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Former Philadelphia TV station WKBS-TV 48

J

Jul

Guest
I would like to start a discussion on the classic TV board on a former Philadelphia TV station WKBS channel 48 which existed from 9/1/65 to 8/30/83 which I don't remember at all. What did you like about the programming on the station overall and what was your favorite programs that WKBS-TV aired in its history and why. For more info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WKBS-TV_(Philadelphia) and http://www.broadcastpioneers.com/wkbssignoff.html and http://tv.groups.yahoo.com/group/WKBS48Club/
 
Not being from Philadelphia I never saw WKBS,
but I do remember, back in the '60s, ads in TV
Guide for one of the set-manufacturing companies.
They were promoting color TVs (then just getting
popular) and used pictures from WKBS; I remember
Red Buttons in particular.
 
I remember watching them in the dorm in the early 80's. The Burlington licensing always perplexed me. Did they have any Philly sports, Sixers maybe? Can't imagine why else I'd have watched them, though Planet of the Apes and some of their reruns were right up my roommate's alley so maybe thats what I watched on 48
 
Riley_dfwm said:
The Burlington licensing always perplexed me.
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Me too. WKBS even had an ID graphic saying they were a member of the New Jersey Broadcasters Association. Burlington btw is across the Delaware River from Bristol, Pennsylvania, which is why the vertical lift span in the vicinity is called the Burlington-Bristol bridge. :)
Did they have any Philly sports, Sixers maybe?
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You bet they had the Sixers, Riley. As a high schooler in the late '70s and in college afterwards I watched Dr. J and co. go at it on 48. But by the 1982-83 season they had lost the rights to WPHL-17, but IIRC WKBS still had hoops that winter, the college variety (the Big 5 [Villanova, Penn, St. Joe's, Temple and LaSalle, for those who don't know]).
Can't imagine why else I'd have watched them, though Planet of the Apes and some of their reruns were right up my roommate's alley so maybe thats what I watched on 48
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I was never much of a PotA fan.

ixnay
 
I am somewhat amazed that video of WKBS' last broadcast day and even more-so their "goodbye" hasn't made it to You Tube, or anywhere else for that matter. Maybe not as common place as they were later on in the 80s but VCRs were widespread in 1983 and it wasn't exactly a secret that WKBS would be going off the air for good, surely someone must have taped it.

The night WKBS signed off for good I was living in central Virginia so of course I couldn't pick up WKBS but I do remember this being a top story on KYW Newsradio 1030 that night.
 
mleach said:
I am somewhat amazed that video of WKBS' last broadcast day and even more-so their "goodbye" hasn't made it to You Tube, or anywhere else for that matter. Maybe not as common place as they were later on in the 80s but VCRs were widespread in 1983 and it wasn't exactly a secret that WKBS would be going off the air for good, surely someone must have taped it.

The night WKBS signed off for good I was living in central Virginia so of course I couldn't pick up WKBS but I do remember this being a top story on KYW Newsradio 1030 that night.
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Correction 1060 AM. BTW if anyone has video of WKBS-TV's last day on the air and sign off, please post video clips on you tube.
 
mleach said:
I am somewhat amazed that video of WKBS' last broadcast day and even more-so their "goodbye" hasn't made it to You Tube, or anywhere else for that matter.
Click to expand...

I'm amazed too. I was living in Delaware County, PA, getting ready to go back to the then-freshly-renamed Kutztown University the next day. If that hadn't been the case, I probably would have stayed up after WKBS's last program (the PSU-Nebraska inaugrual Kickoff Classic from E. Rutherford) to see the final signoff.

ixnay
 
Of course, WKBS was a Kaiser Broadcasting station, and, as such, deserves (along with sister stations in Boston and Detroit) much of the credit for the 'Star Trek' phenomenon. When it originally aired on NBC, 'Star Trek' was pretty much just a minor cult hit. But the head of Kaiser Broadcasting was a huge fan, and bought the syndication package for his stations....and stripped it in Prime Access. The entire broadcasting community thought he was insane. He got the last laugh, though, as the show went through the roof. Other markets followed to similar success. This led Paramount to greenlight reviving the show which eventually came to fruition as the motion picture series.
 
Before Kaiser gets all the credit for maintaining the ST phenomenon, don't forget it went into syndication in the Fall of '69, right after NBC killed it. the old WNYS ch. 9 in Syracuse carried it at 6:30 weeknights (in prime access); that was in the days when they did local news at 5:30 and ABC ran network news at 6PM (to give their affiliates some sort of jump on the other big two nets).

Plus, it ran in Buffalo at---I want to say, 5 o'clock? Don't remember which station.
 
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