Retro: Central Florida Thursday, March 14, 1974

[bpatrick]

From TV Guide, Central Florida Edition:

WESH Ch. 2 Daytona Beach/Orlando (NBC)

6:15 Sunshine Almanac
6:30 Flying Nun
7 AM Today (Russell and Jeanne Gurnee discuss their
book "Discovery At Rio Camuy," an enormous
Puerto Rican cavern.)
9 AM Phil Donahue
10 AM Dinah's Place (topic: divorce and coping with
new life styles)
10:30 Jeopardy!
11 AM Wizard Of Odds
11:30 Hollywood Squares (Sandy Duncan, Jack Cassidy,
Lily Tomlin, Pearl Bailey, John Davidson, Karen Valentine)
12 N News
12:30 Baffle (Vera Miles, Gary Crosby, Arte Johnson, Nanette Fabray)
12:55 NBC News (Edwin Newman)
1 PM Jackpot! (delay from 12 N)
1:30 Three On A Match
2 PM Days Of Our Lives
2:30 The Doctors
3 PM Another World
3:30 How To Survive A Marriage
4 PM Somerset
4:30 Bonanza
5:30 News
6:30 NBC News (John Chancellor)
7 PM To Tell The Truth
7:30 Treasure Hunt
8 PM The World You Never See (nature's microscopic wonders)
9 PM Ironside (guest: Desi Arnaz)
10 PM Music Country U.S.A. (Wayne Newton, Buck Owens, Tom
T. Hall, Conway Twitty, Lynn Anderson, Jerry Reed, Ray Stevens,
Mac Davis, Deborah Hawkins, Donna Fargo, Doug Kershaw)
11 PM News
11:30 Tonight Show (Don Rickles subs for Johnny.)
1 AM Tomorrow

WEDU Ch. 3 Tampa (PBS)

In-school programs until

4 PM Sesame Street
5 PM Mister Rogers' Neighborhood
5:30 Electric Company
6 PM TBA
6:30 Man And Environment--II
7 PM Zoom
7:30 Art For Teachers
8 PM The Advocates (Should minority groups receive preference
in college admissions?)
9 PM Movie: "The Andersonville Trial"
sign off 12 M

WDBO (WKMG) Ch. 6 Orlando (CBS)

6:15 Sunshine Almanac
6:30 Sunrise Semester: "The Media In America"
7 AM CBS News (Hughes Rudd)
8 AM Captain Kangaroo
9 AM What's My Line? (Allen Ludden, Elaine Joyce, Soupy
Sales, Arlene Francis)
9:30 Concentration
10 AM Joker's Wild
10:30 $10,000 Pyramid (Meredith MacRae, Tony Roberts)
11 AM Gambit
11:30 Love Of Life
11:55 CBS News (Douglas Edwards)
12 N Young And The Restless
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 Match Game '74 (Elaine Joyce, Bert Convy, Dick Gautier,
Ann Elder, Richard Dawson)
4 PM Merv Griffin (Lorne Greene, Dick Clark, Bernadette Peters)
5:30 Green Acres
6 PM News
6:30 CBS News (Walter Cronkite)
7 PM Hogan's Heroes
7:30 Andy Griffith
8 PM The Waltons
9 PM CBS Movie: "Birds Of Prey"
10:30 NBA Basketball: Knicks-Warriors
12:30 News (time approximate)
1 AM CBS Movie: "Soul Soldier"

WFLA Ch. 8 Tampa (NBC)

5:45 Sunshine Almanac
6 AM Garner Ted Armstrong
6:30 Today In Florida
7 AM Today
9 AM Concentration
9:30 That Girl
10 AM Dinah's Place
10:30 Jeopardy!
11 AM Wizard Of Odds
11:30 Hollywood Squares
12 N Jackpot!
12:30 Baffle
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 How To Survive A Marriage
4 PM Somerset
4:30 Merv Griffin (Fernando Lamas, Wayne Rogers)
6 PM News
6:30 NBC News
7 PM What's My Line? (Soupy Sales, Melba Tolliver,
Alan Alda, Arlene Francis)
7:30 To Tell The Truth (Bill Cullen, Peggy Cass, Larry
Blyden, Kitty Carlisle)
8 PM The World You Never See
9 PM Ironside
10 PM Music Country U.S.A.
11 PM News
11:30 Tonight Show

