Retro: Pittsburgh, PA - Thursday, December 21, 1978

[Tim-In-Houston]

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette - * indicated Black and White programming

KDKA-2 CBS/Pittsburgh

AM
6:00 – Campus Connection
6:30 – Sunrise Semester
7:00 – CBS News
8:00 – Captain Kangaroo
9:00 – Match Game
9:30 – That Girl
10:00 – All in the Family
10:30 – Price is Right
11:30 – Love of Life
PM
12:00 – News
12:30 – Search for Tomorrow
1:00 – Young and the Restless
1:30 – Pittsburgh 2Day
2:30 – Guiding Light
3:30 – M.A.S.H
4:00 – Everyday
5:00 – Mike Douglas
6:00 – News
6:30 – News
7:00 – CBS News
7:30 – Evening Magazine
8:00 – The Waltons
9:00 – Hawaii Five-0
10:00 – Barnaby Jones
11:00 – News
11:30 – M.A.S.H
AM
12:00 – Movie: “Que Vadis” (1951)

WTAE-4 ABC/Pittsburgh
*Note: The Post-Gazette lists NBC beside the station listing above the guide.

AM
6:18 – News
6:30 – Romper Room
7:00 – Good Morning America
8:00 – AM Pittsburgh
8:30 – AM Pgh (cont.)
9:30 – General Hospital
10:30 – Edge of Night
11:00 – Happy Days
11:30 – Family Feud
12:00 – $20,000 Pyramid
12:30 – Ryan’s Hope
1:00 – All My Children
2:00 – One Life to Live
3:00 – Cross Wits
3:30 – Liar’s Club
4:00 – Tom and Jerry
4:30 – Brady Bunch
5:00 – Odd Couple
5:30 – Carol Burnett and Friends
6:00 – News
6:30 – ABC News
7:00 – Lottery/Bowling for Dollars
7:30 – Hollywood Squares
8:00 – Mork and Mindy
8:30 – What’s Happening!
9:00 – Barney (Miller)
9:30 – Soap
10:00 – Family
11:00 – News
11:30 – Starsky & Hutch
AM
12:40 – S.W.A.T
1:50 – Emergency

WIIC-11 NBC/Pittsburgh

AM
6:00 – Quest
6:30 – Radius
7:00 – Today
8:30 – Today (cont.)
11:00 – Phil Donahue
10:00 – Card Sharks
10:30 – Jeopardy!
11:00 – High Rollers
11:30 – Wheel of Fortune
PM
12:00 – America Alive!
1:00 – Jokers Wild
1:30 – Days of Our Lives
2:30 – Doctors
3:00 – Another World
4:00 – Woody Woodpecker
4;30 – Six Million Dollar Man
5:30 – Carol Burnett and Friends
6:00 – News
6:30 – News
7:00 – NBC News
7:30 – Newlywed Game
8:00 – Little Drummer Boy Book II
8:30 – Gift of the Magi
10:00 – David Cassidy
11:00 – News
11:30 – Tonight
AM
1:00 – Tomorrow
2:00 – FBI

WQED-13 PBS/Pittsburgh

AM
11:30 – Mister Rogers
PM
12:00 – Sesame Street
3:00 – Dick Cavett
3:30 – Over Easy
4:00 – Elizabethan Christmas
4:30 – Zoom
5:00 – Electric Company
5:30 – Sesame Street
6:30 – Mister Rogers
7:00 – MacNeil/Lehrer
7:30 – Christmastime Wish Mister Rogers
8:30 – Hanukkah
9:00 – Christmas Heritage
10:00 – Action Special
11:00 – Dick Cavett
11:30 – ABC News (captioned)

WQEX-16 PBS/Pittsburgh

PM
5:00 – Messiah
5:30 – Sound of Christmas
6:00 – Over Easy*
7:00 – Dick Cavett*
7:30 – MacNeil/Lehrer*
8:00 – Aloha Experiment*
9:00 – Affair in the Air*
10:00 – How do your Children Grow? *
10:30 – Extensions*

WPTT-22 Ind./Pittsburgh

AM
7:00 – Three Stooges*
7:30 – Porky Pig & Friends*
8:00 – Three Stooges*
8:30 – Leave It to Beaver*
9:00 – Dennis the Menace*
9:30 – Ozzie and Harriet*
10:00 – Mother-in-Law
10:30 – I Love Lucy*
11:00 – Perry Mason*
PM
12:00 – Movie: “Follow the Sun” (1951)*
2:00 – Capt. Pitt/Cartoons
3:00 – Dennis the Menace
3:30 – Leave It to Beaver
4:00 – Porky Pig and Friends*
4:30 – Three Stooges*
5:00 – Monkees
5:30 – Superman
6:00 – I Dream of Jeannie
6:30 – F Troop
7:00 – Get Smart
7:30 – I Love Lucy*
8:00 – Bonanza
9:00 – Perry Mason*
10:00 – I Spy
11:00 – I Love Lucy*
11:30 – Movie: “Desiree” (1954)

