Retro: Knoxville/Chattanooga Wednesday, September 1, 1982

[cowboybud]

On second thought,
one that comes to mind is "Eyes Of Texas," which I recall airing in Houston,
San Antonio, and Austin when I lived out there; I think it eventually added
Dallas, but in the late '70s that market had its own similar show:
"4 Country Reporter" (on KDFW), later "8 Country Reporter" (on WFAA).

"The Eyes of Texas" was produced by KPRC Houston and syndicated to some markets in Texas. After an absence of about 20 years, TEoT returned to KRPC recently with monthly one-hour specials (couldn't tell you who hosts it now, since I avoid KPRC like the plague). Reruns of the original show air under the name "Ray Miller's Texas" (or something similar) on PBS in Houston.
"4/8 Country Reporter" is now "Texas Country Reporter", syndicated in Texas (at odd hours in some places) and on RFD-TV.

 

[mleach]

Yes, before 1980, independent stations even below the top 30 were rare. The few I knew of such as KVVU 5 Las Vegas, WYAH 27 Portsmouth/Norfolk VA (Pat RObertson's station by the way ironically had a very strong lineup of syndicated shows by 1975, in fact it was a better station than a few larger market indies

While it is true that Pat Robertson's WYAH-TV did have a strong line-up in the mid 70s of syndicated programming ( though WYAH was 100% religious on Sundays )..Pat still was quite picky in deciding which shows he wanted to air on WYAH such as NO to "All In the Family", "Good Times" or even "Love, American Style"..much less Benny Hill. Come to think of it I don't think WYAH even aired "MASH" back then. Anyway because of Pat's actions..this more/less led the way for Norfolk to get its second independent station in the 70's..that being WTVZ channel 33 which signed on the air in 1979.

 

[Markd]

You're right; TV 27 did not have shows like MASH or All In The Family. Those shows in many markets were on NBC, ABC, or CBS affiliates. They were about 90 % Christian on Sunday, with the other 10 % or so being public affairs non religious shows. But this was only until September of 1980. Beginning then, WYAH was Christian until Noon and secular from Noon to about 7 PM. Some thought this was because of Channel 33's sign on, but sister stations in Dallas, Atlanta, and Boston also began secular shows for about 7 hours on SUndays as well, so this practice ended company wide. Actually by 1983, WYAH was secular by 10 AM on Sunday.

RObertson was picky about what was run, but not unusually different from most stations. SHows like Flintstones, Brady Bunch, Gilligan's Island, Munsters, Star Trek, Bugs Bunny, Little Rascals, I Love Lucy, Leave It To Beaver, and many others ran on the station.

They never ran the shows you mentioned but did run The Jeffersons from 1981 to the 90's (they were CBN owned until 1989), WKRP In Cincinnati from 1982 to the early 90's, What's Happening (similar to Good Times in scope so I believe they did not run Good Times because they were outbidded for that show) by 1985, Barney Miller, and a few others. The only unusual thing on TV 27 was the fact they were all religious SUndays only.

 

[mleach]

You're right; TV 27 did not have shows like MASH or All In The Family. Those shows in many markets were on NBC, ABC, or CBS affiliates. They were about 90 % Christian on Sunday, with the other 10 % or so being public affairs non religious shows. But this was only until September of 1980. Beginning then, WYAH was Christian until Noon and secular from Noon to about 7 PM. Some thought this was because of Channel 33's sign on, but sister stations in Dallas, Atlanta, and Boston also began secular shows for about 7 hours on SUndays as well, so this practice ended company wide. Actually by 1983, WYAH was secular by 10 AM on Sunday.

RObertson was picky about what was run, but not unusually different from most stations. SHows like Flintstones, Brady Bunch, Gilligan's Island, Munsters, Star Trek, Bugs Bunny, Little Rascals, I Love Lucy, Leave It To Beaver, and many others ran on the station.

