Early Television - Part 2

When television started in the late 1940s, the sets had channels 2 through 13 - no remote - and you “clicked” through the channels to find the one you wanted. No instant going to a channel like we have today. In most TV markets, this was enough channels to satisfy the demand. In Kansas City, Missouri, for instance, we had one channel at first and then quickly grew to three. Channels 2, 4, and 7 became CBS, NBC, and ABC as time went on in major markets across the United States. Independents carried programs from all networks depending on what they wanted to show.

As the demand grew for more channels, another frequency was developed called UHF - Ultra High Frequency. These would be channels above number 13 and you had to have a converter attached to your set with a special antennae to receive these channels. These stations were “dialed in”. No clicking - just turn the dial like you did on the radio to the position that brought that station in the best.

From September 1971 to December 1982 I sang bass with the Watchmen Gospel Quartet mostly in Southern California. Our first TV appearance came on October 15, 1973 on a new station which appeared on UHF Channel 46 called Trinity Broadcasting Systems. It was a two and a half million watt station located in Santa Ana with call letters KBSA. This was a religious station that used our kind of music. Paul Crouch was General Manager and Jim Baker was President and Pastor On The Air. Their evening program was called PTL (Praise The Lord) and features gospel music along with speaking and interviews.

Another local quartet, The Californians, had recommended our group to the station and they had us on several times. In fact, we were the featured group on their Open House when they moved into better quarters. We provided the music for a banquet for Melodyland Christian Center and the event was videotaped for later broadcasting on TBN. Ann and I went to Catalina Island for a couple of days and stayed in the Zane Grey Pueblo. They had one (1) television and that was in the lobby. I knew the program was going to be on one night and we went in to the lobby to see it. Another couple came in to relax and I had the program on. I told them this quartet was very good and they would enjoy it. He looked at the screen - then to me - then back to the screen realizing that it was me on the tube! That was fun!

Dennis Zimmerman, Miles Collins, Roy Scott, Dick Moore, & Rick Moore (guitar)

This television company changed channels from 46 to 40 later and is now known as TBN, Trinity Broadcasting Network.

An Orange, California church called Brean Baptist Church took over the UHF channel number 46 and The Watchmen sang on it several times also.

When cable came to our homes, Channel 46 became Fox News and TBN is still on Channel 40.

For those who still use an antennae, your days are numbered. In February 2009, a converter is needed to receive programs on that set. Or you can go modern and get cable. Think of all the antennas on the roofs that will be coming down!

Peter Potter's Platter Parade

In the early 1950s, I was in college at Pasadena Nazarene College in Pasadena, California. I put myself through a private college working as a dishwasher - bus boy for the Headliner Coffee Shop. There was not a lot of extra money in my pocket during those years!

Ann came to the college in 1953 and since we knew each other from Kansas City, Missouri, we would spend some time doing things together. Anything that wouldn’t cost much was a plus to us.

We were within 20 miles from Hollywood where radio and television programs were made - some live and some filmed or recorded to show an audience so laugh tracks could be put on the show when it actually was aired to the public. We saw a bunch of radio and television shows which were free to attend.

One such program was a local television show that was shown only in Southern California called “Peter Potter’s Platter Parade”. Peter Potter was a local celebrity who had a program that asked the question “Will It Be A Hit - Or A Miss?”.

Hollywood was also the place where records were produced. We didn’t have Cds or cassette tapes then. Records were 78 rpm vinyl discs with one song on each side. Most times the “A” side was the main song and the “B” side was just another tune they recorded. The “B” side sometimes was the actual hit.

This live TV show was on Saturday nights in Hollywood with a live audience enjoying the show. It involved the host (Peter Potter) and a panel of guests who were mostly stars in the area who would listen to a new recording and vote whether it would be a hit or a miss. The fun part was when the actual artist was behind a curtain that the panel couldn’t see or didn't know that they were there and they voted it a “miss”. Talk about backpedaling! It was all in fun though and many of the songs they thought wouldn’t make it actually did.

