Retro: Eastern Virginia Saturday, October 14, 1967

[bpatrick]

NOTE: The NABET strike against ABC may affect taped programs.

From TV Guide, Eastern Virginia Edition:

WTAR (WTKR) Ch. 3 Norfolk (CBS)

7 AM Sunrise Semester: "Russian Literature"
7:30 Movie: "The Time Of Their Lives" (Abbott and Costello)
9 AM Frankenstein Jr. And The Impossibles
9:30 Herculoids
10 AM Shazzan!
10:30 Space Ghost
11 AM Moby Dick And The Mighty Mightor
11:30 Superman/Aquaman Hour Of Adventure
12:30 Jonny Quest
1 PM Lone Ranger (animated)
1:30 Road Runner
2 PM Movie: "Boots Malone"
4 PM Lost In Space (delay from Wed 7:30)
5 PM Let's Go To The Races
5:30 Gadabout Gaddis (fishing)
6 PM Sonny Jurgensen (Redskins highlights)
6:30 CBS News (Roger Mudd)
7 PM News, Weather, Sports
7:30 Jackie Gleason (guests: Groucho Marx, Joel
Grey, Johnny Mathis, Louis Nye, singer Jane
Morgan)
8:30 My Three Sons
9 PM Hogan's Heroes
9:30 Petticoat Junction
10 PM Mannix
11 PM News, Weather, Sports
11:25 Tackle Box (fishing)
11:40 Movies: "The Four Poster" and "The Amazing Mrs.
Holliday"

WSVA (WHSV) Ch. 3 Harrisonburg (NBC/CBS/ABC)

8 AM Captain Kangaroo
9 AM Super 6
9:30 Super President
10 AM Flintstones
10:30 Space Ghost
11 AM King Kong
11:30 Atom Ant/Secret Squirrel
12 N Marvel Super Heroes
12:30 American Bandstand (guests not listed)
1:30 Film Short: "Fishing The Rivers"
1:45 NCAA Pre-Game
2 PM NCAA Football: Georgia Tech-Tennessee
5 PM Batman (time approximate, delay from Thu 7:30,
guest villains: the Penguin and Lola Lasagne)
5:30 GE College Bowl (Nebraska vs. either SMU or Wisconsin)
6 PM Gunsmoke (delay from Mon 7:30)
7 PM Wilburn Brothers
7:30 Jackie Gleason
8:30 Lawrence Welk
9:30 Iron Horse
10:30 Film Short
10:45 Movie: "Miss Sadie Thompson"

WTVR Ch. 6 Richmond (CBS)

6:30 Sunrise Semester: "Psychological Novel" (three lectures,
two delayed from Tue and Thu)
8 AM Captain Kangaroo
9 AM Frankenstein Jr. And The Impossibles
9:30 Herculoids
10 AM Shazzan!
10:30 Space Ghost
11 AM Moby Dick And The Mighty Mightor
11:30 Superman/Aquaman Hour Of Adventure
12:30 Jonny Quest
1 PM Lone Ranger (animated)
1:30 Road Runner
2 PM Tom And Jerry (delay from Sun 9 AM)
2:30 Sergeant Preston Of The Yukon
3 PM Movie: "Paradise Alley" (not Stallone, but one
about a film director trying to prove the essential
goodness of people)
5 PM Wrestling (from Raleigh)
6 PM Let's Go To The Races
6:30 CBS News
7 PM News And Weather
7:30 Jackie Gleason
8:30 My Three Sons
9 PM Hogan's Heroes
9:30 Petticoat Junction
10 PM Mannix
11 PM News, Weather, Sports
11:30 Movie: "Battle Of The Worlds"

WXEX (WRIC) Ch. 8 Richmond-Petersburg (ABC)

