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Top 10 Portland Shows - March 1960

E

EJ204

Guest
This is from a May 1960 TV Guide for Portland, OR.

1. Real McCoys...34.0...Thu. 7:30...KPTV 12...ABC
2. Untouchables...31.0...Thu. 8:30...KPTV 12...ABC
3. Alfred Hitchcock...30.7...Sun. 8:30...KOIN 6...CBS
Tie Ed Sullivan...30.7...Sun. 7pm...KOIN 6...CBS
5. Gunsmoke...30.5...Sat. 9pm...KOIN 6...CBS
6. Boxing...30.2...Wed. 6pm...KPTV 12...Local
Tie G.E. Theater...30.2...Sun. 8pm...KOIN 6...CBS
8. Hawaiian Eye...29.5...Wed. 8pm...KPTV 12...ABC
9. Red Skelton...29.2...Tue. 8:30...KOIN 6...CBS
10. Wagon Train...27.3...Fri. 9pm...KGW-TV 8...NBC

It's surprising that ABC shows so well in this Telepulse rating and NBC shows so poorly. Was KPTV such a strong station that ABC shows got more viewers? And was KGW-TV such a bad affiliate? They were both on full-power VHF channels.

KPTV has gone through many changes over the years, according to Wikipedia. It started on Channel 27, the world's first commercial UHF station. It was also Portland's first station, airing programs from all four networks, ABC, NBC, CBS and Dumont. It later merged with a station on Channel 12, and became Portland's NBC affiliate till it exchanged networks with KGW-TV, becoming an ABC affiliate. (I wonder why you'd give up NBC for ABC in those days? Yet the ABC affiliation didn't seem to hurt KPTV, according to these ratings.)

A few years after Independent KATU 2 signed on, they got ABC affiliation and KPTV became independent. (Another oddity... why would a station on Channel 2 be the LAST VHF station to sign on in Portland? They're not even in this TV Guide, debuting in 1962.) When the Fox network began, KPTV became a Fox affiliate, where it is today.
 
Nationally, in the 1959-60 season ABC had seven shows in the
top 30 to NBC's five. NBC had two shows in the top ten to
ABC's one, so overall ABC was quite competitive with NBC.
It was about that time that Nielsen conducted a special survey
of the 70 markets that had an affiliate for each network, and
ABC emerged number one in those markets.

For the record, the top-30 shows for ABC and NBC:

ABC 77 Sunset Strip (tied for #6 with CBS's Father Knows Best)
The Real McCoys (#11)
The Rifleman (#13)
Lawman (#15)
Cheyenne (#17)
Maverick (#19)
Wyatt Earp (#20)

NBC Wagon Train (#2)
The Price Is Right (#8)
The Ford Show (Tennessee Ernie Ford) (#14)
You Bet Your Life (#26)
The Perry Como Show (tied for #29 with CBS's Lassie)
 
I don't think ABC was quite the doormat they were painted to be in those days. They had a couple of dog years in the late 60's after the "Batman" craze fizzled, but other than that they were very competitive with CBS and NBC, weren't they?
 
Not until about 1975, when shows like 'Happy Days' and 'The Six Million Dollar Man' started gaining in popularity, along with new shows like 'Starsky and Hutch' and 'Welcome Back, Kotter'.
Aside from its 'Lone Ranger' period in the early '50s, and some successful Warner Brothers dramas and a handful of sitcoms later, ABC was pretty much ridiculed until 'Bewitched' premeired in 1964, the first signs of anything on that network becoming a red-hot TV property. The early 70s were another dry patch, though they were more comparable to that late '50s-early '60s era.
 
ABC did well with shows such as "Peyton Place''The FBI" and "American Bandstand" among others.
 
