Hee Haw in Urban areas and other areas outside the South

[KeithE4]

Did Midwestern hayride fit into this picture around that time (Avco stations WLW-T, D, I, C, etc. )

IIRC, the syndicated version of Midwestern Hayride (I think the "Midwestern" in the title was dropped for the syndicated version), was different, or maybe just edited, than the one aired on the four Crosley/Avco O&Os in Ohio and Indiana, which I believe was live on Saturday nights during the '60s.

One thing I do remember on the "WLW" version was that they gave local weather reports for Cincinnati, Columbus, Dayton, and Indianapolis during the show. I'd be surprised if that segment was on the syndicated version.

 

[bpatrick]

I remember that in the 1966-67 season WAVY
Norfolk, VA carried the syndicated version of
Midwestern Hayride, and it did have "Midwestern"
in the title (but nothing peculiar to Ohio and Indiana
within the show itself). I think the Crosley/Avco
stations stopped carrying the show in the early '70s,
and three of the four (Cincinnati, Columbus, Dayton)
carried Lawrence Welk. IIRC, the Hee Haw/Welk
faceoff went like this:

CINCINNATI: Welk on WLWT
Hee Haw on WKRC (starting at 6:30)

COLUMBUS: Welk on WLWC (WCMH)
Hee Haw on WTVN (WSYX)

DAYTON: Welk on WLWD (WDTN)
Hee Haw on WHIO (may have started
at 6:30 at one point)

INDIANAPOLIS: Welk on WRTV
Hee Haw on WISH

In one schedule I've posted from 1977, WLWI (WTHR) carried
All-Star Anything Goes and Candid Camera against Welk and
Hee Haw.

 

[ixnay]

Speaking of Hee Haw, I'm surprised no one has mentioned its 2-year run on CBS 1969-1971. I actually watched that a few times on WCAU-10 (then CBS O&O, now NBC O&O).

...I mentioned it when discussing the Green Bay scheduling of "Hee Haw" and Welk...

Sorry, one can't be expected to read up on *every* market, can he, at least the ones he can't relate to? :(I've been no closer to Wisconsin than Ohio.)

ixnay

 

[gr8oldies]

IIRC, WHIO did carryHee haw at 6:30, skipping the Saturday night network news. We could catch a start time on WANE-TV 15 in Ft. Wayne at 7. I wasn't even aware that "Midwestern Hayride" was syndicated outside of the Avco stations, that's interesting to know.

 

[Tim from Springfield IL]

From 1981-84, WMBD-31 (CBS) in Peoria, IL aired "Hee Haw" at 6PM Saturday evenings. Before '81, I have seen old listings that indicated that ABC affiliate WRAU-19 (now WHOI) aired the show at the same time. From about '84-'91, the current Fox affiliate WYZZ-43 aired Hee Haw at the same time previously broadcast by channels 19 and 31. I don't remember if the revamped '91-92 version or Hee Haw Silver the following year was aired in the Peoria/Bloomington market.

Hee Haw generally aired in Springfield/Decatur Champaign at 6PM Saturdays on Springfield's WICS-20 (then NBC, now ABC since last fall) and its sister station, WICD-15 Champaign. It also usually aired the same time on Quincy's CBS affiliate, KHQA-7, during the '80s (I might have seen listings showing that it aired on a weeknight in that market in the '70s, even if it meant bumping a CBS show).

The broadcast history of Hee Haw in the Quad Cities market is interesting. Throughout the '70s to about 1980 or '81, CBS affiliate WHBF-4 in Rock Island had the rights to the show, and appeared to air it on weeknights. Before "Dallas" came into the 9PM slot, channel 4 aired HH on Friday nights at 9PM in the fall of '78. Then after "Dukes of Hazzard" premiered in early '79, WHBF completely preempted "Incredible Hulk" and ran HH in its place at 7 Fridays as an alternate lead-in to Dukes and Dallas. (BTW, the early broadcast history of "Incredible Hulk" is preemption-laden in much of the Land of Lincoln--WCIA Champaign and its sister station, the previously-mentioned WMBD Peoria did not start airing the show until the fall of '78). By 1981, WHBF cleared IH for the rest of its run, and HH was moved to the NBC affiliate in Davenport, the then-WOC-6 (now KWQC) for broadcast on Sundays). Later in the '80s until at least '91, WQAD-8 (ABC) in Moline picked up HH. I also don't remember if "The Hee Haw Show" or Silver aired in the QC's, even though I grew up in a part of the Peoria market that was also within Class A/B reception range of all Quad City stations (far northwestern Peoria County, Illinois) and could pick up both markets at my parents' home.

