Fresh from listings for March 17th, 1961, we go back further in time to March 17th, 1949, the first St. Patrick's Day after the arrival of commercial television in Boston (commercial TV had come to the "Hub" nine months earlier). These listings are from the March 17th, 1949 Boston Globe.
Stations:
* WBZ-TV, channel 4 (NBC)
* WNAC-TV, channel 7 (CBS/ABC/DuMont)
Although that day's Globe listed all of WBZ's programs first, then all of WNAC's, I will list them here by time period and then by station within a time period:
10:00 A.M.
4-Test Pattern (until 4:45 P.M.)
7-Test Pattern (until 12 Noon)
12 Noon
7-Sign-off
1:00 P.M.
7-Test Pattern until 4:30 P.M.
4:30 P.M.
7-Sign-Off
4:45 P.M.
4-Sign-On
5:00 P.M.
4-Kukla, Fran, and Ollie (puppet show from Chicago which had begun airing on the East Coast once the East and Midwest network lines were connected two months earlier) (Delayed broadcast; aired on most NBC stations at 7 P.M. If WBZ made the kinescope itself, this would likely be the previous night's show; if NBC made it, it probably was the previous Thursday's episode)
5:15 P.M.
7-Test Pattern
5:28 P.M.
7-Program Preview (probably an off-camera announcer running down the day's program schedule along with station ID slides)
5:30 P.M.
4-Howdy Doody
7-Seranade
5:35 P.M.
7-Cartoon Time
5:45 P.M.
7-Hoss Opry Playhouse (likely a one-reel Western short or a chapter of a serial)
6:00 P.M.
4-Surprise Package (local children's show with WBZ-1030 personality Carl DeSuze; not to be confused with "Your Surprise Package", a 1961 daytime game show)
7-Small Fry Club (with Bob "Big Brother" Emery; he was doing this show for DuMont)
6:15 P.M.
4-Weather (the Globe indicated it was sponsored by the First National Bank)
6:25 P.M.
4-News Tape (maybe teletype copy in front of a TV camera??)
6:30 P.M.
4-Herb Lewis, Piano and Song (I'm sure this was local)
7-News Service (I think this was a local newscast)
6:40 P.M.
4-"Miracle Riders" (chapter of a Tom Mix movie serial; IMDB.com lists it as being filmed in 1935; WBZ would air a lot of serials in the 6:40 P.M. slot during it's first year on the air)
6:45 P.M.
7-Oky Doky Ranch (children's show from the DuMont network)
7:00 P.M.
4-This and That (film shorts)
7-News and Views (ABC's first national television newscast; Gordon Frasier was listed as being anchor on this evening)
7:15 P.M.
7-Wren's Nest (I think it was a music show)
7:20 P.M.
4-Shawmut Bank Newsteller (local news; the anchor was Arch MacDonald, who would remain at WBZ for 21 years and was at WBZ radio prior to 1948).
7:30 P.M.
4-Railroad Show
7-Song Hits (this title would repeatedly show up in WNAC-TV listings during the station's first five years on the air; I suspect these were "soundies"---filmed performances of popular songs that were the great-grandfather of the modern music video)
7:45 P.M.
4-(Camel) News (Caravan), anchored by John Cameron Swayze (In 1948, NBC launched a ten-minute nightly TV news program that featured Swayze narrating newsreel film off-camera, most of it from Movietone. In early 1949, the program was expanded to 15 minutes and Swayze was moved out in front of the camera to introduce the filmed segments and read news stories for which no film was available)
7-Shawmut Bank Newsteller (yes, Shawmut sponsored the early-evening TV newscasts on both Boston TV stations!)
7:55 P.M.
7-Shawmut Bank Weather
8:00 P.M.
4-The Arrow Show, with Phil Silvers (six years later, Silvers would achieve stardom as "Sergeant Bilko")
7-Dione Lucas' Cooking Program
8:30 P.M.
4-Lanny Ross (musical variety)
7-Pick and Pat (identified by the Globe as "minstrels")
9:00 P.M.
4-(Gulf) Road Show, starring Bob Smith (yes, the "Buffalo" Bob Smith of "Howdy Doody" fame)
7-Professional Wrestling, live from Boston Arena (the Boston Arena was built in 1910, and is still around today; it's now owned by next-door neighbor Northeastern University and is known as Matthews Arena; the college's men's hockey and basketball teams play their home games there)
9:30 P.M.
4-The Dunnniger Show (Dunnniger was a famous mentalist" of the 1940's; a young ventriloquist named Paul Winchell also appeared)
10:00 P.M.
4-Friendly Sons Of St. Patrick's Dinner from New York City; Bishop Fulton J. Sheen is the featured speaker.
11:00 P.M.
4-Views of News In New England (the Globe would never tell you this, but the show was actually produced in cooperation with another newspaper in town, the now-defunct Boston Post. News photos from the Post would be shown on-screen with a commentator (Arch MacDonald??) telling the story.
7-Shawmut Bank Weather
11:05 P.M.
4-Tomorrow's Programs (rundown of next day's program lineup, again likely an off-camera announcer with on-screen slides)
7-News Service (another local newscast)
11:08 P.M.
4-Sign-Off
11:15 P.M.
7-Caravan of Sports Preview (might have been nothing more than a rundown of upcoming local sports events)
11:16 P.M.
7-Tomorrow's Programs
11:17 P.M.
7-Sign-Off
Although the South Boston neighborhood of the city has had a St. Patrick's Day Parade for generations, it was not televised live until 1960, when the old WHDH-5 broadcast it. They continued doing it through 1962.
