What programs aired on these channels over the years?

I haven't see either station in a while. It's been over 10 years. When I last saw them they had started to go downhill.
But from the early 70's to mid 80's they were pretty good. I use to watch 38 more than 56 so here are a few that i remember.
Ch 38-
M*A*S*H, Chico and the Man, Barney Miller, Newhart, 3 Stooges,
Ask The Manager (a show that people wrote in to ask about 38's programming), longtime station for the Red Sox and Bruins and my favorite Hogan's Heroes.

Ch 56-
Monkees, Happy Days, Laverne and Shirley, Bozo.

Obviously there was a lot more but the length of time and my lousy memory I couldn't give a better list.

I remember watching The Banana Splits on 56. And Channel 38 had The Movie Loft, with Dana Hersey. Of course, we always watched the Bruins and Celtics on those channels too.

38 also had "The Jeffersons", "Maude", "Silver Spoons", "St. Elsewhere", "Cheers", "The Beverly Hillbillies", "I Love Lucy", "The Honeymooners", "Leave it to Beaver", "My Three Sons", "Andy Griffith", "Dick Van Dyke", "Hazel", "Gidget", "I Dream of Jeannie" (in the 70s), "Bewitched" (in the 70s), "Phyllis", "Alice", "One Day at a Time", "F-Troop", and "Bob Newhart.

56 had "The Brady Bunch", "The Partridge Family", "I Love Lucy", "The Lucy Show", "Mary Tyler Moore", "Hazel" (briefly about 10 years ago), "Donna Reed", "Love, American Style", "Bewitched" (in the 80s), "I Dream of Jeannie" (in the 80s), "Family Affair", "That Girl", "All in the Family" (after it finished its run on Channel 5), "Archie Bunker's Place", "Good Times", "Facts of Life", and "Welcome Back, Kotter".

The other independent was the old pre-Fox Channel 25. It was owned by CBN, which also owned the old CBN/Family Channel cable station, and 25 had a lot of the same programs, such as "The Patty Duke Show", "Dobie Gillis", and a lot of western shows. 25 also tended to pick up a lot of shows that the two bigger stations didn't want, such as "Krofft Superstars" (an anthology of the old Krofft shows), the 1960s version of "SpiderMan", "Gidget" (in the 80s), "The Monkees" (in the 80s before they became popular again), "The New Dick Van Dyke Show", "I Love Lucy" (after 56 was finished with it), "Mayberry RFD", and "Eight is Enough".

Once in a while, one of the major network affiliates would pick up reruns. Channel 5 (ABC) for a while had an afternoon block that at various times included "The Waltons", "All in the Family", "Carol Burnett & Friends", "Rhoda", "Here's Lucy", and "Too Close for Comfort". Channel 4 (NBC at the time) had "Love Boat", "Hawaii Five-0", and "Magnum, P.I." Channel 7 (CBS at the time) really wasn't into reruns. The only ones I remember were "Perry Mason" in the late-night hours, and "Mary Tyler Moore", which was used as filler after the show left 56. Mostly, though, those stations stuck to syndicated game and talk shows, rather than reruns.

Whew.