June 8, 2015

What's on TV? Wednesday, June 10, 1970

Have we ever stopped in Nashville before?  I don't think so, so we'll add this to the list of markets covered in the weekly listings.  I don't know anything about the television history of Nashville, but I'll try to come up with something interesting to say anyway.



WDCN, Channel 2 (NET)

Afternoon

03:00p
Sesame Street

04:00p
What’s New (B&W)

04:30p
The Friendly Giant (B&W)

05:00p
Yoga For Health (B&W)

05:30p
Navy: Underway For Peace (B&W)

Evening

06:00p
Consumer Report (B&W)

06:30p
Misterrogers (B&W)

07:00p
NET Jazz (B&W)

07:30p
Book Beat

08:00p
International Magazine (B&W)

09:00p
Soul! (guests Kim Weston, Bobby Hebb, Alice Coltraine, Archie Shepp, Isacc Douglas and the Isaac Douglas Singers)

If you read enough TV Guides, one of the things you notice is that each edition has its own little quirks.  For example, during the Iran hostage crisis, some markets labeled ABC's late night news wrap-up as "ABC News," while others used the name that ABC had recently given the update: Nightline.  You see another example of that at 3:30, with Misterogers, which is the original title of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood.  It appears that the show went by both titles at this point; throughout the 1970 broadcasting season, the episode slide, which was shown on-air with the sponsor names, reads Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, while the graphic on the opening scene itself says Misterogers' Neighborhood.  Our TV Guide in the Twin Cities used Mister Rogers.  You say to-mato, I say to-mahto.


WSM, Channel 4 (NBC)

Morning

06:00a
Morning Show

07:00a
Today (guests Humphrey Wakefield, Clare Conley, James Graham)

09:00a
It Takes Two (guests Gary Crosby, Pat Harrington, Gordon and Meredith MacRae)

09:25a
NBC News (Nancy Dickerson)

09:30a
Concentration

10:00a
Sale of the Century

10:30a
The Hollywood Squares (guests Marty Allen, Ernest Borgnine, Stu Gilliam, Paul Lynde, Juliet Mills, Susan Saint James)

11:00a
Jeopardy

11:30a
Who, What or Where Game

11:55a
NBC News (Floyd Kalbur)

Afternoon

12:00p
Noon Show

01:00p
Days of Our Lives

01:30p
The Doctors

02:00p
Another World/Bay City

02:30p
To Tell the Truth

03:00p
Another World/Somerset

03:30p
Star Trek

04:30p
Ralph Emery

05:25p
Weather (local)

05:30p
The Huntley-Brinkley Report

Evening

06:00p
News, Weather and Sports (local)

06:30p
The Virginian

08:00p
Kraft Music Hall (Carol Lawrence, Bob Denver, Val Doonican)

09:00p
The Champions

10:00p
News, Weather and Sports (local)

10:30p
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (guests Ray Stevens, Ace Trucking Company)

12:00a
The Avengers

Ah, there's seldom a time when you can't find The Avengers on television somewhere.  I don't mean the comic book superheros, of course, although I think Mrs. Peel is something of a superhero myself.

Ralph Emery, host of the 4:30 pm program, remains a legend in the world of country music television and radio; his TV programs on WSM ran from the mid '60s to the early '90s, and was also the host of several country programs in syndication and on The Nashville Network.


WLAC, Channel 5 (CBS)

Morning

05:45a
Country Journal

06:00a
CBS Morning News with Joseph Benti

06:30a
Jake Hess

06:55a
Morning Watch (incl. Dialing For Dollars)

08:00a
Captain Kangaroo

08:30a
Mike Douglas (co-host Sammy Davis Jr., guests Sarah Vaughan, Barbwire Theatre, Henny Youngman) (incl. Dialing For Dollars)

10:00a
Andy Griffith

10:30a
Love of Life

11:00a
Where the Heart Is

11:25a
CBS News (Douglas Edwards)

11:30a
Search For Tomorrow

Afternoon

12:00p
News (local)

12:05p
Singing Convention (incl. Dialing For Dollars)

12:30p
As the World Turns

01:00p
Love is a Many-Splendored Thing

01:30p
The Guiding Light

02:00p
The Secret Storm

02:30p
The Edge of Night

03:00p
Gomer Pyle, USMC

03:30p
Gilligan’s Island

04:00p
Movie – “Three Guys Named Mike” (B&W) (incl. Dialing For Dollars)

05:25p
Weather (local)

05:30p
CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite

Evening

06:00p
News, Weather and Sports (local)

06:30p
Hee Haw (guests Merle Haggard, Bonnie Owens)

07:30p
You’re In Love, Charlie Brown (special)

08:00p
Medical Center

09:00p
Hawaii Five-O

10:00p
News, Weather and Sports (local)

10:30p
Merv Griffin

Dialing For Dollars looks to have been pretty much a mainstay of WLAC's programming throughout the day; as I mentioned in my obituary on Bud Kraheling last Friday, it's the kind of unique local touch that seems to have all but disappeared from television nowadays.


