Retro: Kentucky Friday, December 8, 1978

[bpatrick]

From TV Guide, Kentucky Edition:

WAVE Ch. 3 Louisville (NBC)

6:30 Today In WAVE Country
7 AM Today (Tom Brokaw)
9 AM Morning Show
9:30 Hollywood Squares (Danny Arnold,
Barbi Benton, Ron Carey and Steve
Landesberg, Max Gail and Ron Glass,
George Gobel, James Gregory and Jack
Soo, Hal Linden, Martha Smith, Paul Lynde--
you can tell the show's saluting "Barney Miller"--
delay from either 1 or 4 PM depending on the station)
10 AM Card Sharks (Jim Perry)
10:30 Jeopardy! (Art Fleming hosts the revamped but unsuccessful
version.)
11 AM High Rollers (Alex Trebek)
11:30 Wheel Of Fortune
12 N Midday
12:30 Mike Douglas (co-hosts England Dan and John Ford Coley;
Kathryn Witt, Pat Klous, Connie Sellecca and Howard Platt
of "Flying High"; Herve Villechaize, author William Rossi)
1:30 Days Of Our Lives
2:30 The Doctors
3 PM Another World
4 PM Movie: "One Desire"
5:30 News
6 PM News
6:30 NBC News (John Chancellor/David Brinkley)
7 PM That Nashville Music (guests: Don Williams, Connie
Smith, Mel Street)
7:30 Hee Haw Honeys (guest: Janie Fricke)
8 PM Diff'rent Strokes
8:30 Who's Watching The Kids? (Jim Belushi stars)
9 PM Rockford Files
10 PM The Eddie Capra Mysteries
11 PM News
11:30 Tonight Show (Bob Newhart subs for Johnny)
1 AM Midnight Special (host Frankie Valli; Walter Egan,
A Taste Of Honey, Atlanta Rhythm Section, Nick
Gilder, tribute to Jim Croce)

WLWT Ch. 5 Cincinnati (NBC)

5:45 Moment Of Meditation
5:50 Good Morning
6 AM PTL Club
7 AM Today
9 AM Donahue (no details given)
10 AM Card Sharks
10:30 Jeopardy!
11 AM High Rollers
11:30 Midday
12 N Bob Braun (Beverly Nye with a simple
recipe for homemade candy)
1:30 Days Of Our Lives
2:30 The Doctors
3 PM Another World
4 PM Big Valley
5 PM Streets Of San Francisco
6 PM News
6:30 NBC News
7 PM 5 Reports (mental-health facilities and
available treatment in the greater Cincinnati
area)
7:30 Name That Tune
8 PM Diff'rent Strokes
8:30 Who's Watching The Kids?
9 PM Rockford Files
10 PM The Eddie Capra Mysteries
11 PM News
11:30 Tonight Show
1 AM Midnight Special
2:30 Lightouch

WCPO Ch. 9 Cincinnati (CBS)

5:55 Farm News
6 AM Sunrise Semester: "English Language Arts"
6:30 America's Problems And Challenges
7 AM CBS News (Lesley Stahl/Richard Threlkeld)
8 AM Captain Kangaroo
9 AM Uncle Al
10 AM M*A*S*H (day-behind, delay from 3:30)
10:30 Price Is Right
11:30 All In The Family (delay from 10 AM)
12 N Noon Report
1 PM Search For Tomorrow (delay from 12:30)
1:30 As The World Turns
2:30 Guiding Light
3:30 CBS Afternoon Playhouse: "Joey And Redhawk"
(conclusion--Ch. 9 is airing it a half-hour before
the network)
4 PM Movie: "7th Cavalry"
6 PM News
6:30 CBS News (Walter Cronkite)
7 PM Joker's Wild
7:30 Cosmic Christmas (three visitors from outer space
learn about the meaning of the Star of Bethlehem
from a boy and his pet goose--animated)
8 PM Special Sesame Street Christmas (the Muppets, Leslie
Uggams, Ethel Merman, Anne Murray, Dick Smothers,
Imogene Coca, cameos by Henry Fonda and Michael Jackson)
9 PM Young And Foolish (Danny Thomas tries to find out what kids
are "into" and comes up with this hour featuring Bob Hope, K.C.
and the Sunshine Band, Kristy and Jimmy McNichol, Suzanne Somers,
Jimmie Walker, Quinn Cummings, Marlo Thomas, Phil Donahue)
10 PM Flying High
11 PM News
11:30 Movie: "River Of No Return"
2 AM Movie: "Wake Island"
4 AM Sacred Heart
4:30 Praying The Rosary
4:45 News

