Retro: West Virginia Wed., Oct. 18, 1972

[bpatrick]

By request, from TV Guide, West Virginia Edition:

WSAZ Ch. 3 Huntington (NBC)

6:45 Corncob Report
7 AM Today (playwright Arthur Miller discusses his new play "The Creation Of The World And Other Business"; art editor Brian O'Doherty)
9 AM What Every Woman Wants To Know (research scientist Ruth Pearlman discusses the safety of baby food ingredients; Gay Gaer Luce, author of "Body Time")
9:30 To Tell The Truth
10 AM Dinah's Place (Hugh Downs appears as a representative of the Citizens' Committee on Population and the American Future.)
10:30 Concentration
11 AM Sale Of The Century
11:30 Hollywood Squares (Marty Allen, James Brolin, John Davidson, Gail Fisher, Florence Henderson, Rose Marie, Charles Nelson Reilly, Wally Cox, Paul Lynde)
12 N Jeopardy!
12:30 Who, What Or Where
12:55 NBC News (Floyd Kalber)
1 PM News, Weather, Sports
1;20 Lucille Rivers (sewing)
1:30 Three On A Match
2 PM Days Of Our Lives
2:30 The Doctors
3 PM Another World
3:30 Return To Peyton Place
4 PM Mister Cartoon/Banana Splits
4:30 Petticoat Junction
5 PM Ponderosa ("Bonanza" reruns)
6 PM News, Weather, Sports
6:30 NBC News (John Chancellor)
7 PM Truth Or Consequences
7:30 Police Surgeon
8 PM World Series Pre-Game Show
8:15 World Series (Reds-A's, Game 4, A's won the Series, 4-3)
11 PM News, Weather And Sports (time approximate)
11:30 Tonight Show (Joey Bishop subs for Johnny; Cass Elliot)

WLWC (WCMH) Ch. 4 Columbus, OH (NBC)

6 AM Sunrise Seminar (not "Sunrise Semester," which was on CBS)
6:30 Columbus Today
7 AM Today
9 AM Paul Dixon
10:30 Phil Donahue
11:30 Hollywood Squares
12 N Bob Braun (guest is singer Lana Cantrell)
1:30 Three On A Match
2 PM Days Of Our Lives
2:30 The Doctors
3 PM Another World
3:30 Return To Peyton Place
4 PM Merv Griffin (Billy Graham, Sandler and Young)
5 PM Ponderosa
6 PM News, Weather, Sports
6:30 NBC News
7 PM Beat The Clock (guest: Gene Rayburn)
7:30 Police Surgeon
8 PM World Series Pre-Game Show
8:15 World Series (see Ch. 3)
11 PM News, Weather And Sports (time approximate)
11:30 Political Talk (Republican)
11:35 Tonight Show (joined in progress)
1 AM News And Weather

WOAY Ch. 4 Oak Hill, WV (ABC)

7 AM Insight
7:30 Focus On Farming
8 AM Captain Kangaroo (CBS, but the Bluefield market didn't have a CBS affiliate at the time)
9 AM New Zoo Revue
9:30 Films
10 AM America Sings
10:30 Rev. Homer Click
11 AM Friends And Neighbors
11:30 Bewitched
12 N Password (Sally Struthers, Gene Rayburn)
12:30 Split Second
1 PM All My Children
1:30 Let's Make A Deal
2 PM Newlywed Game
2:30 Dating Game
3 PM General Hospital
3:30 One Life To Live
4 PM Love, American Style
4:30 Movie: "The Fighting Kentuckian"
6 PM News, Weather, Sports
6:30 ABC News (Howard K. Smith/Harry Reasoner)
7 PM Death Valley Days
7:30 R.F.D. Hollywood
8 PM Paul Lynde Show
8:30 ABC Movie: "A Great American Tragedy" (George Kennedy as an aerospace engineer thrown out of work.)
10 PM Julie Andrews Hour (guest: Steve Lawrence)
11 PM News, Weather And Sports
11:30 Dick Cavett

WHIS (WVVA) Ch. 6 Bluefield, WV (NBC)

7 AM Today
9 AM Romper Room
9:30 Coffee Break
9:55 Local News
10 AM Dinah's Place
10:30 Concentration
11 AM Sale Of The Century
11:30 Hollywood Squares
12 N Jeopardy!
12:30 Who, What Or Where
12:55 NBC News
1 PM Somerset
1:30 Peyton Place (reruns of the ABC series)
2 PM Days Of Our Lives
2:30 The Doctors
3 PM Another World
3:30 Return To Peyton Place
4 PM Perry Mason
5 PM Ponderosa
6 PM News, Weather, Sports
6:30 NBC News
7 PM UFO
8 PM World Series Pre-Game Show
8:15 World Series (see Ch. 3)
11 PM News, Weather And Sports (time approximate)
11:30 Tonight Show

