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the Old Channel 48 in philadelphia

G

gethigh

Guest
wayyyyy back in the early 80's Philadelphia had another channel 48. I''m not talking about the current one out of burlington, wgtw. I don't recall the call letters, but it was channel 48. that station went off the air somewhere in the mid 80's. this all of course pre-dates cable tv as we know it. It was back in the time of tuning your tv to a UHF channel. They had a guy named Marty Jacobs as their news man. In the afternoon, they showed cartoons, and I remember they used Dr. Don Rose as their voice-over guy, and ocassionally you saw Wee Willie Webber doing station Id's. If anyone can confirm this I'd appreciate it.
 
> wayyyyy back in the early 80's Philadelphia had another
> channel 48. I''m not talking about the current one out of
> burlington, wgtw. I don't recall the call letters, but it
> was channel 48. that station went off the air somewhere in
> the mid 80's. this all of course pre-dates cable tv as we
> know it. It was back in the time of tuning your tv to a UHF
> channel. They had a guy named Marty Jacobs as their news
> man. In the afternoon, they showed cartoons, and I remember
> they used Dr. Don Rose as their voice-over guy, and
> ocassionally you saw Wee Willie Webber doing station Id's.
> If anyone can confirm this I'd appreciate it.
>

That was WKBS, which was also licensed to Burlington NJ ..<P ID="signature">______________


New Jersey Radio Board moderator
</P>
 
The call letters of the old Channel 48 were WKBS. The station was located on South 26th Street (across from the Sun Oil Refinery). That's the road which leads you to the Schuylkill Expresway from the foot of the Platt Bridge. I believe the old WKBS facility currently houses Steen Advertising, a roadside billboard outfit.

I recall watching old reruns of Woody Woodpecker on Channel 48. When Channel 48 signed off, I remember the Woody Woodpecker cartoons moving over to Channel 17. I also recall the station airing the "Creature Double Feature" movie programs.
 
> The call letters of the old Channel 48 were WKBS. The
> station was located on South 26th Street (across from the
> Sun Oil Refinery). That's the road which leads you to the
> Schuylkill Expresway from the foot of the Platt Bridge. I
> believe the old WKBS facility currently houses Steen
> Advertising, a roadside billboard outfit.
>
> I recall watching old reruns of Woody Woodpecker on Channel
> 48. When Channel 48 signed off, I remember the Woody
> Woodpecker cartoons moving over to Channel 17. I also
> recall the station airing the "Creature Double Feature"
> movie programs.
>

Oh wow, Man do I remember the Creature double feature or what. It was the only place where I could see the couple of Sci-Fi flicks that Leonard Nemoy did outside of his role on "Star-trek", In fact, I've ever seen "Invasion of the Saucermen". I too remember the ton of Walter Lantz cartoons ( woody woodpecker, chilly willie ) I also remember a cute cartoon called the Mighty Hereos. Wow, what a trip back in time. Local TV was really different at that time, I remember the last thing they did was have Marty Jacobs on. He announced the sign-off and then a cool tv station was silenced.
Why did they go off the air?
 
> Why did they go off the air?
>


IIRC something to do with an intra-family feud within the Marshall Field family, WKBS's last owners through Field Communications (WFLD Chicago, et al.) Do a search on Radio-Info's search engine and you should find out the details somewhere on this site, probably the Philly board.

ixnay
 
> Some information from the UHF Morgue about WKBS:
>
> http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Olympus/3514/WKBS.html
>
> I've wondered...if WKBS did get a buyer, does anyone think
> it would have become Philly's Fox affiliate instead of WTAF?
> Fox 48...doesn't have the same ring as Fox 29!
>


OK, I asked this before, but got no reaction...

Channel 48 had a midday (about 9AM) news and interview/PSA show called "Del Val" anchored by Mr. Jacobs

The closing theme, which was used by Channel 29 on their "Midday Movie Matinee", which I believe was a production bed cut. It was mellow, had the same riff over and over (but it wasn't a loop) replete with horns, kettle drums, and a double-time hi-hat. I can still hear the song in my head. Any guidance would be great.


BTW, I remember Marty going to Channel 12 for a while and anchoring on WILM for a time. Is he out of the biz?


Here's another question....we all know the Group W font is anklepants.

Is there a Field Communications font name? And where could one download it???


