There he was, at the age of six, pretending to smoke. Already addicted to radio, he soon would be introduced to the movies, then to television, after which there would be no putting the genie back into the bottle. He would be hooked for life. Was his life very different from your own? Read the memoir of your Webmaster's early days.
Memoir >>
In 1979, celebrating its third decade on the air, the station printed a booklet of photos of over 100 on- and off-air people at Channel 3 and many of the CBS stars of the past. How many can you identify? (PDF)
View booklet >>
Back when local TV stations had the resources and incentives to produce local entertainment programs, WBTV had an abundance of both. Very frequently, interoffice memos like this one would circulate, giving credit to those who'd gone beyond the call of duty.
Read the memo >>
Jim Scancarelli, former WBTV artist, nationally-known cartoonist and frequent contributor to this site, has come through once again, not unlike a champ, contributing this recent original illustration, a tribute to the impact of radio on his and all our lives.
See it here and now >>
It's hard to believe! It's been 10 years since we whiled away the nighttime hours listening to Henry Boggan's call-in show. Remember Queenie the goose? And Henry's favorite song, "White Azaleas?" Near the end of his career at WBT he had the Briarhoppers on for an hour, and we've acquired a recording of the show.
Look and listen >>
What happened on Aunt Sally's program that fateful Saturday in 1941? What planets aligned to connect a sweet, gentle story-teller and a mysterious and violent purveyor of frontier justice? The answer may be as near as your breadbox.
The Birthday Party >>
In August 1957 the Radio Corporation of America (RCA) devoted a huge chunk of its prestigious monthly magazine Broadcast News to a cover story on WBT-WBTV's new facilities on West Morehead Street (which, not coincidently, was chock full of RCA equipment).
RCA magazine >>
Art knew, Promotion knew, Projection knew...but did you know what a hassle it was to get all those still graphics and photos on the air?
Find out >>
On Wednesday nights mayhem was committed in Studio 2. Large men would pummel each other before mobs of wild-eyed, howling fanatics. Director Gene Birke remembers how it was.
Wrasslin' >>
Read all eight pages of the 1943 newsletter called "WBTattler," edited by sportsman Jack Knell. You'll see a few familiar names and learn something of the staff.
WBTattler >>
Cram a radio station (not including the transmitter) into a space half the size of a jail cell, and you have WBT-FM of 1962.
Box >>
Can you imagine advertising the test pattern? That's exactly what WBTV did in the summer of 1949.
Ads >>
A couple of items from "Audio-Graphs," one of WBT's news letters from the 1960s.
Newsletter >>
Erv passed away on August 23, 2004. Here's his obituary from the Clayton (Ga.) tribune, and some additional information on Erv and his life from Richard Waters, his friend and colleague. Richard was a WBT-WBTV newsman in the '60s.
Obituary >>
Shortly before Loonis McGlohan died from a long bout with cancer, John Reichard wrote him this letter reminding Loonis of a prank he had played on John years ago.
Letter to Loonis >>
Over the years hundred of cultural, educational and religious organizations, and individuals, benefitted from Jefferson's contributions, on and off the air. We would read about them in a periodical called Power For The People. Here's the one from January, 1967.
Power >>
In the mid-70s Mike McKay hosted this Friday night hour-and-a-half of comic antics and old episodes from network series like "Have Gun Will Travel" and "Love That Bob." Here's a Charlotte News article about the show and its creators.
News article >>
What a lineup! Maude, Hawaii 5-0, Carol Burnett, Sonny & Cher, Mary Tyler Moore, Gunsmoke. And locally, Betty Feezor, Pat Lee, Tommy Faile, Whistle Stop, Fred Kirby and any number of specials. See the program schedule and photos of just 15 of WBTV's personalities from over 30 years ago. (PDF)
Reminisce >>
Dennis Phillips shares the reaction he had to a short visit he made to WBTV in July 1986 after an 11-year absence, and to the news he'd just received of the death of Jim Patterson.
Letter to Vivian Harris >>
A tiny footnote in the history of Jefferson Standard Broadcasting leads to an investigation of certain FBI files and a look back at the role of breakfast cereal box tops in radio and print advertising. How did a young lawyer from Florence, S. C. become a cultural icon? Does an organization called The Junior G-Men Club ring a bell?
Drop that gun >>
In the mid 1950s WBT engineer Bill Hicklin wrote a history of the station from the aspect of its transmitters and antennas, from the time of experimental station 4XD in the '20s in a neighborhood chicken house to the up-to-date WBT in its last days in the Wilder Building.
