Does anyone remember back in the good old days of PBS during the day, before Barney, Teletubbies, and all those stupid modern little kids shows, many PBS stations aired Sesame Street on 3, or even 4 times a day? I remember back in the 80s on WGBH-2 in Boston, starting at 7:00 AM, Sesame Street came on, and then after that at 8:00, Mr. Rogers came on, and then at 8:30, SS came on again, and then at 9:30, Mr. Rogers came on again, and then there was a break where they would have like classroom programming or something, and then at Noon, Sesame Street would be on again. I would like to know exactly how long this lasted because I know that by 1992, WGBH only had it on 3 times a day. Then in 1996, it was decreased to 2 airings a day, and then in 2001, only 1. So, does anyone here recall how many times a day Sesame Street was on their local PBS station per day?
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Sesame Street on Multiple Times a Day
- Thread starter ssetta
- Start date
Back in the '70s, Alabama Public TV used to fill out much of their Saturday schedule by rerunning the previous week's "Sesame Street" eps ... followed by all five "Electric Company" shows ... and that week's "Mr. Rogers" ... which made for a good 10 hours of their day.
--Russell
--Russell
Whenever 'The Charlie Rose Show' started airing on PBS, San Francisco's KQED started airing it late at night, then re-running it the next day-this was probably early to mid 90s. Other PBS stations started doing the same, and that was the first deviation from the all-day children's/educational programming that was typical of PBS at that time.ssetta said:
I can remember 'SS' airing twice a day, at 9 AM(between 'Mr. Rogers' and 'Electric Company' reruns, later 'Reading Rainbow'.), and again at either 4 or 5 PM.
I think some PBS stations do air Charlie Rose in the middle of the day, but for most of them, all other programming from 6 am until at least 6 pm is children's programming. I actually have 4 PBS stations on my cable system here. Of course I have WGBH and WGBX from Boston, but I also have WENH from New Hampshire, and WSBE from Providence. WGBH dropped the afternoon airing of SS in October of 1996 with the premiere of "Arthur." And I think the same goes for many PBS stations throughout the country. WENH had SS on twice a day until February of 1999, and it was replaced by Zoboomafoo and Zoom. WGBX did away with their single airing of SS then, too (though they brought it back later that year, and then took it off again in 2001). WSBE had SS on twice a day until 1994, when they only had it on in the morning. And in 1999, they actually moved it from the morning to the afternoon. Then in 2002, they moved it back to the morning. But see, the thing with WSBE is, up until 2002, their selection of children's programming was pretty limited. Here's how their children's schedule was from September 1999-January 2001:
3:00 Teletubbies
3:30 Sesame Street
4:30 Zoom (replaced by Clifford the Big Red Dog in September 2000)
5:00 Zoboomafoo
5:30 Arthur
6:00 Barney & Friends
But believe it or not, they still air in-school educational programming during mid-day. And I think some of those programs are quite old, believe it or not. I flipped by that channel once like last year or so, and I actually saw the PBS ID from 1989.
There are a few PBS stations that still air SS twice a day, but not nearly as many as before. The one that I find most unusual is WITF-33 in Harrisburg, PA. They currently have SS on at like 9am or 10am (one of those), and then it repeats at 7pm! I remember going there back in 1993, and I remember they had it on at that time. But I spoke with someone at the station recently, and they said that it has always been a part of the community, and it gives the opportunity for parents to be able to watch it with their kids when they get home from work, and it does very well during the 7:00 hour, when not many kids shows are on. I remember hearing the same thing about WSBE airing Barney at 6:00. I think they had it on at that time from the time they first started carrying the show in 1993 or so until about maybe 2001.
3:00 Teletubbies
3:30 Sesame Street
4:30 Zoom (replaced by Clifford the Big Red Dog in September 2000)
5:00 Zoboomafoo
5:30 Arthur
6:00 Barney & Friends
But believe it or not, they still air in-school educational programming during mid-day. And I think some of those programs are quite old, believe it or not. I flipped by that channel once like last year or so, and I actually saw the PBS ID from 1989.
There are a few PBS stations that still air SS twice a day, but not nearly as many as before. The one that I find most unusual is WITF-33 in Harrisburg, PA. They currently have SS on at like 9am or 10am (one of those), and then it repeats at 7pm! I remember going there back in 1993, and I remember they had it on at that time. But I spoke with someone at the station recently, and they said that it has always been a part of the community, and it gives the opportunity for parents to be able to watch it with their kids when they get home from work, and it does very well during the 7:00 hour, when not many kids shows are on. I remember hearing the same thing about WSBE airing Barney at 6:00. I think they had it on at that time from the time they first started carrying the show in 1993 or so until about maybe 2001.
