Retro: Pittsburgh/Ohio & Mahoning Valleys Mon, Jan 20, 1975

[Bluenoser]

from TV Guide-Pittsburgh edition
President Ford was scheduled to deliver his State of the Union address that night, programs subject to change

KDKA 2-CBS Pittsburgh
6:30 World of Middle Ages
7:00 CBS Morning News
8:00 Captain Kangaroo
9:00 I Dream of Jeannie
9:30 Tattletales
10:00 Joker's Wild
10:30 Gambit
11:00 Now You See It
11:30 Love of Life
11:55 CBS News
noon News
12:30 Search for Tomorrow
1:00 Marie Torre (guest is ex-CIA agent Victor Marchetti)
2:00 Guiding Light
2:30 Edge of Night
3:00 Price is Right
3:30 Match Game
4:00 Mike Douglas (co-host Vic Damone/guests Yul Brynner, opera singer Anna Moffo, John & Bonnie Raitt, Stan Kann, and Esquire eds Tom Ferrell & Lee Eisenberg)
5:30 That Girl
6:00 News
6:30 CBS Evening News
7:00 News
7:30 Name That Tune
8:00 Gunsmoke
9:00 Maude
9:30 Rhoda
10:00 TBA
11:00 News
11:30 Movie "The Impossible Years"

WPSX 3-PBS University Park
Instructional programs in daytime
3pm Hodgepodge Lodge
3:30 America
4:00 Sesame Street
5:00 Mister Rogers' Neighborhood
5:30 Electric Company
6:00 Weather/Science
6:15 Farm, Home & Garden
6:30 Zoom
7:00 Inside/Out
7:30 Overseas Mission
8:00 Rachmaninoff Festival (the Mormom Youth Symphony & Chorus performs his vocal works)
9:30 Romantic Rebellion (profiles French painter Jacques Louis David)
10:00 Talkabout (problems faced by parents of handicapped children)
10:30 Black Perspective on the News
11:00 Sound of Progress

WTAE 4-ABC Pittsburgh
6:50 News
7:00 New Zoo Revue
7:30 Leave It to Beaver (bw)
8:00 AM Pittsburgh
9:30 Father Knows Best (bw)
10:00 Hazel
10:30 Lucy Show
11:00 Money Maze
11:30 Brady Bunch
noon Password All-Stars
12:30 Split Second
1:00 All My Children
1:30 Let's Make a Deal
2:00 $10,000 Pyramid
2:30 To Tell the Truth
3:00 General Hospital
3:30 Addams Family (bw)
4:00 Flintstones
4:30 Bewitched
5:00 Raymond Burr (Ironside)
6:00 News
6:30 ABC Evening News
7:00 Pittsburgh Bowling
7:30 $25,000 Pyramid
8:00 Rookies
9:00 AFC-NFC Pro Bowl (the 5th annual from Miami)
mid. News
12:30 Love, American Style

WDTV 5-CBS/ABC Weston
7:00 CBS Morning News
8:00 Captain Kangaroo
9:00 Let's Make a Deal
9:30 Password All-Stars
10:00 Joker's Wild
10:30 Gambit
11:00 Now You See It
11:30 Love of Life
11:55 CBS News
noon Young & the Restless
12:30 Search for Tomorrow
1:00 News
1:30 As the World Turns
2:00 Guiding Light
2:30 Edge of Night
3:00 Price is Right
3:30 Match Game
4:00 Tattletales
4:30 Split Second
5:00 $10,000 Pyramid
5:30 Brady Bunch
6:00 News
6:30 CBS Evening News
7:00 Six Million Dollar Man
8:00 Gunsmoke
9:00 Maude
9:30 Rhoda
10:00 TBA
11:00 News
11:30 Movie "The Impossible Years"

WJAC 6-NBC Johnstown
7:00 Today (singers perform at Bunratty Castle, Ireland/psychologist Henry Beller tells how to be a good dad)
9:00 Romper Room
9:40 Where Will Earth Land?
10:00 Celebrity Sweepstakes
10:30 Wheel of Fortune
11:00 High Rollers
11:30 Hollywood Squares
noon Jackpot!
12:30 Blank Check
12:55 News
1:15 Counselor
1:30 How to Survive a Marriage
2:00 Days of Our Lives
2:30 Doctors
3:00 Another World
4:00 Somerset
4:30 Merv Griffin (guests Peter Falk and Gena Rowlands)
5:30 Truth or Consequences
6:00 News
6:30 NBC Nightly News
7:00 FBI
8:00 Smothers Brothers (guests Kate Smith, Paul Lynde, and Sha Na Na; also Jack Albertson and Freddie Prinze cameo, doing a spoof of Tommy and Dicky)
9:00 Movie "Sam Whiskey"
11:00 News
11:30 Tonight Show (John Davidson subs for Johnny, no guests listed)

