Syndication

[aaron sica]

[quote name=\'fostergray82\' date=\'Mar 11 2004, 11:36 AM\'] I know for sure "Wheel" was still bicycled in 1983.  The Buffalo station started running it in late August, and Rochester (just 80 miles away) started it two weeks later, from the ep that Buffalo ran in late August.  In other words, they were airing episodes two weeks apart that whole season.  I think by fall 1984 they were in sync, so it might have been satellite-fed starting in '84.
 [/QUOTE]
I've also seen various premiere dates for syndie Wheel, for example, your market picked it up in Aug. 83, but I've seen Sept. 5, 12, and 19 as premiere dates...on someone's web page, there was a scan of a TV Guide ad from Mar. 84 stating one market's premiere.

I also remember from ATGS conflicting memories of the car given away on the "premiere" episode. One person remembered a Firebird, someone else saw a pick-up truck. [/quote]
 It was, what, 6 stations total across the US that picked up Wheel in the fall of 1983? I know Philadelphia's WPVI was one of them.....

New York's WCBS picked it up in either January or March of 1984 (which would be the scan of the TV Guide ad you're alluding to)...I remember being all excited, I thought it might have been reruns of the daytime WoF with Woolery...It was neat, however, it had a special greeting at the beginning from Pat, welcoming viewers to WOF on WCBS.

WNEP in Scranton picked up the show in the summer of '84, right around when the Olympics were going on. WHP in Harrisburg started the show in September of 1984, and since then, no other show has aired at 7:00pm on WHP M-F.

[The Ol' Guy]

Joker and Tic Tac must have been bicycled in 1979 - when my new bride and I went to see JOKER in November of '79, Wink Martindale stopped by during the taping to cut a promo for Dough. I remember hearing some of the audience members behind us talking about a particular tournament and wondering how it would turn out. We had already seen the ending in Grand Rapids. I found it interesting that, at least at that time, Los Angeles would be behind some parts of the rest of the country. You'd think they'd get first shot.

And speaking of WHEEL, I think Grand Rapids was also among the very few to buy the show in it's first year of nighttime syndication. Our NBC affiliate picked it up. It's bounced to two other net affiliates since.

[aaron sica]

[quote name=\'The Ol' Guy\' date=\'Mar 11 2004, 02:37 PM\'] Joker and Tic Tac must have been bicycled in 1979 - when my new bride and I went to see JOKER in November of '79, Wink Martindale stopped by during the taping to cut a promo for Dough. I remember hearing some of the audience members behind us talking about a particular tournament and wondering how it would turn out. We had already seen the ending in Grand Rapids. I found it interesting that, at least at that time, Los Angeles would be behind some parts of the rest of the country. You'd think they'd get first shot.
 [/quote]
 Boy, imagine if these boards existed pre-satellite era....we'd be awash in spoilers.....

[rugrats1]

And speaking of WHEEL, I think Grand Rapids was also among the very few to buy the show in it's first year of nighttime syndication. Our NBC affiliate picked it up. It's bounced to two other net affiliates since.

Here in Tampa Bay, WTSP ch.10 also picked up Wheen when it first started in September 1983. In that year's Fall Preview issue of TV Guide, WTSP had a few ads in the listings mentioning that they have Wheel at night.

Since then, Wheel bounced to WFLA ch.8 in the late-1980s or early-1990s, before returning to WTSP.

[Jimmy Owen]

[quote name=\'The Ol' Guy\' date=\'Mar 11 2004, 02:37 PM\']

And speaking of WHEEL, I think Grand Rapids was also among the very few to buy the show in it's first year of nighttime syndication. Our NBC affiliate picked it up. It's bounced to two other net affiliates since. [/quote]
 Michigan was well covered with WOF from the start.  Channel 12 in Flint had it in late August of 83 (since moved to Channel 5) and Channel 4 in Detroit has had it on from Sept 83 and it has been there ever since.

[BrandonFG]

[quote name=\'Jimmy Owen\' date=\'Mar 11 2004, 07:25 PM\'] [quote name=\'The Ol' Guy\' date=\'Mar 11 2004, 02:37 PM\']

And speaking of WHEEL, I think Grand Rapids was also among the very few to buy the show in it's first year of nighttime syndication. Our NBC affiliate picked it up. It's bounced to two other net affiliates since. [/quote]
Michigan was well covered with WOF from the start.  Channel 12 in Flint had it in late August of 83 (since moved to Channel 5) and Channel 4 in Detroit has had it on from Sept 83 and it has been there ever since. [/quote]
 Add Norfolk to the list. I saw a microfilm from fall 83; Wheel actually aired at 7:30, and Love Connection was at 7. Furthermore, I saw a trade ad for TTD from late 83; apparently TTD crushed Wheel in the Norfolk area.

[Ian Wallis]

It was, what, 6 stations total across the US that picked up Wheel in the fall of 1983? I know Philadelphia's WPVI was one of them.....

I believe the actual number is 59 stations.  At that time it wasn't given much hope of dethroning "Family Feud", which was the No. 1 show then.  However, when ratings in those 59 cities turned out to be good, other cities started picking it up and by the end of its first season it was No. 1.

