Retro: WRGB, Schnectady, N.Y., Dec. 11-17, 1950

[DM601]

Here's a week's worth of WRGB Channel 4 (as they were then) from Schnectady, N.Y. (schedule from The Berkshire Eagle)

WEEKDAYS
AM
10 Test pattern
PM
1:10 News
1:15 Excursions in Science or Shopping Guide
1:30 Mon., Wed., Fri.: Faye Emerson; Tue: Shopping Guide; Thu: Farm Spotlight
1:45 Bob Slone and Jerry Coyle
2:45 Mon, Wed., Fri: Myers Show; Tue: Doris Remis Flower Arrangements; Thu: Martha Brooks
3 Ransom Sherman
3:30 Remember This Date; Fri: Bert Parks
4 Homemakers Exchange
4:30 Kate Smith
5 Santa Claus; W, F-John Conte’s Little Show
5:15 Breadtime (not a misprint) Stories
5:30 Howdy Doody
6 Cactus Jim
6:30 TV Showcase
6:55 Weather Map
7 Kukla, Fran and Ollie
7:30 M, W, F: Mohawk Showroom; TU: Foremost Show; TH: Memory Lane
7:45 Camel News Caravan
11 Newsreel
11:15 Broadway Open House
12M Signoff

MONDAY, DEC. 11
8 Paul Winchell-Jerry Mahoney Show
8:30 Voice of Firestone
9 Lights Out
9:30 Robert Montgomery Presents
10:30 Who Said That?

TUESDAY, DEC. 12
8 Texaco Star Theatre (Milton Berle)
9 Fireside Theatre
9:30 Suspense (CBS)
10 Ted Mack’s Original Amateur Hour

WEDNESDAY, DEC. 13
8 You Bet Your Life (from Thursday)
8:30 Alan Young (CBS, from Thursday)
9 Kraft Television Theatre
10 Break The Bank
10:30 Strange Adventures

THURSDAY, DEC. 14
8 Stop The Music (ABC)
9 Kay Kyser
10 Martin Kane, Private Eye
10:30 Chance Of A Lifetime (ABC, from Wednesday)

FRIDAY, DEC. 15
8 Toast Of The Town (Ed Sullivan; CBS, from Sunday)
9 Bonny Maid Versatile Varieties
9:30 Teen Age Barn
10 Gillette Cavalcade of Sports
10:30 President Truman speech to nation about situations with Korea, Communists

SATURDAY, DEC. 16
AM
10 Sign on
10:30 Theatre
11 Mr. I Magination
11:30 Ranch
PM
12 Super Circus
1 Hopalong Cassidy
2 Juvenile Jamboree
2:30 Morton Downey
3-5 Illegible on schedule
5 Arthur Godfrey’s Talent Scouts (CBS, from Monday)
5:30 Joe DiMaggio Show
5:45 Fashion Street
6 Arthur Godfrey And His Friends (CBS, from Wednesday)
7 Sportscope
7:30 One Man’s Family
8 Ken Murray (CBS)
9 Your Show Of Shows
10:30 Your Hit Parade
11 Wrestling
12M Signoff

SUNDAY, DEC. 17
AM
10:45 Sign on
10:55 Billy Rose
11:25 Teller Of Tales
11:55 Stu Erwin
PM
12:25 Star Time
2:05 Football: Cleveland Browns vs. New York Giants
5 Western
6 Philco TV Playhouse (from previous Sunday, apparently)
7 Fashion Parade
7:15 Yesterday’s Newsreel
7:30 Aldrich Family
8 Colgate Comedy Hour
9 Fred Waring (CBS)
10 Celebrity Time (CBS)
10:30 News Of The Week
10:45 Ship’s Reporter
11 Club Roma
11:30 Sign off

 

[wditto]

do you have wrgb tv in december 1948

 

[ercjncpr]

I was just curious as to why they delayed Ed Sullivan and Arthur Godfrey to another night? Didn't WRGB have a direct coaxial cable connection to CBS in 1950?

 

[Tim L]

At this point, WRGB was primarily NBC. They had an NBC Hookup for sure but maybe not for CBS or ABC. As NBC was the primary Network, They would probably get priority on live feeds.

 

[bpatrick]

On this schedule are at least four CBS shows that aired
in pattern: Suspense, Ken Murray, Fred Waring, and
Celebrity Time. I think that in the case of Sullivan, the
Colgate Comedy Hour was the higher-rated of the two
shows on Sundays at 8.

I've posted before that WFMY/2 Greensboro, NC, a CBS
primary affiliate, carried Colgate instead of Sullivan on
Sundays until 1953, when the Triad got an NBC affiliate.
Likewise, WFMY carried Firestone on Monday nights instead
of Talent Scouts, although this makes little sense: Talent
Scouts was number one (or close to it) in the early 1950s.
Maybe the highbrow nature of the Firestone show was worth
a couple of FCC brownie points.

WRGB's schedule doesn't look radically different from those in
one-station markets here in North Carolina and Virginia (Greensboro,
Charlotte, Richmond, Norfolk) in those days. All of them tried to
carry as many of the top-rated shows as possible, but since they
could carry only one show at a time, something had to be delayed.
The program directors must have had a tough time making some of
these calls.