I saw this on another website and thought it would be interesting here.

What are your local television channels?

Memphis, Tennessee

Channel 3 CBS WREG This TV station has, or used to have the largest collection of old movies, stuff like The Marx Brothers, Laurel and Hardy, Stooges, Mickey Rooney/Judy Garland, Ma and Pa Kettle, George Reeves Superman......and Johnny Wesmueller Tarzan. Showed these films every Saturday afternoon if there wasnt football on. Do not show these films anymore. Now it is local news, more local news, local news, local news....see below for brief rant about "local news".

Channel 5 NBC WMC. This was the first station in the Memphis market. Had two local TV shows, late Saturday morning was Championship Wrestling, or Memphis Wrestling. Really good show if you like the "sport". I see it now as a big comedy, and the guys that were in it were hilarious. Andy Kaufman was in this market as a "heel". See the film (On Youtube) "I'm not from Hollywood.

The other show was Magicland with Dick Williams on Sunday morning. Dick Williams was a weatherman who did this show. He wasnt bad, just not into magic. He did show Loony Tunes cartoons, which is what I was waiting for. This was back in the 1970's, up to maybe in the 1980's sometime.

Channel 10 PBS WKNO! This is where I watched Seseme Street, Electric Company and Mr. Rodgers Neighborhood as a child. Also, I, Claudius. They also show Austin City Limits. But mostly the station was boring, and then they begged for money, because, since it was a station owned by the government, did not understand capitalism and that for a station to be profitable they needed to show commercials and offer up something better than boring 26 part "Upstairs, Downstairs" crap.

Channel 13 Fox* WHBQ. Also WHBQ 560 AM, where Rick Dees and Wink Martindale got their start in radio. Used to hear from the Baptist preachers on the evilness of 560 and playing music like Donna Summer and The Village People. However, they do broadcast the service from the largest Baptist Church in town called Bellevue. When I was a child, I also equated Bellevue to a large church rather than a loony bin.

Channel 13 was the ABC station when the show "Soap" came out, with 13 refusing to show the premiere episode for.....Gomer Pyle USMC! Fortunately, that crap did not last long when more than likely people of normal intelligence (those not in the Southern Baptist religion) called and wanted to see the show and 13 showed the rest of the series and the sky did not fall in.

Channel 24 ABC* WPTY Had the first news guy with a goatee, trying to create a 'hip' news program. 24 was the first station outside the three networks and I thought it was cool to have a station on that mysterious UHF dial. This was around 1980 before cable got big here, and it was cool to have one more station to watch.

*Channel 13 and 24 switched networks for some reason in the 1990's. I have read that other markets did the same thing, what was the reason for this? I think to the viewing public and myself this caused a lot of confusion.

Channel 30 WLMT I believe that this is an independent station, but I also think they are owned by Channel 24, have not been in Memphis or USA for 14 years. This channel had the black preacher who showed the same damn commercial for his show forever. This was the same thirty second clip"

"Get dope out your vein, and hope in your brain! You will never get anywhere, smoking the pipe! Never! Want to get your life back? Stay in school, get closer to God!"

Lots of religion on our local TV stations! I liked a show called Insight, which was made by the Catholics, which was sort of a Twilight Zone for Jesus. Came on Sunday morning. Great show, what religious TV should be. In your market, are there local TV preachers?

Which TV station in your news market has the highest ratings? In Memphis, it is between Ch. 3 and Ch. 5. For some reason, Ch. 13 news is a distant third. Channel 3 calls itself "News Channel 3" and are obnoxious with how many news shows they have. Starts at 5 AM to 9 AM, Noon, 4 PM, 5 PM, 6 PM, and then 10 PM. I am happy these stations did not have a hardon for local news when I was a child because I loved watching Leave It to Beaver and the Munsters after school (and :mad: HATED:mad: when CBS would prempt my shows for their 'Afterschool Special')

Obnoxious is a good word for local news. I hate it when they say "News Channel 3 was the first station on the scene..." I mean, I don't care. The two channels also have what we refer to as "Weathergasms", weather is a BIG DEAL to them. The silly banter. Also, "This is Ted Jones reporting, Bob Smith has the night off." I do not care. I will say that a lot of news chicks are hot. Natalie Allen got her start here, once I met her and said hi, and she looked at me like I was a piece of dog s..t.

