The "Circuit Rider" was my great Uncle Billy Liverman. He and his wife and show producer Thelma were wonderful people and we always loved it when they came to visit us in Cofield, NC.
WYAH-TV was never an 'all-Christian', all-religious television station as it is common on many others today. The station was on a few hours each day programming travel film shorts and a couple of locally produced religious programs. In 1966, M.G. 'Pat' Robertson turned the station into a mostly secular station featuring typical fare most independent stations offered, but in a family-themed environment which would later serve as a model for other stations Mr. Robertson would start in Atlanta, Dallas, Boston, before selling the stations in the late 1980s-early 1990s. CBN held on to KXTX channel 39 until 2000 when it was sold to NBC-Universal. WYAH is now WGNT owned by Dreamcatcher Broadcasting (operated through a shared services agreement by Tribune Broadcasting.) I love the WYAH test pattern at the end! Thanks for posting.
+bossradio930 Until 1967 TV 27 WYAH was only Christian programmming but only on the air about 5 hours a day. In 1967 WYAH began a couple low budget travel film shorts and Of Land & Seas an hour a day still 5 hours a day of religious shows. They were about 6 hours a day by 1968 with a couple other shows like Beaver and Fury but still that occupied 2 hours a day and Christian shows were about 5 hours. They remained this way till 1972. They began evolving into a regular independent the fall of 1972. By then they had about 8 hours a day of programming. They ran yesterdays 700 Club at 2, a mix of shows like Jeff's Collie, Fury, and Flipper in the 4 PM hour, then Bugs Bunny at 5, New Zoo Revue at 530, Jim & Tammy at 6, shows like Beaver and Mr Ed at 7, various televangelists at 8, and the new 700 Club episode at 10 and off by 12. Sundays they were all Christian. In January of 1973 they began Noon sign on and were Secular by 2 PM till Jim & Tammy at 6, back to secular at 7, back to Christian at 8 and off by 12 Midnight. They added Popeye, Little Rascals, Rifleman, Gilligan's Island, and a few other shows and were running cartoons in the 3 PM hour. Jim & Tammy left in February of 73 to help Paulk Crouch start TBN *which Jim and Tammy would leave a year later). At the same time the station began 10 AM sign on. By the summer of 73 they were on at 9 AM. In the Fall of 73 they were a full blown independent commercial station on the air at 6:30 AM with Paul harvy. 7 to 10 they had Popeye, Casper, Bugs Bunny, Flintstones, Dennis The Menace, Lassie, Flipper, 700 Club at 10, New Zoo Revue at 12, From 1230-3 they had Riflemen, Lone Ranger, Cisco Kid, Roy Rogers, Fury. At 3 to 6 they had Bugs Bunny, Poepye, Little Rasscals, Flintstones, Dennis The Menace, Leave It To Beaver. Evenings they had Gilligan's Island, Mister Ed, Green Acres, father Knows Best, and at 8 Star Trek. They had 700 Club at 9, Bonanza at 11, and an old movie at midnight. As years went on theya dded shows like I Love Lucy, Brady Bunch, more cartoons, more comedy shows like any other indie. They were all Christian Sundays until October of 1980.
Great history on channel 27. Keep in mind, M.G. 'Pat' Robertson loved westerns as his favorite genre of movies and television. Thanks again! Same type scheduling was found on stations CBN owned in Atlanta, Boston and Dallas, TX. I would love to run a station like that and keep only one or two religious (Christian) programs (daily or weekly) and add some sports if available.
I think this test pattern came after sign-off before the color bars replaced it; notice that inside the inner circle is text. In the upper-left there's 'WYAH-TV Portsmouth, Va' and 'Channel 27' in the lower-right.
I live at least 30 miles south of Portsmouth south of the NC/VA border, never really heard of CBN until recently when I toured the campus of Regent University in VA Beach, the college being the main studio HQ for CBN, this is quite interesting seeing this
An interesting note: CBN got its start on this station as Pat Robinson purchased this station in 1961 before he became famous. The 700 club got it's start as a locally produced program on the station before it was syndicated nationally. and in a way Jim and Tammy Baker got their start on the station.
