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Post by Sixties TV on Jan 3, 2007 15:42:27 GMT -5
We noticed an encouraging move by WKYT on January 1st. They immediately posted a graphic for their 50th anniversary. With so many station's filled with employees too young to remember anything that happened before the 1990's, it is refreshing to see there are still those who care about their own history. Of course it is a great promotional tool to let your viewers know just how long you've been a part of their lives. ("Part of Your Life" was a 1970's ad campaign on WKYT). We just hope it goes beyond the promotion and there is a TV Special planned that goes beyond recent bloopers and includes rare video from back in the day.  |
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Post by Jeff Easley on Jan 4, 2007 13:21:25 GMT -5
If I were King....
Shouldn't WKYT bring in Nick Clooney to host an anniversary show,and recreate his opening for Terror in the Night"?!!...Somebody pinch me....
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Post by Sixties TV on Jan 5, 2007 2:38:55 GMT -5
Jeff, that actually is a great idea. Back in the 1970's they use to get Nick to sometimes return to WKYT to host telethons. This was when he was working in Ohio. But you have to keep in mind, this was when Garvis Kincade was still owner of the station and he remembered Nick when he worked at Channel 27. I think we will suggest that they get Nick for the anniversary show. The newbies at the station may not realize his connection to the station's early years. I know Nick would LOVE to do it.
WKYT signed on the air on September 30, 1957 as WKXP-TV. Who knows when or if they plan on do an anniversary show.
If might be up to us to push fpr a segment on Terror in The Night. We didn't see any mention of Thriller 18 on WLEX's anniversary. But if Nick is the host, I guarantee Terror In The Night will gets a spotlight.
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Post by Jeff Easley on Jan 5, 2007 11:03:01 GMT -5
Marginally interesting personal anecdote time:
In around 1978,having recently graduated from Murray State,my wife and I were asked by a school friend who was teaching High School in Augusta,Ky.to keep up and do a presentation for his class.He kept talking up one of his senior boys,and upon meeting the young fellow,it was obvious that he was already more than a few links up the food chain from his contemporaries.This young upstart was the once and future George Clooney,whose only claim to fame at the time(and still a major one for me)was his being the son of Nick Clooney.Needless to say,I was thrilled to make even a tenuous connection with a family member of my favorite horror host!And as unlikely as it may seem,as we left town in the morning and driving through a residential neighborhood,I see the man himself.He was coming out of his house,and heading for his car,parked on the street,heading for work in Cincinnati.What are the odds?Now I dust off that story for the "George" factor,but the visitors to this site can grasp the true signifigance of the tale!
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Post by LexTvVet on Jan 14, 2007 21:33:31 GMT -5
Nick Clooney's an inspired choice.
I'd also suggest invites go out to:
Frank Faulconer
Gene Parham (news-6Os) )
Bill Ratliff (news-70s)
Barbara Nevins (news-70s),
Paul Warnecke (Nick's Terror-in-the-Night successor, former News Director)
John McGarvey (news-70s, now KET/Louisville Attorney)
Ken Kurtz (the living legend)
Cindy Preszler
KYT corraled a fair amount of memorabilia for its 27th anniversary show in 1984. Hopefully, it's still around -- or at least, a tape
of the anniversary show still exists.
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Post by jeff easley on Feb 11, 2007 10:00:40 GMT -5
Paul Warneke(did I spell that right?)is credited with taking over "Terror in the Night"from Nick Clooney.I seem to recall on various occasions during Nick's run,someone would fill in for him from time to time.I mostly remember he had more of a "Down home accent".I don't remember an abrupt Nick to Paul changing of the guard,but I could be wrong.Anyone have any recollection of this?
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Post by John Hourigan on Mar 13, 2007 18:15:17 GMT -5
Unfortunately, it appears that even WKYT is not aware of its own history. I noticed on WKYT's Web site (link below) that it states that channel 27 signed on in 1957 as a CBS affiliate. My understanding is that WKYT signed on in 1957 as an independent station and then was an ABC affiliate until 1968 when WBLG signed on the air, at which point WKYT became a CBS affiliate. www.wkyt.com/station/misc/3574137.html |
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Post by Sixties TV on Mar 14, 2007 4:15:16 GMT -5
John, they are correct on part of their history. WKYT was a primary affiliate of CBS when they signed on the air in 1957. Yes, they also aired some ABC programming since there was no ABC affilate in town until 1968. They are incorrect on when they signed on the air however. We don't know how they came up with September of 1957. They were on the air in June 1957 and maybe before. In the June 14th edition of TV Guide, they ran an ad stating Channel 27 was a primary affiliate of CBS. And yes, they were doing full time programming in June.
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Post by John Hourigan on Mar 14, 2007 19:03:54 GMT -5
But I'm pretty certain that channel 27 was a primary ABC affiliate and a secondary CBS affiliate until channel 62 signed on in 1968. The channel listing from a 1959 TV Guide seems to support that notion. Scroll down to the bottom of the page at the link below: www.mcsittel.com/html/tvg-ky.htm |
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Post by Sixties TV on Mar 15, 2007 1:56:26 GMT -5
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Post by John Hourigan on Mar 15, 2007 21:44:51 GMT -5
Wow! Cool station logo with the original WKXP call letters, no less! Thanks for posting -- I stand corrected!
