Retro: Mississippi - Saturday, 08/03/1974

[rwells2265]

[source: TV Guide, Mississippi edition]

Oddly enough, this edition lists every station in Mississippi, EXCEPT WCBI-4 (CBS) in Columbus.
Channels listed for Mississippi ETV are:
2: WMAB / Ackerman (actual COL: State University)
14: WMAW / Meridian
17: WMAU / Bude
29: WMAA (WMPN) / Jackson (flagship)

ETV repeaters not indicated:
18: WMAV / Oxford-University
19: WMAH / Biloxi
23: WMAO / Greenwood

===
WMAE-12 in Booneville would sign on the following Sunday, August 11 (there's a full-page ad promoting the ceremony at NE Miss. Jr. College in Booneville)
===

Jackson:
WLBT-3 (NBC)

630 Across the Fence
700 Lidsville
730 Addams Family
800 Emergency Plus 4
830 Inch High Private Eye
900 Sigmund
930 Pink Panther
1000 Star Trek
1030 Butch Cassidy
1100 Jetsons
1130 24-Karat Black Gold ["Go" preempted]
1200 News
1215 Mississippi Window
1230 Inquiry
100 Baseball pre-game show
115 Baseball: Orioles v. Tigers
400 Death Valley Days
430 Pumoja
500 That Good Ole Nashville Music
530 NBC News (Tom Brokaw)
600 Bobby Goldsboro (guest: Ann Murray)
630 Weekend 3
700 Movie: "Honky Tonk"
830 Movie: "The Girl on the Late, Late Show"
1000 News (local)
1015 Movie: "Crack in the Mirror"
###

WJTV-12 (CBS)

530 Summer Semester
600 Thrillseekers
630 Agriculture USA
700 Hair Bear Bunch
730 Sabrina
800 Movie: Scooby Doo with Harlem Globetrotters
900 My Favorite Martians
930 Jeannie
1000 Speed Buggy
1030 Josie and the Pussycats
1100 Pebbles and Bamm Bamm
1130 Fat Albert
1200 CBS Childrens Film Festival ("Mr. Horatio Knibbles")
100 Tarzan
200 Wrestling
300 Movie (to be announced)
500 Porter Wagoner
530 CBS News (Dan Rather)
600 Hee Haw
700 All in the Family
730 M*A*S*H
800 Mary Tyler Moore
830 Bob Newhart
900 Barnaby Jones
1000 News (local)
1030 Movie: "Atlantis, the Lost Continent"
###

WAPT-16 (ABC)

700 Bugs Bunny
730 Yogi's Gang
800 Super Friends
900 Lassie's Rescue Rangers
930 Goober
1000 Brady Kids
1030 Mission: Magic
1100 Movie: "Lost In Space" (animated)
1200 American Bandstand (Fanny; Freddie Cannon)
100 Jobie Martin
130 Sound Off
200 Jaycee Forum
230 Movie: "A Degree of Murder"
400 Wide World of Sports
530 Reasoner Report
600 Doc Elliot
700 Partridge Family
730 Movie: "Death Squad"
900 Owen Marshall
1000 ABC News
1015 Movie: "House of Dracula"
###

Mississippi ETV

1155 Art for the Day
1200 On Job Training
1230 Your Future is Now
100 Kaleidoscope
200 Speaking Freely
300 Mister Rogers' Neighborhood
330 Bicycle Championship (Nat'l Bicycle Track Championships)
500 Electric Company
530 Your Future is Now
600 Audubon Wildlife
630 French Chef
700 The Session (music program - Dub Crouch, Norman Ford & The Bluegrass Rounders)
730 Washington Debates (Analysis of energy crisis - Sen Clifford Hansen [R-Wyo], Rep. Morris Udall [D-Wash.] and oil exec. Charles E. Spahr)
830 Day at Night
900 Movie: "Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo"
1030 Job Bank
1040 Art for the Day
###

WTOK-11 / Meridian (CBS, ABC) - listed as ABC secondary, although no ABC programs are listed for the entire week