[aaron sica]

[quote name=\'Ian Wallis\' date=\'Mar 12 2004, 08:55 AM\'] I believe the actual number is 59 stations.  At that time it wasn't given much hope of dethroning "Family Feud", which was the No. 1 show then.  However, when ratings in those 59 cities turned out to be good, other cities started picking it up and by the end of its first season it was No. 1. [/quote]
 As I stated in a previous post, WHP has aired WOF at 7:00, and J! at 7:30, since September 1984 (save for 1985-1986 when the syndie TPiR aired at 7:30).

Curiously enough, the last show to air before J! on WHP was Family Feud at 7:30. I believe it got pushed back to 5pm or 5:30pm to make room for J!.

THe writing was definitely on the wall for FF, once WOF and J! came on the scene...

[Tony]

[quote name=\'Ian Wallis\' date=\'Mar 12 2004, 08:55 AM\']

It was, what, 6 stations total across the US that picked up Wheel in the fall of 1983? I know Philadelphia's WPVI was one of them.....

I believe the actual number is 59 stations.  At that time it wasn't given much hope of dethroning "Family Feud", which was the No. 1 show then.  However, when ratings in those 59 cities turned out to be good, other cities started picking it up and by the end of its first season it was No. 1.[/quote]
From my end (front or rear? :-D), San Diego ,where I lived when I was very young, had syndie Wheel on KCST-TV (now KNSD-TV) from the start.  The irony, as to Ian's point, is that the station carried both Wheel AND Feud on their prime-access lineup from September 1983 to at least December 1984 (I don't know whether or not they continued with Feud to September 1985, since my family moved to Huntsville, AL in December '84.)

[Jamey Greek]

I collect TV Guides. and in September 1983 when Wheel first premiered in Orlando Florida where my dad lives, Wheel of Fortune aired on WCPX (now WKMG) TV.  Channel 6 CBS.  in Fall 1984, J! aired at 7:00 followed by the $100k Name That Tune with Jim Lange, and in 1985 (I think) Wheel moved to WFTV to join J!

[uncamark]

[quote name=\'aaron sica\' date=\'Mar 10 2004, 09:10 PM\']Also, as far as TJW goes, how were the shows fed to the stations?[/quote]
They were bicycled similar to how talk shows were bicycled--the larger markets would get the shows first, air them, and pass them down to smaller markets, so that a season would begin over a four-to-six week period.  New stations would jump in in January, March or June and a new route was created among those stations.  If a station started mid-season, they would not have summer reruns but would continue to air first-run-to-their-market eps until they caught up with the majority of the stations.  WFLD in Chicago started "TJW" in January 1978 and caught up with the major markets in September of that year as the regular season started.  However, they started "TTD" in March 1979 and didn't catch up with the other major markets until September 1980, meaning that Thom McKee's reign of terror aired in Chicago continuously without a break for summer reruns.

[zachhoran]

[quote name=\'uncamark\' date=\'Mar 15 2004, 07:38 PM\'] [quote name=\'aaron sica\' date=\'Mar 10 2004, 09:10 PM\']Also, as far as TJW goes, how were the shows fed to the stations?[/quote]
They were bicycled similar to how talk shows were bicycled--the larger markets would get the shows first, air them, and pass them down to smaller markets, so that a season would begin over a four-to-six week period.  New stations would jump in in January, March or June and a new route was created among those stations.  If a station started mid-season, they would not have summer reruns but would continue to air first-run-to-their-market eps until they caught up with the majority of the stations.  WFLD in Chicago started "TJW" in January 1978 and caught up with the major markets in September of that year as the regular season started.  However, they started "TTD" in March 1979 and didn't catch up with the other major markets until September 1980, meaning that Thom McKee's reign of terror aired in Chicago continuously without a break for summer reruns. [/quote]
 WCAU in Philly picked up the Caldwell season of TTD(WPVI had all seven years of Wink's syndie TTD). WCAU didn't start airing Caldwell TTD until March 1986, and started from the beginning of the season.

[danderson]

Joker and Tic Tac must have been bicycled in 1979 - when my new bride and I went to see JOKER in November of '79, Wink Martindale stopped by during the taping to cut a promo for Dough. I remember hearing some of the audience members behind us talking about a particular tournament and wondering how it would turn out. We had already seen the ending in Grand Rapids. I found it interesting that, at least at that time, Los Angeles would be behind some parts of the rest of the country. You'd think they'd get first shot.

And speaking of WHEEL, I think Grand Rapids was also among the very few to buy the show in it's first year of nighttime syndication. Our NBC affiliate picked it up. It's bounced to two other net affiliates since.

WYFF in Greenville was one of the first to buy Wheel too

[chad1m]

WYFF in Greenville was one of the first to buy Wheel too

Fella, it's fine to take a look through the search archives at old discussions, but take a look at how old this post is. This was posted eleven years ago. When you make a reply to something, it brings it back to the top of the discussion list. In every discussion board in the world, you can't bump up a decade-old thread. People are getting really agitated, really quickly.

[Thunder]

I got almost excited seeing that Horan had returned.