WFTV Ch. 9 Orlando (ABC)

6 AM Sunrise Jubilee
7 AM Bozo
8 AM Mike Douglas (co-host John Byner; Rocky Graziano,
Marilyn Michaels, author Ralph Charell ("How To Turn
Ordinary Complaints Into Thousands Of Dollars"))
9 AM Movie: "Destination Moon"
11 AM Split Second (delay from 12:30 PM)
11:30 Brady Bunch (Vincent Price as a mad scientist who
traps the Brady boys in a Hawaiian cave)
12 N Password (Betty White, Joanna Barnes)
12:30 News
1 PM All My Children
1:30 Let's Make A Deal
2 PM Newlywed Game
2:30 The Girl In My Life
3 PM General Hospital
3:30 One Life To Live
4 PM The Lucy Show
4:30 Movie: "Rendezvous At Midnight"
6 PM News
6:30 ABC News (Smith/Reasoner)
7 PM Dragnet
7:30 Truth Or Consequences
8 PM Chopper One
8:30 Firehouse
9 PM Kung Fu
10 PM Streets Of San Francisco
11 PM News
11:30 Movies, Movies, Movies! (Jack Lemmon's Oscar-
nominated roles in "Some Like It Hot," "Days Of
Wine And Roses," and "Save The Tiger"; child
actors from Shirley Temple to Jeff East; films
about the movie industry: "Day For Night," "A
Star Is Born," "The Bad And The Beautiful")
1 AM Movie: "Grand Hotel" (classic 1932 Oscar winner
with Greta Garbo and John Barrymore)

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

6:30 Involvement 10
7 AM Social Security Roundtable
7:15 World Today
7:45 News
8 AM Morning Show (Russ Byrd)
8:30 Fran Carlton (exercises)
9 AM Romper Room
10 AM Flipper
10:30 I Love Lucy
11 AM Love American Style (week-behind from 4 PM)
11:30 Brady Bunch
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 The Girl In My Life
3 PM General Hospital
3:30 One Life To Live
4 PM Movie: "South Sea Woman"
5:30 News
6 PM ABC News
6:30 Beat The Clock (guest: Robert Horton)
7 PM Hollywood Squares (Telly Savalas, Vincent Price,
Pearl Bailey, Ed Asner, Ernest Borgnine, John Davidson,
Suzanne Pleshette)
7:30 Wait Till Your Father Gets Home (Don Adams as an attorney
with a no-win record)
8 PM Chopper One
8:30 Firehouse
9 PM Kung Fu
10 PM Streets Of San Francisco
11 PM News
11:30 Movies, Movies, Movies!

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 (same as Ch. 6)
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 Match Game '74
4 PM Tattletales (Steve Allen and Jayne Meadows,
Gary Collins and Mary Ann Mobley)
4:30 Mike Douglas (co-host Paul Anka; Lou Rawls, Soupy
Sales, singer Don Goodwin, the Kienast quintuplets)
6 PM News
7 PM CBS News
7:30 To Tell The Truth (Joe Garagiola, Kitty Carlisle, Bill Cullen,
Peggy Cass)
8 PM The Waltons
9 PM CBS Movie: "Birds Of Prey"
10:30 NBA Basketball: Knicks-Warriors
12:30 News (time approximate)
1 AM CBS Movie: "Soul Soldier"

WTVT Ch. 13 Tampa (CBS)

6 AM Breakfast Beat
7 AM CBS News
8 AM Captain Kangaroo
9 AM Mike Douglas (same as Ch. 9 with the addition
of singer Joe Williams)
10:30 $10,000 Pyramid
11 AM Gambit
11:30 Love Of Life
11:55 CBS News
12 N Pulse Plus!
1 PM Search For Tomorrow
1:30 As The World Turns
2 PM Guiding Light
2:30 Edge Of Night
3 PM Price Is Right
3:30 Match Game '74
4 PM Mission: Impossible
5 PM Bonanza
6 PM News
7 PM CBS News
7:30 Truth Or Consequences
8 PM The Waltons
9 PM CBS Movie: "Birds Of Prey"
10:30 NBA Basketball: Knicks-Warriors
12:30 News (time approximate)
1 AM CBS Movie: "Soul Soldier"

