The Great Game Show Depression 2

[GSWitch]

25 years ago, the summer of 1980 would be heartbreaking for game show fans.  Now that most soap operas had expanded to an hour, doing away with afternoon game shows, the morning was next.  In just one month...

ABC:  The Love Boat ended up sinking The $20,000 Pyramid

CBS:  Alice told the Gauntlet of Villains of Whew! to "Kiss my grits!"

NBC:  Spared Wheel of Fortune, Password + & Card Sharks.  But killed Hollywood Squares, High Rollers & Chain Reaction for David Letterman!

David Letterman would be like RAID!, kills game shows dead.  Wonder what his Top 10 reasons were (LOL)?  And with the popularity of talk shows, most cities didn't hardly carry network game shows.

HOUSTON:  KPRC had Donahue & Midday (local news), so there was no room for NBC games in their inn.  We were stuck with The Price Is Right & Family Feud.

SAN ANTONIO:  KMOL (now WOAI) was the same as KPRC, KSAT lost the Feud, so KENS had The Price Is Right being the sole survivor.

Any other cities that were reduced to one or two network games during this depression?

[sshuffield70]

Ummmmm.....Witch?  How can a Texas station go from a K in 1980 to W now?   I know of a WOAI radio in SA, but I don't think these days you could have a WOAI-TV station WEST of the Mississippi.

[DrBear]

There are plenty of exceptions as noted on this Web page. I believe that one of the current exceptions is where you have co-ownership of radio and TV, and want to use the same calls for both; if, say, Clear Channel owns WOAI (not that they do, just an example) and buys a TV station KMOL, it could switch the TV calls to WOAI (assuming there isn't another one someplace, of course).

[dzinkin]

[quote name=\'sshuffield70\' date=\'Jun 20 2005, 02:04 PM\']Ummmmm.....Witch?  How can a Texas station go from a K in 1980 to W now?   I know of a WOAI radio in SA, but I don't think these days you could have a WOAI-TV station WEST of the Mississippi.

[snapback]89510[/snapback]

[/quote]
It can and does happen, mostly in areas where the calls predate the W-east/K-west rule.  There are exceptions to the W/K split on both sides of the Mississippi -- in the east you have KYW Philadelphia and KDKA Pittsburgh, and in the west, WOAI (the actual calls for KMOL before they were KMOL, if memory serves) San Antonio and WFAA Dallas.

GSWitch has been at best wrong, and at worst totally deluded, on pretty much everything -- but this is a rare exception to the rule.

[GSWitch]

[quote name=\'sshuffield70\' date=\'Jun 20 2005, 01:04 PM\']Ummmmm.....Witch?  How can a Texas station go from a K in 1980 to W now?   I know of a WOAI radio in SA, but I don't think these days you could have a WOAI-TV station WEST of the Mississippi.

[snapback]89510[/snapback]

[/quote]

WOAI-4 started around 1949 in both radio & television, both NBC affiliates @ the time.

In 1975, new owners bought the WOAI television station & re-named it KMOL-4. while there was still radio station WOAI.  I preferred the KMOL myself.

But in 2002, once they were bought out, they decided to go back to the original call letters of WOAI.

Also, the ABC affiliate in Dallas is WFAA-8.  Houston's the only big Texas city not to have any W's @ all.

[dzinkin]

[quote name=\'GSWitch\' date=\'Jun 20 2005, 02:33 PM\']Houston's the only big Texas city not to have any W's @ all.

[snapback]89518[/snapback]

[/quote]
Really?  Which station in Austin starts with a W?

[DrBear]

And even though I was guessing, it WAS Clear Channel (release reprinted on This site)
KMOL headed Back to the Future
 

KMOL-TV, San Antonio's NBC network affiliate and the city's first TV station, will change its call letters back to the original set that it began broadcasting with on December 11, 1949: WOAI-TV. The change also means that News Radio 1200 and Channel 4 will share the WOAI call letters.

"We are headed back to the future", said William Moll, President of Television for San Antonio based Clear Channel Worldwide, which owns both KMOL-TV and News Radio 1200 WOAI. "KMOL and News Radio 1200 WOAI have a long history of a strong news and public service commitment to this community. To have these two successful stations share the WOAI brand acknowledges our historical roots in San Antonio. It is significant to our company and the Mays family."

Switching the KMOL call letters to WOAI will also give Channel 4 a unique "W" designation in the market. In addition, Channel 4's call letter change to WOAI will also have an effect on its radio partner, News Radio 1200 WOAI.

"I see this as a very positive move in that it can only further solidify WOAI's image as news leader in San Antonio," said Tom Glade, Vice-President/Market Manager for Clear Channel's San Antonio radio station group.

The switch from KMOL to WOAI is expected to take place on or before January 1, 2003, pending formal approval by the Federal Communications Commission.

[rugrats1]

[quote name=\'dzinkin\' date=\'Jun 20 2005, 01:43 PM\'][quote name=\'GSWitch\' date=\'Jun 20 2005, 02:33 PM\']Houston's the only big Texas city not to have any W's @ all.
[/quote]
Really?  Which station in Austin starts with a W?
[/quote]

...or El Paso, Amarillo or Lubbock?

[sshuffield70]

[quote name=\'dzinkin\' date=\'Jun 20 2005, 01:27 PM\'][quote name=\'sshuffield70\' date=\'Jun 20 2005, 02:04 PM\']Ummmmm.....Witch?  How can a Texas station go from a K in 1980 to W now?   I know of a WOAI radio in SA, but I don't think these days you could have a WOAI-TV station WEST of the Mississippi.

