Houston TV Stations

[musicman]

Earlier today I was in Wal-Mart looking at TVs. I looked at two flatscreens, both 15". One was a Sony and the other one was a Polaroid. Both said that they were HDTV. Is that what will fulfill the requirements for the digital transition that will occur a year from now? Should I buy one now, or would I be wasting my money?

it must have a digital tuner (ATSC). some of them only have analog tuners (NTSC) but can be fed an HD signal from another source.

[Retama]

My mom took my brothers and I to two tapings of Dialing for Dollars back in the early 1970s with Betty Rogers and Paul Schmitt (thanks for those names, I had forgotten them) and blond Bob Hilton. Audience members received donuts and coffee or juice and could watch themselves the next day on the "yesterday's audience" segment.

One thing that fascinated me was getting to go inside the Channel 13 studios. During the break we would wander out of the studio into the hall to read the AP teletype and look through a big glass window and watch the reporters scurry around.

One of the oddest things was that the station had a swimming pool. If I recall correctly, it was located up front but was sort of hidden behind a white brick wall. I remember thinking (I was about 10 to 12-years-old) 'cool, if I worked here I could go swimming after work!'

[northbeaumont]

it must have a digital tuner (ATSC). some of them only have analog tuners (NTSC) but can be fed an HD signal from another source.

An article in Thursday's (February 22, 2008) Houston Chronicle, page D4, answered my question:

...the "DTV conversion" refers to "digital television." That refers [to] the type of signal transmitted to the TV and is different from HDTV...

So if I'm interpreting that correctly, would I be wasting my money if I bought one of those HDTVs?

[editor]

All televisions for sale in stores right now have to receive ATSC digital television. That's the law. If a store has some leftover old NTSC televisions they have to put big fat stickers on them letting people know they're going to be outdated in less than a year.

If you see a TV in the store now and it says "HDTV" on it, you will be fine. Unless you're buying from the sort of store that will rip you off. If you go to a Wal-Mart or Circuit City or Best Buy you'll be fine (in terms of having a TV that will work a year from now. They may rook you on the price, though).

One of the biggest scams going on these days is people breaking into homes, especially ones still under construction, and stealing the oven doors. They then put these in HDTV cardboard boxes they find being thrown out and sell them at flea markets as HDTV's. They're about the right size and weight, and if you're the sort of person who would buy a TV at a flea market you probably can't tell the difference looking down into the box.

[northbeaumont]

All televisions for sale in stores right now have to receive ATSC digital television. That's the law. If a store has some leftover old NTSC televisions they have to put big fat stickers on them letting people know they're going to be outdated in less than a year.

If you see a TV in the store now and it says "HDTV" on it, you will be fine. Unless you're buying from the sort of store that will rip you off. If you go to a Wal-Mart or Circuit City or Best Buy you'll be fine (in terms of having a TV that will work a year from now. They may rook you on the price, though).

One of the biggest scams going on these days is people breaking into homes, especially ones still under construction, and stealing the oven doors. They then put these in HDTV cardboard boxes they find being thrown out and sell them at flea markets as HDTV's. They're about the right size and weight, and if you're the sort of person who would buy a TV at a flea market you probably can't tell the difference looking down into the box.

Why would anyone want to buy a TV at a flea market? If I buy a TV in a box at a place other than a retail store, I would certainly open up the box and look inside so I would see what I'm getting before I drive off with it.

[SchwinnChopper68]

Weingarten's used to sell you tickets or reciepts that had numbers for a horse racing show that would be glimpsed or announced at I think during the news or after the news. I would hit the floor if someone actually remember this rare deal. This must have aired around 1966-69? ish?

Hit the floor. I clearly remember this. If memory serves correct it was on once a week around 9pm or so. I remember always having a bunch of those cards but never winning a race. That must have been rigged or something. 66-69 sounds right. I watched it on a small b/w sony 7" in my bedroom.

The major matt mason and Time Machine days.

Roundabout the time when every kid on the block HAD to have the gun that shot the purple invisible ink.

[RhinoVP]

For some reason (to me anyway) "Dialing for Dollars" stands out.

Wasn't this a local Channel 13 show?