WTRF 7-NBC/ABC Wheeling
7:00 Today
9:00 Phil Donahue (educator Thomas Gordon discusses instructional theories for teachers and parents, having written 2 books on the topic)
10:00 Celebrity Sweepstakes
10:30 Wheel of Fortune
11:00 High Rollers
11:30 Hollywood Squares
noon News
12:30 Blank Check
12:55 NBC News
1:00 Jackpot!
1:30 How to Survive a Marriage
2:00 Days of Our Lives
2:30 Doctors
3:00 Another World
4:00 Somerset
4:30 Merv Griffin (psychologist William Rader discusses teenage drinking)
6:00 News
7:00 NBC Nightly News
7:30 Sanford & Son (Billy Eckstine cameos)
8:00 Smothers Brothers
9:00 Movie "Sam Whiskey"
11:00 News
11:30 Tonight Show
1:00 Tomorrow (Mouseketeer reunion)

WSTV 9-CBS/ABC Steubenville
6:55 Jobs Now
7:00 Today
9:00 New Zoo Revue
9:30 Not for Women Only (Dr. Spock discusses kids' sexual development)
10:00 Joker's Wild
10:30 Gambit
11:00 Now You See It
11:30 Love of Life
11:55 CBS News
noon Young & the Restless
12:30 Search for Tomorrow
1:00 All My Children
1:30 As the World Turns
2:00 Guiding Light
2:30 Edge of Night
3:00 Price is Right
3:30 Match Game
4:00 Tattletales
4:30 Flintstones
5:00 Mission: Impossible
6:00 News
6:30 CBS Evening News
7:00 Truth or Consequences
7:30 That Good Ole Nashville Music (guests Stonewall Jackson, Porter Wagoner, and Dolly Parton)
8:00 Gunsmoke
9:00 Maude
9:30 Rhoda
10:00 TBA
11:00 News
11:30 Movie "The Impossible Years"

WTAJ 10-CBS Altoona
6:15 Farm, Home & Garden
6:30 The Farm
7:00 CBS Morning News
8:00 Captain Kangaroo
9:00 Sesame Street
10:00 Joker's Wild
10:30 Gambit
11:00 Now You See It
11:30 Love of Life
11:55 CBS News
noon Young & the Restless
12:30 Search for Tomorrow
1:00 John Riley
noon Young & the Restless
12:30 Search for Tomorrow
1:00 All My Children
1:30 As the World Turns
2:00 Guiding Light
2:30 Edge of Night
3:00 Price is Right
3:30 Match Game
4:00 Tattletales
4:30 Bewitched
5:00 Lucy Show (guest star Arthur Godfrey)
5:30 Family Affair
6:00 News
6:30 CBS Evening News
7:00 Raymond Burr (Ironside)
8:00 Gunsmoke
9:00 Maude
9:30 Rhoda
10:00 TBA
11:00 News
11:30 Movie "The Impossible Years"

WIIC 11-NBC Pittsburgh
5:55 Farm Report
6:00 Quest
6:30 Radius
7:00 Today
9:00 Willie's Window
9:30 Jackpot!
10:00 Celebrity Sweepstakes (WTAE ran the syndied version)
10:30 Wheel of Fortune
11:00 High Rollers
11:30 Hollywood Squares
noon News
12:30 Blank Check
1:00 Petticoat Junction
1:30 How to Survive a Marriage
2:00 Days of Our Lives
2:30 Doctors
3:00 Another World
4:00 Star Trek
5:00 Mod Squad
6:00 News
6:30 NBC Nightly News
7:00 News
7:30 Friends of Man
8:00 Smothers Brothers
9:00 Movie "Sam Whiskey"
11:00 News
11:30 Tonight Show
1:00 Tomorrow

WBOY 12-NBC/ABC Clarksburg
7:00 Today
9:00 Cartoons
9:30 Arthur Smith
10:00 Celebrity Sweepstakes
10:30 Wheel of Fortune
11:00 High Rollers
11:30 Hollywood Squares
noon Videoscope
12:30 Blank Check
1:00 Jackpot!
1:30 How to Survive a Marriage
2:00 Days of Our Lives
2:30 Doctors
3:00 Another World
4:00 Somerset
4:30 Family Affair
5:00 Raymond Burr (Ironside)
6:00 News
6:30 NBC Nightly News
7:00 Truth or Consequences
7:30 Community Report
8:00 Smothers Brothers
9:00 Movie "Sam Whiskey"
11:00 News
11:30 Tonight Show
1:00 Tomorrow