Many responses have been posted by a contributor to the Google message boards complaining about Hee Haw's broadcast history during the '70s in Iowa. According to these messages, all of the Hawkeye State's NBC affiliates except WOC-6 in Davenport (WHO-13 Des Moines, KWWL-7 Waterloo/Cedar Rapids, KTIV-4 Sioux City, and the ill-fated KVFD-21 Fort Dodge, the latter going dark in 1977 after a tornado hit the city and the channel later used by Iowa Public Television) aired HH at 6:30 PM Friday evenings between 1971-79, bumping Sanford and Son throughout its ENTIRE run. Other shows like Sanford Arms, Waverly Wonders, and the early episodes of Diff'rent Strokes were bumped by HH in Iowa. Usually, Sanford would be tape-delayed to another time slot during the week, but the contributor mentioned in some of his messages that WHO-13's recording devices occasionally malfunctioned, leaving central Iowa without an episode of "Sanford and Son" some weeks. The practice appeared to have ended by fall '79--interestingly at the same time far eastern Iowa (and northwestern/west-central Illinois) didn't get to see "Incredible Hulk" because of WHBF's broadcast of Hee Haw in its slot.

 

[Tim from Springfield IL]

The broadcast history of Hee Haw in the Quad Cities market is interesting. Throughout the '70s to about 1980 or '81, CBS affiliate WHBF-4 in Rock Island had the rights to the show, and appeared to air it on weeknights. Before "Dallas" came into the 9PM slot, channel 4 aired HH on Friday nights at 9PM in the fall of '78. Then after "Dukes of Hazzard" premiered in early '79, WHBF completely preempted "Incredible Hulk" and ran HH in its place at 7 Fridays as an alternate lead-in to Dukes and Dallas. (BTW, the early broadcast history of "Incredible Hulk" is preemption-laden in much of the Land of Lincoln--WCIA Champaign and its sister station, the previously-mentioned WMBD Peoria did not start airing the show until the fall of '78). By 1981, WHBF cleared IH for the rest of its run, and HH was moved to the NBC affiliate in Davenport, the then-WOC-6 (now KWQC) for broadcast on Sundays).

I meant to also add in my last post above that while WHBF was bumping Incredible Hulk for Hee Haw in the 1979-80 season, I have seen listings showing them airing "Lawrence Welk" on Saturdays at 6PM at the same time. IMO, had Welk been on, say, WQAD during that time, I could see channel 4 tape-delaying the Hulk to Saturday evenings at 6 (also, around 1978-80, WOC was bumping some of the NBC Friday night offerings from 7-8 for shows like Name that Tune and Bob Newhart Show reruns, based on other old listings I have seen--but the NBC shows were delayed to the next Saturday evening during the 6PM hour).

Sometime I need to post a schedule from the Peoria/Quad Cities markets, as well as some for the Springfield and Quincy areas, from the '70s and/or early '80s. Many cases of network preemptions in those markets--even the same program being preempted in neighboring markets, such as the same show being bumped simultaneously in both Peoria and the Quad Cities.

 

[azumanga]

IIRC, WHIO did carryHee haw at 6:30, skipping the Saturday night network news.

Likewise in Flint / Saginaw / Bay City, where WNEM ch.5 pre-empted the Saturday NBC Nightly News for Hee Haw at 6:30PM. Don't know how long WNEM carried the show, but I figure it's at least through its conversion to "The Hee Haw Show"; also on 5, it was always Saturdays at 6:30PM for as long as I can remember.

Also in that market, Lawrence Welk was seen on WJRT ch.12 (though it would move to WEYI ch.25 in the fall of 1979). Don't know if 25 carried Hee Haw when it was a CBS program.

