Between 1979 and 1988, all three TV stations in Knoxville, TN went through musical affiliation chairs! WATE Channel 6 went from NBC to ABC, WTVK Channel 26 went from ABC to NBC, and WBIR Channel 10 stayed with CBS! Then, nine years later, in 1988, WATE stayed with ABC, WBIR went from CBS to NBC, and WTVK went from NBC to CBS and became WKXT Channel 8! It is now WVLT on Channel 8!
The next two people in line for King Witvik's throne (WTVK-TV 26, 1953-1988): * King Wixty (WKXT-TV 8, 1988-1997) * King Volt (WVLT-TV 8, 1997-present)
1979: WTVK (Ch. 26) changed from ABC to NBC. WATE (Ch. 6) changed from NBC to ABC. WBIR (Ch. 10) remained with CBS. 1988: WBIR (Ch. 10) changed from CBS to NBC. WTVK (Ch. 26) changed from NBC to CBS. Swapped channels from 26 to 8 in 1988. WATE (Ch. 6) remained affiliated with ABC.
Turns out, WATE DID NOT become the winner as they said they would at the end. It was WBIR who became the BIG BIG BIG BIG winner. WBIR to this day has the largest news team in Eastern TN, and is consistently been the #1 news station in that area. as for WTVK, along with the move to CBS, they went through a few call letter changes, to WKXT and then to WVLT and a move to Channel 8 (somewhat short spaced to Atlanta-Athens GA (WGTV)) and would become in a heated 2nd place race with WATE.
They seemed to think WATE would benefit from the confusion that would come from their competition swapping networks. How wrong they were; WBIR only got stronger after switching to NBC.
It wasn't JUST the highly-rated prime time programming on NBC, like The Cosby Show, Cheers, The Golden Girls, Night Court, and L.A. Law, that made WBIR the strongest station in Knoxville, nor was it Action 10 News. It was also around that time when WBIR acquired top-rated syndicated shows like The Oprah Winfrey Show, Wheel of Fortune, and Jeopardy!, and to add it all up, it's no wonder WBIR is #1 in East Tennessee!
Actually King Witvix retired to sunny West Palm Beach, Florida, and now King Wivelt rules over that part of the kingdom of Heartland... en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WTVX
0:24 Ok so far its making sense in terms of the colored eggs, Gold Egg being ABC, Silver Egg being CBS, and Lead Egg being NBC (matching up with the Ratings of the networks around 1979) but at 1:02 when it says that the ABC would turn from Gold back to lead, that isn't true. Sure, in the 80's ABC wasn't #1, but they weren't in last place, that was CBS, so the ABC egg would have turned to Silver and the CBS egg would turn to Lead. At 1:14 its correct about the the NBC egg going from Lead to Gold (as NBC was seeing a huge comeback in the mid-late 80s) but at 1:19 WBIR 10 would not be the strongest in Television Land, as that CBS egg should be lead, so at 1:47 they are assuming the NBC egg would turn to lead again, but NBC will very quickly become the strongest network, and absolutely dominate in the 90s. So at the end they say WATE 6 would rule Television land again, but actually WBIR 10 would be the real winner as they have the strongest network, WTVK 26 (later Channel 8) would be the big loser with the bottom rated network, and WATE 6 would be in the happy middle ground. Btw this is all just talking about the Networks each channel had, not taking into account the ratings of Newscasts or Syndicated Programs Yeah, I just typed all that, I am THAT bored with this whole Coronavirus and "Shelter in Place" stuff going on as of 3-27-2020
But I thought WATE 6 was already an ABC affiliate before 1988, starting in 1979. WBIR 10 was a CBS Affiliate and WTVK 26/WVLT 8 was an NBC affiliate until those two swapped stations in 1988.
All the major tv stations in Knoxville are owned by out of town companies , WVLT and WATE for a short period of time was owned by the same company but because of FCC regulations they had to sell off one of the stations , I'm not sure which station the company kept
When WROL came on the air in 1953 they were a radio station affiliated with NBC radio so they went with the NBC tv network, WTVK came on a few hours later and CBS went with them , since WTVK was a very weak station when WBIR came on the air in 1956 CBS moved to WBIR, in 1979 ABC became the number one network and wanted a stronger station in Knoxville since NBC was in third place WATE went with ABC, NBC became the number one network in the 80s and wanted a stronger station , by this time WTVK had won the rights to broadcast on channel 8 but had trouble switching signals and the switch to 8 was delayed , because of this plus WBIR dominating the local news NBC switched to WBIR , after the switch WTVK changed its calls letters to WKXT , in 1997 Gray Television bought WKXT and changed the call letters to WVLT
Because Fox didn't yet have a TV network when WTNZ (then WKCH) signed on on December 31, 1983 as an independent station. Fox didn't get into the TV Network business until October 9, 1986. WKCH became a Fox TV Network affiliate a year later in 1987. But before that time, Fox was only in the motion picture business and they also had a music record label (20th Century Fox Records) back in the 1970's, but that side of it went bankrupt around 1978.