>>>
For the record, the top-30 shows for ABC and NBC:

ABC 77 Sunset Strip (tied for #6 with CBS's Father Knows Best)
The Real McCoys (#11)
The Rifleman (#13)
Lawman (#15)
Cheyenne (#17)
Maverick (#19)
Wyatt Earp (#20)

NBC Wagon Train (#2)
The Price Is Right (#8)
The Ford Show (Tennessee Ernie Ford) (#14)
You Bet Your Life (#26)
The Perry Como Show (tied for #29 with CBS's Lassie)<<<<

Amazing that five of ABC's top shows are Westerns and Real McCoys is a rural comedy. NBC's top show, Wagon Train, is also a Western, and The Ford Show is a rural variety show. And that's not even counting Bonanza or Gunsmoke, which were so big in the 60s. Today, there are no Westerns or rural comedies at all.

I always thought that ABC was the third network for a reason. They got into the game late, they didn't have a notable news department, and were the last network to expand their evening news to 30 minutes. Some ABC affiliates wouldn't even carry the ABC Evening News with John Daly, Bill Shandel or a very young Peter Jennings.

Even if they had some successful shows, in many markets, their affiliate was not competitive with the CBS or NBC affiliates, often having a minimal news department or none at all. In a two VHF market, the ABC station would almost always be on UHF. Or maybe the CBS and NBC affiliates would carry a few ABC shows as an afterthought if there was no ABC affiliate.

But I guess ABC had some successful shows and some positive years, even before the Happy Days - GMA era where they started stealing some NBC and CBS affiliations in key markets, thanks to their youthful demographics and successful comedies.
 
I had a professor in college who would say that ABC stood for "Always Budget Conscious".
 
ABC In Two-Station Markets (Was: Re: Top 10 Portland Shows - March 1960)

EJ204remarked: said:
In a two VHF market, the ABC station would almost always be on UHF. Or maybe the CBS and NBC affiliates would carry a few ABC shows as an afterthought if there was no ABC affiliate.
Click to expand...

The latter was the case in the Providence/New Bedford market: From 1955, when WPRO-12 (now WPRI) signed-on to join WJAR-10, both WJAR and WPRO would each carry a handful of ABC shows (mostly prime-time) through December 31st, 1962.

On January 1st, 1963, WTEV-6 (now WLNE) signed-on, and became the ABC affiliate. Throughout the history of it's analog signal, WTEV/WLNE was often at a disadvantage as regards it's over-the-air signal. The reason was that WTEV/WLNE could not transmit from Rehobeth, Massachusetts (east of Providence) as WJAR and WPRO/WPRI could because there was a Channel 6 in Portland, Maine (WCSH).

As a result, WTEV/WLNE's analog site was southeast of Providence (the station was actually licensed to New Bedford), first in Freetown, Massachusetts then (after 1967) Tiverton, Rhode Island. But now, WLNE's digital transmitter is right in Rehobeth, and it's digital signal is the equal of it's rivals.
 
EJ204 said:
KPTV has gone through many changes over the years, according to Wikipedia. It started on Channel 27, the world's first commercial UHF station. It was also Portland's first station, airing programs from all four networks, ABC, NBC, CBS and Dumont. It later merged with a station on Channel 12, and became Portland's NBC affiliate till it exchanged networks with KGW-TV, becoming an ABC affiliate. (I wonder why you'd give up NBC for ABC in those days? Yet the ABC affiliation didn't seem to hurt KPTV, according to these ratings.)
Click to expand...
KPTV didn't choose to give up NBC. KGW landed the NBC affiliation at the same time as sister station KING (which was also an ABC affiliate), which is where the story lies.

Dorothy Bullitt, the legendary owner of King Broadcasting, had been wanting to wrestle away the Seattle NBC affiliation from KOMO for several years. Such a move was deemed unlikely since KOMO had been affiliated with NBC since 1927 and the station's president, O.W. Fisher, was a personal friend of David Sarnoff. Lower-level NBC management wasn't as enamored with KOMO, as one vice president told Mrs. Bullitt privately that they considered it a "sloppy" operation, but that they were in no position to terminate the affiliation without Gen. Sarnoff's blessing. Mrs. Bullitt took it upon herself to forge a relationship with Sarnoff, getting on the guest list of events he attended, inviting him to her home for dinner when he was in Seattle, and showing up unannounced at his office. After years of persistence, she finally got a call from Robert Sarnoff to come to New York at once -- NBC offered to affiliate with both KING and KGW in 1959. (Naturally, KOMO officials reacted with shock and dismay, as losing a network affiliation of over 30 years had been unheard-of.)
 
