Retro: Birmingham, Monday 10/22/62

[Charles1]

More scheduling oddities from the Magic City...enjoy!

Source: The Birmingham News via www.birminghamrewound.com

Channels listed:
6-WBRC (ABC/CBS)
10-WBIQ (Educational)
13-WAPI (NBC/CBS)

5:00
6-Religious Series

5:30
6-Morning Devotional

5:35
6-Auburn Digest

5:45
6-Market Reports

6:00
6-Country Boy Eddie
13-Continental Classroom

6:30
13-News

6:45
13-Cartoon Corner

7:00
6-Morning Show
13-Today

8:00
6-Amos ‘n’ Andy
10-American Economy
13-Captain Kangaroo

8:30
6-Search for Tomorrow
10-Physics

8:45
6-Guiding Light

9:00
6-Love of Life
10-Biology
13-Say When

9:30
6-I Love Lucy
10-Science
13-Play Your Hunch

10:00
6-Tennessee Ernie Ford Show
10-Chemistry
13-Price Is Right

10:30
6-Yours for a Song
10-Alabama History
13-Concentration

11:00
6-Jane Wyman
10-Remedial English
13-Your First Impression

11:30
6-Camouflage
10-Physics
13-Truth or Consequences

12:00
6-Divorce Court
10-Nature Study
13-News

12:15
10-Auburn Digest
13-Rhythm Road

12:30
10-Let’s Learn More
13-As the World Turns

1:00
6-Day in Court
10-Science
13-Hollywood Hit Parade (movie; no title given)

1:30
6-Seven Keys
10-American History

2:00
6-Queen for a Day
10-Spanish II

2:30
6-Who Do You Trust?
10-Trio
13-Young Dr. Malone

3:00
6-Secret Storm
10-Teacher’s Forum
13-Make Room for Daddy

3:30
6-Young People’s World
10-TBA
13-Edge of Night

3:35
6-Bozo the Clown

4:00
6-Bugs Bunny
10-American Government
13-Popeye and the Three Stooges

4:30
6-Whirlybirds
10-Parles Vouz Français
13-Rocky and Friends

5:00
6-Highway Patrol
10-What’s New?
13-Quick Draw McGraw

5:30
6-Alabama Newsreel
10-Time of Their Lives
13-News and Sports

5:45
6-Evening Report
13-CBS News

6:00
6-Rescue 8
10-English
13-News and Weather

6:15
13-Huntley/Brinkley Report

6:30
6-Cheyenne
10-Let’s Spell
13-To Tell the Truth

7:00
10-Art
13-Andy Griffith

7:30
6-Rifleman
10-Ceramics
13-Lucy Show

8:00
6-Stoney Burke
10-Project
13-Danny Thomas

8:30
10-TBA
13-Price Is Right

9:00
6-Ben Casey
13-Bell Telephone Hour

9:30
10-American Economy

10:00
6-Roaring Twenties
10-World News Final
13-Candid Camera

10:30
13-Loretta Young

11:00
6-Late News
13-Tonight Show

11:05
6-Home Theatre (no title given)

12:30
6-News Headlines

 

[bpatrick]

In those days ABC daytime followed a clock-time schedule, necessitated by
"American Bandstand" being on at 4 and "Discovery" at 4:30. The schedule
went like this in all time zones:

11 AM Tennessee Ernie Ford Show
11:30 Yours For A Song
12 N Jane Wyman Presents
12:30 Camouflage
12:55 ABC Midday Report
1 PM (Local)
2 PM Day In Court
2:30 Seven Keys
3 PM Queen For A Day
3:30 Who Do You Trust?
4 PM American Bandstand
4:30 Discovery
4:55 American Newsstand

I've seen ABC affiliates in Texas which followed this schedule. I wonder why Ch. 6 did not.

 

[Al Timiter]

Hmm. And no American Bandstand. Maybe it was too "edgy" for Birmingham. I wonder if there is a list of markets where AB wasn't aired during its M-F days.