WTVN (WSYX) Ch. 6 Columbus, OH (ABC)

7 AM News, Weather, Sports
7:30 Romper Room
8 AM Timmy And Lassie
8:30 New Zoo Revue
9 AM Concentration (pre-empted on Ch. 4, delay from 10:30 AM)
9:30 Jeopardy! (pre-empted on Ch. 4, delay from 12 N)
10 AM Columbus Six Calling
11 AM Love, American Style (Shelley Berman, Robert Morse, Michael Callan, Tina Louise, delay of at least a week from 4 PM)
11:30 Bewitched
12 N Password
12:30 Split Second
1 PM All My Children
1:30 Let's Make A Deal
2 PM Mike Douglas (co-host Lou Rawls; Al Martino, Jeff Bridges, Ilka Chase)
3 PM General Hospital
3:30 One Life To Live
4 PM Flintstones
4:25 Sports Club
4:30 I Love Lucy
5 PM Daniel Boone
5:55 Book Shelf
6 PM Truth Or Consequences
6:30 ABC News
7 PM News, Weather And Sports
7:30 To Tell The Truth
8 PM Paul Lynde Show
8:30 ABC Movie: "A Great American Tragedy"
10 PM Julie Andrews Hour
11 PM News, Weather And Sports
11:30 Dick Cavett

WTRF Ch. 7 Wheeling (NBC/ABC)

7 AM Today
9 AM Phil Donahue (Eileen Ford, owner of the Ford Model Agency)
10 AM Dinah's Place
10:30 Concentration
11 AM Sale Of The Century
11:30 Hollywood Squares
12 N Local News
12:15 Lucille Rivers
12:25 Carol DuVall (decorating)
12:30 Who, What Or Where
12:55 NBC News
1 PM Jeopardy!
1:30 Three On A Match
2 PM Days Of Our Lives
2:30 The Doctors
3 PM Another World
3:30 Return To Peyton Place
4 PM Somerset
4:30 Virginian (guest: Ricardo Montalban)
6 PM News, Weather, Sports
6:30 NBC News
7 PM News, Weather And Sports
7:30 Dragnet
8 PM World Series Pre-Game Show
8:15 World Series (see Ch. 3)
11 PM News, Weather And Sports (time approximate)
11:30 Tonight Show

WCHS Ch. 8 Charleston, WV (CBS)

6:30 Bible Answers
7 AM CBS News (John Hart)
7:30 Sleepy Jeffers
8:30 Romper Room
9 AM Captain Kangaroo
9:30 Hazel
10 AM Joker's Wild
10:30 Price Is Right
11 AM Gambit
11:30 Love Of Life
12 N Contact
12:25 CBS News (Douglas Edwards)
12:30 Search For Tomorrow
1 PM It's Your Bet
1:30 As The World Turns
2 PM Guiding Light
2:30 Edge Of Night
3 PM Love Is A Many Splendored Thing
3:30 Secret Storm
4 PM Gilligan's Island
4:30 Merv Griffin (Lee Grant, Eva Gabor, Karen Valentine, actress Carole Cook)
5:30 Dragnet
6 PM News, Weather, Sports
6:30 CBS News (Walter Cronkite)
7 PM What's My Line? (Alan Alda, June Lockhart, Soupy Sales, Arlene Francis)
7:30 The Protectors
8 PM Carol Burnett (Joel Grey, Cass Elliot)
9 PM Medical Center
10 PM Cannon
11 PM News, Weather And Sports
11:30 Virginian

WNOW-cTV Ch. 9 Parkersburg, WV (Cable)

4:30 Kaleidoscope (kids' show)
5:30 Robin Hood
6 PM News, Weather, Sports
6:30 Bridge With Charles Dodd
7 PM Peter Gunn
7:30 Jim Bowie
8 PM Movie: "Dodge City" (nothing to do with "Gunsmoke"; Errol Flynn stars, from '39)
10 PM News, Weather, Sports
10:30 Movie: "The Letter"
sign off 12:30 AM

WSWP Ch. 9 Beckley, WV (PBS)