<P ID="signature">______________
I've done it all...HOO HOO...tell 'em, Fred!
FOX News Alert: YOU SUCK!!! Ya like apples?</P><P ID="edit"><FONT class="small">Edited by BobAltimari on 08/18/05 01:57 AM.</FONT></P>
 
Three Things... (was Re: the Old Channel 48 in philadelphia)

1) In response to WKBS-TV possibly ending up with the Fox affiliation had it survived another three years, in my opinion...HELL YEAH!! BUT, it is my understanding that WTAF-TV was coming on strong in the early '80s and had supplanted WKBS as Philly's number one independent by 1981 or '82.

2) The Westinghouse Broadcasting Co. typeface was not, and has never been known as "Anklepants." Scott Fybush, a frequent poster on Radio-Info (and a former Group W-er from WBZ radio in Boston), would go crazy if he were to read that again. So, please refer to it as the "Westinghouse/Group W Font" in the future. Anklepants is a cheap imitation, with some differences between it and the REAL Group W font. BTW, I'd like to know the name of the Field font as well.

3) The WKBS-TV talk has been done many times before. Here's a few of the previous threads from the archives. (June 2004) (October '04, with retro schedule) (November '04, with retro schedule) <P ID="signature">______________
"Know your role and shut your mouth!!" -- The Rock</P>
 
> Some information from the UHF Morgue about WKBS:
>
> http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Olympus/3514/WKBS.html
>
> I've wondered...if WKBS did get a buyer, does anyone think
> it would have become Philly's Fox affiliate instead of WTAF?
> Fox 48...doesn't have the same ring as Fox 29!

I think Fox could have gone with 48 under a couple scenarios: a) if Field had stayed in the TV business and made a package affiliation deal for all their stations, or b) if Fox had been able to buy 48. If it had gone to another buyer 29 would probably have remained the best option for Fox, unless the new owner of 48 put a lot of money into it (a risky investment, as 57's history shows...)
 
> > wayyyyy back in the early 80's Philadelphia had another
> > channel 48. I''m not talking about the current one out of
> > burlington, wgtw. I don't recall the call letters, but it
> > was channel 48. that station went off the air somewhere in
>
> > the mid 80's. this all of course pre-dates cable tv as we
> > know it. It was back in the time of tuning your tv to a
> UHF
> > channel. They had a guy named Marty Jacobs as their news
> > man. In the afternoon, they showed cartoons, and I
> remember
> > they used Dr. Don Rose as their voice-over guy, and
> > ocassionally you saw Wee Willie Webber doing station Id's.
>
> > If anyone can confirm this I'd appreciate it.
> >
>
> That was WKBS, which was also licensed to Burlington NJ ..
>
channel 48 was a great indy:

they had the best library of classic movies that you now see on Turner Classic Movies. Former WWDB AND wcau talk-show host bernie herman hosted the one o'clock movie. great kids shows like captain philadelphia, dickory doc, etc. and home to star trek...they were also the first tv home of the philadelphia flyers. john carlton was there staff announcer. they also showed classic 50s sitcoms like our miss brooks and topper and of course indy staples like gladiator movies and pro wrestling and also had a 10 o'clock news which was anchored by pat farnack. they also ran a great talk show out of the kaiser broadcasting detroit station....the guy's first name was lou...anyway they would always have a guest called "joey the hitman" good stuff!!!!
 
The Lou Gordon Program (Re: the Old Channel 48 in philadelphia)

they also ran a
> great talk show out of the kaiser broadcasting detroit
> station....the guy's first name was lou...anyway they would
> always have a guest called "joey the hitman" good stuff!!!!
>

That was "The Lou Gordon Program" produced by Kaiser Broadcasting at WKBD/50 in Detroit. It was seen on all of the Kaiser Stations including WKBG-TV/56(later WLVI) in Boston, WKBS-TV/48 in Philadelphia, KBSC-TV/52 In Los Angeles, KBHK-TV/44 in San Francisco and WKBF-TV/61 in Cleveland. It was also syndicated to a few select non-Kaiser stations around the country.

I recall "Joey The Hitman" quite well during one of Lou's shows. When Lou was off the air for a few months after open-heart surgery in 1975, his wife Jackie substituted for a few weeks as well as Dave Diles Sr. pinch-hiting for Lou during his recovery (Dave was a former announcer from ABC Sports in the 1970's). Sadly, Lou died in 1977. His wife Jackie, his best friend and able-bodied assistant has since passed away as well.

It was a great show and had some of the most off-beat people as guests as well as some famous people too. I watched it faithfully on Boston's Channel 56 (WKBG/WLVI) every Sunday night at 10 and the repeat on Saturday mornings as well. They don't make shows like that anymore.

