k5jri radio Posted June 10 Share Posted June 10 The boundary of the adjacent cities of Texarkana Texas and Texarkana Arkansas runs down the middle of State Line Road. Until 1961, the local TV station serving both communities was KCMC-TV. In 1961, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) agreed to combine the Texarkana broadcast market area with that of the larger city of Shreveport LA, approximately 75 miles south of Texarkana. That same year, KCMC-TV changed its callsign to KTAL-TV (stands for Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana) and moved its transmitter site to Vivian, LA with a broadcast tower approximately 1500 ft. tall (antenna height over average terrain). In addition to the original studio in Texarkana, KTAL-TV built a larger studio at 3150 N. Market St. in Shreveport. FCC regulations at that time required not less than 50 percent of live and recorded programs to originate from the Texarkana studio. The standard station identification announcement was "KTAL-TV, Channel 6, Texarkana-Shreveport." Charles B. Pierce (1938-2010), who directed The Legend of Boggy Creek, The Town That Dreaded Sundown, and several other feature-length motion pictures was a former KTAL employee. These two movies featured narration by Vern Stierman (1920-1998), who worked part time as the weather man for KTAL-TV and full-time as an advertising sales rep for KEEL (AM) and KMBQ (FM) radio stations. By apparent coincidence, both Pierce and Stierman were born in Indiana. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
k5jri radio Posted June 11 Author Share Posted June 11 Vern Stierman told me he was from Indiana, but was stationed at Barksdale Field (name changed to Barksdale Air Force Base in 1948) in Bossier City LA. Bossier City is adjacent to Shreveport, LA. He also told me he met the woman who later became his wife while he lived in the Shreveport/Bossier city area. Although from Indiana, Vern may have been born in another state. His brother-in-law, Tom Dilahanty owned and operated an advertising agency in the Shreveport/Bossier City area. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
k5jri radio Posted June 12 Author Share Posted June 12 A few months prior to the 1976 theatrical release of The Town That Dreaded Sundown, the local newspapers in Shreveport, LA (Shreveport Times/Shreveport Journal) published several articles about Charles B. Pierce and his upcoming movie. Among the topics covered was Pierce's recent move to a house at or near Cross Lake in the western part of Shreveport, LA. Other than a general idea, I did not know, then or now, the location of Pierce's house or other property he might have owned or rented. According to the documentary included with the Shout Factory Blu-Ray edition, the final filming (featuring actress Dawn Wells) was completed at or near Pierce's property in Shreveport. Previously, in 1975, Ms. Wells had a starring role in Winterhawk, a western movie directed by Charles B. Pierce. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
k5jri radio Posted June 12 Author Share Posted June 12 My Blu-Ray (1080p) disc of The Town That Dreaded Sundown was sold as a combined edition which included a second DVD (480p) disc of The Evictors. Until fairly recently, the available discs of The Legend of Boggy Creek were of very poor quality. Fortunately, Pamela Pierce Barcelou (daughter of Charles B. Pierce) headed up an effort to locate better source material. After several years, Ms. Barcelou and her associates located decent source material (probably an interpositive) suitable for electronic scanning and transfer to Blu-Ray disc media. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
k5jri radio Posted June 13 Author Share Posted June 13 Bootleggers (a 1974 comedy starring Paul Koslo, Dennis Fimple; introducing Jaclyn Smith; and Slim Pickens as Grandpa Pruitt) is the first Charles B. Pierce movie I watched. (Pierce is credited as producer and director.) This viewing was at one of the movie theaters in or near downtown Shreveport, LA. Following the success of The Town That Dreaded Sundown, Charles B. Pierce, returned to California (where he had previously worked as a set decorator on A-list movies) in an apparent attempt to find work, possibly as a director. Unfortunately, this did not work out and Pierce returned to his role as an independent producer/director/writer. His next project, Boggy Creek II, a 1985 sequel to his first (1972) movie, The Legend of Boggy Creek, was a critical and financial failure. Pierce later attributed the film's failure to his having a starring role in the movie ("my part was too big") as well as the casting of "too many of my friends" in supporting roles. The previous sequel, Return To Boggy Creek, a 1977 movie not produced or directed by Pierce, was likewise a critical and financial disaster. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
