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April 29, 2022 11:08 am  #1


The Day One TV Station Openly Thanked Its Direct Competition

It happened on April 25, 1963, some 59 years ago this week. A three-alarm fire broke out in the studios of what was then called WGR-TV in Buffalo that forced the station off the air temporarily. You have to wonder if what happened next would ever take place today. Three other local stations - WBEN, WKBW and WNED - came in to help their competitor and get them back on the air within hours.

That resulted in this extraordinary ad placed in several broadcast publications, with the NBC affiliate publicly praising and expressing its thanks to those they normally fight with for viewers day after day.

A rare moment in local broadcast history. 

 

April 29, 2022 4:17 pm  #2


Re: The Day One TV Station Openly Thanked Its Direct Competition

Radio and TV stations helping each other is fairly common.  CKNX TV burned to the ground in 1962  but with the help of CBLT, CKCO, CKVR and CFPL, they amazingly were back on the air that night.. More from wiki..

In the early morning of March 8, the former high school building that housed CKNX Radio and Television burned to the ground, and nothing was saved. However, with the help of neighboring stations in London, Barrie, Kitchener and Toronto, CKNX-TV was back on the air the same night, and showed pictures of the fire, projected on a white sheet. From various locations in Wingham and from the patched-up shell of the burned-out studio, CKNX operations continued without a hitch. Just over a year later, now equipped with two cameras and all new equipment, CKNX-TV moved into a new modern building, and held a week- long open house to which more than 10,000 people came from all over western Ontario.

CKVR was also helped by CBC in 1977 after a small plane crashed into CKVR's tower.  The five passengers in the plane were killed and VR's tower was destroyed and  crashed to the ground.  CBC was able to secure and provide a 400 foot tower as a temporary replacement and the station was back on the air the next day. 

When a deadly tornado hit Barrie in 1985, CKVR held a live all day telethon later in the year to help raise funds for the tornado victims.  I know that CKCO sent equipment to Barrie to help out and one of the Toronto stations provided their multi camera mobile unit for the broadcast.  All of the help that CKVR received by the other stations was acknowledged many times during the broadcast.

So WGR would have been amiss if they didn't publicly thank the other stations that helped them in their time of need.  Of course it would still happen today.   



 

Last edited by paterson1 (April 29, 2022 4:19 pm)

 

April 29, 2022 5:40 pm  #3


Re: The Day One TV Station Openly Thanked Its Direct Competition

Engineering staff of competitors have a long history of cooperating behind the scenes.  I remember when CFKM needed a new transmitter tube in the middle of the night around 1970 (used to go off on Sunday at midnight for routine maintenance). A quick call to CHFI tech staff (probably doing their routine maintenance up at the CFTO-TV tower on McCowan Road) and a fresh tube was dispatched.  At 9:00 am, a call to Electro Sonic and a brand new tube was delivered to CHFI. No managers, no accountants, no money changed hands.  All done with a telephone handshake.
Those were the days when CHFI and CKFM were battling for first place (of about five FM signals at the time). But the tech staff were on the best of terms. The unwritten rule was do whatever it takes to keep a competitor on the air.  What goes around, comes around.
 

 

April 29, 2022 6:56 pm  #4


Re: The Day One TV Station Openly Thanked Its Direct Competition

Thanks for those stories. Nice to know the spirit of competition can be overcome by the spirit of doing the right thing. I'm somewhat surprised but happy to hear it.

     Thread Starter
 

April 29, 2022 7:20 pm  #5


Re: The Day One TV Station Openly Thanked Its Direct Competition

Likewise, if MSNBC went dark today, FOX News would be there to help.


I started out with nothing and I still have most of it.