Tele-Views - Houston - June 1951

 

The publication known today as TV Guide was being published in a few markets in the northeast by this time, but it would be another two years before it went national.  There were other similar publications around the country.  This one was localized for Houston and published locally with both local and national articles and local names on the masthead.

Back cover.  The street address for Central Television Service is the same address given on the masthead (page 4) for the publisher of this guide.  Dick Gottlieb in his column (on page 5) mentions TET.

Note all the names on the Masthead, top left.  Vol.2 Number 7 indicates the guide has been published since Channel 2 went on the air as KLEE-TV.  A very young Dick Gottlieb, pictured upper right column, notes he is starting his second year as columnist, indicating he took over (or started) the column when the Hobby family purchased the station and flipped it to KPRC-TV.  

Sunday night programming - note Wild Bill Hickok and Hopalong Cassidy as the Western was already asserting itself as popular TV fare.  Toast of the Town with no mention of Ed Sullivan?? and Dave Garroway as a Sunday evening (perhaps not being presented live (entertainment show host.

Monday programming:  12:15 pm - Music Hall with Paul - I wonder if that's Paul Schmidt and the Tuneschmidts? (Hope I've spelled the name right - I'll try to look it up). 1 pm - TV Kitchen with Jane Christopher and Bob Dundas, Jr. - 45 minutes live television from the KPRC studios, 5 days a week!  Christopher became hugely popular; Dundas was the son of the head of Foley's Department Store and also a booth announcer on Channel 2.  I started watching as soon as we got a set and still am a fan of cooking shows.

4 pm - Matinee with Dick Gottlieb - another live, 45 minute show every weekday.  I was a regular viewer.

6:55 pm Weathercast with John Wissinger, Houston's first TV weatherman.  7 pm - the Cisco Kid - another Western.  Probably considered politically incorrect now but Cisco was one of my favorites as a kid.  El Real, the Mexican restaurant that operated out of the Tower Theater on Westheimer in Montrose for some years, occasionally showed re-runs (sans audio) on the big wall where the screen used to be.

There are many programs with 'big name stars' of the day; if you weren't around then you probably don't remember them (and I don't recognize many). There are other local shows listed that I do not recall.

Tuesday programming:  more of the same.  8 pm - Fashions in Motion with Joy Mladenka.  I have seen this programming listed on KXYZ-AM in the 1940s; it was a women's fashion show - on the radio!  On channel 2 the show was narrated by Dick Gottlieb, broadcast live from the Battelstein's store on Shepherd Drive on the edge of River Oaks.  The models wearing fashions (all available for sale at Battelstein's, of course) glided down a circular staircase in the lobby of the store while Gottlieb read a prepared script describing the garments.  From this nine-year old (at the time), a review:  Absolutely dreadful television! 

This is all the files I have received at this time.  My thanks to Patrick Grant for making these available (and apologies for taking so long to get them posted). 

Comments are welcome on any of the shows, personalities, etc.

KHOU Announces Their New Studio Location

From Mike McGuff - near the intersection of Westheimer and Chimney Rock, in the Galleria area.

Archived Photos of KPRC-TV (Post Oak Road Studios)

These photos (published in the Chronicle) show the facility on Post Oak Rd., about where the Williams Waterwall is now, when the building was new.  One shot of the radio studio is included.  Though the photos are dated 1954 the station moved into the facility in March, 1953, and the open house was held that month.

The feature was occasioned by an article showing an artists rendering of the newest facility, being built in the parking lot of the present building at 8181 Southwest Freeway.

An earlier KPRC-TV gallery on this blog.

A KNUZ-TV Gallery

Mark Whitehead of KWHI and KTTX, Brenham, has sent along these pictures of KNUZ-TV, taken in 1953 by his dad, Tom Whitehead, Jr.  Mark's mom, Bonnie Whitehead, is shown in a couple of the photos.  His uncle, Bailey A. Swenson, designed the studios.