In the Tampa Bay area, in the late-1970s and early-1980s, WTOG ch.44 carried Hee Haw Saturdays at 7PM, against Welk on WTSP ch.10 and WXLT (WWSB) ch.40. Don;t know the exact history of Hee Haw in Tampa Bay, though it was once seen in syndication in the early-1970s on 10 (as WLCY), and was seen in the mid-1980s on WXFL (WFLA) ch.8, before moving to WTMV (WMOR) ch.32. 8 and 32 carried Hee Haw Saturdays at 7PM, with 32 carring it all the way through "Silver".

 

[LABreeze]

It was funny that you mentioned about the Hee Haw vs Lawrence Welk thing. When I was about 4 or 5 years old KLTV-TV 7 would run this show (Hee Haw) around Thursday night at 9pm before the local news (at the time they were still "cherry-picking programs from the Big Three) and also Lawrence Welk on a different night at 9pm which I think was Wednesday night. However the Sheveport, LA-Texarkana AR/TX area had a different scheduling. ABC affiliate KTBS-TV 3 was running Welk at 6pm while CBS affilaite KSLA-12 ran Hee Haw. These shows were shown on Saturdays until both of them left the air around the mid-late 1980s. I know that you are talking about the urban areas outside the south, but I just couldn't resist on joining in.

 

[SteveRichards]

As a small child, I can vaguely remember watching "Hee Haw" on KHQA (Quincy, IL) on Tuesday nights in the mid-'70s. I don't know what time the show started, although I would guess 6:30 or 7PM, and I have no idea what CBS show got bumped and if that show was aired in an alternate time slot.

KRCG in Jefferson City, MO pre-empted the first CBS season of "Wonder Woman" and aired "Hee Haw" Friday nights at 7. Local NBC affiliate KOMU picked up "Wonder Woman," I think mid-season or so, and aired it on a one-week delay Saturdays at 6PM. I'm guessing the one-week delay was because KOMU had no direct connection to CBS and had to get the episode on tape from the network, or possibly from then CBS-owned KMOX-TV in St. Louis. It would have been a hoot if CBS forced KRCG to record "Wonder Woman" off the network feed for airing on KOMU!

At some point later in the season or the next summer, KRCG decided to air "Wonder Woman" Fridays at 7 and moved "Hee Haw" to Saturdays at 7, I believe pre-empting "The Bob Newhart Show" and another CBS sitcom. I believe KOMU ran those two sitcoms a week later, Saturdays at 6PM. It should be noted that KRCG also had the local rights to "The Lawrence Welk Show," which the station aired Saturdays at 6PM. I'm not sure how long this arrangement lasted.

 

[bpatrick]

Since Florida (at least south of Gainesville) isn't usually considered
"southern," I don't mind responding to the question of when Hee Haw
aired in Tampa. When I first moved there in '73, Channel 10 had it
Fridays at 7. By the fall of '74 it was on Sundays at 7 (ABC having
no network programming at that time), and, IIRC, it moved to Sundays
at 6 in the fall of '75. Channel 40 in Sarasota also carried Hee Haw,
but I believe on a weeknight. Lawrence Welk was on both stations
Saturdays at 7.

In Orlando, Hee Haw and Welk went head-to-head Saturdays at 7,
with Hee Haw on CBS affiliate WDBO (now WKMG)/6 and Welk on
ABC affiliate WFTV/9. It was no contest; Welk was the number-one
show in the market, period.

At one time Miami was the first market to see Welk each week;
WTVJ/then-4 ran him Thursdays at 7 (Hee Haw was on WSVN/7 Saturdays
at 7).

Ft. Myers: Welk and Hee Haw head-to-head. Welk on CBS affiliate
WINK/11 and Hee Haw on ABC affiliate WEVU (now WZVN)/26 Saturdays
at 7.

West Palm Beach: Also head-to-head, with Welk on then-ABC (now CBS)
affiliate WPEC/12 and Hee Haw on then-CBS (now either CW or MyNet, I
don't know which) affiliate WTVX/34 Saturdays at 7.