Between 1979 and 1988, all three TV stations in Knoxville, TN went through musical affiliation chairs! WATE Channel 6 went from NBC to ABC, WTVK Channel 26 went from ABC to NBC, and WBIR Channel 10 stayed with CBS! Then, nine years later, in 1988, WATE stayed with ABC, WBIR went from CBS to NBC, and WTVK went from NBC to CBS and became WKXT Channel 8! It is now WVLT on Channel 8!
The next two people in line for King Witvik's throne (WTVK-TV 26, 1953-1988):
* King Wixty (WKXT-TV 8, 1988-1997)
* King Volt (WVLT-TV 8, 1997-present)
And one strong female ruler named Empress Keachy (WKCH-TV 43, 1983-1988).
1:32 King BIR didn't nerf King WTVK's crown like King WATE did
King BIR won due to his Syndication
The story now 26 years later is Channel 8 is fighting with Channel 6 in Knoxville for #2
1:33 WTVK Became An CBS Affiliate
1979:
WTVK (Ch. 26) changed from ABC to NBC.
WATE (Ch. 6) changed from NBC to ABC.
WBIR (Ch. 10) remained with CBS.
1988:
WBIR (Ch. 10) changed from CBS to NBC.
WTVK (Ch. 26) changed from NBC to CBS. Swapped channels from 26 to 8 in 1988.
WATE (Ch. 6) remained affiliated with ABC.
Turns out, WATE DID NOT become the winner as they said they would at the end.
It was WBIR who became the BIG BIG BIG BIG winner.
WBIR to this day has the largest news team in Eastern TN, and is consistently been the #1 news station in that area.
as for WTVK, along with the move to CBS, they went through a few call letter changes, to WKXT and then to WVLT and a move to Channel 8 (somewhat short spaced to Atlanta-Athens GA (WGTV)) and would become in a heated 2nd place race with WATE.
And WBIR certainly thanks the NBC peacock for making it the true winner!
They seemed to think WATE would benefit from the confusion that would come from their competition swapping networks. How wrong they were; WBIR only got stronger after switching to NBC.
It wasn't JUST the highly-rated prime time programming on NBC, like The Cosby Show, Cheers, The Golden Girls, Night Court, and L.A. Law, that made WBIR the strongest station in Knoxville, nor was it Action 10 News. It was also around that time when WBIR acquired top-rated syndicated shows like The Oprah Winfrey Show, Wheel of Fortune, and Jeopardy!, and to add it all up, it's no wonder WBIR is #1 in East Tennessee!
@@thisguyhere6641This would hold true until Tegnification happened decades later…
@@thisguyhere6641 I remember channel 6 having Oprah.
Boy, it looked more like a hot potato game. With NBC as the potato. All three stations changed affiliations.
1:50 King Bir had Forgotten how greed Caused King Wate's Kingdom to Crumple
*CUE KING WATE'S KINGDOM BEING PIXELATED*
This was from 1988...but they still used the pre-1986 NBC logo?
A very few stations actually used the old nbc logo until 1988, like WTOV-TV
What about the Independent Tv stations?
Fox 43 used to be WKCH, an independent
"Uh-oh, here comes the peacock." - WBIR
own by tegna
Of course, at the time, NBC was at the top of their game as the #1 network. :D
So WBIR was more than happy to align with NBC then. :D
"Becaw!" - Peter The NBC Peacock.
Did WTVK actually air this? It’s awesome.
no this was an internal WATE production, likely for an employee Xmas party
King "Wit-vik" is now King "Wivelt".
Of course, from 1988 to 1997, he was King "Wuh-kixt". :D
Actually King Witvix retired to sunny West Palm Beach, Florida, and now King Wivelt rules over that part of the kingdom of Heartland...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WTVX
And for a VERY short time, he was King “Wuh-tisk.”
