September 1, 1978 Connecticut (via New York City)

[aznyin]

Found an old TV Guide and picked out one day of the Connecticut listings through the eyes of New York City.


Friday, September 1, 1978

3 WFSB (CBS) Hartford
8 WTNH New Haven (ABC) New Haven
20 WATR (NBC) Waterbury
49 WEDW (PBS) Bridgeport

6AM
3 - Behold Wonderous Things
8 - Dialogue

6:30Am
3 - Marshall Efron's Sunday School
8 - Little Rascals

7AM
3 - CBS News
8 - Good Morning America

8AM
3 - Captain Kangaroo
20 - Today

9AM
3 - Match Game
8 - Phil Donahue

9:30AM
3 - Tic Tac Dough

10AM
3 - Mike Douglas
8 - Ryan's Hope
20 - Card Sharks

10:30AM
8 - Edge Of Night
20 - Hollywood Squares

11AM
3 - All In The Family
8 - Happy Days
20 - High Rollers

11:30AM
3 - Love Of Life
8 - Family Feud
20 - Wheel Of Fortune

12PM
3 - News Day
8 - 12 O'Clock Live!
20 - America Alive!

1PM
3 - Search Fpr Tomorrow
8 - All My Children
20 - Human Dimension

1:30PM
3 - As The World Turns
20 - Days Of Our Lives

2PM
8 - One Life To Live

2:30PM
3 - Guiding Light
20 - Doctors

3PM
8 - General Hospital
20 - Another World

3:30PM
3 - New Mickey Mouse Club
49 - Over Easy

4PM
3 - Dinah!
8 - My Three Sons
20 - For Richer, For Poorer
49 - Sesame Street

4:30PM
8 - Odd Couple
20 - PTL Club

5PM
8 - Big Valley
49 - Mister Rogers Neighborhood

5:30PM
3 - Adam-12
49 - Electric Company

6PM
3, 8 - News
49 - Zoom

6:30PM
8 - ABC News
20 - NBC News
49 - Antiques

7PM
3 - CBS News
8 - Concentration
20 - Soap Factory Disco
49 - Over Easy

7:30PM
3 - Match Game PM
8 - Family Feud
20 - Porter Wagoner
49 - MacNeil/Lehrer Report

8PM
3 - Wonder Woman
8 - ABC's All-Star Saturday
20 - Black Sheep Squadron
49 - Washington Week In Review

8:30PM
49 - Wall Street Week

9PM
3 - Incredible Hulk
8 - Movie: At The Earth's Core (1976)
20 - Columbo
49 - Evening At The Pops

10PM
3 - CBS Reports
49 - Firing Line

11PM
3, 8 - News
20 - Petticoat Junction
49 - Dick Cavett

11:30PM
3 - US Open Tennis
8 - Movie:Escape From Zahrain (1963)
20 - Johnny Carson
49 - ABC News

11:45PM
3 - Movie:City Beneath The Sea (1971)

1AM
20 - Midnight Special

 

[TexasTom]

For those who may not be aware, WATR channel 20 was not the main NBC affiliate for Connecticut. Hartford received NBC programming from Viacom-owned WHNB channel 30, which was licensed to New Britain, leaving WATR to serve only a small part of the Hartford/New Haven market.

In the early eighties, WATR was flipped to the WTXX call letters (which it still has today), dumped NBC, upped its power, and became the first real independent station serving Hartford/New Haven. (I don't count WHCT channel 18, which was owned by Eugene Scott and carried his unique brand of religious programming until he lost the license)

 

[KML0224]

Was WHNB-TV carried in the New York Metropolitan Edition of TV Guide? I know that Viacom bought the station, changed the call letters to WVIT-TV and increased their signal, allowing them to reach New Haven cleanly for the first time. This overhaul of channel 30 is what made Waterbury's channel 20 affiliation with NBC redundant. The change to WTXX-TV was in the spring of 1982.

I know that in the last days of real listings in TV Guide, that edition carried channels 3, 8, 20, 30, 61 and had a bullet for Connecticut Public Television, although I think a direct listing for channel 49 of Bridgeport would've been suitable. I don't think they ever carried listings for channel 59 of New Haven.

 

[aznyin]

I didn't realize it back then because I was a kid, but looking at it now I was thinking, wow, did Connecticut have a weak NBC affiliate. On Sundays, it didn't go on the air until 11AM! WHNB probably wasn't carried by the NYC TV Guide because it was too far away though WFSB was listed (New Britain & Hartford are roughly the same distance from NYC). Connecticut channels always fascinated me because New Jersey only had PBS & Spanish channels and they were more allusive to pick up.

Channel 59 (WCTX) was never carried, though WTHH was (Both in New Haven). Back in 2003 when it was a UPN affiliate, I was able to pick it up in my grandmother's house off the old roof antenna and the picture was actually pretty watchable.

 

[DToTheJ]

I didn't realize it back then because I was a kid, but looking at it now I was thinking, wow, did Connecticut have a weak NBC affiliate. On Sundays, it didn't go on the air until 11AM!

And judging by the sample listings posted in this thread, I take it WATR didn't have a news department, either! Oh, and when your main afternoon programming fare consists of "The PTL Club," you know you're in trouble! (Although not as in dire straits as Channel 20 would be in the mid-90's, of course.)

 

[wbhist]

Was WHNB-TV carried in the New York Metropolitan Edition of TV Guide? I know that Viacom bought the station, changed the call letters to WVIT-TV and increased their signal, allowing them to reach New Haven cleanly for the first time. This overhaul of channel 30 is what made Waterbury's channel 20 affiliation with NBC redundant. The change to WTXX-TV was in the spring of 1982.

I know that in the last days of real listings in TV Guide, that edition carried channels 3, 8, 20, 30, 61 and had a bullet for Connecticut Public Television, although I think a direct listing for channel 49 of Bridgeport would've been suitable. I don't think they ever carried listings for channel 59 of New Haven.

Channel 30 didn't make New York Metro listings until after the 1979 call letter change to WVIT and the increase in their signal. For about a year afterward, NBC listings in NYM TV Guides had (4) (20) (30), before being knocked down to (4) (30).

I also seem to recall for a brief period, NYM TV Guides had Public TV Channel 65 from Connecticut.