Retro: Central Florida Monday, June 11, 1973

[bpatrick]

WATERGATE HEARINGS: None planned today but a schedule
change could cause pre-emptions of regular programs on some
channels.

From TV Guide, Central Florida Edition:

WESH Ch. 2 Daytona Beach/Orlando (NBC)

6:30 Your Future Is Now
7 AM Today (Frank McGee)
9 AM Phil Donahue (here's a study in contrast:
Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm discusses
her visit with George Wallace)
10 AM Dinah's Place (Florence Henderson shows how
to give haircuts at home--her son is the guinea
pig)
10:30 Baffle (guests Bill Bixby and Nanette Fabray;
Dick Enberg hosts)
11 AM Sale Of The Century
11:30 Hollywood Squares
12 N Jeopardy!
12:30 News
12:55 NBC News (Edwin Newman)
1 PM I Love Lucy
1:30 Three On A Match
2 PM Days Of Our Lives
2:30 The Doctors
3 PM Another World
3:30 Return To Peyton Place
4 PM Somerset
4:30 Bonanza
5:30 News
6:30 NBC News (John Chancellor)
7 PM To Tell The Truth (panel: Peggy Cass, Gene
Rayburn, Gene Shalit, and New York talk-show
host Sherrye Henry; Garry Moore emcees)
7:30 Untamed World
8 PM Baseball Pre-Game Show
8:15 Baseball: Giants-Mets (Bobby Riggs joins Curt
Gowdy and Tony Kubek in the announcers'
booth; backup game: Cardinals-Reds)
11 PM News (time approximate)
11:30 Tonight Show (John Denver subs for Johnny)

WEDU Ch. 3 Tampa (PBS)

3:30 Carrascolendas
4 PM Sesame Street
5 PM Mister Rogers' Neighborhood
5:30 Electric Company
6 PM Sesame Street
7 PM Consultation
7:30 Homemaking Today
8 PM Joyce Chen's China
9 PM The Advocates (at issue: should a TV station's
license be granted for five years instead of three?)
10 PM The Descendants (from this we learn that Alexander
Graham Bell invented not only the telephone but also
the wax record and the iron lung)
sign off 11 PM

WDBO (WKMG) Ch. 6 Orlando (CBS)

6:15 Sunshine Almanac
6:30 Summer Semester: "The Immigrant In American Life"
7 AM CBS News (John Hart)
8 AM Captain Kangaroo
9 AM Perry Mason
10 AM Joker's Wild
10:30 $10,000 Pyramid
11 AM Gambit
11:30 Love Of Life
11:55 CBS News (Douglas Edwards)
12 N Secret Storm
12:30 Search For Tomorrow
1 PM News
1:30 As The World Turns
2 PM Guiding Light
2:30 Edge Of Night
3 PM Price Is Right
3:30 Hollywood's Talking (would be replaced by
"Match Game '73" on July 2)
4 PM Merv Griffin (Robert Goulet, Forrest Tucker,
and then-hot actor from "The Godfather,"
Gianni Russo)
5:30 Hogan's Heroes
6 PM News
6:30 CBS News (Walter Cronkite)
7 PM Truth Or Consequences
7:30 What's My Line?
8 PM Gunsmoke
9 PM Here's Lucy
9:30 Doris Day
10 PM Medical Center
11 PM News
11:30 CBS Movie: "Half A Sixpence"

WFLA Ch. 8 Tampa (NBC)

6:15 Today In Florida
7 AM Today
9 AM Movie: "The Barbarian And The Geisha"
(Part 1)
10:20 Fashions In Sewing
10:30 Baffle
11 AM Sale Of The Century
11:30 Hollywood Squares
12 N Jeopardy!
12:30 Who, What Or Where
12:55 NBC News
1 PM News
1:30 Three On A Match
2 PM Days Of Our Lives
2:30 The Doctors
3 PM Another World
3:30 Return To Peyton Place
4 PM Somerset
4:30 Merv Griffin (Trini Lopez, Jaye P. Morgan,
Fred Williamson, Richard Dawson, Margot
Kidder)
6 PM News
6:30 NBC News
7 PM What's My Line?
7:30 To Tell The Truth (Joe Garagiola, Kitty Carlisle,
Bill Cullen, Peggy Cass--Garagiola would become
host of the show in 1977)
8 PM Baseball Pre-Game Show
8:15 Baseball: Giants-Mets or Cardinals-Reds
11 PM News (time approximate)
11:30 Tonight Show