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Post by LexTvVet on Mar 20, 2007 14:59:59 GMT -5
What's the date on that WKXP ad slick?
Ted Grizzard's book, #1 is Chickenmakes reference to "27's" ABC affiliation when Garvice Kincaid bought the station from Taft.
Evidently, Kincaid was debating whether to buy 27 (then ABC), or
to build 62. He opted for the former, and chose CBS.
Francis Nash' book Towers Over Kentucky recalls a similar scenario.
Both books are Host Communications' publications
Broadcasting/Cable Yearbooks from the 1950s-60s would seem to support these assertions.
What isn'tclear is who changed the call letters from KXP to KYT -- Kincaid, or Taft?
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Post by Sixties TV on Mar 21, 2007 0:53:49 GMT -5
The WKXP ad slick is from June 1957.
Channel 27 remained both the CBS and ABC affiliate for years. It would be interesting to find out how they decided on what shows to carry and which ones to bump. Bumping the popular "Ed Sullivan Show" was done in the early days. They also chose to carry Lawrence Welk from ABC.
Ted Grizzard wrote a book? Wow! Did he share many facts from those glory days of Television other than Town Talk, which was in the twilight of his career? Is this book still available?
I've never seen any evidence that channel 27 ever dumped CBS. They aired both networks. You raise interesting points. We will have to revisit the book, Towers Over Kentucky.
Our info comes from TV Guides from the late '50's and early 60's.
The calletters were changed to WKYT in 1958.
What makes their history even more confusing is the dis-information on the Internet. The station itself doesn't know when they signed on and are saying it was in September 1957 although they were on the air with full time programming in June 1957, maybe before.
They signed on as a primary affiliate of CBS although Wikipedia on the Internet says they were an independent station. There is a lot of mistakes in their history that is in print.
Garvice D. Kincaid didn't purchase the station until 1967 when they had been on the air for 10 years. The calletters were changed long before Garvice was involved. He purchased it shortly before WTVQ (then WBLG) signed on the air. This is likely the time that they dropped ABC and started programming only CBS. We know Channel 27 started out as a primary affiliate of CBS. Is it possible they later became a primary affiliate of ABC and a secondary affiliate of CBS? Sure, although we don't have information to prove it at this point.
What is interesting to us is how and who decided what programs to carry when they were affiliated with two networks. It appears this was one way to upset viewers. Where's "What's My Line?" "Where's Ed Sullivan?" WLEX also shared this problem in the '50's and '60's.
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Post by John Hourigan on Mar 22, 2007 18:56:41 GMT -5
I recently ran across an article that I kept headlined "Lexington TV's Salad Days" by Kevin Fitzmaurice that appeared in Bluegrass magazine sometime in the early 1990s. The article states:
". . .While channel 18 had remained with NBC, Channel 27 had dropped its affiliation with CBS in 1961 and had signed with ABC. Although the stations divided portions of CBS programming, some CBS events, including the Beatles' first appearance on "The Ed Sullivan Show" in February 1964, were not seen locally except by those who were able to receive CBS stations from Cincinnati and Louisville. . . "
This article also states that WKXP signed "on Sept. 23, 1957" and "originally an independent station without network service." It goes on to state that "channel 27 was sold, six months after its inception, to Taft Broadcasting, a major radio and network chain. The station subsequently affiliated with CBS, adopted WKYT as its new call letters. . . "
Hope that helps in some way! --
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Post by Sixties TV on Mar 24, 2007 12:56:09 GMT -5
John, some GREAT info.
It is interesting to learn that Channel 27 decided not to broadcast one of the most anticipated events in television history, the Beatles first appearance on Ed Sullivan. It's not like the event snuck up on them. It is truly bizarre that this decision was ever made. We can only imagine it was a protest by one of the "over 30 crowd" not to support these long hairs because they might spark a juvenile delinquency riot. Fortunately, I lived in Hazard at the time and got to watch the "live" broadcast on a Tennessee station that was on the local cable. I had mentioned earlier that Channel 27 was carrying much of CBS's programming while skipping Ed Sullivan even in the 1950's. So the Beatles appearance may not have had anything to do with their decision not to broadcast Sullivan that night.
According to the article you mentioned, Channel 27 dropped CBS in 1961 which explains many of the early accounts indicating they were an ABC affiliate at one time.
Channel 27 was definitely on the air in June 1957 with full time programming,. We're not sure why the September 1957 date keeps cropping up. It may have been an "official opening" although they had been on the air with full time programming for months. The 1990's article also suggests that Channel 27 started out as an independent station in September 1957 although they were programming CBS in June of that year and the ad states they were a primary CBS affiliate in the beginning. It is possible they were an independent station before June 1957.
Again, John, thanks for posting the facts. It is so refreshing to see someone who cares about our TV history and is interested in getting the facts straight. If you would care to send us a scan of the article, we would love to post it. And where the heck can we find a copy of Ted Grizzard's book, #1 is Chickenmakes?
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