EJ204 said:
>>>
For the record, the top-30 shows for ABC and NBC:

ABC 77 Sunset Strip (tied for #6 with CBS's Father Knows Best)
The Real McCoys (#11)
The Rifleman (#13)
Lawman (#15)
Cheyenne (#17)
Maverick (#19)
Wyatt Earp (#20)

NBC Wagon Train (#2)
The Price Is Right (#8)
The Ford Show (Tennessee Ernie Ford) (#14)
You Bet Your Life (#26)
The Perry Como Show (tied for #29 with CBS's Lassie)<<<<

Amazing that five of ABC's top shows are Westerns and Real McCoys is a rural comedy. NBC's top show, Wagon Train, is also a Western, and The Ford Show is a rural variety show. And that's not even counting Bonanza or Gunsmoke, which were so big in the 60s. Today, there are no Westerns or rural comedies at all.

I always thought that ABC was the third network for a reason. They got into the game late, they didn't have a notable news department, and were the last network to expand their evening news to 30 minutes. Some ABC affiliates wouldn't even carry the ABC Evening News with John Daly, Bill Shandel or a very young Peter Jennings.

Even if they had some successful shows, in many markets, their affiliate was not competitive with the CBS or NBC affiliates, often having a minimal news department or none at all. In a two VHF market, the ABC station would almost always be on UHF. Or maybe the CBS and NBC affiliates would carry a few ABC shows as an afterthought if there was no ABC affiliate.

But I guess ABC had some successful shows and some positive years, even before the Happy Days - GMA era where they started stealing some NBC and CBS affiliations in key markets, thanks to their youthful demographics and successful comedies.
Click to expand...

While your points are well-taken (in fact, ABC didn't get 100% clearance on its newscast until 1972), the Nielsen survey covered only the markets where each network had its own affiliate (not where ABC had a secondary affiliation).

Between 1960-61 and ABC's breakthrough in 1975-76, here's how they looked in the top 30:

1960-61 The Real McCoys (#5)
The Untouchables (tied at #8 with The Price Is Right)
My Three Sons and 77 Sunset Strip (tied at #12)
The Flintstones (#18)
Lawman (#26)
The Rifleman (#27)
Cheyenne (#28)

1961-62 My Three Sons (#11)
The Real McCoys (#14)
Ben Casey (#18)
The Flintstones (tied at #21 with Dobie Gillis)
The Rifleman (tied at #27 with The Price Is Right)
The Donna Reed Show and 77 Sunset Strip (tied at #30)

1962-63 Ben Casey (tied at #7 with Danny Thomas)
Wagon Train (#25)
My Three Sons (#28)
The Flintstones (#30, the last time it would crack the top 30)

1963-64 The Donna Reed Show (#16)
The Patty Duke Show (#18)
McHale's Navy (tied at #22 with Hazel)
My Three Sons (#27)
The Fugitive (#28)
Ozzie And Harriet (#29)

1964-65 (arguably ABC's best year until the mid-'70s)
Bewitched (#2)
The Fugitive (#5)
Peyton Place (Thu) (#9)
Combat (#10)
My Three Sons (#13)
Peyton Place (Tue) (#20)
The Addams Family (#23)
The Patty Duke Show (#28)
McHale's Navy (#29)
The Lawrence Welk Show (#30)

1965-66 Batman (Thu) (#5)
Bewitched (tied at #7 with The Beverly Hillbillies)
Batman (Wed) (#10)
The Lawrence Welk Show (tied at #19 with I've Got A Secret)

1966-67 Bewitched (tied at #7 with Daktari and The Beverly Hillbillies)
The Lawrence Welk Show (tied at #10 with Gomer Pyle, The Virginian,
and Ed Sullivan)
Rat Patrol (tied at #23 with Petticoat Junction)
ABC Sunday Night Movie (#28)
The FBI (tied at #29 with I Spy, the CBS Thursday Night Movie,
and My Three Sons (now on CBS))

