WHDH-TV (1957–72)
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WHDH-TV (channel 5) was a
television station A television station is a set of equipment managed by a business, organisation or other entity such as an amateur television (ATV) operator, that transmits video content and audio content via radio waves directly from a transmitter on the earth's s ...
in
Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...
, Massachusetts, United States. The station, owned by the '' Boston Herald Traveler'', operated from 1957 until the revocation of the station's license in 1972. The channel 5 allocation in the market was taken over by
WCVB-TV WCVB-TV (channel 5) is a television station in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, affiliated with ABC and owned by Hearst Television. The station's studios are located on TV Place (off Gould Street near the I-95/ MA 128/Highland Avenue in ...
, which operates using a separate license from WHDH-TV; the original WHDH-TV is also of no relation to the current WHDH (channel 7).


History

The station first signed on the air on November 26, 1957. It was owned by the '' Boston Herald Traveler'' Corporation, along with WHDH radio (850 AM, now WEEI; and 94.5 FM, now WJMN). Before the ''Herald-Traveler'' signed the station on, the
DuMont Television Network The DuMont Television Network (also the DuMont Network, DuMont Television, DuMont/Du Mont, or (incorrectly) Dumont ) was one of America's pioneer commercial television networks, rivaling NBC and CBS for the distinction of being first overall in ...
applied for the channel 5
construction permit Planning permission or building permit refers to the approval needed for construction or expansion (including significant renovation), and sometimes for demolition, in some jurisdictions. House building permits, for example, are subject to bu ...
to replace WDTV (now
KDKA-TV KDKA-TV (channel 2), branded CBS Pittsburgh, is a television station in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. It is owned and operated by the CBS television network through its CBS News and Stations division alongside WPKD-TV (channel 19), a ...
) in
Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...
among its
owned-and-operated station In the broadcasting industry, an owned-and-operated station (frequently abbreviated as an O&O) usually refers to a television or radio station owned by the network with which it is associated. This distinguishes such a station from an network af ...
group, but DuMont shut down its network before being able to acquire the permit. WHDH-TV was originally an
ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...
affiliate, but switched to
CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...
on January 1, 1961. The move was initiated by CBS after its existing Boston station,
WNAC-TV WNAC-TV (channel 64), branded Fox Providence, is a television station in Providence, Rhode Island, United States, affiliated with Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox and The CW. It is owned by Mission Broadcasting, which maintains a local marketing ...
(channel 7) was agreed to be sold by
RKO General RKO General Inc. (previously General Teleradio Inc. and RKO Teleradio Pictures Inc.) was an American broadcasting company that, from 1952 through 1991, served as the main holding company for the noncore businesses of the General Tire and Rubber C ...
to
NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...
in a deal which ultimately never materialized."Philadelphia circle is complete," and "Nine-year history of that trade in Philadelphia." ''Broadcasting'', August 3, 1964, pp. 23-25

http://www.americanradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-Business/Magazines/Archive-BC-IDX/64-OCR/1964-08-03-BC-OCR-Page-0024.pd

