WNHC-TV New Haven – July 1948 Highlights

On April 10th, 1948 The New York Times reported that the DuMont Network would soon have an affiliate in Connecticut thanks to station WNHC-TV in New Haven [1]. The station was owned by the Elm City Broadcasting Company and the plan was to be on the air roughly by the start of May.

However, the station didn’t start test patterns until early June and wasn’t officially on the air until 6PM on June 15th, 1948 [2]. Even then, it was only broadcasting in a test capacity to ensure that it could successfully relay DuMont programming from New York City.

Here are some daily schedules from early July 1948. Of particular interest to me are the fifteen-minute broadcasts of Mary Kay and Johnny.

Friday, July 2nd, 1948 [3]
10:00AM-12:00PM: Test Pattern
2:00PM-5:00PM: Test Pattern
6:00PM: Small Fry
6:30PM: Russ Hodge’s Scoreboard
6:45PM: Film Shorts
7:30PM: Camera Headlines
7:45PM: Film Shorts
8:00PM: Fashions on Parade

Monday, July 5th, 1948 [4]
5:00PM: Teletunes
6:00PM: Small Fry Club
6:30PM: Russ Hodge’s Scoreboard
6:45PM: Film Shorts
7:00PM: Doorway to Fame
7:30PM: Camera Headlines
7:45PM: Sylvia St. Claire
8:00PM: Film Shorts
8:30PM: Swing Into Sports

Tuesday, July 6th, 1948 [5]
5:00PM: Teletunes
6:00PM: Small Fry Club
6:30PM: Russ Hodge’s Scoreboard
6:45PM: Film Shorts
7:00PM: Alan Dale Show
7:15PM: Mary Kay and Johnny
7:30PM: Camera Headlines
7:40PM: Tele News
8:00PM: Court of Current Issues
9:00PM: Boxing, Jerome Arena

Wednesday, July 7th, 1948 [6]
5:00PM: Teletunes
6:00PM: Small Fry Club
6:30PM: Russ Hodge’s Scoreboard
6:45PM: Film Shorts
7:00PM: Photographic Horizons
7:15PM: Mary Kay and Johnny
7:30PM: Camera Headlines
7:45PM: Film Shorts
8:00PM: School Days with Happy Felton
8:30PM: To Be Announced
9:00PM: Boxing, Jamaica Arena

Sunday, July 11th, 1948 [7]
1:40PM: Baseball Fanfare
2:00PM: Yankees-Washington Baseball Game
5:00PM: Teletunes
6:00PM: Film Shorts
6:30PM: Key to the Missing

On October 5th, 1948 WNHC-TV affiliated itself with CBS in addition to DuMont [8]. I believe the station also carried ABC and NBC programming. Today, as WTNH, it is still on the air in Connecticut as an ABC affiliate.

Works Cited:

1 Gould, Jack. “The News of Radio.” New York Times. 10 Apr. 1948: 28.
2 “WNHC-TV Today Starts Television Broadcasting.” Hartford Courant. 15 Jun. 1958: 1.
3 “Television.” Hartford Courant. 2 Jul. 1948: 18.
4 “Television.” Hartford Courant. 5 Jul. 1948: 5.
5 “Television.” Hartford Courant. 6 Jul. 1948: 16.
6 “Television.” Hartford Courant. 7 Jul. 1948: 7.
7 “Television.” Hartford Courant. 11 Jul. 1948: C9.
8 “Radio and Television.” New York Times. 6 Oct. 1948: 58.

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11 Replies to “WNHC-TV New Haven – July 1948 Highlights”

  1. Long shot here but can anyone help me find a record that charted localy in 1970 by the Hopkins Bros- “your kiss of fire” on the Magnetic lable ?, many thanks, Arthur.

  2. We could receive two VHF stations in Hampden, MA (east of Springfield) in the late 1950s: Channel 8 in New Haven and Channel 3 in Hartford.

    Channel 8 broadcasts included a crisp trumpet piece that I can still hear in my mind, possibly in connection with the local news show.

    Does anyone have a recording of that trumpet piece or know what it was called? (When I “hear” this piece I also “see” very clearly one of the station personalities, a guy with glasses — it’s amazing how distant childhood memories can remain intact.)

  3. Does anyone on channel 8 recall ” Man on the Street” showed between 5:00- 6:00 pm. I was 5 years old in 1950 and my dad was interviewed live during this segment. We watched this faithfully. Back then we had only three channels on television, I remember the #6 in the center of the test pattern. Congratulations for broadcasting 70 years. Glad I was able to follow you all these years. Sincerely, Roberta Pupecki

  4. WNHC (now WTNH) was originally on Channel 6, but moved to Channel 8 in late 1953 due to interference it would get south of New York City with WFIL (now WPVI), Philadelphia.

    The change opened the way for Channel 6 to be eventually reallocted to New Bedford, Massachusetts (in the Providence market).

  5. Back in 1957 or 1958, WNHC had a televised Babysitting Course connected with the West Haven Community House and I, Elizabeth or Betsy Brooks of West Haven CT was the babysitter. I would love to be able to get some information or pictures from that time. The course ran about 8 weeks. I was wondering if you would have this information in your archives. I would really appreciate your help in this matter.

  6. Do you still have a segment from 2009 of constance Richardson and her daughter Antoinette modeling her invention of her circular hand made scarf 2008 showcasing her hand loom weaving and crocheting items ?
    Thank you
    Constance Richardson

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