Weirdest beliefs about TV among the (non-geek) "laity?"

[bpatrick]

Are you sure you are talking about Seattle? I don't think they went through a network swap in that market but Phoenix OTOH did and I do remember reading in USA Today about a year or two after that switch that said that KPNX-TV channel 12 ( NBC ) the only station that didn't switch did have a gain of viewers.

Yes, Phoenix, the "night of the long knives" for TV broadcasting.

KTVK (3) ABC became an indy and continues to struggle with estrogen-loaded programming.
KPHO (5) an excellent indy became CBS.
KSAZ (10) lost CBS and became Fox.

Don't forget KNXV (15), who lost Fox and became ABC. Although I'm sure ABC would like to forget. :-D

KIRO switched from CBS to UPN when the latter network started; KSTW picked up the CBS affiliation
(my memory is hazy, but KSTW was a sister station to KTVT Dallas/Ft. Worth--now a CBS o&o--and CBS may have been looking to buy KSTW as well). At any rate, after two years KIRO once again became a CBS affiliate.

 

[Stanislav]

I encounter a lot of people who get a network affiliate
on cable but on a different channel from its broadcast
one. For example, my relatives in Brevard County, FL,
get WFTV (analog, now virtual, 9), the ABC affiliate in
Orlando, on cable channel 7. So to tell them that an ABC
show is on Channel 9 confuses them; to them, ABC is 7,
not 9.

And yet, they still brand themselves as "Channel 9" even though they're on 7 on cable and 39 (OTA) for DTV ("virtual" 9.1). Probably another cable channel # for the HD version and still another on satellite. Channel numbers have almost ceased to have specific meaning at all.

 

[anotherguyTN]

Back in 1999 I had Direct TV installed at my house..and I lived inside city limits. Very laughable now but I actually had neighbors calling up the local Adelphia Cable Company AND THE CITY POLICE...reporting me because they felt I was "breaking the law" by installing a dish at my house since I "lived in the city". Why? Because these poor souls had this strange idea that only those who lived in areas who can't get cable were allowed to have a dish regardless if it was direct TV or one of those big dishes that some folks ahd back then.

Some cities tried to ban dishes, especially the old BUDs, or restrict them to back yards only. Germantown, TN, a Memphis suburb with a reputation for its excessive restrictions, tried to ban the BUDs in the 80's or early 90's, but the dish owners fought it and the FCC eventually ruled that the city couldn't ban them.

 

[mleach]

Some cities tried to ban dishes, especially the old BUDs, or restrict them to back yards only. Germantown, TN, a Memphis suburb with a reputation for its excessive restrictions, tried to ban the BUDs in the 80's or early 90's, but the dish owners fought it and the FCC eventually ruled that the city couldn't ban them.

Sounds very similar to what had happened to a very good friend of mine..Dorothy. Being "old school" ( an older woman about 70 ) and felt that TV should be free..she didn't want to pay for cable or DBS so instead she had this massive TV antenna installed at her house. Since Dorothy at the time was living in an upscale neighborhood full of those fancy multi-million dollar homes her neighbors and even the county did everything they could do to force her to take down her antenna. Despite the petitions and such..Dorothy contacted the FCC and they in turned said more/less "no dice"..neither her neighbors or the county has the right to force someone to take down their antenna.

Boy did I LOVE to go to her house to watch TV. She pretty much was able to pick up everything on her set within a 250 mile radius of her house which was in Clarke County, VA some 60 miles west of Washington DC . Not only could she get the DC and Baltimore stations..but she was also able to pick up many stations from Philly, Hampton Roads, Richmond, Roanoke, Harrisonburg, Charlottesville, Salisbury, Harrisburg, Lancaster, York, Altoona, Wilkes-Barre..even a station out of Pittsburgh and I believe she has in the past got a signal or two out of North Carolina. Funny Dorothy had no idea what "DX'ing" was..she just simply wanted to be able to pick up as many channels as she could.

I haven't spoken to Dorothy since the switch to DTV so I have no idea what she gets now.