That's it. What are the stations in your market and do you have any interesting stories about them? Or the idiocy of local news?

Channel 18 NBC. 18.2 is MeTV
Channel 27 CBS. 27.2 is the CW, 27.3 is weather radar
Channel 36 ABC. 36.2 is MyNetworkTV, 36.3 is Antenna TV
Channel 46 is PBS.
Channel 56 is FOX. 56.2 is GetTV and 56.3 is GRIT
Channel 67 is ION.

WYFF 4 (NBC)
WSPA 7 (CBS)
WLOS 13 (ABC)
WGGS 16 (Independent/religious)
WHNS 21 (FOX Carolina)
WNTV 29 (PBS)
WMYA 40 (MyNetwork TV)
WYCW 62 (CW)

Obnoxious is a good word for local news. I hate it when they say "News Channel 3 was the first station on the scene..." I mean, I don't care. The two channels also have what we refer to as "Weathergasms", weather is a BIG DEAL to them. The silly banter.

You'd think when it rains in my area Noah was getting ready for a flood again. They totally blow everything out out proportion. And everytime it thunders just the least little bit they throw up a tornado watch.

You'd think when it rains in my area Noah was getting ready for a flood again. They totally blow everything out out proportion. And everytime it thunders just the least little bit they throw up a tornado watch.

I guess they think that thunder is a very reliable sign of impending tornadoes from what you're saying.

In Detroit:

WWJ-TV 62 (CBS) - This is the only CBS affiliate in the country without a dedicated/full time news team, which is odd considering how big the Detroit market is. However, the all-news radio station in Detroit (WWJ Newsradio 950) is a CBS affiliate as well.

WJBK 2 (FOX) - This was originally the CBS affiliate in Detroit, initially co-owned by the now defunct DuMont Television. It was bought out by New World Communications in the 90s, and New World Communication was bought out by News Corporation, and thus it become a Fox affiliate. This was the original home of Soupy Sales and Sir Ghastly Graves.

WDIV 4 (NBC) - This station is owned and operated by Graham Holdings Company (formerly The Washington Post Company), and it's considered their flagship station. It's currently the only one of the Big 4 network affiliates based in Detroit proper. This station is home to the nationally broadcasted America's Thanksgiving Day Parade and the Detroit Freedom Festival Fireworks.

WXYZ 7 (ABC) - This station was originally an ABC owned and operated station through the early 80s. By the early 80s, the station was sold to the E.W. Scripps Company and it become their flagship station. The late Bill Bonds was a veteran of this station, working at WXYZ's anchor desk for over 30 years.

WADL 38 - This is essentially Detroit's low-budget station, where the Big 4 network affiliates dump the network programming they're don't want to broadcast or they're not obligated to broadcast. Funny thing is this station has the strongest broadcast signal in the Detroit area. It almost became the CBS affiliate in the Detroit area when FOX purchased WJBK, but the deal fell through.

WTVS 56 (PBS) - Nothing special about this station. It's just another PBS affiliate. It MAY have been NET's flagship station when NET's operations were based in the Detroit area (I'm not certain).

WMYD 20 (MyNetworkTV) - Not a whole lot special about this station. The original call signal was WXON. It was Detroit's WB affiliate, in which the call signal during this era was WDWB. It is the first MyNetworkTV affiliate to be owned by the E.W. Scripps Company, and it's now best known as a sister station to WXYZ, since it airs simulcasts of WXYZ's news broadcasts.

WKBD 50 (The CW) - This was originally a low-budget independent station until the mid-1980s, when it became Detroit's FOX affiliate once the FOX network launched. It remained a FOX affiliate until 1993, when Paramount STations Group purchased it. Two years later, Paramount launched the UPN network on all of its owned and operated stations. WKBD remained DEtroit's UPN affiliate until it and The WB went off the air in 2006, due to low ratings. After shutting down, The WB and UPN were reincarnated as The CW, in which WKBD remains an affiliate of today.

