Retro:Cleveland/Northern Ohio Friday, December 25, 1959

[TimL]

Retro:Cleveland/Northern Ohio Friday, December 25, 1959

Christmas Day 1959

Stations:
3 KYW NBC Cleveland
5 WEWS ABC Cleveland
8 WJW CBS Cleveland
12 WICU NBC ABC Erie, Pa.
21 WFMJ NBC Youngstown
27 WKBN CBS Youngstown
33 WKST ABC Youngstown
35 WSEE CBS Erie, Pa.
49 WAKR ABC Akron, Ohio

From:TV Guide

7AM
3-12-21 Today
Coverage Of Boston Christmas Festivalave Garroway
8 Film Feature

7:30
8 Rex Humbard

7:45
8 Spunky And Tadpole

8AM
27 CBS News-Richard C. Hottelet

8:15
8-27 Captain Kangaroo

8:45
5 Man-To-Man-Religion

8:55
3 News-Tom Haley
5 News-Bill Prentice
35 Daily Word-Religion

9AM
3 Movie-Comedy
Cash On The Line (Movie series title)
Manhattan Angel (1948)
5 Christmas Chorus
8 Movie-Comedy
Watch And Win
Fireman, Save My Child (1932)
12 Bugs Bunny
21 Ding Dong School
27 Movie-Drama
The Sullivans (1944)
35 CBS News-Richard C. Hottelet

9:15
35 Captain Kangaroo

9:30
5 Paige Palmer-Women
12 Susie-Ann Sothern
21 Bugs Bunny

9:45
21 Art On The Air-Education

10AM
3-12-21 Christmas Service
National Cathedral-Wahington, DC
5 Prize Cook-Women
35 Red Rowe

10:30
5 Paige Palmer-Women
8 Medic-Richard Boone
27-35 On The Go-Linkletter

11AM
3-12-21 Price Is Right-COLOR-Cullen
5 My Little Margie
8-27-35 I Love Lucy

11:30
3-12-21 Concentration-Downs
5 Stu Erwin Show
8-27-35 December Bride

Noon
3-12-21 Truth Or Consequences
5 News-Bill Prentice
8-27-35 Love Of Life
33-49 Restless Gun

12:05
5 Noon Show-Captain Penny

12:30
3-12-21 It Could Be You-COLOR-Leyden
8-35 Search For Tomorrow
27 Movie-Adventure
The Black Pirates (1955)
33-49 Love That Bob!-Bob Cummings

12:45
8-35 Guiding Light

1PM
3 Movie-Drama
David Copperfield (1934)
5 Movie-Comedy
You Can't Take It With You (1938)
8 Movie-Comedy
Christmas In Connecticut (1945)
12 My Little Margie
21 To Be Announced
33-49 Music Bingo-Quiz
35 Hy Yaple-Women

1:30
12 Mary Lo-Women
33 Ladies' Day-Women
35 As The World Turns
49 Looney Tunes

2PM
12-21 Queen For A Day
27-35 For Better Or Worse
33-49 Day In Court

2:30
5-33-49 Gale Storm Show (Oh Susanna)
8-27-35 House Party-Linkletter
12-21 The Thin Man

2:50
3 News-Pete French

3PM
3-12-21 Young Dr. Malone
5-33-49 Beat The Clock-Collyer
8-27-35 The Millionaire

3:30
3-12-21 From These Roots
5-33-49 Who Do You Trust?
8-27-35 The Verdict Is Yours

4PM
3-12-21 The House On High Street
5-33-49 American Bandstand (Live:90 Min.)
8-35 The Brighter Day
27 Cartoon Classics

4:15
8-27-35 The Secret Storm

4:30
3-12-21 Split Personality
8-35 Edge Of Night
27 Heart Of The City-Drama
49 Movie-Musical
Lady Be Good (1941)

5PM
3 Barnaby, Popeye And Friends
8 As The World Turns
12 Bugs Bunny
21 Looneyville
27 Three Stooges
35 Movie-Biography
Adventures Of Mark Twain (1944)

5:30
3 Movie-Drama
Tenth Avenue Angel (1947)
5 Three Stooges (1) Hoi Polloi (2). All Gunmmed Up
8 Movie-Drama
David Harum (1934)
12-33 Rin Tin Tin (ABC Network)

5:45
21 Popeye And Friends

6PM
12 Life Of Riley
21 Laurel And Hardy
33 Abbott And Costello
49 Looney Tunes

6:20
27 Suppertime-Rex/Maude Aimee Humbard

6:30
5 News (Comment) Dorothy Fuldheim
12-21-27 News
33 Sherlock Holmes

6:45
5 News-Tom Field
12-21 NBC News/Huntley- Brinkley
27 CBS News-Douglas Edwards

