WNBK to KYW- News Media Reaction

TV Guide Ad for a Sunday, February 19th, 1956 CBS/TV 8 showing of "The Honest Man" starring Jack Benny and Zsa Zsa Gabor on GE Theater with Ronald Reagan..Incidentally, this program is currently part of a 40-show Jack Benny DVD set from Mill Creek Entertainment.


TV Guide Ad for what was the last Movie shown on Channel 3 as WNBK Sunday Night February 12, 1956 at 11PM



KYW-TV 3 sign-off by Gordon Ward from 1956..Not long after the move from Philadelphia..Notice the Catchy Jingle just before the sign-off..KYW was at 815 Superior Avenue at this time..The sign-off was probably on a Saturday night-Sunday Morning. While this is now on the Internet Archive, I'd like to thank Jerry Immel of Atlanta for sharing this clip..He has many others which I'd like to introduce over time..Just click on the player to listen..

In the next couple of articles I'd like to look at News Media reaction to the NBC/Westinghouse 1956 swap in the form of two articles from Radio/TV writers Art Cullison of the Akron Beacon Journal and Stan Anderson of the Cleveland Press..First up:Art Cullison

KYW COMES TO OHIO
WTAM, WNBK Lineusps Revamped

By Art Cullison,
Akron Beacon Journal Radio/TV Writer
Sundsy, February 12, 1956

WTAM and WNBK will officially become KYW and KYW-TV at 11:55 AM tomorrow (2-13-56) as the new owners, Westinghouse Broadcasting Co., shake up the programming lineup but continue to carry NBC radio and television shows.

Here are a few changes coming into effect on KYW Radio this week:

A New farm show will be presented Mondays through Saturdays from 5:30-6 AM. Bill Mayer, the Morning Disk Jockey will be heard from 6-9:30 AM six days a week.

"Mildred and Gloria", a woman's program, will be heard daily from 9:30 to 10:15 AM with NBC's "Weekday" following Mildred Funnell and Gloria Brown.

Mayer will Emcee an Afternoon musical program and Joe Mulvihill will spin platters from 5 to 7:30 PM. "Night Music" will be heard from 10:15 to 1 each evening. The first 75 minutes will stress semi-classical and operetta music. from 11:30 on there will be concert pieces and heavier classics..

(Comment:imagine trying to put heavy classical music on a large AM station today...Or any kind of music for that matter..lol)

By Special Arrangement with the British Broadcasting Co., KYW will present Shakespeare plays every Friday at Midnight. There will be a program of Modern Jazz Saturdays from 1 to 3 PM

At Midnight on Saturdays, KYW will present two-hour symphonies in their entirety. Sunday afternoons there will be a program of sweet popular music hosted by Jerry Liebman,

Dr. Bergen Evans, author and lecturer, will deliver a series of spoken essays "Of Many Things" Sundays at 6:15 PM starting next week, and Dr. Helen Parkhurst, child psychologist, will present a recorded series on juvenile delinquency and child development problems Sundays at 7 PM.

And here are some changes for KYW TV:

Tom Haley will Emcee "Morning Surprise" daily at 9 (AM) There will be remote telecssts from spots around Cleveland, interviews, and news.

"The Big R," a series of live and filmed programs discussing the national education problem and Cleveland in particular, will be seen Saturdays at 2:30 PM. "Juvenile Justice" a "live" show in which guest judges hold simulated court trials for Juvenile offenders will be seen Sundays at 10:30 AM..

Cleveland TV Guide Listings
Saturday, February 18, 1956

KYW-3 NBC

9AM Movie-TBA
10AM Children's Corner-With Pittsburgh's Josie Carey and Fred Rogers (Later Misterogers)
10:30 Pinky Lee
11AM Fury
11:30 Paul Winchell-Jerry Mahoney
Noon-Choose Up Sides-Gene Rayburn
12:30 Mr. Wizard-Don Herbert
1PM Film Short
1:30 Top Ten Dance Party
2:15 Film Short
2:30 The Big R-Education (DEBUT)
3PM Pro Basketball-NBA-Fort Wayne Pistons at Syracuse Nationals (Syracuse won 85-84)
Lindsay Nelson/Curt Gowdy
5PM Film Short
5:30 Zoo Parade-Marlim Perkins
6PM Ramar of the Jungle
6:30 Death Valley Days
7PM Racket Squad
7:30 Big Surprise-Game
8PM Perry Como
9PM Academy Award Nominations for 1955.
10:30 Your Hit Parade
11PM News-Tom Field
11:05 Movie-Close-Up
12:15 News