WPXD 31 - Nothing special about this station. It was originally Detroit's PAX affiliate, until the company changed its name to Ion Media Networks, in which it was then considered an Ion Television affiliate. While it serves Detroit, the station is technically licensed to nearby Ann Arbor, MI.

In Iola, Kansas

Channel 2 KSN (NBC)

Channel 5 WGN

Channel 7 KOAM (CBS)

Channel 10 CW

Channel 11 KTWU (PBS)

Channel 12 KODE (ABC)

Channel 14 KFJX (FOX)

And those are all on my digital cable box through Cox Communications. It's not much different on the other cable companies around here.

WBOY has two channels 12 NBC and 4 ABC the rest are network affiliated except 6 which is CW, 11 FOX, 3 which air high school sports, and 13 PBS. WCHS channel 8 ABC get props for showing ROH wrestling on Saturday at 12:30AM but that's about it.

I don't have cable so in the Washington DC area it's
4 NBC
4.2 MeTV
5 Fox
7 ABC
7.2 MeTV
9 CBS
9.2 Bounce Network
9.3 a new Police detective network
11 Baltimore NBC
11.2 MeTV
13 Baltimore CBS
2 Baltimore ABC
24 Baltimore they mostly show reruns of TV shows like Raymond and Bones
50 CW
50.2 Antenna TV
50.3 Country Baltimore
50.4 Baltimore
66 they show reruns of shows like Criminal Minds Rookie Blue and movies
30.1 30.2 is PBS from Howard University
22 22.2 22.3 is PBS
There's other channels but I forget what they are.

Providence, Rhode Island:

WJAR-10 (NBC Affiliate): An NBC affiliate. Right now in daytime hours it mostly airs talk shows and game shows during the day, alongside Days of Our Lives, not to mention a lot of news broadcasts. They have the #1 rated newscast in RI, and have so, since around the mid-1970's. Other stations are unable to compete, but WLNE 6 has it worst, always ranking in 3rd or 4th place, consistently since the 1970's. Some of the biggest names in news today got their starts at WJAR, including Matt Lauer, Meredith Vieria, Brooke Anderson and Christine Amanpour herself.

WLNE-6 (ABC Affiliate): Typically this station has always been in third place, but in recent years has fallen into fourth place after the local FOX affiliate started gaining traction. It seems to change its on-air talent frequently as management tries to gain momentum in the ratings.

WPRI-12 (CBS Affiliate): Typically in second or third place, often switching with sister-station WNAC 11 (FOX), both of which are owned by the same company. In the daytime hours they mostly air a mix of CBS produced programs, syndicated talk shows and game shows and local news broadcasts. The flagship program (locally) is The Rhode Show, a localized morning news show similar to Today or GMA. It actually originated on and aired on WNCA 11 (Fox) until 2009 when it moved here.

WLCW-9 (CW): Formerly a WB affiliate, it launched in 1997, and was one of 3 WB affiliates carried by our Cable Company. We also got Boston's WLVI-TV and NYC's WPIX. After two years, both WLVI and WPIX were dropped from RI cable companies and WLCW became the only WB affiliate we got. At this time, WLCW also aired UPN programs on a secondary basis. In 2000, WLCW switched affiliations, becoming a full-time UPN station, and retaining WB programs in a secondary agreement. It converted to a CW affiliate following the merger of the UPN and WB networks. Currently, it airs a healthy mix of second-run syndicated programs such as The Big Bang Theory, Law & Order: SVU, Mike & Molly and Two and A Half Men. It also airs court shows like Judge Mathis and The People's Court alongside local programming like The Phantom Gourmet (a culinary show) and some locally produced talk-news shows. I don't believe this network is all that highly rated.

WSBE-TV 6 (PBS): Our PBS station (although it seems to be a secondary PBS station) airs a mix of PBS Produced programming (usually on a 8-day delay from primary PBS station) and locally produced news and public affairs shows.

WNAC 11 (FOX): A sister station to WPRI 12, it often switched with its sister station in the ratings, but usually rates higher than WLNE. It airs a mix of local news broadcasts and syndicated game shows and talk shows. In primetime it carries Fox programming.

WPQX TV (ION): An affiliate of ION TV.