They never ran the shows you mentioned but did run The Jeffersons from 1981 to the 90's (they were CBN owned until 1989), WKRP In Cincinnati from 1982 to the early 90's, What's Happening (similar to Good Times in scope so I believe they did not run Good Times because they were outbidded for that show) by 1985, Barney Miller, and a few others. The only unusual thing on TV 27 was the fact they were all religious SUndays only.

The interesting thing about Pat Robertson's decision about adding secular programming to WYAH in the early 70's was that the decision was the key reason why Jim Bakker would leave WYAH/CBN to go on to form the PTL Club/Heritage USA as Bakker felt that WYAH should stay all relgious all the time and not "go Hollywood" which in itself is very ironic considering the number of "Hollywood stars" who had appeared with the Bakker on PTL not too mention the couple was very friendly with the Hollywood jet set as well ( for example Jim & Tammy Faye Bakker for years were very good friends with Sonny & Cher, before and after the Bonos had divorced ).

I can remember when WYAH had aired" WKRP" and "The Jeffersons" At the time I was confused not to mention surprised..thinking "This is owned by CBN ?" But looking back now..ah yeah..its all about the money. Even though I may not agree with Pat Robertson's politics, I have to admit he was a clever businessman. Despite CBN being "Christian owned", by mixing in secular programming with religious content..Pat was able to get a TON of cash for his stations and CBN Cable Network not too mention breaking the image to viewers of being "The God Channel", no more different than TBN. Had he kept all of his stations and CBN Network totally religious 24/7 chances are he would had to settle for far less moneywhen he would sell them not too mention it would be difficult for a new owner to transform a channel that was all religion to an all secular one. Not impossible of course but it can be difficult.

 

[azumanga]

The interesting thing about Pat Robertson's decision about adding secular programming to WYAH in the early 70's was that the decision was the key reason why Jim Bakker would leave WYAH/CBN to go on to form the PTL Club/Heritage USA as Bakker felt that WYAH should stay all relgious all the time and not "go Hollywood" which in itself is very ironic considering the number of "Hollywood stars" who had appeared with the Bakker on PTL not too mention the couple was very friendly with the Hollywood jet set as well...

Though before the Bakkers formed PTL, they helped established TBN with the Crouches in the early-1970s, before they parted ways and the Bakkers struck on their own.

 

[bpatrick]

IIRC, "Love, Sidney" aired on both WAVY Norfolk
(Robertson's bailiwick) and WSLS Roanoke (Falwell's).
I think the decision to downplay the gay angle and
make Sidney more of a lonely middle-aged guy was
the result of audience feedback from places other
than Virginia; like, perhaps, the other 49 states.

Although "Sidney" wasn't a terrible show, I still think
the best post-"Odd Couple" work Randall did was "The
Tony Randall Show" (1976-78), where he played an
acerbic judge. Definitely worth searching out.

 

[mleach]

IIRC, "Love, Sidney" aired on both WAVY Norfolk
(Robertson's bailiwick) and WSLS Roanoke (Falwell's).
I think the decision to downplay the gay angle and
make Sidney more of a lonely middle-aged guy was
the result of audience feedback from places other
than Virginia; like, perhaps, the other 49 states.

While I do agree with you , unfortunately Virginia will always get the rap only because the state IS the home of Pat Robertson and Liberty University ( Jerry Falwell's people ), so whenever a show gets pre-empted ( which of course wasn't the case of Love, Sidney" ) or a rock song doesn't get played on the radio within Virginia ( or even outside Virginia ) many people are quick to jump the gun and assume right off the bat that Robertson and/or Liberty was behind it . And this sort of thing continues way beyond TV & radio too such as the decision by Southwest Airlines last summer to discontinue non-stop flights from Norfolk to Las Vegas and the airline's decision to not offer non-stop flights to its Denver hub from Norfolk..why many folks around Hampton Roads really believed that Pat Roberston had put pressue on Southwest and Norfolk International Airport to stop the flights because Pat felt that Las Vegas and Denver were "cities full of sinful behavior and the people who live there will burn in hell". Some of this crap actually made it to the Norfolk Virginian Pilot forums some months back until the newspaper did the wise thing and deleted the thread.

