Retro: Boston, Tuesday, September 28th, 1948

[Joseph_Gallant]

Again, it's time to go back (almost) to the beginning of commercial television broadcasting in Boston to September 28th, 1948, as listed in that day's Boston Globe.

This was the first Tuesday that WBZ-4 had started regular programming (prior to that, WBZ broadcast Wednesdays through Sundays, going on the air Mondays or Tuesdays only for a baseball game of live coverage of the 1948 political conventions).

With WBZ an NBC affiliate at the time, this was the first time Boston viewers got to watch "Texaco Star Theatre". According to Brooks and Marsh, Milton Berle hosted the first broadcast on June 8th, 1948 but was one of several rotating hosts through the Summer before Berle became permanent emcee. I don't know for sure, but I think September 28th, 1948 may have been Uncle Miltie's first show as regular host (correct me if I'm wrong).

As with other vintage listings, the Globe listed programs by station; I am using the more familiar format of time period followed by programs by channels during those time periods. Brooks and Marsh was used to verify network status.

WBZ-TV, Channel 4 (NBC)
WNAC-TV, Channel 7 (ABC/CBS/DuMont)

10:00 A.M.
4-7-Test Pattern (until 12 Noon)
1:00 P.M.
4-Test Pattern (until 4:30 P.M.)
7-Test Pattern (until 1:25 P.M.)
1:25 P.M.
7-Major League Baseball: Washington Senators at Boston Red Sox (according to Shrp Sports, Boston lose 4-2; in retrospect, this loss would cost Boston the chance to win the American League pennant outright; they tied Cleveland for first at the end of the regular season and lost a one-game playoff to the Indians the following Monday)
3:30 P.M.
7-Test Pattern (probably began once the ballgame ended; did not indicate how long the Test Pattern was shown after the game)
5:15 P.M.
7-Test Pattern
5:30 P.M.
7-Ireene Wicker, The Singing Lady (Brooks and Marsh listed her as having an ABC show beginning in November; could she have done a local show for WNAC or maybe a show for CBS or DuMont in this time period at the time??)
6:00 P.M.
7-Small Fry Club (children's show with Bob "Big Brother" Emery) (DuMont)*
6:15 P.M.
4-Test Pattern
6:30 P.M.
7-Russ Hodges' Scoreboard (DuMont)*
6:40 P.M.
4-Phantom Empire (chapter of movie serial)*
7:00 P.M.
4-Kartoon Korner
7-News and Views (ABC nightly newscast)*
7:15 P.M.
7-Film Shorts
7:20 P.M.
4-(Shawmut) Nightly Newsteller (local newscast)
7:30 P.M.
4-To Be Announced (according to that day's New York Times, NBC broadcast "America Song" ion that timeslot; but "Musical Miniatures" would soon occupy that time period)
7-News (presumably CBS network newscast)*
7:45 P.M.
7-Face The Music (CBS)*
7:50 P.M.
4-Screen Varieties (normally, WBZ would be expected to carry "Camel Newsreel Theatre" in this time peroid; I wonder why they didn't)
8:00 P.M.
4-(Texaco) Star Theatre (as noted above, I think this was Milton Berle's first week as regular emcee) (NBC)
7-Operation Success (public-service program looking to find jobs for wounded Veterans of World War II) (DuMont)
8:30 P.M.
7-Film Shorts
9:00 P.M.
4-Mary Margaret McBride (talk show featuring the famed radio hostess and interviewer) (NBC)
7-We The People (interview and public service show) (CBS)
9:30 P.M.
7-People's Platform (public-affairs series moderated by Quincy Howe) (CBS)
9:50 P.M.
4-Tomorrow's Programs
9:55 P.M.
4-(Boston Post) Views Of News In New England (local newscast)*
10:00 P.M.
4-Sign-Off
7-Boxing (DuMont had a boxing show from Jamaica Arena in Queens on Tuesday nights from 9 to 11 P.M. Eastern time during the 1948-49 TV season; I suspect this was the boxing show WNAC carried)
(WNAC signed-off anywhere between 10:30 and 11 P.M., depending on the length of the boxing card)

*-For more information about programs with this symbol, please consult my thread on Boston TV program listings from Monday, September 27th, 1948.

 

[bpatrick]

I believe Uncle Miltie became permanent host of "Texaco Star Theater"
the week before. I was under the impression that his first show on
June 8 was carried on every NBC station from Boston to Richmond
(Boston, Schenectady, New York City, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington,
and Richmond). Did WNAC carry that first show in Boston?

 

[bpatrick]

Here's what Wikipedia shows for Tuesday in the fall of 1948:

ABC 5:30 Singing Lady
6 PM (Local)
7 PM News And Views
7:15 (Local)
7:30 Movieland Quiz
8 PM (Local)
8:30 America's Town Meeting
9:30 (Local)

CBS 1 PM Vanity Fair
1:30 (Local)
6:30 Lucky Pup
6:45 (Local)
7 PM Roar Of The Rails
7:15 (Local)
7:30 CBS News
7:45 Face The Music
8 PM (Local)
9 PM We The People
9:30 People's Platform
10 PM (Local)

DUMONT
10:30 Your Television Shopper
11 AM (Local)
7 PM Alan Dale Show
7:15 (Local)
7:30 Camera Headlines
7:45 INS Telenews
8 PM Operation Success
8:30 (Local)
9 PM Boxing From Jamaica Arena

NBC 5:30 Howdy Doody
6 PM (Local)
7:30 Musical Miniatures
7:50 Camel Newsreel Theater
8 PM Texaco Star Theater
9 PM Mary Margaret McBride
9:30 (Local)
10 PM Wrestling From St. Nicholas Arena

 

[Joseph_Gallant]

I believe Uncle Miltie became permanent host of "Texaco Star Theater"
the week before (September 21st, m1948). I was under the impression that his first show on
June 8 was carried on every NBC station from Boston to Richmond
(Boston, Schenectady, New York City, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington,
and Richmond). Did WNAC carry that first show in Boston?

No.

WNAC didn't go on the air until June 21st (and I believed they had to scramble since they wanted to carry CBS coverage of the GOP Convention which started that day, anchored by a young CBS newsman named Douglas Edwards).

Since network lines had been extended to Boston in the late Fall of 1947, some WBZ employees either at the old radio facility at the Hotel Bradford or the almost-completed studio complex on Soldiers' Field Road probably did see the show. Even though WBZ was on the air with test patterns and some test films, the premiere did not go out over the air, and since 'BZ only broadcast Mondays and Tuesdays until September (except for baseball games and the '48 conventions), September 28th was the first time Boston viewers saw the "Texaco Star Theatre"/Berle show....unless there was some sort of E-Skip some Tuesday night that allowed WNBT-4 New York or WNHC-6 New Haven to pop-up on local TV screens!