Time for another installment of "Throwback Thursday" which takes a look back at some of the historical milestones at WKYC Studios.The time machine takes us back to 1986 with a timeline of some of the biggest moments of that year at WKYC.
1986: Channel 3’s “Hickory Hideout” goes into syndication
on other NBC owned stations including WNBC-TV/New York, WRC-TV/Washington D.C.,
WMAQ-TV/Chicago, KCNC-TV/Denver and KNBC-TV/Los Angeles until 1981.
1986: Obie Shelton joins WKYC-TV from WEWS-TV/Cleveland
as a weekend sports reporter.
1986: WKYC-TV becomes the first local station to broadcast
in stereo.
Early 1986: WKYC-TV gets its first satellite truck and
brands it “Skycom” that allows the station to broadcast live from any point in
the continental U.S.
May 2, 1986: WKYC-TV announces Jim Donovan will become
play-by-play announcer on the Browns’ exhibition games on WKYC-TV in the fall along
with commentary by Reggie Rucker. Donovan will also host “Browns ’86,” Channel
3’s weekly football show for 20 weeks starting August 6 at 7:30 p.m.
June 1986: Jim Mueller departs WKYC-TV after his contract
isn’t renewed.
June 1986: Jim Donovan becomes weeknight sports anchor
replacing Jim Mueller at 6 p.m. At first, Donovan continues to anchor weekend
sports until September when a replacement is named and then is expected to
become the 11 p.m. sports anchor while Waylon Boot would move to the 6 p.m.
newscast.
July 5, 1986: Connie Schopmeyer marries former Browns
player Doug Dieken and officially becomes Connie Dieken on the air.
August 18, 1986: WKYC-TV revamps its early evening news
lineup as the 6 p.m. returns to a half hour from 6 p.m. to 6:30 p.m., followed
by NBC Nightly News at 6:30 p.m. (previously aired at 7 p.m.) and a new 7 p.m.
newscast called “Channel 3 News at 7” anchored by Leon Bibb.
August 18, 1986: Bob McBride joins WKYC-TV from
WRC-TV/Washington D.C., as co-anchor at 6 & 11 p.m. with Doreen Gentzler,
while Leon Bibb moves from the solo anchor at 11 p.m. to solo anchor of the 7
p.m. Dale Solly leaves the 6 p.m. to
become the primary live news reporter mainly from Skycom, the station’s
satellite truck. Waylon Boot will continue to do sports at 6 p.m., while Jim
Donovan handles sports at 7 p.m. and 11 p.m. Shane Hollett handles weather for
all three shows. Dick Feagler’s commentaries move from the 11 p.m. show to the
new 7 p.m. show.
September 11, 1986: Steve Taylor joins WKYC-TV as weekend
sports anchor replacing an overworked Jim Donovan who takes a vacation to
refresh.
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This timeline is based on station archives and various newspaper stories. If you feel something is in error, please let me know and we'll make any necessary corrections. Email me at fmacek@wkyc.com
This timeline is based on station archives and various newspaper stories. If you feel something is in error, please let me know and we'll make any necessary corrections. Email me at fmacek@wkyc.com