In my area UNC-TV aired Sesame Street at 9am and 3:30pm (I'm not sure about the afternoon time) during the 1990's. School programming followed the 9am showing until UNC-TV moved the school programming to 4am. WBRA-TV aired SS at 7am and 3:30pm, the 3:30pm show was dropped on January 1, 1999. (a Friday)
For some reason Seasame Street was on at the gym when I was there. It has REALLY gone down in quality from the early 70s when I first watched it.
In Chicago I remember it being on twice, once in the morning and in the afternoon. Then we had Electric Company and Zoom.
In Chicago we are flooded with Arthur. Which actually was OK. Even as an adult I watched it but really they play it as much as four times a day, which isn't as annoying as the fact there is NOTHING hold up his glasses on his head.
In Chicago I remember it being on twice, once in the morning and in the afternoon. Then we had Electric Company and Zoom.
In Chicago we are flooded with Arthur. Which actually was OK. Even as an adult I watched it but really they play it as much as four times a day, which isn't as annoying as the fact there is NOTHING hold up his glasses on his head.
I remember the schedules for KRMA and KBDI in Denver when I worked at KCNC in the early 90s. They aired Sesame Street in the late afternoon evenings. I remember KRMA would air it from 4:30 to 5:30 if I remember correctly.
I did think it was interesting when PBS had more of a block aiming for older kids with Wishbone and Carmen San Diego, along with science-related programs like The Magic School Bus and Bill Nye.
I didn't realize the series was still on, so I guess my kids must have grown out of it.
I suppose oh sayc from '96-'00 the program, while funny, PBS stations were inundated by showings of Arthur.
I did think it was interesting when PBS had more of a block aiming for older kids with Wishbone and Carmen San Diego, along with science-related programs like The Magic School Bus and Bill Nye.
Mark said:
I didn't realize the series was still on, so I guess my kids must have grown out of it.
I suppose oh sayc from '96-'00 the program, while funny, PBS stations were inundated by showings of Arthur.
...KFIZ-TV/34 in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, was a commercial station that aired "Sesame Street" twice a day circa 1972, and even signed on in the morning to show it, then signing back off until about 2:00 in the afternoon. I believe they picked up the OTA signal of WMVS/10 Milwaukee and simply relayed their airings...
H
harrisburgpatv
Guest
WITF-33 (my local PBS station) has been airing SS at 7pm since probably about 1991 or 1992. When I was a child, it (and I think a lot of other PBS stations did this too) aired SS at 4, Mister Rogers at 5, and Electric Company at 5:30.
It seemed like the trend (at least in PA) was for SS to air at 4 in the afternoon. For a long time, WITF and WVIA (Scranton's PBS) aired it at noon as well. WITF used to run it at 7am, noon, and 7pm. Now it's just twice a day, at 9am and 7pm.
Sometime in the 80's the PBS stations in PA aired SS at 3:30 instead of 4. 39 from Allentown aired SS at 4 for a very long time...12 from Philly aired it at 9am for a very long time....Not sure what time they air it now, although I do know that 12 airs it at 6:00am on Saturday mornings...
Here's another question, to continue with this great thread - did any PBS stations of yours run multiple episodes on Saturday and/or Sunday mornings? WVIA used to run 3 of them, back-to-back-to-back, 8am-11am Sundays...
It seemed like the trend (at least in PA) was for SS to air at 4 in the afternoon. For a long time, WITF and WVIA (Scranton's PBS) aired it at noon as well. WITF used to run it at 7am, noon, and 7pm. Now it's just twice a day, at 9am and 7pm.
Sometime in the 80's the PBS stations in PA aired SS at 3:30 instead of 4. 39 from Allentown aired SS at 4 for a very long time...12 from Philly aired it at 9am for a very long time....Not sure what time they air it now, although I do know that 12 airs it at 6:00am on Saturday mornings...
Here's another question, to continue with this great thread - did any PBS stations of yours run multiple episodes on Saturday and/or Sunday mornings? WVIA used to run 3 of them, back-to-back-to-back, 8am-11am Sundays...
Actually, yes. In the early 90s, WGBH used to rerun the entire week over Saturday and Sunday. The Monday-Wednesday episodes were on from 7-10am on Saturday morning. Then on Sunday morning, the day started with Mr. Rogers at 7am, the Thursday episode of SS at 7:30, then a very short-lived series called Long Ago & Far Away at 8:30, and then the Friday episode of SS at 9am. I think this was discontinued gradually, starting in 1995. And WENH had the Wednesday episode of SS at 7am on Saturday, and Thursday and Friday episodes on Sunday morning from 8-10. WSBE aired the Tuesday episode at 10am on Saturdays for a short period of time as well, but did away with it soon after that.
Do you remember exactly which episodes (of the week) WVIA ran on Sundays?
Do you remember exactly which episodes (of the week) WVIA ran on Sundays?
H
harrisburgpatv
Guest
Wow....That's going back about 20 years I don't remember exactly (and I think it may have been spread over the weekend like you said WGBH was), but I do seem to remember that the 10am Sunday airing on WVIA was the Friday show (which, due to the closing credits and music, was ALWAYS my favorite).
