Per special request from bp, with a look at another market on Christmas Day 1975, 36 years ago, in the age when the Big Three and PBS were all one had and stations didn't show "Miracle on 34th Street" and "It's a Wonderful Life" 46 times between Thanksgiving and Christmas.
Nashville, Tennessee
(2) WNGE (ABC; now WKRN on digital 27; PSIP 2)
(4) WSM (NBC; now WSMV on digital 10; PSIP 4)
(5) WTVF (CBS; now digital 5; PSIP same)
(8) WDCN (PBS; now WNPT on digital 8; PSIP same)
Bowling Green, Kentucky:
(13) WBKO (ABC; now digital 13; PSIP same)
(E) stations of Kentucky Educational Television on channels 21, 23, 29, 35, and 53; for information on current and past translators of KET, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kentucky_Educational_Television
MORNING
5:15 a.m.
(5) Country Journal
5:30
(5) Carl Tipton--local country/bluegrass music show
5:45
(4) WSM Weather
5:55
(4) Morning Devotion
5:55
(4) Job Market--local employment bulletin board
6:00
(2) Good Morning, America--David Hartman (note WNGE carrying the Eastern feed)
(4) Ralph Emery Show
(5) CBS Morning News--Hughes Rudd, anchor
6:45
(13) WBKO News
7:00
(2) Bozo Show--unsure if still local (almost certainly was in the past)
(4) Today Show--Jim Hartz, Barbara Walters
(5) Mornings on 5--local
(13) Good Morning, America
7:55
(5) Coffee with Dorinda--local women's show; possibly about cooking
8:00
(2) New Zoo Revue
(5) Captain Kangaroo--Christmas operetta titled "The Harp, the Bread and the Candles"
(8) Sesame Street
8:30
(2) I Dream of Jeannie
(13) Family Christmas--WBKO staff appear in this local special, with music (replay from previous evening)
9:00
(2) Mike Douglas (60-minute version)
(4) Christmas Day Service--NBC coverage of worship from the Washington National Cathedral (Episcopal)
(5) Price is Right--had expanded to an hour the previous month
(8) Sesame Street
10:00
(2) (13) Christmas on Historic Hill--ABC special featuring worship from Trinity Episcopal Church in Newport, Rhode Island with participants dressed in Colonial costumes and singing music from that era
(4) Celebrity Sweepstakes--normally aired at 9 a.m., with the hour-long "Wheel of Fortune" at 9:30; special charity show
(5) Gambit
(8) Electric Company
10:30
(4) Hollywood Squares
(5) Love of Life
(8) Carrascolendas
10:55
(5) CBS News--Douglas Edwards, anchor (probably a substitute today)
11:00
(2) WNGE News
(4) High Rollers
(5) Young and the Restless
(8) Vegetable Soup--PBS children's show
(13) Showoffs--next-to-last episode of ill-fated Goodson-Todman game; would return in 1984 on CBS under the title "Body Language"
11:30
(2) (13) All My Children--Christmas in Pine Valley (won't be any this year, though; this show is now history)
(4) Noon Show--local; Teddy Bart, Elaine Ganick, hosts
(5) Search for Tomorrow
(8) Travelogue
AFTERNOON
12:00 p.m.
(2) (13) Ryan's Hope
(5) Singing Convention--local; Southern Gospel music
(8) Great Performances--Arthur Rubenstein and the London Symphony Orchestra play works by Chopin (Andre Previn, conductor)
12:20
(5) WTVF Weather
12:25
(5) WTVF News
12:30
(2) (13) Let's Make a Deal--next-to-last day in historic time slot; would move to 11 a.m. Central next Monday
(4) Days of Our Lives
(5) As the World Turns--expanded to an hour just a few weeks earlier
1:00
(2) (13) $10,000 Pyramid--the Winner's Circle prize would double next month, and the show's title would change accordingly
(8) Christmas Candlelight Caroling Ceremony--James Irwin, who was an astronaut on the Apollo 15 (1971) flight, narrated this PBS special from Disneyland in California
1:30
(2) (13) Rhyme and Reason--moved to 12:30 p.m. the following Monday (to be succeeded in this slot by Regis Philbin's first national solo hosting gig on the game "The Neighbors")
(4) Doctors
(5) Guiding Light
(8) Metro Council Meeting--"Metro" referring to the unified metropolitan government of Nashville and Davidson County; WDCN carried live broadcasts of proceedings on alternating Tuesday nights for years
2:00
(2) (13) General Hospital
(4) Another World
(5) All in the Family--CBS rerun
(8) to be announced
2:30
(2) (13) One Life to Live--that life is about to end on January 13, bringing to a close a 43-year-run
(5) NBA Basketball--Kansas City (now Sacramento) Kings vs. Phoenix Suns
(8) That Touch of Spice--Christmas special (?)
