When Channel 3 became a CBS affiliate in 1958, the station picked up Giants home games from Yankee Stadium that were blacked out in NYC. Channel 3 could be received in most of Suffolk County, NY across Long Island Sound. Motels throughout Suffolk County had their TVs tuned to Channel 3 on Giants home Sundays which attracted many fans who couldn't get the station in their homes. My dad and I were just two of them. Until NFL blackout rules changed in the 70s, Channel 3 aired nearly all Giants games, home and away. In NYC, we could only see road games. How times do change!
Great footage, and prophetic words from the bishop. They were mindful of their responsibility as broadcasters. I remember the classic movies presented by the "Big 3 Theater" on Saturday afternoons.
@wannawatchu66 Channel 3 was sold in 1974, with call letters changed to WFSB-TV. WTIC Radio was also sold-off. Eventually, the new owners of WTIC Radio purchased Channel 61. Not long after, "Broadcast House" opened along the banks of the Connecticut River, which served as home of Channel 3 until a few years ago, and WTIC Radio until it was sold-off. Channel 3 briefly was an independent station; but gained CBS-TV affiliation less than a year later when CBS sold-off Channel 18.
Welcome to WTIC-TV Channel 3, Hartford, Connecticut. Channel 3 is owned by Travelers Broadcasting Company, with offices and studios located at Broadcast House. The programming seen on Three is used only for home reception; any other use without consent of Channel 3 is prohibited. Channel 3 is a subscriber to the Television Code and displays the Seal of Good Practice. We hope you enjoy today's programs.
@hilarioph I'm sure they were not broadcasting 24 hours at that time - I don't think any station was - but yes, this is WTIC signing on for the very first time and is taken from that broadcast
robatsea2009 There was definitely no 24/7 broadcasting on either radio or television in the 1950s. TV didn't start broadcasting 24/7 until cable came around in the late '70s, little by little.
I think WCBS-TV was the first TV station that switched to a 24-hour broadcasting schedule in early 1963. Still, 24-hour broadcasting at least for non-cable channels was uncommon until the 1980s or even the early 1990s.
WTIC-TV returned to the air on September 17, 1984 on channel 61, and has been a Fox affiliate since the Fox network began 1986. WTIC-TV now belongs to Tribune Broadcasting of Chicago.
It's also worth noting that Robert Maxwell was commissioned for a full classical piece for the dedication of Broadcast House, which saw an LP release around 1961.
I am curious to know if the minister was Roman Catholic, Episcopal or perhaps Lutheran given his clerical garb. Such prayers or blessings were customary back then in dedicating public institutions, including TV stations.
@wannawatchu66 - What happened was: In 1974 Channel 3's original owners, Travelers Insurance, sold the station to Post/Newsweek which changed calls to the current WFSB. The present WTIC-TV was started in 1984 by a company that acquired the radio station (a different entity from the TV station) at the time Travelers got out of the broadcasting business in '74.
Hartford's Channel 3 (now WFSB) couldn't get a network affiliation for the first year of their existance bbecause ABC was with New Haven's Channel 8 (then WNHC; now WTNH), while CBS and NBC each owned UHF stations in Hartford. A year later, CBS sold their UHF station and affiliated with Channel 3. Then-sister station WTIC Radio was affiliated with NBC at the time; had NBC not purchased a UHF station in Hartford, Channel 3 probably would have been an NBC afffiliate.
Around 1964, Travelers Insurance changed the name of its broadcasting division (and thus license-holder for the WTIC stations) from Travelers Broadcasting Service Corp. (as heard on this sign-on) to Broadcast-Plaza, Inc. (after the moniker of their "Broadcast House" facilities at 3 Constitution Plaza that'd opened in 1960); this was the owner-of-record prior to Travelers' sale of Channel 3 to Post-Newsweek Stations, Inc. in 1974.
SIGNS ON WITH TEST PATTERN, SIGN ON MESSAGE, SSB (SADLY, THE 1ST TEN NOTES WERE NOT PLAYED) (THESE PARTS USED FOR SIGN OFF ON 6/12/09), PAUL W. (PRESEDENT OF THE TRAVELERS BROADCASTERS SERVICE) (FLAG REAPPEARS BEFORE MESSAGE), AND THEN POEM!
+Robloxyessidthekidno Listen carefully: Someone started the anthem too soon, perhaps because the flag was showing. The anthem is quickly turned down until the announcer finishes, and then turned back up!
Yep, I remember staying up late until a channel signed off and they showed the flag waving and playing the national anthem. Go to bed, and at 6 or 630 wake up to see it sign on again for the morning news. Than that Ted Turner came along with his CNN and TBS, and then The Weather Channel and MTV came and life on tv was never the same again.
