Retro: WNAO-TV Schedule Sunday, July 12, 1953

[RALfan]

It was 55 years ago this July 12 that television first came to the Raleigh/Durham when WNAO-TV first signed on UHF Channel 28. I thought that I'd like to celebrate the occasion early by posting the schedule from that Sunday night.

5:25 Opening Ceremonies
6:00 Hopalong Cassidy
7:00 News
7:15 Sports
7:30 Your Playtime
8:00 Toast of the Town
10:00 The Web
10:30 News
10:45 Sports
11:00 Sunday Showcase

Source: Durham Morning Herald, Sunday, July 12, 1953

 

[oldiesfan6479]

8:00 Toast of the Town
10:00 The Web

9-10pm programming? Or two Sullivans back-to-back?

I'm guessing WNAO-TV was not interconnected and both
Toast and Web were kinnies a week or two late.
Their network feed times would have been 7-8 and 9-9:30
as NC was on EST and this is long before video tape.

 

[bpatrick]

I'd like to know about the 9-10 PM time slot myself.
But why would Raleigh/Durham not have been connected?
Greensboro and Charlotte were connected in 1950.

BTW, WNAO was the only CBS affiliate in North Carolina to
run Ed Sullivan at 7 or 8 (whichever), although WFMY began
doing so that fall. WFMY and WBTV had "The Colgate Comedy
Hour" (NBC) Sundays at 8; Sullivan aired after the CBS Sunday-
night news on WBTV and on Tuesdays at 10 on WFMY (starting
in the fall of 1952 when NBC temporarily dropped "Ted Mack's
Amateur Hour").

But in the fall of '53 WSJS (WXII)/12 signed on, took the NBC
affiliation (and "Colgate"), and Sullivan began airing in pattern
in the Triad. WBTV stuck with "Colgate" until about 1955.

 

[LKellerIII]

"It was 55 years ago this July 12 that television first came to the Raleigh/Durham when WNAO-TV first signed on UHF Channel 28."

I know this is a really elementary question, but I'm going to ask it anyway: since TVs did not come with UHF tuners until the early 60s, and there was no cable - how did viewers in cities like Raleigh/Durham and other smaller markets receive reception from WNAO and other stations?

I grew up in LA, and of course, all the major stations were VHF. The first UHF stations (independents) came into the LA market in the early 60s, and actually folded because so few people could tune them in. The first UHF stations to make it were in the mid to late 60s - KCET 28 (NET, now PBS) and KMEX 34; LA's first Spanish language station. By then, cable was making some inroads, and I believe most people who were able to view these two stations were able to do so because they had cable.

TVs were expensive in those days - relative to median income - so middle- and working class people did not buy new TVs for minor reasons, like to get color, or UHF stations. They generally bought new TVs only when their old ones were unrepairable.

I doubt there was cable in Raleigh/Durham in 1953- so I am guessing that TV manufacturers either sold TV with UHF tuners in small markets - or people were able to buy some kind of converter boxes.

Am I close?

 

[radiorob2.0]

http://www.geocities.com/k8zhd/TVBox.html is a good start.

 

[Tim L]

http://www.geocities.com/k8zhd/TVBox.html is a good start.

Looks like an interesting site..I know tbat UHF converters were being sold in the Canton, Ohio area as late as 1967..Here's an article from my blog detailing the beginning of WJAN-TV 17 in Canton January 3, 1967..with a newspaper ad for UHF converters..




http://clevelandclassicmedia.blogspot.com/2007/09/serving-city-of-cantonwjan-tv-17.html

 

[Stanislav]

http://www.geocities.com/k8zhd/TVBox.html is a good start.

Looks like an interesting site..I know tbat UHF converters were being sold in the Canton, Ohio area as late as 1967..Here's an article from my blog detailing the beginning of WJAN-TV 17 in Canton January 3, 1967..with a newspaper ad for UHF converters..