/ref> Initially, WHDH-TV shared studio facilities with WHDH radio located at 6 St. James Avenue in Boston's Back Bay; but this facility was far from ideal for television and in early 1960, the station moved into a newly built studio center at 50 Morrisey Boulevard in the Dorchester, Boston, Dorchester section of Boston. Channel 5 was the first television station in
New England New England is a region consisting of six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the ...
to originate live (and later taped) local programming in color. In 1959, WHDH-TV debuted a local version of ''
Bozo the Clown Bozo the Clown, sometimes billed as "Bozo, The World's Most Famous Clown", is a clown character created for children's entertainment, widely popular in the second half of the 20th century. He was introduced in the United States in 1946, and to tel ...
'' with
Frank Avruch Frank Bernard Avruch (May 21, 1928 – March 20, 2018) was an American television host who played Bozo the Clown on Boston television from 1959 to 1970. He played the first nationally syndicated version of the clown. Early life Avruch was born in ...
as Bozo; in 1966, 130 episodes taped by WHDH-TV that year would go into national syndication for television stations that did not want to produce a local ''Bozo'' show. Almost as soon as it signed on, the
Federal Communications Commission The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, internet, wi-fi, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains j ...
(FCC) began investigating allegations of impropriety in the granting of the television license. This touched off a struggle that lasted 15 years. As a result, WHDH-TV never had a license longer than six months at a time (television station licenses at the time lasted for three years). In 1969, a local group, Boston Broadcasters Incorporated (BBI), was granted a construction permit for a new station on channel 5 under the call letters
WCVB-TV WCVB-TV (channel 5) is a television station in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, affiliated with ABC and owned by Hearst Television. The station's studios are located on TV Place (off Gould Street near the I-95/ MA 128/Highland Avenue in ...
after promising to air more local programming than any other station in America at the time (even though WHDH often broadcast more local programming, in terms of hours per week, than any other commercial television station in the market). The challenger was also critical of the
combination In mathematics, a combination is a selection of items from a set that has distinct members, such that the order of selection does not matter (unlike permutations). For example, given three fruits, say an apple, an orange and a pear, there are ...
of the ''Herald-Traveler'' newspaper and WHDH-AM-FM-TV. ''Herald-Traveler'' Corporation fought the decision in court, but lost its battle in 1972; and Boston Broadcasters was awarded a full license. In the months after the ''Herald-Traveler'' lost the channel 5 license, it was under court order to sign off daily at 1:00 a.m. so that WCVB-TV could test its equipment. WHDH-TV declined to sell its studios, transmitter and tower to the new WCVB-TV, which subsequently leased space on the tower belonging to
WBZ-TV WBZ-TV (channel 4) is a television station in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, serving as the market's CBS outlet. It is owned and operated by the network's CBS News and Stations division alongside independent WSBK-TV (channel 38). Bo ...
(channel 4) and remodeled a former
International Harvester The International Harvester Company (often abbreviated IH or International) was an American manufacturer of agricultural and construction equipment, automobiles, commercial trucks, lawn and garden products, household equipment, and more. It wa ...
sales and service facility in Needham to serve as its studios and offices. All of WHDH-TV's talent, however, transferred to WCVB. ''
Fixed Bayonets! ''Fixed Bayonets!'' is a 1951 American war film written and directed by Samuel Fuller and produced by Twentieth Century-Fox during the Korean War. It is Fuller's second film about the Korean War. Plot In the first winter of the Korean War, duri ...
'' (1951), a late movie, wound up serving as the last telecast from the original Channel 5; the telecast began at 11:30 p.m. on March 18, 1972, and ended at 1:00 a.m. on March 19, 1972. CBS, preferring an "association with broadcast groups which have significant professional broadcast experience", moved its affiliation back to WNAC-TV, which had been owned by RKO General and its predecessors since 1948. The ABC affiliation then went to the new WCVB-TV. The WHDH-TV call letters were subsequently reassigned to channel 7 almost 18 years to the day of their last use, on March 12, 1990, where they remain to this day.


News operation

WHDH's newscasts were known as ''WHDH-TV News'', a title that was used until March 18, 1972, when the station signed off for the last time and was replaced by WCVB. Among the anchors who worked there were John Day, Jack Hynes, John Henning, and Chet Curtis. The lead sports anchor beginning in 1962 was Don Gillis (prior to that, sports scores were read by the news anchor) while weather reports were done first by Fred B. Cole, then Ray Miller, and finally Bob Copeland. The station won several awards for news coverage, including multiple honors as "National News Film Station of the Year" from the
National Press Photographers Association The National Press Photographers Association (NPPA) is an American professional association made up of still photographers, television videographers, Editing, editors, and students in the journalism field. Founded in 1946, the organization is base ...
. When WCVB launched, nearly all of the former WHDH news staffers were hired by that station.