 

[jwk1979]

WKCH Channel 43 apparently had not started at that point

No, channel 43 didn't come into being until January 1984. And it was at least a month after their debut in January 1984 before the local cable companies picked them up (their again, the cable companies that serves Knoxville area have also under gone various name changes). I don't remember what their first call letters were, but they have had several over the course of their existance.

I remember when channel 10 aired the 3-D movie "Gorilla At Large". You had to go to McDonald's to purchase the 3-D glasses in order to view the movie in 3-D, with all the procedes going to MDA. Channel 10 was the home to the Jerry Lewis MDA Labor Day Telethon at the time.

 

[Markd]

Actually Jim Bakker and Tammy left CBN and TV 27 in the late winter of 1973 right after the station expanded from signing on at 2 pm and off by Midnight to signing on at 10 am and off at 1 am. Until then they were 700 Club from night before at 2 pm, a mis of family dramas and comedies till 5, Bugs Bunny at 5, New Zoo Revue at 530, Jim & Tammy at 6, a couple secular shows at 7, Christian shows at 8, and 700 Club live at 11. When they expanded to a 10 am sign on shows like Beaver, Flipper, Lassie, Fury, Roy Rogers, Bugs Bunny, and a couple others were joined by Popeye, Little Rascals, Dennis The Menace, Gilligan's Island, Father Knows Best, Riflemen, and a few others as well as a few hundred old movies. The GM decided at the time to only have Jim & Tammy do a weekend show and host the kids shows, and put Gilligan's Island and another sitcom on at 6 pm weeknights. Bakker insisted on remaining on his timeslot. Pat Robertson refused to override the decision and agreed to move the station into a general entertainment format and an expanded broadcast day. The Fall of 73 shows liek Flintstones, Star Trek, Dick Van Dyke, Hogan's Heroes, Get Smart, Yogi Bear, and a bunch of others were added and the station began 630 AM sign on with cartoons till 9, sitcoms till 10, 700 Club now live at 10 AM not PM, New Zoo Revue at noon, westerns till 230, cartoons till 5, sitcoms till 7, drama shows till 9, 700 Club at 9 PM, and a mix of old movies and drama shows late at night. By 1976, WYAH had Brady Bunch, Odd COuple, I Love Lucy, and eventually Tom & Jerry. Bakker felt that an expanded broadcast day should mean more time for his show, not less. He and Tammy went to California and joined Paul Crouch to launch TBN in march of 1973.

How he began PTL was another story. Ted Turner's 36 WRET Charlotte had been signing on at noon. Turner wanted to add a morning cartoon block so he did from 7 to 9 am. because mid mornings were a hard sell, he sold the 9 am slot to Pat Robertson for his 700 Club, and filled remaining time with public affairs shows till noon. This began around 1971. Movies aired at noon, comedy shows till 3, cartoons till 5, comedy shows till 7, drama shows till 9, a movie at 9, and a mix of drama shows and movies late night till about 1 or 2 AM when the station signed off. Turner had 17 WTCG Atlanta (now WPCH eventually WTBS). That station focused on movies, sitcoms, drama shows, and cartoons and was on the air about 20 hours a day. Meanwhile CBN signed on Channel 46 WHAE in 1971. That station was on the air 4 hours a day with only Christian programming. By 1972 the station was on the air 6 hours a day with an hour of secular shows (Fury and Of Land & Seas), and Christian the rest of the day. Turner had no problem with this. Robertson swore he had no plans to change formats on WHAE. Meanwhile TV 27 WYAH was evolving into a full blown independent station and completed the transition in Fall of 1973. In Dallas CBN had a 6 hour a day station on TV 33. A secular station across town on TV 39 was donated to CBN with programming included in 1973, of at which time 33 KXTX moved to TV 39 and combined assets and also became a full time independent that fall. Still as late as 1974, 46 WHAE Atlanta was still only on the air 7 hours a day with Christian shows over 5 hours a day. That Fall, though WHAE expanded to 14 hours a day with Secular shows 8 hours a day from noon to 8. Ted Turner was livid. He claimed Atlanta could only support one independent station and his WTCG was making only modest money and with 46 competing, Channel 17 would lose money. Out of Anger, he dumped the 700 Club in Charlotte and reverted 36 WRET to an 11 AM sign on again dumping the morning cartoons at least temporarily. Turner needed a show to replace 700 Club to resume 6 AM sign on so in the fall of 74 he approached Jim Bakker and offered to give him the time in return for a percentage of his donations. Jim & Tammy bakker left TBN fall of 1974. Turner would lend Jim Bakker a studio at WRET Charlotte and in the late fall of 1974 PTL Club was born. Bakker eventually raised enough money to get his own studio and more in a couple years. So PTL began as a result of Ted Turner dumping 700 Club on his WRET 36. WRET incidentally got NBC affiliation in 1978 when WSOC dumped NBC for ABC. 18 WCCB lost ABC and was left an independent and took 700 Club and some of WRET's shows. Turner sold WRET to Westinghouse and the station became WPCQ in 1980 to fund CNN. TV 36 was sold to renaissance in 1987 and to Providence Journal in 1990 and renamed WCNC, then sold to Belo, thene merged with gannett.