WHAS Ch. 11 Louisville (CBS)

6 AM Sideroads
6:30 Ed Allen Time
7 AM CBS News
8 AM Captain Kangaroo
9 AM Search For Tomorrow
9:30 Young And The Restless (delay from noon)
10 AM Omelet (local talk show with Milton Metz and
Faith Lyles)
10:30 Price Is Right
11:30 Love Of Life
11:55 CBS News (Douglas Edwards)
12 N News
12:30 Bob Braun (no details given)
1:30 As The World Turns
2:30 Guiding Light
3:30 M*A*S*H
4 PM Bonanza
5 PM Carol Burnett And Friends
5:30 Mary Tyler Moore
6 PM News
6:30 CBS News
7 PM Newlywed Game
7:30 Cosmic Christmas
8 PM Special Sesame Street Christmas
9 PM Young And Foolish
10 PM Flying High
11 PM News
11:30 New Avengers
12:40 CBS Movie: "Nightmare"
2:20 Movie: "Rhino!"
4:20 News

WKRC Ch. 12 Cincinnati (ABC)

6 AM Make Peace With Nature
6:30 Not For Women Only (topic: motherhood;
guests: authors Lyn Delliquadri and Louise
Kaplan)
7 AM Good Morning America (David Hartman; guest
Paul Newman)
9 AM Edge Of Night (delay from 4 PM)
9:30 $20,000 Pyramid (delay from noon)
10 AM Mike Douglas (co-host Gavin MacLeod; his wife
Patti, Andy Williams, Patrick Macnee, a folk-dance
group from the Philippines)
11 AM Happy Days
11:30 Family Feud
12 N Extra! (local, not the syndicated tabloid show)
12:30 Ryan's Hope
1 PM All My Children
2 PM One Life To Live
3 PM General Hospital
4 PM Dinah! (Cicely Tyson, actors Kevin Brophy and
Melinda Naud, singer Tommie Young, discussion
of food additives)
5:30 News
6:30 ABC World News Tonight
7 PM Tic Tac Dough
7:30 Newlywed Game
8 PM Donny & Marie (Ruth Buzzi, Gavin MacLeod, and
Raquel Welch help Donny celebrate his 21st birthday.)
9 PM ABC Movie: "The Gift Of Love" (Marie Osmond and Timothy
Bottoms play star-crossed lovers in 1890s New York.)
11 PM News
11:30 Movie: "Vera Cruz"
1:30 Movie: "The Brighton Strangler"

WKPC Ch. 15 Louisville (PBS)

7:30 Sesame Street
8:30 Electric Company
9 AM Infinity Factory
9:30 Oasis In Space
10 AM Consumer Survival Kit
10:30 In-school programs
11 AM Infinity Factory
11:30 In-school programs
12 N Sesame Street
1 PM Electric Company
1:30 In-school programs
3 PM Over Easy (guest: Mitch Miller)
3:30 Lilias, Yoga And You
4 PM Sesame Street
5 PM Mister Rogers' Neighborhood
5:30 Electric Company
6 PM Zoom
6:30 Over Easy (guest: pianist Roger Williams)
7 PM MacNeil/Lehrer Report
7:30 Turnabout (what motivates young women to
try out for the Kilgore Rangerettes, precision
drill team from Kilgore, TX)
8 PM Washington Week In Review
8:30 Wall Street Week
9 PM Duchess Of Duke Street (Part 7)
10 PM Johnny Mathis (1977 concert from England)
11 PM Dick Cavett (guest: Allen Ginsberg)
11:30 Captioned ABC News

WLEX Ch. 18 Lexington (NBC)

