Kaiser Broadcasting - "Doing Things in a Big Way" (Promotional Sales Film) (Part 2, 1968)

This clip made possible by the donations from our generous group of "Fuzzketeers" during the Spring 2012 Tape Transfer Fundraiser.

Here's the second and final part of a neat promotional sales film from Kaiser Broadcasting Company which owned WFLD Channel 32 from 1973 to 1977. This 1968 film, dealt with the company's pre-WFLD early years in operation; at the time of this promo film, Kaiser owned stations in Philadelphia, Detroit, Boston, Cleveland, San Francisco and Los Angeles, each of which (along with the programming they offered) is spotlighted here. Look at various points in this film for the RCA TK-42 color cameras which were used by the Kaiser stations in their early years of operation.

Includes:

Continuing with the look at WKBG (now WLVI) Channel 56 in Boston, a shot of the VTR room with a bank of RCA TR-70 2" high-band quadruplex videotape recorders in operation, followed by a clip of a WKBG-produced commercial for Cumberland Farms (an area supermarket). Channel 56's lineup at the time had a variety of first-run movies, sitcoms such as Gilligan's Island, I Love Lucy, Hazel, My Favoriet Martian and Jackie Gleason (presumably his "Classic 39" Honeymooners); all this shown over a TV Week supplement with Donald O'Connor (who hosted a talk show from 1968 to 1969) on the cover. This segment ends with a brief look at their Ten O'Clock News.

Next is Cleveland, with a look at WKBF Channel 61 (which signed on in January 1968, but left the air in 1975), and their ID slide. Brief shots of their Parma transmitter and their Euclid studios are shown, as well as a welcome editorial from the Cleveland Plain Dealer and a shot of the cover of Viewers in Profile from March-April 1968. Clips of a children's show with such guests as Cleveland Mayor Carl Stokes (who was a reporter and occasional anchor at WNBC Channel 4 in New York from 1972 to 1980; incidentally, one of his co-anchors at the onset of his stint there was Paul Udell, less than a decade before Udell's brief stint anchoring the 4:30 Eyewitness News on WLS Channel 7) and then-Vice President Hubert H. Humphrey are shown to highlight the station's commitment to teaching children, as well as a Time magazine article about the station. The station also ran a locally-produced weekend talk show hosted by Alan Douglas, a clip of which is shown; plus billboards advertising such fare on Channel 61 as Perry Mason, The Twilight Zone and The Flintstones, and stills from Perry Mason, Hazel, Alan Douglas, I Love Lucy, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, movies and - yep, you guessed it - a 10pm newscast.

With Pat Williams' 1967 recording of "Laia Ladaia (Reza)" heard in the background, we next go to KBHK (now KBCW) Channel 44 in San Francisco which signed on in January 1968, starting off with a shot of the outside of their studio complex. The station was named after Kaiser Broadcasting's founder, Henry J. Kaiser (a picture of whom is shown, with a brief description of the company's history). Shots of local audience-participation programming produced at their studios are shown as examples of their fare of the time, followed by clips of Joe Dolan's weeknight talk show (which followed their 10pm newscast) with Bill Cosby as guest; the opening of an edition of their Charlie Chan Theatre; Oakland A's baseball; San Francisco (later Golden State) Warriors basketball; and children's show host Captain San Francisco (spotlighting a personal appearance he made in a theatre). Other programming on Channel 44 at the time included Hazel, The Honeymooners (a brief shot of the "'Twas the Night Before Christmas" episode), and Steve Allen's 1968-71 talk show. KBHK's transmitter is located atop Mount Sutro, and its sister radio station was KFOG-FM.

The last station spotlighted is KBSC [now Spanish-language Telemundo station - and sister to WSNS Channel 44 - KVEA] Channel 52 in Los Angeles; this film was produced prior to the station's sign-on.

Ending segment with shots of the various stations at work, with the announcer proclaiming, "This is Kaiser Broadcasting," and their "big plans" for programming.

Closing credits with shots of videotape recorders in operation, film editing, receptionist areas, master control, equipment repair, et al.:

For WKBS TV Philadelphia - Tom Rose, Jack Lease, Hardie Mintzer, George Perkins, Glenn Romsos
For WKBD TV Detroit - Marty Salisbury, Doug Knight, Mike Stebbins, Ken Vailliencourt
For WKBG TV Boston - Ernie Whitmeyer, Gaye Amish, Bill Finlay, Ken Flanagan, Steve Korbet
For WKBF TV Cleveland - Lew Wilson, Bart Baker, Dick Bannon, Bruce Geddes
For KBHK TV San Francisco - Bill Furnell, Creagg Bass, Donald Carlsen, George Dakin, William Johnson, Roy Little
Narrator - Joe Hughes, KFOG
Music - Peter V. Taylor, WJIB
Director - William P. Castleman, KBHK
Executive Producer - James T. Lynagh, WKBG
Final production done by KBHK TV San Francisco
This Film Was Produced In Its Entirety By Kaiser Broadcasting
Rating information from ARB and Nielsen. Data subject to qualifications issued by services.

Kaiser Broadcasting

Voiceover by Joe Hughes.

Of course this was never aired, and was just shown privately, but this would date to 1968.

Add To

You must login to add videos to your playlists.