Don't miss this >>
Can't remember that person's name in the sales department? What was Ty Boyd's real given name? In what department did Yvonne Spaulding work? Forgotten your own phone number from 24 years ago? Fret no more, for here, provided by that resourceful Ken Helms, is—in amazing PDF format— the official Jefferson-Pilot Broadcasting Phone Directory for that semi-wonderful year...(drum roll)...1981.
Look it up >>
How did the story go? Did a WBT DJ really cause a famous bandleader to come out of retirement? And what was the song behind it all? Read the story and hear the song.
Heartaches >>
Gregg Pell offers a short history in words and pictures of WBTV news department's conversion from film to tape/live methodology.
ENG >>
Return with us to those thrilling days of yesteryear (1941), and learn--dare we reveal the secret?--about a concealed coded message and how it came to be deciphered by an ordinary housewife.
On, big fellow >>
An extraordinary promotion piece from 1936. Not from WBT, but it conveys very nicely what a god-send radio was to the average American.
What Radio Means >>
Clint Pressley has some fond memories of working on the floor crew at WBTV and Jefferson
Production.
Floor Crew-alty >>
So many of our co-workers have passed away in the years since we were together. As you read this list, spend a moment reflecting on the ones you knew and loved.
In Memoriam >>
Our "announcing" staff was as large and as talented as any station's in the country. Here are some of their caricatures.
caricatures >>
Bob Storck, known as "Bitty Bird" by his friends at WBTV in the '60s, was a projectionist in the film room, a member of the floor crew and a cameraman in the news department (not at the same time, of course). He has some entertaining memories and photos of those years.
File >>
In its 2007 session the North Carolina General Assembly passed a Joint Resolution that acknowledged "the importance of the musical group known as the Briarhoppers, which provided family entertainment from the studios of Charlotte's WBT Radio, and honor[ed] the memory of former Briarhopper members and the group's founder." Read the actual resolution and the speech made before the Assembly by Hon. Cullie M. Tarleton, Representative of North Carolina's 93rd district.
Resolution >>
Not the TV series, the CBS radio series. Every week for nine years over WBT, William Conrad, as Matt Dillon, U.S. Marshal, uttered these unforgettable words: "It's a chancy job, that makes a man watchful...and a little lonely." Here's a story with photos and audio of one of the cast's free-wheeling rehearsals in 1956.
Read, look & listen >>
It was more complicated in 1930 than today to find a favorite station on your radio dial. On a page from "What's On The Air," we discover that WBT in those days was not at 1110, but was somewhere else.
Where was it? >>
In 1945 a ruling by the Federal Communications Commission forced the sale of the station to the Jefferson Standard Life Insurance Co. There were long articles about the transaction in both the News and the Observer.
Read articles >>
In the early '70s at WBTV, Dennis Phillips created, produced, wrote and performed in a terrific kid's show called Whistle Stop. Here he tells how it all came about, who was in the cast (real and unreal), and how the award-winning series was one of the great experiences of his career.
Go inside Whistle Stop >>
...was the name of the Company's newsletter in 1955. And a terrific one it was, with fascinating items about the stations' personnel and their work. It includes a story on our Florence station, WBTW, which had been on the air for less than three months. We can just hear you saying, "Why, I didn't know that!"
Linger awhile >>
How a daring young man escaped the clutches of radio and made his mark in the wonderful, wacky world of TV promotion—sort of.
Read on >>
You remember Hugo, that mean mother of a hurricane back in the fall of '89? We thought BT radio's exemplary role in that calamity would make a good story, and the perfect person to write it would be James K. Flynn, who was in the thick of it all. Well, he wrote it and as an added attraction, threw in a sound file of his never-to-be-forgotten song parody, "Chainsaw!" We're grateful to James K. for his excellent work and to Mary June Rose for providing staff photos.
Chainsaw >>
Hugo story >>
For its fifth anniversary (in 1954), the TV station published an eight-page booklet for the public and advertisers alike. It contained photos of most of the staff and described the work that goes on "behind the screens." Work had just begun on the new million-dollar broadcast center on Morehead Street and the excitement and anticipation was evident.
Booklet >>
Who is this man? His name is Fern B. Phelps and he was an extremely important figure in the amazing saga of a man and his vision, Irving Glick and the Belmont Tunnel. If you read only one story this year about the building of the Tunnel, this is the one to read.
Untold story >>
As the 60s ended, the days of old-line network affiliates were over, days when long-established stations could rely on their history and reputation to keep them popular and competitive. WBT took a big gamble--and won.
Evolution >>
