Let's go back 65 years to the first Thanksgiving after the birth of commercial TV here in Boston, Thursday, November 25th, 1948.
These were the TV programs Bostonians were able to see that day, as listed in that day's Boston Globe. Instead of listing the programs as the Globe did (by station), I am listing them in the better-known method of time period with programs listed by channel within each time period.
Brooks and Marsh and Wikipedia were used to establish network status; sponsor whose names were in program titles have been added where omitted by the paper.
Stations:
4-WBZ-TV (NBC)
7-WNAC-TV (ABC/CBS/DuMont)
9:30 A.M.
7-Test Pattern
10 A.M.
4-Test Pattern until 12 Noon
7-High-School Football: Lynn Classical at Lynn English (as I have mentioned in prior retro Boston TV listings from the Fall of 1948, WNAC carried a number of area high-school football games during 1948, mostly from the Manning Bowl in Lynn, Massachusetts)
(I suspect the game ended shortly after 12 Noon, nothing is listed for WNAC until 1 P.M.)
12:45 P.M.
4-Test Pattern
1 P.M.
7-Test Pattern (to 5 P.M.)
1:10 P.M.
4-Sports Gallery
1:15 P.M.
4-College Football: Cornell at Penn
4:15 P.M.
4-(Shawmut Home Theatre) Movie: "Lydia" (1941), with Merle Oberon.
5:45 P.M.
7-Test Pattern
6 P.M.
4-News Tape
7-Small Fry Club with Bob "Big Brother" Emery (DuMont)
6:05 P.M.
4-Surprise Package (local children's show with longtime WBZ-1030 morning personality Carl DeSuze; this was apparently the first locally-produced children's show in the history of Boston television)
6:30 P.M.
4-Weather Or Not, with Dr. James Austin
7-Russ Hodges' Scoreboard (Sports news and interview hosted by the man best remembered for his call of the old New York Giants' dramatic 1951 National League pennant-clinching win) (DuMont)
6:40 P.M.
4-Film Serial: "Law Of The Wild" (according to IMDB.com, this was a 1934 movie serial featuring Rin-Tin-Tin)
6:45 P.M.
7-Film Shorts
7 P.M.
4-Bump Hadley (sports show hosted by the former baseball pitcher; I suspect much of the show was a rundown of scores from the many Thanksgiving-morning high-school football games in the Boston area)
7-Fashion Story (ABC)
7:15 P.M.
4-"Calla Calling" (cartoon?)
7:20 P.M.
4-(Shawmut) Nightly Newsteller (local news; perhaps Arch MacDonald was anchorman)
7:30 P.M.
(No program was listed for WBZ; however, that's day New York Times listed a film short titled "NBC Presents" in that slot; I presume it also aired on WBZ)
7-Holiday Star Vanities (ABC variety special, the Times listed George Jessel as host along with guest stars Paul Whiteman, Connee Boswell, Paul Draper, Jerry Colonna, and future sitcom superstar Phil Silvers).
7:45 P.M.
4-Sportswoman of the Week (brief women's sports feature) (NBC)
7:50 P.M.
4-(Camel) Newsreel Theatre (Fox Movietone newsreel footage narrated off-camera by John Cameron Swayze; by the following February, he would move in front of the camera to anchor a 15-minutre version called "Camel News Caravan") (NBC)
8 P.M.
4-NBC Presents-Travelogue
8:15 P.M.
4-The Nature Of Things-Science feature with Dr. Roy Marshall (NBC).
8:30 P.M.
4-Lanny Ross Show (musical-variety show) (NBC)
9 P.M.
4-(Gulf) Road Show with Bob Smith (yes, the same "Buffalo Bob Smith" who co-starred on "Howdy Doody"!) (NBC)
9:30 P.M.
4-(Bigelow) Floor Show, variety with ventriloquist Paul Winchelll (later known as a children's TV personality) and Dunniger (NBC)
7-Wrestling from Boston Arena (sign-off came after the card ended) (although DuMont had a wrestling show in this time period in the Fall of 1948, it didn't originate from Boston, so this was a local telecast)
10 P.M.
4-Strikes 'n Spares (bowling show, presumably broadcast live from a local bowling alley; I would think it featured the skinny "Candlepins" and small bowling balls popular in New England and Eastern Canada)
11 P.M.
4-(Boston Post) Views Of News In New England (local newscast illustrated with news photos from the now-defunct newspaper)
11:05 P.M.
4-Tomorrow's Programs
11:08 P.M.
4-Sign-Off
NOTES:
(1) The Macy's Parade was not telecast in Boston that day. According to the November 25th, 1948 New York Times, it was locally televised by WCBS-2, WNBT-4 and WPIX-11. I have not been able to find TV listings for other cities along the "East Coast Network", so I don't know if there was any network broadcast.
The first Macy's parade to be telecast in Boston was on Thanksgiving, 1951 on WNAC-7 (likely via CBS).
(2) That day's NFL game between the Detroit Lions and the old Chicago Cardinals in Detroit was not televised in Boston, or anywhere else along the East Coast since the East and Midwest networks weren't linked until January of 1949. However, the 1949 game between the Lions and Chicago Bears was televised to the East Coast and aired in Boston on WNAC-7 with a start time of 11:05 A.M. Eastern (broadcast time 10:55 A.M. EST). In recent years, the Detroit Thanksgiving game has kicked-off at 12:35 P.M. EST.
