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Retro: Retro: WWOR superstation feed, Dec. 16-20, 1996

T

the_rave

Below is a schedule from WWOR AEC Service, the successor to WWOR EMI Service, from Dec. 16-20, 1996. AEC (American Entertainment Corporation) discontinued the superstation feed of the New York station a short while later (Jan. 1, 1997, to be exact). All times are CST. Source: Illinois-Wisconsin edition of TV Guide.

5 a.m. This is Your Day
5:30 Kenneth Copeland
6 a.m. Infomercials
7 a.m. The 700 Club
8 a.m. The Partridge Family
8:30 Kate and Allie
9 a.m. Baretta
10 a.m. Emergency!
11 a.m. Kojak
Noon Adam-12 (x2)
1 p.m. Airwolf
2 p.m. The Fugitive
3 p.m. Magnum, P.I.
4 p.m. The Love Boat
5 p.m. Emergency!
6 p.m. Night Heat
7 p.m. Baretta
8 p.m. BJ and the Bear
9 p.m. News
10 p.m. The Fugitive
11 p.m. Infomercials
Midnight Magnum, P.I.
1 a.m. Infomercials (4 hours)

It's been posted a few times on this site, but WWOR's signal was restored to the satellite a short while later on a different transponder. This time, however, the national feed was identical to the local one.
<P ID="edit"><FONT class="small">Edited by the_rave on 10/31/05 01:37 AM.</FONT></P>
 
> Below is a schedule from WWOR AEC Service, the successor to
> WWOR EMI Service, from Dec. 16-20, 1996. AEC (American
> Entertainment Corporation)...

The actual name was "Advance Entertainment Corporation", which was owned by the Syracuse-based Newhouse media group. Apparently, Newhouse owned at least part of both AEC and Eastern Microwave. Newhouse also owned the Vision Cable systems, which merged into Time Warner's systems into the mid-1990s, after Newhouse bought a stake in TW's systems. In 2002, Newhouse got back into the cable game themselves when they bought out TW's share in cable systems in some markets (especially Florida), and relaunched them as "Bright House".

As a result of Newhouse's involvement in the cable game, WWOR's superstation feed was seen on Vision Cable and most TW systems, except in the NYC market (where the original WWOR is seen).

One example -- in the Tampa Bay area, the old Vision Cable system (serving northern Pinellas) offered WWOR, but Paragon (serving most of the rest of the Bay area) didn't. When the two systems merged and became Time Warner Cable in 1995, WWOR became available regionwide.

> [AEC] discontinued the superstation
> feed of the New York station a short while later (Jan. 1,
> 1997, to be exact).

Maybe earlier -- shortly before Christmas, the new Animal Planet channel took WWOR's place, at least, in Tampa Bay, meaning that this schedule could've been the very last WWOR superstation schedule.

And now -- here's what was AEC-originated and what was NYC-originated:

> All times are CST. Source:
> Illinois-Wisconsin edition of TV Guide.
>
> 5 a.m. This is Your Day (NYC)
> 5:30 Kenneth Copeland (NYC)
> 6 a.m. Infomercials (NYC)
> 7 a.m. The 700 Club (AEC)
> 8 a.m. The Partridge Family (AEC)
> 8:30 Kate and Allie (NYC)
> 9 a.m. Baretta (AEC)
> 10 a.m. Emergency! (AEC)
> 11 a.m. Kojak (AEC)
> Noon Adam-12 (x2) (AEC)
> 1 p.m. Airwolf (AEC)
> 2 p.m. The Fugitive (AEC)
> 3 p.m. Magnum, P.I. (NYC)
> 4 p.m. The Love Boat (AEC)
> 5 p.m. Emergency! (AEC)
> 6 p.m. Night Heat (AEC)
> 7 p.m. Baretta (AEC)
> 8 p.m. BJ and the Bear (AEC)
> 9 p.m. News (NYC)
> 10 p.m. The Fugitive (AEC)
> 11 p.m. Infomercials (AEC)
> Midnight Magnum, P.I. (NYC)
> 1 a.m. Infomercials (4 hours)(NYC)
>
As you can see, by then, much of WWOR's superstation feed originates from Syracuse, instead of Secaucus. Also blacked out were UPN shows, despite the fact that WWOR began to call themselves "UPN9" by this time. Even "The Cosby Show" was replaced (probably due to a switch in syndicators).

Weekend schedules were very similar to the weekday schedule, except for infomercials until 12 Noon ET, and "GOP-TV" Sunday nights at 9PM ET.

During 1996, the 1960s "Dragnet" series also became part of the superstation schedule, after leaving "Nick-at-Nite". But, apparently, it was off the schedule by this time.

> It's been posted a few times on this site, but WWOR's signal
> was restored to the satellite a short while later on a
> different transponder. This time, however, the national feed
> was identical to the local one.
>
Though I don't know if any cable systems actually carried this feed -- maybe it was just for the few that still had their C-Band dishes. By 1999, the new distributor replaced WWOR with Pax, and, after a couple of years, that feed of Pax disappeared entirely.<P ID="edit"><FONT class="small">Edited by rugrats1 on 10/31/05 02:09 AM.</FONT></P>
 
I believe the four programs that were carryovers from the original WOR were:
The Partridge Family
Kate And Allie
Airwolf
Magnum P.I.
 
> I believe the four programs that were carryovers from the
> original WOR were:
> The Partridge Family
> Kate And Allie
> Airwolf
> Magnum P.I.
>

Kate & Allie and Magnum were carryovers, but I still think Partidge and Airwolf were the replacement programs. WWOR carried those two in the past on the original feed, but by the mid-1990s, only superstation viewers saw them on WWOR.
 
>
> The actual name was "Advance Entertainment Corporation",
> which was owned by the Syracuse-based Newhouse media group.

I got the "American Entertainment Corporation" name from Wikipedia, but if you profess that as gospel, so be it. (I remember seeing the AEC Service moniker on TV, but never stopped to ponder at the time what it stood for.)


> Maybe earlier -- shortly before Christmas, the new Animal
> Planet channel took WWOR's place, at least, in Tampa Bay,
> meaning that this schedule could've been the very last WWOR
> superstation schedule.

I recall my cable system (Century Cable, which would eventually become Time Warner) carrying WWOR AEC Service until Dec. 31, 1996. It had moved TLC in its spot that date, while Animal Planet took TLC's old channel assignment.
 
> 2 p.m. The Fugitive

> 10 p.m. The Fugitive

I don't believe the weekday repeats of The Fugitive were continued the last couple of days before the January 1, 1997 cut of WWOR.

As has been noted in the past, the last two EMI airings of the series -- Saturday and Sunday, December 28 & 29 -- was comprised of the two-part series ender, and there was only the 3:00pm ET showing on those days (no evening play).

Would anyone have the schedule for the week the cutover to Animal Planet happened, to verify one way or the other?<P ID="signature">______________


</P>
 
I lived in Bristol, Connecticut had TCI Cablevision. WOR was on Channel 18. The Discovery Channel was on Channel 36. When WOR was discontinued, The Discovery Channel moved to Channel 18 and Animal Planet went to Channel 36. However for many years TCI didn't carry Animal Planet 24/7. They showed The Valuevision Shopping Network 3AM-6AM instead. This was because Channel 36 had been The Discovery Channel and The Discovery Channel carries infomercials from 3AM-9AM. This continued even after they added local ValueVision affiliate WHCT/18 to the lineup. They finally put Animal Planet on 24/7 when they added ShopNBC (formerlly ValueVision) to the line up. WHCT had become Univision WUVN.
 
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