that horrible BEEP

[A. Joseph Ross]

On 20 Jan 2008 at 9:01, Dan.Strassberg wrote:

> Capital Cities started in the Capital District (and indeed was named
> for it) and WROW was its very first station! WROW got a TV CP, which
> initially resulted in the construction of Channel 41 (now Channel 10
> et al). In those days, it was cutomary for radio and TV networks to
> affiliate with commonly owned radio and TV stations in most markets
> where they existed. 

I don't know when it became Capital Cities, but while I was there, up 
until May 1957, the company that owned WROW was called "Hudson Valley 
Broadcasting," and that was how they answered their phone.

> IIRC, WROW-TV (which was later renamed WTEN after
> it built the Channel 10 facility in Vail Mills) initially became the
> CBS-TV affiliate. It was thus fitting for WROW (AM) to be the CBS
> Radio affiliate. 

My recollection is that WROW-TV was not originally a CBS affiliate. 
When we moved to the area in late November 1953, WROW radio was still 
an ABC affiliate and WROW-TV had just come on.  It may have been an 
independent station or it may have been nominally an ABC affiliate.  
Just after the start of 1954, I saw an ad in the paper proclaiming 
that it really was a happy new year because Channel 35 would soon be 
on the air.  It would be WTRI and would be a sister station to WTRY 
CBS.  That meant that Channel 35 started as a CBS affiliate.  Channel 
74, WMGT was a separate station with its own programming, possibly 
with a DuMont affiliation.  At the time, however, whatever the 
affiliations of the UHF stations, WRGB, although an NBC affiliate, 
also carried many programs from the other networks, often by delayed 
broadcast.  I recall that they had Ed Sullivan's show on Friday 
evening and Jack Benny on Sunday afternoon.  At one point Bishop 
Fulton J. Sheen's Tuesday night show on DuMont was also on Sunday 
afternoon.  Space Patrol, an ABC program, was carried live from the 
network on Saturday morning at 11:00.  Some of CBS's weekday 
afternoon shows were also carried on WRGB.

I don't remember whether it happened at the same time as the radio 
shift, but at some point WROW-TV began to advertise itself as the new 
CBS affiliate (despite all the CBS shows on WRGB).  WTRI at that 
point went off the air for awhile.

Finally, I believe in 1956, WTRI returned as an ABC affiliate.  By 
that time, WROW-TV had become WCDA channel 41 and WCDB, channel 29, 
and WMGT had left the air.  I believe it had already shifted to 
Channel 19 before the fire.  I'm not quite sure the timing of its 
return as WCDC, but I suspect it might have been motivated at least 
in part by the demise of the DuMont Television Network.

In 1956, when WTRI came back on, there was a general reallignment of 
programming, and all CBS programs moved to WCDA etc. and ABC programs 
still being carried on WRGB moved to WTRI (with one exception I 
remember:  I was surprised to discover that Art Baker's "You Asked 
For It," which was WRGB continued to carry, was an ABC program).

-- 
A. Joseph Ross, J.D.                           617.367.0468
 92 State Street, Suite 700                   Fax 617.507.7856
Boston, MA 02109-2004           	         http://www.attorneyross.com