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Retro: Boston - WIHS Ch. 38 debut week

Source – Boston Sunday Globe, October 11, 1964 (Globe Archives)

Since I posted the 1st air day for WKBG channel 56, I thought I would find the first air date for WIHS channel 38. There were several ads in the Globe that day for UHF converters for those who did not own an all-channel TV set. WIHS was sold by the Archdiocese of Boston to Storer Broadcasting in April 1966. The deal was final in late August and the calls were changed to WSBK on October 16, almost 2 years to the date of sign-on.

The Globe listings started with an explanation of programming.

This week, WIHS-TV programming will be devoted to afternoon commercial entertainment for home viewers. Telecasting will start at 3 p.m. daily and continue until 12 midnight.
Starting October 26, the station will add its full educational programming to each day’s operation. Operating hours will then be from 9 a.m. until 12 midnight each day.
Most of the morning and early afternoon programming will be devoted to educational programs, with a complete transition each day at 3 p.m. to full commercial programs.
Following are the programs for tomorrow, through Saturday. Because of the week’s delay in opening the station, please disregard Ch. 38 listings in today’s TV week and use the following:

Monday
3:00 – Movie “Personality Kid”, Pat O’Brien, Glenda Farrell
5:00 – Kartoon Party
5:15 – Kit Carson “California Outlaws”
5:45 – Victor Best, news
6:00 – Famous Playhouse, dramatic anthology with Hollywood stars
6:30 – Love That Bob “Calling Dr. Baxter”
7:00 – Star Theater, “Border Town”, Bette Davis, Paul Muni, Margaret Lindsay
8:30 – Restless Gun “Duel at Lockwood”, John Payne
9:00 – Crusader “International Agent”, Brian Keith
9:30 – Mr. District Attorney, David Brian
10:00 – John D. O’Connell, news
10:15 – “The Fountainhead”, Gary Cooper, Patricia Neal, Raymond Massey

Tuesday
3:00 – Movie, “Brides Are Like That”, Anita Louise, Ross Alexander
5:00 – Kartoon Party
5:15 – Kit Carson “The Prince of Padua Hills”
5:45 – Victor Best, news
6:00 – Famous Playhouse
6:30 – Love That Bob “Hiring a Receptionist”
7:00 – Star Theater, “Petrified Forest”, Bette Davis, Humphrey Bogart, Leslie Howard
8:30 – Meet Corlis Archer
9:00 – Ray Milland Show
9:30 – Ann Sothern Show
10:00 – John D. O’Connell, news
10:15 – “The Fountainhead”

Wednesday
3:00 – Movie, “Case of the Velvet Claws”, Warren William, Claire Dodd (this was a Perry Mason movie from the 1930s – Perry married Della in this one!)
5:00 – Kartoon Party
5:15 – Kit Carson
5:45 – Victor Best, news
6:00 – Famous Playhouse
6:30 – Love That Bob
7:00 – Star Theater, “Tugboat Annie Sails Again”, Ronald Regan, Jane Wyman
8:30 – C.C.D. and Fellowship Hour (Catholic religious instruction)
9:30 – Dr. Christian, with MacDonald Carey as the Doc
10:00 – John D. O’Connell, news
10:15 – “The Fountainhead”

Thursday
3:00 – Movie, “Singapore Woman”, Brenda Marshall, David Bruce
5:00 – Kartoon Party
5:15 – Kit Carson “The Padres Treasure”
5:45 – Victor Best, news
6:00 – Famous Playhouse
6:30 – Love That Bob
7:00 – Star Theater, “Footsteps in the Dark”, Errol Flynn, Ralph Bellamy
8:30 – D.A.’s Man “Sammy’s Friend”
9:00 – Coronado 9 “I Want to Be Hated”, Rod Cameron
9:30 – I Led Three Lives, Richard Calrson
10:00 – John D. O’Connell, news
10:15 – “The Fountainhead”

Friday
3:00 – Woman’s Viewpoint, with Frances Plude
3:30 – Movie, “Jailbreak”, June Travis, Craig Reynolds
5:00 – Kartoon Party
5:15 – Kit Carson “The Murango Story”
5:45 – Victor Best, news
6:00 – Famous Playhouse
6:30 – Love That Bob “The Rival Photographer”
7:00 – Star Theater, “King and the Chorus”, Jane Wyman, Joan Blondell
8:30 – Cimarron City “I, the People”, George Montgomery
9:30 – Your Navy
10:00 – John D. O’Connell, news
10:15 – “The Fountainhead”