WFTV Ch. 9 Orlando (ABC)

6 AM Sunrise Jubilee
7 AM Bozo
8 AM Mike Douglas (co-host Sally Struthers, Stanley
Kramer, Faye Dunaway, comic Pat Cooper, plant
expert Thalassa Cruso)
9 AM Movie: "A Dog Of Flanders"
11 AM Password (week behind: guests are June Lockhart
and Dick Sargent)
11:30 Bewitched (this one has Dick York)
12 N News
12:30 Split Second
1 PM All My Children
1:30 Let's Make A Deal
2 PM Newlywed Game
2:30 Dating Game
3 PM General Hospital
3:30 One Life To Live
4 PM Movie: "Charlie Chan In Murder Over New York"
5:30 News
6:30 ABC News (Smith/Reasoner)
7 PM You Asked For It (Smilin' Jack Smith hosting one
of several unsuccessful revivals of the pioneering
reality show)
7:30 Let's Make A Deal
8 PM The Rookies
9 PM ABC Movie: "Red Tomahawk"
11 PM News
11:30 Dick Cavett (Robert Mitchum, director Peter Yates,
an Illinois family mistakenly raided by narcotics agents)
1 AM Movie: "Black Fury"

WLCY (WTSP) Ch. 10 St. Petersburg (ABC)

7 AM 4-H Spotlite
7:15 Involvement 10
7:45 News
8 AM Morning Show
8:30 Fran Carlton
9 AM Romper Room
10 AM Leave It To Beaver
10:30 Paul Dixon (the Cincinnati legend's last effort
was this syndicated show--he died less than
two years later)
11 AM I Love Lucy
11:30 Bewitched
12 N Password (all celebrities, although I don't think
this was the start of the disastrous "Password
All-Stars": Elizabeth Montgomery, Jim and Henny
Backus, Tom Kennedy and brother Jack Narz)
12:30 Split Second
1 PM All My Children
1:30 Let's Make A Deal
2 PM Newlywed Game
2:30 Dating Game
3 PM General Hospital
3:30 One Life To Live
4 PM Movie: "Sign Of The Pagan"
5:30 News
6 PM ABC News
6:30 I Dream Of Jeannie
7 PM Hollywood Squares (which star is sitting in the
secret square: Bill Bixby, Glen Campbell, Janet
Leigh, Don Rickles, Leslie Uggams, Karen Valentine,
Wally Cox, Charley Weaver, or Paul Lynde?)
7:30 Police Surgeon
8 PM The Rookies
9 PM ABC Movie: "Red Tomahawk"
11 PM News
11:30 Dick Cavett

WINK Ch. 11 Ft. Myers (CBS)

6:30 Sunshine Almanac
6:45 Good Morning
7 AM CBS News
8 AM Captain Kangaroo
9 AM Jack LaLanne
9:30 Sesame Street
10:30 Merv Griffin (from Las Vegas: Joel Grey and--
who else?--Paul Anka and Wayne Newton)
11:30 Love Of Life
11:55 CBS News
12 N Young And The Restless
12:30 Search For Tomorrow
1 PM Joker's Wild
1:30 As The World Turns
2 PM Guiding Light
2:30 Edge Of Night
3 PM Price Is Right
3:30 Hollywood's Talking
4 PM Secret Storm
4:30 Mike Douglas (co-host Jean Stapleton brings
along her husband Bill Putch; also, Jack Albertson,
singer Cleo Laine, author Jerzy Kosinski)
6 PM News
7 PM CBS News (ironic that at the time Orlando carried it
at 6:30; Ft. Myers and Tampa at 7--now it's just
the reverse)
7:30 To Tell The Truth
8 PM Gunsmoke
9 PM Here's Lucy
9:30 Doris Day
10 PM Medical Center
11 PM News
11:30 CBS Movie: "Half A Sixpence"

WTVT Ch. 13 Tampa (CBS)