WEWS-5 ABC

8:55 News
9AM Fun Farm
10AM Movie-Man From Guntown
10:45 Green Thumbs-Gardening
11AM Western Reserve Univ. Telecourse
11:30 Enjoy Yourself-Variety
11:45 Film Short
Noon Mr. Jupiter-ABC
12:30 Variety Show-Jenkins
1PM Movie-Danny Boy
2PM Bandstand-Phil McLean
4PM Texas Jim-Jim Breslin Movie:A Lawman Is Born
5:15 Film-IUE (no idea what this is)
5:30 Film-Gardening
6PM Dollar A Second-ABC Friday 9PM
6:30 Masquerade Party-ABC Wed. 9PM
7PM Lights, Camera, Questions-Quiz
7:30 Lone Ranger-SPECIAL-Hour featuring the Lone Ranger's origin story
8:30 Ozark Jubilee-Red Foley (usually 90 minutes, 30 minutes this week)
9PM Lawrence Welk
10PM Life Begins at 80
10:30 I Led Three Lives
11PM Lone Wolf-Syndicated
11:30 Movie-Dreams Never Lie-Actually a Drama Anthology episode-"Revlon Mirror Theater"-Listed as a "Movie"
Midnight-Movie-The Black Widow
1AM News

WXEL-8 CBS

9:30 Captain Kangaroo
10:30 Winky Dink
11AM Andy's Gang-Andy Devine
11:30 Tales of the Texas Rangers
Noon Big Top
1PM Lone Ranger
1:30 Captain Midnight
2PM Film Short
2:30 National Crime Prevention
3PM Teen Press-Maggie Wulff
3:20 Film Short
3:30 Humbard Family
4PM Wrestling
4:30 Jalopy Derby
5PM Sky King
5:30 Buffalo Bill Jr.
6PM Hopalong Cassidy
6:30 Annie Oakley
7PM Gene Autry-COLOR
7:30 Beat The Clock-Guest-Jackie Gleason
8PM Jackie Gleason (Honeymooners)
8:30 Stage Show-Elvis Presley is among the guests
9PM Two For The Money
9:30 It's Always Jan
10PM Gunsmoke
10:30 Damon Runyon Theater
11PM Movie-Shape of Things to Come
12:30 Movie-TBA

WFMJ-21 Youngstown-NBC

10AM Children's Corner-With Pittsburgh's Josie Carey and Fred Rogers (Later Misterogers)
10:30 Pinky Lee
11AM Fury
11:30 Paul Winchell-Jerry Mahoney
Noon Wooly West
1PM Joe Palooka
1:30 Frankie Laine Show
2PM Teen Party-Ted Conner
3PM Pro Basketball-NBA-Ft. Wayne/Syracuse
5PM Horse Racing-Widener Handicap
5:30 Best of the (Little) Rascals
7PM The Rumpus Room
7:30 Big Surprise-Game
8PM Perry Como
9PM Academy Award Nominations for 1955.
10:30 Your Hit Parade
11PM News/Sports
11:10 Movie-The Limping Man
12:30 Film Short

WKBN 27 CBS/ABC Youngstown

9:30 Captain Kangaroo
10:30 Winky Dink
11AM Western Theater
Noon Big Top
1PM Roy Rogers
2PM The Plainsman
3PM College Basketball-Illinois/Michigan State-Jack Drees
4:45 Cartoon Classics
5PM Hopalong Cassidy
6PM Juke Box
6:30 Sports-Don Gardner
6:40 News
6:50 The Ohio Story-A Day With The Fishing Fleet-Narrator:Nelson Olmsted
7PM Masquerade Party-ABC
7:30 Beat The Clock-Guest-Jackie Gleason
8PM Jackie Gleason (Honeymooners)
8:30 Stage Show-Elvis Presley is among the guests
9PM Two For The Money
9:30 TV Reader's Digest-ABC Monday 8PM
10PM Gunsmoke
10:30 Bowling
11:30 Wrestling

WAKR-49 Akron ABC

Noon-Movie-Galloping Romeo
1PM Movie-Texas Pioneers
2PM Movie-TBA
3:30 Movie-Border Feud
4:30 Movie-Four Faces West
6PM Movie-Louisiana
7PM The Hunter-Syndicated
7:30 Lone Ranger-SPECIAL-Hour featuring the Lone Ranger's origin story
8:30 Ozark Jubilee-Red Foley (usually 90 minutes, 30 minutes this week)
9PM Lawrence Welk
10PM Movie-Good Time Girl
11:30 Movie-Fog Island

Next:Stan Anderson's Cleveland Press Article, Radio Schedules of the time from Cleveland/Akron/Canton, Very rare KYW-1100 Audio from the period..