These were the TV programs Bostonians were able to see that day, as listed in that day's Boston Globe. Instead of listing the programs as the Globe did (by station), I am listing them in the better-known method of time period with programs listed by channel within each time period.
Brooks and Marsh and Wikipedia were used to establish network status; sponsor whose names were in program titles have been added where omitted by the paper.
Stations:
4-WBZ-TV (NBC)
7-WNAC-TV (ABC/CBS/DuMont)
9:30 A.M.
7-Test Pattern
10 A.M.
4-Test Pattern until 12 Noon
7-High-School Football: Lynn Classical at Lynn English (as I have mentioned in prior retro Boston TV listings from the Fall of 1948, WNAC carried a number of area high-school football games during 1948, mostly from the Manning Bowl in Lynn, Massachusetts)
(I suspect the game ended shortly after 12 Noon, nothing is listed for WNAC until 1 P.M.)
12:45 P.M.
4-Test Pattern
1 P.M.
7-Test Pattern (to 5 P.M.)
1:10 P.M.
4-Sports Gallery
1:15 P.M.
4-College Football: Cornell at Penn
4:15 P.M.
4-(Shawmut Home Theatre) Movie: "Lydia" (1941), with Merle Oberon.
5:45 P.M.
7-Test Pattern
6 P.M.
4-News Tape
7-Small Fry Club with Bob "Big Brother" Emery (DuMont)
6:05 P.M.
4-Surprise Package (local children's show with longtime WBZ-1030 morning personality Carl DeSuze; this was apparently the first locally-produced children's show in the history of Boston television)
6:30 P.M.
4-Weather Or Not, with Dr. James Austin
7-Russ Hodges' Scoreboard (Sports news and interview hosted by the man best remembered for his call of the old New York Giants' dramatic 1951 National League pennant-clinching win) (DuMont)
6:40 P.M.
4-Film Serial: "Law Of The Wild" (according to IMDB.com, this was a 1934 movie serial featuring Rin-Tin-Tin)
6:45 P.M.
7-Film Shorts
7 P.M.
4-Bump Hadley (sports show hosted by the former baseball pitcher; I suspect much of the show was a rundown of scores from the many Thanksgiving-morning high-school football games in the Boston area)
7-Fashion Story (ABC)
7:15 P.M.
4-"Calla Calling" (cartoon?)
7:20 P.M.
4-(Shawmut) Nightly Newsteller (local news; perhaps Arch MacDonald was anchorman)
7:30 P.M.
(No program was listed for WBZ; however, that's day New York Times listed a film short titled "NBC Presents" in that slot; I presume it also aired on WBZ)
7-Holiday Star Vanities (ABC variety special, the Times listed George Jessel as host along with guest stars Paul Whiteman, Connee Boswell, Paul Draper, Jerry Colonna, and future sitcom superstar Phil Silvers).
7:45 P.M.
4-Sportswoman of the Week (brief women's sports feature) (NBC)
7:50 P.M.
4-(Camel) Newsreel Theatre (Fox Movietone newsreel footage narrated off-camera by John Cameron Swayze; by the following February, he would move in front of the camera to anchor a 15-minutre version called "Camel News Caravan") (NBC)
8 P.M.
4-NBC Presents-Travelogue
8:15 P.M.
4-The Nature Of Things-Science feature with Dr. Roy Marshall (NBC).
8:30 P.M.
4-Lanny Ross Show (musical-variety show) (NBC)
9 P.M.
4-(Gulf) Road Show with Bob Smith (yes, the same "Buffalo Bob Smith" who co-starred on "Howdy Doody"!) (NBC)
9:30 P.M.
4-(Bigelow) Floor Show, variety with ventriloquist Paul Winchelll (later known as a children's TV personality) and Dunniger (NBC)
7-Wrestling from Boston Arena (sign-off came after the card ended) (although DuMont had a wrestling show in this time period in the Fall of 1948, it didn't originate from Boston, so this was a local telecast)
10 P.M.
4-Strikes 'n Spares (bowling show, presumably broadcast live from a local bowling alley; I would think it featured the skinny "Candlepins" and small bowling balls popular in New England and Eastern Canada)
11 P.M.
4-(Boston Post) Views Of News In New England (local newscast illustrated with news photos from the now-defunct newspaper)
11:05 P.M.
4-Tomorrow's Programs
11:08 P.M.
4-Sign-Off
NOTES:
(1) The Macy's Parade was not telecast in Boston that day. According to the November 25th, 1948 New York Times, it was locally televised by WCBS-2, WNBT-4 and WPIX-11. I have not been able to find TV listings for other cities along the "East Coast Network", so I don't know if there was any network broadcast.
The first Macy's parade to be telecast in Boston was on Thanksgiving, 1951 on WNAC-7 (likely via CBS).
(2) That day's NFL game between the Detroit Lions and the old Chicago Cardinals in Detroit was not televised in Boston, or anywhere else along the East Coast since the East and Midwest networks weren't linked until January of 1949. However, the 1949 game between the Lions and Chicago Bears was televised to the East Coast and aired in Boston on WNAC-7 with a start time of 11:05 A.M. Eastern (broadcast time 10:55 A.M. EST). In recent years, the Detroit Thanksgiving game has kicked-off at 12:35 P.M. EST.
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