WQED 13-PBS Pittsburgh
Instructional programs during daytime
11:30 Mister Rogers' Neighborhood
noon Sesame Street
1:00 Instructional Programs
1:30 Electric Company
2:00 Instructional Programs
3:00 Hodgepodge Lodge
3:30 Mister Rogers' Neighborhood
4:00 Sesame Street
5:00 Electric Company
5:30 Villa Alegre
6:00 Zoom
6:30 Mister Rogers' Neighborhood
7:00 Electric Company
7:30 America
8:00 Bill Moyers' Journal: International Report (the series premieres with guest Henry Kissinger)
9:00 March of Jobs
9:30 Romantic Rebellion
10:00 Black Horizons (looking at black music)
10:30 Soul! (guests Ronnie Dyson and Cissy Houston)

WJNL 19-CBS Johnstown
7pm CBS Evening News
7:30 Jack LaLanne
8:00 Gunsmoke
9:00 Maude
9:30 Rhoda
10:00 TBA

WFMJ 21-NBC Youngstown
7:00 Today
9:00 Teleview
9:15 Black History
9:20 Cartoons
9:30 Banana Splits
10:00 Celebrity Sweepstakes
10:30 Wheel of Fortune
11:00 High Rollers
11:30 Hollywood Squares
noon Jackpot!
12:30 Blank Check
12:55 NBC News
1:00 Concentration
1:30 How to Survive a Marriage
2:00 Days of Our Lives
2:30 Doctors
3:00 Another World
4:00 Mike Douglas (same guests as 2)
5:30 That Girl
6:00 News
6:30 NBC Nightly News
7:00 Raymond Burr (Ironside)
8:00 Smothers Brothers
9:00 Movie "Sam Whiskey"
11:00 News
11:30 Tonight Show
1:00 Tomorrow

WWVU 24-PBS Morgantown
Instructional programs during daytime
11:30 Sesame Street
12:30 Instructional Programs
1pm Electric Company
1:30 Instructional Programs
3:00 ITV Utilization
3:30 Lilias, Yoga & You
4:00 Sesame Street
5:00 Mister Rogers' Neighborhood
5:30 Electric Company
6:00 Villa Alegre
6:30 Teaching of Reading
7:00 ITV Utilization
7:30 Capitol Beat
8:00 Rachmaninoff Festival
9:30 Romantic Rebellion
10:00 Washington Straight Talk (GM boss Elliott Estes is guest)
10:30 Gerald Ford's America (look at the White House press corps)
11:00 Captioned ABC News

WKBN 27-CBS Youngstown
6:55 Jobs Now
7:00 CBS Morning News
8:00 Captain Kangaroo
9:00 Romper Room
10:00 Joker's Wild
10:30 Gambit
11:00 Now You See It
11:30 Love of Life
11:55 CBS News
noon Young & the Restless
12:30 News
12:35 Movie "Screaming Mimi" (bw)
2:00 Guiding Light
2:30 Edge of Night
3:00 Price is Right
3:30 Match Game
4:00 Movie "The Last Sunset" (bw)
6:00 News
6:30 CBS Evening News
7:00 Truth or Consequences
7:30 To Tell the Truth
8:00 Gunsmoke
9:00 Maude
9:30 Rhoda
10:00 TBA
11:00 News
11:30 Movie "The Impossible Years"

WYTV 33-ABC Youngstown
7:00 AM America
9:00 Movie "Clipper Ship" (bw)
10:30 People's Forum
11:30 New Zoo Revue
noon Password All-Stars
12:30 Split Second
1:00 All My Children
1:30 Let's Make a Deal
2:00 $10,000 Pyramid
2:30 Big Showdown
3:00 General Hospital
3:30 One Life to Live
4:00 Gilligan's Island
4:30 Gomer Pyle, USMC (guest stars Andy Griffith and Ron(ny) Howard, in a story where Opie runs away to join the Marines)
5:00 Green Acres
5:30 News
6:00 ABC Evening News
6:30 Dick Van Dyke (bw)
7:00 Hogan's Heroes
7:30 Lucy Show (bw)
8:00 Rookies
9:00 AFC-NFC Pro Bowl
mid. News
12:30 Bonanza

