Retro: Atlanta/Chattanooga/Macon Saturday, August 23, 1969

[bpatrick]

NOTE: WGTV/8 was off for the summer; WDCO/15 (WMUM/29), WCLP (WNGH)/18,
and WETV (WPBA)/30 did not air on Saturdays. From TV Guide, Georgia
(Atlanta) edition:

WSB Ch. 2 Atlanta (NBC)

7 AM Astroboy
8 AM Popeye Club
9 AM Super 6
9:30 Cool McCool
10 AM Flintstones
10:30 Banana Splits
11:30 Untamed World (delay from 12:30)
12 N Storybook Squares
12:30 Movie: "Tarzan And The She-Devil"
1:55 Sports Film
2 PM Baseball Pre-Game Show
2:15 Baseball: Astros-Cubs (alternate game:
Yankees-Twins)
5 PM Golf: Avco Classic (third round from Sutton, MA,
time approximate)
6 PM News (John Pruitt, still at Ch. 2 although winding
down his career)
6:30 Huntley-Brinkley Report
7 PM Adam-12 (delay from 7:30)
7:30 Death Valley Days
8 PM Get Smart (an "Ironside" spoof with actor Ronald
Long as wheelchair-bound baddie Leadside)
8:30 Ghost And Mrs. Muir
9 PM NBC Movie: "The Whole World Is Watching" (pilot
for the lawyers' segment of "The Bold Ones"--
interestingly, Hal Holbrook is in this; he'll play
"The Senator" during "The Bold Ones"' second
season (1970-71))
11 PM News
11:30 Movie: "Mister Cory"
1:25 Movie: "Elephant Gun" (or as Elmer Fudd would say,
"ewephant gun" ;D)

WRCB Ch. 3 Chattanooga (NBC)

8 AM Roy Rogers
9 AM Super 6
9:30 Cool McCool
10 AM Flintstones
10:30 Banana Splits
11:30 Underdog
12 N Storybook Squares
12:30 Untamed World
1 PM Bill Anderson
1:30 Lester Flatt (unsuccessful attempt to go
it alone without Earl Scruggs, who'd decided
to get away from traditional bluegrass and try
something more contemporary)
2 PM Baseball Pre-Game Show
2:15 Baseball (same as Ch. 2)
5 PM Golf: Avco Classic (third round, time approximate)
6 PM Kitty Wells
6:30 Huntley-Brinkley Report
7 PM Porter Wagoner (guest: Frieda Wallace--who?)
7:30 Adam-12
8 PM Get Smart
8:30 Ghost And Mrs. Muir
9 PM NBC Movie: "The Whole World Is Watching"
11 PM Stoneman Family
11:30 Saturday Tonight Show

WAGA Ch. 5 Atlanta (CBS)

6:25 Sacred Heart
6:40 Living Word
6:55 RFD-5
7:25 Metro Forestry
7:30 4-H Hour
8 AM Go-Go Gophers
8:30 Mr. Pix (Dave Michaels, later news anchor
at Ch. 11 and CNN)
9:30 Wacky Races
10 AM Archie Show
10:30 Batman/Superman Hour
11:30 Herculoids
12 N Shazzan!
12:30 Jonny Quest
1 PM Moby Dick And The Mighty Mightor
1:30 Lone Ranger (animated)
2 PM Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Hour (delay from
8:30 AM)
3 PM Dobie Gillis
3:30 Wagon Train
5 PM Hawaii Five-O (delay from Wed 10 PM)
6 PM Panorama (local news)
6:30 The Good Guys (delay from Wed 8:30)
7 PM Beverly Hillbillies (delay from Wed 9 PM)
7:30 Jackie Gleason (the Honeymooners in Europe: Art
Carney's brother Edward appears as Ralph and
Ed accidentally cross the border into East Berlin
and are arrested as spies)
8:30 My Three Sons
9 PM Hogan's Heroes
9:30 Petticoat Junction
10 PM Mannix
11 PM News
11:30 Movie: "The Sun Also Rises"

WTVC Ch. 9 Chattanooga (ABC)

