WAKR-TV 23 News ad in TV Guide for July, 1975
December 23, 1964 TV Guide Print Ad for the "Singing Tower" a traditional Christmas program on Channel 49 Akron.
There has been some discussion in the local TV-Radio Community about a PBS 45/49 special aired last week called "Akron, Ohio, the City where Television News went black." This was produced by Ohio University/WOUB-TV and hosted by Cheri Russo..While the documentary was well done, it did'nt cover a lot of new ground as far as what we didnt know already. I was a bit disappointed there ws'nt more "Older" WAKR film footage used..All in all, though, a decent effort. One of the reasons WAKR-TV didnt succeed (among many) was the lack of real competition in the Akron-Canton Coverage area. I feel that if there were even one or two network stations that could have come on the air in the 1950's or 60's alongside WAKR-TV, all three would have had a chance to survive or thrive as an "Akron-Canton" Market.
A number of weeks ago I dug into some old "TV Almanacs" at my local library to bring out some licenesed stations that never made it on the air..This resulted in a May 22 blog entry..(which for some reason I can't link to right now-check the May postings at the right)
Now, what I'd like to do is "Create" a Akron-Canton TV Market based on the information in these permits as well as stations on the air, with original channel numbers, call letters, etc. Also assigning network affiliation..
17 WJAN NBC Canton
23 WMAC FOX Massillon
29 WTLC CBS Canton
45 WNEO PBS Alliance
49 WAKR-TV ABC Akron
55 WBNX CW Akron
67 WOAC Independent Canton
Let me stress that this is ONLY fun speculation..Something like this could never happen now, unfortunately.
That is interesting, to think about a FOX affiliate in Massilon and NBC and CBS in Canton. What if? Actually, NBC from WKYC is supposed to be on channel 17 after the DTV switch in 2009.
ReplyDeleteSad really such a thing didn't happen. Akron certainly lost out for mis-opportunities in such a market that didn't quite take root in the 50's/60's.
ReplyDeleteIt would be great if Akron-Canton TV marketing was still around, though they would have to put all the transmitting towers between Akron and Canton, so that Cleveland could not pick them up. Not everyone in Northeast Ohio can pick up Cleveland. The viewing area should be as follows Summit, Stark, Portage, Medina, Wayne, Holmes, Tuscarawas, and maybe Coshocton, and Guensey Counties should be the viewing areas. DTV in the Akron-Canton should go as follows:
ReplyDelete17.1 WDLI-CBS, 17.2 MeTV, 17.3 This TV, 17.4 bounce, 17.5 the CW
23.1 WAKC-ABC, 23.2 24/7 weather, 23.3 LWN
29.1 WAOH-MNTV
47.1 WRLM-NBC, 47.2 universal sports
49.1 WEAO-PBS, 49.2 fusion, 49.3 world, 49.4 V-Me
52.1 WIVM-ION-TV, 52.2 qubo, 52.3 Ion life
55.1 WBNX-FOX, 55.2 AntennaTV
again, Cleveland Shouldn't be taking Akron's TV stations to begin with. They have a big enough population to take the lakeshore counties and still be over 2 million. In order to take Akron and Canton the population within their corporate limits should be 800,000 people or more. Combine Akron and Canton metro areas and it would be over 1.25 million people.