Retro: Dallas-Fort Worth Saturday, September 17, 1949

[newsmark]

(First day on air for KBTV)
source: Dallas Morning News

KBTV Channel 8
(Test pattern 10 AM-Noon and 2-4 PM)
8:00 PM Ceremonies marking opening of KBTV, Dallas’ first TV station
8:15 PM Dallas in Wonderland: variety review
9:00 PM Sign off

WBAP-TV Channel 5
6:00 PM Junior Theater
6:45 PM Texas News
7:00 PM William Barclay, organist; Robert Coffin, pianist
7:30 PM Hollywood Screen Test
8:00 PM Hayloft
8:15 PM Saturday Night Square Dance
8:30 PM “Lights Out,” drama (NBC)
9:00 PM Sign off

An accompanying article described the initial telecast of Dallas’ first television station. (WBAP was in Fort Worth.)

The article said full programming on KBTV would begin Sunday night at 9 and the station would be on every night except Wednesday.

 

[bpatrick]

The announcer who did Channel 8's sign-on that night is
a name I've mentioned several times, since he went on to
some success nationally: Don Morrow, recently arrived from
WHEN (now WTVH) Syracuse. Morrow went on to host the
original version of "Camouflage," as well as "Science All-Stars"
and "Let's Play Post Office," was the Shell Answer Man and the
voice of Ford for 18 years, and most recently has co-authored
a book, "Forgotten Heroes Of The Pacific War," about a friend of
his who was the oldest living veteran of the Pacific theater in
World War II until his death last year at age 106 (the friend, not
Morrow, who's 85). He's also the voice on the video game "Heroes
Of Neuwerth" and trained the late Don LaFontaine, famous as "the
movie trailer guy."