 

[Tim L]

Boy did I LOVE to go to her house to watch TV. She pretty much was able to pick up everything on her set within a 250 mile radius of her house which was in Clarke County, VA some 60 miles west of Washington DC . Not only could she get the DC and Baltimore stations..but she was also able to pick up many stations from Philly, Hampton Roads, Richmond, Roanoke, Harrisonburg, Charlottesville, Salisbury, Harrisburg, Lancaster, York, Altoona, Wilkes-Barre..even a station out of Pittsburgh and I believe she has in the past got a signal or two out of North Carolina. Funny Dorothy had no idea what "DX'ing" was..she just simply wanted to be able to pick up as many channels as she could.

I haven't spoken to Dorothy since the switch to DTV so I have no idea what she gets now.
[/quote]


I really want an antenna like that..My sister and her husband had a tower like that out in the country..You could semiregularly get Pittsburgh, Detroit and Columbus and sometimes as far as Chicago..They have DBS Satellite in the place they are at now..

 

[firepoint525]

Here in Nashville, there are those who still think that TV and radio stations are jointly owned! They hear something on the radio, and call that station's formerly co-owned TV station to complain about it! And vice versa. These TV/radio stations have not been jointly owned in at least 30-35 years! Yet there are those who still think they are! And the TV stations all have different call letters from their formerly co-owned radio stations now! I just don't get it.

 

[oldiesfan6479]

In 1972 TV Guide ran a story about the peculiarities of programming in the Mountain time zone.

Was that the article with an illustration of Bugs Bunny and the Roadrunner
with a sunrise behind them? This to infer the early broadcast time for the
show in the Mountain zone (8 AM ET/6 AM MT), or perhaps even more so
about AZ during DST where the show came down at 5 AM but was delayed
until 11 AM (after the rest of CBS Saturday kidvid) rather than run "live."

One night then-President Nixon made a speech at 8 PM (EDT), which is 5 PM in Phoenix. Walter Cronkite followed at 5:30 in Phoenix; because the broadcast was tape-delayed he's shown asking his correspondents to speculate on what Nixon would talk about. The 6 PM local news provided more up-to-date information.

Well didn't the "civilian" viewers listen to what immediately preceded Cronkite in
the 5:29 station break? (Of course not, or else we wouldn't have this thread.)
The audio on the station ID was: "KOOL-TV channel 10 Phoenix, on tape." <grin>

 

[mjlarochelle]

Oh boy, I love this kind of thread...

First, about VCRs. For a period of time when VCRs were first introduced, you did have to have the TV on, and you had to have it on the channel you wanted recorded. VCRs soon had their own tuners and this was no longer the case.

Second, some of the stuff I've heard...

In much of Canada, over-the-air HD is still a completely unknown concept, including here only 65-70 miles from the U.S. border. I tried hopelessly to explain to one of my coworkers that HDTV can be broadcast over-the-air and can be received with an antenna, and she could not for the life of her understand the concept. She thought only conventional analog TV could be broadcast over-the-air, and that HDTV could only be transmitted by cable or satellite.

UHF was introduced in Canada almost 20 years after in the U.S., therefore many older people only grew up with VHF stations and still have no idea UHF exists. As recently as July of this year I had to explain to my parents, who think the only channels available over-the-air here are London's Channel 10 and Kitchener's Channel 13, that there are other stations available...on the UHF band. Eight of them. My mother's father was no different - despite living near Kingston, Ontario and having a big rooftop VHF/UHF antenna, I never got to see WNPE/16 or WWTI/50 from Watertown, or TVOntario 38 there, because he never bothered hooking up the UHF terminal on the TV.

I've also dealt with the confusion of network and affiliate. My high school yearbook from 2004 had a blurb about Ken Jennings, identifying Jeopardy! as an NBC show - likely because Jeopardy! airs on WDIV here. It was also on WSEE, the CBS affiliate in Erie when we got that on cable prior to 2003.

