, '''''"NewsChannel5"''''' is the local
ABC Network affiliate in
Cleveland, Ohio . It has been owned by
The E. W. Scripps Company since its inception; the call letters denote the initials of the parent company's founder. Its transmitter is located in
Parma, Ohio . Since the 1990s, the station has been known on-air as '''NewsChannel 5'''.
WEWS first went on the air on
December 17 ,
1947 as the first
Licensed Television station in
Ohio . Its first broadcast was of a Christmas pageant run by the station's corporate cousin, ''The Cleveland Press''. In short order, WEWS became the most modern television station in America. Its staff included capable producers Jim Breslin and Betty Cope (the latter of whom would become president of
WVIZ in
1965 ). In October 1948, WEWS, still Cleveland's only television station, broadcast the
1948 World Series games played in Cleveland between the
Indians and the
Boston Braves . The telecasts were fed to stations throughout the midwest (but could not fed to Boston or the east since there was not yet a coaxial cable connection east of Cleveland).
WEWS was originally a
CBS affiliate with a secondary ABC affiliation, but it lost the affiliation to
WJW-TV in
1955 (after
Storer Broadcasting used its influence with CBS to land the affiliation). In its early days as an ABC affiliate, the station to produce its own shows in the afternoon due to a lack of ABC network programming in that day part. WEWS had a lot of shows to offer, a tradition that would continue for many years.
Among the local programming offered during the 1950s and 1960s was news analysis from Dorothy Fuldheim, children's programming featuring the "Uncle Jake" character played by Gene Carroll and the "
Captain Penny " character played by Ron Penfound, and exercise programs with
Paige Palmer .
Alice Weston had the one of first live television cooking shows, and
Barbara Plummer was "Miss Barbara" for a generation of young viewers on the local version of ''
Romper Room ''.
WEWS also offered a 90-minute afternoon variety show ''
The One O'Clock Club '' weekdays hosted by
Bill Gordon and
Dorothy Fuldheim . The program was so popular that competitor KYW-TV (now
WKYC-TV ) was prompted to organize a competing variety show which was the beginning of ''
The Mike Douglas Show ''.
In the late 1960s and early 1970s, WEWS produced two programs that enjoyed national exposure through syndication. The first program was ''Upbeat''. Considered by some to be one of the most significant early rock and roll TV variety shows, ''Upbeat'' featured a live audience, a group of dancers and live (or lip-synched) performances by the big names of the era. Artists who appeared on ''Upbeat'' included
Aretha Franklin ,
The Beatles ,
Simon And Garfunkel ,
Otis Redding ,
Stevie Wonder and hundreds of others. In fact, Redding's final appearance ever came on the show on
December 9 ,
1967 . The next afternoon, his twin-engine plane crashed in the icy waters of
Lake Monona in
Madison, Wisconsin , killing all but one of the eight passengers on board.
The program began locally as ''The Big 5 Show'', and the name was changed to ''Upbeat'' when it went national, altogether running from
1964 to
1971 . The host was local station personality Don Webster. At its peak, ''Upbeat'' was seen in over 100 television markets.
The other program seen throughout the country was ''Polka Varieties'', an hour-long program of polka music. '' to
1975 , and was syndicated during its later years to 30 television markets. The program featured various popular Polish, Italian and Bohemian-style bands. America's Polka King
Frankie Yankovic was the original band to perform on the show. Other bands included
Richie Vadnal ,
George Staiduhar ,
Markic-Zagger , and
Hank Haller . Original host
Tom Fletcher was replaced by
Paul Wilcox , whose presence became an indelible part of the show.
Until the late 1980s, the station would often pre-empt a few daytime morning ABC shows, but has since run most of the shows on ABC's regular lineup.
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"http://wwwinformationdelightinfo/encyclopedia/entry/1970s" class="copylinks">1970s
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"http://wwwinformationdelightinfo/encyclopedia/entry/1986" class="copylinks">1986 - 1990 , "FIRST IN OHIOTV5!!"
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"http://wwwinformationdelightinfo/encyclopedia/entry/1990" class="copylinks">1990 - 1995 , "NewsChannel 5 Cleveland's Live 24-Hour NewsSource"
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"http://wwwinformationdelightinfo/encyclopedia/entry/1995" class="copylinks">1995 - 1998 , "The most watched newsteam in Ohio NewsChannel 5"
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"http://wwwinformationdelightinfo/encyclopedia/entry/1998" class="copylinks">1998 - 2004 , "NewsChannel 5, Proud to be On Your Side"
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"http://wwwinformationdelightinfo/encyclopedia/entry/Grand_Junction,_CO" class="copylinks">Grand Junction, CO
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