5:30 Arthur Smith
6 AM PTL Club
7 AM Today
9 AM Donahue (no details given)
10 AM Card Sharks
10:30 Jeopardy!
11 AM High Rollers
11:30 Wheel Of Fortune
12 N News
12:30 Bob Braun (no details given)
1:30 Days Of Our Lives
2:30 The Doctors
3 PM Another World
4 PM Santa Claus
4:30 Batman
5 PM Beverly Hillbillies
5:30 News
6 PM News
6:30 NBC News
7 PM Family Affair
7:30 Donna Fargo (guest: Donny Most)
8 PM Diff'rent Strokes
8:30 Who's Watching The Kids?
9 PM Rockford Files
10 PM The Eddie Capra Mysteries
11 PM News
11:30 Tonight Show
1 AM Midnight Special

WXIX Ch. 19 Cincinnati (Ind.)

6:15 Perspective
7 AM Romper Room
7:30 New Zoo Revue
8 AM New Mickey Mouse Club
8:30 Groovie Goolies And Friends
9 AM Tom And Jerry
9:30 Flintstones
10 AM Dennis The Menace
10:30 Courtship Of Eddie's Father
11 AM Andy Griffith
11:30 Bewitched
12 N Medical Center (Robert Culp's wife France
Nuyen as a Vietnamese war victim)
1 PM Movie: "Billion Dollar Brain"
3 PM Fred Flintstone And Friends
3:30 Popeye
4 PM Tom And Jerry
4:30 Spiderman
5 PM Gilligan's Island
5:30 My Three Sons
6 PM Brady Bunch
6:30 Carol Burnett And Friends
7 PM Mary Tyler Moore
7:30 Odd Couple
8 PM Holiday Cartoon Festival
9 PM Merv Griffin (Ethel Merman, Mark Hamill,
William F. Buckley Jr.)
10:30 Cross-Wits (Vikki Carr, Vicki Lawrence,
Soupy Sales, Orson Bean)
11 PM Gong Show (judges: Arte Johnson, Steve
Martin, Jaye P. Morgan)
11:30 The Love Experts (Geoff Edwards, Nipsey
Russell, Joyce Bulifant, Elaine Joyce)
12 M Ironside

WKYT Ch. 27 Lexington (CBS)

7 AM CBS News
8 AM Captain Kangaroo
9 AM Dinah! (Joey Bishop, Harvey Korman, Merlin
Olsen, Loni Anderson)
10 AM All In The Family
10:30 Price Is Right
11:30 Love Of Life
11:55 CBS News
12 N Young And The Restless
12:30 Guiding Light
1:30 As The World Turns
2:30 Search For Tomorrow
3 PM Gomer Pyle, USMC
3:30 M*A*S*H
4 PM CBS Afternoon Playhouse: "Joey And Redhawk"
(conclusion)
4:30 Santa Claus
5 PM Andy Griffith
5:30 News
6 PM News
6:30 CBS News
7 PM My Three Sons
7:30 Gift Of Winter (Dan Aykroyd and Gilda Radner
provide voices for this cartoon about a group
of people who petition the Ministry of Winter
for snow.)
8 PM Special Sesame Street Christmas
9 PM Young And Foolish
10 PM Flying High
11 PM News
11:30 Movie: "Bless The Beasts And Children"

WLKY 32 Alive Louisville (ABC)

6:30 Romper Room
7 AM Good Morning America
9 AM Donahue (no details given)
10 AM Green Acres
10:30 Edge Of Night
11 AM Happy Days
11:30 Family Feud
12 N $20,000 Pyramid (Lynn Redgrave, Bill Cullen)
12:30 Ryan's Hope
1 PM All My Children
2 PM One Life To Live
3 PM General Hospital
4 PM Everyday (Conrad Bain; actress Lilli Palmer and
author Anita Loos discuss Hollywood's early days)
5 PM Dating Game
5:30 News
6 PM ABC World News Tonight
6:30 Tic Tac Dough
7 PM Joker's Wild
7:30 Match Game PM (David Doyle, Raymond Burr,
Joyce Bulifant, Elaine Joyce, Charles Nelson Reilly,
Brett Somers)
8 PM Donny & Marie
9 PM ABC Movie: "The Gift Of Love"
11 PM News
11:30 The Rookies
12 M Baretta (half-hour delay, guest: Tommy Lee Jones)
1:10 Movie: "Retreat, Hell!"

