Retro: Central & Southern Indiana/Eastern Illinois Sat, May 19, 1979

[Bluenoser]

from TV News

2 WTWO-NBC Terre Haute
3 WCIA-CBS Champaign
4 WTTV-Ind Indianapolis
6 WRTV-NBC Indianapolis
7 WTVW-ABC Evansville
8 WISH-CBS Indianapolis
9 WGN-Ind Chicago
10 WTHI-CBS Terre Haute
13 WTHR-ABC Indianapolis
14 WFIE-NBC Evansville
15 WICD-NBC Champaign
17 WAND-ABC Decatur (and W68AA Danville)
18 WLFI-CBS Lafayette
20 WICS-NBC Springfield
20i WFYI-PBS Indianapolis
25 WEHT-CBS Evansville
38 WBAK-ABC Terre Haute

Morning
6:00
6 Focus on Faith
14 Kentucky Afield
15-20 Agriculture USA

6:30
2 Bay City Rollers
3 Flintstones
6 Bugs Bunny
7-15-20 US Farm Report
8 A Look Inside
10 Hot Fudge
13 Agriscope
14 Farm
25 Underdog
38 Battle of the Planets

6:40
9 Five Minutes to Live By

6:45
9 News

7:00
2-6-14-15-20 Alvin & the Chipmunks
3-8-10-18-25 Popeye Hour
4 Lessons for Living
7-13-17-38 Scooby's All-Stars
9 US Farm Report

7:30
2-6-14-15-20 Fantastic Four
4 La Voz Latina
9 Daniel Boone

8:00
2-6-14-15-20 Godzilla Super 90
3-8-10-18-25 Bugs Bunny/Road Runner
4 Jerry Falwell

8:30
7-13-17-38 Challenge of the Superfriends
9 Saturday Morning Movie "Jail Busters"/"Francis in the Navy" (both bw)

9:00
4 Dialogue
20i Book Beat

9:30
2-6-14-15-20 Daffy Duck
3-8-10-18 -25Tarzan/Super Seven
4 Focus
20i Journey Into Art

10:00
2-6-14-15-20 New Fred & Barney Show
4 Citizens Forum
7-13-17-38 Fangface
20i Consumer Survival Kit

10:15
4 Hoosier Hinterland

10:30
2-6-14-15-20 Jetsons
4 Brian Bex
7-13-38 Pink Panther
17 Archies
20i Working It Out

11:00
2-6-14-15-20 Buford & the Galloping Ghost
3-8-10-18-25 Space Academy
4 Championship Wrestling
7-13-17-38 ABC Weekend Special
20i Bridge with the Experts

11:30
2-6-14-15-20 Fabulous Funnies
3-8-10-18-25 Fat Albert & the Cosby Kids
7-13-17-38 American Bandstand (guests Badfinger and Marada Michael Walden)
9 Charlando
20i Crockett's Victory Garden

Afternoon
noon
2 Indiana Outdoors
3 Illinois High School Girls' Gymnastics
4 Saturday Afternoon Movie "A Shot in the Dark"
6 Bugs Bunny
8-10-18 Ark II
9 Sea Hunt (bw)
14 Wild Kingdom
15-20 Consumer Buyline
20i Masterpiece Theatre "Lillie"
25 Current Comment

12:30
2 This Week in Baseball
6 Livin' for the City
7 Kids are People Too
8-10-18 CBS Children's Film Festival "Starbuck Valley Winter"
9 This Week in Baseball
13 Sha Na Na (guest Billy Crystal)
14 Gong Show
15 Assginment 15
17 Roland Martin Fishing
20 Pulse
25 Ruff House
38 Soap Factory Disco

1:00
2-6-14-15-20 Baseball: NY Yankees-Boston (alt game: Pittsburgh-Chicago Cubs)
8 Who, What, How?
9 Baseball: Pittsburgh-Chicago Cubs
10 ISU Women
13 Saturday Afternoon Movie "Let's Rock" (bw)
17 Fishing Hole
18 Magic Movie Machine
20i Garden Spot
25 $25,000 Pyramid
38 Green Acres

1:30
7 Saturday Showcase "Hanged Man"
8 Big Blue Marble
10 Face to Face
17 Movie "Crawlspace"
18 Wild Kingdom
20i Growing Together
25 Saturday Afternoon Movie "Unknown Wilderness"
38 Dick Van Dyke (bw)

2:00
4 Saturday Movie Matinee "Three Musketeers"
8 Action Movie "Journey to Shiloh"
10 Gong Show
18 Infinity Factory
20i Symphony Backstage
38 Cajun National Drag Races

2:30
10 Championship Wrestling
13 World of Survival
18 Big Blue Marble
20i Word on Words

3:00
3-18 Golf: Colonial National Invitational
7-13-17-38 ABC Wide World of Sports: US Amateur Boxing Championships/reports from the Indy 500 Time Trials
20i Facts of Life

3:30
10 Motorcycle Olympiad
20i Cinema Showcase
25 Price is Right

4:00
2 World of Survival
3-18 CBS Sports Spectacular: Mixed Pairs Gymnastics Championships (pt 5), Women's Volleyball: US-Cuba, International Amateur Boxing (pt 1)
6 Newsmakers
7-13-17-38 The Preakness horse race
8 Tarzan
9 Soul Train
10 Profile of a Champion
14 Marty Robbins' Spotlight
15-20 Next Step Beyond
20i Soccer Made in Germany
25 Andy Griffith

4:30
2 Young People's Special
4 News
6-10-25 Indianapolis 500 Time Trials
14 Pop! Goes the Country
15-20 Hee Haw Honeys