Saturday
3:00 – Movie, “Law of the Tropics”, Constance Bennett, Jeffery Lynn
5:00 – Calvin and the Colonel “TV Job”
5:30 – Church Calendar
6:00 – Frontier Circus, Chills Wills, John Derek
7:00 – Star Theater “East of the River”, John Garfield, Brenda Marshall
8:30 – Soldiers of Fortune “Jungle Search”, John Russell, Chick Chandler
9:00 – Wide Country, Earl Holliman, Andrew Prine. Rodeo picture.
10:00 – Movie, “Oil for the Lamps of China”, Pat O’Brien, Josephine Hutchinson, Lyle Talbot

Ten Boston Celtics basketball games during the 1964-65 season will be telecast on Ch. 38 starting Wednesday, Oct. 28. The play-by-play of the games will be handled by Harry Caray and Bill Sharman. Caray has been handling sportscasting as “The Voice of the St. Louis Baseball Cardinals” for many years. Sharman, former star of the Celtics, will assist Caray and provide the color for the telecasts.
The schedule of telecast games follows:
Oct. 28 – Boston vs. St. Louis
Nov. 12 – Boston vs. Philadelphia
Nov. 17 – Boston vs. Baltimore
Dec. 15 – Boston vs. St. Louis
Dec. 26 – Boston vs. St. Louis
Jan. 20 – Boston vs. Baltimore
Jan. 29 – Boston vs. Philadelphia
Feb. 9 – Boston vs. Cincinnati
Feb. 13 – Boston vs. New York
Mar. 12 – Boston vs. Cincinnati
 
MCarney said:
Following are the programs for tomorrow, through Saturday. Because of the week’s delay in opening the station, please disregard Ch. 38 listings in today’s TV week and use the following:

What was supposed to be channel 38's schedule that week before the delay?

MCarney said:
Monday
10:15 – “The Fountainhead”, Gary Cooper, Patricia Neal, Raymond Massey

Tuesday
10:15 – “The Fountainhead”

Wednesday
10:15 – “The Fountainhead”

Thursday
10:15 – “The Fountainhead”

Friday
10:15 – “The Fountainhead”

I take it that they took a page out of WOR-TV's playbook and scheduled the same film each weeknight.

MCarney said:
Ten Boston Celtics basketball games during the 1964-65 season will be telecast on Ch. 38 starting Wednesday, Oct. 28. The play-by-play of the games will be handled by Harry Caray and Bill Sharman. Caray has been handling sportscasting as “The Voice of the St. Louis Baseball Cardinals” for many years. Sharman, former star of the Celtics, will assist Caray and provide the color for the telecasts.

Caray, of course, will go on to be the voice of the Chicago White Sox and, of course, the Chicago Cubs.
 
Here's what was supposed to run that week. I could not find anything for the week of October 4 - perhaps they knew they wouldn't make air that week and notified the Globe in time. The weekday listings are very similar except for the movie titles, and again they ran the same movie all week at 10:15pm.

No listings for the week of October 4, 1964

Sunday, October 11, 1964
3:00p Movie “Big Shakedown” 1934 – Ricardo Cortez, Bette Davis
5:00p Council of Churches
5:30p Yesterday’s Newsreel
6:00p Science Fiction Theater
6:30p John Kiley
7:00p Movie “Hard to Get” 1938 – Dick Powell, Olivia DeHaviland
8:30p Pride of the Family
9:00p Rosemary Clooney Show – Jose Ferrer (her husband), guest
9:30p Sports Roundup
10:00p Movie “Devotion” 1946 – Ida Lupino, Paul Henreid, Olivia DeHaviland

Monday, October 12, 1964
3:00p Movie “As the Earth Turns”
5:00p Kartoon Party
5:15p Kit Carson
5:45p Victor Best, news
6:00p Famous Playhouse
6:30p Love That Bob
7:00p Movie “Four Mothers”
8:30p Restless Gun
9:00p Crusader, drama
9:30p Mr. District Attorney
10:00p John D. O’Connell – news
10:15p Movie “Old Acquaintance”