8:30 In-school programs
3 PM Sewing Skills (tailoring)
3:30 Children's Fair
4 PM Sesame Street
5 PM Mister Rogers' Neighborhood
5:30 Electric Company
6 PM Communication And Education
6:30 Western Civilization: Majesty And Madness
7 PM Hathayoga
7:30 Koltanowski On Chess (Russian chess master and former world champion Mikhail Tawl; a Mexican town where the sole industry is making chess pieces)
8 PM A Public Affair/Election '72 (Laramie County, WY, which had voted for the winner in every presidential election since 1916 (up to that point); results of a poll showing who the people of the county favor in this election--Nixon or McGovern)
8:30 Playhouse New York (Maria Callas in excerpts from "Medea")
9:30 Actors' Choice: Gertrude Stein (Aline MacMahon and Kim Hunter read from her works.)
10 PM Soul! (a "best-of" compilation: poems of social protest read by Jackie Earley and Anna Horsford; the George Faison Universal Dance Experience performs Faison's ballet "Gazelle"; the late Lee Morgan plays jazz trumpet; Al Green sings "Let's Stay Together" and "Tired Of Being Alone")
sign off 11 PM

WBNS Ch. 10 Columbus, OH (CBS)

6 AM Sacred Heart
6:15 Farmtime
6:30 Urban League Presents
7 AM CBS News
8 AM Captain Kangaroo
9 AM Friendly Junction
9:55 Chuck White Reports
10 AM Joker's Wild
10:30 Price Is Right
11 AM Gambit
11:30 Love Of Life
12 N Local News
12:30 Search For Tomorrow
1 PM Green Acres
1:30 As The World Turns
2 PM Guiding Light
2:30 Edge Of Night
3 PM Love Is A Many Splendored Thing
3:30 Secret Storm
4 PM Movie: "Quo Vadis" (Part 2 of 2)
6 PM News, Weather, Sports
6:30 CBS News
7 PM News, Weather And Sports
7:30 The Judge
8 PM Carol Burnett
9 PM Medical Center
10 PM Cannon
11 PM News, Weather And Sports
11:30 Movie: "The Last Hurrah"

WBOY Ch. 12 Clarksburg, WV (NBC/ABC)

7 AM Today
9 AM Cartoons
9:30 Joanne Carson's VIPs (gynecologist Richard Sand discusses natural childbirth and diet and exercise for new mothers)
10 AM Dinah's Place
10:30 Concentration
11 AM Sale Of The Century
11:30 Hollywood Squares
12 N Local News
12:30 Who, What Or Where
12:55 NBC News
1 PM Jeopardy!
1:30 Three On A Match
2 PM Days Of Our Lives
2:30 The Doctors
3 PM Another World
3:30 Return To Peyton Place
4 PM Somerset
4:30 I Love Lucy
5 PM Ponderosa
6 PM News, Weather, Sports
6:30 NBC News
7 PM Truth Or Consequences
7:30 Dragnet
8 PM World Series Pre-Game Show
8:15 World Series (see Ch. 3)
11 PM News, Weather And Sports (time approximate)
11:30 Tonight Show

WHTN (WOWK) Ch. 13 Huntington (ABC)

6:15 Farm Report
6:20 Paul Harvey
6:25 Glory Road
6:55 Flintstones
7:25 Sports Club
7:30 Rocky And Bullwinkle (this is not the ABC series airing on Sunday mornings)
8 AM New Zoo Revue
8:30 Jack LaLanne
8:55 Local News
9 AM Ben Casey (guest: Bethel Leslie, who'd know a thing or two about medical shows from her years on "The Doctors")
10 AM Dick Van Dyke
10:30 Split Second (delay from 12:30 PM)
11 AM Password (Sally Struthers, Gene Rayburn, day-behind from 12 N)
11:30 Bewitched
12 N News (Smith/Palmer)
1 PM All My Children
1:30 Let's Make A Deal
2 PM Newlywed Game
2:30 Dating Game
3 PM General Hospital
3:30 One Life To Live
4 PM Love, American Style
4:30 Daniel Boone
5:30 Gomer Pyle, USMC
6 PM ABC News
6:30 I Dream Of Jeannie
7 PM Anything You Can Do
7:30 Beat The Clock (these two game shows made a good back-to-back combination; both involved trying to perform stunts against the clock)
8 PM Paul Lynde Show
8:30 ABC Movie: "A Great American Tragedy"
10 PM Julie Andrews Hour
11 PM News, Weather And Sports
11:30 Movie: "Ten North Frederick"
1:30 Local News