 

[Joseph_Gallant]

Hmm. And no "American Bandstand". Maybe it was too "edgy" for Birmingham.

Sadly, there may have been another reason: Racism.

Many early rock 'n roll performers were black, and I suspect that given "Bandstand"'s Philadelphia home base at the time, there may also have been some African-American teenagers in the audience who danced on-camera by the Fall of 1962.

Don't forget that there was a lot of institutional racism in the Southeast at that time. "Jim Crow" was still a major force.

Indeed in his memoir Rock, Roll, and Remember, Dick Clark wrote that during the early 1960's, his Summertime "Caravan Of Stars" rock 'n roll tours eventually stopped going into the Southeast after some nasty incidents involving Southerners and some of the black performers on the tours. Clark wrote of one such incident when a tour bus stopped at a restaurant for lunch, but the restaurant would not serve the bus passengers because some of them were black.

Clark negotiated a compromise: Mary (DeeDee) Sperling (of Dick and DeeDee fame) was allowed to cook hamburgers for those on the bus, but the restaurant charged her (and Clark) twice the regular price for those burgers. But then, some "tough-looking" local men came around, and stirred up trouble.

Eventually, the Clark tour party was able to get out of town, but after that incident, Clark decided against future bookings in that part of the country.

I would also think that (maybe our own B. Patrick can help me) Nat "King" Cole's 1956-57 NBC variety show was never broadcast in Birmingham (or in much of the Southeast); I wouldn't even be surprised if the Birmingham TV stations declined to carry live coverage of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s march on Washington in August of 1963.

 

[Joseph_Gallant]

I wonder if there is a list of markets where ("American Bandstand") wasn't aired during its M-F days.

One market where the show wasn't seen during most of it's five-days-a-week network run isn't too far from me: Providence. It wasn't until WTEV-6 (now WLNE) signed on in January of 1963 that "Bandstand" finally was broadcast in Providence.

Prior to that, ABC had no primary affiliate in the Providence area. The two existing TV stations in the market, WJAR-10 (a primary NBC affiliate) and WPRO-12 (now WPRI, a primary CBS affiliate) each carried a handful of ABC programs, nearly all of them prime-time shows. Almost no ABC daytime programming was seen in that city.

From the Fall of 1957 until the end of 1962, many in the Providence/New Bedford market who wanted to see "American Bandstand" were probably able to see it on the old WHDH-5 Boston (from the time it signed-on in November, 1957 through December 30th, 1960) and then the old WNAC-7 (beginning January 2nd, 1961).

 

[bpatrick]

The only Southern NBC affiliate I can definitely say carried Nat King Cole's
Tuesday-night 1957-58 show was WSB and that station dropped it before
it was canceled (not so much because of Cole's color, since WSB's g.m. at
the time, Mark Bartlett, was one of the most racially-progressive station
managers in the South in those days, but rather the competition from "Name
That Tune" on WAGA and the "Cheyenne/Sugarfoot" combo on WLW-A (WXIA)).

I do know that not one NBC affiliate in North Carolina or in Greenville, South Carolina,
carried Cole's show.

 

[Charles1]

Hmm. And no "American Bandstand". Maybe it was too "edgy" for Birmingham.

Sadly, there may have been another reason: Racism.

I don't think it was so much a matter of racism that caused WBRC to preempt American Bandstand as it was that they were in a "mano a mano" competition with WAPI, since they were the only two commercial stations in a Top 40-ish TV market. The Bozo show on Channel 6 featured kids in the studio audience, as did the Three Stooges/Popeye show on Channel 13. Channel 6's kids show was hosted by Birmingham radio personality Ward McIntyre, who at the time was on middle of the road station WBRC-AM. McIntyre had shot to fame in the '50's on Birmingham's seminal Top 40 station WSGN. Channel 13's show was hosted by Birmingham TV icon "Cousin" Cliff Holman.

