Let's go back exactly 65 years to what the few TV set owners in Boston (commercial television here was only three-and-a-half months old) were able to watch that evening (there was no daytime programming apart from test patterns), as listed in that day's Boston Globe.
To paraphrase our own B. Patrick, it was a "Red-Letter Day" because WBZ-4 began regular seven-days-a-week telecasting that evening (from the time the station signed on in June, the station had a five-day broadcast week, Wednesdays through Sundays, and would only go on the air Mondays or Tuesdays to either carry a baseball game or live coverage of the 1948 political conventions).
Indeed, WBZ ran ads in Boston papers the previous few days promoting "Screens Bright EVERY Night!" (and yes, the word "Every" was capitalized in the ads), and claiming "Since T-Day on June 9th, you've only enjoyed television give nights a week, but not enjoy television every night you please!" (the people at the newly built bnro0adacst center at 1170 Solders Field Road were under the impression that WNAC-7 didn't even exist!).
The Globe listed the programs of the two stations at the time separately; I have sued the more familiar format of time period, followed by programs in that time period by channel. Brooks and Marsh was used to determine network status of programs.
WBZ-TV Channel 4 (NBC)
WNAC-TV, Channel 7 (ABC/CBS/DuMont)
10:00 A.M.
4-7 Test Pattern (on both stations until 12 Noon)
1:00 P.M.
4-7 Test Pattern (on both stations until 4:30 P.M.)
5:15 P.M.
7-Test Pattern
5:30 P.M.
7-Cartoon Teletales (there was an ABC program by that name with brothers Chuck and Jack Luschinger, who were both professional cartoonists, but Brooks and Marsh along with IMDB give a November premiere date. Could this show have been local on WNAC and ABC decided to pick it up for a "national" broadcast originating from New York??)
6:00 P.M.
7-Small Fry Club (children's show hosted by Bob Big Brother" Emery, who began in radio in the Boston area at the dawn of broadcasting and who in 1952 would return to Boston to host a long-running children's show on WBZ) (DuMont).
6:15 P.M.
4-Test Pattern
6:30 P.M.
7-Russ Hodges' Scoreboard (sports news show) (DuMont)
6:40 P.M.
4-Phantom Empire (chapter of 1935 movie serial starring Gene Autry which apparently was a mix of westerns, sci-fi, and cowboy music) (During the Summer and Fall of 1948, WBZ used this timeslot to run chapters of old movie serials)
6:45 P.M.
7-Test Pattern
7:00 P.M.
4-Kartoon Korner
7-News and Views (ABC's first evening newscast series; according to Brooks and Marsh, H.R. Baukhage and Jim Gibbons rotated as anchors)
7:15 P.M.
7-Places Please (a short 15 minute music and variety show) (CBS)
7:20 P.M.
4-(Shawmut) Nightly Newsteller (local newscast)
7:30 P.M.
4-Screen Varieties (appears to be a film short of some sort)
7-News (presumably, CBS' first evening newscast series, anchored by Douglas Edwards
7:45 P.M.
7-Face The Music (a short nightly 15-miniute music show) (CBS)
7:50 P.M.
4-(Camel) Newsreel Theatre (ten-minute newsreel consisting of clips shot either by NBC or---mainly---Movietone; narrated off-camera by John Cameron Swayze)
8:00 P.M.
4-(Chevrolet Tele-Theatre) On Broadway (dramatic anthology) (NBC)
7-Quizzing The News (game show with questions about current events, hosted by Alan Prescott) (ABC)
8:30 P.M.
4-Americana Quiz (game show hosted by Ben Grauer) (NBC)
7-Swing Into Sports (appears to be sports films)
9:00 P.M.
4-Movie: The Lady In The Morgue (1938), with Preston Foster and Patricia Ellis
7-Film Shorts
9:30 P.M.
7-Boxing from Boston Arena (the building still stands; it's now owned by Northeastern University and known as Matthews Arena) (sign-off came at the end of the boxing card, likely about 11)
10:12 P.M.
4-Tomorrow's Programs
10:15 P.M.
4-(Boston Post) Views Of News In New England (local newscast with news photos contributed by the now-defunct paper; no wonder the Globe wouldn't mention the name of a rival paper)
10:20 P.M.