WDRB Ch. 41 Louisville (Ind.)

7:45 News
8 AM New Zoo Revue
8:30 For You...Black Woman (guest: Grace Jones)
9 AM PTL Club
11 AM News/Introspect
11:30 The Bible With Pat Robertson
12 N 700 Club
1:30 Love, American Style
2 PM Not For Women Only (topic: homosexuality)
2:30 Bugs Bunny And Pals
3 PM New Mickey Mouse Club
3:30 Popeye
4 PM Three Stooges
4:30 Gilligan's Island (Hans Conried as incompetent
pilot Wrong Way Feldman)
5 PM I Love Lucy
5:30 Battle Of The Planets
6 PM Six Million Dollar Man
7 PM Sanford And Son
7:30 My Three Sons
8 PM Gunsmoke
9 PM College Basketball: Purdue-Santa Clara in the
opening round of the Cougar Classic
11 PM The Love Experts (Geoff Edwards, Nipsey Russell,
Lois Nettleton, Nancy Lane, time approximate)
11:30 Movie: "Let's Dance"
1:30 Soul Train

WTVQ Ch. 62 (Ch. 36) Lexington (ABC)

5:30 700 Club
7 AM Good Morning America
9 AM General Hospital
10 AM Marcus Welby, M.D. (Anne Baxter as Welby's
girlfriend, who becomes overprotective of
a pregnant, unmarried patient)
11 AM Happy Days
11:30 Family Feud
12 N $20,000 Pyramid
12:30 Ryan's Hope
1 PM All My Children
2 PM One Life To Live
3 PM Get Smart
3:30 Happy's Hour
3:45 Little Rascals
4 PM Tom And Jerry
4:30 Gilligan's Island
5 PM Brady Bunch
5:30 News
6 PM ABC World News Tonight
6:30 Gong Show (judges: Johnny Paycheck,
Susan Ford, Pat McCormick)
7 PM Joker's Wild
7:30 Newlywed Game
8 PM Donny & Marie
9 PM ABC Movie: "The Gift Of Love"
11 PM News
11:30 Baretta
12:40 Juke Box (Twiggy welcomes Leo Sayer, the
Little River Band, John Miles, R & J Stone)
1:10 Movie: "Arizona Raiders"

E Kentucky Educational Television (WKZT/23 Elizabethtown,
WKSO/29 Somerset, WKMR/38 Morehead, WKLE/46 Lexington,
WKON/52 Owenton, WCVN/54 Covington, WKMJ/68 Louisville)

In-school programs until

3:30 Over Easy
4 PM Sesame Street
5 PM Mister Rogers' Neighborhood
5:30 Electric Company
6 PM Zoom
6:30 Guten Tag
7 PM MacNeil/Lehrer Report
7:30 Comment On Kentucky
8 PM Washington Week In Review
8:30 Wall Street Week
9 PM Farm Digest
9:30 Medix
10 PM The Pallisers (Part 14)
sign off 11 PM

 

[gregg75]

Don't you think there must be a spot somewhere in the triangle of Louisville-Lexington-Cincinnati where folks could get most of the stations from all 3 cities?

 

[bpatrick]

If there ever was, I'd guess it was about 10-20 miles north
of Lexington, and that the only Louisville channel picked up
OTA would have been Ch. 3. Lexington is 70 miles east of
Louisville and 78 miles south of Cincinnati. However, if WBTV
Charlotte (also on Ch. 3) could put a signal 90 miles from its
transmitter, I don't know why WAVE couldn't. But that's all
conjecture; someone who's more familiar with the area can
better answer your question.

