Local Television Anniversary Specials

[nomadcowatbk]

WDAF put out a DVD for it's 60th

 

[bpatrick]

I was going to ask if KDKA pre-empted "As The World Turns" in 1963,
since Walter Cronkite interrupted it with the report that shots had
been fired at JFK's motorcade. Obviously, KDKA broke in with their
own what-we-now-call "special report." (BTW, did Mike air from
1-2:30 or from 1:30-3? Surely they didn't ordinarily pre-empt "Art Linkletter's
House Party.")

 

[FreddyE1977]

As for Pittsburgh:

Some of gthe better anniversary programs were produced by WTAE (ABC-4). I remember that they celebrated their 25th nn in 1983 with a weekend of old shows and commercials on the weekend near Christmas, even though their actual anniversary was in September. I have copies of their 30th anniversary on video tape from 1988 and their 40th from 1998. The 30th was a live 90 minute special that was one of the better ones I have ever seen. Lots of old clips from shows like "Hank Stohl & Friends," "Romper Room," "Adventuretime," etc. along with what goes on behind the scenes of a TV station.

I remember that. It was one of the most excellent things that has ever aired on TV here.
It actually did air over Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, 1983.

Well-timed too, as we all spent that Christmas huddled indoors as Pittsburgh experienced an
Arctic Blast with temperatures reaching -20 F.

 

[Tim L]

I was going to ask if KDKA pre-empted "As The World Turns" in 1963,
since Walter Cronkite interrupted it with the report that shots had
been fired at JFK's motorcade. Obviously, KDKA broke in with their
own what-we-now-call "special report." (BTW, did Mike air from
1-2:30 or from 1:30-3? Surely they didn't ordinarily pre-empt "Art Linkletter's
House Party.")

Based on Google News, The Beaver Falls, Pa. Newspaper had Mike Douglas at 1-2:30 on October 17, 1963..I wouldnt think it would have changed in the month after..This was early in Douglas' syndication..There was a one week delay from the live Cleveland telecast..

 

[mbclev]

As for Pittsburgh:

Some of gthe better anniversary programs were produced by WTAE (ABC-4). I remember that they celebrated their 25th nn in 1983 with a weekend of old shows and commercials on the weekend near Christmas, even though their actual anniversary was in September. I have copies of their 30th anniversary on video tape from 1988 and their 40th from 1998. The 30th was a live 90 minute special that was one of the better ones I have ever seen. Lots of old clips from shows like "Hank Stohl & Friends," "Romper Room," "Adventuretime," etc. along with what goes on behind the scenes of a TV station. The 40th and 50th anniversary specials were 1 hour retrospectives that just glossed over the shows and what seemed to be lots of old stock interviews. As it seemed to be the case, the quality of the specials diminshed in much the same way as their news product has.

Was "Junior High Quiz" among those shows? Even though I live in the Cleveland area, I recently found on the web audio clips of four episodes of that show from 1974, posted by an alumnus of that show. These clips can be found at:

http://doc-ent.com/gordon

 

[Bob1370]

"WHAM (WOKR) 13 in Rochester is celebrating their 50th anniversary. They have been doing little pieces on their newscasts. I don't know if they are actually going to do a special program. As a former employee, I would watch."

My guess is they'll probably make a big deal of it when their actual 50th birthday rolls around in September, because they still have people on staff who've been there a long time both behind and in front of the camera (anchor Don Alhart has been there for 45 out of those 50 years, joining almost immediately out of college) and there's a lot of institutional memory in the building. 13 also has the advantage of having a lot of old archive tape available for a retrospective.

Crosstown NBC affiliate WHEC is coming up on 60 years in November of next year--they didn't make much of their 50th back in 2003 but maybe it'll be different this time. WROC, the oldest station in town, will be 65 years old in 2014, and they actually have the most complete news and program archive with some films and kinescopes reportedly dating back almost to the beginning, although their pioneer voices are for the most part no longer with us.

Noncomm WXXI-TV will hit 50 years in 2016. It's always made a big deal out of its major anniversary milestones and the golden anniversary will probably be no exception--again there's plenty of archive tape on hand and while some of the early staffers are now retired, nearly all of them are still alive and well and available to comment.