One of the most recent gaffes I've seen was a CBC.ca report about the closedown of CKNX-TV in Wingham, which recently became a full-time rebroadcaster of London's CFPL. Since 1992, CKNX has received all its news programming from CFPL, although until 2004 it was a split-fed newscast with pre-recorded segments for CKNX, and since then the only difference was advertising and split-fed weather on the 11 PM news. Despite that, the CBC.ca report a few weeks ago said CKNX viewers would lose their local news and begin to receive newscasts from London as of August 31. Also from CBC.ca, a recent report about Victoria's CHEK-TV referred to the station as the oldest station in British Columbia. That station signed on in 1956, three years after the CBC's own station in Vancouver. More recent reports about CHEK have mentioned this, fortunately.

I can imagine many years ago many viewers were under the impression a lot of programming was still being done live. I say this because many programs in the 70s including Guiding Light ended with "This program was recorded". Many station signoffs also stated some programming was pre-recorded or mechanically reproduced. Indeed, one of the advantages of videotape touted during the 70s was that it made programming appear to be live even if it wasn't.

 

[gr8oldies]

Course Jeopardy was an NBC show WAY back in the day (Art Flemimg/Don Pardo era)

 

[Stanislav]

First, about VCRs. For a period of time when VCRs were first introduced, you did have to have the TV on, and you had to have it on the channel you wanted recorded. VCRs soon had their own tuners and this was no longer the case.

You certain about that? I'm pretty sure from the beginning of the consumer VCR era (the introduction of the Betamax), tuners were built-in, else you couldn't do the "record one show while watching another" bit, which was one of the main selling points from square one.

Now among earlier video recorders, sure some did not include tuners, primarily because they weren't intended for home use. Without the tuner, you need a line source output for video/audio, which has always been lacking in most consumer TV sets. Early adopters of video formats not intended for home use generally needed a more professional monitor/receiver to get that line-level output that would enable them to tape "off-air."

In much of Canada, over-the-air HD is still a completely unknown concept, including here only 65-70 miles from the U.S. border. I tried hopelessly to explain to one of my coworkers that HDTV can be broadcast over-the-air and can be received with an antenna, and she could not for the life of her understand the concept. She thought only conventional analog TV could be broadcast over-the-air, and that HDTV could only be transmitted by cable or satellite.

Actually, from what I've read, in much of rural Canada over-the-air TV PERIOD may soon be an unknown (or more accurately, known but not available) concept. Last I heard, when Canada makes their digital transition, they are not planning to convert all those low-power repeaters scattered throughout the country. They will eventually leave the air, and unless you live in a decent-sized city or town, OTA TV simply will no longer be available -- those in the hinterlands will have to depend on satellite TV. Apparently, the feeling is that converting all these repeaters to digital to serve a small percentage of the population is not cost-effective -- it works out cheaper to just kill those repeaters altogether and offer heavily discounted/subsidized satellite service in the boonies.

At least that's what I've been reading. Canadian posters, feel free to correct or update me on this.

I can imagine many years ago many viewers were under the impression a lot of programming was still being done live. I say this because many programs in the 70s including Guiding Light ended with "This program was recorded". Many station signoffs also stated some programming was pre-recorded or mechanically reproduced.

This is wandering far off-topic, but having seen a lot of old sign-offs on YouTube, doesn't "mechanically reproduced" sound a bit clunky? Like they're using a steam engine or something. Yes, videotape machines have mechanical parts, but I don't think of it as "mechanical reproduction." Maybe "electronically reproduced" would be a bit more accurate (and aesthetically satisfying to a nitpicker like me).

Of course, tape is pretty much old hat now anyway, and maybe "digitally reproduced" could be the new term du jour.

 

[Stanislav]

Course Jeopardy was an NBC show WAY back in the day (Art Flemimg/Don Pardo era)

Those of us that can actually remember that version are either at, or rapidly approaching, AARP eligibility. <sigh>

 

[w9wi]

First, about VCRs. For a period of time when VCRs were first introduced, you did have to have the TV on, and you had to have it on the channel you wanted recorded. VCRs soon had their own tuners and this was no longer the case.