3:00
(2) Andy Griffith
(4) Somerset
(8) (E) Mister Rogers' Neighborhood
(13) Edge of Night--had just moved to ABC at the first of the month, displaced by CBS' expansion of "As the World Turns"
3:30
(2) Green Acres
(4) Flintstones
(8) Across the Fence--probably children's show
(13) Three Stooges
(E) Sesame Street
4:00
(2) Big Valley
(4) Leave it to Beaver
(8) Carrascolendas
(13) Star Trek--the episode where the "colonizers from Andromeda" try to take over the Enterprise
4:30
(4) Lucy Show (1962-68; B&W episode)
(8) (E) Electric Company
(network news info courtesy of Vanderbilt TV News Archive: http://tvnews.vanderbilt.edu/)
5:00
(2) ABC Evening News--Harry Reasoner (Howard K. Smith had begun his semi-retirement by this point, only providing commentaries a few times a week)
(4) Family Affair
(5) Lone Ranger--rerun of Clayton Moore/1950s version; WTVF normally ran "Gilligan's Island" at 3:30 and a 90-minute movie at 4
(8) Sesame Street
(13) Flintstones
(E) Carrascolendas
5:25
(5) WTVF Weather
5:30
(2) WNGE News
(4) NBC Nightly News--John Chancellor
(5) CBS Evening News--Walter Cronkite
(13) ABC Evening News
(E) General Educational Development--KET was the producer of this national program (or at least was in later years)
EVENING
6:00
(2) Concentration--Jack Narz version
(4) WSM News
(5) WTVF News
(8) Black Perspective on the News
(13) WBKO News
(E) Cookin' Cajun--Justin Wilson's first PBS show featuring Louisiana cuisine
6:30
(2) Name That Tune--Tom Kennedy version
(5) To Tell the Truth--Henry Morgan, guest panelist
(8) Tennessee Outdoorsmen--long-running local hunting/fishing show
(13) Bewitched
(E) Snowy Stories--probably children's Christmas special
7:00
(2) (13) Barney Miller
(4) Grady--short-lived spinoff of "Sanford and Son," with Whitman Mayo in title role
(5) Waltons
(8) (E) Romantic Rebellion--BBC documentary, hosted by Kenneth Clark, better known for "Civilisation"
7:30
(2) (13) On the Rocks--little info available on this sitcom slop (anybody remember it?)
(4) Don Adams' Screen Test--syndie game hosted by "Get Smart" star where contestants vied for a bit part in an upcoming TV show or movie by auditioning scenes with guest stars
(8) Joy of Christmas--local special from Nashville's Cheekwood Botanical Gardens
(E) Music of Christmas--PBS special featuring the Mormon Youth Symphony and Chorus
8:00
(2) (13) Streets of San Francisco
(4) Ellery Queen--one-season adaptation of the famous series of mystery novels
(5) Movie--"The Robe," 1953
(8) Movie--"It's a Wonderful Life," 1946
(E) Hollywood Television Theatre--"The Lady's Not for Burning," by Christopher Fry
9:00
(2) (13) Harry O--David Janssen in critically-acclaimed but mediocre-rated show about disabled private eye
(4) Medical Story--probably a variation on David Gerber/Joseph Wambaugh's "Police Story;" anthology
9:45
(E) Film--short about a mountain-climber
10:00
(2) Adam-12
(4) WSM News
(5) WTVF News
(13) WBKO News
(E) Joyce Chen's China--documentary about a Chinese-American restaurant owner's journey to her ancestral land
10:30
(2) Movie--"Miracle in the Rain," 1956
(4) Tonight Show--John Davidson, guest host; Sam Levenson and Captain and Tennille, guests
(5) Ironside--rerun
(13) Mannix--ABC rerun (I think)
11:30
(5) Movie--"Great Expectations," English; 1946
(13) Longstreet--ABC rerun of 1971-72 crime drama
12:00 a.m.