8 AM Herald Of Truth
8:30 Fort Lee Highlights
8:45 Film Short
9 AM New Casper Cartoon Show
9:30 Fantastic Four
10 AM Spider-Man
10:30 Journey To The Center Of The Earth
11 AM King Kong
11:30 George Of The Jungle
12 N Beatles
12:30 American Bandstand
1:30 Film Short: "Naples Rediscovered"
1:45 NCAA Pre-Game
2 PM NCAA Football: Georgia Tech-Tennessee
5 PM Wide World Of Sports (National Surfing Championships,
World Figure-Eight Stock-Car Championship, time
approximate)
6:30 Smokey Valley Boys (local country-music show)
7 PM Wilburn Brothers
7:30 Dating Game
8 PM Newlywed Game
8:30 Lawrence Welk
9:30 Iron Horse
10:30 Good Company (F. Lee Bailey hosts a semi-revival
of "Person To Person," only he interviews celebrities
in their homes; tonight, from England, Sean Connery
and his wife, actress Diane Cilento, delay from Thu,
Oct. 5, 10 PM)
11 PM ABC News (Marlene Sanders)
11:15 Movie: "Challenge Of The Gladiators"

WAVY Ch. 10 Norfolk (NBC)

6:30 Farm Show
7 AM Circle 10 Ranch
8 AM Poopdeck Pappy
8:30 Clutch Cargo
9 AM Super 6
9:30 Super President
10 AM Flintstones
10:30 Samson & Goliath
11 AM Birdman And The Galaxy Trio
11:30 Atom Ant/Secret Squirrel
12 N Top Cat
12:30 Cool McCool
1 PM Deputy Dawg
1:30 Village Square (variety show)
2 PM Movie: "The Executioner Of Venice"
4 PM Roller Game Of The Week
6 PM All-Star Wrestling (from Raleigh)
7 PM Disc-O-Ten (local dance party show, hosted by
local DJs Dick Lamb and Gene Loving)
7:30 Maya
8:30 Get Smart
9 PM NBC Movie: "Mirage"
11:15 News, Weather, Sports
11:45 Joe Pyne (guests: Jack Anderson and Martin Caidin,
whose novel "Cyborg" was the basis for "The Six
Million Dollar Man" and "The Bionic Woman")
1:15 News

WRVA (WWBT) Ch. 12 Richmond (NBC)

6 AM Telecollege
7 AM Lessons For Living
7:30 Flintstones (delay from 10 AM)
8 AM Popeye & Sailor Bob
9 AM Super 6
9:30 Super President
10 AM Superman & Sailor Bob
10:30 Samson & Goliath
11 AM Birdman And The Galaxy Trio
11:30 Atom Ant/Secret Squirrel
12 N Top Cat
12:30 Cool McCool
1 PM Movie: "The Marauders"
3 PM TBA
3:30 Auto Racing: highlights of the Riverside
Grand Prix
4 PM Roller Derby
5 PM TBA
5:30 GE College Bowl
6 PM Tarzan (delay from Fri 7:30)
7 PM Frank McGee Report
7:30 Maya
8:30 Get Smart
9 PM NBC Movie: "Mirage"
11:15 Movie: "Sergeant Rutledge"

WVEC Ch. 13 Norfolk (ABC)

7 AM Telecollege
8 AM Discovery '67 (delay from Sun 11:30 AM)
8:30 Animal Fair
9 AM New Casper Cartoon Show
9:30 Fantastic Four
10 AM Spider-Man
10:30 Journey To The Center Of The Earth
11 AM King Kong
11:30 George Of The Jungle
12 N Beatles
12:30 American Bandstand
1:30 TBA
1:45 NCAA Pre-Game
2 PM NCAA Football: Georgia Tech-Tennessee
5 PM Wide World Of Sports (time approximate)
6:30 Outer Limits
7:30 Dating Game
8 PM Newlywed Game
8:30 Lawrence Welk
9:30 Iron Horse
10:30 Good Company (from England, F. Lee Bailey
interviews Patricia Neal and husband Roald Dahl,
delay from Thu, Oct. 12, 10 PM)
11 PM ABC News
11:15 News
11:25 Movie: "God Is My Co-Pilot"

