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Retro: Golden Horseshoe/Buffalo/Rochester Sat, June 14, 1958

from TV Guide-Lake Ontario edition (despite the regional office being in Rochester, the bulk of non-station ads were aimed at the Canadian readership)

WGR 2-ABC Buffalo
9:00 Rumpus Room
9:30 Western Roundup "Under the Tonto Rim"
11:00 Cartoon Carnival
11:30 Bar-2 Ranch "Sunset Pass"
1:00 TV Dance Party (Pat Fagan)
2:30 20th Century Fox "The Hefferan Family"
3:30 Jungle
4:00 Tennis (local)
5:30 Billy Graham
6:30 Yesterday's Newsreel
7:00 Ranch Party
7:30 Dick Clark (guests Frankie Avalon, Toni Arden, Hugo & Luigi, the Royal Teens, and John D. Laudermilk)
8:00 Country Music Jubilee (guests Homer & Jethro, Jim Reeves, and Slim Wilson's Jubilee Band)
9:00 Lawrence Welk (the Welks Little League team from Van Nuys are this week's guests)
10:00 Fun Fest
10:30 Harbor Command
11:00 News
11:15 Just Music (Jimmy Brucato)
11:30 Operation Swing Shift "Love Happy"

WBEN 4-CBS Buffalo
8:30 Popeye's Playhouse
9:00 Your Museum of Science (Ellsworth Jager talks about sharks)
9:30 Captain Kangaroo
10:30 Mighty Mouse
11:00 Heckle & Jeckle
11:30 Saturday Playhouse "Ride to the West"
noon Jimmy Dean (guests Les Paul and Mary Ford)
1:00 Lone Ranger "The Swami"
1:30 Film Feature
2:15 George Kell (George interviews Milwaukee pitcher Warren Spahn)
2:25 Baseball: Milwaukee-St. Louis (Dizzy Dean/Buddy Blattner)
4:30 Metropolitan Handicap horse race
5:00 Film Feature
6:00 News/Sports
6:15 Cisco Kid
6:45 Film Feature
7:00 U of B Round Table
7:30 Perry Mason "The Case of the Black-Eyed Blonde"
8:30 Top Dollar
9:00 Oh! Susanna
9:30 Have Gun, Will Travel
10:00 Gunsmoke
10:30 Silent Service "Hawkville's Revenge"
11:00 News
11:30 Saturday Playhouse "Berlin Correspondent"

WROC 5-ABC/NBC Rochester
9:15 Farm & Home
10:00 Howdy Doody
10:30 Ruff & Reddy
11:00 Fury "The Wayfarer"
11:30 Andy's Gang
noon True Story
12:30 Wrestling (Buffalo)
1:30 L'il Rascals
1:45 Sports Page "Baltimore-the Cradle of Baseball" (premiere of this program which will precede the NBC ball game on alternate weeks; guest Lefty Grove)
2:00 Baseball: Chicago-Baltimore (Leo Durocher/Lindsey Nelson)
4:30 Film Feature
5:00 Big Picture
5:30 Maverick "Hostage"
6:30 Lawrence Welk (week-behind?)
7:30 People are Funny
8:00 Bob Crosby (c/premiere with guests the Everly Brothers and Joey Bishop)
9:00 Opening Night "Ringside Seat" (premiere of Ford Theatre reruns, airing on alternate weeks)
9:30 Turning Point "The Big Leap"
10:00 Ted Mack's Amateur Hour (Ted salutes WBZ Boston's 10th anniversary, featuring a roster of performers from across New England)\
10:30 Pat Boone (guest Gary Crosby)
11:00 26 Men "The Vanquisher"
11:30 Million Dollar Movie "The Spiral Staircase"

CBLT 6-CBC Toronto
1:15pm Bowling (local)
2:15 CBC News
2:30 Matinee "Prelude to Fame"
4:00 Air Force Day
4:30 Stratford Festival (a look behind the scenes)
5:00 Zorro "The New Commandante"
5:30 Wild Bill Hickok
6:00 Here & There "Quebec's North Shore"
6:30 Mr. Fixit
6:45 CBC News
7:00 Have Gun, Will Travel
7:30 Holiday Ranch (guest: 5-yr-old singer Anne Montgrain)
8:00 Bob Crosby (premiere)
9:00 Great Movies "Conflict"
10:30 Cross Canada Hit Parade
11:00 CBC News
11:10 Wrestling (Toronto)

WHEC/WVLT 10-ABC/CBS Rochester
8:30 Western Theater "Fighting Bill Fargo"
9:30 Captain Kangaroo
10:30 Mighty Mouse
11:00 Heckle & Jeckle
11:30 Texas Rangers "Riders of the Lone Star"
noon Sky King
12:30 Jimmy Dean (listed as 30 min)
1:00 Lone Ranger "The Swami"
1:30 Country Style, USA
1:45 Film Feature
2:15 George Kell
2:25 Baseball: Milwaukee-St. Louis
4:30 Metropolitan Handicap horse race
5:00 Saturday Theater
5:30 Wyatt Earp "My Husband"
6:00 DIsneyland "Mars and Beyond"
7:00 Bold Journey "I Became a Jivaro" (the University of Nevada's Robert Moran narrates films of his visit to the Jivaro tribesmen in Ecuador)
7:30 Perry Mason "The Case of the Black-Eyed Blonde"
8:30 Top Collar
9:00 Oh! Susanna
9:30 Have Gun, Will Travel
10:00 Gunsmoke
10:30 Badge 714 (Dragnet)
11:00 Wrestling (Chicago)
mid. Premiere Theater "Alleghany Uprising"
1:15 Late Late Show "Fair Trial"