Never had to rely on one of those -- from my earliest childhood, our TVs always had some sort of UHF built-in (except for that ancient monstrosity at my grandparents' place in VT, but there was no UHF to watch there then anyway). But many years ago, I picked up an old B-T converter at a garage sale for a buck, and played with it for a little while. It suffered from major imtermod/image problems all across the band, and even the strongest locals were never crystal-clear. Plus the thing drifted like crazy -- you would have to tweak the tuning dial every 10 minutes or so. It isn't hard to see why so many early UHFs went belly-up if that was the sort of technology viewers had to depend on to view them!

 

[LKellerIII]

You must be a few years younger than me, Stanislav. My parents bough their first TV set in 1956 - an RCA 22 inch, I think...black and white, of course. Needless to say, it had no UHF tuner. That was our only TV until 1968 - 12 years later.

I grew up in the 60s in a middle class neighborhood, and my parent's TV was pretty typical. I don't remember any of my friends or neighbors having anything newer or better. More than a few of the neighborhood TVs had problems requiring constant fiddling (as in standing up and walking over to the TV - no remotes)...like twitchy vertical holds, snow and ghosts you could make go away temporarily by banging on the side of the TV, and so on. Our RCA was one of the more reliable sets. The TV repairman was a very popular and busy guy in town.

I don't remember any of my friends having TVs with UHF tuners built in, or even having converter boxes. But we were in a marginal reception area, so the UHF stations probably wouldn't have come in any way. Cable came to town about 1967 or so, and we not only got excellent reception for the first time, but were then able to watch LA's two UHF stations.

 

[fortmill]

Most certainly, TV sets were manufactured with UHF tuners included beginning in 1953. All new TVs sold in the immediate Raleigh-Durham area begining in 1953 did include a UHF tuner. HOWEVER--the UHF tuner was an optional feature and usually cost about $40 extra. They were usually only sold in areas which had UHF stations or the prospect of a UHF station coming on. When WNAO/28 went dark in 1958, TV dealers went back to selling VHF only sets in Raleigh. I remember the Sears catelog offering all their TVs with a UHF option (for about $40 more) until 1964, when they were required by law to include UHF. Two additional notes--WNAO was not the first station to offer TV to Raleigh-Durham. Some people there began buying TVs in 1949 when WFMY/2 in Greensboro came on. Those early adopters did, in fact, have to go out and buy UHF converters when WNAO/28 came on---I remember my grandmother's Motorola converter, next to her VHF signal booster (for WFMY) on top of her Sylvania "Halolite" TV in Raleigh, along with her huge VHF antenna, and small UHF "bowtie" on the roof. Also, people bought new (repalcement) TVs quite often in the 50s. For one thing, the early sets did not last long. Secondly, new features, including larger and larger screen sizes, made the new sets very attractive.

 

[LKellerIII]

Most certainly, TV sets were manufactured with UHF tuners included beginning in 1953. All new TVs sold in the immediate Raleigh-Durham area begining in 1953 did include a UHF tuner. HOWEVER--the UHF tuner was an optional feature and usually cost about $40 extra. They were usually only sold in areas which had UHF stations or the prospect of a UHF station coming on. When WNAO/28 went dark in 1958, TV dealers went back to selling VHF only sets in Raleigh. I remember the Sears catelog offering all their TVs with a UHF option (for about $40 more) until 1964, when they were required by law to include UHF. Two additional notes--WNAO was not the first station to offer TV to Raleigh-Durham. Some people there began buying TVs in 1949 when WFMY/2 in Greensboro came on. Those early adopters did, in fact, have to go out and buy UHF converters when WNAO/28 came on---I remember my grandmother's Motorola converter, next to her VHF signal booster (for WFMY) on top of her Sylvania "Halolite" TV in Raleigh, along with her huge VHF antenna, and small UHF "bowtie" on the roof. Also, people bought new (repalcement) TVs quite often in the 50s. For one thing, the early sets did not last long. Secondly, new features, including larger and larger screen sizes, made the new sets very attractive.

Interesting information, Fortmill - thanks. By the early 60s, TV sets had a decent lifespan, and color was too expensive for most people...just to be able to watch about a dozen programs in color. At least where I grew up, you didn't replace your TV until the repairman was making monthly house calls, or the repairman declared your TV no longer worth fixing. People even replaced blown-out picture tubes back then - which was not cheap.