+PGMEagle 700 Club began with the station sign on but did not get the name till about 1965. It would air live at 9 PM originally and stay on for 2 hours but sometimes it went as long as 4 hours. Beginning in 1970 it was rebroadcast at 3 PM the next day and then 2 Pm by 71, 1 PM by 72, 10 AM in 1973. It was trimmed to exactly 2 hours by 1972. It was syndicated in a few test markets in 1972 but nationally in teh Fall of 1974 when it was trimmed to 90 minutes and also offered in a 60 minute edition for stronger commercial stations. Jim Bakker left TV 27 and CBN in 1973 to join Paul Crouch to start TBN. They left TBN a year later and moved to Charlotte to begin their PTL Club with help of Ted Turner who owned TV 36 and offered them free airtime 10-noon weekdays and 2 hours Saturday since that slot was hgard to sell. Bakker grew from there.
CBN also had direct roots in the Rural Radio Network of long-range FM stations throughout the rural parts of New York (but rimshotted cities like Buffalo, Rochester and Albany). Robertson bought the network in 1969 and operated them until dispensing of the stations, one by one, in the early 1980s.
Hi Bill, Enjoyed seeing your history of this station. Who did the voiceover for the sign off? Was it Jim Woodland? Sort of sounds like him from what I remember. Thanks for the memories of what was a pretty decent station back in it's better days.
![KXJB Valley City, ND - Final Edition & Sign-off [November 7, 1979]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/XWed3jfCmOY/mqdefault.jpg)
![KXJB Valley City, ND - Final Edition & Sign-off [November 7, 1979]](/img/tr.png)
The "Circuit Rider" was my great Uncle Billy Liverman. He and his wife and show producer Thelma were wonderful people and we always loved it when they came to visit us in Cofield, NC.
The Circuit RIder was also shown on one of the Richmond stations in the 1970s. Fond memories. Thanks for posting.
I'd like to say that wxex abc 8 did this also
It was WWBT 12! WXEX 8 had Insperation! Clergy from Petersburgh!
From Richmond, VA. I remember this being on after the networks shut down. Late at night into the am.
thank you!I have been searching for this1excellent!!
WYAH-TV was never an 'all-Christian', all-religious television station as it is common on many others today. The station was on a few hours each day programming travel film shorts and a couple of locally produced religious programs. In 1966, M.G. 'Pat' Robertson turned the station into a mostly secular station featuring typical fare most independent stations offered, but in a family-themed environment which would later serve as a model for other stations Mr. Robertson would start in Atlanta, Dallas, Boston, before selling the stations in the late 1980s-early 1990s. CBN held on to KXTX channel 39 until 2000 when it was sold to NBC-Universal. WYAH is now WGNT owned by Dreamcatcher Broadcasting (operated through a shared services agreement by Tribune Broadcasting.) I love the WYAH test pattern at the end! Thanks for posting.