625 News
630 Summer Semester
700 Hair Bear Bunch
730 Sabrina
800 "Movie" - Scooby Doo with Harlem Globetrotters
900 My Favorite Martians
930 Jeannie
1000 Speed Buggy
1030 Josie and the Pussycats
1100 Pebbles and Bamm Bamm
1130 Fat Albert
1200 CBS Childrens Film Festival ("Mr. Horatio Knibbles")
100 Hazel
130 Route 66
230 It Takes a Thief
330 Movie (to be announced)
515 Marian Institute [this might be a typo if it refers to the military school not too far away in Marion, Ala.]
530 CBS News (Dan Rather)
600 The Waltons [tape delay from previous Thursday]
700 All in the Family
730 M*A*S*H
800 Mary Tyler Moore
830 Bob Newhart
900 Barnaby Jones
1000 Hudson Brothers [tape delay from previous Wednesday]
1100 Gulf Coast Wrestling
1200 News (local)
###

WABG-6 / Greenwood (ABC)

700 Bugs Bunny
730 Yogi's Gang
800 Super Friends
900 Lassie's Rescue Rangers
930 Goober
1000 Brady Kids
1030 Mission: Magic
1100 Movie: "Lost In Space" (animated)
1200 American Bandstand (Fanny; Freddie Cannon)
100 Championship Wrestling
200 Outdoors (Bill Dance)
230 Movie (to be announced)
330 Across the Fence
400 Wide World of Sports
530 Reasoner Report
600 Lawrence Welk
700 Partridge Family
730 Movie: "Death Squad"
900 Owen Marshall
1000 ABC News
1015 News (local)
1030 Art Instruction School [You have five minutes to draw Tippy the Turtle!]
1035 Mississippi Game and Fish
1050 Movie: "The Private War of Major Benson"
###

WLOX-13 / Biloxi (ABC)

700 Bugs Bunny
730 Yogi's Gang
800 Super Friends
900 Lassie's Rescue Rangers
930 Goober
1000 Brady Kids
1030 Mission: Magic
1100 Movie: "Lost In Space" (animated)
1200 American Bandstand (Fanny; Freddie Cannon)
100 Untamed World
130 That Good Ole Nashville Music
200 R.E.A.C.T.
230 Movie: "The Red Stallion"
400 Wide World of Sports
530 Reasoner Report
600 News (local)
630 Bobby Goldsboro
700 Partridge Family
730 Movie: "Death Squad"
900 Owen Marshall
1000 ABC News
1015 News (local)
1030 Gulf Coast Wrestling
1130 Movie: "Ruthless"
###

WDAM-7 / Hattiesburg (NBC)

640 Three Stooges
700 Lidsville
730 Addams Family
800 Emergency Plus 4
830 Inch High Private Eye
900 Sigmund
930 Pink Panther
1000 Star Trek
1030 Butch Cassidy
1100 Jetsons
1130 Go
1200 Spotlight on Music
1215 Way of Life
1230 Flying Nun
100 Baseball pre-game show
115 Baseball: Orioles v. Tigers
400 Wrestling
500 Untamed World
530 NBC News (Tom Brokaw)
600 Hee Haw
700 Movie: "Honky Tonk"
830 Movie: "The Girl on the Late, Late Show"
1000 News (local)
1030 Movie: "The Bad and the Beautiful"
###

WTWV (WTVA)-9 / Tupelo (NBC)

700 Lidsville
730 Addams Family
800 Emergency Plus 4
830 Inch High Private Eye
900 Sigmund
930 Pink Panther
1000 Star Trek
1030 Butch Cassidy
1100 Jetsons
1130 Go
1200 Wrestling
100 Baseball pre-game show
115 Baseball: Orioles v. Tigers
400 Wilburn Brothers
430 Porter Wagoner
500 That Good Ole Nashville Music
530 NBC News (Tom Brokaw)
600 Hee Haw
700 Movie: "Honky Tonk"
830 Movie: "The Girl on the Late, Late Show"
1000 Chase [NBC show - tape delayed from previous week]
1100 Movie: "Saturday's Hero"
###

 

[Mike Stroud]

Thanks! Thanks! Thanks! You have filled in a major piece of the American TV Guide historical puzzle with these skeds. You have in your possession an edition that has to be the rarest available, a pre-1980s Mississippi edition. As I promised you earlier, I would like to return the favor. Email me at [email protected] if you have a particular sked you would like posted and I will see if I can fill the request. Again, thanks so much!

