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What TV stations were the best cherry-pickers? (multi-network affiliates)

C

cd637299

Guest
IYO, what TV stations that were affiliated with more than 1 network did the best job at (1) trying to keep a 50/50 schedule for dual affiliation, 33.3/33.3/33.3 for 3-network affiliation, or 25% each for 4-network affiliation.....and (2) choosing shows that historically were the most successful?

I nominate KTWO 2 Casper WY in early 70s & WAGM-TV 8* Presque Isle ME in 1977 (TV Guide even did an article on them that year). Honorable mention for me goes to KTEN 10 in OK who had a little each of NBC, ABC & Fox.

[*Briefly in the 90s WAGM-TV even had NFL from Fox, making them a 4-netter for a short time.]

Any others? I am not old enough to remember those stations in the 1950s, but feel free to chime in!
 
WAGM-DT in Presque Isle pretty much had everybody at the time. They even carried WWE Smackdown! from UPN at one point too! Today, WAGM-DT 8-1 is CBS and 8-2 is FOX. There was supposed to be another commercial station set to sign on up there before, but I guess it never made the air.
 
In two-station markets, probably WROC-TV i(then on Channel 5) n Rochester did as well as anyone in balancing a primary network (in this case NBC) with a secondary ABC affiliation, to offer the best of both worlds. They claimed over 60 percent of the market against CBS/ABC affiliate WHEC-TV, Channel 10, in 1961. Of course everything changed the next year when WOKR opened up operations on Channel 13 and pulled away all the ABC shows for itself...
 
Forgot two things....

(1) I must throw in WBOC 16 Salibury MD in the 60s. They were pretty fair as well....I think they were CBS primary, but all 3 networks were accessible.

(2) It's true that Wyoming in the early 70s had only 3 TV stations *total*! One TV Guide edition (Denver?) handled the chores. KTWO 2, Cheyenne 5 & Thermopolis 10 did a pretty good job.

Would like to read more.....BTW were there any books out on a bizarre subject like my Subject-line?

cd
 
I suspect you are asking more about major stations that had multiple affiliations, but there was a funny one for many years tucked away in far southern coastal Oregon. KOTI/KOBI Klamath Falls/ Medford carried all 3 nets AND some PBS (Sesame Street and Mr. Rogers). They were the only show in town from the early 50s to the mid 70s at least. Not sure about the tech in the 70s when I saw them, but they managed to run an extended prime time 4:30 to 11 that pretty well squeezed in most of the shows from all 3 nets. The shows were not always on the same day as every one else in the country, and often not at the same time, but by gawd they got them all on. NBC and CBS national news back to back at 6, ABC news on the weekends.

How's that for "full service TV?" Has to be some places in the Dakotas or Montana like that as well at one time?
 
I think KXGN-TV channel 5 of Glendive, MT was (or is?) the last station in the country to carry programming from at least two networks on their primary channel, such as KXGN-DT 5-1.

After making a quick check at Wikipedia, sure enough:

KXGN dropped its NBC affiliation in September 2009, making the station affiliated solely with CBS. KXGN was the last "Big 3" station in the US to air more than one network's programming on a single feed. In the past, KXGN also carried ABC and FOX programming. The station also carried UPN during the overnight hours until UPN closed on September 15, 2006 to combine with The WB to form The CW network (currently CW programming is seen on cable-only channel CW Glendive, formerly KWZB).
 
WTVD/11 Raleigh/Durham, CBS/NBC in the 1960s, was one of the
better ones, I think. Some of the staples of its schedules during
those years would include:

CBS: Jackie Gleason
Gunsmoke
Ed Sullivan
Mission: Impossible
The Lucy Show/Here's Lucy
Andy Griffith/Mayberry RFD
Red Skelton
Beverly Hillbillies
Wild Wild West
Gomer Pyle
CBS Movie (Friday)
CBS News (Cronkite)
Captain Kangaroo
the entire CBS soap block (Love Of Life, Search For
Tomorrow, Guiding Light, As The World Turns, Edge
Of Night, Secret Storm)
most of the CBS Saturday-morning block (except for
NBC's Banana Splits and Flintstones reruns)
CBS's Sunday-morning block of Lamp Unto My Feet,
Look Up And Live, Camera Three, Face The Nation