 

[MCarney]

In my Boston days, WBZ-TV and WCVB were pretty reliable about doing anniversary specials every five years - I know WBZ did specials for its 25th, 30th, 35th, 40th and 45th (I used the occasion of WBZ-TV's 45th in 1993 to produce and co-host a two-hour special on WBZ radio's history over on the AM side!), and WCVB did "5 at 20" in 1992 and "5 at 25" in 1997. I'm pretty sure WCVB kept going in 2002 (30) and 2007 (35). WNEV/WHDH-TV (Channel 7) didn't do as much, but there was a nice special in 1993 looking back on the station's history under previous owner David Mugar as he prepared to hand the station over to new owner Sunbeam.

I should add that WCVB did not do one for their 40th anniversary this past March, and that WBZ has not done one since Westinghouse bought CBS in 1995. I've heard one consultant say these types of shows are unsellable. That may be the case, but they also might trigger comparisons to the past that may not be flattering to current station management.

WJAR Providence did do one for their 60th anniversary in 2009, including clips on newscasts every evening that month leading up to the anniversary.

 

[hubcity]

It's no longer on YouTube, but there was a copy of WPIX New York's 50th, which Tony Randall hosted (and which Chuck McCann participated in.)

For their 60th, they basically just re-ran classic episodes of the shows most people remembered them for (Little Rascals/Three Stooges/Odd Couple/Honeymooners)...probably because they'd lost/misplaced a lot of the archives that they actually had available for the 50th.

 

[Tim L]

It's no longer on YouTube, but there was a copy of WPIX New York's 50th, which Tony Randall hosted (and which Chuck McCann participated in.)

For their 60th, they basically just re-ran classic episodes of the shows most people remembered them for (Little Rascals/Three Stooges/Odd Couple/Honeymooners)...probably because they'd lost/misplaced a lot of the archives that they actually had available for the 50th.

While they did do that, they did air a 60th anniversary special..Wasnt hugely great, though..I had Dish Network at the time and happened to see it when it was aired..

http://articles.nydailynews.com/200...17900568_1_new-yorkers-yule-log-three-stooges

 

[F.M.Hertz]

As for Pittsburgh:

Some of gthe better anniversary programs were produced by WTAE (ABC-4). I remember that they celebrated their 25th nn in 1983 with a weekend of old shows and commercials on the weekend near Christmas, even though their actual anniversary was in September. I have copies of their 30th anniversary on video tape from 1988 and their 40th from 1998. The 30th was a live 90 minute special that was one of the better ones I have ever seen. Lots of old clips from shows like "Hank Stohl & Friends," "Romper Room," "Adventuretime," etc. along with what goes on behind the scenes of a TV station. The 40th and 50th anniversary specials were 1 hour retrospectives that just glossed over the shows and what seemed to be lots of old stock interviews. As it seemed to be the case, the quality of the specials diminshed in much the same way as their news product has.

Was "Junior High Quiz" among those shows? Even though I live in the Cleveland area, I recently found on the web audio clips of four episodes of that show from 1974, posted by an alumnus of that show. These clips can be found at:

http://doc-ent.com/gordon

Yes, Jr. High Quiz was on WTAE. It was big in the mid to late 1970s, and was sponsored by Pittsburgh National Bank. Ricki Wertz was the host and came on before the Sunday Afternoon Movies with Rege Cordic.

Of all the Pittsburgh TV stations around that time, Channel 4 seemed to be the leader in local programming. Here tare the ones I remember: "AM Pittsburgh, Bowling For Dollars, Adventuretime, Jr. High Quiz, Sunday Afternoon Movies."

Two questions for anyone that might have been around Pittsburgh in the early to mid 70s:
-Wasn't there a comedy show on Saturday nights called "Saturday Night Instead of the Movies?" Does anyone have any info on that?
-I asked about this on another forum about a Christmas promo that Channel 4 used to air with some music and words on a screen with a Currier and Ives type of backdrop. Someone said that the music was "Carol of the Belles." Does anyone have any info about that as well or a video of it. I would love to see that again.

Thanks

 

[only1moore]

In Honolulu, there are two stations that should be celebrating their anniversaries in 2012: KHNL on July 4 (they turn 50, having signed on as Independent KTRG) and KGMB on December 1 (They turn 60, and was Hawaii's first TV station). They are now controlled by Raycom. If these stations do celebrate milestones, it'll be a brief one.

I was also going to add KAAH in the mix since they will turn 30 on December 23 (when they signed on as KSHO and was Hawaii's first UHF outlet), but since Trinity owns the station don't count on anything secular from them.

 

[Unregistered]

CORRECTIONS!!!


Both KCBS and KCOP's anniversary specials in 1988 were their 40th, not 50th observances.

I guess I had 50 on the brain.

Actually, the KCOP show was the 50th anniversary. I produced it.