7 AM Science In Action
7:30 George Of The Jungle (delay from noon,
TV Guide does not list it as in color,
although the in-pattern feed on Ch. 11 is)
8 AM Dudley Do-Right (delay from Sun 9:30 AM,
also listed in black and white; Ch. 11 airs
it in color Mon 7 AM)
8:30 Three Stooges
9 AM New Casper Cartoon Show
9:30 Adventures Of Gulliver
10 AM Spider-Man
10:30 Fantastic Voyage
11 AM Journey To The Center Of The Earth
11:30 Fantastic Four
12 N Singing Convention
1 PM Know Your Bible
1:30 Happening (guests: Oliver; Paul Revere's
Raiders with Mark Lindsay)
2 PM Insight (religion)
2:30 Encore Theatre
3 PM Movie: "Blood Of The Vampire"
4:30 Encore Theatre
5 PM Wide World Of Sports (Little League World
Series championship game, taped earlier
that day)
6:30 Avengers (delay from Mon 7:30)
7:30 Dating Game (celebrity guest: Rod McKuen)
8 PM Newlywed Game
8:30 Lawrence Welk (songs about trains)
9:30 Johnny Cash (guests: Chet Atkins, John Hartford,
Lulu, Fannie Flagg)
10:30 Alfred Hitchcock Presents
11 PM News (I believe this is ABC)
11:15 Movie: "A Majority Of One"

WQXI (WXIA) Ch. 11 Atlanta (ABC)

7 AM Adventures In Living
7:30 Tubby And Lester
9 AM New Casper Cartoon Show
9:30 Adventures Of Gulliver
10 AM Spider-Man
10:30 Fantastic Voyage
11 AM Journey To The Center Of The Earth
11:30 Fantastic Four
12 N George Of The Jungle
12:30 American Bandstand (guests: Steppenwolf
and Smith ("Baby, It's You"))
1:30 Look-In (guests: O.C. Smith and Credence
Clearwater Revival, pre-empts "Happening")
2 PM Bill Anderson (guest: Bobby Lord)
2:30 Wilburn Brothers
3 PM Porter Wagoner (guest: George ("Candy Kisses")
Morgan)
3:30 Movie: "Ramar And The Burning Barrier"
5 PM Wide World Of Sports
6:30 Movie: "Woman Obsessed" (adopted Georgian
Susan Hayward--who lived in Carrollton--stars)
8:30 Lawrence Welk
9:30 Johnny Cash
10:30 Atlanta Wrestling
11:30 Movie: "The 4D Man"
1:10 ABC News

WDEF Ch. 12 Chattanooga (CBS)

8 AM Go-Go Gophers
8:30 Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Hour
9:30 Wacky Races
10 AM Archie Show
10:30 Batman/Superman Hour
11:30 Herculoids
12 N Shazzan!
12:30 Jonny Quest
1 PM Moby Dick And The Mighty Mightor
1:30 Lone Ranger (animated)
2 PM Movie: "13 Ghosts"
3:30 Car And Track
4 PM Combat!
5 PM Chattanooga Wrestling
6 PM News (Red Brown)
6:30 CBS News (Roger Mudd)
7 PM Skippy, The Bush Kangaroo
7:30 Jackie Gleason
8:30 My Three Sons
9 PM Hogan's Heroes
9:30 Petticoat Junction
10 PM Mannix
11 PM News
11:15 Movie: "The Mouse That Roared"

WMAZ Ch. 13 Macon (CBS/ABC)

7 AM Georgialand
7:30 Georgia TV Monitor
8 AM Go-Go Gophers
8:30 Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Hour
9:30 Wacky Races
10 AM Archie Show
10:30 Batman/Superman Hour
11:30 Herculoids
12 N Shazzan!
12:30 Jonny Quest
1 PM Moby Dick And The Mighty Mightor
1:30 Lone Ranger (animated)
2 PM Happening (guests: Kenny Rogers and
the First Edition, delay)
2:30 Movie: "Top Secret Affair"
5 PM Film: Miller 200 Highlights
5:30 Guns Of Will Sonnett (ABC, delay from Mon 8:30)
6 PM N.Y.P.D. (ABC, delay from Tue 9:30)
6:30 CBS News
7 PM Porter Wagoner
7:30 Jackie Gleason
8:30 Lawrence Welk
9:30 Petticoat Junction
10 PM Mannix
11 PM News
11:15 Movie: "Teen-Agers From Outer Space"

WJRJ (pre-Turner, now WPCH) Ch. 17 Atlanta (Ind.)

