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WSOC-TV Turns 50 This Month

M

Matt

To the best of my recollection, WSOC-TV signed on Channel 9 in Charlotte in April of 1957. Fifty years on the air is a significant milestone for many businesses, and especially for broadcasters.

Since I don't live within their viewing area any more, they may have done something to commemorate the even on the air. But a check of their website shows no mention other than a brief historical anecdote on the station written 4 years ago.

Certainly I would have expected to see some film or early video tape of Jack Callaghan, Doug Bell, Bill Walker, Jerry Peterson, "Kilgo's Canteen" or "Joey's Clown Carnival" show up either on air or on the website.

Would someone living in that market tell me if they did anything on the air for the occasion?
 
WSOC-AM brought me to Charlotte in 1981 (I did afternoons from '81-'85). Those were great days!

Mike
 
Matt,

I haven't seen anything on the air about their 50th birthday.
 
Yes, I was there. In fact we started with TM's "TMOR" reels which was not a good format since it was "all over the road" and went to Toby Arnold's "Unforgatable" reels, which was a much better format. Then I believe we started puting the Toby Arnold format on cart. Lastly WSOC brought in Andy Bickel who had been fired as PD of WBT as our consultant when we made the switch to A/C.

I liked all the formats but I knew Going up against WBT with A/C was not a good idea. When we started carting the music there was a card file to pick the music. I have always been good at mixing music. Don Bell thought so too and soon I was mixing all the music, not just my show. More work, but no more money!

Harold Johnson is a neat guy, he always made a big fuss over my wife and little daughter whenever I took them over to the TV side.

The WSOC building is pretty impressive. I miss the huge lobby they had before Hugo. You could throw a party in there, and they often did.

Mike
 
It understandable WSOC-TV would not mention their anniversary---they're only allowed to discuss crime on the air. But the real reason may be that they came to the party about 8 years late, and that doesn't compare too well to WBTV's 1949 debut.
 
Speaking of which, does anyone remember WBTV's golden anniversary that was done in 1997? I've remember them running clips from their newscasts over the decades they were on the air, but not sure if they had done a tribute show or not.

Robyn
 
Yes, they did a tribute show on the anniversary date, just as WBT did a couple of weeks ago for their 85th.
 
They finally made notice on the TV station's website http://www.wsoctv.com

It looks like it was hastily thrown together, with some tape from their 25th anniversary, a few pictures of the station through the years (mainly late-80's through 2006) and some "behind the scenes" special they did in 1982.

Overall, not very impressive stuff, but they did show Jimmy Kilgo and Brooks Lindsey (a.k.a. Joey the Clown). That'll get me my "fix" on old WSOC-TV memories for a few years.

Later,
Matt Smith
WGSR-TV
 
When did WSOC put the automation in that followed Dollars' Morning Show?
 
Matt Smith said:
They finally made notice on the TV station's website http://www.wsoctv.com

It looks like it was hastily thrown together, with some tape from their 25th anniversary, a few pictures of the station through the years (mainly late-80's through 2006) and some "behind the scenes" special they did in 1982.

Overall, not very impressive stuff, but they did show Jimmy Kilgo and Brooks Lindsey (a.k.a. Joey the Clown). That'll get me my "fix" on old WSOC-TV memories for a few years.

Later,
Matt Smith
WGSR-TV
Click to expand...
http://www.charlotte.com/122/story/101036.html

I'm confused about Joey the Clown. Maybe these were reruns, but I remember his show and I didn't live in the area until 1973. And yet everything I've seen about him says the show ended in 1971.

Since this is a radio site, and since the AM format was mentioned, I should do the words of the commercial I used to see back when I liked the station. I may have done these, but I'm not sure.

Streisand, Sinatra, Neil Diamond, and ABBA!
Olivia Newton-John, the music you remember goes on and on!
Nat King Cole, The Carpenters, Peggy Lee, Glenn Miller!
The music that never goes out of style, AM 93, WSOC!
 
Joey the Clown was resurrected on WCCB-18 for a few years in the mid-70's. It appears that Brooks Lindsay owned rights to the character, and did pretty much the same type of thing with WCCB that he had done with WSOC-TV...Kids show as Joey the clown, and presenting the weather forecast during their nightly excuse for a newscast.

I think Lindsay also moonlighted as a spokesman for Carowinds in its early years, as I remember seeing him leading parades and doing other activities on their behalf when I visited the park in those days.

Brooks Lindsay spent time both in and out of broadcasting. The last on-air position I heard of him holding was in the mid-80's as midday announcer for WIST-1240 am during their Country Music years. To my ears, he was not credible doing that, as it always sounded like Joey the Clown playing deejay. He didn't stay with it too long, and neither did WIST with country.

About 3 years ago, I ran into someone who claimed to have known him personally, and they told me that Lindsay died in the early 1990's.

Later....
Matt Smith
WGSR-TV
 
vchimpanzee said:
Since this is a radio site, and since the AM format was mentioned, I should do the words of the commercial I used to see back when I liked the station. I may have done these, but I'm not sure.

Streisand, Sinatra, Neil Diamond, and ABBA!
Olivia Newton-John, the music you remember goes on and on!
Nat King Cole, The Carpenters, Peggy Lee, Glenn Miller!
The music that never goes out of style, AM 93, WSOC!
Click to expand...

Wow, you made my day! I have some great memories of those days, and some painful ones too. I still think of our PD the late Don Bell. When I was in high school I used to listen to Don on WIOD in Miami. So naturally Don knew Larry King since they had worked together. Don was tough to please but when you did it was great. He must have liked what I was doing more than he let on because after WSOC he later hired me at WEZC, EZ-102.9.

We came to Charlotte with our little girl (our first) who was barely a month old. My last day at my old station in West Palm Beach was on Friday then I packed up and moved to Charlotte, some 700 miles. I hit the air on Monday on WSOC-AM. I have no idea how I did that!

I got canned in 1985 when they gave up on the station. It was a Friday and they asked me to work Sunday. Again I don't know why I did it I guess for a good reccomdation. It was the hardest show I've ever done, knowing I wouldn't be there the next day.

I still have my "Charlotte is Great" WSOC AM 93 coffee cup!

When WSOC AM 93 had their 50th the station had very little information on it's history. I went to the library and made copies of some things that had been in the newspaper about the station when WSOC went on the air and the GM Lee Morris loved it!
 
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