Some of these stations also have digital subchannels. Such as WNAC which has a digital subchannel carrying programs from MYNETWORKTV.

I have currently Cable so here the listings for that:

Channel 2(FOX)
Channel 4(CBS)
Channel 5(NBC)
Channel 9(PBS)
Channel 11(The CW)
Channel 12(ABC)

Indianapolis--

WTTV 4 (CBS) - this was an independent station for many years. Now a Tribune station (soon to be Nexstar), it was a CW affiliate before trading that (involuntarily) to WISH for CBS in 2015.

4.2 No affiliation - locally programmed.
4.3 Comet

WRTV 6 (ABC) - owned by Scripps. This was an NBC affiliate until 1979.

6.2 News/Sports
6.3 LAFF

WISH 8 (CW) - this was a CBS affiliate for years. Owned by Nexstar (soon to be locally owned), it lost CBS affiliation (to WTTV) in 2015. It presently devotes large parts of the day to News.

8.2 GetTV
8.3 Justice

WTHR 13 (NBC) - this channel is owned by Dispatch/VideoIndiana. It switched affiliation
from ABC in 1979. They have led the local news ratings wars for years, in most time periods.

13.2 Cozi
13.3 MeTV

WNDY 23 (Locally programmed) - sister station of WISH. Most cable systems carry it on channel 10.

WHMB 40 (Locally programmed) - owned by Family Broadcasting, formerly LeSEA. Most cable systems carry it on channel 9.

40.2 Light TV
40.3 HSN


WXIN 59 (Fox) - (on most cable systems, this is on channel 11). Originally an independent station launched in the early 80s (with different call letters), it became a charter Fox affiliate in 1986. It is now Tribune-owned, soon-to-be Nexstar. It presently devotes large parts of the day to News.

59.2 Antenna TV
59.3 THIS TV
59.4 Charge!

With DIRECTV, my local channels out of Atlanta are:

2 (WSB) ABC
5 (WAGA) FOX
8 (GPB) PBS
11 (WXIA) NBC
14 (WPXA) ION
17 (WPCH) Peachtree TV (sister station of CBS)
30 (WPBA) PBS
32 (WGTA) MeTV
36 (WATL) MyNetworkTV (sister station of NBC)
46 (WGCL) CBS
69 (WUPA) CW

New Hampshire/Massachusetts (Boston)

Channel 2 is NHPBS

Channel 4 is WBZ (CBS)

Channel 5 is WCVB (ABC)

Channel 7 is independent now, it used to be an NBC affiliate

Channel 9 is WMUR (ABC)

Channel 10 is WBTS (NBC)

Channel 11 is NHPBS Explore

Channel 12 is WLVI (The CW)

Channel 13 is WFXT (Fox)

Channel 14 is WSBK (MyNetworkTV)

Channel 18 is WWJE (The Justice Network)

Channel 20 is SBN

Channel 81 along with 818 is a Shop LC affiliate

Channels 89, 861, and 1052 is Shop HQ

Channel 283 is fetv

Channel 930 is Start TV

Channel 935 is Cozi TV

Channel 936 is This TV

Channel 939 is Buzzr

Channels 942 and 945 are MeTV

Channel 948 is Escape

Channel 949 is Laff

Channel 956 is NHPBS World

Channel 958 is NHPBS Kids

We also have a couple of foreign language channels as well, including a station that shows a mix of both English and Spanish programming.

Columbus Ohio Area:
Some of these stations are spotty as far as being able to pick them up all the time with an indoor antenna.