WPGH-53 Ind./Pittsburgh

AM
6:30 – New Zoo Revue
7:00 – Flintstones
7:30 – Abbott & Costello
8:00 – Spiderman
8:30 – Speedracer
9:00 – 700 Club
11:00 – Please Don’t Eat the Daisies
11:30 – Mayberry RFD
PM
12:00 – Beverly Hillbillies
12:30 – Gomer Pyle
1:00 – Room 222
1:30 – Merv Griffin
3:00 – Fun World
3:30 – Flintstones & Friends
4:00 – Munsters
4:30 – Super Adventures
5:00 – Hogan’s Heroes
5:30 – Gong Show*
6:00 – Bob Newhart
6:30 – Sanford & Sons
7:00 – Streets of San Francisco
8:00 – Movie: “Seven Cities of Gold” (1955)
10:00 – Tic Tac Dough
10:30 – Joker’s Wild
10:50 – News
11:00 – Dating Game
11:30 – Night Gallery
AM
12:00 – 700 Club
1:30 – Local News

WJAC-6 NBC/Johnstown, PA

AM
7:00 – Today
8:30 – Today (cont.)
9:00 – Electric Company
9:30 – Inside/Outside
9:45 – Cover to Cover
10:00 – Card Sharks
10:30 – Jeopardy!
11:00 – High Rollers
11:30 – Wheel of Fortune
PM
12:00 – America Alive!
1:00 – News
1:30 – Days of Our Lives
2:30 – Doctors
3:00 – Another World
4:00 – Little Rascals
4:30 – Andy Griffith
5:00 – Odd Couple
5:30 – Hogan’s Heroes
6:00 – News
6:30 – NBC News
7:00 – Marty Robbins
7:30 – Mary Tyler Moore
8:00 – Little Drummer Boy Book II
8:30 – Gift of the Magi
10:00 – David Cassidy
11:00 – News
11:30 – Tonight
AM
1:00 – Tomorrow

WTRF-7 NBC/ABC/Wheeling, WV

AM
6:00 – PTL Club
7:00 – Today
8:30 – Today (cont.)
9:00 – Phil Donahue
10:00 – Card Sharks
10:30 – Jeopardy!
11:00 – High Rollers
11:30 – Wheel of Fortune
PM
12:00 – News
12:30 – America Alive!
1:30 – Days of Our Lives
2:30 – Doctors
3:00 – Another World
4:00 – Dinah!
5:00 – Bionic Woman
6:00 – News
6:30 – News
7:00 – NBC News
7:30 – Muppet Show
8:00 – Little Drummer Boy Book II
8:30 – Gift of the Magi
10:00 – David Cassidy
11:00 – News
11:30 – Tonight
AM
1:00 – Tomorrow

WSTV-9 ABC/CBS Stuebenville, OH

AM
6:30 – Arthur Smith Show
7:00 – Good Morning America
9:00 – 700 Club
10:00 – All in the Family
10:30 – Price is Right
11:30 – Love of Life
PM
12:00 – News Nine Daytime
12:30 – Search for Tomorrow
1:00 – Young and the Restless
1:30 – As the World Turns
2:30 – Guiding Light
3:30 – M.A.S.H
4:00 – Bugs Bunny
4:30 – Gilligan’s Island
5:00 – Emergency One!
6:00 – News
6:30 – CBS News
7:00 – Mary Tyler Moore
7:30 – Brady Bunch
8:00 – The Waltons
9:00 – Hawaii Five-0
10:00 – Barnaby Jones
11:00 – News
11:30 – Movie: “The Moore the Merrier” (1943)*

WTAJ-10 CBS/Altoona, PA

AM
7:00 – CBS News
8:00 – Captain Kangaroo
9:00 – Phil Donahue
10:00 – All in the Family
10:30 – Price is Right
11:30 – Love of Life
PM
12:00 – Young and the Restless
1:00 – Lucy Show
1:30 – As the World Turns
2:30 – Guiding Light
3:30 – M.A.S.H
4:00 – Gilligan’s Island
4:30 – Brady Bunch
5:00 – Big Valley
6:00 – News
6:30 – CBS News
7:00 – Gunsmoke
8:00 – The Waltons
9:00 – Hawaii Five-0
10:00 – Barnaby Jones
11:00 – News
11:30 – M.A.S.H
AM
12:05 – Movie: “Que Vadis” (1951)

 

[azumanga]

WTAE-4 ABC/Pittsburgh
5:30 – Carol Burnett and Friends

WIIC-11 NBC/Pittsburgh
5:30 – Carol Burnett and Friends

Was this a misprint, or did they really carry the show at the same time on two different stations?