[snapback]89510[/snapback]

[/quote]
It can and does happen, mostly in areas where the calls predate the W-east/K-west rule.  There are exceptions to the W/K split on both sides of the Mississippi -- in the east you have KYW Philadelphia and KDKA Pittsburgh, and in the west, WOAI (the actual calls for KMOL before they were KMOL, if memory serves) San Antonio and WFAA Dallas.

GSWitch has been at best wrong, and at worst totally deluded, on pretty much everything -- but this is a rare exception to the rule.

[snapback]89516[/snapback]

[/quote]

You're correct on all of your examples, but they are all pre-1960.  WOAI, the current one, is the first I've heard of post-1960.

[dzinkin]

[quote name=\'sshuffield70\' date=\'Jun 20 2005, 04:31 PM\'][quote name=\'dzinkin\' date=\'Jun 20 2005, 01:27 PM\']It can and does happen, mostly in areas where the calls predate the W-east/K-west rule.  There are exceptions to the W/K split on both sides of the Mississippi -- in the east you have KYW Philadelphia and KDKA Pittsburgh, and in the west, WOAI (the actual calls for KMOL before they were KMOL, if memory serves) San Antonio and WFAA Dallas.

GSWitch has been at best wrong, and at worst totally deluded, on pretty much everything -- but this is a rare exception to the rule.

[snapback]89516[/snapback]

[/quote]

You're correct on all of your examples, but they are all pre-1960.  WOAI, the current one, is the first I've heard of post-1960.

[snapback]89532[/snapback]

[/quote]
Then you need to be more clear in your wording.  You said...

...I don't think these days you could have a WOAI-TV station WEST of the Mississippi.

...as opposed to having a station acquire the "wrong" W/K calls today.

[Ian Wallis]

Channel 11 in Minneapolis is KARE, affiliated with the NBC network.  In the late '70s, it was WTCN and independent, so it has happened since 1960.

[uncamark]

[quote name=\'Ian Wallis\' date=\'Jun 20 2005, 03:55 PM\']Channel 11 in Minneapolis is KARE, affiliated with the NBC network.  In the late '70s, it was WTCN and independent, so it has happened since 1960.

[snapback]89536[/snapback]

[/quote]

The Mississippi goes right through St. Paul, but the FCC has historically been lenient with the market--St. Paul seem to get stations get K calls no matter what side of the river they're on.  WCCO has always been assigned to west-of-the-Mississippi Minneapolis, as was pre-KARE WTCN.  And the FCC doesn't seem to be handing out W calls lately--when WCAL-FM in west-of-the-Mississippi Northfield was sold late last year by St. Olaf College to Minnesota Public Radio, MPR got as new calls KCMP.

In fact, it seems to me that there are relatively very few W calls in Minnesota and nothing but W calls in Wisconsin, but the FCC uses the Mississippi as a dividing line because it acts as state lines for most of its flow.  Just not Minnesota.

[Neumms]

[quote name=\'uncamark\' date=\'Jun 20 2005, 04:29 PM\'][quote name=\'Ian Wallis\' date=\'Jun 20 2005, 03:55 PM\']Channel 11 in Minneapolis is KARE, affiliated with the NBC network.  In the late '70s, it was WTCN and independent, so it has happened since 1960.

[snapback]89536[/snapback]

[/quote]

The Mississippi goes right through St. Paul, but the FCC has historically been lenient with the market--St. Paul seem to get stations get K calls no matter what side of the river they're on.  WCCO has always been assigned to west-of-the-Mississippi Minneapolis, as was pre-KARE WTCN.  And the FCC doesn't seem to be handing out W calls lately--when WCAL-FM in west-of-the-Mississippi Northfield was sold late last year by St. Olaf College to Minnesota Public Radio, MPR got as new calls KCMP.

[snapback]89537[/snapback]

[/quote]

The Mississippi goes right through Minneapolis, too, and in some places it's the border.

Twin Cities stations have the choice of K or W; it doesn't matter which side of the river they're on. KSTP is east of the Mississippi (actually it sits right on the Mpls./St. Paul border). KITN-TV switched to WFTC ("Fox Twin Cities") 5-10 years ago. MPR's other two stations here are KSJN and KNOW, so they may have just decided to be consistent. And before it was KARE, it was for two years WUSA--Gannett switched it when they bought their station in D.C.

[TimK2003]

[quote name=\'DrBear\' date=\'Jun 20 2005, 01:23 PM\']I believe that one of the current exceptions is where you have co-ownership of radio and TV, and want to use the same calls for both; if, say, Clear Channel owns WOAI (not that they do, just an example) and buys a TV station KMOL, it could switch the TV calls to WOAI...

...And even though I was guessing, it WAS Clear Channel

[snapback]89514[/snapback]

[/quote]


C'mon, The Evil Clear Channel Empire practically OWNS San Antonio!!!  I think the only things they *don't* own there is Sea World and SBC.....Just give them a little more time -- they're probably working to find a way to tatoo their logo on the underbelly of Shamu!

(To those San Antonians, it's nothing against your town. Your city is awesome but you just have some seedy tenants in the communications industry that need to be downsized).

[DrBear]

For the record, there is one K station in Wisconsin - KFIZ radio in Fond du Lac  (there was also briefly a KFIZ-TV in the late 1960s.)