WCMH-TV COLUMBUS, OH
04-1 14.3 WCMH-DT NBC "NBC4"
04-2 14.4 MeTV Me-TV
04-3 14.5 ION TV ION
04-4 14.6 LAFF Laff
WSYX COLUMBUS, OH
06-1 48.1 WSYX-DT ABC "ABC 6"
06-2 48.2 MyTV This TV "My TV Columbus" 02a-06p
06-2 48.2 MyTV MyN "My TV Columbus" 06p-02a
06-3 48.3 ANTENNA Antenna TV
WBNS-TV COLUMBUS, OH
10-1 21.1 WBNS TV CBS "10TV"
10-2 21.2 Heroes Heroes & Icons
10-3 21.3 Decades Decades
WDEM-CD COLUMBUS, OH
17-1 24.4 WDEM-CD Azteca America
17-2 24.3 WDEM-CD Infomercials
17-3 24.2 WDEM-CD Infomercials
WCLL-CD COLUMBUS, OH
19-1 19.1 WCLL Daystar
WSFJ-TV LONDON, OH
19-1 19.1 WCLL Daystar
WCBZ-CD MARION, OH
22-1 18.1 COZI TV
22-2 18.2 Grit
22-3 18.3 Escape
22-4 18.4 GetTV
22-5 18.5 AccuWeather
W23BZ-D COLUMBUS, OH
23-1 23.2 Bounce Bounce TV "GTN 23"
23-2 23.3 Justice Justice Network
23-3 23.4 Telemun Telemundo
23-4 23.5 Azteca Azteca America "Azteca Columbus"
WTTE COLUMBUS, OH
28-1 27.3 WTTE-DT FOX "Fox 28"
28-2 27.4 TBD-TV TBD
28-3 27.5 Stadium Stadium
WCSN-LD COLUMBUS, OH
32-1 26.1 WCSN-LD Movies!
32-2 26.2 WCSN-LD Court TV
32-3 26.3 WCSN-LD Ethnic "Dalmar TV"
32-4 26.4 WCSN-LD Spanish Independent "Ohio TeVe"
32-5 26.5 WCSN-LD Guide US TV
32-6 26.6 WCSN-LD NewsNet
32-7 26.7 WCSN-LD COZI TV
32-8 26.8 WCSN-LD Independent "Prime TV Network"
32-9 26.9 WCSN-LD
WOSU-TV COLUMBUS, OH
34-1 38.2 WOSU-HD PBS "WOSU TV"
34-2 38.3 WOSU-D1 Ohio Channel "WOSU Ohio"
34-3 38.4 WOSU-D2 Create "WOSU Plus"
34-4 38.5 WOSU-D3 PBS Kids 24/7
WGCT-CD COLUMBUS, OH
39-1 8.1 Local TCT "COACB"
WOCB-CD MARION, OH
39-1 22.1 Local TCT "COACB"
WXCB-CD DELAWARE, OH
39-1 45.1 Local TCT "COACB"
WGCT-CD COLUMBUS, OH
39-2 8.2 Memory BUZZR
WOCB-CD MARION, OH
39-2 22.2 Memory BUZZR
WXCB-CD DELAWARE, OH
39-2 45.2 Memory BUZZR
WOCB-CD MARION, OH
39-3 22.3 Daystar Daystar
WXCB-CD DELAWARE, OH
39-3 45.3 Daystar Daystar
WGCT-CD COLUMBUS, OH
39-3 8.3 Daystar Daystar
39-4 8.4 Classic QVC
WOCB-CD MARION, OH
39-4 22.4 Classic QVC
WXCB-CD DELAWARE, OH
39-4 45.4 Classic QVC
WGCT-CD COLUMBUS, OH
39-5 8.5 Light TV
WOCB-CD MARION, OH
39-5 22.5 Light TV
WXCB-CD DELAWARE, OH
39-5 45.5 Light TV
WGCT-CD COLUMBUS, OH
39-6 8.6
WOCB-CD MARION, OH
39-6 22.6
WXCB-CD DELAWARE, OH
39-6 45.6
W44DC-D COLUMBUS, OH
44-1 44.1 W44DC-D HSN
WCLL-CD COLUMBUS, OH
51-1 19.2 WSFJ ION Life
WSFJ-TV LONDON, OH
51-1 19.2 WSFJ ION Life
WWHO CHILLICOTHE, OH
53-1 46.1 WWHO-DT CW "CW Columbus"
53-2 46.2 GRIT-TV Charge!
53-3 46.3 COMET Comet TV