NBC: Saturday Night At The Movies
Disney
Bonanza
The Virginian
Daniel Boone
Ironside
Dean Martin
I Spy
Get Smart
The Today Show
The Tonight Show
Concentration
Another World

WAPI (WVTM)/13 Birmingham did a reasonably good job,
although I never understood its aversion to Ed Sullivan
and Johnny Carson. Some of its picks:

CBS: Jackie Gleason
Mannix
Lassie
Smothers Brothers
Mission: Impossible
Gunsmoke
The Lucy Show/Here's Lucy
Red Skelton
Beverly Hillbillies
Hawaii Five-O
Gomer Pyle
CBS Movie (Friday)
The Lucy Show (daytime reruns)
Search For Tomorrow
As The World Turns
Guiding Light
Gomer Pyle (daytime reruns)

NBC: Andy Williams
Adam-12
Saturday Night At The Movies
Disney
Bonanza
Laugh-In
The Virginian
Kraft Music Hall
Daniel Boone
Ironside
Dean Martin
High Chaparral
Name Of The Game
NBC News
daytime: Concentration, Hollywood Squares,
Jeopardy!, You Don't Say!, Match Game, the
Today show
NBC's Saturday-morning block (they aired CBS's
on Sunday)

I'm probably leaving out something; these are the shows
which consistently made the stations' lineups. One that
already comes to mind is Hee Haw, which aired on both
stations on CBS and in syndication.
 
Many early VHF stations were able to do this. One of them was WGAL-TV in Lancaster PA, which served the three cities of Harrisburg, York and Lancaster. WGAL signed on as Channel 4 in 1949 in the smallest city in the USA to have a TV station. They moved to Channel 8 in 1952, about the time the UHFs began coming on in the other two cities. WGAL primarily carried NBC and CBS programming either live or on delay, and ABC and DuMont programming on film, usually in the 7pm hour weekdays or on weekend afternoons. They also could block any of the UHFs from carrying any network programming WGAL wanted, leaving gaping holes in the schedules of some of the other stations.

A typical night was Sunday evenings in the early 1960s. WGAL aired Disney's Wonderful World of Color at 6:30 (one hour before it ran on the NBC network) then switched to CBS for Dennis the Menace at 7:30 and Ed Sullivan at 8. Then it was back to NBC at 9 for Bonanza, and a return to CBS at 10 for Candid Camera and What's My Line. Some nights would be almost all CBS or all NBC. They really ran the cream of the crop, when they wanted to. Anyone who only saw TV on WGAL probably thought TV was utterly fantastic. Not a single bad program.

This arrangement ended when Harrisburg, York and Lancaster were designated one single TV market instead of three separate ones. The TV market was supposedly plotted on WGAL's coverage map. WGAL then had to pick a network and they chose NBC, probably because they had invested heavily in color equipment and NBC was the only network broadcasting in living color.
 
John-Summers said:
...Sunday evenings in the early 1960s. WGAL aired Disney's Wonderful World of Color at 6:30 (one hour before it ran on the NBC network) then switched to CBS...
Click to expand...

So Disney was at least a one-week delay? Tape or a 16mm film print?
 
oldiesfan6479 said:
John-Summers said:
...Sunday evenings in the early 1960s. WGAL aired Disney's Wonderful World of Color at 6:30 (one hour before it ran on the NBC network) then switched to CBS...
Click to expand...

So Disney was at least a one-week delay? Tape or a 16mm film print?
Click to expand...

No, it was not a delayed broadcast of the previous week. It was the same show that ran at 7:30 on the network. WGAL ran the show one hour before the network and other NBC affiliates. Incredible but true. It was on tape and looked every bit as good as the network broadcast. For a medium market station, WGAL held an enormous amount of sway with NBC. Both CBS and NBC probably realized that eventually WGAL would have to choose one over the other, and were likely willing to bend over backwards to accomodate the only VHF in the market.
 