Tuesday, October 13, 1964
3:00p Movie “She Loved a Fireman” 1938 – Dick Foran, Ann Sheridan
5:00p Kartoon Party
5:15p Kit Carson
5:45p Victor Best – news
6:00p Famous Playhouse
6:30p Love That Bob
7:00p Movie “Indianapolis Speedway” 1939 – Ann Sheridan, Pat O’Brien
8:30p Meet Corliss Archer
9:00p Ray Milland Show
9:30p Ann Sothern Show
10:00p John D. O’Connell – news
10:15p Movie “Old Acquaintance”

Wednesday, October 14, 1964
3:00p Movie “Friends of Mr. Sweeney” 1934 – Charles Ruggles, Ann Dvorak
5:00p Kartoon Party
5:15p Kit Carson
5:45p Victor Best, news
6:00p Famous Playhouse
6:30p Love That Bob
7:00p Movie “Floxy Martin” 1949 – Zachary Scott, Virginia Mayo
8:30p CCD and Fellowship Hour
9:30p Follow That Man
10:00p John D. O’Connell – news
10:15p Movie “Old Acquaintance”

Thursday, October 15, 1964
3:00p Movie – “Granny Get Your Gun” 1940 – May Robson, Harry Davenport
5:00p Kartoon Party
5:15p Kit Carson
5:45p Victor Best, news
6:00p Famous Playhouse
6:30p Love That Bob
7:00p Movie “A Child is Born” 1940 – Jeffery Lynn, Geraldine Fitzgerald
8:30p The D.A.’s Man
9:00p Coronado 9
9:30p I Led Three Lives
10:00p John D. O’Connell – news
10:15p Movie “Old Acquaintance”

Friday, October 16, 1964
3:00p Movie – “Nancy Drew, Troubleshooter” 1939 – Bonita Granville
5:00p Kartoon Party
5:15p Kit Carson
5:45p Victor Best, news
6:00p Famous Playhouse
6:30p Love That Bob
7:00p Movie “Hell’s Kitchen” – Ronald Regan, Dead End Kids
8:30p Cimarron City
9:30p Your Navy
10:00p John D. O’Connell – news
10:15p Movie “Old Acquaintance”

Saturday, October 17, 1964
3:00p Movie “Hard to Get”
5:00p Calvin and the Colonel
5:30p Church Calendar
6:00p Movie “Sea Wolf”
8:30p Soldiers of Fortune
9:00p Wide Country
10:00p Movie “Gay Sisters” (try running that title today!)
 
I just checked the Globe's Sunday TV week listings for the week of October 18. They ran the schedule that was supposed to run for the first week then.

As for Kartoon Party I have no idea nor have I been able to turn up any descriptions.
 
I do notice that 38 had reruns of "Calvin and the Colonel," a forgotten prime time cartoon. I wonder if it was shown in color on 38---it was not, when it ran first-run on ABC, because ABC didn't use color at that time (1961-62). There *are* YouTube clips of this show in color.

cd
 
I have found some info on WIHS and color programming. According to the Boston Globe, in an article printed on November 14, 1965, channel 38 started colorcasting the next day, picking up color programs from NBC that were being pre-empted by WBZ. Those shows were "Jeopardy" and "Let's Play Post Office" weekdays and "The Jetsons", "Atom Ant" and "The First Look" on Saturdays. They didn't do any studio color until after Storer took over.
 
azumanga said:
MCarney said:
Following are the programs for tomorrow, through Saturday. Because of the week’s delay in opening the station, please disregard Ch. 38 listings in today’s TV week and use the following:

What was supposed to be channel 38's schedule that week before the delay?

MCarney said:
Monday
10:15 – “The Fountainhead”, Gary Cooper, Patricia Neal, Raymond Massey

Tuesday
10:15 – “The Fountainhead”

Wednesday
10:15 – “The Fountainhead”

Thursday
10:15 – “The Fountainhead”

Friday
10:15 – “The Fountainhead”

I take it that they took a page out of WOR-TV's playbook and scheduled the same film each weeknight.