2 PM Upbeat (guests: Willie Hightower, Gene Pitney,
Tommy James and the Shondells)
3 PM Agriculture U.S.A.
3:30 Movie: TBA
5 PM Samson And Goliath
5:30 Batman
6 PM Skippy, The Bush Kangaroo
6:30 CBS News (pre-empted on Ch. 5)
7 PM Munsters
7:30 My Little Margie
8 PM Donna Reed
8:30 Tales Of Wells Fargo
9 PM Western Star Theatre
9:30 Roller Derby
10:30 Ernest Tubb
11 PM Alfred Hitchcock Presents
11:30 Movie: "Panic In The Streets"

WATL Ch. 36 Atlanta (Ind.) (the second attempt
to establish this station)

10 AM Movie: "Broken Arrow" (1950 movie adapted
into an ABC series in 1956)
12 N Steel Pier Swings (I think Ch. 36 had a sister
station in Philadelphia; wonder if this came
from Atlantic City?)
1 PM Movie: "Boots Malone"
3 PM Movie: "With A Song In My Heart" (more Susan
Hayward, this time as singer Jane Froman, who
lost the use of her legs in a World War II plane
crash)
5 PM Country Carnival
5:30 Judy Lynn (country music)
6 PM Outer Limits
7 PM One Step Beyond
7:30 Dating Game (pre-empted on Ch. 11)
8 PM Newlywed Game (ditto)
8:30 Honeymooners (the "classic 39")
9 PM Hugh Hefner (guests: Billy Eckstine, Rich Little,
the Grass Roots, singer Bobby Doyle)
10 PM Movie: "The Soft Skin" (sounds like an infomercial,
but is actually a French film about adultery)
sign off 12 M

WCWB (WMGT) Ch. 41 Macon (NBC)

9 AM Super 6
9:30 Cool McCool
10 AM Flintstones
10:30 Banana Splits
11:30 Underdog
12 N Storybook Squares
12:30 Untamed World
1 PM Wrestling (may be Ch. 11's program, since
it aired in Augusta)
2 PM Baseball Pre-Game Show
2:15 Baseball (same as Ch. 2)
5 PM Golf: Avco Classic (third round, time approximate)
6 PM Kitty Wells
6:30 Bill Anderson
7 PM Huntley-Brinkley Report
7:30 Adam-12
8 PM Get Smart
8:30 Ghost And Mrs. Muir
9 PM NBC Movie: "The Whole World Is Watching"
11 PM Film
11:30 Saturday Tonight Show

 

[gregg75]

Interesting that the swinging hips of ABC's "American Bandstand" were too hot to carry for Chattanooga and Macon, but not for Atlanta. Old fuddy-dud station managers (who probably enjoyed watching "Lawrence Welk") deprived viewers of Steppenwolf & the Smiths!!! A.B. was in top form back in 1969. WTVM in Columbus also aired "Bandstand" which was probably the cheapest route for them.

WRCB & WXIA appear to be bogged down in Country music. I doubt you'd find a station willing to devote as much time to such a narrow audience segment today.

 

[bpatrick]

By around 1972 Ch. 11 would be out of the country-music
business, and Ted Turner would be airing an entire block of
country shows on Saturday nights. I remember, during my time
at UGA, only three syndicated country shows on 11 Alive: with
Jimmy Dean, Mel Tillis, and Dolly Parton.

Eventually, by about the mid-'70s, "Bandstand" would be on
WTVC; they dropped Welk in 1973, BTW, a year after WXIA did;
in both markets the Music Maker wound up on the NBC station
(I'm referring, of course, to WSB at this particular time).

Remember, this is the South, and syndicated country-music shows
were a staple of weekend television in those days. Eventually "Hee
Haw" drove most of them (with the exception of Porter Wagoner) off
the air.

Later, I'm going to post a schedule for Ch. 11 from 1968 in which "Wide
World Of Sports" aired on delay to accommodate some country shows.