And although North Carolina is a southern market, it always stuck out like
the proverbial sore thumb that WBTV/3 Charlotte was the only CBS affiliate
in the state to carry Welk instead of Hee Haw Saturdays at 7 (Hee Haw was
on WFMY Greensboro, WNCT Greenville/New Bern/Washington, and WTVD
Raleigh/Durham before TVD became an ABC o&o and the new CBS affiliate,
WRAL, picked up Hee Haw).

 

[oldtimeradio]

I don't recall "Midwestern Hayride" running out here in Phoenix, but I did see an ad in Broadcasting Magazine indicating that the syndicated title was "Country Hayride." Kenny Price was the host. Not sure if he hosted the WLW version.

As for "Hee Haw" I recall channel five running the syndicated version of it on Saturday nights around 7 pm.

Hopefully, my memory isn't that foggy on these items.

Mike

 

[bpatrick]

Believe it or not, PBS affiliate WGTV Athens, GA carried
"Country Hayride." I remember another host after
Kenny Price: Henson Cargill, who had one hit called
"Skip A Rope."

I'm sure from schedules that I've seen in the Louisville
Courier-Journal and the Kentucky edition of TV Guide
that Hee Haw was on Channel 12 in Cincinnati, although
Channel 5 might have had it back around '71 when it
first went into syndication.

 

[Bluenoser]

In Maine, "Hee Haw" aired in Bangor on WVII 7 (ABC) and in Portland on WGME 13 (CBS) at 7 p.m. on Saturdays. Good ol' Lawrence Welk ran at the same time on WABI 5 (CBS) in Bangor. WMTW 8 (ABC) ran Lawrence Welk although I'm not sure if it was on Saturday. I'm not sure if WAGM 8 in Presque Isle ran the show or not. I'll have to do some digging on it.

WAGM did show Welk, simulcast with WABI. In the mid/late 70s, WAGM carried many of the same non-network programs as WABI, usually showing the same episode.

 

[NoWayNoCC]

That tells me every large TV market was obliged to air Hee Haw on syndication whether the markets wanted to or not.

So the makers of 'Hee Haw' can just come along and force a station to air their show, whether they want to or not?

 

[fortmill]

Thanks bpatrick---I thought WBTV in Charlotte always showed Welk during its syndicated run. WSOC always had Hee Haw, but for a while I think they showed it on a week-night instead of Saturday. I know for three or four years it was Welk on 3, Hee Haw on 9, and "wrasling" on 18 and 36 at 7 on Saturday. What a horrible choice of programming. But I'm surprised no one has mentioned the third big musical syndicated show that was usually on southeastern stations at 7 on Saturdays---"Solid Gold." A much better alternative to the other two, it featured current music, mostly top 40 with a hip presentation. Believe it or not Dionne Warwick was the host the first two seasons. She was then fired (Warwick made a big fuss about it, then went on to become the star of the Psychic Friends Network) and replaced by Marilyn McCoo of the Fifth Dimension. In Columbia SC it was Solid Gold at 7 on WNOK=TV 19 (now WLTX), with Hee Haw on WOLO/25. WIS-TV/10 had Welk on at 5 PM on Saturdays I believe, with their storied 7 o'clock report (news) on at 7 and "Awareness," (a talk show geared to African Americans) on at 7:30.

 

[NoWayNoCC]

I remember 'Solid Gold' being on in the daytime on Saturdays in Cincinnati around 1982. It may have been on at noon or 1 PM. I'm pretty sure it was on one of the big 3 stations (channel 5, 9, or 12).

I don't know who had it in Cincinnati after that, but around 1983 or 1984, WKYT in Lexington had 'Solid Gold' late at night (like around 11 PM) on Fridays, or maybe Saturdays. I keep thinking it was Fridays, because I remember watching 'The Dukes Of Hazzard' on that channel (when the cable system in northern Kentucky had it), but it could have been Saturdays.

