WBZ-TV 35th Anniversary -- June 9, 1983 -- Part 1

This sequence contains excerpts from a live special that WBZ-TV/Boston aired on the occasion of the station's 35th anniversary in 1983. It is from an off-air VHS recording.
The filmed portions of this special were originally produced for Channel 4's 30th birthday in 1978 by Counterproductions, Inc.
Barry Nolan and Sara Edwards from "Evening Magazine" are the hosts.
All rights are acknowledged.

[@jcice3]

I can't get enough of these local station retrospective specials - great quality, too! I'd love to see more - keep 'em coming!

[@musicom67]

TV History would otherwise be lost if it weren't for the few with the foresight to save it and present it to us in the future to enjoy and learn about our otherwise forgotten past. Keep it coming!

[@radiochenlot]

Oh my. That's a sad loss of good TV history.

[@VintageTelevision]

To this point, I am aware of a local TV station that discarded a treasure trove of videotapes and kinescopes after completion of a 1970s anniversary special. The area of the building where this library was stored was converted to a lunchroom. Back then, I suppose there was little thought given to the historical and nostalgic value of the old recordings; and since representative clips were used in the special, the original material was considered a burden to retain.

[@VintageTelevision]

It's been said that younger people generally have little interest in what occurred before they were born. That aside, I think few local TV anniversary specials are produced today because they'd embarrass the stations. The majority of them abandoned local programming by the early 1990s. A retrospective made today would carry the message: "Look at all the great stuff we did in our first 40 years. Since then, we've just been a conduit for the network feed, syndicated shows and infomercials."

[@rellik187redrum]

I still can hardly believe that we send waves of media through thin air and watch and listen to them elsewhere without wires.

[@wtglb]

@VintageTelevision - You hit the nail on the head, local TV used to actually be local. WBZ-TV now a days is downright awful, I have a tough time watching it anymore.

[@altfactor]

I've heard an urban legend that WBZ actually produced a 50th anniversary special in 1998 which was only a little bit about the station's beginnings, but was mostly about major news events in Boston from 1948 through 1998 with footage from the station's news film and videotape archives. For some reason, the special was reportedly scrapped after it was finished.

[@tkaye2]

We're also lucky that the first of the big anniversaries (25, 30, 35 years) took place after the dawn of the home video era so that the retrospectives could be recorded and shared here. So many of them were major undertakings with live broadcasts, extensive research and interviews that must have taken months to prepare.

[@wmbrown6]

From what I could tell, the WBZ test pattern seen around 6:07 was only in use for its first year or two on the air, then it was replaced by a test pattern design that would later be adapted for color in the mid-to-late 1960's.

[@wmbrown6]

I think another factor, besides what y'all mentioned, was that many stations have actually gutted their video and kinescope archives, so that in such cases the only remnants of said stations' pasts are what individual viewers taped in the years since the home video revolution.

[@MarkMichaelSalin]

I hope more and more stations will do a KOFY-TV20: local programming that keeps on increasing overtime.

[@tkaye2]

In the late '70s and early '80s, a large percentage of the viewing audience had actually been alive in the mid to late 1940s, so there was marketing value in the nostalgia. That element is basically gone, station budgets for special projects are virtually non-existent today, and interest in history has generally been declining with each generation. I think those factors are why we haven't seen many productions like this in recent years.

[@vladaldu6590]

very nice quality

[@ryan9570]

r.i.p. Wilmer C Swartley original station manager. he passed away on 1-23-13 at the ripe old age of 104!

[@videonitekatt]

I agree 200%!

[@videonitekatt]

Which station? :(

[@UnrelatedArchives]

Yeah, nothing to celebrate their 60th year. So yeah!