6 AM Breakfast Beat
7 AM CBS News
7:30 Breakfast Beat
8 AM Captain Kangaroo
9 AM Mike Douglas
10:30 $10,000 Pyramid
11 AM Gambit
11:30 Love Of Life
11:55 CBS News
12 N News
12:25 Tampa Bay Topics
12:30 Search For Tomorrow
1 PM Young And The Restless
1:30 As The World Turns
2 PM Guiding Light
2:30 Edge Of Night
3 PM Price Is Right
3:30 Hollywood's Talking
4 PM Big Valley
5 PM Bonanza
6 PM News
7 PM CBS News (I always liked the way the network
newscasts were staggered in Tampa: ABC at 6,
NBC at 6:30, CBS at 7)
7:30 Truth Or Consequences
8 PM Gunsmoke
9 PM Here's Lucy
9:30 Doris Day
10 PM Medical Center
11 PM News
11:30 CBS Movie: "Half A Sixpence"

WUSF Ch. 16 Tampa (PBS)
off air until fall

WBBH Ch. 20 Ft. Myers (NBC/ABC)

6 AM Gulf Coast--Today
7 AM Today
9 AM What's Happening? (community bulletin board)
9:05 Star Trek
10 AM Dinah's Place
10:30 Baffle
11 AM Sale Of The Century
11:30 Hollywood Squares
12 N Jeopardy!
12:30 Who, What Or Where
12:55 News (local)
1 PM Brad Lacey (local)
1:30 Three On A Match
2 PM Days Of Our Lives
2:30 The Doctors
3 PM Another World
3:30 Return To Peyton Place
4 PM Somerset
4:30 Daniel Boone
5:30 Truth Or Consequences
6 PM News
6:30 NBC News
7 PM It Takes A Thief
8 PM Baseball Pre-Game Show
8:15 Baseball: Giants-Mets or Cardinals-Reds
11 PM News (time approximate)
11:30 Tonight Show
1 AM It Takes A Thief

WMFE Ch. 24 Orlando (PBS)

4 PM Sesame Street
5 PM Mister Rogers' Neighborhood
5:30 Electric Company
6 PM Sesame Street
7 PM Carrascolendas
7:30 The Chan-Ese Way
8 PM Joyce Chen's China
9 PM TBA
10 PM Playhouse New York Biography: "Galileo"
sign off 11:30 PM

WXLT (WWSB) Ch. 40 Sarasota (ABC)

9 AM New Zoo Revue
9:30 Death Valley Days
10 AM Dinah's Place (pre-empted on Ch. 8)
10:30 Joker's Wild (pre-empted on Ch. 13)
11 AM Galloping Gourmet
11:30 Bewitched
12 N Password
12:30 Split Second
1 PM All My Children
1:30 Let's Make A Deal
2 PM Newlywed Game
2:30 Dating Game
3 PM General Hospital
3:30 One Life To Live
4 PM Love, American Style
4:30 Movie: "Fury Of The Apache"
6 PM News
6:30 ABC News
7 PM James Robison Dallas Crusade (Tom
Landry joins him.)
8 PM The Rookies
9 PM ABC Movie: "Red Tomahawk"
11 PM News
11:30 Dick Cavett

WTOG Ch. 44 St. Petersburg (Ind.)

11:45 News
12 N Westerners
12:30 Not For Women Only
1 PM Star Time
2 PM The Saint
3 PM New Zoo Revue
3:30 Rocky And His Friends
4 PM Love, American Style (pre-empted on Ch. 10)
4:30 Addams Family
5 PM Batman (the one where Batman and Robin team
up--sort of--with the Green Hornet and Kato to
capture Col. Gumm)
5:30 Gilligan's Island
6 PM Get Smart
6:30 Gomer Pyle, USMC
7 PM Petticoat Junction
7:30 Hogan's Heroes
8 PM Wild Wild West
9 PM Movie: "Count Three And Pray"
11 PM One Step Beyond
11:30 Movie: "The Devil And The Deep"

 

[RBW]

EVERY station is a network afil except for ch. 44? --- and their first program of the day didn't air until almost Noon??

 

[bpatrick]

There weren't many independents in the South in '73,
but there would be a second one in the Central Florida
edition about a year later: WSWB/35 Orlando. That one
didn't make it but another station on 35 did: WOFL, the
Fox station there. As for Ch. 44's starting time of 11:45
AM, I can't explain it; you'd think they'd have had kids'
shows and sitcom reruns in the morning. My only theory
is that most Bay Area programming was and is geared to
older viewers, most of whom--if they weren't outside--
were watching Mike Douglas or game shows in the morning.

