do was agree to mail them back along with marking on a card when you ran the film. We used to get at least two a day in the mail.<P ID="signature">______________
</P>
A
AuntPresident
Guest
> > Actually, both -- most films are educational,
> public-service
> > fims, but some were indeed early forms of infomercials,
> One
> > of these was "Shop Smith" tools, who regularly had
> > infomercial films scheduled into the 1980s.
> >
>
>
> If memory serves, weren't those Shop Smith films kines?
> They would run them usually on Sunday afternoons on the
> channel that did not have the 4 PM NFL game here.
>
Didn't early editions of TV Guide (up to the early 60's) refer to most filmed programming as "film" as opposed to "live"?
> public-service
> > fims, but some were indeed early forms of infomercials,
> One
> > of these was "Shop Smith" tools, who regularly had
> > infomercial films scheduled into the 1980s.
> >
>
>
> If memory serves, weren't those Shop Smith films kines?
> They would run them usually on Sunday afternoons on the
> channel that did not have the 4 PM NFL game here.
>
Didn't early editions of TV Guide (up to the early 60's) refer to most filmed programming as "film" as opposed to "live"?
A
AirwaveSurfer
Guest
> > > I've seen this listing in a number retro listings here,
> > and
> > > old TV Guides. Was this educational programming, or an
> > early
> > > "infomercial"?
> > >
> >
> > Actually, both -- most films are educational,
> public-service
> > fims, but some were indeed early forms of infomercials,
> One
> > of these was "Shop Smith" tools, who regularly had
> > infomercial films scheduled into the 1980s.
>
> I remember that at KKOG/16 Ventura CA -- that poor little
> UHF that couldn't survive trying to be all-local in 1969 --
> we would run such films when someone failed to turn up for
> their unpaid show. Most were what you would call "corporate
> promotion" educational (like U.S. Steel producing a
> half-hour film on how steel is manufactured), but my
> favorites were the travelogues that various tourism boards
> would send out.
>
> These were made available free of charge to any station that
> would run them, regardless of time slot. All you had to do
> was agree to mail them back along with marking on a card
> when you ran the film. We used to get at least two a day in
> the mail.
>
At least one branch of the US military also supplied these kinds of films to TV stations, and I learned of this fact in an unlikely -- and amusing -- way when I was a teenager.
Specifically, I remember reading in one of the Baseball Hall of Shame books that in 1981, Buffalo's WGRZ-TV blacked out the ninth inning of NBC's telecast of what would become Nolan Ryan's record-breaking fifth no-hit game to air the US Navy film Life Aboard an Aircraft Carrier. Does anyone in or from Buffalo remember this Heidi-esque fiasco, by any chance? For that matter, does anyone in any part of the country recall another time when a station actually interrupted or pre-empted network programming to run one of these films?<P ID="signature">______________
This is AirwaveSurfer, reminding you that portions of this post have been prerecorded.</P>
> > and
> > > old TV Guides. Was this educational programming, or an
> > early
> > > "infomercial"?
> > >
> >
> > Actually, both -- most films are educational,
> public-service
> > fims, but some were indeed early forms of infomercials,
> One
> > of these was "Shop Smith" tools, who regularly had
> > infomercial films scheduled into the 1980s.
>
> I remember that at KKOG/16 Ventura CA -- that poor little
> UHF that couldn't survive trying to be all-local in 1969 --
> we would run such films when someone failed to turn up for
> their unpaid show. Most were what you would call "corporate
> promotion" educational (like U.S. Steel producing a
> half-hour film on how steel is manufactured), but my
> favorites were the travelogues that various tourism boards
> would send out.
>
> These were made available free of charge to any station that
> would run them, regardless of time slot. All you had to do
> was agree to mail them back along with marking on a card
> when you ran the film. We used to get at least two a day in
> the mail.
>
At least one branch of the US military also supplied these kinds of films to TV stations, and I learned of this fact in an unlikely -- and amusing -- way when I was a teenager.
Specifically, I remember reading in one of the Baseball Hall of Shame books that in 1981, Buffalo's WGRZ-TV blacked out the ninth inning of NBC's telecast of what would become Nolan Ryan's record-breaking fifth no-hit game to air the US Navy film Life Aboard an Aircraft Carrier. Does anyone in or from Buffalo remember this Heidi-esque fiasco, by any chance? For that matter, does anyone in any part of the country recall another time when a station actually interrupted or pre-empted network programming to run one of these films?<P ID="signature">______________
This is AirwaveSurfer, reminding you that portions of this post have been prerecorded.</P>
K
KMRichards
Guest
> Didn't early editions of TV Guide (up to the early 60's)
> refer to most filmed programming as "film" as opposed to
> "live"?
Yes, but if a station ran one of these freebie films, TV Guide would list "Film" rather than the actual title. (I suspect that much of the time, the stations themselves didn't know what films they would run in advance.)
<P ID="signature">______________
</P>
> refer to most filmed programming as "film" as opposed to
> "live"?
Yes, but if a station ran one of these freebie films, TV Guide would list "Film" rather than the actual title. (I suspect that much of the time, the stations themselves didn't know what films they would run in advance.)
<P ID="signature">______________
</P>
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