WHRO Ch. 15 Norfolk (NET)
off air on Saturdays

WCVE Ch. 23 Richmond (NET)
off air on Saturdays

 

[oldiesfan6479]

WXEX (WRIC) Ch. 8 Richmond-Petersburg (ABC)
10:30 Good Company (delay from Thu, Oct. 5, 10 PM)

WVEC Ch. 13 Norfolk (ABC)
10:30 Good Company (delay from Thu, Oct. 12, 10 PM)

Now that's a strange! Any idea why the WXEX delay was nine days, while WVEC did
only a two-day delay? Was WXEX a "bargain-basement" ABC affil, and perhaps had
to get the tape from WVEC? Or worse...had to get a kinnie from the network?

BTW, the WXEX (WRIC) COL was Petersburg. Did they pull a "KTAR-TV Phoenix/Mesa"
(COL Mesa, now KPNX Mesa) legal ID type scam too?

 

[mleach]

BTW, the WXEX (WRIC) COL was Petersburg. Did they pull a "KTAR-TV Phoenix/Mesa"
(COL Mesa, now KPNX Mesa) legal ID type scam too?

More and less yes.

From the many of times I had visted Richmond back in the 70's and 80's it was "WXEX-TV 8 Petersburg-Richmond" though I don't recall ever seeing anything on air or in their listings doing anything strictly for Petersburg other than news stories on "TV-8 Eyewitness News"..actually until the mid 80's I had no idea WXEX wasn't licensed to Richmond and to this day I wouldn't be surprised if the locals don't know it either unless the pay attention to the legal ID. I can see why, the call letters stand for RIChmond and their studios are in Richmond too. Even back in the 70's and 80's WXEX sure promoted themselves as being Richmond, I can still recall that old promo showing the WXEX chopper "TV8 Eye in the Sky" zig zagging around the skycrapers of downtown Richmond.

Even though WXEX back in the 60s & 70's ( some say even today ) was a third rate station..WXEX had more than made up for it in radio. While WRVA ( WWBT ) and WTVR of course both had successful radio outlets in their own right, however WXEX 's radio sister back then was the famous WLEE-AM, Richmond's version of New York's "music radio" WABC-AM and until the mid 70's I am pretty sure ( so I had been told ) that WLEE was number one in that market. Oddly enough it was WRVA launching "Q94" that killed WLEE but by then ABC was doing better in the ratings so it balanced it out for WXEX. By then WXEX really didn't need WLEE.

 

[bpatrick]

WXEX (WRIC) Ch. 8 Richmond-Petersburg (ABC)
10:30 Good Company (delay from Thu, Oct. 5, 10 PM)

WVEC Ch. 13 Norfolk (ABC)
10:30 Good Company (delay from Thu, Oct. 12, 10 PM)

Now that's a strange! Any idea why the WXEX delay was nine days, while WVEC did
only a two-day delay? Was WXEX a "bargain-basement" ABC affil, and perhaps had
to get the tape from WVEC? Or worse...had to get a kinnie from the network?

BTW, the WXEX (WRIC) COL was Petersburg. Did they pull a "KTAR-TV Phoenix/Mesa"
(COL Mesa, now KPNX Mesa) legal ID type scam too?

WXEX was listed in TV Guide as "Richmond-Petersburg" at the time. I'm not sure
why "Good Company" was delayed a week there (possibly they couldn't tape the
show and air it two nights later), but I do know that it aired in
black and white on WXEX; in color on WVEC, and the show itself was in color.
Then again, I have a 1972 listing from Atlanta, wherein Ch. 11 shows daytime
"Love, American Style" on a week delay, but "Password" on a day-behind. Go figure.