 

[rwells2265]

Glad I could be of service! I long thought that issue was MIA, but I went searching for it the last time this was brought up ... and it turned up in a stray box. Hadn't seen it in at least 10 years.

Anything from the mid to late '60s - especially pre-forfeit WLBT - I'd love to see.

I have Jackson and Meridian listings from 1960 somewhere. I'll post those when I get a chance.

--Russell

 

[Charles1]

RE: Missing WCBI listings...

Were the Memphis and Northern Alabama (Birmingham-Huntsville) editions the only editions that included the listings for Channel 4? It would make sense, in a way, since AFIK the Memphis edition was always the de facto "home" edition for northern Mississippi, wasn't it?

 

[briancraig]

WCBI was not listed in the Memphis edition until 1984 or 1985.

 

[Mike Stroud]

As one who grew up in the Northern Alabama TV Guide territory, I always remember WCBI being listed (at least since 1972, the earliest copy in my collection), as its signal reached a fair portion of extreme west central Alabama (Columbus is only 7-10 miles from the Alabama border). The question becomes important for the Mississippi edition since WTWV (now WTVA) in Tupelo, located north of Columbus, was listed. The answer is that WTWV had a translator in Meridian on channel 24, now a full-power CBS affiliate with the callsign WMDN; hence it needed to be listed for the central Mississippi viewers reading the edition. The dividing line of the Mississippi and Memphis territory would have been, I suspect, along U.S. Highway 82, extending westward from Columbus to Greenville, in the Mississippi Delta.

This leaves the question of the eastern, southern, and western boundaries. From what I can gather, the area around Demopolis, Alabama was in the Meridian market, so stores in those counties probably sold the Mississippi edition. The Jackson stations' signals reached over the Mississippi River into extreme northeastern Louisiana (the area along U.S. Highway 65), but the southermost tier of counties (towns like Woodville and McComb) going eastward from the river certainly received either Baton Rouge or New Orleans stations, so viewers there got either the Louisiana (probably Wilkinson, Amite and Pike counties) or Gulf Coast (Walthall and Marion counties) editions. And, of course, the counties along Mississippi's Gulf Coast, who could receive either New Orleans or Mobile in addition to Hattiesburg's WDAM and Biloxi's WLOX, got the Gulf Coast edition. WLOX was listed mainly for Mississippi edition viewers in the "Pine Belt" region around Hattiesburg.

Anybody have any memories to prove my speculations?

 

[Mike Stroud]

One more observation: I notice an interesting pattern concerning the half-hour syndicated country music shows that were a Saturday staple of Southern stations (and small market ones elsewhere) during this period. One would expect that all the commercial stations would load up the 4-7 p.m. block with the likes of Porter Wagoner, the Wilburn Brothers, and the other shows produced by Nashville's Show-Biz, Inc. (some of whose catalog is now owned by Willie Nelson).

But we find that, in Jackson, other than "Hee Haw" on WJTV at 6, only one appears apiece on WLBT and WJTV and none on WAPT (unless "Jobie Martin" at 1 p.m. was a local country show); further, they both run against each other at 5, forcing country music fans to choose. WABG in Greenwood does not air country at all on Saturday, deferring "Hee Haw" until Sunday evening. It is only, shockingly, as you go northward in the state that you find a typical Southern country music Saturday evening supper: WTWV ran a full three-hour block, stopping only at 5:30 for the NBC newscast.