 

[Cincinnati Kid]

With the way TV signals are transmitted today, I don't know where you'd have to be. However, in decades past, you should have been able to pick up the stations from all three cities anywhere to the north and west of Lexington without too much of a problem. Of course, it would have been good to have an antenna with a rotor. You should have been able to get three Lexington channels, two or three channels from Louisville and four channels from Cincinnati.

 

[radiorob2.0]

Don't you think there must be a spot somewhere in the triangle of Louisville-Lexington-Cincinnati where folks could get most of the stations from all 3 cities?

Most folks in Lexington prior to cable had the ability to receive all three cities. I'm sure around Owen County is an equal spot to all three cities. Also, the bulk of cable systems around Lexington received all three cities prior to syndex.

If there ever was, I'd guess it was about 10-20 miles north
of Lexington, and that the only Louisville channel picked up
OTA would have been Ch. 3. Lexington is 70 miles east of
Louisville and 78 miles south of Cincinnati. However, if WBTV
Charlotte (also on Ch. 3) could put a signal 90 miles from its
transmitter, I don't know why WAVE couldn't. But that's all
conjecture; someone who's more familiar with the area can
better answer your question.

Until 1990 WAVE didn't have that coverage. When they built the Oldham County tower they had equal coverage to WBTV. WAVE's Grade B covered Lexington and Cincinnati. But the tower was built twenty years too late and proved unusable for digital so it sits there today unused.

It was around this time, 1978, all three Lexington TV stations banded together to win Frankfort. Even though Frankfort was less than thirty miles away from Lexington it belong to the Louisville TV market that was fifty miles away. The campaign included print, outdoor, radio and of course TV. Eventually, the effort was successful and Lexington won two ratings in a row and Franklin County was added to the Lexington TV market and has been that way ever since.

 

[gregg75]

Seems like Frankfort may have been able to get some stations from both Louisville and Lexington
also.

 

[radiorob2.0]

Seems like Frankfort may have been able to get some stations from both Louisville and Lexington
also.

...and Cincinnati. IIRC, both cable systems carried all three cities. Yes, Frankfort had two cable systems; a privately owned and municipal.

 

[bpatrick]

Slightly off-topic but the reference to the successful effort by
the Lexington stations to win over Frankfort reminds me that
in 1980 they did the same thing to win over those counties in
southeastern Kentucky that watched mostly Knoxville or Tri-Cities
stations; their campaign was based around the idea that if you lived
in that area and were not watching Lexington stations you were missing
Kentucky news. I think it worked; I know WYMT Hazard (a semi-satellite
of WKYT) has made a lot of inroads since then.

But don't think Louisville stations have disappeared from Frankfort cable,
and, in fact, WHAS has a correspondent who covers the legislature and
the governor's mansion. What I do find strange is that the Lexington
newspaper is easy to find in Frankfort; the Courier-Journal is not.

 

[Cincinnati Kid]

With regards to WAVE-TV, Channel 3, and its coverage area. I know back in the early 1960's, it was the one Louisville station that could be regularly received over the air in south-central Kentucky - some 100 miles away from its tower. At the same time, WAVE-TV was something you could pick up in the Cincinnati area both before and after the 1990's.

 

[DToTheJ]

WCPO Ch. 9 Cincinnati (CBS)
10 AM M*A*S*H (day-behind, delay from 3:30)
10:30 Price Is Right
11:30 All In The Family (delay from 10 AM)

3:30 CBS Afternoon Playhouse: "Joey And Redhawk"
(conclusion--Ch. 9 is airing it a half-hour before
the network)

That didn't stop them from airing "The Price Is Right" a half-hour early every day...

So, if WCPO aired "M*A*S*H" at 10 AM, and "All In The Family" at 11:30... what did they normally air at 3:30 PM?

8 PM Special Sesame Street Christmas (the Muppets, Leslie
Uggams, Ethel Merman, Anne Murray, Dick Smothers,
Imogene Coca, cameos by Henry Fonda and Michael Jackson)

"Sesame Street" had a special on CBS? Those sellouts!