WUSF Ch. 16 Tampa (PBS)

3:30 Introduction To Psychology
4 PM You And I (explains the work of HEW)
4:30 Social Science Statistics
5 PM Washington Connection (explains the work of
the IRS, especially whose tax returns get audited)
5:30 Perceptual Motor Development
6 PM Mister Rogers' Neighborhood
6:30 Electric Company
7 PM Film: "Energy vs. Ecology"
7:30 Introduction To Psychology
8 PM You And I (a reading program aimed at eliminating
illiteracy by 1980)
8:30 Perceptual Motor Development
9 PM Social Science Statistics
9:30 Emphasis

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

6 AM Gulf Coast Today
7 AM Today
9 AM Dusty's Trail
9:30 Flipper
10 AM Dinah's Place
10:30 Jeopardy!
11 AM Wizard Of Odds
11:30 Hollywood Squares
12 N Jackpot!
12:30 Baffle
12:55 News (local)
1 PM Not For Women Only (fourth of five on healthy
eating)
1:30 Three On A Match
2 PM Days Of Our Lives
2:30 The Doctors
3 PM Another World
3:30 How To Survive A Marriage
4 PM Somerset
4:30 I Dream Of Jeannie
5 PM Bonanza
6 PM News
6:30 NBC News
7 PM What's My Line? (Henry Morgan, Phyllis George,
Tony Roberts, Arlene Francis)
7:30 Hollywood Squares (Rock Hudson, Vincent Price,
Nancy Sinatra, Doc Severinsen, Karen Valentine,
Nancy Walker, Rich Little, Charley Weaver, Paul Lynde)
8 PM The World You Never See
9 PM Ironside
10 PM Music Country U.S.A.
11 PM News
11:30 Tonight Show
1 AM Tomorrow
2 AM Movie: "Some Like It Cool" (Greek film from '65 that
I don't think bears any relation to "Some Like It Hot,"
since this is about a guy who's forbidden to marry
until he finds a husband for his older sister.)
3:30 Movie: "Bay Of The Angels"
4:45 Movie: "Rose Of Cimarron"

WMFE Ch. 24 Orlando (PBS)

In-school programs until

4 PM Sesame Street
5 PM Mister Rogers' Neighborhood
5:30 Electric Company
6 PM Sesame Street
7 PM Eye To Eye
7:30 Prime Time
8 PM The Advocates
9 PM Movie: "The Andersonville Trial"
sign off 12 M

WXLT (WWSB) Ch. 40 Sarasota (ABC)

9 AM New Zoo Revue
9:30 Suncoast Digest
10 AM Western Star Theatre
10:30 Joker's Wild (CBS, pre-empted on Ch. 13)
11 AM Galloping Gourmet
11:30 Brady Bunch
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 The Girl In My Life
3 PM General Hospital
3:30 One Life To Live
4 PM Love, American Style
4:30 Movie: "Invasion Of The Saucer Men"
6 PM News
6:30 ABC News
7 PM Hee Haw
8 PM Chopper One
8:30 Firehouse
9 PM Kung Fu
10 PM Streets Of San Francisco
11 PM News
11:30 Movies, Movies, Movies!
1 AM Tomorrow (NBC, pre-empted on Ch. 8)

WTOG Ch. 44 St. Petersburg (Ind.)

10:30 Fury
11 AM Conversations With Galadriel
11:30 Not For Women Only (fourth of five on "The Making
Of A Best Seller," with George Plimpton, Jimmy Breslin,
and publisher Sol Stein)
12 N Variety-News
1 PM Movie: "The Brothers Rico"
2:30 Patty Duke
3 PM New Zoo Revue
3:30 Bullwinkle
4 PM Gilligan's Island
4:30 Petticoat Junction
5 PM Green Acres
5:30 Gomer Pyle, USMC
6 PM The Lucy Show
6:30 Hogan's Heroes
7 PM Mod Squad (guest: Carolyn Jones)
8 PM The Bold Ones ("The Law Enforcers" with
Leslie Nielsen)
9 PM Movie: "Hercules In The Vale Of Woe"
11 PM The Sixth Sense
11:30 Movie: "The Seven Year Itch"

 

[Cincinnati Kid]

The stations shown seem to take in a wide geographical area. Were each basically available to residents via over-the-air signals? or cable? or?

