WBZ-TV 35th Anniversary -- June 9, 1983 -- Part 1

[muybridge54]

You're absolutely right! It sickens me what passes for "local programming" on Channels 4, 5, and 7 nowadays. I've been living outside the USA for three years, so I'm kinda out of the loop. Does WBZ still run "Evening Magazine" or did that get cancelled a few years back.

I used to think Sarah Edwards was a hottie back then... but what did I know? I was only a teenager.

[DevSodDribble]

Its too bad they didn't have video recording, so we could all see those historic test patterns. No but seriously, I always hear of this film of prominent Boston citizens having been the first thing shown on WBZ: What are the chances that THAT still exists today??

[rd2mms]

I hope more and more stations will do a KOFY-TV20: local programming that keeps on increasing overtime.

[wmbrown6]

I think another factor, besides what y'all mentioned, was that many stations have actually gutted their video and kinescope archives, so that in such cases the only remnants of said stations' pasts are what individual viewers taped in the years since the home video revolution.

[VintageTelevision]

To this point, I am aware of a local TV station that discarded a treasure trove of videotapes and kinescopes after completion of a 1970s anniversary special. The area of the building where this library was stored was converted to a lunchroom.

Back then, I suppose there was little thought given to the historical and nostalgic value of the old recordings; and since representative clips were used in the special, the original material was considered a burden to retain.

[VideoNitekatt]

Which station? :(

[radamail]

Oh my. That's a sad loss of good TV history.

[VintageTelevision]

It's been said that younger people generally have little interest in what occurred before they were born.

That aside, I think few local TV anniversary specials are produced today because they'd embarrass the stations. The majority of them abandoned local programming by the early 1990s. A retrospective made today would carry the message:

"Look at all the great stuff we did in our first 40 years. Since then, we've just been a conduit for the network feed, syndicated shows and infomercials."

[VideoNitekatt]

I agree 200%!

[wtglb]

@VintageTelevision - You hit the nail on the head, local TV used to actually be local. WBZ-TV now a days is downright awful, I have a tough time watching it anymore.

[hkfreak]

Yeah, nothing to celebrate their 60th year. So yeah!

[tkaye2]

In the late '70s and early '80s, a large percentage of the viewing audience had actually been alive in the mid to late 1940s, so there was marketing value in the nostalgia. That element is basically gone, station budgets for special projects are virtually non-existent today, and interest in history has generally been declining with each generation.

I think those factors are why we haven't seen many productions like this in recent years.

[jcice3]

I can't get enough of these local station retrospective specials - great quality, too!

I'd love to see more - keep 'em coming!

[wmbrown6]

From what I could tell, the WBZ test pattern seen around 6:07 was only in use for its first year or two on the air, then it was replaced by a test pattern design that would later be adapted for color in the mid-to-late 1960's.

[musicom67]

TV History would otherwise be lost if it weren't for the few with the foresight to save it and present it to us in the future to enjoy and learn about our otherwise forgotten past. Keep it coming!

[tkaye2]

We're also lucky that the first of the big anniversaries (25, 30, 35 years) took place after the dawn of the home video era so that the retrospectives could be recorded and shared here. So many of them were major undertakings with live broadcasts, extensive research and interviews that must have taken months to prepare.