I really wonder about WXEX's capability of taping and delaying shows in those days;
"Good Company" was the only ABC show that aired on delay there, and I think the
religious program "Directions" was pre-empted, but IIRC, everything else aired in pattern.
WNBE (now WCTI) New Bern, NC, was another example; the only time I remember an ABC
show being delayed there in the '60s was "Supermarket Sweep" in the summer months when
Ch. 12 carried everything an hour earlier. "Sweep" should have aired at 10 AM, but Ch. 12
had a movie from 9-10:30, so "Sweep" aired at 4 PM...on kine. Maybe that's what happened
with Ch. 8 and "Good Company". If anybody knows if WVEC was feeding both stations I'd
like to know about it myself.

 

[BRNout]

We lived in the area during the early-mid 70's and yes, WXEX used to ID as "WXEX Petersburg-Richmond" just as they were supposed to per being licensed to 'serve' Petersburg. Given that their transmitter was located well south of Richmond (towards Petersburg, Hopewell and Chester), their over the air signal in most of the Richmond area was inferior to that of WWBT (NBC) and WTVR (CBS) which both blanketed Richmond and its immediate suburbs. Of which there were fewer than today; for example, Hanover County was generally farms and woods and was thought of as being 'out there'. Now, that area is quite suburban and isn't even thought of being far out at all.

As nobody had cable back then, only about 20-25% of the market got a signal from WXEX that was the equivalent of what the other 2 offered. Furthermore, during the early 70s, ABC's color system was still not as good as that of NBC or CBS. I distinctly recall the color appearing to be a bit washed out on ABC programs and not just at WXEX but on other ABC stations as well. This was something that the adults around me commented on - how (in their minds) NBC had "the best color" while ABC was the "worst".

One last thing about WXEX, it was a lower budget operation than channels 6 and 12, but they still offered a full slate of newscasts that were roughly of the same calibre as their competition. Famously, their weathercaster (Spencer Christian) even went on to Good Morning America and acted as their weather guy for a number of years. Their newscasts (were they Eyewitness News?) had a couple more stories from Petersburg/Hopewell/Chester than the others but never neglected Richmond in the way that WTNH New Haven long ignored Hartford.

As an aside, I always loved the name of WWBT-12's newscasts of that era: "The Scene Tonight" along with equally cheesy intro music. But, then again, they were #1.....

 

[oldiesfan6479]

I'm not sure why "Good Company" was delayed a week there (possibly they couldn't tape the show and air it two nights later),
but I do know that it aired in black and white on WXEX; in color on WVEC, and the show itself was in color.

Did the B&W airing on WXEX look like tape or a kinnie? Since both stations ran the (delayed)
show at the same time, if WVEC fed WXEX you'd think Petersburg would see the same show,
and in color. Otherwise, WXEX may have been using an Ampex 1000 or 1100 that hadn't been
modified to play back (low-band) color, but why they delayed it nine days...?

WNBE (now WCTI) New Bern, NC, was another example......in the summer months when Ch. 12 carried everything an hour earlier......
If anybody knows if WVEC was feeding both stations I'd like to know about it myself.

We've discussed before the WNBE "early prime" during pre-1967 summers (VA=EDT, NC=EST);
this gives more to the theory that WNBE had a microwave link from WVEC for ABC rather than
its own Telco line.

 

[BRNout]

If anybody knows if WVEC was feeding both stations I'd
like to know about it myself.

We could often pick up a snowy WVEC and it did not seem to be feeding WXEX or vice versa - the local programming blocks were quite different (at least in the 1970s).

Even though WXEX back in the 60s & 70's ( some say even today ) was a third rate station..WXEX had more than made up for it in radio. While WRVA ( WWBT ) and WTVR of course both had successful radio outlets in their own right, however WXEX 's radio sister back then was the famous WLEE-AM, Richmond's version of New York's "music radio" WABC-AM and until the mid 70's I am pretty sure ( so I had been told ) that WLEE was number one in that market. Oddly enough it was WRVA launching "Q94" that killed WLEE but by then ABC was doing better in the ratings so it balanced it out for WXEX. By then WXEX really didn't need WLEE.