Who was the host?

See how dated it really sounds now? Dial as in rotary phones! I still recall how the turning by finger would hurt so much as it dug into your skin. There is an old movie where a jeweler was actually selling the person a rotary phone finger holder. lol

I think the premise of that show was if numbers were called out like in a roulette wheel the viewer had to call in (dial in) within a certain time to win money!

Couldn't imagine this with cell phones, but maybe it could be?

I remember my grandfather always keeping a notepad on the coffee table with the count on it. Everytime the phone would ring, he would first grab the pad first, then the phone!

Something I haven't seen mentioned on here was a little segment that either 26 or 39 did, that was called "TV Kid Pow!". Anyone remember that?

It was at a time when even "Pong" was considered high tech, and the game was basicly a variation of Pong played on TV over the phone.

Kids would call in to the station, and if they were lucky enough to get through, play the game by saying "POW!" over the phone to, eehhhh....... shoot the gun on the screen. It's not that easy to describe, now that I'm sitting here typing.

Anyway, I was ten years old when I won a Huffy Thunder Trail bicycle from that show. I don't even remember now how many points I had, only that I didn't think I had made enough to get anything at all. Then being shocked that I had enough for the bike, and jumping around the living room for an hour afterwards.

LOL, those were the days!

[Paul1956]

I remember that WIERD audio/video introduction very well. Used to sit with my Dad every Sat night and wait for it to start. Also, never missed Houston Wrestling with Paul Boesch (spelling?). That Ivan Putski put on quite a show.

Also, in the early 1970's one of the UHF channels (26 or 39?) used to have Kid news anchors in the afternoons. Any idea whatever happened those kids?

[readam]

Ivan Putski had a son that played football at TCU in the 80s named Scott Bednarski. The Bednarski family lived in South Austin for many years and went to school in that area as well. I think Ivan ran a pseudo wrestling school in Austin. From what I hear from friends who taiught the kids and knew the family the Bednarski's were quite humble and very gracious to fans and outsiders as well.

[cowboybud]

I remember that WIERD audio/video introduction very well. Used to sit with my Dad every Sat night and wait for it to start. Also, never missed Houston Wrestling with Paul Boesch (spelling?). That Ivan Putski put on quite a show.

Also, in the early 1970's one of the UHF channels (26 or 39?) used to have Kid news anchors in the afternoons. Any idea whatever happened those kids?

One of them - Clark Kent Irvin - ran for congress a few years back.

Ivan Putski had a son that played football at TCU in the 80s named Scott Bednarski. The Bednarski family lived in South Austin for many years and went to school in that area as well. I think Ivan ran a pseudo wrestling school in Austin. From what I hear from friends who taiught the kids and knew the family the Bednarski's were quite humble and very gracious to fans and outsiders as well.

Putski had a school in Houston at one time, also. One of his graduates was current wrestling star Booker T.

[crunchtastic]

Also, in the early 1970's one of the UHF channels (26 or 39?) used to have Kid news anchors in the afternoons. Any idea whatever happened those kids?

One of my former friends and roommates did that. We were in 7 or 8th grade out in Katy- I was totally jealous. I'm not sure how she got the job. It led nowhere, we parted ways permanently many years ago--she was doing secretarial work and looking for a doctor or lawyer to support her so she could raise children and not have to work.

[FilioScotia]

He actually had 2 different television shows in his career. I only remember the one when I was a little girl that was on late at night called "The Morris Chair". It was just before the sign off. (Yes in those days tv didn't run all night). Morris Frank was my grandfather =).

Morris Frank was your grand dad? What a pleasure to meet you. As I write this, I am at my second home in Lufkin, about a mile from the big city park that bears his name. I'm old enough to remember watching Morris do his nightly sportscasts on KTRK, and his From the Morris Chair featurette. Your grandpa is one of my truly warm memories of Houston TV in the 50s, 60s and 70s. He really was one of a kind.

I'm reaching back a couple of years in this very thread in fact, for something I wrote about Morris Frank. It was my response to the same question you answered. "Many years ago there was a TV talk show in Houston called Morris Frank. Does anyone remember it?"