WTAP Ch. 15 Parkersburg, WV/Marietta, OH (NBC)

7 AM Today
9 AM Phil Donahue (same as Ch. 7)
10 AM Dinah's Place
10:30 Concentration
11 AM Sale Of The Century
11:30 Hollywood Squares
12 N Jeopardy!
12:30 Who, What Or Where
12:55 NBC News
1 PM Watch Your Child (a visit from a chipmunk)
1:30 Three On A Match
2 PM Days Of Our Lives
2:30 The Doctors
3 PM Another World
3:30 Return To Peyton Place
4 PM Somerset
4:30 Andy Griffith
5 PM Dick Van Dyke
5:30 Marshal Dillon (the half-hour "Gunsmoke"s)
6 PM News, Weather, Sports
6:30 NBC News
7 PM The Saint
8 PM World Series Pre-Game Show
8:15 World Series (see Ch. 3)
11 PM News, Weather And Sports (time approximate)
11:30 Tonight Show

WMUL (WPBY) Ch. 33 Huntington (PBS)

8 AM Sesame Street
9 AM In-school programs
4 PM Sesame Street
5 PM Mister Rogers' Neighborhood
5:30 Electric Company
6 PM Sportscope
6:30 Hathayoga
7 PM Know Your Schools
7:30 Episode: Action
8 PM A Public Affair/Election '72
8:30 Handfuls Of Ashes (Chapter 3)
9 PM Chapter 33
10 PM Soul!
sign off 11 PM

 

[radiorob2.0]

What was the reason for WNOW c9 to be included in TV Guide?

 

[RALfan]

Can you list the public access shows, please?

 

[onairb]

Was NBC airing 'Ponderosa'/'Bonanza' nationally that afternoon for some reason? Or is it just coincidence that every full-time NBC affiliate in that edition carried it in the same time slot?

 

[bpatrick]

All I have for WNOW-c9 is what you see here in the listings; perhaps the Parkersburg newspaper carried the public-access lisitngs but I don't have any copies of the paper and can't get any. My guess as to why it was in TV Guide is that there weren't a lot of cable channels in those days, but I believe that area had fairly significant cable penetration due to the terrain, and thus WNOW-c9 met TV Guide's 15% rule (I have to wonder why WTAE Pittsburgh wasn't in there, being the de facto ABC affiliate for Wheeling for years). Later, IIRC, WNOW-c9 picked up a few network shows, such as ABC's newscast.

It's strictly coincidence that "Bonanza"/"Ponderosa" was on all those NBC stations at the same time. The show was carried at 5 PM on ABC affiliates WTVC/9 Chattanooga and WQXI (now WXIA)/11 Atlanta; in Florida NBC affiliate WESH/2 Daytona Beach/Orlando and CBS affiliate WTVT/13 carried the show at different times: 4:30 in Orlando, 5 PM (later 4 PM) in Tampa.

 

[onairb]

I asked because NBC had aired repeats of the show with the 'Ponderosa' title' in prime time on Tuesdays throughout the summer of '72, in preparation for its move to that night in the fall. That ended up being the final season for 'Bonanza'.
Incidentally, the World Series game on this date turned out to be Game 3, due to a rainout the night before(an odd one, a short cloudburst that drenched the Oakland Coliseum field and parking lot, while the rest of the Bay Area was untouched.). NBC wound up showing Game 5 of the Series on the afternoon of Friday the 20th.

 

[bpatrick]

"Bonanza" didn't even make it through the 1972-73 season on NBC; it was canceled in January 1973, at which point the syndicated reruns assumed the "Bonanza" title. And as you can no doubt tell just from the very short list of stations I mentioned as carrying it in the afternoon, the show was put into syndication in the fall of 1972. I still believe that two things contributed to the demise of "Bonanza" on NBC: (1) the death of Dan Blocker before production started for the 1972-73 season; and (2) the withering competition of "Maude" on Tuesday nights (plus the change from "Bonanza"'s longtime Sunday slot, so maybe that makes three things).

Still, I think your question was a valid assumption. "Bonanza" does appear to have been a pretty good lead-in to the news; in Atlanta, I remember that Ch. 11 (not yet 11 Alive) doubled the ratings for its 6 PM newscast; how much was because of the hiring of former NBC newscaster Virgil Dominic as anchor and how much was because of the "Bonanza" lead-in I'll never know, but it was a significant gain, and "Bonanza" enjoyed a more-or-less continuous run of five years on the station.