2.1 WGRZ TV Buffalo (NBC) - Formerly WGR

WGR Radio 550 is the radio home of both the Buffalo Bills and Buffalo Sabres because they lost the coin toss! The Sabres radio play-by-man Rick Jeannaret is a local legend, having covered the team since 1971. On TV, former sports host Ed Kilgore would be the intermission host when the station covered Sabres games in the 1970s. Also at that time, weatherman Barry Lillis hosted a couple of local shows. One was called "The Cat's Pajamas" that featured late night movies and the other was during the noon hour and it was called "The Money Movie". The idea was simple. You would watch the movie and when it was time for the commercials, Barry would call a number and if you were home you would win a jackpot if you could guess how much was in it. To get more people to watch, they would sometimes resort to weird promotions. One that I'm still trying to forget was "Arlene Golonka Week"! Arlene Golonka, best known for her work on "The Andy Griffith Show" and "Mayberry RFD", was from the Buffalo area and they saluted her by showing the movies she appeared in. Why? This is Buffalo. There aren't many "Jeopardy" champs working in local TV. Keep reading. It gets better.


3.1 CKVR TV Barrie (CTV 2)

Originally a CBC station for over 40 years until Moses Znaimer and his greedy pals at CITY and CHUM bought the station and turned into The New VR! (As Lucy would say: Ewwwww!) Now part of the CTV group. For a few years in the late 80s and early 90s, it operated as an independent station and, before cable TV became popular, it was the best place to find classic TV shows from the 50s to the 70s all under one channel. The reason I still love and watch these shows is because of CKVR. They had everything, like "Car 54: Where Are You?", "The Munsters", "Perry Mason", "Star Trek", "The Beverly Hillbillies", "Green Acres", "Gilligan's Island", "Mary Tyler Moore", and an unbeatable morning lineup that featured "I Love Lucy" at 11:00 am, followed by "Andy Griffith" at 11:30 and "Leave It To Beaver" at noon, which was a noontime staple for more than 30 years, until some genius decided to replace it with "Seinfeld". (He must have lived in Buffalo!) I have rarely watched the station since, although, since it's now part of CTV, you can still see "The Big Bang Theory" and "Young Sheldon", but it's no longer the same.


4.1 WIVB TV Buffalo - Formerly WBEN - (CBS)

The IV in the name stands for its channel number 4 in Roman numerals. (I told you Buffalo people were weird!) In the 1970s, it was the home to a couple of popular local shows that focused on Buffalo's love for bowling. One was "Beat The Champ" and the other featured female bowlers and was called "Strikes, Spares, and Misses". Also of note was a show that was also popular in other local markets called "It's Academic", hosted by Van Miller, the long-time radio voice of the Buffalo Bills on WBEN Radio. On "It's Academic", he would finally see Buffalo teams win every week!

5.1 CBLT TV Toronto (CBC)

A long time ago, you didn't mind watching the CBC. They would have great kids shows like "The Friendly Giant", "Mr Dressup", "Rocket Robin Hood", and later the "Degrassi Street" series of teen shows. For adults, there was "Wayne and Shuster", "King Of Kensington", "The Beachcombers", and "Danger Bay". There were even a few US imports that would show up on the schedule in daytime and prime time hours. That changed around 25 years ago when the CBC decided to carry only Canadian series. Today, there are still a few CBC series that will draw a decent audience, like "Heartland", but its popularity and viewership has declined drastically since the 1980s. Thankfully for me, it still has "Hockey Night In Canada" and, coming back this fall, the return of "Battle Of The Blades".

7.1 WKBW TV Buffalo (ABC)

For Buffalo residents, and many Canadians that live near Southern Ontario, WKBW TV is famous as being the home of "Eyewitness News." It was hosted by the legendary Les Nessman-like Irv Weinstein, who would always open each newscast with "Topping tonight's Eyewitness News..." and then rather enthusiastically follow with details about a local fire happening anywhere near Buffalo or one of its weirdly-named suburbs. Whether he was describing "a two-alarm fire in Tonawanda" (or Cheektowaga, or Lackawanna), you couldn't help but laugh even though you had to feel sorry for these poor people. The fun didn't stop there. The weather was hosted by "Commander Tom" Jolls, who received his nickname for being the host of Buffalo's most popular local morning kids' shows: "The Commander Tom Show" on weekends and "Rocketship 7"on weekdays. They were an early example of E/I where, in between old "Looney Tunes" cartoons, you would see someone from the Buffalo Zoo or Museum Of Science demonstrate their latest exhibits. The show would be followed by "The Addams Family" and "Dialing For Dollars", where the hosts gave away their own jackpots by phone, hoping that nobody would be watching Arlene Golonka on Channel 2!