MCarney said:
Ten Boston Celtics basketball games during the 1964-65 season will be telecast on Ch. 38 starting Wednesday, Oct. 28. The play-by-play of the games will be handled by Harry Caray and Bill Sharman. Caray has been handling sportscasting as “The Voice of the St. Louis Baseball Cardinals” for many years. Sharman, former star of the Celtics, will assist Caray and provide the color for the telecasts.

Caray, of course, will go on to be the voice of the Chicago White Sox and, of course, the Chicago Cubs.
For one year, after getting fired by the Cardinals, he was the voice of the Oakland Athletics.
 
MCarney said:
I have found some info on WIHS and color programming. According to the Boston Globe, in an article printed on November 14, 1965, channel 38 started colorcasting the next day, picking up color programs from NBC that were being pre-empted by WBZ. Those shows were "Jeopardy" and "Let's Play Post Office" weekdays and "The Jetsons", "Atom Ant" and "The First Look" on Saturdays. They didn't do any studio color until after Storer took over.
It makes sense. Back in the day, what many stations like WIHS did to broadcast network color programs is to simply "pass through" using a second color capable switcher bypassing the normal monochrome chain. I'm sure NBC (and maybe WBZ) did provide some technical assistance to WIHS (and maybe a basic color capable switch and TBC) to allow Channel 38 to broadcast live network color. As a little kid, I remember watching Art Fleming's "Jeopardy!" every day on Channel 38. I believe the show continued for years on Channel 38 after Storer bought the station in '66.

Channel 38 (WSBK-TV) still carried the educational programming of the Boston Catholic Archdiocese during weekday mornings until '69 or '70. It probably was part of the purchase and sale agreement for the station. More than likely, proceeds of the sale of Channel 38 to Storer provided the much needed capital for the Archdiocese to put their ITFS system (microwave) on the air to feed their instructional programs to Catholic schools.
 
azumanga said:
MCarney said:
Following are the programs for tomorrow, through Saturday. Because of the week’s delay in opening the station, please disregard Ch. 38 listings in today’s TV week and use the following:

What was supposed to be channel 38's schedule that week before the delay?

MCarney said:
Monday
10:15 – “The Fountainhead”, Gary Cooper, Patricia Neal, Raymond Massey

Tuesday
10:15 – “The Fountainhead”

Wednesday
10:15 – “The Fountainhead”

Thursday
10:15 – “The Fountainhead”

Friday
10:15 – “The Fountainhead”

I take it that they took a page out of WOR-TV's playbook and scheduled the same film each weeknight.

Even Channel 56 (WKBG-TV) did the same thing in '68 by scheduling a specific movie every weeknight for 5 consecutive nights. The late Bill Marlowe was the host of the program complete with him in a tux, sitting in front of a black background and smoking a cigarette. He would mention little facts about tonight's movie. One movie I remember that Channel 56 aired for 5 consecutive nights was 1964's "Umbrellas of Cherbourg". I never understood why a station would play the same movie for 5 consecutive nights.
 
Peter Q. George (K1XRB) said:
Even Channel 56 (WKBG-TV) did the same thing in '68 by scheduling a specific movie every weeknight for 5 consecutive nights. The late Bill Marlowe was the host of the program complete with him in a tux, sitting in front of a black background and smoking a cigarette. He would mention little facts about tonight's movie. One movie I remember that Channel 56 aired for 5 consecutive nights was 1964's "Umbrellas of Cherbourg". I never understood why a station would play the same movie for 5 consecutive nights.

WXTV-45 in Youngstown, Ohio, during their last months (Late 1961-March 1962) would play the same movie up to three times a week within just a few hours..I have December 1960 and June 1961 TV Guide Schedules for Channel 45 that ran the SAME movies both times..One example was "Spring Reunion" from 1957-It played:

Saturday, June 3, 1961 at 7PM
Sunday June 4 at 8PM
Monday June 5 at 10:35PM..

They played the same movie (Spring Reunion) Three times during the week of December 3, 1960..(Tues. Dec.6 at 9 and Wed. Dec. 7 at 7 and 10:30)..


These are just two schedules at random..They had probably fewer than 20-25 movies to run, from the looks of it.

Link to more info..

http://clevelandclassicmedia.blogspot.com/2007/11/wxtv-channel-45-valiant-effort.html
 
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