These days, we take modern electronics for granted. When you think a typical TV set in the mid 50s cost at least $150 - plus $40 or so more for a UHF converter in places like Raleigh/Durham - Using the online inflation calculator, that $200 cost is the equivalent to over $1,500 these days...for a not very large black and white set with one speaker monaural sound and no remote control.

 

[bpatrick]

When we moved to Raleigh in 1957 we bought a
set that actually had built-in UHF capability (coming
from Greensboro and WFMY, it was the only way we
could see our favorite CBS shows), and we watched
WNAO probably more than we did WRAL or WTVD.

After WNAO went dark we couldn't use that UHF
capability again until we moved to Norfolk in 1966.
There were two UHFs on the air there: WHRO/15
(NET, the predecessor of PBS) and WYAH/27 (Pat
Robertson's CBN station). The new 28 in the Triangle
didn't sign on until 1968, by which time we were in
Greenville, SC.

 

[Stanislav]

You must be a few years younger than me, Stanislav. My parents bough their first TV set in 1956 - an RCA 22 inch, I think...black and white, of course. Needless to say, it had no UHF tuner. That was our only TV until 1968 - 12 years later.

By the time I was old enough to be playing with the TV, it was the early-mid 60's (I was born in '58). Eventually, I discovered that our TV had a UHF tuner -- the rest of the family had no clue. See, this may sound strange, but I hope others will back me up on it. Some TVs sold back in the day "supposedly" didn't have a UHF tuner -- the front panel had the VHF dial and, beneath it, just a flat panel covering where UHF would be. Some even had that little panel labeled "For UHF." You may find it hard to believe, but some such sets -- including ours -- actually HAD a tuner behind that little panel, attached to the panel, and by loosening up the panel a bit (it was glued on to discourage exactly what I was doing, but was easily freed up with a screwdriver or nail file), you could actually turn it, thereby also turning the UHF tuner! (Of course, you were tuning in the blind, but it was pretty easy to find the various channels by trial and error.) Yup, it was probably a racket -- you'd call the TV repairman and say you wanted UHF "added" to your set, he'd come out and spend about half an hour futzing around, and in reality all he would do is take the "placeholder" panel off and put on a numbered dial. Then he would charge you an arm and a leg for installing what essentially was a $2 part.

I do hope others will chime in on this, so the world knows I'm not making it up. Over the years, I saw similar old sets a couple of times in motels with the same setup (flat "For UHF" panel instead of a dial, but the tuner present and functioning).

 

[Charles1]

I was born in '60. The first TV I remember us having was an RCA model that had only a VHF tuner. I'm sure it was something that my parents scraped and saved to buy. At the time, it didn't matter, since Birmingham had only three TV stations at the time: 6 (ABC), 10 (NET), and 13 (NBC/CBS). When I was 5, Channel 42 signed on, and of course, we couldn't pick them up. I remember going to my dad's mother's house, where she had a UHF converter that enabled her to pick up 42. IIRC, the picture was almost unwatchable...and she lived less than five miles (as the crow flies) from the Channel 42 transmitter.

When I was 6, my mom's parents bought my younger brother and me a TV to go in our bedroom (yeah, being the kids of an only child had its perks!) The Sylvania model had a built in UHF tuner, which enabled us to pick up Channel 42...and the picture was almost as unwatchable on that set as it was at my grandmother's---we lived less than four blocks from her. I think part of the problem to Channel 42's poor reception was that they didn't broadcast at full power for many years.

 

[radiorob2.0]

You must be a few years younger than me, Stanislav. My parents bough their first TV set in 1956 - an RCA 22 inch, I think...black and white, of course. Needless to say, it had no UHF tuner. That was our only TV until 1968 - 12 years later.