6:50
3 News-Pete French
5 Weather-Sunny Day

6:55
3 Weather-Stu Cramer
5 Three Stooges And Friends
49 News/Weather/Sports

7PM
3 Border Patrol-Police
8 City Camera-Local News
12 Lawman-ABC (From Sunday 8:30 PM)
21 Lock Up-MacDonald Carey
27 Death Valley Days'
33 Honeymooners

7:10
8 Sports Camera-John Fitzgerald

7:15
5 NBC News-Huntley/Brinkley
8-35 CBS News-Edwards

7:30
3-21 People Are Funny-Linkletter
5-33 Walt Disney-Alice In Wonderland
8-27-35 Rawhide
12 Death Valley Days
49 Movie-Drama
Miracle On 34th Street (1947)

8PM
3-12-21 Troubleshooters-Adventure/Drama

8:30
3-12-21 Night Of Christmas-Live SPECIAL COLOR
"This Christmas Show includes entertainment and holiday greetings from performers"
(No mention of specific guests, songs, etc.)
5-33 The Man From Blackhawk
8-27-35 Hotel De Paree

9PM
5-33 77 Sunset Strip
8-27-35 Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse-"Christmas Surprise Package- 16 Stars of Tomorrow"-SPECIAL
This show features performers from Desilu's Workshop Theater. The only ones that did anything of note were Majel Barrett (Star Trek) and Dick Kallman (Hank, NBC 1965-66)
49 Movie-Drama
Lost Angel (1943)

9:30
3- 12-21 M Squad

10PM
3-12-21 Sports Highlights Of 1959-Don Dunphy, Win Elliott
5-33 Robert Taylor's Detectives
8-27-35 Twilight Zone

10:30
3-12-21 "Christmas Night In Temple Square" Mormon Tabernacle Choir
5 US Marshal-John Bromfield
8-27-35 Person To Person-Charles Collingwood
33 Movie-Drama
Lost Horizon (1937)
49 Movie-Western
Miracle In The Desert (1936)

11PM
3 News-Pete French
5 News-Tom Field
8-27 Sohio Reporter-Warren Guthrie
12-21-35 News

11:10
3 Weather-Howard
8 Local News-Doug Adair

11:15
3 Sports-Jim Graner
5-12 Jack Paar
8 Sports, Weather
35 Movie-Musical
Shall We Dance (1936)

11:20
3 Movie-Western
Billy The Kid (1941)
8 Movie-Drama
Miracle On 34th Street (1947)
21 Hall Of Music
27 Movie-Mystery
Diplomatic Passport (1954)

11:25
21 Jack Paar

1AM
3 Movie-Adventure
The Great Meadow (1931)
5 News-Randy Culver
8 Movie-Adventure
Roaring Timber (1937)






<P ID="edit"><FONT class="small">Edited by TimL on 12/09/05 04:39 AM.</FONT></P>

 

[Joseph_Gallant]

Re: Retro:Cleveland/Northern Ohio Friday, December 25, 1959

Tim Lones took us back to Cleveland on Christmas Day, 1959, as published in the local TV Guide:

> 7AM
> 3-12-21 Today
> Coverage Of Boston Christmas Festivalave Garroway

Could the segment from Boston have been pre-taped?? I do know that for many years, the only part of the Christmas Day edition of "Today" that was live was the network news and weather updates every half-hour. The rest of the show was pre-taped. Additionally, I thought that between 1958 and 1961, most of each day's "Today Show" (except for the every-half-hour news updates) was taped the previous day. Sometimes, major news would force NBC to trash the pre-taped segments and do the entire show live the next morning.

One other connection to my hometown: The remote facilities and crew for the segments from Boston were probably provided by the city's then-NBC affiliate, WBZ-4.

> 4PM
> 5-33-49 American Bandstand (Live;90 Min.)

Probably not live this day. With videotape becoming commonplace by 1959, I would think that daytime and primetime shows that usually were live, including this one, would pre-tape their Christmas Day episodes so the cast/crew of those shows could be home on Christmas Day.

> 5PM
> 8 As The World Turns

Probably the only place in the country where "ATWT" was broadcast at 5 P.M.! In that time slot, "ATWT" probably got many working women and teenage girls who could not watch the show at 1:30 P.M.

> 6:45
> 12-21 NBC News/Huntley- Brinkley

I think I once read that one year, Chet Huntley worked Thanksgiving and got Christmas off, while David Brinkley had Thanksgiving off and worked Christmas. The next year, it would be reversed, with Brinkley working Thanksgiving and Huntley working on Christmas. So, one of them would likely have been there and the other was off.

> 6:50
> 5 Weather-Sunny Day

What a name for a TV weather forecaster!

Was that her real name??

> 6:55
> 5 Three Stooges And Friends

Could they have been able to squeeze-in a full two-reeler and had a couple of minutes left over for commercials??