4-Sign-Off
To paraphrase our own B. Patrick, it was a "Red-Letter Day" because WBZ-4 began regular seven-days-a-week telecasting that evening (from the time the station signed on in June, the station had a five-day broadcast week, Wednesdays through Sundays, and would only go on the air Mondays or Tuesdays to either carry a baseball game or live coverage of the 1948 political conventions).
Indeed, WBZ ran ads in Boston papers the previous few days promoting "Screens Bright EVERY Night!" (and yes, the word "Every" was capitalized in the ads), and claiming "Since T-Day on June 9th, you've only enjoyed television give nights a week, but not enjoy television every night you please!" (the people at the newly built bnro0adacst center at 1170 Solders Field Road were under the impression that WNAC-7 didn't even exist!).
The Globe listed the programs of the two stations at the time separately; I have sued the more familiar format of time period, followed by programs in that time period by channel. Brooks and Marsh was used to determine network status of programs.
WBZ-TV Channel 4 (NBC)
WNAC-TV, Channel 7 (ABC/CBS/DuMont)
10:00 A.M.
4-7 Test Pattern (on both stations until 12 Noon)
1:00 P.M.
4-7 Test Pattern (on both stations until 4:30 P.M.)
5:15 P.M.
7-Test Pattern
5:30 P.M.
7-Cartoon Teletales (there was an ABC program by that name with brothers Chuck and Jack Luschinger, who were both professional cartoonists, but Brooks and Marsh along with IMDB give a November premiere date. Could this show have been local on WNAC and ABC decided to pick it up for a "national" broadcast originating from New York??)
6:00 P.M.
7-Small Fry Club (children's show hosted by Bob Big Brother" Emery, who began in radio in the Boston area at the dawn of broadcasting and who in 1952 would return to Boston to host a long-running children's show on WBZ) (DuMont).
6:15 P.M.
4-Test Pattern
6:30 P.M.
7-Russ Hodges' Scoreboard (sports news show) (DuMont)
6:40 P.M.
4-Phantom Empire (chapter of 1935 movie serial starring Gene Autry which apparently was a mix of westerns, sci-fi, and cowboy music) (During the Summer and Fall of 1948, WBZ used this timeslot to run chapters of old movie serials)
6:45 P.M.
7-Test Pattern
7:00 P.M.
4-Kartoon Korner
7-News and Views (ABC's first evening newscast series; according to Brooks and Marsh, H.R. Baukhage and Jim Gibbons rotated as anchors)
7:15 P.M.
7-Places Please (a short 15 minute music and variety show) (CBS)
7:20 P.M.
4-(Shawmut) Nightly Newsteller (local newscast)
7:30 P.M.
4-Screen Varieties (appears to be a film short of some sort)
7-News (presumably, CBS' first evening newscast series, anchored by Douglas Edwards
7:45 P.M.
7-Face The Music (a short nightly 15-miniute music show) (CBS)
7:50 P.M.
4-(Camel) Newsreel Theatre (ten-minute newsreel consisting of clips shot either by NBC or---mainly---Movietone; narrated off-camera by John Cameron Swayze)
8:00 P.M.
4-(Chevrolet Tele-Theatre) On Broadway (dramatic anthology) (NBC)
7-Quizzing The News (game show with questions about current events, hosted by Alan Prescott) (ABC)
8:30 P.M.
4-Americana Quiz (game show hosted by Ben Grauer) (NBC)
7-Swing Into Sports (appears to be sports films)
9:00 P.M.
4-Movie: The Lady In The Morgue (1938), with Preston Foster and Patricia Ellis
7-Film Shorts
9:30 P.M.
7-Boxing from Boston Arena (the building still stands; it's now owned by Northeastern University and known as Matthews Arena) (sign-off came at the end of the boxing card, likely about 11)
10:12 P.M.
4-Tomorrow's Programs
10:15 P.M.
4-(Boston Post) Views Of News In New England (local newscast with news photos contributed by the now-defunct paper; no wonder the Globe wouldn't mention the name of a rival paper)
10:20 P.M.
4-Sign-Off
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