BTW, this year (2013), the Southie St. Patrick's Day Parade will be televised on New England Cable News
Stations:
* WBZ-TV, channel 4 (NBC)
* WNAC-TV, channel 7 (CBS/ABC/DuMont)
Although that day's Globe listed all of WBZ's programs first, then all of WNAC's, I will list them here by time period and then by station within a time period:
10:00 A.M.
4-Test Pattern (until 4:45 P.M.)
7-Test Pattern (until 12 Noon)
12 Noon
7-Sign-off
1:00 P.M.
7-Test Pattern until 4:30 P.M.
4:30 P.M.
7-Sign-Off
4:45 P.M.
4-Sign-On
5:00 P.M.
4-Kukla, Fran, and Ollie (puppet show from Chicago which had begun airing on the East Coast once the East and Midwest network lines were connected two months earlier) (Delayed broadcast; aired on most NBC stations at 7 P.M. If WBZ made the kinescope itself, this would likely be the previous night's show; if NBC made it, it probably was the previous Thursday's episode)
5:15 P.M.
7-Test Pattern
5:28 P.M.
7-Program Preview (probably an off-camera announcer running down the day's program schedule along with station ID slides)
5:30 P.M.
4-Howdy Doody
7-Seranade
5:35 P.M.
7-Cartoon Time
5:45 P.M.
7-Hoss Opry Playhouse (likely a one-reel Western short or a chapter of a serial)
6:00 P.M.
4-Surprise Package (local children's show with WBZ-1030 personality Carl DeSuze; not to be confused with "Your Surprise Package", a 1961 daytime game show)
7-Small Fry Club (with Bob "Big Brother" Emery; he was doing this show for DuMont)
6:15 P.M.
4-Weather (the Globe indicated it was sponsored by the First National Bank)
6:25 P.M.
4-News Tape (maybe teletype copy in front of a TV camera??)
6:30 P.M.
4-Herb Lewis, Piano and Song (I'm sure this was local)
7-News Service (I think this was a local newscast)
6:40 P.M.
4-"Miracle Riders" (chapter of a Tom Mix movie serial; IMDB.com lists it as being filmed in 1935; WBZ would air a lot of serials in the 6:40 P.M. slot during it's first year on the air)
6:45 P.M.
7-Oky Doky Ranch (children's show from the DuMont network)
7:00 P.M.
4-This and That (film shorts)
7-News and Views (ABC's first national television newscast; Gordon Frasier was listed as being anchor on this evening)
7:15 P.M.
7-Wren's Nest (I think it was a music show)
7:20 P.M.
4-Shawmut Bank Newsteller (local news; the anchor was Arch MacDonald, who would remain at WBZ for 21 years and was at WBZ radio prior to 1948).
7:30 P.M.
4-Railroad Show
7-Song Hits (this title would repeatedly show up in WNAC-TV listings during the station's first five years on the air; I suspect these were "soundies"---filmed performances of popular songs that were the great-grandfather of the modern music video)
7:45 P.M.
4-(Camel) News (Caravan), anchored by John Cameron Swayze (In 1948, NBC launched a ten-minute nightly TV news program that featured Swayze narrating newsreel film off-camera, most of it from Movietone. In early 1949, the program was expanded to 15 minutes and Swayze was moved out in front of the camera to introduce the filmed segments and read news stories for which no film was available)
7-Shawmut Bank Newsteller (yes, Shawmut sponsored the early-evening TV newscasts on both Boston TV stations!)
7:55 P.M.
7-Shawmut Bank Weather
8:00 P.M.
4-The Arrow Show, with Phil Silvers (six years later, Silvers would achieve stardom as "Sergeant Bilko")
7-Dione Lucas' Cooking Program
8:30 P.M.
4-Lanny Ross (musical variety)
7-Pick and Pat (identified by the Globe as "minstrels")
9:00 P.M.
4-(Gulf) Road Show, starring Bob Smith (yes, the "Buffalo" Bob Smith of "Howdy Doody" fame)
7-Professional Wrestling, live from Boston Arena (the Boston Arena was built in 1910, and is still around today; it's now owned by next-door neighbor Northeastern University and is known as Matthews Arena; the college's men's hockey and basketball teams play their home games there)
9:30 P.M.
4-The Dunnniger Show (Dunnniger was a famous mentalist" of the 1940's; a young ventriloquist named Paul Winchell also appeared)
10:00 P.M.
4-Friendly Sons Of St. Patrick's Dinner from New York City; Bishop Fulton J. Sheen is the featured speaker.
11:00 P.M.
4-Views of News In New England (the Globe would never tell you this, but the show was actually produced in cooperation with another newspaper in town, the now-defunct Boston Post. News photos from the Post would be shown on-screen with a commentator (Arch MacDonald??) telling the story.
7-Shawmut Bank Weather
11:05 P.M.
4-Tomorrow's Programs (rundown of next day's program lineup, again likely an off-camera announcer with on-screen slides)
7-News Service (another local newscast)
11:08 P.M.
4-Sign-Off
11:15 P.M.
7-Caravan of Sports Preview (might have been nothing more than a rundown of upcoming local sports events)
11:16 P.M.
7-Tomorrow's Programs
11:17 P.M.
7-Sign-Off
Although the South Boston neighborhood of the city has had a St. Patrick's Day Parade for generations, it was not televised live until 1960, when the old WHDH-5 broadcast it. They continued doing it through 1962.
BTW, this year (2013), the Southie St. Patrick's Day Parade will be televised on New England Cable News