* indicated Black and White programming

WQEX-16 PBS/Pittsburgh

PM
5:00 – Messiah
5:30 – Sound of Christmas
6:00 – Over Easy*
7:00 – Dick Cavett*
7:30 – MacNeil/Lehrer*
8:00 – Aloha Experiment*
9:00 – Affair in the Air*
10:00 – How do your Children Grow? *
10:30 – Extensions*

Considering the equipment they used at the time (a 1950s-era transmitter the size of a transit bus), I believe ALL programming on WQEX was black and white.

WPTT-22 Ind./Pittsburgh
7:30 – Porky Pig & Friends*

Were black and white Looney Tunes available in syndication at the time? I believe these were the badly-colored versions.

WPGH-53 Ind./Pittsburgh
5:30 – Gong Show*

In living color, I believe.

WJAC-6 NBC/Johnstown, PA

9:00 – Electric Company
9:30 – Inside/Outside
9:45 – Cover to Cover

First, how well did WPSX-TV (now WPSU-TV) channel 3 come in in Johnstown? Apparently, either the local school board or educational group bought time on WJAC to present the programming, or WJAC did so as a public service, to get brownie points for their license.

Also, the 9:30 show should be "Inside/Out".

 

[only1moore]

WTAE had "Carol Burnett & Friends." That was a misprint.

 

[azumanga]

WTAE had "Carol Burnett & Friends." That was a misprint.

Then what did WIIC had?

 

[only1moore]

WTAE had "Carol Burnett & Friends." That was a misprint.

Then what did WIIC had?

IIRC, "Mary Tyler Moore."

 

[Tim-In-Houston]

That's my mistake. It is indeed "Mary Tyler Moore" at 5:30 on WIIC. Many Apologies.

I double checked the listing and the Post-Gazette's b/w indicator is beside the listing for "Gong Show" at 5:30. Likely their misprint, and could have been intended for the 5:30 showing of "Superman" on WPTT-22 or "Sound of Christmas" on WQEX-16.

 

[FreddyE1977]

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette was still using old-fashioned Linotype machines to put the paper to bed (and would for years to come....it was a union thing) so those typos were blown keystrokes which were quite common.

WQEX did indeed transmit exclusively in black-and-white using the old WENS transmitter from the early 50's. They would continue to do so until it finally
gave up the ghost sometime around 1985.

(hence the old chestnut "If the world is about to end tomorrow, just hop in your car and head to Pittsburgh, because it will take another 20 years for them to catch up")

 

[wiifm]

Two questions:

--Is there any video of the old Captioned ABC News anywhere? When I was a kid, I thought that was extremely cool for some reason.

--They list some of WTAE's late night programs (SWAT, Starsky & Hutch) running 70 minutes. Is that a typo? If not, why did they do that?

 

[wbhist]

Two questions:

--Is there any video of the old Captioned ABC News anywhere? When I was a kid, I thought that was extremely cool for some reason.

--They list some of WTAE's late night programs (SWAT, Starsky & Hutch) running 70 minutes. Is that a typo? If not, why did they do that?

(1) I do remember seeing at least one or two "Captioned ABC News" clips on YouTube from the 1978-79 World News Tonight era, but apparently it has been since removed. The Vidifont type used for the captions, is as clear to me today as it was when they first aired back in the day. I seem to vaguely remember, pre-1978, audio processing through 5 kHz telco.
(2) It sounds about right, 70 minutes for late-night repeats; all the better to put more commercials in such breaks than in the usual 60-minute slots.

 

[azumanga]

Two questions:

--Is there any video of the old Captioned ABC News anywhere? When I was a kid, I thought that was extremely cool for some reason.

(1) I do remember seeing at least one or two "Captioned ABC News" clips on YouTube from the 1978-79 World News Tonight era, but apparently it has been since removed. The Vidifont type used for the captions, is as clear to me today as it was when they first aired back in the day.

I also recall the extra material they would show in lieu of commercials, such as the weather forecast and sports -- all in text, of course.

--They list some of WTAE's late night programs (SWAT, Starsky & Hutch) running 70 minutes. Is that a typo? If not, why did they do that?

(2) It sounds about right, 70 minutes for late-night repeats; all the better to put more commercials in such breaks than in the usual 60-minute slots.

As well as public service announcements, of course, especially for CBS's Late Movie (which was similarly-formatted).

 

[cowboybud]

--They list some of WTAE's late night programs (SWAT, Starsky & Hutch) running 70 minutes. Is that a typo? If not, why did they do that?

IIRC, they inserted more local breaks on late-night shows, perhaps to persuade affiliates to carry them. I remember "Fridays" was 70 minutes.