WSIX, Channel 8 (ABC)

Morning

06:30a
McHale’s Navy (B&W)

07:00a
Bozo

08:50a
Lucille Rivers

09:00a
Barbara Moore

09:30a
He Said, She Said

10:00a
Bewitched

10:30a
That Girl

11:00a
Best of Everything

11:30a
A World Apart

Afternoon

12:00p
All My Children

12:30p
Let’s Make a Deal

01:00p
The Newlywed Game

01:30p
The Dating Game

02:00p
General Hospital

02:30p
One Life to Live

03:00p
Dark Shadows

03:30p
The Beverly Hillbillies

04:00p
The Lucy Show

04:30p
The Real McCoys (B&W)

05:00p
ABC Evening News with Frank Reynolds and Howard K. Smith

05:30p
Dick Van Dyke (B&W)

Evening

06:00p
News, Weather and Sports (local)

06:30p
Nanny and the Professor

07:00p
The Courtship of Eddie’s Father

07:30p
Room 222

08:00p
Johnny Cash (guests O.C. Smith, Hank Williams Jr., Linda Ronstadt, Lawrence Reynolds)

09:00p
Engelbert Humperdinck (guests Gina Lollobrigida, Kaye Ballard, Lou Rawls, Roger Whittaker)

10:00p
News, Weather and Sports (local)

10:30p
Movie – “A Certain Smile” (B&W)

My first question: why is Channel 8 called WSIX?  Why isn't it Channel 6?  The always-reliable Wikipedia comes to the rescue:  "The call letters came from the 638 Tire Company in nearby Springfield, where the Draughon brothers had started WSIX in 1930; neither the radio nor the television stations have ever had the number six in their frequencies, which would explain it otherwise."Good old Wikipedia.  Today, the station is called WKRN, and it's on Channel 2.


WLTV, Channel 13 (Bowling Green) (ABC)

Morning

10:00a
Bewitched

10:30a
That Girl

11:00a
Best of Everything

11:30a
A World Apart

Afternoon

12:00p
All My Children

12:30p
Let’s Make a Deal

01:00p
The Newlywed Game

01:30p
The Dating Game

02:00p
General Hospital

02:30p
One Life to Live

03:00p
Dark Shadows

03:30p
Divorce Court

04:00p
Movie – TBA

05:30p
ABC Evening News with Frank Reynolds and Howard K. Smith

Evening

06:00p
News, Weather and Sports (local) (B&W)

06:30p
Nanny and the Professor

07:00p
The Courtship of Eddie’s Father

07:30p
Room 222

08:00p
Johnny Cash (guests O.C. Smith, Hank Williams Jr., Linda Ronstadt, Lawrence Reynolds)

09:00p
Engelbert Humperdinck (guests Gina Lollobrigida, Kaye Ballard, Lou Rawls, Roger Whittaker)

10:00p
News, Weather and Sports (local) (B&W)

10:30p
Dick Cavett (guests Beverly Sills, Leonard Frey)

Here you can see ABC's late-night dilemma first-hand: WSIX doesn't carry it, while WLTV does.  How does a show build up a successful audience when it can't get clearance on all the network's affiliates?

WMCV, Channel 17 (Ind.)

Afternoon

03:20p
News/Community Calendar (B&W)

03:30p
News, Weather, Sports (B&W)

03:45p
Laurel and Hardy (B&W)

04:30p
Topper (B&W)

05:00p
The Munsters (B&W)

05:30p
My Favorite Martian

Evening

06:00p
I Spy

07:00p
Run For Your Life

08:00p
The Movie Game

08:30p
Movie – “Watch on the Rhine” (B&W)

Another of the part-time stations we used to see so much of in the '50s and '60s.  It's actually a pretty good lineup, comparable to what you might see on Me-TV or Cozy.  The 8:30 pm movie, "Watch on the Rhine," is billed as starring Bette Davis, and it's true she was in the movie.  So was Paul Lukas, who incidentally won Best Actor for this movie at the Academy Awards that year.  I just saw him in an episode of The Man From U.N.C.L.E. last week.  Hey, a guy's gotta work, right? TV  

