...and speaking of anniversaries...

[Dave Doherty]

I think  WOKO was an ABC affiliate prior to that big swap.  I had some 
correspondence from the early 50's indicating that the buildout in Delmar 
was conditioned on a network affiliation with ABC. Prior to that, the 
transmitter was on the north side of Albany, maybe in Menands. They built 
the site in Delmar about 1952, so it seems they must have been affiliated 
with ABC - or somebody - prior to the shakeup.

-d

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "A. Joseph Ross" <Joe@attorneyross.com>
To: "Dan.Strassberg" <dan.strassberg@att.net>
Cc: <boston-radio-interest@bostonradio.org>
Sent: Thursday, June 11, 2009 4:14 PM
Subject: Re: ...and speaking of anniversaries...


>
> On 11 Jun 2009 Dan.Strassberg wrote:
>
>> IIRC (I think it was in the spring of 1956 but it could have been a
>> year or more earlier than that), CBS radio switched from WTRY (AM) to
>> WROW (AM) and CBS TV switched at the same time from WTRI-TV Channel 35
>> to whatever the station on channel 41 was then called (maybe still
>> WROW-TV).
>
> I think it was earlier than that.  It was sometime in 1956 that WTRI
> returned to the air as an ABC affiliate, and for the fall TV season
> that year, for the first time in that market, each network had its
> own station.
>
>> However, by the time of the switch (or AT the time of the switch),
>> WTRY (AM) changed hands. I think Channel 35 stayed with the former
>> owners of the AM but the AM was sold to a Providence RI-based group
>> that also owned WEAN there. The guy who headed the group was a
>> fellow named Mowry Lowe. Lowe was a strong believer in independent
>> stations and music-and-news formats (later known as MOR and
>> Top-40). Instead of picking up the ABC Radio affiliation that WROW
>> (AM) was dropping, WTRY became an independent and continued to do
>> very well both in ratings and sales. I think ABC radio then moved
>> to WPTR.
>
> Yes, there was a big network shift at that time.  CBS went to WROW,
> ABC went to WPTR, and Mutual, formerly on WPTR, moved to WOKO.  The
> only affiliation that stayed the same was NBC on WGY.
>
> -- 
> 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
>
>
>