CHCH 11-CBC Hamilton (the station's then-mascot, Mr. Eleven, is making a comeback as the station celebrates 60 years on the air next year)
3pm Wrestling (Chicago)
4:00 Air Force Day
4:30 Stratford Festival
5:00 Zorro "The New Commandante"
5:30 Wild Bill Hickok
6:00 Political Talk
6:15 Invitation Playhouse
6:30 Federal Men "The Case of the Unfair Verdict"
7:00 Grand Ole Opry
7:30 Lone Wolf "Memo: Honolulu"
8:00 Bob Crosby (premiere)
9:00 Great Movies "Conflict"
10:30 Cross Canada Hit Parade
11:00 News
11:10 Late Show "Dakota"

WICU 12-ABC/NBC Erie
10:00 Toy Time
11:00 Movie "Under Fiesta Stars"
noon True Story
12:30 Detective's Diary "Corpse in the Cellar"
1:00 Ramar
1:30 Film Feature
1:45 Sports Page (premiere)
2:00 Baseball: Chicago-Baltimore
4:30 Film Feature
5:00 TBA
5:30 Wrestling (Buffalo)
6:30 Rin Tin Tin "Along Came Tubbs"
7:00 Navy Log "Get Back Somehow"
7:30 People are Funny
8:00 Bob Crosby (c/premiere)
9:00 Opening Night (premiere)
9:30 Turning Point "The Big Leap"
10:00 Ted Mack's Amateur Hour
10:30 Joseph Cotten "The Trial of Edward Pritchard" (return)
11:00 Movie "Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man"
11:30 Movie: TBA

CKCO 13-CBC Kitchener
2pm Western Matinee "The Ivory Handled Gun"
3:00 Canadian Bandstand
4:00 Air Force Day
4:30 Stratford Festival
5:00 Zorro "The New Commandante"
5:30 Wild Bill Hickok
6:00 Red Skelton "Appleby Wins a Horse" (guest stars Marilyn Maxwell and Don Wilson)
6:30 Sports/Weather/News
7:00 Have Gun, Will Travel
7:30 Holiday Ranch
8:00 Bob Crosby (premiere)
9:00 Great Movies "Conflict"
10:30 Cross Canada Hit Parade
11:00 News
11:30 Shock "Pillow of Death"

WBUF 17-NBC Buffalo
9:25 Farm Report
9:55 Crusader Rabbit
10:00 Howdy Doody
10:30 Ruff & Reddy
11:00 Fury "The Wayfarer"
11:30 Andy's Gang
noon True Story
12:30 Detective's Diary "Corpse in the Cellar"
1:00 Inner Sanctum "The Stranger"
1:30 Watch the World
1:45 Sports Page (premiere)
2:00 Baseball: Chicago-Baltimore
4:30 National Open Golf Tournament
5:30 The Subject is Jazz
7:30 People are Funny
8:00 Bob Crosby (c/premiere)
9:00 Opening Night (premiere)
9:30 Turning Point "The Big Leap"
10:00 Ted Mack's Amateur Hour
10:30 Joseph Cotten "The Trial of Edward Pritchard" (return)
11:00 Frontier Doctor "Flamingo Gold"
11:30 Million Dollar Movie "A Man Alone"
 
Back then, NBC was on UHF in Buffalo (the old WBUF-17, a O&O).

However, I suspect UHF penetration was quite low, and those east of Buffalo watched NBC programs over WROC-5 in Rochester, those southwest of Buffalo watched NBC programs on WICU-12 Erie; and those in Buffalo probably got to see some NBC shows that via simulcasts on CBLT-6 in Toronto and CHCH-11 Hamilton (probably the latter).

I'm pretty sure that a few months later, WKBW-7 signed-on, and once that occurred, NBC sold-off WBUF and affiliated with WGR-2, with WKBW getting ABC.

I suspect that when the NBC affiliation became available in Buffalo, WGR dropped ABC because back then, ABC was a deep third in the ratings (although a few ABC shows were starting to become quite successful). NBC was neck-and-neck with CBS for prime-time ratings superiority in that era, not to mention that NBC was the leader in color TV and was about to overtake CBS as the leader in news coverage.

It was a "no brainer" for WGR to dump the Alphabet and go with the Peacock.
 
But WKBW-TV 7 was successful from day one as an ABC affiliate. Western N. Y. took to the channel almost immediately. One of the few markets back then, outside of the top 3 where an ABC affiliate was so dominate.
 
And just a few years later WOKR 13 hit the airwaves in Rochester. The new ABC affiliate, also, was an immediate success. In fact, WOKR was considered by many, to be one of the most successful stations in the country for many years. Western NY viewers have been very kind to ABC over the years.
 
WKBW-Channel 7 back in the day.....Irv Weinstein with EyeWitness News, Commander Tom Jolls with the Weather Outside and Rick Azar on sports. Big contributors to the success of that station
 
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