+bossradio930 Until 1967 TV 27 WYAH was only Christian programmming but only on the air about 5 hours a day. In 1967 WYAH began a couple low budget travel film shorts and Of Land & Seas an hour a day still 5 hours a day of religious shows. They were about 6 hours a day by 1968 with a couple other shows like Beaver and Fury but still that occupied 2 hours a day and Christian shows were about 5 hours. They remained this way till 1972. They began evolving into a regular independent the fall of 1972. By then they had about 8 hours a day of programming. They ran yesterdays 700 Club at 2, a mix of shows like Jeff's Collie, Fury, and Flipper in the 4 PM hour, then Bugs Bunny at 5, New Zoo Revue at 530, Jim & Tammy at 6, shows like Beaver and Mr Ed at 7, various televangelists at 8, and the new 700 Club episode at 10 and off by 12. Sundays they were all Christian. In January of 1973 they began Noon sign on and were Secular by 2 PM till Jim & Tammy at 6, back to secular at 7, back to Christian at 8 and off by 12 Midnight. They added Popeye, Little Rascals, Rifleman, Gilligan's Island, and a few other shows and were running cartoons in the 3 PM hour. Jim & Tammy left in February of 73 to help Paulk Crouch start TBN *which Jim and Tammy would leave a year later). At the same time the station began 10 AM sign on. By the summer of 73 they were on at 9 AM. In the Fall of 73 they were a full blown independent commercial station on the air at 6:30 AM with Paul harvy. 7 to 10 they had Popeye, Casper, Bugs Bunny, Flintstones, Dennis The Menace, Lassie, Flipper, 700 Club at 10, New Zoo Revue at 12, From 1230-3 they had Riflemen, Lone Ranger, Cisco Kid, Roy Rogers, Fury. At 3 to 6 they had Bugs Bunny, Poepye, Little Rasscals, Flintstones, Dennis The Menace, Leave It To Beaver. Evenings they had Gilligan's Island, Mister Ed, Green Acres, father Knows Best, and at 8 Star Trek. They had 700 Club at 9, Bonanza at 11, and an old movie at midnight. As years went on theya dded shows like I Love Lucy, Brady Bunch, more cartoons, more comedy shows like any other indie. They were all Christian Sundays until October of 1980.
Great history on channel 27. Keep in mind, M.G. 'Pat' Robertson loved westerns as his favorite genre of movies and television. Thanks again! Same type scheduling was found on stations CBN owned in Atlanta, Boston and Dallas, TX. I would love to run a station like that and keep only one or two religious (Christian) programs (daily or weekly) and add some sports if available.
I think this test pattern came after sign-off before the color bars replaced it; notice that inside the inner circle is text. In the upper-left there's 'WYAH-TV Portsmouth, Va' and 'Channel 27' in the lower-right.
I live at least 30 miles south of Portsmouth south of the NC/VA border, never really heard of CBN until recently when I toured the campus of Regent University in VA Beach, the college being the main studio HQ for CBN, this is quite interesting seeing this
John Roberts yes it is. I live just down the street from it
An interesting note:
CBN got its start on this station as Pat Robinson purchased this station in 1961 before he became famous. The 700 club got it's start as a locally produced program on the station before it was syndicated nationally. and in a way Jim and Tammy Baker got their start on the station.
+PGMEagle 700 Club began with the station sign on but did not get the name till about 1965. It would air live at 9 PM originally and stay on for 2 hours but sometimes it went as long as 4 hours. Beginning in 1970 it was rebroadcast at 3 PM the next day and then 2 Pm by 71, 1 PM by 72, 10 AM in 1973. It was trimmed to exactly 2 hours by 1972. It was syndicated in a few test markets in 1972 but nationally in teh Fall of 1974 when it was trimmed to 90 minutes and also offered in a 60 minute edition for stronger commercial stations. Jim Bakker left TV 27 and CBN in 1973 to join Paul Crouch to start TBN. They left TBN a year later and moved to Charlotte to begin their PTL Club with help of Ted Turner who owned TV 36 and offered them free airtime 10-noon weekdays and 2 hours Saturday since that slot was hgard to sell. Bakker grew from there.
CBN also had direct roots in the Rural Radio Network of long-range FM stations throughout the rural parts of New York (but rimshotted cities like Buffalo, Rochester and Albany). Robertson bought the network in 1969 and operated them until dispensing of the stations, one by one, in the early 1980s.
Yes before he became a man who earned hundreds of millions spreading hate and lies.
WYAH TV is now WGNT CW 27
Memories...............
I consider myself as a Unitarian Universalist.
RIP Pat Robertson
Hi Bill, Enjoyed seeing your history of this station. Who did the voiceover for the sign off? Was it Jim Woodland? Sort of sounds like him from what I remember.
Thanks for the memories of what was a pretty decent station back in it's better days.
I think someone had mentioned Bob Walker, but I'm not sure if he goes back that far. I don't think it was Jim Woodland.
Hallelujah amen
WHRO 15 Closing 2006
man i really love this jesuscrist i really love this person of catholic
Link up