By the time I was old enough to be playing with the TV, it was the early-mid 60's (I was born in '58). Eventually, I discovered that our TV had a UHF tuner -- the rest of the family had no clue. See, this may sound strange, but I hope others will back me up on it. Some TVs sold back in the day "supposedly" didn't have a UHF tuner -- the front panel had the VHF dial and, beneath it, just a flat panel covering where UHF would be. Some even had that little panel labeled "For UHF." You may find it hard to believe, but some such sets -- including ours -- actually HAD a tuner behind that little panel, attached to the panel, and by loosening up the panel a bit (it was glued on to discourage exactly what I was doing, but was easily freed up with a screwdriver or nail file), you could actually turn it, thereby also turning the UHF tuner! (Of course, you were tuning in the blind, but it was pretty easy to find the various channels by trial and error.) Yup, it was probably a racket -- you'd call the TV repairman and say you wanted UHF "added" to your set, he'd come out and spend about half an hour futzing around, and in reality all he would do is take the "placeholder" panel off and put on a numbered dial. Then he would charge you an arm and a leg for installing what essentially was a $2 part.

I do hope others will chime in on this, so the world knows I'm not making it up. Over the years, I saw similar old sets a couple of times in motels with the same setup (flat "For UHF" panel instead of a dial, but the tuner present and functioning).

Hotel TV's made through the 70's had the same cap in place of a UHF knob. When the cap was removed you could use the VHF knob and tune UHF.

I came across a late model (early 70's vintage) UHF converter and it actually worked well. It was very sensitive.

 

[fortmill]

I think most of the VHF sets manufactured in the early 60s had that "UHF cap" somewhere on the front of the set. I remember when WCCB/36(now channel 18) came on the air in Charlotte in 1964, several of my relatives there called the TV repair man in and had a UHF tuner installed where the cap had been. WCCB's arrival was a very big deal in Charlotte since CHarlotte was determined to be a big city and you couldn't really be big time if you only had 2 TV stations. Some TV sets (Zeniths, I think) during that period had the option of installing a "UHF strip" which somehow converted one of the unused VHF positions for a single UHF channel. My aunt in Charlotte did that.

 

[bpatrick]

But wasn't WCCB's coverage area so limited that
the cable companies (even in Charlotte) carried
WGHP when both stations were ABC affiliates, so
that people in that area would have an ABC affiliate?

As for WBMG, strangely enough I lived across town,
in Center Point, and had no problem picking up Ch. 42
(of course, I could also pick up Ch. 11 in Atlanta when
conditions were right, which was fairly often), and
without benefit of anything but the rabbit ears on my
portable TV and nothing at all on our console set downstairs.

 

[fortmill]

But wasn't WCCB's coverage area so limited that
the cable companies (even in Charlotte) carried
WGHP when both stations were ABC affiliates, so
that people in that area would have an ABC affiliate?

The original WCCB on channel 36 probably was not a powerhouse--they broadcast from what was probably about a 500 ft tower on Independence Blvd, right next to what is now Cricket Arena. Educational WTVI/42's similar tower was right across the street (the lower part of that tower still stands). WCCB moved to channel 18 in 1967--on a new 1300 ft tower in NW Charlotte and used 5,000,000 watts--the first 5 megawatt TV station in the country. Some would say that the introduction of Jefferson Pilot Cable and Cox-Cosmos Cable in Charlotte, also in 1964, was actually an attempt by WBTV and WSOC to limit local competition in Charlotte. In addition to WGHP, they also carried WSPA, WIS, and WXII. I don't think WGHP was carried because WCCB had a weak signal (besides all my relatives in Charlotte got perfectly fine reception on WCCB/36). After all, WGHP was also carried on Cablevision of Raleigh (another JP property), and WRAL/5/ABC was anything but weak. The fact is, there was little content for cable systems to carry in those days, and WGHP had rather unique programing for a station in the Carolinas (yes, it was carried on a number of systems in SC , as well). When WTTG and WDCA came along a few years later, the Charlotte cable systems dropped WGHP and WXII while WIS and WSPA continued to be carried.

 

[RALfan]

8:00 Toast of the Town
10:00 The Web

9-10pm programming? Or two Sullivans back-to-back?

I'm guessing WNAO-TV was not interconnected and both
Toast and Web were kinnies a week or two late.
Their network feed times would have been 7-8 and 9-9:30
as NC was on EST and this is long before video tape.