k5jri radio Posted June 14 Author Share Posted June 14 My posting states (incorrectly) that the final filming in Shreveport LA includes the scenes featuring actress, Dawn Wells. In fact, all the scenes featuring Dawn Wells were filmed in Texarkana. The final filming in Shreveport LA is of the first attack by the Phantom killer. In this attack, the Phantom killer viciously attacked, but did kill either of the victims. As stated previously, the Shreveport filming took place near the home of Charles B. Pierce in the Cross Lake residential area. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cowboybud Posted June 17 Share Posted June 17 KTAL is still licensed to Texarkana. Co-owned with the FOX and MyNetwork stations. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
k5jri radio Posted June 17 Author Share Posted June 17 During the time I worked for KTAL-TV, it was privately owned by the Palmer Media Group. The CEO, Walter Hussman, was related by marriage to the Palmer Family. His son, Walter Hussman Jr., later became CEO. It is fairly common for large broadcasting corporations to purchase formerly privately-held broadcasting organizations. As an aside: prior to my full-time employment as a KTAL-TV sales representative based in Shreveport LA, I worked for them part-time as a maintenance technician during my senior year at ULM (University of Louisiana - Monroe). KTAL-TV operated a music service (Muzak) via a leased audio sub-channel at KREB FM, Monroe LA, where I also worked as a part time announcer (disc jockey). The audio content of Muzak programming was encoded onto the leased audio sub-channel and required a leased decoder receiver at each customer location. KSLA-TV, the CBS affiliate in Shreveport LA, was privately owned by a consortium of local businessmen, some of whom also had financial interests in the Shreveport Journal newspaper (now defunct). One of the consortium members, Winston Linum served as the General Manager of KSLA. In 1983, KSLA-TV was sold to Viacom International, subsidiary of Viacom. KNOE-TV, the CBS (and additional networks at various times) affiliate in Monroe LA, was originally owned by former governor of Louisiana James A. Noe and his family. Upon Noe's death in 1976, his son, James A. Noe, Jr. assumed control until his death (due to cancer) in 2005. The surviving members of the Noe family decided to exit the broadcasting business and sold the station to Hoak Media in 2007. KTBS-TV, the locally owned (dba KTBS, LLC) ABC affiliate is a notable exception to the trend of privately-owned broadcasting organizations selling out to large broadcasting corporations. The Wray family of Shreveport La has owned KTBS-TV station since it first went on the air in 1955 and, as of this writing, continue to own KTBS-TV. As an aside: when Newton Wray, Sr. retired (circa 1975) from active management of KTBS-TV, he appointed his son, Newton Wray, Jr. to succeed him as General Manager. Soon after taking control of KTBS-TV, Newton Wray, Jr. forced out several key employees including: Station Manager, Dean Flett; Sales Manager, Jack Tackett; News Director, Orland Dodson; Sports Director, Benny Fontaine; and Meteorologist, Charles Middleton. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
k5jri radio Posted June 17 Author Share Posted June 17 My The Town That Dreaded Sundown Blu-Ray disc is part of a Shout Factory 2-disc set, one Blue-Ray (1080p) disc for The Town That Dreaded Sundown plus a DVD (480p) disc for both The Evictors and The Town That Dreaded Sundown. The first time I watched The Evictors, I found it somewhat tedious and difficult to get involved in the story line, . However, when I watched it again last night, my experience was significantly better. Perhaps, this was due to my paying better attention wile viewing the movie. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
k5jri radio Posted July 10 Author Share Posted July 10 Regarding KTAL-TV: Despite the usual station ID announcement "KTAL-TV Texarkana Shreveport", the station's city of license was (and still is) Texarkana. Once the station's call sign and city of license were stated, anything that followed was additional promotional information. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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