By the 1970s, WLEE wasn't doing much for WXEX - there wasn't all that much cross promotion as I recall. WLEE still had more listeners than WRVQ (which was already more of a rock-40) prior to 1976, but they were dropping fast by then. Unlike WABC, WLEE didn't have a strong full-market day and night signal and that hastened its decline.

ABC started to really take off with the advent of Happy Days, Barney Miller, Starsky and Hutch, The Streets of San Francisco, Mork and Mindy and a number of other popular shows during the mid and late 1970s and they quickly ascended to the number 1 slot - particularly with younger demos. By then, content would overrule those signal issues for WXEX.

 

[mleach]

Their newscasts (were they Eyewitness News?) had a couple more stories from Petersburg/Hopewell/Chester than the others but never neglected Richmond in the way that WTNH New Haven long ignored Hartford.

WXEX/WRIC had used the Eyewitness News name for over 20 years ( 1972-1993 ) give or take a year or two though.

I do believe however that Norfolk's WTKR and Richmond's WRIC did drop the name "Eyewitness News" at around the same time though ( 1993, maybe early 94 ). Years ago on tvnewstalk.net somebody had posted that the decision for both stations to mae the change was that Washington DC's WUSA had "exclusive rights" tho the name Eyewitness News in Virginia so both stations were forced to drop it or be sued.

No I don't buy it for a second. After 20 years of using the same news title I am sure WRIC felt it was time for a change. Now for WTKR considering they only used the name for two years and they ratings improved a bit during the time...I guess there could be a story there...someplace.

 

[bpatrick]

I'm not sure why "Good Company" was delayed a week there (possibly they couldn't tape the show and air it two nights later),
but I do know that it aired in black and white on WXEX; in color on WVEC, and the show itself was in color.

Did the B&W airing on WXEX look like tape or a kinnie? Since both stations ran the (delayed)
show at the same time, if WVEC fed WXEX you'd think Petersburg would see the same show,
and in color. Otherwise, WXEX may have been using an Ampex 1000 or 1100 that hadn't been
modified to play back (low-band) color, but why they delayed it nine days...?

WNBE (now WCTI) New Bern, NC, was another example......in the summer months when Ch. 12 carried everything an hour earlier......
If anybody knows if WVEC was feeding both stations I'd like to know about it myself.

We've discussed before the WNBE "early prime" during pre-1967 summers (VA=EDT, NC=EST);
this gives more to the theory that WNBE had a microwave link from WVEC for ABC rather than
its own Telco line.

I lived in Norfolk, not Richmond, and never had any luck picking up WXEX, so I can't say whether the "Good Company" telecast was tape or kine. It would seem that WXEX should have been able to tape and play back the show on a two-night delay, which makes me wonder if they had to wait for a kine from ABC.

 

[mleach]

I lived in Norfolk, not Richmond, and never had any luck picking up WXEX, so I can't say whether the "Good Company" telecast was tape or kine. It would seem that WXEX should have been able to tape and play back the show on a two-night delay, which makes me wonder if they had to wait for a kine from ABC.

Back in the 80's ( 1984 to be exact ) I can remember staying at the long defunct Emperis Motel on the oceanfront in Virginia Beach just down the street from the old Seaside Amusement Park. At the time the TV in the room was straight out of the 60's..black and white and only offered WTKR, WAVY and WVEC and nothing else. However on my battery operated color set I was able to get of course the other Hampton Roads channels ( WYAH, WHRO and WTVZ ) and the Richmond stations too ( WTVR, WWBT and WXEX..maybe WRLH but I don't remember about that one ). However more interesting and oddly enough Salsbury, MD's WBOC and WMDT not only did they come in clear as a bell but even better than Richmond stations. My cousin who had a condo in Norfolk back in the late 80s I can remember telling me that she could pick up "everything" from Richmond as well as Norfolk and the eastern North Carolina stations..and Durham's WTVD but nothing out of Maryland including Salisbury..though once I think she did managed to pick up WMAR for a bit. She passed away some years back so of course I can't ask her now..just recalling what she had told me 20 years back.