Keep in mind that while WBRC and WAPI were Birmingham stations, they also were the only TV stations available over the air to a large portion of central and north Alabama. And most of the real estate they served was very rural: smaller cities like Tuscaloosa, Anniston and Gadsden, but also small towns like Clanton, Jasper, Oneonta, Cullman, Talladega and Sylacauga.

While Birmingham had the deserved reputation for racism, in many ways it was quite the progressive city in the '60's. The forementioned WSGN, as well as competiting Top 40 station WVOK, had no qualms about playing hits recorded by African-American artists, be they from Motown, Memphis, Philadelphia or wherever.

The main reason why WBRC, and to a lesser extent WAPI, showed so many shows out of pattern was money. They could and did make a killing selling local ad spots during the hours of the day when more people were watching TV. In fact, Channel 6 continued the practice of delaying network programming to off-hours well into the late '70's and early '80's. And don't forget that from the time that Channel 13 became an exclusive NBC affiliate in 1970 until 1995 they delayed the Tonight Show until 11:30/11:35 in order to show sitcom reruns (M*A*S*H, Cheers, Taxi, All in the Family all come to mind) after the 10:00 news.

 

[rwells2265]

Hmm. And no "American Bandstand". Maybe it was too "edgy" for Birmingham.

Sadly, there may have been another reason: Racism.

Wrong.

"American Bandstand" was carried, each afternoon, on WLBT channel 3 in Jackson, Mississippi. Google that one, my friend. And this was at the same time their station manager was cutting off network feeds if the content was not to his liking.

The lack of AB carriage, as Charles pointed out, was most of all financial. Both Birmingham stations had highly-popular local afternoon kid-TV franchises at the time. Also, like Charles said, we had a world-class radio landscape that included some very good top-40s, and - it must be noted - a monster R&B station (WENN).

If we're going to talk about attitudes, let's think about the Midwest and North. From all I've been able to glean from various old airchecks of stations all over the U.S., there was a striking "white-bread" quality to many top-40s in the Midwest and especially New England, versus the South, where R&B was well-represented on even mainstream rock playlists. PS - Am I mistaken, or was Boston a major "Bandstand"-free zone, due to the local ABC affil?

My intent is not to turn this into a north/south debate ... and I'm not whitewashing what happened in Birmingham, and other cities "down here" ... but I have to speak up whenever somebody makes the "oh yeah, Birmingham. Police dogs 'n' fire hoses. They must hate everything black down there" assumption.

.02

--Russell

 

[Joseph_Gallant]

Russell:

Thanks to you (and others) for illuminating why "American Bandstand" wasn't seen in Birmingham circa 1962.

I wonder what would have happened if Birmingham had three commercial VHF stations back then (with all three networks having a primary affiliate) if the fulltime ABC station would have carried "Bandstand".

Given what has been mentioned on the board in response to my post, the answer is "perhaps".

Once more, thanks for your comments. They are welcomed and appreciated.

 

[bpatrick]

Having lived in Birmingham myself (I was there when 13 went fulltime NBC and
42 fulltime CBS), I know how pre-emption happy those stations (and especially 6)
were, and I have to agree that Russell is right on in his analysis. But my original
question was why did 6 not carry ABC daytime on a clock-time basis (meaning one
hour after their airing in the Eastern time zone) rather than carry the shows simultaneously
with the East Coast, even if the station did choose to pre-empt "Bandstand" and "Discovery."
Perhaps the reason is "Secret Storm" on CBS, a network which did not use clock time (other
than "Captain Kangaroo" and, later, its morning newscast) and which aired the soap at 3 (CT).

 

[rwells2265]

I wonder what would have happened if Birmingham had three commercial VHF stations back then (with all three networks having a primary affiliate) if the fulltime ABC station would have carried "Bandstand".

Given what has been mentioned on the board in response to my post, the answer is "perhaps".