At the time I also lived where there was a PBS station out of Binghamton - WSKG-46. For some reason, in early '87 I want to say, they started running the SS eps on a one-day delay, for reasons I don't know.
It's neat to see that others are interested in this as well. WVIA is the one I remember the most. They went from airing it at 4pm (until 1989), at 3:30 (1989-1994), at 3pm, to 2pm, 1:30pm, now at 1pm, during the afternoon.
I don't remember exactly (and I think it may have been spread over the weekend like you said WGBH was), but I do seem to remember that the 10am Sunday airing on WVIA was the Friday show (which, due to the closing credits and music, was ALWAYS my favorite).At the time I also lived where there was a PBS station out of Binghamton - WSKG-46. For some reason, in early '87 I want to say, they started running the SS eps on a one-day delay, for reasons I don't know.
It's neat to see that others are interested in this as well. WVIA is the one I remember the most. They went from airing it at 4pm (until 1989), at 3:30 (1989-1994), at 3pm, to 2pm, 1:30pm, now at 1pm, during the afternoon.
Here was most PBS stations ran in the 1970's and early 1980's
sign-on to midday-Classroom Programming
midday-Sesame Street
after Sesame Street to 4pm-Classroom Programming
4pm-Sesame Street
5pm-Mister Rogers
5:30pm-Electric Company
When 3-2-1 Contact debuted it took Electric Company's 5:30pm slot, then AM Weather debuted a few years later then the stations varied more in their scheduling. Now PBS is now a kids channel in the daytime. In-School Programming is rare in the daytime these days if the stations do schedule it is diminishing its hours.
sign-on to midday-Classroom Programming
midday-Sesame Street
after Sesame Street to 4pm-Classroom Programming
4pm-Sesame Street
5pm-Mister Rogers
5:30pm-Electric Company
When 3-2-1 Contact debuted it took Electric Company's 5:30pm slot, then AM Weather debuted a few years later then the stations varied more in their scheduling. Now PBS is now a kids channel in the daytime. In-School Programming is rare in the daytime these days if the stations do schedule it is diminishing its hours.
Back in the mid-80s, WNED/17 in Buffalo, NY aired three or four Sesame Streets in a row on Sunday Morning. I *think* they did that from 8-12, but I don't have a schedule handy right now.
I don't mind if I bring this up, but I think that WGBH may have began programming in the morning for kids back in 1982. I have several schedules from the Summer of 1982 and it showed that WGBH-2 Boston started carrying Sesame Street at 7am, then at 8am, Electric Company, 8:30am- Mister Rogers and at 9am, Sesame Street would come back on, But in the Fall of 1982. They kept SS at 7, moved Mister Rogers at 8, 8:30, SS would come back on and they would move Electric Company to 9:30am in the morning, they kept the morning schedule the same for Ch.2
(note: They signed-on at about 6:45am and the began with A.M Weather and they started signing on at that time in the Late Spring-Early Summer of 1982)
Then at around Late 1985 or Early 1986, WGBH replaced the Electric Company at the 9:30am time slot to carry another episode of Mister Rogers and They kept a Pattern going- SS at 7, MRN at 8, SS at 8:30, MRN at 9:30
(note: They signed-on at about 6:45am and the began with A.M Weather and they started signing on at that time in the Late Spring-Early Summer of 1982)
Then at around Late 1985 or Early 1986, WGBH replaced the Electric Company at the 9:30am time slot to carry another episode of Mister Rogers and They kept a Pattern going- SS at 7, MRN at 8, SS at 8:30, MRN at 9:30
>>Wow....That's going back about 20 years Smiley I don't remember exactly (and I think it may have been spread over the weekend like you said WGBH was), but I do seem to remember that the 10am Sunday airing on WVIA was the Friday show (which, due to the closing credits and music, was ALWAYS my favorite).<<
Well in fact, WGBH-TV (Channel 2/Boston) used to run all 5 of the week's episodes from 7:00 til noon every Saturday morning (from 1970-1973). They would sign-off from noon until 4 PM, and return to the air and then run Friday's episode. I actually watched "Sesame Street" until I kinda grew out of it after 12. I loved the show, not so much for the educational concept but rather the Muppets and the celebrity guest stars who visited the show once in a while. It's hard to believe that the show will celebrate it's 40th anniversary in 2009!
Well in fact, WGBH-TV (Channel 2/Boston) used to run all 5 of the week's episodes from 7:00 til noon every Saturday morning (from 1970-1973). They would sign-off from noon until 4 PM, and return to the air and then run Friday's episode. I actually watched "Sesame Street" until I kinda grew out of it after 12. I loved the show, not so much for the educational concept but rather the Muppets and the celebrity guest stars who visited the show once in a while. It's hard to believe that the show will celebrate it's 40th anniversary in 2009!
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