1967-68 Bewitched (#11)
The Lawrence Welk Show (#17)
The FBI (#22)
It Takes A Thief (tied at #30 with Lassie)

1968-69 Bewitched (tied at #11 with Mission: Impossible and Red Skelton)
The FBI (#18)
Mod Squad and Lawrence Welk (tied at #28)

1969-70 another fairly good year
Marcus Welby, M.D. (#8)
The Johnny Cash Show (tied at #15 with My Three Sons and Ironside)
Movie Of The Week (#22)
Mod Squad (#23)
Bewitched and The FBI (tied at #24 with NBC's Saturday Night At
The Movies)
in addition, The Brady Bunch, Room 222, The Courtship Of Eddie's
Father, and Love American Style would go on to respectable runs

1970-71 ABC gets its first #1 show
Marcus Welby, M.D. (#1)
Movie Of The Week (#6)
The FBI (#10)
Mod Squad (#11)
The Smith Family (#21)
The Partridge Family (tied at #25 with Carol Burnett and NBC Monday
Night At The Movies)
The ABC Sunday Night Movie (#28)
also, ABC wins the week of Jan 18-24, 1971, in part due to slicing
some of its weaker shows in preparation for the access rule

1971-72 Marcus Welby, M.D. (#3)
ABC Movie Of The Week (#5)
The Partridge Family (#16)
The FBI (#17)
Mod Squad (#21)
Monday Night Football (#25)
ABC Sunday Night Movie (#26)
Room 222 (tied at #28 with Cannon)

1972-73 Marcus Welby, M.D. (#13)
Tuesday Movie Of The Week (#17)
Monday Night Football (#18)
The Partridge Family (tied at #19 with The Waltons and
Medical Center)
ABC Sunday Night Movie and The Rookies (tied at #23)
Wednesday Movie Of The Week (tied at #25 with Barnaby
Jones and The Little People)
ABC Monday Night Movie, The FBI, Kung Fu (tied at #29)

1973-74 The Six Million Dollar Man (#11)
Happy Days (#16)
Monday Night Football (tied at #19 with the CBS Friday Night Movies)
Tuesday Movie Of The Week (#21)
Streets Of San Francisco (#22)
The Rookies (#25)
ABC Monday Night Movie (#26)
Kung Fu (tied at #27 with Carol Burnett)

1974-75 S.W.A.T. (#16)
The Rookies (tied at #18 with Disney)
Streets Of San Francisco (tied at #22 with Cher and the NBC Sunday
Mystery Movie)

1975-76 ABC wins 11 straight weeks from January to April, 1976, helped by
the Winter Olympics and "Rich Man, Poor Man."
Rich Man, Poor Man (#2)
Laverne & Shirley (#3)
The Bionic Woman (#5)
The Six Million Dollar Man (#9)
The ABC Monday Night Movie (#10)
Happy Days (#11)
The ABC Sunday Night Movie (#13)
Starsky And Hutch and Good Heavens (tied at #15)
Welcome Back, Kotter (#18)
Baretta (#22)
Donny And Marie and The Streets Of San Francisco (tied
with Bob Newhart at #26)

So on paper, at least, ABC looks a lot better than the reality. ABC never
had a great deal of success penetrating into the rural areas, was forced
to take UHF in many cities (but got VHF eventually in San Diego, Jacksonville
(for eight years), Savannah (for a couple or so years), Louisville, Baton Rouge,
Charlotte, Dayton (but is back on UHF there), and Toledo (when WTVG/13 became
an o&o) or traded up to stronger VHFs (Atlanta, Indianapolis, Minneapolis-St. Paul,
Albany, Knoxville, Milwaukee, and--for a time--Providence).

ABC also had a habit of following fads (Batman and Shindig are the classic examples)
and when they faded, the network usually had nowhere else to go. Or it would overdo
a successful format (Westerns and the imitations of 77 Sunset Strip in the late '50s/
early '60s, teen sitcoms in the '70s).

ABC has been a little more diverse in recent years (Lost, Desperate Housewives,
Grey's Anatomy, Modern Family), but I'm afraid the broadcast audience is largely
divided between CBS and Fox now.
 
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