 

[TexasTom]

There weren't many independents in the South in '73,
but there would be a second one in the Central Florida
edition about a year later: WSWB/35 Orlando. That one
didn't make it but another station on 35 did: WOFL, the
Fox station there. As for Ch. 44's starting time of 11:45
AM, I can't explain it; you'd think they'd have had kids'
shows and sitcom reruns in the morning. My only theory
is that most Bay Area programming was and is geared to
older viewers, most of whom--if they weren't outside--
were watching Mike Douglas or game shows in the morning.

Remember -- this is back in 1973, and outside the very largest markets, it was very common for independent stations to run less than a full day schedule. For example, none of the Kaiser Broadcasting stations (WKBD/50 Detroit, KBHK/44 San Francisco, WKBS/48 Philadelphia, WUAB/43 Cleveland) signed on until mid-morning. Then KTNT/11 in Tacoma/Seattle didn't start running a full morning schedule until it was sold to Gaylord around this time. For that matter, I'm not even sure that WFLD/32 in Chicago ran a full morning schedule in 1973, although it's VHF competitor, WGN/9 certainly did.

By the late seventies, much had changed, and almost all independent stations were on the air by 7 AM or earlier -- but in 1973, later sign ons were still quite common.

Regarding WSWB/WOFL in Orlando, this is sort of the same station. What happened was that WSWB/35 landed in bankruptcy and was taken off the air -- but the license was sold in bankruptcy court to the group that put it back on the air as WOFL a few years later. There's actually a book about the battle in bankruptcy court for the license and assets of the failed station -- it was a three way contest that pitted Ted Turner and Pat Robertson against the local group that ultimately won the auction.

 

[wbhist]

Remember -- this is back in 1973, and outside the very largest markets, it was very common for independent stations to run less than a full day schedule. For example, none of the Kaiser Broadcasting stations (WKBD/50 Detroit, KBHK/44 San Francisco, WKBS/48 Philadelphia, WUAB/43 Cleveland) signed on until mid-morning. Then KTNT/11 in Tacoma/Seattle didn't start running a full morning schedule until it was sold to Gaylord around this time. For that matter, I'm not even sure that WFLD/32 in Chicago ran a full morning schedule in 1973, although it's VHF competitor, WGN/9 certainly did.

Actually, at this point, WFLD/32 was also a Kaiser Broadcasting station (once-and-future owners Field Communications, the previous year, entered into a minority partnership with Kaiser; by 1977, when Kaiser exited the broadcasting business, Field took over what remaining Kaiser properties there were). Moreover, as of this period, WUAB was actually owned by United Artists Broadcasting; the Kaiser station in Cleveland was the late WKBF/61. Alas, WFLD, like most UHF's (and other Kaiser outlets), didn't sign on until the morning was almost over. There were two other Kaiser stations as of this date: KBSC/52 in Corona/Los Angeles, CA, and WKBG/56 in Cambridge/Boston, MA (co-owned with the Boston Globe; after the Globe sold its share to Kaiser in 1974, WKBG's calls were changed to the current WLVI).

 

[Stanislav]

Regarding WSWB/WOFL in Orlando, this is sort of the same station. What happened was that WSWB/35 landed in bankruptcy and was taken off the air -- but the license was sold in bankruptcy court to the group that put it back on the air as WOFL a few years later. There's actually a book about the battle in bankruptcy court for the license and assets of the failed station -- it was a three way contest that pitted Ted Turner and Pat Robertson against the local group that ultimately won the auction.

Won the license, but not much of the infrastructure. WSWB had sunk a lot of money into their facilities, part of the reason for their financial downfall. The station was abruptly and unceremoniously taken off the air in the middle of a program when U.S. Marshals showed up to seize the equipment. The stuff was auctioned off to satisfy some of the debts, and noncommercial WMFE made out like a bandit, getting the studio building and equipment for a relative pittance and greatly improving their capabilities, forming the basis of what is still to this day their studio location. When WOFL went on, they initially operated from a rather cramped makeshift rented building in a not terribly nice area of town.