WXEL-TV 9 Cleveland-A Week of Broadcasting

First Test Pattern for WXEL-TV Channel 9 in Cleveland...Signed on December 19, 1949. "The World On View"..From Richard Warner's WJW-TV History (in the links at the right)

Early Remote Broadcast Truck for WXEL Channel 9 in Cleveland. Presumably at the Parma Transmitter location..Courtesy of Richard Warner

April 19, 1952 Cover of "TV Today" A Pre-TV Guide Publication covering the Detroit and Cleveland Markets..With offices in both cities and published in Sandusky. Here a Young Marlin Perkins has fun with "Heine The Chimp." Perkins was host of NBC's Zoo Parade out of Chicago. This was purchased at oldtvguides.com out of Illinois-An excellent resource for vintage TV Guides and other pre-national regional publications, as well as some old newspaper supplements.

We've written extensively about TV stations' Histories in the time we've been here, Including a very well done WJW-TV 8 History by Ex-TV 8 Webmaster Richard Warner, which has been part of our links for some time. What I thought we'd do now is take a specific week of Broadcasting at the old WXEL-TV 9, predecessor to TV 8. We'll look at April 19-25, 1952 as published in "TV Today", a Magazine that covered the Cleveland and Detroit Markets equally from Officies in both cities, publishing out of Sandusky, Ohio..The format was One day of Detroit stations on the left page, and one day of Clevelamd stations on the right page. Both Cities had 3 stations:Detroit 2, 4 and 7 and Cleveland 4, 5, and 9.

WXEL 9 haf been on the air nearly 2 1/2 years at this point..They were considered primarily DuMont but carried ABC and a surprising number of CBS Shows, though WEWS-5 was the primary Cleveland CBS affiliate. ABC was still struggling, as was DuMont..This week shows WXEL at a time when it wasnt certain whether ABC or DuMont would survive, yet DuMont hung around for about 4 more years. ABC would turn the corner in 1953 with its merger with United Paramount Theaters. Cleveland Indians Baseball would begin on WXEL this week, with announcers Bob Neal and former American League Umpire "Red" Jones. According to Franklin W. Snyder, WXEL General Manager, there would be a fourth camera added to the telecasts this year..

WXEL-9 Cleveland-April 19-25, 1952
TV Today

Saturday April 19
10AM Western Story
11AM Kousin (Walt) Kay Merry Go-Round
Noon Big Top-CBS
1PM Mr. I Magination-Paul Tripp-CBS
1:30 Paseball Previews
1:55 Baseball-Detroit/Indians
4:20 Baseball Scoreboard
4:30-6 No Listing
6PM Hail The Champ
6:30 Hi-Game Revue
6:45 Sports Quiz
7PM Bill Gwinn Show-ABC
7:30 Beat The Clock-Bud Collyer-CBS
8PM Paul Whiteman TV Teen Club-ABC
8:30 Sports Camera-ABC
9PM Premier Theater-Feature Film
10:40 Wrestling From Chicago-DuMont
12:30 Sign-Off

Sunday April 20
10:30 A Story For Sunday-Religious Film
11:30 In The Park-Fantasy
Noon Ranger Joe
12:15 Hippodrome-ABC
12:30 Comedy Carninval/Gene Crane-CBS
1PM Here's The Pitch-Gail Egan- Then Baseball Cleveland/Detroit Doubleheader
6PM Space Patrol-ABC
6:30 To Be Announced
7PM Not For Publication-DuMont
7:30 Foursquare Court-ABC
8PM King's Crossroads-ABC (Movie)
9PM Rocky King-DuMont
9:30 Plainclothesman-Dumont
10PM The Ruggles-ABC
10:30 What's My Line?-CBS
11PM CBS Sunday News Special

Monday, April 21
11AM News-Ted Anthony
11:15 Film Shorts
11:30 Good Neighbors
Noon The Egg And I-CBS
12:15 Love Of Life-CBS
12:30 To Be Announced
1PM Alice Weston
1:30 Midday Movie-Allen Freed and Grant Wilson
3PM Film Shorts
4:45 Comedy Carnival
5PM Tune Inn
5:15 Dinner Winner-Rena/Bob Ledyard
5:30 Desert Deputy
6:30 Tom Corbett-ABC
6:45 Evening News-Bob Rowley
7PM Captain Video-DuMont
7:30 Hollywood Screen Test-ABC
8PM Out Of The Fog-ABC
8:30 Johns Hopkins Science Review-DuMont
9PM Guide Right-DuMont
9:30 Bill Gwinn Hollywood Show-ABC
10PM Wrestling-Hollywood (Film)
11PM Warren Guthrie News
11:10 Today's Top Story-Sanford I. Whitman
11:15 Sports Final
11:20 Nite Owl Theatre
12:45 Sign-Off