> 8:30
> 3-12-21 Night Of Christmas-Live SPECIAL COLOR
> "This Christmas Show includes entertainment and holiday
> greetings from performers"
> (No mention of specific guests, songs, etc.)

Given that it was an NBC special, maybe it was stars under contract to NBC at the time (Bob Hope?? Perry Como?? Dinah Shore?? Steve Allen??).

> 9PM
> 8-27-35 Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse-"Christmas Surprise
> Package- 16 Stars of Tomorrow"-SPECIAL
> This show features performers from Desilu's Workshop
> Theater. The only ones that did anything of note were Majel
> Barrett (Star Trek) Carole Cook (Pistols And Petticoats, CBS
> Sitcom 1966-67) and Dick Kallman (Hank, NBC 1965-66)

TV Party.com has an article detailing the making of this program.

> 10PM
> 3-12-21 Sports Highlights Of 1959-Don Dunphy, Win Elliott

Normally, professional boxing filled the Friday 10-11 P.M. ET slot on NBC throughout the 1950's. There was, obviously, no bout on Christmas Night, 1959.

 

[mjlarochelle]

Re: Retro:Cleveland/Northern Ohio Friday, December 25, 1959

> 7:15
> 5 NBC News-Huntley/Brinkley
> 8-35 CBS News-Edwards
---------
Did you mean Channel 3 for Huntley/Brinkley? Or did WEWS actually air NBC's nightly news?<P ID="signature">______________
From WNBC-TV New York this is Liiiiive at Fiiiiive!</P>

 

[TimL]

Re: Retro:Cleveland/Northern Ohio Friday, December 25, 1959

> > 7:15
> > 5 NBC News-Huntley/Brinkley
> > 8-35 CBS News-Edwards
> ---------
> Did you mean Channel 3 for Huntley/Brinkley? Or did WEWS
> actually air NBC's nightly news?


Apparently for a short time in the late 1950's early 1960's channel 5 did air Huntley-Brinkley..Not sure exactly why but by September 1961 for certain KYW-3 had NBC Nightly News back.

 

[bpatrick]

Re: Retro:Cleveland/Northern Ohio Friday, December 25, 1959

> > > 7:15
> > > 5 NBC News-Huntley/Brinkley
> > > 8-35 CBS News-Edwards
> > ---------
> > Did you mean Channel 3 for Huntley/Brinkley? Or did WEWS
> > actually air NBC's nightly news?
>
>
> Apparently for a short time in the late 1950's early 1960's
> channel 5 did air Huntley-Brinkley..Not sure exactly why but
> by September 1961 for certain KYW-3 had NBC Nightly News
> back.
>
Actually, it wasn't called NBC Nightly News until 1970, after
Huntley retired. In 1959 it was The Huntley-Brinkley Report,
as it would be all through the '60s.

This isn't the only case where a network newscast was carried
by another network's affiliate. Then-ABC affiliate WAII (now
WXIA)/11 Atlanta carried Walter Cronkite, pre-empted on WAGA/5,
in the mid-'60s (also the CBS Morning News With Mike Wallace).
And as I've pointed out several times, Huntley-Brinkley aired
on WUNC/4 (NET, now PBS) Chapel Hill in 1963 and '64, a time
when the Raleigh/Durham market did not have a fulltime NBC
affiliate.

 

[TimL]

Re: Retro:Cleveland/Northern Ohio Friday, December 25, 1959

> Actually, it wasn't called NBC Nightly News until 1970,
> after
> Huntley retired. In 1959 it was The Huntley-Brinkley
> Report,


I knew that bpatrick. Just a case of lazy typing on my part. Should have just typed "NBC's Nightly Newscast" or "Huntley Brinkley Report"

 

[moedog1]

Re: Retro:Cleveland/Northern Ohio Friday, December 25, 1959

>
> This isn't the only case where a network newscast was
> carried
> by another network's affiliate. Then-ABC affiliate WAII
> (now
> WXIA)/11 Atlanta carried Walter Cronkite, pre-empted on
> WAGA/5,
> in the mid-'60s (also the CBS Morning News With Mike
> Wallace).
> And as I've pointed out several times, Huntley-Brinkley
> aired
> on WUNC/4 (NET, now PBS) Chapel Hill in 1963 and '64, a time
>
> when the Raleigh/Durham market did not have a fulltime NBC
> affiliate.
>
And after 1964, WRAL-TV, an ABC affiliate, carried NBC News in the Raleigh/Durham market, even after WRDU/28 came on in 1968--I think up until about 1971 when WRDU became the exclusive NBC for the market. Getting back to northern Ohio, I always wondered if WAKR-TV49 had much viewership as an ABC station---in other words, prior to 1964 did most residents of Akron/Summit Co. bother with the extra expense of buying a UHF capable set or converter and antenna to take advantage of their local station, when they had another ABC station right up the road in Cleveland. Akron was a big city in the 50's and 60's and could ordinarily have supported several TV stations, but with Cleveland so close by.......