I have a theory to explain that, and I hope it does not offend anybody. The Jackson market of southwestern Mississippi and the Mississippi Delta had (and still have), as we know, among the highest percentages of African-American residents. By contrast, the hill country in northeastern Mississippi, which was traditionally an area of small farmers and relatively little slavery, had a predominantly white population where country and bluegrass music had been a cultural tradition for generations (hence WTWV's block). Station managers knew these demographic differences instinctively (no market research necessary) and took them into account when purchasing and scheduling shows.

Some more proof: WLBT aired a program at 4:30 p.m. titled "Pumoja." The word is part of Swahili (African) phrase "Kujenga Pumoja," which means in English "together we build." That program could not have been anything other than an African-American public affairs show, one of the numerous attempts the transitional ownership of WLBT made to improve service to the black community in light of previous owner Lamar's segregationist practices in the past. In the 1960s, I would bet you even money the station scheduled some local or syndicated country show in that slot. The effects of the license controversy at WLBT had far-reaching effects not only on that station, but on the TV business in that swath of the country.

 

[briancraig]

I've wondered how common it was for stations to air a whole block on Saturday afternoon of the Show-Biz country shows. WMC here in Memphis aired a block of those shows from the 1960s into the 1980s. In the early years, they also had a local country show, The Rhodes Show as part of the block. WSM in Nashville did the same thing.

I vaguely recall that KARK in Little Rock also followed the WMC/WSM pattern of airing several country shows after the NBC Baseball Game of the Week. But in most retro listings, it appears that a station aired only one of these shows.

 

[Charles1]

WAPI-TV (now WVTM) in Birmingham aired the Wilburn Brothers, Porter Waggoner and That Good Ole Nashville Music from 4:00-5:30 on Saturday for years, taking a break from the hoedown at 5:30 for NBC News, then airing Hee Haw at 6:00 (of course, Hee Haw didn't come into play until the early '70's).

 

[rwells2265]

WCBI was not listed in the Memphis edition until 1984 or 1985.

Which puzzled me to no end!! WCBI had a presence on Tupelo's cable system ... a fuzzy signal, to be sure ... but it was always there. Another baffling omission for the longest time was WABG-6/Greenwood.

The Memphis edition should have had those, plus Little Rock, Paducah and Cape Girardeau -- perhaps even Nashville -- given the far reach of the Memphis viewing area. The Arkansas edition never had Jonesboro or Memphis, even though there was substantial overlap between the Memphis and Little Rock markets.

--Russell

 

[rwells2265]

As one who grew up in the Northern Alabama TV Guide territory, I always remember WCBI being listed (at least since 1972, the earliest copy in my collection), as its signal reached a fair portion of extreme west central Alabama (Columbus is only 7-10 miles from the Alabama border).

In the '70s WCBI-4 was on Jasper's cable system (Walker County). Huntsville, Tuscaloosa and (of course) Birmingham were on there, as well. But not Tupelo.

The question becomes important for the Mississippi edition since WTWV (now WTVA) in Tupelo, located north of Columbus, was listed. The answer is that WTWV had a translator in Meridian on channel 24, now a full-power CBS affiliate with the callsign WMDN; hence it needed to be listed for the central Mississippi viewers reading the edition. The dividing line of the Mississippi and Memphis territory would have been, I suspect, along U.S. Highway 82, extending westward from Columbus to Greenville, in the Mississippi Delta.

I've never thought about the US-82 line being important in that way, but you're on to something. And yes, I can see how WTWV would've been listed for the reason of the repeater in Meridian ... which was a full (if flea-powered) station. The calls were WHTV. I remember the station ID from my earlier days in Tupelo, in Ed Bishop's booming voice ... "WTWV, Channel 9, Tupelo ... also on Channel 24, WHTV, Meridian"

This leaves the question of the eastern, southern, and western boundaries. From what I can gather, the area around Demopolis, Alabama was in the Meridian market, so stores in those counties probably sold the Mississippi edition.

I'm not for certain which edition went to Demopolis. Meridian has always been a factor, to be sure, but Birmingham has long been on the cable in the region ... and I'm told 5 and 10 from Mobile were carried via cable. Montgomery would become a factor in 1977 when WSFA-12 put up their 2000' tower.