 

[bpatrick]

Thanks bpatrick---I thought WBTV in Charlotte always showed Welk during its syndicated run. WSOC always had Hee Haw, but for a while I think they showed it on a week-night instead of Saturday. I know for three or four years it was Welk on 3, Hee Haw on 9, and "wrasling" on 18 and 36 at 7 on Saturday. What a horrible choice of programming. But I'm surprised no one has mentioned the third big musical syndicated show that was usually on southeastern stations at 7 on Saturdays---"Solid Gold." A much better alternative to the other two, it featured current music, mostly top 40 with a hip presentation. Believe it or not Dionne Warwick was the host the first two seasons. She was then fired (Warwick made a big fuss about it, then went on to become the star of the Psychic Friends Network) and replaced by Marilyn McCoo of the Fifth Dimension. In Columbia SC it was Solid Gold at 7 on WNOK=TV 19 (now WLTX), with Hee Haw on WOLO/25. WIS-TV/10 had Welk on at 5 PM on Saturdays I believe, with their storied 7 o'clock report (news) on at 7 and "Awareness," (a talk show geared to African Americans) on at 7:30.

WSOC ran Welk from 1971, when he entered syndication, until 1974, when he moved to WBTV, and always Saturdays at 7.
Hee Haw nearly always came on Fridays, from 1971-74 (when it moved to Saturdays for a year), then 1975-79, when it
moved back to Saturdays. In the last years of Hee Haw, 36 had it, as 9 was running the weekend edition of Entertainment
Tonight; 36 also carried Memories With Lawrence Welk (1982-84) as 3 opted for Dance Fever and the weekend edition of
PM Magazine (WLOS carried weekend PM at 7:30 as well).

I was living in Greenville, SC, in the '80s and WYFF/4 carried Solid Gold Saturdays at 7; WSPA/7 carried Hee Haw;
WLOS/13 tried everything but the kitchen sink after Welk hung up his baton, ending up with Wheel and Jeopardy!
from 7 to 8 by the time we left in the early '90s.

In Columbia, Welk did indeed air on WIS at 5 on Saturdays until 1979, when WLTX picked him up and put him at 7. I don't
recall if that lasted until Welk turned off the bubble machine in '82.

 

[azumanga]

I'm surprised no one has mentioned the third big musical syndicated show that was usually on southeastern stations at 7 on Saturdays---"Solid Gold." A much better alternative to the other two, it featured current music, mostly top 40 with a hip presentation. Believe it or not Dionne Warwick was the host the first two seasons. She was then fired (Warwick made a big fuss about it, then went on to become the star of the Psychic Friends Network) and replaced by Marilyn McCoo of the Fifth Dimension.

Of course, during the years Solid Gold was on the air, they went through almost different hosts every season:

(years reflect seasons, not actual years)

1979-1981: Dionne Warwick and Marty Cohen
1981-1982: Marilyn McCoo and Andy Gibb
1982-1983: Marilyn McCoo and Rex Smith
1983-1984: Marilyn McCoo (only)
1984-1985: Rick Dees
1985-1986: Dionne Warwick (again)
1986-1988: Marilyn McCoo, Arsenio Hall and Nina Blackwood

(source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solid_Gold_(TV_series) )

 

[tjthedj]

Aarontaber, To what "demographics" do you refer? People with bad taste - or who like corny jokes? The reside in large markets, too.

Hee Haw was a "barter"' program, anyway. You play a few spots and you could run it at no charge - anywhere, anytime.

 

[bpatrick]

If we're to believe CBS when they canceled Hee Haw, the show
had too many viewers in the smaller (C and D) counties (under
50,000 population), and too many viewers over 50. ABC put out
the same line about Lawrence Welk. Neither was canceled by
the networks for poor ratings. That's the networks talking, not
me. Obviously, somebody in the big cities watched these
shows, else they wouldn't have lasted as long as
they did.

BTW, Welk was also a barter show. In fact, in his autobiography
"A-One, A-Two," he claims he invented barter syndication back
in the 1920s when he had a noontime radio show on WNAX Yankton,
SD. He was sponsored by a flour company, and the show was so
popular that other stations around the state wanted to carry it,
so Welk, by his own account, suggested to the WNAX manager
that the flour company get two minutes of commercial time, and
the stations would get the show free with a minute of their
own to sell. That's what happened, says Mr. Music Maker.
True story? Who knows? But that's how barter works, essentially.