 

[TimL]

Re: Retro:Cleveland/Northern Ohio Friday, December 25, 1959

> >
>> And after 1964, WRAL-TV, an ABC affiliate, carried NBC News
> in the Raleigh/Durham market, even after WRDU/28 came on in
> 1968--I think up until about 1971 when WRDU became the
> exclusive NBC for the market. Getting back to northern
> Ohio, I always wondered if WAKR-TV49 had much viewership as
> an ABC station---in other words, prior to 1964 did most
> residents of Akron/Summit Co. bother with the extra expense
> of buying a UHF capable set or converter and antenna to take
> advantage of their local station, when they had another ABC
> station right up the road in Cleveland. Akron was a big
> city in the 50's and 60's and could ordinarily have
> supported several TV stations, but with Cleveland so close
> by.......
>

This has been discussed a few times here..even Canton down the road from Akron was much bigger in the 1950's and had several Construction permits that were never built or were built later (29 in Canton, 23 Massillon[Ended up in Akron] and 55 Akron) I had an Idea for a 50's-60's Akron-Canton TV Market Consisting of First channels 23, 29 and 49 and adding 17, 55 and 67 by the 1970's. But you would have had to have 2 or 3 solid stations in the area with news departments that would have stayed on the air through the 50's. Channel 49 at times carried little ABC Prime Time shows until the mid 60's and carried other ABC shows at different times. The ultimate problem was 3 strong Cleveland VHF affiliates within 25-50 miles..an Akron-Canton Market would have been hard to pull off..

 

[mjlarochelle]

Re: Retro:Cleveland/Northern Ohio Friday, December 25, 1959

Makes me wonder how WSEE 35 in Erie was ever able to survive during its first 10 or 15 years, with local WICU 12 being already there and broadcasting programming from several networks, plus a total of seven VHF stations from Cleveland, Buffalo, and London, ON nearby.<P ID="signature">______________
From WNBC-TV New York this is Liiiiive at Fiiiiive!</P>

 

[Joseph_Gallant]

Re: Retro:Cleveland/Northern Ohio Friday, December 25, 1959

It must have been a Group W thing.

The company's other NBC affiliate at the time, WBZ-4 here in Boston, dropped "Huntley/Brinkley" in September of 1957 when the newscast's timeslot was changed from 7:45 P.M. ET to either 6:45 or 7:15 P.M. ET (the affiliate's choice).

WBZ resumed broadcasting "Huntley/Brinkley" by September of 1960 at the latest (maybe as early as that Summer, perhaps around the time of the political conventions).

 

[bpatrick]

Re: Retro:Cleveland/Northern Ohio Friday, December 25, 1959

> It must have been a Group W thing.
>
> The company's other NBC affiliate at the time, WBZ-4 here in
> Boston, dropped "Huntley/Brinkley" in September of 1957 when
> the newscast's timeslot was changed from 7:45 P.M. ET to
> either 6:45 or 7:15 P.M. ET (the affiliate's choice).
>
> WBZ resumed broadcasting "Huntley/Brinkley" by September of
> 1960 at the latest (maybe as early as that Summer, perhaps
> around the time of the political conventions).
>
A non-Group W NBC affiliate, WSJS/12 (now WXII) Winston-Salem,
didn't carry Huntley-Brinkley when it first moved to 6:45,
and I believe it was 1959 at the earliest before it did.
Channel 12 had carried NBC's 7:45 newscasts from the time
it signed on in 1953 until NBC moved the news to 6:45.

A lot of NBC affiliates had been running syndicated programs
in the 6:30-7:00 slot prior to '57 and were, no doubt, reluctant
to give the time to the network. Channel 12 even ran some
network shows (particularly from ABC) on delay at 6:30 (WGHP/8
wouldn't sign on until 1963 and give the Triad an ABC affiliate).

I somehow suspect that either NBC put the pressure on its
affiliates to clear the broadcast, those affiliates not carrying
Huntley-Brinkley did so when the various syndication contracts
ran out, or they became more receptive to carrying H-B when they
began to pass Douglas Edwards in the ratings.

 

[Joseph_Gallant]

Re: Retro:Cleveland/Northern Ohio Friday, December 25, 1959

I didn't imply that Group W/Westinghouse was the only company whose NBC stations didn't carry "Huntley/Brinkley" in 1959. What I was trying to say is that neither of the two NBC affiliates the company owned at the time carried "Huntley/Brinkley".

Given that, I wonder if the decision not to run "Huntley/Brinkley" was made locally both in Cleveland and here in Boston, or was the decision made by Group W at the corporate level.