Obviously this was a very new facility at the time.  I believe the orientation would be such that Cullen Blvd. was to the right of the picture.

Bonnie Whitehead, Mark's mom, in the lobby.

Checking out one of the DuMont cameras.  Behind Bonnie are the collapsible bleachers that were used for live audience shows.

Mark believes this is Bailey Swenson, his uncle and the architect who designed the studios.

I will appreciate any engineers who can offer some comments on the equipment.

See the KNUZ-TV Station Profile here.

Much thanks to Mark for sharing these photos.  He has promised to forward some more about his family's radio stations in the near future and I'm really looking forward to that.

Houston Crime Stoppers Building will Honor KTRK-TV Anchor Dave Ward - UPDATED

As reported today by the Chronicle, the long time anchor will be memorialized in brick and mortar.

Congratulations to Dave and thanks for your decades of service to the Houston community.

Mike McGuff's coverage.

KUHT History in Pictures

From the University of Houston Digital Library, 346 pictures and videos of the history of Channel 8 over the decades, including people, buildings, equipment, etc.  There are numerous video clips; I saw only 2 pictures of KUHF.  Several entries indicate the archivists have no idea what they're looking at.

Click on the Library Blog link at the bottom of the page for a very brief introduction to the collection.

A Remembrance of the Early Days of TV in Houston

Long-time Houston columnist (the Post and the Chronicle) Leon Hale published this account of his early experiences with television several years ago. 

It was like this for many of us who saw television in the early days -- you stared at the test pattern a lot.  I first saw a television set in late 1949 or early 1950, when Channel 2 was still KLEE-TV.  At an uncle's house in the Heights we sat and watched; nothing was scheduled for hours but he kept getting up to adjust the set when the test pattern appeared to flicker or move.  My family didn't have a set for at least a year after that.

Features from the Rice History Corner

From the Rice archives...

a feature on KTRU with some pictures and lots of comments.  Take a look at that archives link.  How many stations do you know that have an archive of broadcasts like that?

A feature on James L. 'Jimmie' Autry, Rice student and early radio enthusiast, who was mentioned in the Pre-Broadcast era post on this blog, including pictures of his equipment.  The archivist asks for some help in understanding the equipment.  Perhaps readers of this blog can help.

And, television at Rice in 1934!.  Houston had 3 AM radio stations, no FM stations, and the first TV station was 15 years in the future, but they were watching TV at Rice!

Channel 39, KHTV, 1967-1985

From YouTube, a compilation of historic broadcast videos from KHTV, ca. 1967-85 (one segment is as late as 1992).

Houston PBS - KUHT - Celebrates 60 Years

I didn't see any advance publicity and missed the first broadcast but will catch the re-broadcast tonight. 

TV Guide Listings

Classic TV discussion - 11/18/11

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I've been contacted very belatedly about this and thought I would pass it on. Tonight, Fri 11/18/11, at 8 pm on Channel 8, Ernie Manouse leads a panel discussion "A Conversation On…Classic Houston TV," discussing Houston television's past with Doug Johnson, Warner Roberts, Jan Glenn, Jim Bernhard and Harold Gunn.

I'm hoping for some juicy behind-the-scenes tidbits.

A Conversation On...

Update: It was a great show including not only fascinating tidbits but clips of some classic moments/bloopers. I wish I'd had more time to promote it. I'm sure there will be re-airings.

Congratulations to Dave Ward

Celebrating 45 years at KTRK-TV on Wednesday, November 9, 2011, and now a Houston institution. A tribute from the Chronicle, a bit of history and some old pictures in a slide show.

Quite a record - congratulations Dave.

Larry Kane Show Clips

I've heard from Bud Buschardt, a graduate in RTV from the University of Houston who worked at KUHF and KUHT and went on to a long career at WFAA-TV and KVIL, Dallas, and then the ABC Radio Networks. He now teaches communications classes at the University of North Texas and was inducted into the Texas Radio Hall of Fame in 2010.