John-Summers said:
WGAL ran the show one hour before the network and other NBC affiliates. Incredible but true. It was on tape and looked every bit as good as the network broadcast.
Click to expand...

There was some precedent that has been discussed off of Atlanta TV listings
in this era where then-CBS affil WAGA-TV got prefeeds of a couple of shows
in order to air them a half-hour ahead of the network.

I guess "Steinman Stations/Clair McCullough, President" really did have clout.
Remember those Broadcasting Yearbook front-cover ads for WGAL-TV and
WTEV New Bedford?
 
cd637299 said:
(2) It's true that Wyoming in the early 70s had only 3 TV stations *total*! One TV Guide edition (Denver?) handled the chores. KTWO 2, Cheyenne 5 & Thermopolis 10 did a pretty good job.
Click to expand...

Are you sure Thermopolis, Wyoming even had a TV station back then? A good friend of mine had lived there for many years and even he knew nothing about it. If that town did have a channel it must had been a translator from someplace else since there is no way a town that small and in such a rural area could support their own local TV station, then or now. Today Thermopolis is so small they can't even support a Burger King or Wal-Mart, much less their own local TV.
 
bk77 said:
Are you sure Thermopolis, Wyoming even had a TV station back then?
Click to expand...

Sort of. In the area.

1972 Broadcasting Yearbook:

KWRB-TV channel 10 Riverton. Serving the Riverton/Lander/Thermopolis/
Worland "mega-market." Mailing address (studio?) was in Thermopolis.
Net: ABC/CBS/NBC.
 
Until a second station was added to the Wausau-Rhinelander (Wisconsin) Market in May of 1965, WSAU-TV, Channel 7, had the whole area to itself.
A primary CBS affiliate, Channel 7 still managed to have a good balance of ABC and NBC shows, some on a delayed basis, others not. The station also had a strong news and sports department.
Someday if I get around to it, I'll post some sample Channel 7 schedules from the years 1958 through 1965. IMHO, it was a model of the cherry-picking station, and evidently
was highly regarded in the business.
 
...there was also WLUC/6 in Marquette, Michigan; throughout the '60s and '70s, it was a primary CBS and secondary ABC (with NBC mixed in until WJMN/3 Escanaba signed on the air in 1969). They'd usually run CBS live and ABC prime time would take up whatever local slots there were (late afternoons, early prime and weekend patches) on a tape delay. I'll try to scrounge up a December 1971 schedule I have at the house sometime this weekend...
 
To amplify my comments about WTVD, here's a typical week:
November 30-December 6, 1968. From TV Guide, North Carolina
Edition:

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 30

6:30 Sunrise Semester (CBS) (subject: "Philosophy")
7 AM Birdman And The Galaxy Trio (NBC, delay from noon)
7:30 Top Cat (NBC, delay from 9:30 AM)
8 AM Go-Go Gophers (CBS)
8:30 Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Hour (CBS)
9:30 Wacky Races (CBS)
10 AM Archie Show (CBS)
10:30 Banana Splits (NBC)
11:30 Flintstones (NBC, delay from 10 AM)
12 N Shazzan! (CBS)
12:30 Jonny Quest (CBS)
1 PM Moby Dick And The Mighty Mightor (CBS)
1:30 Upbeat (syndicated)
2:30 Ernest Tubb (syndicated)
3 PM ACC Football Highlights (local)
3:30 The Deputy (syndicated reruns)
4 PM Roller Derby (syndicated)
5 PM Fishing With Gadabout Gaddis (syndicated)
5:30 GE College Bowl (NBC)
6 PM All Star Bingo (syndicated but local tie-in with
Colonial Stores)
6:30 Star Trek (NBC, delay from Fri 10 PM)
7:30 Jackie Gleason (CBS)
8:30 Ghost And Mrs. Muir (NBC)
9 PM NBC Movie: "Morgan!"
11 PM News, Sports, Weather (local)
11:30 Untouchables (syndicated reruns)