What's remarkable about Alabama is how two other markets -- Huntsville/Decatur (north) and Montgomery (central) -- both of which were and are smaller than Birmingham, the state's largest city -- had three commercial stations before Birmingham did! (We could also count Mobile, if we factor in the ABC out of Pensacola, Fla., also in the market).

Birmingham didn't get its third commercial TV channel until the Fall of 1965, when WBMG-TV Channel 42 first signed on. At first, it was an independent station, but from the start the station's schedule was mostly whatever network programs 13 - and 6 - didn't pick up. It was that point when most network programs began airing in Birmingham, such as Ed Sullivan and Johnny Carson.

Channel 42, for a time, aired "Bandstand", but by the end of the 1960s, WBRC took it.

--Russell

 

[Mike Stroud]

Hmm. And no "American Bandstand". Maybe it was too "edgy" for Birmingham.

Sadly, there may have been another reason: Racism.

I don't think it was so much a matter of racism that caused WBRC to preempt American Bandstand as it was that they were in a "mano a mano" competition with WAPI, since they were the only two commercial stations in a Top 40-ish TV market. The Bozo show on Channel 6 featured kids in the studio audience, as did the Three Stooges/Popeye show on Channel 13. Channel 6's kids show was hosted by Birmingham radio personality Ward McIntyre, who at the time was on middle of the road station WBRC-AM. McIntyre had shot to fame in the '50's on Birmingham's seminal Top 40 station WSGN. Channel 13's show was hosted by Birmingham TV icon "Cousin" Cliff Holman.

Keep in mind that while WBRC and WAPI were Birmingham stations, they also were the only TV stations available over the air to a large portion of central and north Alabama. And most of the real estate they served was very rural: smaller cities like Tuscaloosa, Anniston and Gadsden, but also small towns like Clanton, Jasper, Oneonta, Cullman, Talladega and Sylacauga.

Your last paragraph, Charles, is perhaps the most operative in a question like this. And this is because even at this late date, TV had not gotten but a moderate foothold in rural Alabama, either among whites or blacks. Many households still considered TV a luxury; they had to make do with radio, the local county-seat AM station during the daytime and clear channels like WSM (whites) and WLAC (blacks) at night. With the medium probably not getting a critical mass in the countryside until well after 1965, WBRC and WAPI were primarily concerned with Jefferson County in the first place and not with rural Alabama.

So the racial animosities that were actually more pronounced in the small towns and villages didn't really play a major factor in programming decisions, except, of course, for the well-known instance of Howard K. Smith's infamous CBS documentary back in late 1961 about Birmingham's Civil Rights troubles in which he made an editorial remark toward the end of the program. That remark was in support of desegregation--something out front and center for then-affiliate WBRC's white viewers to raise all manner of hell about. Shortly thereafter, WBRC made a drastic affiliation change--to third-place ABC, leaving CBS to be picked up part-time by WAPI. Perhaps there is some poetic justice, though, in the fact that immediately after that broadcast and falling out with Bill Paley and others, Smith trotted right over to ABC--the exact network WBRC joined to get away from CBS' all-but-obvious endorsement of the Movement. That's probably the reason, as well, why WBRC didn't clear ABC's evening newscast, on which Smith had become co-anchor, until 1972. Prior to then, Smith mainly did documentaries and the Sunday morning political interview Issues and Answers; it would be splendid if someone could find out whether WBRC cleared those shows Smith was on.