WPGH 53-Ind Pittsburgh
7:00 AM America (ABC)
9:00 Timmy & Lassie (bw)
9:30 Manna
10:00 New Day
10:30 700 Club
noon Young & the Restless (CBS)
12:30 Tennessee Tuxedo
1:00 Bozo
1:30 As the World Turns (CBS)
2:00 Not for Women Only
2:30 Big Showdown (ABC)
3:00 Galloping Gourmet
3:30 One Life to Live (ABC)
4:00 Somerset (NBC)
4:30 Banana Splits
5:00 Lone Ranger
5:30 Mickey Mouse Club (bw)
6:00 McHale's Navy (bw)
6:30 Green Acres
7:00 Gomer Pyle, USMC
7:30 Hogan's Heroes
8:00 Daniel Boone (bw)
9:00 Movie "Body and Soul" (bw)
11:00 700 Club
12:30 Untouchables (bw)

 

[FreddyE1977]

I remember coming home from school to watch Star Trek on WIIC at 4, and then flip over to
WSTV to watch Mission:Impossible at 5. I have hundreds of channels now and struggle to find
any two-hour block that good if I happen to be home in the afternoon.

 

[azumanga]

WTRF 7-NBC/ABC Wheeling
7:00 Today

WSTV 9-CBS/ABC Steubenville
7:00 Today

For channel 9, shouldn't the 7AM show be "AM America" or "CBS Morning News"/"Captain Kangaroo"?

 

[RyanHoward]

from TV Guide-Pittsburgh edition
President Ford was scheduled to deliver his State of the Union address that night, programs subject to change


WJNL 19-CBS Johnstown
7pm CBS Evening News
7:30 Jack LaLanne
8:00 Gunsmoke
9:00 Maude
9:30 Rhoda
10:00 TBA

Was that ALL that WJNL/19 aired on this night? You gotta be kidding, man!!

 

[mleach]

from TV Guide-Pittsburgh edition
President Ford was scheduled to deliver his State of the Union address that night, programs subject to change

WJNL 19-CBS Johnstown
7pm CBS Evening News
7:30 Jack LaLanne
8:00 Gunsmoke
9:00 Maude
9:30 Rhoda
10:00 TBA

Was that ALL that WJNL/19 aired on this night? You gotta be kidding, man!!

I can believe it. Not long after these listings the Paul Newman movie "Slap Shot" was filmed in Johnstown. The movie protrayed Johnstown as this very very depressed little town with high unemployment, empty storefronts and closed factories. Over the years I have seen posts on other sites such as IMDB saying that Slap Shot's version of Johnstown wasn't too far off from reality.

 

[FreddyE1977]

The view of Johnstown shown in Slap Shot is very close to reality. Around the time that movie was made
was sort of a watershed, as they did start closing down mills and laying off massive numbers of workers. They
have been losing population since the 1950's, and it sped up substantially in the 70's. They turned to the political
influence of their Congressman, John Murtha, to start wrestling defense jobs into the area to sustain themselves.
But since he has passed away those jobs appear likely to go as well. The Johnstown Chiefs hockey team finally
gave up the ghost and moved to South Carolina after last season.

WJNL had other problems. They had a long-running dispute with Pittsburgh stations who were claiming
Johnstown as part of their coverage area. And the terrain in that area is extremely rugged...not good for
a station with a weak UHF signal. I do recall though when they came back to life in the mid-80's as WFAT,
they put a pretty decent signal into my house in Pittsburgh. Eventually they moved the station to Pittsburgh
where it is now the local MyNetwork TV affiliate.

 

[Kurt Toy]

I think you mean "Bowling For Dollars" at 7 on WTAE.

 

[RyanHoward]

The view of Johnstown shown in Slap Shot is very close to reality. Around the time that movie was made
was sort of a watershed, as they did start closing down mills and laying off massive numbers of workers. They
have been losing population since the 1950's, and it sped up substantially in the 70's. They turned to the political
influence of their Congressman, John Murtha, to start wrestling defense jobs into the area to sustain themselves.
But since he has passed away those jobs appear likely to go as well. The Johnstown Chiefs hockey team finally
gave up the ghost and moved to South Carolina after last season.

WJNL had other problems. They had a long-running dispute with Pittsburgh stations who were claiming
Johnstown as part of their coverage area. And the terrain in that area is extremely rugged...not good for
a station with a weak UHF signal. I do recall though when they came back to life in the mid-80's as WFAT,
they put a pretty decent signal into my house in Pittsburgh. Eventually they moved the station to Pittsburgh
where it is now the local MyNetwork TV affiliate.

The station is now WPCW is the CW affiliate for Pittsburgh.