--Russell

 

[rwells2265]

One more observation: I notice an interesting pattern concerning the half-hour syndicated country music shows that were a Saturday staple of Southern stations (and small market ones elsewhere) during this period.

I've never analyzed the situation as it was in the various markets where I've lived (Alabama, Mississippi, Missouri, Arkansas, Georgia), but now you've got me wanting to. (being a geek sure is hell) ;D

I have a theory to explain that, and I hope it does not offend anybody. The Jackson market of southwestern Mississippi and the Mississippi Delta had (and still have), as we know, among the highest percentages of African-American residents. By contrast, the hill country in northeastern Mississippi, which was traditionally an area of small farmers and relatively little slavery, had a predominantly white population where country and bluegrass music had been a cultural tradition for generations (hence WTWV's block). Station managers knew these demographic differences instinctively (no market research necessary) and took them into account when purchasing and scheduling shows.

As I see it, there's no offense in the facts. Absolutely, there's a world's difference between Greenwood and Tupelo!

Some more proof: WLBT aired a program at 4:30 p.m. titled "Pumoja." The word is part of Swahili (African) phrase "Kujenga Pumoja," which means in English "together we build." That program could not have been anything other than an African-American public affairs show, one of the numerous attempts the transitional ownership of WLBT made to improve service to the black community......

Agreed, without having so much as seen it! Another example of such programming by the "new" WLBT was the 'Romper Room'-style daytime show Our Playmates.

.......in light of previous owner Lamar's segregationist practices in the past.

In the 1960s, I would bet you even money the station scheduled some local or syndicated country show in that slot.

Now I REALLY want to find those microfilm printouts to see just what WLBT and WJTV aired in those timeslots. As for Lamar Life, what reading I've done and informal research (I spent a day at the Jackson library in 2000 trying to find some nuggets to those ends), all point to the flagrant stuff, i.e. "technical difficulties" during 'objectionable' content, plus the Today Show disclaimer ("What you are about to see is biased and managed Northern news. Stay tuned at 7:25 for your LOCAL Mississippi news.") long gone by the end of the '60s.

My impression is that when WLBT was issued the 'short-term' renewal in '65, the lawyers for Lamar Life started backseat-driving operations perhaps thinking "we dodged a bullet, we might not be so lucky next time", and for the most part cleaned up their act. One big action was throwing Fred Beard overboard.

By 1969, Lamar Life - under a more 'progressive' manager - was trying to be a better citizen, but the damage was already done.

One positive thing came from WLBT's forfeiture: the interim management (Communications Improvement, Inc.) was a nonprofit entity and a substantial portion of all profits generated from Channel 3 went straight to the coffers of the newly-formed Mississippi Authority for Educational Television. Miss. ETV's first station signed on in 1970, with the other repeaters powering up between 1971 and 1974.

Furthermore, Lamar Life didn't exactly suffer when the license for WLBT was pulled. For one thing, they still OWNED the physical assets of Channel 3 -- they just lost the license! And as long as the station was under 'caretaker' operations, there was going to be no investment in equipment by those interim "owners."

What it amounted to was, Lamar Life was the landlord, and CII paid them rent. One curious item I read from 1973 was that Lamar Life Insurance was making more money through the rent payments than they ever did operating the station themselves ... and without the headaches!! :-\

It wasn't until 1980, when Civic Communications was chosen as permanent licensee, before Lamar Life was completely out of the picture when the company bought all the tangible assets of Channel 3 from LL.

The effects of the license controversy at WLBT had far-reaching effects not only on that station, but on the TV business in that swath of the country.

Did it ever!

What happened, no doubt, was the Fear of Jesus rolling like thunder across the landscape of the South ... and beyond.

And I get the feeling its aftermath didn't exactly hinder the fortunes of a young fellow named Don Cornelius..... ;D

*********
Two books which shed a great deal of light in the Jackson television upheavals are: Changing Channels by Kay Mills and Watching Jim Crow: The Struggles over Mississippi TV, 1955-1969 by Stephen Classen. Both are hard to put down once you start.

--Russell