 

[Joseph_Gallant]

Having never visited the area, I'm going to take a wild guess and say that if you lived southwest of Orlando and south of Tampa, you may have been able to receive all the stations listed, especially with a good outdoor antenna.

But it's just a guess.

However, the old Eastern New England Edition of TV Guide listed stations in Portland, Maine (prior to 1965) and the VHF's in Hartford and New Haven (after 1965), which one could not receive off-air in my hometown of Norwood, Massachusetts (about 14 miles southwest of Boston).

Back then, you could get very strong reception of the Boston and Providence stations (except for Channel 6 in New Bedford) in the Boston area, and with an outdoor antenna, you could get decent-to-good reception of Channels 9 and 11 in New Hampshire, even up to 20 miles south if Boston. Channel 6 in New Bedford was another issue again.

However, someone with an outdoor VHF antenna north of Boston likely got the Portland VHF's, the the further north you were, the better the reception.

I would think that people west of Route 495 between Marlboro and Plainville, Masssachusetts with high-quality outdoor antennas got Channel 3 in Hartford and maybe Channel 8 in New Haven.

 

[azumanga]

Having never visited the area, I'm going to take a wild guess and say that if you lived southwest of Orlando and south of Tampa, you may have been able to receive all the stations listed, especially with a good outdoor antenna.

But it's just a guess.

The best area for such reception would be Hardee County, southwest of Orlando and southeast of Tampa -- the Comcast system serving that area offers most Tampa Bay channels, plus WFTV, WWSB and WINK.

 

[bpatrick]

I seem to recall an area (not sure if it was Hardee or Highlands County)
whose cable system carried all the Bay Area stations plus the Orlando
affiliates and WINK. Right now I wish I had the Sunday TV insert from the
Tampa Tribune for that era.

My aunt and uncle in Brevard County got all the Orlando stations, WFLA,
WTVT, WTOG, and West Palm Beach's WPTV (NBC Ch. 5).

 

[trusty]

Back in '73, we lived on a hill in Lake Alfred, right north of Winter Haven, with a non-directional outside antenna. Ch. 3, 8 and 13 from Tampa were the strongest with 6 and 9 from Orlando a close second. Ch. 2 (Daytona) was a distant third and sometimes fought with Miami's 2. Ch. 10 (Tarpon Springs) was weak, but viewable when Miami's 10 was not trying to override it.

That left 4, 5, 7, 11 and 12 of the V's. 4 and 7 (Miami) and 5 and 12 (Palm Bch/WPB) would sometimes drift in and out. We never got 5 out of Gainesville, nor 11 out of Ft. Myers.

I don't remember the U's we got. Lake Alfred was a good place to DX.

 

[radiorob2.0]

WXLT (WWSB) Ch. 40 Sarasota (ABC)

9:30 Suncoast Digest

Three months later, the show's host Christine Chubbuck committed suicide on live TV.

 

[Cincinnati Kid]

Interesting to read those reception reports. I never had the chance, but have always felt that because of the level terrain of Florida, it would be a good area for TV DXing back in those days using a deep fringe antenna and a rotor. I'm not sure how such things as high humidity levels during the summer months, for example, would have effected that. Again, those who were there could comment.

 

[bpatrick]

What I've always found strange is that I've never had any luck bringing in out-of-market stations in flat terrain and in a one-story house (except that in Plano, TX I could get KXII Ada/Ardmore, which just barely puts a signal into Collin County, and KSWO Lawton, OK). OTOH, in hilly terrain, with an upstairs bedroom, I've had good luck; in Birmingham on a good night I could get WXIA (I was watching a Hawks game there the night in 1970 that Lester Maddox walked off the Dick Cavett show) and I watched wrestling when 11 had it. In Greenville, SC, in the mornings I could get WGTV/8 Athens/Atlanta (PBS), WSOC/9 Charlotte (ABC), WIS/10 Columbia, SC (NBC), WXIA (NBC), and WRDW/12 Augusta, GA (CBS). But in Tampa: no luck, not even the Orlando stations. My relatives in Brevard County had cable, hence their ability to get three Bay Area stations (8, 13, and 44) plus the NBC station in West Palm Beach in addition to the Orlando stations (Orlando being their home market).