(4) Tomorrow--Tom Snyder looks at American railroads
12:30
(2) PTL Club
Nashville, Tennessee
(2) WNGE (ABC; now WKRN on digital 27; PSIP 2)
(4) WSM (NBC; now WSMV on digital 10; PSIP 4)
(5) WTVF (CBS; now digital 5; PSIP same)
(8) WDCN (PBS; now WNPT on digital 8; PSIP same)
Bowling Green, Kentucky:
(13) WBKO (ABC; now digital 13; PSIP same)
(E) stations of Kentucky Educational Television on channels 21, 23, 29, 35, and 53; for information on current and past translators of KET, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kentucky_Educational_Television
MORNING
5:15 a.m.
(5) Country Journal
5:30
(5) Carl Tipton--local country/bluegrass music show
5:45
(4) WSM Weather
5:55
(4) Morning Devotion
5:55
(4) Job Market--local employment bulletin board
6:00
(2) Good Morning, America--David Hartman (note WNGE carrying the Eastern feed)
(4) Ralph Emery Show
(5) CBS Morning News--Hughes Rudd, anchor
6:45
(13) WBKO News
7:00
(2) Bozo Show--unsure if still local (almost certainly was in the past)
(4) Today Show--Jim Hartz, Barbara Walters
(5) Mornings on 5--local
(13) Good Morning, America
7:55
(5) Coffee with Dorinda--local women's show; possibly about cooking
8:00
(2) New Zoo Revue
(5) Captain Kangaroo--Christmas operetta titled "The Harp, the Bread and the Candles"
(8) Sesame Street
8:30
(2) I Dream of Jeannie
(13) Family Christmas--WBKO staff appear in this local special, with music (replay from previous evening)
9:00
(2) Mike Douglas (60-minute version)
(4) Christmas Day Service--NBC coverage of worship from the Washington National Cathedral (Episcopal)
(5) Price is Right--had expanded to an hour the previous month
(8) Sesame Street
10:00
(2) (13) Christmas on Historic Hill--ABC special featuring worship from Trinity Episcopal Church in Newport, Rhode Island with participants dressed in Colonial costumes and singing music from that era
(4) Celebrity Sweepstakes--normally aired at 9 a.m., with the hour-long "Wheel of Fortune" at 9:30; special charity show
(5) Gambit
(8) Electric Company
10:30
(4) Hollywood Squares
(5) Love of Life
(8) Carrascolendas
10:55
(5) CBS News--Douglas Edwards, anchor (probably a substitute today)
11:00
(2) WNGE News
(4) High Rollers
(5) Young and the Restless
(8) Vegetable Soup--PBS children's show
(13) Showoffs--next-to-last episode of ill-fated Goodson-Todman game; would return in 1984 on CBS under the title "Body Language"
11:30
(2) (13) All My Children--Christmas in Pine Valley (won't be any this year, though; this show is now history)
(4) Noon Show--local; Teddy Bart, Elaine Ganick, hosts
(5) Search for Tomorrow
(8) Travelogue
AFTERNOON
12:00 p.m.
(2) (13) Ryan's Hope
(5) Singing Convention--local; Southern Gospel music
(8) Great Performances--Arthur Rubenstein and the London Symphony Orchestra play works by Chopin (Andre Previn, conductor)
12:20
(5) WTVF Weather
12:25
(5) WTVF News
12:30
(2) (13) Let's Make a Deal--next-to-last day in historic time slot; would move to 11 a.m. Central next Monday
(4) Days of Our Lives
(5) As the World Turns--expanded to an hour just a few weeks earlier
1:00
(2) (13) $10,000 Pyramid--the Winner's Circle prize would double next month, and the show's title would change accordingly
(8) Christmas Candlelight Caroling Ceremony--James Irwin, who was an astronaut on the Apollo 15 (1971) flight, narrated this PBS special from Disneyland in California
1:30
(2) (13) Rhyme and Reason--moved to 12:30 p.m. the following Monday (to be succeeded in this slot by Regis Philbin's first national solo hosting gig on the game "The Neighbors")
(4) Doctors
(5) Guiding Light
(8) Metro Council Meeting--"Metro" referring to the unified metropolitan government of Nashville and Davidson County; WDCN carried live broadcasts of proceedings on alternating Tuesday nights for years
2:00
(2) (13) General Hospital
(4) Another World
(5) All in the Family--CBS rerun
(8) to be announced
2:30
(2) (13) One Life to Live--that life is about to end on January 13, bringing to a close a 43-year-run
(5) NBA Basketball--Kansas City (now Sacramento) Kings vs. Phoenix Suns
(8) That Touch of Spice--Christmas special (?)