73,

Pete (K1XRB) <P ID="signature">______________
Peter Q. George (K1XRB)
Whitman, Massachusetts</P>
 
Re: The Lou Gordon Program (Re: the Old Channel 48 in philadelphia)

> They don't make shows like that anymore.

Agreed -- I'd give my left arm for a couple of videotapes.

Also, Lou Gordon was the first place that I ever heard Richard Harris' "MacArthur's Park" (the jazzy instrumental bed near the end was its theme), when I was a little kid watching WKBD (I was a Michigander). Everytime I heard that song, it reminds me of Lou.
 
The Ghoul Movie

Anyone remember "The Ghoul Movie" in the early seventies? As I recall, it ran on all the Kaiser stations out of Cleveland. The host was a more-weird-than-scary character named (what else) The Ghoul, who ran little comedy sketches during breaks in the movies, surrounded by bumpers of polka and sixties music (a big favorite was "Why Don'T We Do It In The Road").

He had a talking skull named Oxnard, who would lip-sync "Surfin' Bird" by the trashmen; a ton of jokes about Parma, Ohio (must be a Cleveland thing); and a toilet with "Lou Gordon Is A Creep" inscribed on the lid.

The movies themselves were the worst of the worst. The Dr. Shock flicks were like "Citizen Kane" by comparison...
 
Field Communications wanted to exit the TV business because the Field Brothers were not getting along and so the put the company on the market. Back in 1982 TV ownership limits were 7 so selling all 5 stations to one owner was not an option. It would have been 2 years later when caps were boosted to 14.

So Field sold each station one by one. Metromedia bought 32 WFLD in March 1983 for over 100 million a record price at the time for a UHF. Today WFLD is a Fox O & O with 40 hours a week of local news.

In May of 1983 WLVI 56 Boston was sold to gannett who continued the 10 PM Newscasts and expanded them to an hour. Gannett determeined by 1991 that WLVI did not fit in their types of stations so they sold it to Tribune and today WLVI 56 is a WB station.

At that time they also sold 44 KBHK San Francisco to United. United kept the format intact and held on to the station until the company sold to fox in 2001. In 1995 KBHK took UPN shows as well. In 2001 in a group of swaps 44 KBHK went to Paramount and then Paramount/Viacom merged with CBS making KBHK 44 a UPN station owned by CBS.

Field was left with 48 WKBS and 50 WKBD. Field wanted to sell WKBS TV for 40 million and wanted 75 million for 50 WKBD. Niether station was able to be sold for what Field wanted. But in Detroit WKBD dominated and was up against a part time entertainment and part time Subscription TV station that would go entertainment full time that Fall anda Black owned station running alot of religion and brokered shows. Niether station could afford the WKBD programming inventory so Field held on to WKBD until the Winter of 1984 when the station sold to Cox for 70 million. Cox would affiliate 50 WKBD with Fox in 1986. The station would be sold to paramount in 1991. Paramount would mereg with Viacom on 1994 and start UPN in 1995. Fox would move off WKBD at the end of 1994 and UPN would go on WKBD in 1995. Fox Kids would stay on WKBD till 98. Paramount/Viacom merged with CBS in 2002 and today 50 WKBD is a UPN affiliate owned by CBS.

Field was waiting for a buyer for Channel 48. Hearst offered 25 million. Other companies like Tribune, Meredith, Scripps Howard, and Gaylord offered 15 to 20 million. Field refused these offers. Providence Journal offered 20 million for Channel 48's programming inventory (except for Viacom shows) and some equipment. Field accepted that offer in July of 1983. So on July 15 Field announced they would turn the license to the FCC on August 29.

So Channel 48 went dark on August 29, 1983 and much of its programming was mixed into Channel 17's schedule beginning September 5 of 1983. The Viacom shows would resurface on Channel 57 in 1985.
 
Re: The Ghoul Movie

>Anyone remember "The Ghoul Movie" in the early seventies?...

I remember it well. The Ghoul was actually a guy named Ron Sweed (or Swede--sources differ). He adapted the Ghoul character (with permission) from Ernie Anderson's Ghoulardi, who was a massively popular horror host on Cleveland's WJW in the early and mid-60s.

The Ghoul is still around today. He hasn't had a show in a while, but he can be seen on local furniture commercials. He also has a web site, http://www.theghoul.com .

>The movies themselves were the worst of the worst.

Amen to that! Quite a few of them later turned up on "Mystery Science Theater 3000".
 
Anybody know the whereabouts of Marty Jacobs the newscaster on the old field communications? Have not heard about him since channel 48 went off the air in 1983. Thank you for your time. SteveMRN
 
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