9.1 CFTO TV Toronto (CTV)

The CTV network was founded in 1961 as a direct competitor to CBC with CFTO being its flagship station. It was the first station to show hockey games on a night other than Saturdays with the Maple Leafs becoming a feature attraction on Wednesday nights until CHCH took over the midweek games in the 1980s. For decades, CTV would remain second to CBC in ratings and popularity until the mid-2000s, when it finally reached #1, a position it still holds. As a child, it didn't matter to me. I would watch cartoons like "Tales of the Wizard Of Oz", "The Mighty Hercules", and "The New Adventures Of Pinocchio" as well as "The Uncle Bobby Show" featuring the very strange Bimbo the Birthday Clown. At 12 noon, CFTO would have "The Flintstones" which was a highly-rated show for Canadians for many years and would cause me many problems, since I could never figure out whether to watch it or switch to "Leave It To Beaver". If only we TV viewers would have problems like this today. CFTO was also the home to one of my favorite Canadian TV series "The Trouble With Tracy". A lot of people hated it, and still do so today, but I loved it and still miss it a lot! Other great shows from that era included "Definition", "The Littlest Hobo", "Stars On Ice", "You Can't Do That On Television", and "Bizarre".


11.1 CHCH TV Hamilton

The current Canadian must-see attraction for classic TV. It operated as a local independent station for a very long time until ownership changes and name changes led it towards bankruptcy until the current daytime retro shows saved it from extinction. Highlights from its early days include a couple of great kids shows that could not have been more different: "Tiny Talent Time" hosted by weatherman Bill Lawrence that was a big favorite for many years, now being revived with a new version on weekends, and the Saturday morning smash "The Hilarious House Of Frankenstein", with an introduction from none other than Vincent Price, and Billy Van playing a collection of horror movie monsters. At night, Billy Van would do double duty on the game show "Party Game" which was a game of charades. They had a couple of other shows that I liked back then, such as the NHL on Wednesdays and "Don Cherry's Grapevine" in the 1980s but overall I love it the way it is today and I can't wait to see what they'll be like in the fall.

12.1 CHEX TV Peterborough (Global)

A CBC affiliate for many years until it recently switched over to the Global network. I didn't watch it as often as CBLT because during "Hockey Night In Canada" on Saturdays, CHEX would show the Montreal Canadiens games instead of the Toronto Maple Leafs. I have never forgiven them for that. It was likely because before the amateur draft existed, NHL teams sponsored junior teams in different cities and they became like farm teams for them. Montreal just happened to sponsor the Peterborough Petes, who were one of the top junior teams in Canada, and the bond between Montreal and Peterborough carried over to their TV coverage.

13.1 CKCO TV Kitchener (CTV)

A CTV affiliate since it first appeared, it aired different local programs than CFTO. One that I liked was called "Big Top Circus" which was like "Tiny Talent Time" in that it featured talented local kids performing, except it was set in a circus setting, with clowns that would show up that were less scarier than Bimbo. CKCO would also show "The Flintstones" during the noon hour, but with a human host in a cowboy hat standing in front of a cave. The show was called "Big Al and the Flintstones".

17.1 WNED TV Buffalo (PBS)

Like most PBS stations, WNED is known for three things: great children's shows, extremely boring programs for adults, and endless pledge drives with annoying hosts. In this case, WNED once had a short, perky blonde lady named Goldie whose smile and voice would give you nightmares unless you changed the channel right away.

19.1 CICA TV (TV Ontario)

TV Ontario is like a Canadian version of PBS only without the pledge breaks. They had some fine original kids shows of their own, the best of which was "Polka Dot Door". I'll bet that any Canadian today who is over 40 can recite all the lyrics to the theme song and feel proud of it. For adults the best series might have been "Saturday Night At The Movies". The show's host Elwy Yost would present a double feature of old movies from the early days of Hollywood. In between the movies, he would interview one of the stars or even the director.