"It wasn't a TV talk show. It was a regular TV commentary by longtime Houston Chronicle columnist Morris Frank. Frank was a genuine "character" in Texas newspaper circles. He got famous as a sports writer and columnist in the 30s, 40s and 50s, and he was hugely popular on the banquet and "after-dinner" speech circuit because of his funny takes on sports and living in Texas. Along with his sports columns, he wrote a regular "look at life" column called "Of Cabbages and Kings."

Frank was a natural for TV, so KTRK put him on the air in the 50s and 60s and 70s with a regular commentary feature called "From the Morris Chair", which ran at the end of the nightly newscast. I remember he also did the sports in the nightly newscasts from time to time, and he was a hoot to watch. Those were the days of the old Southwest Conference, and his rundown of the college football scores went something like this:

(in the most East Texas accent you ever heard) "Well, I see where the Texases beat the Rices, the Aggies beat the Techs, the Baptists beat the Methodists, and the Arkansaw's beat the Christians."

Nobody ever got offended because he was Morris Frank and you knew he loved everybody equally.

Frank's columns and TV commentaries were very popular right up to his death in 1975. I guess you could describe Morris Frank as a Texas version of Will Rogers. He and I came from the same town, Lufkin, and I still miss him.

Here's a short bio written by one of his friends and former colleagues. http://www.lufkindailynews.com/services/co...rris_frank.html

[Alpha]

I think Morris Frank was a friend of my grandfather's. I found this picture in his collection.

[FilioScotia]

I think Morris Frank was a friend of my grandfather's. I found this picture in his collection.

WOW ! What a group. Lloyd Gregory, Dick Freeman, Andy Anderson and Morris Frank. The Four Horsemen. I grew up reading their columns in the Chronicle sports section. Those guys shaped most of what I knew about sports in the 1950s. What they didn't know about sports wasn't worth knowing.

[shanodot]

Thanks Filio for the kind remarks about him. He was just as colorful at home and with the family.

Boy, did he love Southwest Conference football. But he also absolutely loved boxing.

And Alpha, yes I've seen that photo myself many times. I might even have a copy of it here at home somewhere.

We have boxloads of letters and photos. It's amazing to me that people remember him even after he's been gone so long.

[Randyt7801]

Does anybody know what the first cable company in Houston was? I remember in the 80's Houston having 2 major cable companies, Warner Cable and Storer Cable.

[cowboybud]

Does anybody know what the first cable company in Houston was? I remember in the 80's Houston having 2 major cable companies, Warner Cable and Storer Cable.

QUBE (which became Warner Amex, which became Warner Cable, which became Time Warner cable) was the first in my neighborhood.

[FilioScotia]

Does anybody know what the first cable company in Houston was? I remember in the 80's Houston having 2 major cable companies, Warner Cable and Storer Cable.

In its earliest incarnations, "cable TV" was referred to as Community Antenna TV -- CATV for short.

I could be wrong about this, but I believe the first "cable", or CATV operation, in the Houston area was an outfit called Phono-Scope in Nassau Bay in the early sixties.

That was when NASA was moving into this area and Nassau Bay was the "prestige" place to live for astronauts, NASA nabobs and corporate contractor types.

It wasn't a "cable TV" operation as we understand it today. It was pretty primitive in fact. The offices and "studios" were in the old Nassau Bay Shopping Center on Upper Bay Road, and for the longest time it only ran old movies on a hit-and-miss schedule.

Also, and I can testify personally about this because I worked there for a couple of years, Phono-Scope had a deal with the old KMSC FM down the hall to put two small cameras in the control room.

In addition to carrying the radio signal, it had one camera aimed at an easle where the DJ would place the album jacket of whatever record he was playing at the time. The other camera was on the wall aimed at the DJ, and viewers -- if there were any -- would see and hear the DJ doing his thing when he opened the microphone. Like I said. Primitive.

You wouldn't believe some of the clowning around we KMSC DJ's did for the benefit of anybody so bored they would be watching us on our Phono-Scope channel. Seriously, we had to be careful about what we wore to work because the station owner -- John "Shorty" Powers -- wanted us to look professional at all times -- even in the middle of the night.

