![]() ![]() Benny Carle hosted Western Theatre, a showcase of western films interspersed with studio segments with local children as part of its studio audience that aired from 1953 to 1954, when Carle left to take over Bob Bandy's role as host the similarly formatted Circle Six Ranch on WBRC-TV, where he remained until 1964. In 1969, Holman left WAPI after station management relegated Popeye to weekend mornings, after ratings declined following the show's move to weekday mornings and a switch to a pre-recorded format he revived his program at WHMA-TV (channel 40, now WGWW) in Anniston later that year, as The Cousin Cliff Show. Bingle, a marionette character originated in 1949 by City Stores of New York, for a Loveman's-sponsored holiday series that aired on WAFM-TV in November 1950-in the persona of "Cousin Cliff" (which was given to him by Ward executives as the then-25-year-old was too young to fit the "uncle" image then common among other children's show hosts), and underwent three format and title changes between 19, first as Cliff's Clubhouse (after Ward Baking withdrew sponsorship due to corporate difficulties) and then as Cartoon Clubhouse and later, The Popeye Show, after WAPI acquired the local rights to the Fleischer Studios animated shorts. Magician Cliff Holman hosted a children's program on the station for 15 years from 1954 to 1968 originally debuting in March 1954 as The Tip Top Clubhouse (named after the Ward Baking Company's Tip Top Bread brand), the afternoon cartoon showcase featured Holman-who previously served as the voice and puppeteer of Mr. ![]() The station changed its call letters again in 1958 to WAPI-TV (for Alabama Polytechnic Institute, which owned WAPI radio from 1925 to 1932) to match its sister AM radio station WAFM-FM adopted the WAPI-FM calls at the same time, and received FCC permission to move its frequency to 94.5 FM.Ĭhannel 13 also became known for its heavy schedule of local programs during the 1950s and 1960s, most notably two popular shows aimed at younger audiences hosted by two early staples of Birmingham television. On January 26, 1956, newspaper publishing company Newhouse Newspapers (now Advance Publications) purchased the News. Storer, was a member of the board of directors at CBS). The following year on July 4, 1954, WABT traded primary network affiliations with WBRC-TV (channel 6) and joined NBC however it retained a secondary affiliation with ABC as did WBRC-TV, which took over the CBS affiliation as its then-new owners, Storer Broadcasting, had a strong relationship with the network (the company's founder and chairman, George B. In July 1953, The Birmingham News bought the Voice of Alabama and changed the station's call letters to WABT (for "Alabama's Best Television"). ![]() In January 1953, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approved an application to increase the station's transmitter power from 26,000 to 316,000 watts. During the summer of 1949, most programs aired by WAFM-TV aired during the daytime hours, allowing radio electronics and department stores to demonstrate television set receivers to potential customers. It is the longest continuously operating television station in Alabama. It was originally owned by The Voice of Alabama, Inc., along with radio stations WAPI (1070 AM), and WAFM (then at 93.3, now WJOX-FM at 94.5 FM). The station began carrying select network programming on July 1, operating as a primary CBS and secondary ABC affiliate channel 13 began carrying an expanded schedule of programming from ABC and CBS on October 1. The station first signed on the air on May 29, 1949, as WAFM-TV, originally carrying a limited schedule of local programming. Owned by Hearst Television, the station maintains studios and transmitter facilities atop Red Mountain, between Vulcan Trail and Valley View Drive in southeastern Birmingham, adjacent to the Vulcan Statue and next to the studios of Fox affiliate WBRC (channel 6). WVTM-TV (channel 13) is a television station in Birmingham, Alabama, United States, affiliated with NBC.
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