 

[radiorob2.0]

Slightly off-topic but the reference to the successful effort by
the Lexington stations to win over Frankfort reminds me that
in 1980 they did the same thing to win over those counties in
southeastern Kentucky that watched mostly Knoxville or Tri-Cities
stations; their campaign was based around the idea that if you lived
in that area and were not watching Lexington stations you were missing
Kentucky news. I think it worked; I know WYMT Hazard (a semi-satellite
of WKYT) has made a lot of inroads since then.

But don't think Louisville stations have disappeared from Frankfort cable,
and, in fact, WHAS has a correspondent who covers the legislature and
the governor's mansion. What I do find strange is that the Lexington
newspaper is easy to find in Frankfort; the Courier-Journal is not.

The issue in Southeastern Kentucky was coordinating the large number of cable systems. Back in the day, most counties had several cable providers that didn't want to mess with UHF. Even though Channel 19 Kingsport and Channel 26 Knoxville were closer, cable systems would have Channel 13 out of Huntington or Asheville for ABC.

I was told that the sequel to winning Frankfort was influencing Pike County to gravitate towards the Lexington market. The idea didn't move forward because of the effort to coordinate a large number of cable systems to do away with Huntington/Charleston and the Tri-cities.

 

[azumanga]

8 PM Special Sesame Street Christmas (the Muppets, Leslie
Uggams, Ethel Merman, Anne Murray, Dick Smothers,
Imogene Coca, cameos by Henry Fonda and Michael Jackson)

"Sesame Street" had a special on CBS? Those sellouts!

Yes, and it paled in comparison with another Sesame Street special that debuted that year -- "Christmas Eve on Sesame Street" on PBS. Both specials were nominated in the 1979 Emmys for "Outstanding Children's Program", with the PBS special winning.

More here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Special_Sesame_Street_Christmas

 

[Wright County Guy]

So, if WCPO aired "M*A*S*H" at 10 AM, and "All In The Family" at 11:30... what did they normally air at 3:30 PM?

[/quote]

Match Game '78?

 

[azumanga]

So, if WCPO aired "M*A*S*H" at 10 AM, and "All In The Family" at 11:30... what did they normally air at 3:30 PM?

Match Game '78?

Actually, Match Game was on CBS at 4PM ET by that point -- when stations are bumping daytime network shows after 4PM with local or syndicated programming.

 

[bpatrick]

I think the problem revolved around the "CBS Afternoon Playhouse"
which aired at 4 PM the week of Dec. 4-8 and pre-empted "Match Game";
it was a five-part special called "Joey And Redhawk" which WCPO aired at
3:30; as I pointed out, they got it a half-hour ahead of the rest of the network
so the 4 PM movie could air on schedule. Normally, "Match Game" ran at 10 AM,
moving "All In The Family" to 11:30 and pre-empting "Love Of Life"; "M*A*S*H"
normally aired in pattern at 3:30, but with no "Match Game" that week "M*A*S*H"
filled the opening at 10 AM.

 

[bpatrick]

WCPO Ch. 9 Cincinnati (CBS)
10 AM M*A*S*H (day-behind, delay from 3:30)
10:30 Price Is Right
11:30 All In The Family (delay from 10 AM)

3:30 CBS Afternoon Playhouse: "Joey And Redhawk"
(conclusion--Ch. 9 is airing it a half-hour before
the network)

That didn't stop them from airing "The Price Is Right" a half-hour early every day...

So, if WCPO aired "M*A*S*H" at 10 AM, and "All In The Family" at 11:30... what did they normally air at 3:30 PM?

8 PM Special Sesame Street Christmas (the Muppets, Leslie
Uggams, Ethel Merman, Anne Murray, Dick Smothers,
Imogene Coca, cameos by Henry Fonda and Michael Jackson)

"Sesame Street" had a special on CBS? Those sellouts!

"The Price Is Right" aired in pattern in Cincinnati; at the time CBS carried it at 10:30, followed by "Love Of Life"
at 11:30 (pre-empted in Cincinnati but aired in Louisville and Lexington). "Price" didn't move to 11 AM until April
23, 1979 (Wesley Hyatt, "The Encyclopedia of Daytime Television"), at which point "Love Of Life" moved to 4 PM
and was pre-empted on so many stations that CBS pulled the plug on February 1, 1980.