But -- even though we were under strict orders to behave ourselves -- very late-night and middle of the night Phono-Scope viewers would sometimes see the DJ making faces and/or blowing smoke rings at the camera, or making out with his girl-friend -- or somebody else's girlfriend -- picking his nose -- or her nose -- or scratching his or her butt -- all done deliberately, just for laughs. Just silly stuff. Nothing that would get you fired. Ah yes. Radio days. When you and I were young McGee.

Memebag, it's possible that your dad may have been involved with Phono-Scope in some way. Maybe not. ???

[memebag]

Memebag, it's possible that your dad may have been involved with Phono-Scope in some way. Maybe not. ???

I don't think so. He worked for AV Corp., I think, which was a sub-contractor that handled A/V stuff for NASA. He worked on propaganda films, press conferences, network feeds, and all that stuff. I don't remember any stories about Phono-Scope from him.

[FilioScotia]

I don't think so. He worked for AV Corp., I think, which was a sub-contractor that handled A/V stuff for NASA. He worked on propaganda films, press conferences, network feeds, and all that stuff. I don't remember any stories about Phono-Scope from him.

AV Corp had the contract to provide audio and visual services for the JSC Public Affairs Office. Basically they were responsible for everything the public heard and saw coming from the JSC during and between space flights. I don't know if AV still has that contract. Anybody know?

During space flights they would bring in temps to help out. I was one of those temps for Apollos 7 through 13. That's how I got to know your dad memebag.

My full time job was at a Houston radio station, and the temp work at JSC was extra. (yes, I know it wasn't called the JSC then) In the late 60s and early 70s AV Corp paid temps 10 dollars an hour, which meant I made some very nice extra money for a 9 or 10 day mission.

[Wildcat51]

Houston's best TV days were in the 1970's when we had Channels 2, 11, 13, 26 and 39. It was all we needed and was a great combination of network and local broadcasts. 

[Howard Roark]

On 2/19/2008 at 4:13 PM, FilioScotia said:

In the 50s, when Channel 11 was still in Galveston, and using the call letters KGUL, it also had a Late Show that started every night around 10:30. It started with some nice film of a seagull flying around over the Galveston surf, with an orchestra playing Claire de Lune, and then it cut to the host: a real zany named Jim Ross.

I don't know if I can describe Jim Ross in a way that today's generation would understand.

He was genuinely zany and very funny. Oftimes his commercial breaks were better than the movie he was showing. People would stay up late just to see him. I know I did. And it was all done live. Video tape hadn't been invented yet.

Thanks for mentioning Jim Ross and the old Late Show on KGUL-TV.    It's nice to know I'm not the only one who remembers Jim Ross on the Late Show.   One night I tuned in to the Late Show and saw Jim Ross swinging on a rope in the studio, while he was dressed in a fur coat and acting like a monkey.  I'll never forget that!   I don't remember what the occasion was for that particular antic, maybe they were showing Monkey Business that night, but that film was probably too new at the time.  In any case, he wasn't called "Zany Jim Ross" for nothing.  For those too young to remember, this "Late show" was a local studio production at the original KGUL-TV studio in Galveston and it predated the CBS network's Late Show by many years.  I loved the opening of the show, which featured a short film of a beautiful sea gull gliding peacefully over Galveston beach, while Claire de Lune was playing in the background.   I was in high school when this show was on the air in the nineteen fifties and I should have been in bed when the show came on.   But, I've always been a night owl, and I had an old 1948 RCA TV set in my bedroom that I managed to repair.   My parents didn't know I fixed that TV, much less that I turned it on and stayed up late every night to watch the Late Show after they went to sleep.  I should explain that TV technology moved so fast that by the mid fifties any TV set from the forties was already considered to be a worthless piece of old junk.   As the previous post pointed out, there was no local video tape in use at that time, so I may be the only person alive today who can remember seeing Jim Ross perform that rope swinging stunt on live TV.   It's weird to think that the last trace of that event will be lost forever when I kick the bucket, unless a civilization in some distant galaxy happens to intercept the TV signal that's carrying that show, as it travels across the universe.  If that happens, then I wonder what alien creatures will make of Zany Jim Ross.