Sports coverage

WHDH was television home of the
Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. Founded in as one of the Ameri ...
baseball franchise from
1958 Events January * January 1 – The European Economic Community (EEC) comes into being. * January 3 – The West Indies Federation is formed. * January 4 ** Edmund Hillary's Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition completes the thir ...
to
1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses (Solar eclipse of February 25, 1971, February 25, Solar eclipse of July 22, 1971, July 22 and Solar eclipse of August 20, 1971, August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 1971 lunar eclip ...
; with
Curt Gowdy Curtis Edward Gowdy (July 31, 1919 – February 20, 2006) was an American sportscaster. He called Boston Red Sox games on radio and TV for 15 years, and then covered many nationally televised sporting events, primarily for NBC Sports and ABC S ...
, Ned Martin, and later,
Ken Coleman Kenneth Robert Coleman (April 22, 1925 – August 21, 2003) was an American radio and television sportscaster for more than four decades (1947–1989). Early life Coleman was born in Hartford, Connecticut, in 1925, the son of William (a sale ...
doing play-by-play, with analysis during the 1960s provided by former star Red Sox pitcher Mel Parnell, and starting in 1969, by former Sox star
Johnny Pesky John Michael Pesky (born John Michael Paveskovich; February 27, 1919 – August 13, 2012), nicknamed "the Needle" and "Mr. Red Sox", was an American professional baseball player, manager and coach in Major League Baseball (MLB). He was a shorts ...
. Although these announcers worked on both television and radio, the games were simulcast only through 1960; after that, the announcers would go back-and-forth between radio and television broadcasts. For televised games beginning in 1961, the analyst would perform color commentary for the entire game with Gowdy (through 1965) or Coleman (1966–71) doing the play-by-play of innings 1-3 and 7-9 on television (and innings 4-6 on radio); while Martin called innings 1-3 and 7-9 on radio along with the middle innings on television. An average of 56 regular-season games were televised each year, equally split between home and away matches, with all but a handful being on weekends. The games were also fed to other television stations (mainly CBS affiliates) across the New England region. During the 1964–65 and 1965–66 seasons, WHDH also televised a few
Boston Bruins The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston. The Bruins compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Conference. The t ...
hockey games. These games were broadcast on Sundays, usually pre-recorded on tape, with either Saturday night games shown on Sunday afternoons, or Sunday night games shown on tape delay after that evening's 11 p.m. newscast. One game, on February 12, 1966, a Saturday matinee from the old
Madison Square Garden Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as the Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh and Eighth Avenue (Manhattan), Eig ...
in
New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
against the
New York Rangers The New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in New York City. The Rangers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Conference. The team plays ...
was carried live and in color back to Boston, using a color mobile unit owned by
WOR-TV WWOR-TV (channel 9) is a television station licensed to Secaucus, New Jersey, United States, serving the New York metropolitan area as the flagship of the MyNetworkTV programming service. It is owned and operated by Fox Television Stations alo ...
in New York—which produced a videotaped broadcast of the game to air in that market that evening. The station also broadcast a handful of
Boston Celtics The Boston Celtics ( ) are an American professional basketball team based in Boston. The Celtics compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NBA), Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), ...
basketball games during the early-to-mid 1960s. These were usually weekend afternoon games that were not televised nationally. WHDH broadcast Celtics playoff away games from 1962 to 1966; it also televises live coverage of the seventh and final game of the
1962 NBA Finals The 1962 NBA World Championship Series was the championship round of the 1962 NBA playoffs, which concluded the National Basketball Association (NBA)'s 1961–62 season. The best-of-seven series was played between the Western Division champio ...
between the Celtics and the
Los Angeles Lakers The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Lakers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division (NBA), Pacific Division of the Western Conference (NBA ...
from the old
Boston Garden The Boston Garden was an arena in Boston, Massachusetts. Designed by boxing promoter Tex Rickard, who also built the third iteration of New York's Madison Square Garden, it opened on November 17, 1928, as "Boston Madison Square Garden" (later ...
—a game that was not nationally televised. Only WHDH and
KTLA KTLA (channel 5) is a television station in Los Angeles, California, United States, serving as the West Coast flagship station of The CW. It is the largest directly owned property of the network's majority owner, Nexstar Media Group, and is ...
in Los Angeles carried it, with Don Gillis doing the game for WHDH and
Chick Hearn Francis Dayle "Chick" Hearn (November 27, 1916 – August 5, 2002) was an American sportscaster who was the play-by-play announcer for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association for 41 years, as well as the team's assistant ge ...
doing the KTLA broadcast. In 1965, Celtics' playoff away games were also shown on the newly launched WIHS-TV (channel 38, now
WSBK-TV WSBK-TV (channel 38) is an independent television station in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It is owned by the CBS News and Stations group alongside CBS outlet WBZ-TV (channel 4). The two stations share studios on Soldiers Field R ...
). WIHS carried some regular-season Celtics' road games during the 1964–65 season, but team officials, worried about the low penetration of UHF receivers in the Boston area, arranged for WHDH to simulcast 1965 playoff games in order to reach a wider audience. WHDH alone was the television home of the Celtics in the 1965–66 season, with coverage concentrated on away games during the playoffs. Fred Cusick did the Bruins' games; Don Gillis called the Celtics' games. In October 1958, WHDH launched a weekly
candlepin bowling Candlepin bowling is a variation of bowling that is played primarily in the Canadian Maritimes, Canadian Maritime provinces and the New England region of the United States. It is played with a handheld-sized bowling ball, ball and tall, narrow bo ...
show that aired at noon on Saturdays. Initially co-hosted by Jim Britt and Don Gillis, Gillis eventually became the solo host. The show was extremely successful and remained on channel 5 (with Gillis still as host) until January 1996, long after WHDH had given way to WCVB. In 1968, with the Harvard University football team about to host arch-rival
Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...
in a showdown of unbeaten teams for the
Ivy League The Ivy League is an American collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference of eight Private university, private Research university, research universities in the Northeastern United States. It participates in the National Collegia ...
football championship, WHDH made plans to cover the game. Due to
ABC Sports ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial America ...
' deal with the
National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...
(NCAA) that precluded live telecasts of games not part of the ABC/NCAA package, WHDH broadcast the game on tape the next day, with Gillis doing play-by-play.