5:00
2 Hee Haw (guests Mel Tellis, Roy Head, and Gerald Smith)
3 What Do You Say?
4 In Search of...
7-13-17-38 ABC Wide World of Sports cont'd
8 News
9 Andy Griffith
14-15-20 (That Good Ole) Nashville Music
18 Lawrence Welk
20i On the Street

5:30
3-10-25 CBS Evening News
4 Racers
6 News
7 Political Program (Brown)
8 Behind the Scenes
9 My Three Sons
13 ABC World News Saturday (TV News had it listed as NBC, but I assume this was a typo)
14-15-20 NBC Nightly News
17 Last of the Wild
20i Another Voice
38 Lawrence Welk

Evening
6:00
2-3-10-14-25 News
4 Disco (from the Crickets at Sheraton East)
6 Lawrence Welk (Irving Berlin tribute)
7-8-15-18-20 Hee Haw
9 Dick Van Dyke (bw)
13 Muppet Show
17 Gunsmoke
20i Springtime with Mr. Rogers

6:30
2 Pop! Goes the Country
3-14 Family Feud
9 Odd Couple
10 Wild Kingdom
13 Bonkers!
25 Name That Tune
38 Sha Na Na

7:00
2-6-14-15-20 CHiPs
3-8-10-18-25 Bad News Bears
4 Indianapolis 500 Time Trials
7-13-17-38 Love Boat (90 min)
9 Wild Kingdom
20i Once Upon a Classic "Fern the Red Deer"

7:30
3-8-10-18-25 The Hobbit
9 People to People

8:00
2-6-14-15-20 BJ & the Bear
4 Marty Robbins' Spotlight (honoring Barbara Fairchild)
9 Prime Time Movie "Fighting Seabees" (bw)
20i Royal Heritage: George IV

8:30
4 Porter Wagoner
7-13-17-38 Fantasy Island (90 min)

9:00
2-6-14-15-20 Nightengales
3-8-10-18-25 Steeltown
4 Pop! Goes the Country (guests Jerry Reed, Seidina Reed, and Dick Foller)
20i Best of Families (recalling the 1833 opening of the Brooklyn Bridge)

9:30
4 (That Good Ole) Nashville Music (guests Ronnie Prophet, Barbara Fairchild, and Con Hunley)

10:00
2-3-6-8-9-10-13-14-15-17-20-25 News
4 Best of Phil Donahue (Palms Dance Land, Dallas)
7-38 ABC News
18 Comedy Shop
20i From China to Us (Performing Arts Company of China)

10:15
7 News
17 ABC News
38 PTL Club

10:30
2-6-14-15-20 Saturday Night Live (host Maureen Stapleton, music from Linda Ronstadt and Phoebe Snow)
3 Late Show "Kelly's Heroes"
7 Big Movie "High Commissioner"/"Outcasts of Poker Flat" (2nd film in bw)
8 Late Movie (same movie as ch 3)
9 WGN Presents "A Fistful of Dollars"
10 Speedway Report
13 Saturday Night Movie "Butterflies are Free"
17 Comedy Shop
18 Don Kirshner's Rock Concert
25 Saturday Night Movie "Ulzana's Raid"

10:40
10 Dolly Parton

11:00
4 Hollywood's Finest "Vendetta for the Saint"
17 Big Valley

11:10
10 Gunsmoke

11:30
20i Long Life & Prosperity (visiting a traditional Chinese farm family)

Late Night
midnight
2-6 Comedy Shop
14 Bonkers!
15-20 Consumer Buyline
17 News

12:15
38 Close-Up

12:20
10 Weekend Theatre "Witness for the Prosecution" (bw)

12:25
9 Nightbeat/News

12:30
6 WRTV Movie "Drive Hard, Drive Fast"
14 Sha Na Na
15-20 People Beat
25 PTL Club

12:45
13 Saturday Night Movie "Affair in Trinidad" (bw)
38 Area Focus

12:55
9 Late Movie "Genghis Khan"

1:00
4 Championship Wrestling
15 Assignment 15
20 News

2:00
4 All-Night Movies "The Crowd Roars" (bw), followed by "Cass Timberlane" (bw) at 3:45

2:25
9 All-Nite Show

2:30
25 With This Ring

[bpatrick]

I used to pick up out-of-market TV Guides at their office in
Dallas, and I seem to remember before we left there in '79 seeing an
ad in the Central Indiana edition concerning WTHR's switch
to NBC: "We've graduated.  We've mastered our ABCs.  Now
we're graduating to NBC."  When did the WRTV/WTHR switch
take place?

[azumanga]

I used to pick up out-of-market TV Guides at their office in
Dallas, and I seem to remember before we left there in '79 seeing an
ad in the Central Indiana edition concerning WTHR's switch
to NBC: "We've graduated.  We've mastered our ABCs.  Now
we're graduating to NBC."  When did the WRTV/WTHR switch
take place?

According to Wikipedia, the swap took place June 1, 1979. Considering NBC's fortunes at the time, it seemed more like a demotion for WTHR rather than a "graduation". However, over the years, WTHR became Indy's top station while with NBC.

[Bluenoser]

I used to pick up out-of-market TV Guides at their office in
Dallas, and I seem to remember before we left there in '79 seeing an
ad in the Central Indiana edition concerning WTHR's switch
to NBC: "We've graduated.  We've mastered our ABCs.  Now
we're graduating to NBC."  When did the WRTV/WTHR switch
take place?

According to Wikipedia, the swap took place June 1, 1979. Considering NBC's fortunes at the time, it seemed more like a demotion for WTHR rather than a "graduation". However, over the years, WTHR became Indy's top station while with NBC.

So the NBC Nightly on WTHR wasn't a typo by TV News then, if I read that right?