You certain about that? I'm pretty sure from the beginning of the consumer VCR era (the introduction of the Betamax), tuners were built-in, else you couldn't do the "record one show while watching another" bit, which was one of the main selling points from square one.

Now among earlier video recorders, sure some did not include tuners, primarily because they weren't intended for home use. Without the tuner, you need a line source output for video/audio, which has always been lacking in most consumer TV sets. Early adopters of video formats not intended for home use generally needed a more professional monitor/receiver to get that line-level output that would enable them to tape "off-air."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cartrivision which was an earlier video recorder that was actually *part of* the TV set. I had one of these for awhile in the early 1980s.

I can imagine many years ago many viewers were under the impression a lot of programming was still being done live. I say this because many programs in the 70s including Guiding Light ended with "This program was recorded". Many station signoffs also stated some programming was pre-recorded or mechanically reproduced.

This is wandering far off-topic, but having seen a lot of old sign-offs on YouTube, doesn't "mechanically reproduced" sound a bit clunky? Like they're using a steam engine or something. Yes, videotape machines have mechanical parts, but I don't think of it as "mechanical reproduction." Maybe "electronically reproduced" would be a bit more accurate (and aesthetically satisfying to a nitpicker like me).
[/quote]

This announcement was required by the FCC. I'm not sure when the regulation was introduced nor when it was repealed. In 1966 it was 73.118 (AM), 73.288 (FM), 73.653 (TV).

Any program that could be construed to be live had to be identified as a "mechanical reproduction" at the beginning or end.

I don't see any provision in 1966 that would have required a mechanical reproduction message at signoff. I suspect that came later as a partial repeal - I suspect stations were no longer required to identify each program as a recording if they ran an announcement at signoff indicating they ran recorded programs.

Before roughly 1950, the airing of recorded programs seemed to be considered a rather "seedy" practice.

 

[gr8oldies]

Portions of today's programming has been mechanically reproduced and/or electronically transcribed. This assures that nothing can possibly go wrong....go wrong...go wrong....

I was listening to a Larry Lujack aircheck from WCFL on reelradio.com yesterday. Lujack mentioned that the "following announcement" was "electronically transcribed" and goes into a spot which sounded like a live read but apparently was not. I don't know if was an FCC thing or a Chicago Federation of Labor thing, but found it interesting.

 

[landtuna]

Lujack mentioned that the "following announcement" was "electronically transcribed" ...

"Electronically transcribed" is a lot more accurate than the old "pre-recorded" identifier (which makes no sense).

 

[TexasTom]

KIRO switched from CBS to UPN when the latter network started; KSTW picked up the CBS affiliation
(my memory is hazy, but KSTW was a sister station to KTVT Dallas/Ft. Worth--now a CBS o&o--and CBS may have been looking to buy KSTW as well). At any rate, after two years KIRO once again became a CBS affiliate.

KSTW and KTVT were both owned by Gaylord at the time -- and CBS desperately wanted an affiliation deal with KTVT in the Dallas/Fort Worth market, since the alternative was to end up on a UHF channel. My recollection is that Gaylord told CBS that if they wanted KTVT, they also had to take KSTW. And so CBS moved to a new channel in both markets (although it was actually a homecoming in Seattle/Tacoma, where CBS had once aired on KSTW's predecessor, KTNT).

Subsequently, Gaylord sold off both stations, with KTVT going to CBS and KSTW going to Viacom. At the time, they were seperate companies and Viacom was part-owner of UPN, so UPN moved over to KSTW, and KIRO got CBS back.

 

[easttxtv]

Another one I forgot to mention before, was about football games. Before the improved antenna I brought to my grandmother's home, the previous antenna couldn't pick up the local Fox station at all. My uncle got mad one Sunday and couldn't understand why one of the other local stations (an ABC and an NBC) couldn't carry the game (Cowboys vs. somebody --can't remember). I thought about it, but decided against trying to explain the reason...