 

[Mike Stroud]

WRCB Ch. 3 Chattanooga (NBC)

7 PM Porter Wagoner (guest: Frieda Wallace--who?)

WATL Ch. 36 Atlanta (Ind.) (the second attempt
to establish this station)

10 AM Movie: "Broken Arrow" (1950 movie adapted
into an ABC series in 1956)
12 N Steel Pier Swings (I think Ch. 36 had a sister
station in Philadelphia; wonder if this came
from Atlantic City?)
1 PM Movie: "Boots Malone"
3 PM Movie: "With A Song In My Heart" (more Susan
Hayward, this time as singer Jane Froman, who
lost the use of her legs in a World War II plane
crash)
5 PM Country Carnival
5:30 Judy Lynn (country music)
6 PM Outer Limits
7 PM One Step Beyond
7:30 Dating Game (pre-empted on Ch. 11)
8 PM Newlywed Game (ditto)
8:30 Honeymooners (the "classic 39")
9 PM Hugh Hefner (guests: Billy Eckstine, Rich Little,
the Grass Roots, singer Bobby Doyle)
10 PM Movie: "The Soft Skin" (sounds like an infomercial,
but is actually a French film about adultery)
sign off 12 M

WCWB (WMGT) Ch. 41 Macon (NBC)

9 AM Super 6
9:30 Cool McCool
10 AM Flintstones
10:30 Banana Splits
11:30 Underdog
12 N Storybook Squares
12:30 Untamed World
1 PM Wrestling (may be Ch. 11's program, since
it aired in Augusta)
2 PM Baseball Pre-Game Show
2:15 Baseball (same as Ch. 2)
5 PM Golf: Avco Classic (third round, time approximate)
6 PM Kitty Wells
6:30 Bill Anderson
7 PM Huntley-Brinkley Report
7:30 Adam-12
8 PM Get Smart
8:30 Ghost And Mrs. Muir
9 PM NBC Movie: "The Whole World Is Watching"
11 PM Film
11:30 Saturday Tonight Show
[/quote]

Some comments, bp, solicited or no ...

WRCB, 7 p.m.--"Who?" is exactly what most viewers were thinking. Nashville was full of aspirants to become country music stars back in the good old days like these, and Ms. Wallace did better than most. Unlike the major portion of them who wound up working menial jobs and getting performing gigs at honkey-tonks to pitch songs to any Music Row type who might be listening, Ms. Wallace got farther than she probably expected. She actually got television airtime. In all likelihood, that may have been parlayed into (or accompanied) a short-term record deal, but she obviously never caught the ear of radio DJs, and likely went back to Kentucky or Arkansas or wherever she hailed from within several years or so, having to console herself for a failed dream that almost made it. Especially prior to the corporate domination of the country business in recent times, you could fill a whole small town with people like that. These days, if you don't come pre-packaged for the "reality" talent shows, forget about it.

WATL and WCWB--What think you of the new kids on the block? Was it too much to expect Atlanta to support five commercial stations in 1969? And did channel 41 have even a snowball's chance in you-know-where to topple the monopoly WMAZ had held since antiquity? (!) Take yourself back forty-some years and be a media critic for us. Pretty please?

 

[bpatrick]

At that point I would say that Atlanta could not support five
commercial stations, although it was Ch. 36 that appeared at
first to be the fourth station. However, when its owner, U.S.
Communications, went under, Ch. 17 went from fifth of five to
fourth of four in one stroke, and with Ted Turner at the helm by
that time the rest is history.

Ch. 41 took a mighty gamble, but let's look at why there's only
one analog VHF in Macon:

Atlanta 2, 5, 11 (8 in Athens)
Columbus 3, 9
Jacksonville 4, 7, 12 (8 in Waycross)
Augusta 6, 12
Albany 10

So only 13 was left for Macon and, as you say, it was
a monster from the '50s. The odds would have been
about as shaky as Ch. 28 in Raleigh/Durham, except that
Ch. 41 had to face one VHF instead of two. But 41 persevered;
I suspect its ability to get the local cable company to blank out
NBC programs first on WSB, then on WXIA, didn't hurt.

 

[Charles1]

Actually, the late Freda Wallace was from Birmingham. She made a name for herself playing at various nightclubs in the Birmingham area during the '70's, and was a regular on WBRC-6's annual Cerebral Palsy Telethon. I think she passed away in the mid-'80's due to complications from diabetes.

 

[bpatrick]

I remember those Cerebral Palsy Telethons on WBRC, and I
remember that Dennis James used to come to Birmingham to
emcee them. But even though I lived there from 1969 to
1973, I don't remember Ms. Wallace, and I somehow doubt
she ever became a major name in country music. Thanks for
the info on her just the same.