Now, back to my main argument: with the coming of the FCC mandate of new TV sets to be equipped with UHF tuning in 1964 and the arrival of eventually three UHF outlets in central Alabama (all clearing the CBS and NBC shows WAPI turned down), things probably got a little more complicated in this regard, as this would have been about the same time that households who could not afford sets previously finally began earning enough money through factory jobs, instead of farming or mining. With those folks now tuning in, stations probably had to be a lot more careful, even though the standard narrative would have prejudices breaking down over time. School integration had become the hot issue in rural Alabama, with white parents pulling their children out of public schools in favor of the "seg" academies. With the world coming in close to home, so to speak, station managers, particularly those with the new UHFs WBMG, WCFT (Tuscaloosa), and WHMA (Anniston), facing Fairness Doctrine requirements to give both sides of an issue air time if one party, say the White Citizens' Councils, made a controversial assertion or accusation, probably decided to downplay news coverage and preempt network documentaries that dealt with racial concerns or the Vietnam War (patriotism was, and is, a strong suit with white Southerners, who did not take kindly to news criticizing U.S. policy overseas).

Of course, I am not making the claim that this is for certain; my conjectures here might well be proved wanting. But I suspect that caution and perhaps censorship actually increased as the Movement made gains throughout the decade. The atmosphere was highly charged with anger and fear, and conservative businessmen as station management and ownership were, they did not want to take chances.

 

[bpatrick]

Also, WBMG picked up Walter Cronkite, which WAPI apparently
dropped when he and Huntley-Brinkley both expanded from 15
to 30 minutes. Interestingly, a market with a reputation for
racial progressiveness, Atlanta, was also denied Cronkite from
1962-66; WAGA pre-empted it and carried (believe it or not)
"Amos 'n' Andy." Then WAII (Channel 11) carried Cronkite briefly,
in 1963, along with ABC's Ron Cochran, but was no match for
Huntley-Brinkley on WSB.

WBRC, WAII (WXIA), WLOS, and WRAL were among those that carried Peter Jennings
the first time (1965-68). But when Frank Reynolds was brought in
and a commentary segment was added, these stations (and many more, such as
WLKY Louisville and some farther north) had owners who felt Reynolds too liberal;
ABC paired him with Smith to achieve some political balance, but it didn't work. These
stations dropped ABC's newscast and only gradually came back, particularly after Harry
Reasoner replaced Reynolds; the combination of his name (made at CBS) and his scolding
of the holdout ABC affiliates at the 1971 affiliates' convention ("Any station with a network
affiliation and not carrying that network's newscast is a disgrace.") had the effect of bringing
the holdout stations back; WBRC and WJRT Flint were the last to pick up Smith and Reasoner,
on August 7, 1972. And the ratings were on the rise anyway; I don't know how much longer
those last two stations could have held out. None of them seemed to have any problem with
Smith and Reasoner co-anchoring conventions and election nights; I don't recall WBRC pre-empting
ABC's political coverage.

Somebody in Birmingham correct me on this, but isn't Scott Pelley number one down there now?
(Diane Sawyer is the runaway number-one in Atlanta, but WSB is the ABC affiliate now, and my
cat could be Ch. 2's news anchor, be number one locally, and hand off his huge audiences to
ABC.)

 

[Tim from Springfield IL]

This was the day that JFK announced the presence of missiles in Cuba--so would his address have pre-empted part of the prime-time lineup? 50 years ago in two weeks from tomorrow.

 

[Charles1]

Somebody in Birmingham correct me on this, but isn't Scott Pelley number one down there now?
(Diane Sawyer is the runaway number-one in Atlanta, but WSB is the ABC affiliate now, and my
cat could be Ch. 2's news anchor, be number one locally, and hand off his huge audiences to
ABC.)

I don't have access to local TV ratings, but I wouldn't be surprised if WBRC's locally produced national/world newscast doesn't win at 5:30. Of the big four stations in the market Channel 42 has the strongest lead-in to their 5:00 newscast, so I could see how the CBS Evening News would outpace either ABC or NBC.

Current 4:00 p.m. offerings:

6-WBRC (Fox): Judge Judy x2
13-WVTM (NBC): Ellen
33/40-WCFT/WJSU (ABC): Focus @ 4 (locally produced longform newscast)
42-WIAT (CBS): Dr. Phil

 

[Joseph_Gallant]

This was the day that (President John F. Kennedy) announced the presence of missiles in Cuba--so would his address have pre-empted part of the prime-time lineup?

