The Gong Show NBC daytime clearances

[spb1962]

Reading numerous old TV listings over time, I noticed the 12:30pm ET/11:30am CT time was frequently preempted on NBC stations.  Same for 4:00pm ET/3:00pm CT.  Was the NBC daytime version of The Gong Show preempted any more frequently than usual?  Omaha, Nebraska did not see The Gong Show either on NBC or in syndication until January 1977 when NBC moved it to 3:00pm because the affiliate at the time, KMTV 3, did not preempt at 3pm.  The CBS affiliate at the time, WOWT 6, added the nighttime version the same week Fridays at 6:30pm.  When Gong ran at 11:30am CT from June-December 1976 and December 1977-July 1978, it was not carried on KMTV because of a local talk show.

[Jimmy Owen]

Reading numerous old TV listings over time, I noticed the 12:30pm ET/11:30am CT time was frequently preempted on NBC stations.  Same for 4:00pm ET/3:00pm CT.  Was the NBC daytime version of The Gong Show preempted any more frequently than usual?  Omaha, Nebraska did not see The Gong Show either on NBC or in syndication until January 1977 when NBC moved it to 3:00pm because the affiliate at the time, KMTV 3, did not preempt at 3pm.  The CBS affiliate at the time, WOWT 6, added the nighttime version the same week Fridays at 6:30pm.  When Gong ran at 11:30am CT from June-December 1976 and December 1977-July 1978, it was not carried on KMTV because of a local talk show.

A lot of stations just didn't clear whatever show happened to be in those noontime slots.  The Crosley/Avco stations in Ohio had the Ruth Lyons/Bob Braun/Paul Dixon/Phil Donahue talk fests rather than what NBC was feeding.  A good number of stations also had local housewives service shows.  Those shows slowly disappeared in the late 70's-early 80's.

[aaron sica]

Reading numerous old TV listings over time, I noticed the 12:30pm ET/11:30am CT time was frequently preempted on NBC stations.  Same for 4:00pm ET/3:00pm CT.  Was the NBC daytime version of The Gong Show preempted any more frequently than usual?  Omaha, Nebraska did not see The Gong Show either on NBC or in syndication until January 1977 when NBC moved it to 3:00pm because the affiliate at the time, KMTV 3, did not preempt at 3pm.  The CBS affiliate at the time, WOWT 6, added the nighttime version the same week Fridays at 6:30pm.  When Gong ran at 11:30am CT from June-December 1976 and December 1977-July 1978, it was not carried on KMTV because of a local talk show.

A lot of stations just didn't clear whatever show happened to be in those noontime slots.  The Crosley/Avco stations in Ohio had the Ruth Lyons/Bob Braun/Paul Dixon/Phil Donahue talk fests rather than what NBC was feeding.  A good number of stations also had local housewives service shows.  Those shows slowly disappeared in the late 70's-early 80's.

Lancaster's WGAL pre-empted the 12:30 offering for all of the 1970's, putting their noon newscast (then known as "Noonday on 8") on at that time. They cleared all the noon shows, with the exception of "America Alive!", only showing the first half-hour. "Noonday" moved to noon on 8/4/80, coinciding with the move of "The Doctors" from 2pm to 12:30 and from that point on, WGAL didn't air any of the noon offerings.

[Ian Wallis]

What I found (from reading and saving old TV Guides from different locations) that if a show was popular enough, a station would tape-delay it the next morning if they pre-empted its network slot, usually at 9:30 AM in the Eastern time zone.  Shows the network fed at 4 PM (such as Tattletales for most of its run) would appear on many stations at 9:30 on a one-day delay.

[gameshowcrazy]

What I found (from reading and saving old TV Guides from different locations) that if a show was popular enough, a station would tape-delay it the next morning if they pre-empted its network slot, usually at 9:30 AM in the Eastern time zone.  Shows the network fed at 4 PM (such as Tattletales for most of its run) would appear on many stations at 9:30 on a one-day delay.

I'm curious about the reason for the one-day delay.  Weren't tapes "bicycled" back then?

[BrandonFG]

What I found (from reading and saving old TV Guides from different locations) that if a show was popular enough, a station would tape-delay it the next morning if they pre-empted its network slot, usually at 9:30 AM in the Eastern time zone.  Shows the network fed at 4 PM (such as Tattletales for most of its run) would appear on many stations at 9:30 on a one-day delay.

I'm curious about the reason for the one-day delay.  Weren't tapes "bicycled" back then?

That usually applied more to syndicated shows.

[Matt Ottinger]

What I found (from reading and saving old TV Guides from different locations) that if a show was popular enough, a station would tape-delay it the next morning if they pre-empted its network slot, usually at 9:30 AM in the Eastern time zone.  Shows the network fed at 4 PM (such as Tattletales for most of its run) would appear on many stations at 9:30 on a one-day delay.

I'm curious about the reason for the one-day delay.  Weren't tapes "bicycled" back then?

That usually applied more to syndicated shows.

"Usually" as in "virtually always".  The concept of bicycling tapes has nothing to do with network television.

[aaron sica]

What I found (from reading and saving old TV Guides from different locations) that if a show was popular enough, a station would tape-delay it the next morning if they pre-empted its network slot, usually at 9:30 AM in the Eastern time zone.  Shows the network fed at 4 PM (such as Tattletales for most of its run) would appear on many stations at 9:30 on a one-day delay.

What I've also found from old TV Guides is that WMAR-2 in Baltimore (then a CBS affiliate), at least in the '70s, almost always pre-empted CBS's 4pm offering and didn't bother to show it at all. A lot of Tattletales never got shown in Baltimore* because of this, unless it moved timeslots. WMAR did show it in 1975 when it was on at 11am, but didn't show Musical Chairs, for example. And, of course, once Match Game hit that 4pm timeslot, good bye Match Game in Baltimore.

* My TV Guides only show the network stations in Baltimore then, so it's entirely possible WBFF may have picked it up.

[toddyo]

In Cincinnati, WLWT aired NBC delayed at 9:30am until Donahue went to one hour. Local shows aired at 11:30-1:30pm, when they'd air Three on a Match, etc. Some NBC shows were aired after 4pm. I tend to remember Jackpot airing at 5pm. I'm not sure how the other AVCO stations handled their NBC schedules.