3:00
(2) Andy Griffith
(4) Somerset
(8) (E) Mister Rogers' Neighborhood
(13) Edge of Night--had just moved to ABC at the first of the month, displaced by CBS' expansion of "As the World Turns"
3:30
(2) Green Acres
(4) Flintstones
(8) Across the Fence--probably children's show
(13) Three Stooges
(E) Sesame Street
4:00
(2) Big Valley
(4) Leave it to Beaver
(8) Carrascolendas
(13) Star Trek--the episode where the "colonizers from Andromeda" try to take over the Enterprise
4:30
(4) Lucy Show (1962-68; B&W episode)
(8) (E) Electric Company
(network news info courtesy of Vanderbilt TV News Archive: http://tvnews.vanderbilt.edu/)
5:00
(2) ABC Evening News--Harry Reasoner (Howard K. Smith had begun his semi-retirement by this point, only providing commentaries a few times a week)
(4) Family Affair
(5) Lone Ranger--rerun of Clayton Moore/1950s version; WTVF normally ran "Gilligan's Island" at 3:30 and a 90-minute movie at 4
(8) Sesame Street
(13) Flintstones
(E) Carrascolendas
5:25
(5) WTVF Weather
5:30
(2) WNGE News
(4) NBC Nightly News--John Chancellor
(5) CBS Evening News--Walter Cronkite
(13) ABC Evening News
(E) General Educational Development--KET was the producer of this national program (or at least was in later years)
EVENING
6:00
(2) Concentration--Jack Narz version
(4) WSM News
(5) WTVF News
(8) Black Perspective on the News
(13) WBKO News
(E) Cookin' Cajun--Justin Wilson's first PBS show featuring Louisiana cuisine
6:30
(2) Name That Tune--Tom Kennedy version
(5) To Tell the Truth--Henry Morgan, guest panelist
(8) Tennessee Outdoorsmen--long-running local hunting/fishing show
(13) Bewitched
(E) Snowy Stories--probably children's Christmas special
7:00
(2) (13) Barney Miller
(4) Grady--short-lived spinoff of "Sanford and Son," with Whitman Mayo in title role
(5) Waltons
(8) (E) Romantic Rebellion--BBC documentary, hosted by Kenneth Clark, better known for "Civilisation"
7:30
(2) (13) On the Rocks--little info available on this sitcom slop (anybody remember it?)
(4) Don Adams' Screen Test--syndie game hosted by "Get Smart" star where contestants vied for a bit part in an upcoming TV show or movie by auditioning scenes with guest stars
(8) Joy of Christmas--local special from Nashville's Cheekwood Botanical Gardens
(E) Music of Christmas--PBS special featuring the Mormon Youth Symphony and Chorus
8:00
(2) (13) Streets of San Francisco
(4) Ellery Queen--one-season adaptation of the famous series of mystery novels
(5) Movie--"The Robe," 1953
(8) Movie--"It's a Wonderful Life," 1946
(E) Hollywood Television Theatre--"The Lady's Not for Burning," by Christopher Fry
9:00
(2) (13) Harry O--David Janssen in critically-acclaimed but mediocre-rated show about disabled private eye
(4) Medical Story--probably a variation on David Gerber/Joseph Wambaugh's "Police Story;" anthology
9:45
(E) Film--short about a mountain-climber
10:00
(2) Adam-12
(4) WSM News
(5) WTVF News
(13) WBKO News
(E) Joyce Chen's China--documentary about a Chinese-American restaurant owner's journey to her ancestral land
10:30
(2) Movie--"Miracle in the Rain," 1956
(4) Tonight Show--John Davidson, guest host; Sam Levenson and Captain and Tennille, guests
(5) Ironside--rerun
(13) Mannix--ABC rerun (I think)
11:30
(5) Movie--"Great Expectations," English; 1946
(13) Longstreet--ABC rerun of 1971-72 crime drama
12:00 a.m.
(4) Tomorrow--Tom Snyder looks at American railroads
12:30
(2) PTL Club