Buschardt has talked to his friend and classmate Kerry Richards who was the director of the Kane show beginning in the mid-60s and who confirmed that the tapes of the show were destroyed while in storage in an un-air conditioned warehouse. The only videos known to exist are those that were traded with stations in other markets that were doing similar teen shows. One such clip was provided by Buschardt to Ovid Stevens, a member of the 1960s Dallas psychedelic rock group Southwest FOB. Stevens has posted the clip on YouTube. The song was produced by Buschardt's record company. Kane's mention of the smash hit Harper Valley PTA dates this clip to the spring of 1968.



Stevens was the guitarist and founder of the group which also included Dan Seals and John Colley. Seals was the younger brother of Jim Seals of Seals and Croft; he and Colley teamed up to form the soft rock group England Dan and John Ford Coley in the 1970s. After the group disbanded, Seals had a lengthy solo career as a country artist and died in March, 2009.

There is also an edited version of the clip which runs only 59 seconds and shows only Kane's intro to the band and his interview with members afterwards.



Since this Blogger template unfortunately does not accommodate YouTube videos, here are the links. The long version has been uploaded a couple of times; here's the original upload by Ovid Stevens with comments. And the shorter version.

There is also a 9 minute clip in black and white with KUHT leader posted by Jay Dooling, one of the dancers on the show. This was filmed while the show was still being broadcast from studios on the UH campus at the facility on Cullen Blvd. that that had been the original home of KNUZ-TV and later became the long time home of KUHT. Buschardt believes the episode dates from January, 1963. Two dancers, Dooling and his partner Mary Ann Masters, are tagged in the video, about half way through. This one shows only the dancers, however, Kane's appearances are edited out.

The dancers on the Kane show had to take dancing lessons before they could appear and their talent is clearly showcased, especially in some of the uptempo numbers near the end of the clip.

Still another 14 minute clip consists of home movies of a couple on the show; it's in color but the video is poor and there's no audio.

ETA:  Here's a YouTube video clip of a segment of KTRK's Good Morning Houston featuring an interview with Kane with Don Nelson and Hank Moore with lots of brief videos from the show.

If anybody knows of any other clips online please let me know.

KPRC-TV Memories

I found this video clip on HAIF of a recent Channel 2 reunion. Never having worked at 2 nor in television anywhere in Houston, I recognize only a few of the former air personnel but some of the stories are interesting.

UPDATE 1/20: AS EXPLAINED ON THE LINK, THE VIDEO WAS TAKEN DOWN BY YOUTUBE DUE TO A COPYRIGHT COMPLAINT.

A Day in the Life.....

....of a Houston viewer, Friday, August 4, 1961.



Published in the Houston Now section of the Houston Post, Sunday, July 30, 1961.

KGUL-TV Original Transmitter Site

When Channel 11 signed on in 1953, the transmitter was located at what was then Arcadia, described as half way between Galveston and Houston but actually much closer to Galveston. I've just learned that the original building is still standing, although perhaps not for long. Arcadia has since been incorporated in Santa Fe along Highway 6 and the site is just to the east of and behind Santa Fe High, on Tower Road at Maple.





View Larger Map

Here's the article on this blog about the launch of KGUL-TV.

The Larry Kane Show - KTRK-TV

Larry Kane was a dj in Houston in the 1950s who had a popular dance show on Channel 13 on Saturday afternoons, Houston's version of American Bandstand. I haven't done anything on the blog yet on KTRK-TV but I came across this article from Billboard about the show and thought I'd include it here.

The show was discussed in this thread on HAIF with some comments by kids who participated. There was a link to some photos but it looks like that link is defunct. And Larry Kane and other shows were discussed in this thread.

Incidentally, I have been in touch with descendants of both Bob Byron and Tim Nolan for a planned feature on the Tim and Bob show. One of Byron's descendants is seeking information about the teen dance show he hosted on KPRC-TV also in the 50s. If anyone has any memories to share, please contact me through the comments or my email link on the profile page.