 

[OhioMediaWatch]

Looks like WSTV and WTRF were sticking mostly with their primary networks. Neither picked up ABC's Pro Bowl, or it appears anything else on this 1975 day.

What ABC shows were the two running in this time frame? When did the stations shake off the secondary affiliation?

Of course, after that, WTAE became the defacto ABC affiliate in the Ohio Valley until very recently, when WTRF launched "ABC Ohio Valley" on a digital subchannel.

 

[Bluenoser]

WTRF 7-NBC/ABC Wheeling
7:00 Today

WSTV 9-CBS/ABC Steubenville
7:00 Today

For channel 9, shouldn't the 7AM show be "AM America" or "CBS Morning News"/"Captain Kangaroo"?

Oops-must have been thinking about 9's current affiliation when I typed that (7 and 9 swapped nets in 1980). CBS Morning News and the Captain aired 7-9.

 

[Bluenoser]

I think you mean "Bowling For Dollars" at 7 on WTAE.

I'll take your word for it...it was listed as Bowling-Pittsburgh in TVG...

 

[Bluenoser]

Looks like WSTV and WTRF were sticking mostly with their primary networks. Neither picked up ABC's Pro Bowl, or it appears anything else on this 1975 day.

What ABC shows were the two running in this time frame? When did the stations shake off the secondary affiliation?

Of course, after that, WTAE became the defacto ABC affiliate in the Ohio Valley until very recently, when WTRF launched "ABC Ohio Valley" on a digital subchannel.

According to Wikipedia (usual disclaimers apply), 9 dropped ABC programs shortly after Cox bought them in 2000. Ch 7 apparently gradually phased them out (and of course, now runs ABC on a subchannel). A quick scan of the skeds for both channels doesn't indicate many ABC programs in the schedule.

 

[OhioMediaWatch]

I'm just curious what ABC shows 7/9 did run. From this schedule, it appears that was a short list even as far back as 1975.

 

[FreddyE1977]

I'm just curious what ABC shows 7/9 did run. From this schedule, it appears that was a short list even as far back as 1975.

As far as I recall few of them in prime time. For example 7 would run Operationetticoat on Saturday afternoons.
9 used to run ABC College Football quite often (though, interestingly, not Monday Night Football).

 

[Bluenoser]

Looks like WSTV and WTRF were sticking mostly with their primary networks. Neither picked up ABC's Pro Bowl, or it appears anything else on this 1975 day.

What ABC shows were the two running in this time frame? When did the stations shake off the secondary affiliation?

Of course, after that, WTAE became the defacto ABC affiliate in the Ohio Valley until very recently, when WTRF launched "ABC Ohio Valley" on a digital subchannel.

I just remembered...9 carried Streets of San Francisco at 6pm Sundays.

 

[OhioMediaWatch]

Those almost all sound like out of pattern clearances, except perhaps the college football games.

Did 7 or 9 carry any ABC programming in pattern, aside from sports?

 

[mleach]

Of course, after that, WTAE became the defacto ABC affiliate in the Ohio Valley until very recently, when WTRF launched "ABC Ohio Valley" on a digital subchannel.

Exactly why did and how WTAE ended up becoming the "defacto" ABC afflilate for both the Ohio Valley & Clarksburg-Weston markets? Being West Virginia one would think Charleston's then ABC affiliate WCHS would had been..at least in Clarksburg-Weston anyway. Wonder if this was the "power of Hearst"? WTAE is part of Hearst as is Baltimore's WBAL too and in WBAL's case they are the "defacto" NBC affilate for the Salisbury-Eastern Shore area of Maryland even though Norfolk's WAVY had a translator nearby on Virginia's eastern shore not far from the Maryland state line.

 

[OhioMediaWatch]

WTAE is the only Pgh network affiliate with a tower south of downtown Pittsburgh. I assume analog 4 blew into Wheeling/Steubenville. I can't speak to Clarksburg/Weston.

 

[FreddyE1977]

WTAE also had the reputation of being the most aggressive station locally when it came to defending their
territorial rights. In the days before DirecTV and Dish offered local channels they would actually send guys
around to individual homes with signal meters to prove that WTAE could be received there and then petition
to have their national ABC feeds dropped.

 

[OhioMediaWatch]

Also note that the Wheeling/Steubenville market includes a chunk of Ohio, so Clarksburg/Weston "being in West Virginia" means not much. IIRC, there are not a lot of ties between the Ohio Valley and that part of WV.

The Ohio part of the market is why WYTV/33 Youngstown got secondary ABC carriage in the Ohio Valley area, though even it was second to WTAE on local cable.