We attended that show a few times and always thought it was a night well spent. The show was only local and didn’t make it out of the Southern California area. I have no idea how long they were on the air as nothing is on the internet concerning the show.

Peter Potter did have a national show called “Jukebox Jury” which aired from 1956 to 1959. It ran along the same theme as the local show.

Early Days Of Television

I was born before television was a household word. We marveled at radio! How could they send the sound from New York City clear across the states to Los Angeles? Now add the picture and you can imagine our amazement.

Television was introduced to the general public at the 1939 World's Fair in New York City on Sunday, April 30, 1939. This is just before World War II started. So it had to take a back burner for development until after the war ended in 1945. The first station was in New York City and basically served a few people in that city. Not many sets were available elsewhere but time brought many manufacturers all over the USA to develop this unique entertainment vehicle.

At the World's Fair, visitors crowded together to watch NBC broadcasts or internal closed circuit demonstrations. Frequently, volunteers were escorted outside to the cameras and encouraged to wave at the folks inside. Television was such a novelty at the time that "I was televised" cards were handed out as a souvenir of the experience.

I lived in Kansas City, Missouri in 1949 when TV came to that city. Of course, the picture was in black and white only at that time. You had certain hours that you could watch anything. Programming went off the air with the National Anthem being played and sometimes a prayer by a local pastor. Then you got the test pattern which was used to adjust new sets. The first station there started just after I arrived in Kansas City. It was WDAF-TV Channel 4 and had it's start on October 16, 1949. Radio stations that started TV stations just added "TV" to their call letters. NBC radio station WDAF was the first to get a license to broadcast TV in that area. As there were few TV stations, they weren't affiliated with just one network but chose programs from all networks. WDAF-TV was affiliated with NBC, CBS, ABC and an independent called DuMont Network. The station later became the FOX Network station for that area. Randell Jessee was the first anchorman for the station and well known in the Kansas City area.

In early 1950 I caught double pneumonia and was bed fast at home while the doctor made daily house calls to save my life. Our teen group at Kansas City First Church of the Nazarene (NTO) rented a 7 inch round tube TV to keep me occupied. The only TV in the home! I later was able to buy the first TV for my aunt and uncle that I lived with there. A store was selling a few sets for a very low price if you got there in time and Uncle Ray did.

There were a few shows like Milton Berle's Texaco Star Theater in 1948. He kind of pioneered the variety comedy show idea. In fact, NBC gave him an unheard of contract in 1951 for 30 years at $100,000 per hear to do 360 shows. When his TV show was cancelled, NBC had the obligation for the balance of his 30 year contract. But Milton Berle couldn't appear on any TV show on any other network during the contract. He was tied to NBC which he tried to get out of but they wouldn't let him. Minor players now get that amount or more per show and he had to settle for a yearly payment. Contrast his earnings with the last year of "Friends" where all six players received One Million Dollars per half hour each for 22 episodes ($22 Million per actor). What sounded great in 1951 became a noose around Uncle Miltie's neck.

When someone got a new television set, they also got a lot of visitors stopping by for a visit. It was so new that people couldn't get enough of television. What in the world did we do with our time before television came available?

Some of new television shows were:

Ed Sullivan's "Toast Of The Town" (variety show)
Your Hit Parade (countdown to the top songs of the week)
Arthur Godfrey (daytime talk show with guests)
Your Show Of Shows (Sid Caesar & Imogene Coco - Variety)
The Honeymooners (Jackie Gleason situation comedy)

There were some radio hits that moved to television:

Red Skelton, Jack Benny, George Burns & Gracie Allen, Fibber McGee & Molly, Bob Hope, Amos & Andy, and The Lone Ranger. These were just a few of them that I could think of quickly.

It was an exciting time in the entertainment industry. Television gave the movies a boost because the movies could be shown again in another medium. Think of all the actors who took a flat fee and didn't get residuals because they didn't know the movies would be shown again.