Actualy, WVLT-TV 8 is "King Volt."
@@StringedGuitar17 King Tisk
When did WVLT became a VHF station
September 10, 1988
Now back on UHF 30 virtual 8
@@senormedia WATE is now on WTVK's former channel UHF 26 virtual 6 since the DTV transition. I find that strange.
0:24 Ok so far its making sense in terms of the colored eggs, Gold Egg being ABC, Silver Egg being CBS, and Lead Egg being NBC (matching up with the Ratings of the networks around 1979) but at 1:02 when it says that the ABC would turn from Gold back to lead, that isn't true. Sure, in the 80's ABC wasn't #1, but they weren't in last place, that was CBS, so the ABC egg would have turned to Silver and the CBS egg would turn to Lead. At 1:14 its correct about the the NBC egg going from Lead to Gold (as NBC was seeing a huge comeback in the mid-late 80s) but at 1:19 WBIR 10 would not be the strongest in Television Land, as that CBS egg should be lead, so at 1:47 they are assuming the NBC egg would turn to lead again, but NBC will very quickly become the strongest network, and absolutely dominate in the 90s. So at the end they say WATE 6 would rule Television land again, but actually WBIR 10 would be the real winner as they have the strongest network, WTVK 26 (later Channel 8) would be the big loser with the bottom rated network, and WATE 6 would be in the happy middle ground. Btw this is all just talking about the Networks each channel had, not taking into account the ratings of Newscasts or Syndicated Programs
Yeah, I just typed all that, I am THAT bored with this whole Coronavirus and "Shelter in Place" stuff going on as of 3-27-2020
well the video was made in the mid-80s, so the NBC resurgence was still a ways away.
But I thought WATE 6 was already an ABC affiliate before 1988, starting in 1979. WBIR 10 was a CBS Affiliate and WTVK 26/WVLT 8 was an NBC affiliate until those two swapped stations in 1988.
WATE now own by nexstar
And King Wate has been overthrown by Perry the Psychopath.
@@blatheringblathers347 hahaha yeah
Mørty The Yeemø Guess what? The station itself just got the latest Nexstar graphics. That means WKRN and WJHL are possibly next.
All the major tv stations in Knoxville are owned by out of town companies , WVLT and WATE for a short period of time was owned by the same company but because of FCC regulations they had to sell off one of the stations , I'm not sure which station the company kept
Now you know why viewers are not satisfied with everything!
wate abc 6 owned by nexstar media group
When WROL came on the air in 1953 they were a radio station affiliated with NBC radio so they went with the NBC tv network, WTVK came on a few hours later and CBS went with them , since WTVK was a very weak station when WBIR came on the air in 1956 CBS moved to WBIR, in 1979 ABC became the number one network and wanted a stronger station in Knoxville since NBC was in third place WATE went with ABC, NBC became the number one network in the 80s and wanted a stronger station , by this time WTVK had won the rights to broadcast on channel 8 but had trouble switching signals and the switch to 8 was delayed , because of this plus WBIR dominating the local news NBC switched to WBIR , after the switch WTVK changed its calls letters to WKXT , in 1997 Gray Television bought WKXT and changed the call letters to WVLT
nbc was on all of the big three stations in knoxville, first is wrol/wate, second is wtvk/wkxt/wvlt and now wbir.
In Knoxville the usually best ratings are:
1. WBIR
2. WATE (Somehow for whatever reason)
3. WVLT
WBIR news is mostly human interest hokiness.
@@dustinolvey8877 So is WATE, but no one complains about that
wtvk wate wbir
nbc-cbs
NBC-abc
abc-cbs
after the switch from WTVK 26 now channel 8 WKXT now WVLT CBS
Gray tv bought channel 8 in 1997 and changed the call letters to WVLT
Why wasn’t fox there?
WTNZ (then WKCH) had just signed on five years earlier. Also, FOX had just gotten started two years earlier.
Because Fox didn't yet have a TV network when WTNZ (then WKCH) signed on on December 31, 1983 as an independent station. Fox didn't get into the TV Network business until October 9, 1986. WKCH became a Fox TV Network affiliate a year later in 1987. But before that time, Fox was only in the motion picture business and they also had a music record label (20th Century Fox Records) back in the 1970's, but that side of it went bankrupt around 1978.
@@robbiestewart89 But WKCH end their independence in 1988.