5 comments:

  1. --Wonder why "Another World" is split in two? When "Another World" got a spinoff in 1970, the new soap was called "Another World/Somerset" and the original show renamed "Another World/Bay City". Soon the spinoff simply becamed "Somerset" and the parent show returned to its original name.
    --Those lineups from "Soul!" have always amazed me. I mean mixing the Motown sound of Kim Weston with the avant-garde jazz of Alice Coltrane and Archie Shepp? Why somebody hasn't repackaged old "Soul!" episodes for DVD surprises me.
    --The last station starting at 10am? I know early on lots of ABC affiliates started late due to the network's late start time, but to see this in 1970 is still surprising.

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  2. Clearance of ABC affiliates was also a problem for many of the prime time shows throughout the mid to late 1960's; I would even see hits like Batman and F Troop pre-empted in prime time and aired instead during the afternoon on weekends on a lot of TV Guides I have from the 1965-70 period. I remember reading that sometimes up to 10% of the affiliates would pre-empt. For an idea of the impact, take a 28 share (normally would get a show cancelled in that era) and add 10%--that becomes a 30.8 share, likely good for renewal. Little wonder that you look at the season-ending rankings for (say) 66-67 or 67-68 and see only 4 or 5 of the top 30 airing on ABC.

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  3. I grew up with tv in Nashville from late 1976 until fall 1983, and then I saw it a couple summers after that. A Facebook friend, Bob Williams, has a great site about tv in Nashville: http://www.nashvilletv.org/
    In Dec. 1973, WSIX-TV (I heard or read that the call letters meant "Where Service Is eXcellent".) switched channels with WDCN-TV, giving WDCN-TV considerable $ or equipment for swapping channels and changed its call letters from WSIX-TV to WNGE-TV (With Nashville General Electric). I got to tour the WNGE-TV/WSIX radio studios in 1980 since my dad worked for GE. A year later GE sold the station to Knight-Ridder and became WKRN-TV, as you stated.
    WLAC-TV became WTVF in 1975. Hee-Haw was taped at WLAC-TV studios in downtown Nashville near the state capitol building until it moved production to a studio near the Grand Ole Opry House in the 1980s.
    WSM-TV became WSMV around 1981 when it was sold to a man named George Gillette. I got to take a tour of WSM-TV studios in 1980, seeing production of The Noon Show from offstage. A year later The Noon Show lost its anchors, Teddy Bart & Elaine Ganick, to WKRN-TV, where they anchored the news. Teddy Bart eventually went back to WSMV and passed away just a few years ago. Longtime WSMV anchor, Dan Miller, moved to the West Coast, eventually ending up as announcer for Pat Sajak's CBS late night talk show. Sajak had been WSM-TV's anchorman until about 1975. Miller went back to Nashville and WSMV, passing away in 2009. George Goldtrap was WSM-TV's longtime weekend weatherman who gave up weather to become a fulltime minister. He had a gimmick of tossing his chalk in the air, catching it in his suit pocket, while saying "That's the weather - by George!". I love how WSM-TV in 1970 went right from Today into It Takes Two. By the time I was aware of WSM-TV, it was preempting NBC's 9-10 AM CT game shows for trash like Donahue, and in the 1980s it horrendously preempted NBC's 10-11 AM CT game show for The Big Valley reruns! :( I was happy when I was in college in Waco that KCEN-TV did carry $ale of the Century at 9 AM, just after Today, instead of preempting NBC's 9-10 CT block for a talk show.
    WMCV-TV was Nashville's first attempt at an independent station. You can see that the station was already on a reduced schedule by then. It gave up in March 1971, coming back stronger as WZTV, an independent station that eventually became Nashville's Fox affiliate, in March 1976.

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    Replies
    1. Correction: George Goldtrap replaced Pat Sajak when Pat went to CA. Goldtrap left WSM TV to devote full time to his talent agency Happy Talk Int'l, which we eventually sold 2008 to Speaker Connect, Atlanta GA. Ministry was an avocation from which he retired in the late 90's

      Thank you, George Goldtrap
      Jr, Ormond Beach FL. 386-235-3900

      Delete
  4. Nancy Dickerson, who did a five-minute morning newscast on NBC, was the mother of John Dickerson, who recently became the new moderator of "Face The Nation".

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Thanks for writing! Drive safely!