From the Raleigh News and Observer:

5:25 Opening Ceremonies
5:35 People and Places in and Around Raleigh
5:45 Top Tunes (summer replacement for Perry Como's Chesterfield Supper Club)
6:00 Hopalong Cassidy
7:00 Weeks News in Review
7:15 Weeks Sports in Review
7:30 Your Playtime
8:00 Toast of the Town with Ed Sullivan
9:00 TV Theater (could be either Philco TV Playhouse or Goodyear TV Playhouse)
10:00 The Web
10:30 Late News in Review
10:45 Late Sports in Review
11:00 Sunday Masterpieces
11:45 Sign-Off

The one I got from the Durham Morning Herald was taken from an ad promoting the new station, which wasn't very helpful (for which I apologize). I hope this takes away some of the confusion.

 

[bpatrick]

"TV Theater" couldn't have been "GE Theater"? I think
it alternated with Fred Waring's show on CBS at the time.

Speaking of WGHP as a unique station for the Carolinas,
and the fact that it was on some South Carolina cable systems,
Channel 8 was heavily influenced from Atlanta: it was the only
non-Storer-owned station to use Storer's rep firm (Storer owned
WAGA for years), some of its earliest managers came from WAGA,
and g.m. Eugene Bohi (1973-sometime in the '80s) and WXIA g.m.
Jeff Davidson (1976-mid '80s) had worked for the same company
(Sonderling Broadcasting) in the early '70s and both were on the
ABC affiliates' board before WXIA went to NBC. The schedules of
WGHP and WXIA were so similar when both were ABC affiliates that
I once asked local sales manager Mike Morris if that was intentional.
He admitted it was.

Back to WNAO for a minute: WFMY and WNAO are the first stations
I remember watching, and I still think that if UHF tuners had been
mandatory in WNAO's day, it would have survived the inroads of
WRAL. WNAO would have needed a boost to the west (Durham and
Chapel Hill), but I still recall it to have been, overall, a pretty good
station.

 

[fortmill]

"TV Theater" couldn't have been "GE Theater"? I think
it alternated with Fred Waring's show on CBS at the time.


Back to WNAO for a minute: WFMY and WNAO are the first stations
I remember watching, and I still think that if UHF tuners had been
mandatory in WNAO's day, it would have survived the inroads of
WRAL. WNAO would have needed a boost to the west (Durham and
Chapel Hill), but I still recall it to have been, overall, a pretty good
station.

I believe WNAO was very popular in Raleigh---from my memory, they had near-universal adoption in Wake County--in fact you still see many of the old "bow tie" antennas on older buildings in Raleigh. But as you say, the problem was Durham and Chapel Hill where reception would not have been nearly as good. WNAO ended up with the CBS affiliation which should have been excellent, HOWEVER, WFMY in Greensboro was also CBS, and channel 2 was well recieved in Durham and CHL, often without an outside antenna, which would have been required for WNAO. Still, I think the real problem was that the News and Observer wanted out of the broadcast business. They sold WNAO-AM-FM-TV to Holden of Greensboro who also owned WTOB-AM-TV in Winston Salem. WTOB/channel 26 was already dark. I don't know whether the N&O or Holden took 28 dark, but Holden held on to the licenses for both 26 and 28, in fact he changed the calls of 28 to WKIX-TV!, even though it was off the air. WNAO-AM-FM, of course, became the legendary WKIX-AM/FM, the wonderful top 40 station for the Triangle. Meanwhile competition for the license for channel 8 in the triad was heating up and Holden's Southern Broadcasting was one of the applicants. At the time, the FCC was known to give preference to applicants who held permits for economically challenged UHF stations--and Southern had two! Eventually, they awarded the CP to Southern rather than another applicant, Jefferson Pilot, who had expected to get the CP because they had moved their channel 8 (WBTW) in Florence Sc to make way for 8 in the Triad. The only stipulation was Southern (Holden) had to dispose of WKIX-TV and WTOB-TV. I read about all this back in the 70s in accounts from old Broadcasting Magazines I found at the University of SC/Columbia.