The speech was at 7 P.M. EDT, 6 CDT (was Birmingham on Daylight or Standard Time then??)

Assuming that Birmingham was on Daylight Time, WBRC-6's broadcast of "Rescue 8" and WAPI-13's broadcast of local news (at 6 P.M. CT) and "Huntley/Brinkley" (at 6:15 CT) would have been pre-empted. They appear to have had a local newscast at 5:30 local and the "CBS Evening News" with Walter Cronkite at 5:45 local, which probably did air as usual. The 6:45 EDT feed of Cronkite probably had a live close (even if it was otherwise a tape of the 6:30 EDT feed) so he could alert viewers to "stay tuned for CBS News live coverage of President Kennedy's speech, which will begin immediately following a station break".

Of course, the White House had notified the networks a few hours earlier (without announcing the reason why) that Kennedy would be going on TV at that hour.

I was a very small tyke then, but vaguely recall seeing the speech, and I am willing to guess that at least some of the prime-time network program schedule (especially between 7:30 and 8 P.M. EDT) may have been pre-empted for commentary and analysis.

I in fact would rank it as one of the five most important speeches ever made by a U.S. President on television, along with President Lyndon Johnson's decision not to run for re-election in 1968; President Ronald Reagan's speech after the Challenger disaster; President George W. Bush speaking at the World Trade Center site a few days after the attack vowing that the terrorists "will hear from all of us soon"; and current President Barack Obama announcing that terrorist mastermind Osama Bin-Laden had been killed by U.S. special forces.

 

[bpatrick]

One picky point: there was no 6:30 Eastern feed on CBS or NBC in 1962.
Both were still 15 minutes, at 6:45 and 7:15 (ET). Thetwo newscasts did
not expand to 30 minutes until September 1963, at which time the feeds were
offered at 6:30 and 7 PM.

As for ABC, it had six 15-minute feeds starting at 6 (ET); by around 1965 it
had added feeds at 5:30 and 5:45 (I remember Peter Jennings airing in Richmond
at 5:45 in the fall of 1966). ABC didn't go to 30 minutes until January 1967; originally
there were four feeds: 5:30, 6, 6:30, and 7. The 5:30 feed was dropped in the fall
of 1968; the 6 PM feed was dropped in 1982.

And I believe the Birmingham listing that was posted showed Ch. 13 carrying Huntley-
Brinkley at 5:45 and Cronkite at 6:15. In the late '60s, Ch. 6 dropped Frank Reynolds
and started its own world-news report with Joe Langston, and it beat both CBS and
NBC. Even after 6 added Smith and Reasoner at 5, and expanded its local news to
30 minutes at 5:30 (a common practice in the Central time zone in the '70s), it was
the hands-down winner, and I recall that "To Tell The Truth" at 6 was at one time the
number-one show in Birmingham.

My reason for asking if Scott Pelley is number one in Birmingham is because of the
strong showing WIAT has been making in the last few years. When I lived in Birmingham
in the early '70s CBS was very weak, and it has come as a surprise to me to see CBS scoot
to the top there (but then again, there's a whole generation that doesn't remember Howard
K. Smith's "CBS Reports" broadcast on Birmingham that was a factor in 6 going from CBS to
ABC, something that was still in the not-too-distant past when I was there; also there are
people who grew up in the '60s and '70s who still have fond memories of Tommy Charles,
Sergeant Jack, and the wrestler Tojo Yamamoto--all of whom were on 42).

 

[rwells2265]

And I believe the Birmingham listing that was posted showed Ch. 13 carrying Huntley-
Brinkley at 5:45 and Cronkite at 6:15.

They did, and when both went to 30 minutes, 13 was forced to choose one (as one can reasonably conclude they didn't want a full hour of network news!). For reasons not difficult to understand, they went with NBC. If you crunch the numbers during the 1961-70 dual period, a favoring toward the Peacock can be detected.