 

[Markd]

Re: Retro: Independent Sign Ons

In the 1970's, late morning sign ons for independents were pretty common except in places like New York or LA. Throughout the 70's the New York and LA indies, WNEW-TV, WOR-TV, WPIX, KTLA, KHJ-TV, KTTV, and KCOP all signed on at 7 AM or a bit earlier. But in Chicago, only WGN-TV had a 7 AM or earlier sign on all along in the 70's. WFLD 32 would sign on at 11ish in the early 70's. Between 1973 and 1976, WFLD signed on at 7 AM during some times of the year like the Fall and at 10 AM during the Summer. WSNS 44, I believe did not sign on until 11 AM well into the late 70's. WFLD began permenant 6 AM or 7 AM sign ons by the end of 1976.

Philadelphia also had very late sign ons weekdays. 17 WPHL would not go on the air most days until 10 AM or 11 AM well into the mid 1970's. They did not begin 7 AM sign on or earlier most days until early 1979. Channel 29 WTAF (now WTXF) had 10 ro 11 AM sign on times until about 1973. They began 7 AM sign ons in the fall of 1973 and then reverted to 10:30 AM sign ons by the winter of 1974. They returned to 7 AM sign ons in the fall of 1974 only to revert back to 10:30 AM by the summer of 1975. The Fall of 1975 meant 7 AM sign ons again for Channel 29. But the SUmmer of 1976 meant again 10 AM sign ons. IN the Fall of 1976, Channel 29 resumed 7 AM sign ons but by the Spring of 1977 they were signing on at 9 AM. That fall. Channel 29 began 7 AM or earlier sign ons for good and finally kept a full day schedule. They would go 24 hours in 1985.

WKBS 48 had similar patterns to Channel 29 in terms of sign ons. Usually, when Channel 29 began 7 AM sign ons, Channel 48 would follow suit. WKBS TV also tended to have 7 AM weekday sign ons beginning in 1974 during the September through New years periods. After New Years until the last week of summer, Channel 48 also had 10 AM or 10:30 AM sign on times. In the Winter of 1976, Channel 48 had 8 AM sign ons (due to the fact they carried the PTL Club for 2 hours). In the fall of 1976, Channel 48 began 6:30 AM sign ons but that winter of 77 they were back to 10 AM sign ons. They had a similar pattern in the fall of 1977. From January of 1978 to August of 1978, Channel 48 signed on at 10 AM but beginning the Fall of 78, Channel 48 resumed 6:30 AM sign ons and earlier and stayed this way until their 1983 demise.

IN San Francisco, KTVU 2 had 7 AM or earlier sign ons throughout the 70's while KBHK had a similar pattern to its then sister station WKBS Philadelphia. Both independents in boston also had late morning sign ons until about 1975. From 1975 to 77, their sign on times varied depending on the time of year and by 1977 both WSBK and WLVI had sign ons of 7 AM or earlier.

Detroit's WKBD had a pattern similar to WKBS TV while WXON and WGPR had later sign ons throughout the decade of the 70's. Washington DC, however had both Channels 5 and 20 signing on by 7 AM as far back as 1974, Channel 5 dating back to the 60's with early sign ons. In Cleveland, when Channel 61 went dark, WUAB then began earlier 7 AM sign ons. Dallas also had KTVT 11 signing on at 7 AM throughout the 70's, while KXTX began 7 AM sign ons in the mid 70's sometimes.

In smaller markets like New Orleans, 26 WGNO began 7 AM sign ons or earlier by 1975. In Virginia Beach, 27 WYAH was signing on at 4 PM as late as 1970. By 1971 WYAH was on by 3 PM. By 1972, WYAH was on the air by noon. In 1973, WYAH expanded their broadcast day to sign on at 10 AM and they began 6 AM sign ons by the end of 1973. So by 1974, WYAH 27 had a 6:30 AM sign on and was on the air nearly 20 hours a day. Though Christian owned back then, WYAH had a strong schedule of programming by 1975, stronger than most secular independents.

One surprise about WTOG was that as the only independent in the market they had such a late sign on. It seemed markets with multiple independents began early sign ons lateer in the 70's while lone indies began earlier sign ons in the early 70's. Its possible that WTOG may have had earlier sign ons in the fall of each year. WCIX Miami was not mentioned but I am sure they signed on at 7 AM or earlier by 1974 or 75.