Almost 60 years of broadcasting
By Laura Hand
Tuesday, June 30, 2009 at 7:48 p.m.
As we wrap up the transition from analog to digital broadcasting, we thought it would be fun to look at other broadcasting milestones.
Amazingly, there are no pictures--just newspaper stories, from when Channel 3 turned on power for the first time in 1950.
Post-World War II Syracuse was booming, with engineers from the growing GE plant in Liverpool called in to help hand-tool the equipment that made us one of the first 100 TV stations to go on the air in the United States.
And Tuesday night programming, the Milton Berle Show and Kraft Theatre, were incentives for people to go out and buy sets to watch.
Channel 3 started on the 7th floor of a downtown Syracuse office building, and then moved to a converted downtown garage. But, as we grew our operation to include more remotes and local broadcasts, we looked to build our own home.
Our studios at 1030 James were dedicated in 1958 (again, no video!), and gave us the room to do lots of live, local programs including 'Ladies' Day' and local news, which started with a couple-minutes 'cast by Fred Hillegas, who retired from Channel 3 in 1972.