Notable former on-air staff

*
Frank Avruch Frank Bernard Avruch (May 21, 1928 – March 20, 2018) was an American television host who played Bozo the Clown on Boston television from 1959 to 1970. He played the first nationally syndicated version of the clown. Early life Avruch was born in ...
– booth announcer; also played
Bozo the Clown Bozo the Clown, sometimes billed as "Bozo, The World's Most Famous Clown", is a clown character created for children's entertainment, widely popular in the second half of the 20th century. He was introduced in the United States in 1946, and to tel ...
(1959–1970) * Jim Britt – sportscaster *
Ken Coleman Kenneth Robert Coleman (April 22, 1925 – August 21, 2003) was an American radio and television sportscaster for more than four decades (1947–1989). Early life Coleman was born in Hartford, Connecticut, in 1925, the son of William (a sale ...
– sportscaster and play-by-play of Boston Red Sox games (1966–1971) * Bill Crowley – sportscaster; analyst on Boston Bruins games (1964–1966) * Chet Curtis – news anchor/reporter * Fred Cusick – sportscaster; play-by-play commentator of Boston Bruins games (1964–1966) * Leo Egan – news/sports anchor * Don Gillis – sportscaster and longtime host of a weekly bowling show; also play-by-play of Boston Celtics games (1962–1964 and 1966) * Art Gleeson – analyst on Boston Red Sox games (1958–1961) *
Curt Gowdy Curtis Edward Gowdy (July 31, 1919 – February 20, 2006) was an American sportscaster. He called Boston Red Sox games on radio and TV for 15 years, and then covered many nationally televised sporting events, primarily for NBC Sports and ABC S ...
– sportscaster and play-by-play of Boston Red Sox games (1958–1965) * Bill Harrington – news reporter * John Henning – news anchor/reporter *
Peter Hyams Peter Hyams (born July 26, 1943) is an American film director, screenwriter and cinematographer known for directing the 1977 conspiracy thriller film ''Capricorn One'' (which he also wrote), the 1981 science fiction-thriller ''Outland (film), Outl ...
– news anchor (now movie director/screenwriter) * Natalie Jacobson – news anchor (1971–1972) *
Roy Leonard LeRoy Stewart Leonard (January 19, 1931 – September 4, 2014) was an American radio personality, best known for hosting WGN's midday radio show from Chicago for 31 years and for his appearances on WGN-TV's news and Christmas specials. He also ...
– personality * Ned Martin – sportscaster and play-by-play of Boston Red Sox games (1961–1971) * Johnny Most – sportscaster * Mel Parnell – analyst on Boston Red Sox games (1962–1968) *
Johnny Pesky John Michael Pesky (born John Michael Paveskovich; February 27, 1919 – August 13, 2012), nicknamed "the Needle" and "Mr. Red Sox", was an American professional baseball player, manager and coach in Major League Baseball (MLB). He was a shorts ...
– analyst on Boston Red Sox games (1969–1971) *
Caroll Spinney Caroll Edwin Spinney (December 26, 1933 – December 8, 2019) was an American puppeteer, cartoonist, author, artist and speaker, most famous for playing Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch on ''Sesame Street'' from its inception in 1969 until 2018. ...
– actor; played various characters on ''Bozo the Clown''; later became the longtime performer of Big Bird and
Oscar the Grouch Oscar the Grouch is a List of Sesame Street Muppets, Muppet character created by Jim Henson and Jon Stone for the PBS/HBO children's television program ''Sesame Street''. He has a green body, no visible nose, and lives in a Sesame Street (fiction ...
on ''
Sesame Street ''Sesame Street'' is an American educational television, educational children's television series that combines live-action, sketch comedy, animation, and puppetry. It is produced by Sesame Workshop (known as the Children's Television Worksh ...
'' *
Lesley Stahl Lesley Rene Stahl (born December 16, 1941) is an American television journalist. She has spent most of her career with CBS News, where she began as a producer in 1971. Since 1991, she has reported for CBS's ''60 Minutes''. She is known for her ne ...
– reporter * Bob Wilson – announcer/news reporter/sportscaster


Notes


References


bostonradio.org's WEEI (AM) history including a section on WHDH-TV


- dead link


External links

* ttp://bostonlocaltv.org/WHDH Streaming archival footage {{DEFAULTSORT:Whdh-Tv (channel 5) HDH-TV Television channels and stations established in 1957 Television channels and stations disestablished in 1972 Defunct companies based in Massachusetts Boston Herald HDH-TV (channel 5) HDH-TV 1957 establishments in Massachusetts 1972 disestablishments in Massachusetts