 

[mleach]

Here in Nashville, there are those who still think that TV and radio stations are jointly owned! They hear something on the radio, and call that station's formerly co-owned TV station to complain about it! And vice versa. These TV/radio stations have not been jointly owned in at least 30-35 years! Yet there are those who still think they are! And the TV stations all have different call letters from their formerly co-owned radio stations now! I just don't get it.

Its more/less the same thing in Denver too with KOA-AM 850 and channel 4 KCNC. Years ago what is now KCNC was KOA-TV and even though the change of calls from KOA to KCNC took place 25+ years ago. I was still surprised to learn last year that some Denver folks still think of KCNC as KOA-TV such as this I heard about a year ago on the local Rick Barber talk radio show.

"..last night I was watching KOA-TV 4...That Obama...He sucks !!!"

..and Rick's show was on KOA Newsradio 850 !! You would think that an employee of KOA radio would know that their radio station has nothing to do with Denver's channel 4. I guess not Hmmmmmm.

Nah..the only way one can "see" KOA today would be to look at a campground with the letters "K O A" on the sign out front. Hell chances are you can do that in Tennessee. LOL.

 

[bpatrick]

KIRO switched from CBS to UPN when the latter network started; KSTW picked up the CBS affiliation
(my memory is hazy, but KSTW was a sister station to KTVT Dallas/Ft. Worth--now a CBS o&o--and CBS may have been looking to buy KSTW as well). At any rate, after two years KIRO once again became a CBS affiliate.

KSTW and KTVT were both owned by Gaylord at the time -- and CBS desperately wanted an affiliation deal with KTVT in the Dallas/Fort Worth market, since the alternative was to end up on a UHF channel. My recollection is that Gaylord told CBS that if they wanted KTVT, they also had to take KSTW. And so CBS moved to a new channel in both markets (although it was actually a homecoming in Seattle/Tacoma, where CBS had once aired on KSTW's predecessor, KTNT).

Subsequently, Gaylord sold off both stations, with KTVT going to CBS and KSTW going to Viacom. At the time, they were seperate companies and Viacom was part-owner of UPN, so UPN moved over to KSTW, and KIRO got CBS back.

I thought it was something like that, because I remember when Gaylord owned both stations (I used to live in Dallas, when KTVT was independent, KDFW was the CBS affiliate, and there was no Fox network).
So I take it that KSTW is the CW station in Seattle now.

 

[azumanga]

Nah..the only way one can "see" KOA today would be to look at a campground with the letters "K O A" on the sign out front. Hell chances are you can do that in Tennessee. LOL.

This past April I was able to "pull in" KOA from Montreal, while driving down Route 20 west of town -- unfortunately, it was "off the air" until Summer.

(Sorry -- couldn't resist.)

 

[mleach]

About those early days of the VCR..from the 70's until the 1984 ( ? ) U.S. Supreme Court decision saying it was legal to tape TV shows...a lot of people really believed that VCRs would be illegal..illegal to the point where the owner could actually go to jail. I myself can remember ads for VCRs back in the early 80's flashing a notice on the screen saying that the home taping of TV shows and movies goes against the copyright laws. Some TV repair shows at the time had actually provided a service to those with VCRs to "disconnect" the record button so they can keep their machines after "the day of the banning".

Another rumor back then which some took as fact was that by 1985 all radio and television stations, their signal will be coded where it can't be taped meaning one can't record TV shows, record music from radio or a third party making an aircheck of a dj would be a no no too.

Of course all of this is so laughable now but one does have to wonder "what if" the Supreme Court had ruled the other way? Someone earlier on a thread I believe had said that the development of home video like camcorders would had been delayed for several years and those who had personal video cameras at the time ( early 80s ) I believe sooner or later that would end up being a legal issue too as far as taping everyday things such as a child riding a ferris wheel ( parents could sue, police would get involved and both parties would demand the tape ) and the scrambling of broadcast signals..not only would a lot of TV shows and music from the 80s and perhaps even the 90s would be more or less forgotten but even websites like Airchexx.com, Reelradio.com and even You Tube..well chances are they may not exist either.

All of this could very well had been possible...had the Supreme Court had ruled against home video taping.