Tuesday, April 22
11AM News-Ted Anthony
11:15 Film Shorts
Noon The Egg And I-CBS
12:15 Love Of Life-CBS
12:30 Search For Tomorrow-CBS
12:45 Film Shorts
1PM Alice Weston
1:30 Midday Movie-Allen (Alan) Freed and Grant Wilson
3:30 Cheerful House
4PM Pause For Pleasure-Randy Carlyle
4:30 Film Shorts
4:45 Comedy Carnival
5PM Gaylord Hauser-Nutrition
5:15 Dinner Winner-Rena/Bob Ledyard
5:30 Desert Deputy
6:30 Sports Desk-Gail Egan/John Fitzgerald
6:45 Evening News-Bob Rowley
7PM Captain Video-DuMont
7:30 Beulah-ABC
8PM Life Is Worth Living-DuMont
8:30 Keep Posted-DuMont
9PM Battle Of The Ages-DuMont
9:30 Quick On The Draw-DuMont
10PM Danger-CBS
10:30 Boston Blackie-Syndicated
11PM Warren Guthrie News
11:10 Today's Top Story-Sanford I. Whitman
11:15 Sports Final
11:20 Nite Owl Theatre

Wednesday, April 23
11AM News-Ted Anthony
11:15 Film Shorts
11:30 Strike It Rich-CBS
Noon The Egg And I-CBS
12:15 Love Of Life-CBS
12:30 Search For Tomorrow-CBS
12:45 Film Shorts
1PM Alice Weston
1:30 Midday Movie-Allen (Alan) Freed and Grant Wilson
3:30 Film Shorts
4PM Pause For Pleasure-Russ Carlyle
4:30 Film Shorts
4:45 Comedy Carnival
5PM Tune Inm
5:15 Dinner Winner
5:30 Desert Deputy
6:30 Tom Corbett-ABC
6:45 Evening News-Bob Rowley
7PM Captain Video-DuMont
7:30 Name's The Same-ABC
8PM Mystery Playhouse
8:30 Paul Dixon-ABC
9PM Strike It Rich-CBS
9:30 To Be Announced
10PM Boxing-Russ Hodges-CBS
10:45 Sports Spot-Mel Allen-CBS
11PM Warren Guthrie News
11:10 Today's Top Story-Sanford I. Whitman
11:15 Sports Final
11:20 Nite Owl Theatre

Thursday, April 24
11AM News-Ted Anthony
11:15 Film Shorts
Noon The Egg And I-CBS
12:15 Love Of Life-CBS
12:30 Search For Tomorrow-CBS
12:45 Film Shorts
1PM Alice Weston
1:30 Midday Movie-Allen (Alan) Freed and Grant Wilson
3:30 Cheerful House
4PM Pause For Pleasure-Russ Carlyle
4:30 Film Shorts
4:45 Comedy Carnival
5:15 Dinner Winner
5:30 Desert Deputy
6:30 Sports Desk
6:45 Evening News-Bob Rowley
7PM Captain Video-DuMont
7:30 Eloise Salutes The Stars
8PM Burns And Allen-CBS
8:30 Amos And Andy-CBS
9PM Electric Theater
9:30 Meet The Champ
10PM Charlie Wild, Detective-DuMont
10:30 Crime Photographer-CBS
11PM Warren Guthrie News
11:10 Today's Top Story-Sanford I. Whitman
11:15 Sports Final
11:20 Nite Owl Theatre

Friday, April 25
11AM News-Ted Anthony
11:15 To be Announced
11:30 Good Neighbors
Noon The Egg And I-CBS
12:15 Love Of Life-CBS
12:30 Search For Tomorrow-CBS
12:45 Film Shorts
1PM Alice Weston
1:30 Here's The Pitch-Egan
1:55 Baseball-Cleveland/White Sox
4:20 Baseball Scoreboard
4:30 Film Shorts
4:45 Comedy Carnival
5PM Tune Inn
5:30 Desert Deputy
6:30 Tom Corbett-ABC
6:45 Evening News-Bob Rowley
7PM Captain Video-DuMont
7:30 Life With Linkletter-ABC
8PM Twenty Questions-Bill Slater-DuMont
8:30 Stu Erwin-ABC
9PM Down You Go-DuMont
9:30 Tales of Tomorrow-ABC
10PM Cavalcade Of Stars-Jackie Gleason-DuMont
11PM Warren Guthrie News
11:10 Today's Top Story-Sanford I. Whitman
11:15 Sports Final
11:20 Nite Owl Theater
12:45 Sign-Off

Other notes:Ruth Lyons' 50-50 Club, a staple of Crosley TV stations in Cincinnati, Dayton and Columbus, was shown at this point by WNBK-TV Channel 4 Cleveland, WWJ-TV 4 Detroit and the NBC-TV Network.

WEWS-TV 5 this month began showing "Know Your Schools.", A Public Affairs program that would be featured well into the 1960's. A count of Network Shows shows WXEL with 25 CBS shows (Includes multiple soap opera airings) 18 ABC Shows and 19 DuMont Shows

Personal Note:This is my 100th post..and the last of 2007..Have a safe and Happy New Year..