A KPRC-TV Gallery

Correspondent Andrew Brown has come through again with a great picture of the KPRC radio and TV complex on Post Oak about where the Williams Tower now stands which the station occupied from 1953 to 1972.

I passed through those doors a number of times as a young kid. My Mother wanted to be on TV and appeared on several audience participation shows in the early days of TV including Darts for Dough, a game show hosted by Dick Gottlieb. This was my earliest exposure to broadcasting.


The book The Fault Does Not Lie With Your Set, written by Jack Harris, Paul Huhndorff and Jack McGrew, has many pictures in the back of the book including people, equipment and facilities. Here is a scan of one page with two shots of the building.


The bottom photo shows the scene on opening day when thousands of Houstonians turned up for a tour and open house. According to the book, operations began from the new facility on March 20, 1953, but other sources give the date as March 29. The new, state-of-the-art facility used a converted quonset hut to house the studios, as had been the case at the original KLEE-TV site, just a half mile south on Post Oak Rd.

KGUL-TV signed on in Galveston on Channel 11 on March 22 and for the first time KPRC-TV had competition for viewers.

An ad from Broadcasting Yearbook, 1960.

There are many pictures of KPRC-TV in the Bob Bailey Collection at the University of Texas, listed in the Off Site Galleries on the sidebar. I have only been able to find the following few using their search feature which requires that you know the way the picture was tagged:

This shot shows the KPRC staff assembled in the courtyard of the new building.

This shot dated 1960 shows the staff assembled in a studio. My guess is the gentleman in the dark suit at the front is Jack Harris, General Manager of KPRC Radio and Television. UPDATE: The correct date for this picture is 6/15/1950 - see the comment below by Bill Bremer.

This shot shows Director Alfred Hitchcock and actress Anne Baxter appearing as guests on a program. Athough the show is not identified, my guess would be this was Matinee, a daily afternoon variety/talk show that came on at 4 pm hosted by Dick Gottlieb, who appears on the right in the picture. I don't remember that set from Matinee, however. From the date, this must have been in the old building.

Here's another shot of the same set-up. Note the picture on the wall which is probably Buff Stadium. Baxter was starring in the Hitchcock film I Confess which was released on March 22 so they were probably in town to promote the movie. For Anne Baxter fans there are several more pictures in the collection of her at the time of this visit. There is one more picture of the studio setting but it shows nothing different.

Newsman Lee Tucker.

There is a photo of Ron Stone somewhere in the collection but it is mislabeled and I can't remember what name was on the picture so I can't find it.

A Facebook page devoted to the history of Channel 2 with some pictures also of KPRC radio.

As mentioned in this recent post, the feature on Post Cards from Texas on Channel 55 included many photos of the early days KLEE-TV/KPRC-TV. That post also included a link to a Chronicle feature with a couple of pictures.

While Bill Calder was a disc jockey on KPRC-AM in the 1960s he had a late night talk/variety show on Channel 2 that followed the Tonight Show. The Bill Calder website, maintained by his son Alex, includes 8 pictures of the show (plus photos of Calder during his days at KXYZ and KPRC radio in Houston).

Solved Mysteries - The KLEE-TV Reception Hoax

Most people probably never would have heard of Houston's short-lived first television station were it not for a widespread story of its signal mysteriously being received in England, three years after it had ceased operations (call letters changed to KPRC-TV).

The hoax took years to unravel and not until after it had appeared in the pages of Reader's Digest and become widely known. Even today, long after it has been debunked, the story continues to raise its head from time to time.

Snopes has a full explanation.

Dan Ammerman - RIP

Dan Ammerman

One time anchor of the Channel 13 News, before the long tenure of Dave Ward. Few in broadcasting in Houston today will remember him, perhaps, and I barely do since I was away from the area during much of the time he was lead anchor.