29.1 WUTV TV Buffalo (FOX)

Before it joined the FOX network, WUTV was, like CKVR, a great place to watch classic shows from the 1960s like "Gilligan's Island" and "The Addams Family". It also had an impressive lineup of cartoon series that it ran on weekday afternoons and weekend mornings such as "Bullwinkle and Rocky", "George Of The Jungle", and "Underdog", while WKBW was stuck with the awful "Davey and Goliath". Then FOX came along and ruined everything!

36.1 CITS TV Toronto (YES TV)

Formerly known as CTS, it arrived in 2001 with a lineup of religious programs combined with great family-friendly wholesome shows from all eras, from "Andy Griffith" to "7th Heaven". Now it's simply not worth watching, except to see series like "Frasier" and "Everybody Loves Raymond" which you can find almost anywhere. I will hope for better results when their upfronts arrive later this week but I'm not expecting much.

41.1 CIIII TV Toronto (GLOBAL)

Global arrived in the 1970s and became a small yet solid third network that held its own while competing with CBC and CTV. Helping its case was the fact that it was the original home of "SCTV" and that its newscasts were among the best in Canada. The sports coverage was great too. Its most popular sports show during the 1990s was "Sportsline" a series of sports news and highlights hosted by Jim Tatti and Mark Hebscher that presented sports in a more lively and entertaining fashion that other stations were doing then and what ESPN and TSN have copied from since. The show's biggest feature was a collection of sports bloopers called "The Hebsy Awards" that have to be seen to be believed. You can now see them on YouTube. Global gave birth to 2 "Retro TV" specialty channels DejaView and PRIME that are now mere ghosts of their former selves.


47.1 CFMT TV Toronto (OMNI TV)

Canada's top multicultural station. It's not known for its English language content although they did have a few to speak of like "Everybody Loves Raymond" and "Two and A Half Men". The fondest memory I have of OMNI TV is a great late night stunt that they pulled when the station began around 1980. They hired a comedian named Chas Lawler to play a character called "Chuck The Security Guard". He would sit in a TV control room wearing a security guard outfit and holding a handful of VHS tapes and perform some skits and show some weird videos in order to keep folks entertained well past their bedtime. Even better, he would throw in a number of classic series from the 1950s like "I Married Joan" that was certainly creative programming for that or any era which sadly has never been matched ever since.

57.1 CITY TV Toronto (CITY)

When it launched in 1972, CITY had the OTA channel number 79 until it wisely switched to 57 during the late 1970s. After the switch, for the next 2 decades, whenever you tuned in to CITY, you felt like you were at a live giant party. This was true even during the news, when CITY presented CityPulse with Gord Martineau, Dini Petty, and Jim McKenny, a news team that remained together for a long time until Petty left to host her own talk show. Typical original programming included "The New Music" with John "JD" Roberts (now working at FOX News in the US), "Fashion Television" with host Jeanne Beker highlighting the latest fashions, "The CHUM 30" (a top 30 music countdown show) and the 90 minute "Electric Circus" where teens would dance to the latest hits inside the CITY studio while others who couldn't make it inside would peek through the windows and watch from outside. This strange mix of shows would become a mini-empire for founder Moses Znaimer and lead to several successful specialty channels including CP24, MuchMusic, Space, and Fashion TV. Today, CITY is part of the Rogers family of stations that include OMNI and Sportsnet.

Toledo, Ohio:

ABC: WSPD 13
CBS: WTOL 11
NBC: WNWO 24
PBS: WGTE 30
Fox: WUPW 36

Local channels

CBS... KCBS 2
NBC... KNBC 4
KTLA.. KTLA 5
ABC... KABC 7
KCAL.. KCAL 9
KTTV... KTTV 11
KCOP... KCOP 13

Syracuse, NY:
3–WSTM(NBC, formerly WSYR)
5–WTVH(CBS, formerly WHEN)
9–WSYR(ABC, formerly WNYS and WIXT)
24–WCNY(PBS)
14–WSTW(CW)
43–WNYS(MYNerwork)
56–IONTV
68–WSYT(Fox)

Seattle has KING-5 NBC, Komo 4- ABC, Kiro7-CBS and Q13 Fox