 

[gr8oldies]

Going way back to the beginning of the thread, I hadn't realized until this past weekend that Bob Braun's 50-50 Club aired on WBIR. One-time 50-50 Club cast member Rob Reider is now a renowned air show announcer, and he was here (and on WBIR) for last weekend's Smoky Mountain Air Show.

 

[FreddyE1977]

Turner needed a show to replace 700 Club to resume 6 AM sign on so in the fall of 74 he approached Jim Bakker and offered to give him the time in return for a percentage of his donations. Jim & Tammy bakker left TBN fall of 1974. Turner would lend Jim Bakker a studio at WRET Charlotte and in the late fall of 1974 PTL Club was born. Bakker eventually raised enough money to get his own studio and more in a couple years. So PTL began as a result of Ted Turner dumping 700 Club on his WRET 36.

That's very interesting, given that Ted Turner is reputedly a man who is hostile to Christianity in particular, and organized religion in general. Stuart Varney tells some awful tales of personal abuse he took from Turner for his Christian beliefs while working at CNN.

 

[RyanHoward]

Channel 61 WRIP was one wierd station. It seemed to be a very weak independent from 1974 to about 1978. Just as you think it could not get worse, by the summer of 1981, the station had mostly unusual religious shows that appeared to be locally produced with a few very low budget secular shows mixed in. I cannot see why as the only independent station, that this station was so badly run. Its run as if its a fourth independent station and there are three others.

Anyhow, I would like to see retro schedules with this station of the following:

1. Weekdays and weekends fall of 1979
2. Weekdays and Weekends fall of 1980
3. Saturday in May of 1981
4. Weekdays and weekends fall of 1981
5. Weekends Summer 1982
6. Weekdays and Weekends October of 1982
7. Weekdays and Weekends April of 1983 (by then WDSI)
8. Weekdays and Weekends October 1983.

At the same time, maybe post it with a retro Atlanta schedule.

I actually have a TV Guide from Atlanta from July of 1984 with WDSI included. At that point, they were still an also ran but at least they were mediocre and getting better.

Thanks

I would also like to see some listings from WINT-TV 20(and before that, WCPT-TV 55) from Crossville, TN, near Knoxville.

 

[ftballfan]

That's very interesting, given that Ted Turner is reputedly a man who is hostile to Christianity in particular, and organized religion in general. Stuart Varney tells some awful tales of personal abuse he took from Turner for his Christian beliefs while working at CNN.

Money talks!

 

[fotomac]

If I may over here (I'm actually pretty new here, remember, and I was directed to this subforum), could someone post any TV listings for Knoxville from anywhere between 1992 and 1996? Thanks!

 

[RyanHoward]

Please post listings for Saturday 8/28/1982 and Sunday 8/29/1982.

 

[marklungo]

WKCH Channel 43 apparently had not started at that point

According to its Wikipedia entry, the station (now known as WTNZ) premiered on New Year's Eve, 1983.