Which raises a (somewhat) related curiosity: a year later, WAPI-TV still had As the World Turns (no big surprise), so on the day JFK was assassinated it can be safely assumed they rolled with the initial CBS News bulletins. A big question I'd love to have answered is whether 13 stayed with CBS, or - at some point (the 1:00 cutaway, maybe?) - swapped feeds to pick up NBC's coverage.

My reason for asking if Scott Pelley is number one in Birmingham is because of the
strong showing WIAT has been making in the last few years. When I lived in Birmingham
in the early '70s CBS was very weak, and it has come as a surprise to me to see CBS scoot
to the top there (but then again, there's a whole generation that doesn't remember Howard
K. Smith's "CBS Reports" broadcast on Birmingham that was a factor in 6 going from CBS to
ABC, something that was still in the not-too-distant past when I was there; also there are
people who grew up in the '60s and '70s who still have fond memories of Tommy Charles,
Sergeant Jack, and the wrestler Tojo Yamamoto--all of whom were on 42).

#1 --
My jaw is still slack over Channel 42's rise. Obviously a generational thing, because even today, despite WIAT's very good presentation and production values, the feeling of charity (or outright pity) I get whenever I hear the words "Channel 42" and "Birmingham" in the same sentence is so embedded in my DNA that I'm working overtime to shake it! ;D Seriously, 42 has shed that old skin, its news product is fully competitive with FOX 6 and ABC 33/40, and has achieved the unthinkable in my lifetime: epic embarrassment to Channel 13 (NBC), the state's first TV station. I am in sober amazement and admiration for Channel 42.

#2 --
The factor Howard K. Smith's Birmingham documentary had on Channel 6 flipping to ABC is complicated. It wasn't "How DARE they? Gladys, get me Leonard Goldenson on the phone!!!!" The fact is - and it's documented in Mr. Goldenson's 1991 bio - the switch to ABC was part of a realignment among Taft Broadcasting stations. There was a friendship involved here, and according to the book it was a gesture of support for struggling ABC, which at the time (1961) was racking up a few hit shows.

CBS was too much a lucrative money machine for the state's biggest signal, and as we all know the only "skin color" that ultimately counts is GREEN. STILL ... without any of us having been in WBRC's management suites in the aftermath of the CBS Reports doc, we can guess to a good degree of truth that a lot of fists were shaken at CBS. Which leads me to my own postulation on the matter: When Taft's edict came down that ABC was going to be their new network, I don't think there was a whole lot of objection by management. The reaction might well have been, "Phew! Now I won't get the nasty calls from Emil and Ethel out in Weogufka!!"

--Russell

 

[Joseph_Gallant]

B. Patrick:

Thanks for clearing this issue up.

One interesting note about Howard K. Smith is that he did a news/magazine/commentary program for ABC from the time he came (late 1961?) until 1963. At the time, he also anchored most ABC television special events/breaking news coverage (except space flights; science correspondent Jules Bergman did that), and would continue to anchor or co-anchor most of ABC's special event/breaking news coverage (again, except for space shots) through the 'Sixties while other newsmen manned ABC's evening news anchor desk.

Smith didn't get to co-anchor ABC's evening newscast until 1969.

 

[Charles1]

Which raises a (somewhat) related curiosity: a year later, WAPI-TV still had As the World Turns (no big surprise), so on the day JFK was assassinated it can be safely assumed they rolled with the initial CBS News bulletins. A big question I'd love to have answered is whether 13 stayed with CBS, or - at some point (the 1:00 cutaway, maybe?) - swapped feeds to pick up NBC's coverage.




I vaguely remember certain events about 11/22/63...I was a few months short of turning four years old, but events such as these leave an indelible mark on your memory.

I asked my mom about the CBS/NBC situation that day. She said that as best as she could remember, Channel 13 switched from the coverage on CBS to NBC's about 20-30 minutes after CBS interrupted "As the World Turns".

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