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 1

6:45 Story Of Jesus (syndicated)
7:15 Church News (local)
7:30 Homestead U.S.A. (syndicated)
8 AM America Sings (syndicated)
8:30 Captain Noah (syndicated)
9 AM Tom And Jerry (CBS)
9:30 Aquaman (CBS)
10 AM Batman/Superman Hour (CBS, delay from
Sat 10:30 AM)
11 AM Camera Three (CBS)
11:30 Face The Nation (CBS)
12 N Championship Bowling (syndicated)
12:30 Dean Smith (UNC basketball highlights, carried
across the state)
1 PM NFL Pre-Game Show (CBS)
1:30 NFL Football: Giants-Browns (CBS)
4 PM NFL Football: Packers-49ers (CBS, time approximate)
7 PM Walt Disney's Wonderful World Of Color (NBC, delay from
7:30, time approximate)
8 PM Ed Sullivan (CBS)
9 PM Ann-Margret Special (CBS, "Bonanza" usually aired here)
10 PM Mission: Impossible (CBS)
11 PM CBS News (Harry Reasoner)
11:15 The Outsider (NBC, delay from Wed 10 PM)

MONDAY-FRIDAY DAYTIME DECEMBER 2-6

6 AM Aspect (carried statewide)
6:30 Sunrise Semester: "English Literature" (MWF),
"Philosophy" (TTh)
7 AM Today (NBC)
9 AM Captain Kangaroo (CBS)
10 AM The Lucy Show (CBS)
10:30 Concentration (NBC)
11 AM Andy Griffith (CBS)
11:30 Dick Van Dyke (CBS)
12 N Love Of Life (CBS)
12:25 News (local)
12:30 Search For Tomorrow (CBS)
1 PM Peggy Mann (local)
1:30 As The World Turns (CBS)
2 PM Hollywood Squares (NBC, delay from 11:30 AM)
2:30 Guiding Light (CBS)
3 PM Secret Storm (CBS)
3:30 Edge Of Night (CBS)
4 PM Hazel (syndicated reruns)
4:30 Beverly Hillbillies (CBS, delay from 10:30 AM)
5 PM Perry Mason (syndicated reruns)
6 PM Newsbeat
6:30 CBS News (Walter Cronkite)

MONDAY, DECEMBER 2

7 PM Beverly Hillbillies (CBS, delay from Wed 9 PM)
7:30 Gunsmoke (CBS)
8:30 Here's Lucy (CBS)
9 PM Mayberry R.F.D. (CBS)
9:30 Family Affair (CBS)
10 PM Carol Burnett (CBS)
11 PM Newsbeat
11:30 Tonight Show (NBC)

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 3

7 PM Doris Day (CBS, delay from 9:30)
7:30 National Geographic: "Reptiles And Amphibians"
(CBS, pre-empts "Lancer," which I think Ch. 11 aired)
8:30 Red Skelton (CBS)
9:30 Name Of The Game (NBC, delay from Fri 8:30)
11 PM Newsbeat
11:30 Tonight Show

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 4

7 PM Movie: "Tea And Sympathy" (local origination)
9 PM TBA
10 PM Rowan And Martin's Laugh-In (NBC, delay from Mon 8 PM)
11 PM Newsbeat
11:30 Tonight Show

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 5

7 PM My Three Sons (CBS, delay from Sat 8:30)
7:30 Daniel Boone (NBC)
8:30 Ironside (NBC)
9:30 Dragnet 1969 (NBC)
10 PM Dean Martin (NBC)
11 PM Newsbeat
11:30 Tonight Show

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 6

7 PM Blondie (CBS, delay from Thu 7:30)
7:30 Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer (NBC, pre-empts
"High Chaparral." Not sure if Ch. 11 carried that or
"Wild Wild West.")
8:30 Gomer Pyle, USMC (CBS)
9 PM CBS Movie: "The Defector"
11 PM Newsbeat
11:30 Tonight Show
 
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