WDEF TV Turns 70

What was life like for the average American before television? Some may remember the evening newscast and hundreds of dramas, comedy and variety shows which kept listeners glued to their radios mostly at night. The late Luther Masingill was one of the first to announce on WDEF radio the bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941.

Mr. Masingill said, “When TV came along, we did a lot of the same things we’d been doing on radio, but were conscious of the camera; it was a big adjustment.”

The popular Waltons television series in the 1970s reminds us of the importance of radio in broadcasting history, as the family would gather after supper and listen to programs like Gunsmoke, Fibber McGee and Molly, Fred Allen and Red Skelton.

Many of those actors and programs moved to television in the late 40s and 50s. In the last episodes of the Waltons, Jon Boy introduced his family to the magic of television in a college project.

Television technology was being developed in Europe in the 1920s, and by the 1940s had made its way to the United States. TV stations went on the air in Atlanta and Nashville, and Chattanoogans were able to pick up the snowy signals if they could find a TV set.

Broadcaster and Author David Carroll said in his book “Chattanooga Radio and Television” that in the early 50s some of the radio station pioneers assembled plans for TV stations in the Scenic City and applied for a license to the Federal Communications Commission in Washington, D.C. WDEF TV, Channel 12 received the first license and went on the air April 25, 1954.

Mr. Carroll said, “The board consisted of station President Carter Parham, and directors were Edward Finley Jr., Moses Lebovitz, Alex Guerry, Z. Carter Patten, Jac Chambliss and Raymond Witt.”

Mr. Carroll’s book said in the beginning, WDEF TV carried programs from all three networks, CBS, NBC and ABC; Peyton Brien was the first voice on Channel 12. There were also programs from the short-lived Dumont network, which stopped production in 1955. WDEF later became the CBS Television affiliate.

Baseball Owner Joe Engel signed on WDEF radio New Year’s Eve, 1940. His friends said he dreamed about TV, but got out of broadcasting in the early 50s to devote all his energy to his first love of baseball.

Mr. Masingill was a fixture at WDEF radio for over 70 years. The late morning radio personality said the first WDEF TV studios were in the Volunteer Building downtown. Mr. Masingill said when owners began to talk about television, the staff wondered where the studios would be located, since they were already short of space. Mr. Masingill said, “Somehow we crammed it all onto the 4th floor.”

Mr. Masingill remembered the executives searching out land on Signal Mountain for the transmitter and tower site, which would overlook Chattanooga. The transmitter and tower are still located on the mountain brow today.

Mr. Carroll said in the early days, Mort Lloyd and Hal Siegel reported the news, Big Jim Hill the weather and Herschel Nation did sports.

Locally produced programs included “Drue’s Party Line,” with Drue Smith, and the first children’s show was “Chickaroonie and His Friends,” hosted by Warren Herring.

Mr. Masingill was frequently seen on the variety show “Jalopy.” A few years later Channel 12 started “Lunch N Fun” every weekday to counter WRGP TV Channel 3’s popular “Bulletin” program, hosted by Roy Morris, another popular radio personality. “Lunch N Fun” was primarily aimed at ladies, and featured a live studio audience. Various radio personalities would host the early afternoon show, including the late Jolly Cholly Krause.

Mr. Masingill said the owners announced in 1957 they would vacate the downtown studios and had purchased the Glass House Restaurant building at 3300 S. Broad St. The station moved to their new home in 1958 and hired Emroy Williamson as art director. The creative Nebraska native, known as Mr. Willie, was among the station's original employees and created the various sets for the studios up until his retirement in 1993. The Broad Street studio has been remodeled several times and is the home of WDEF TV today.

Many of those associated with Chattanooga’s first television station weren’t strangers to the broadcasting community. WDEF TV’s President Carter M. Parham had previously served as WDOD radio’s commercial manager, and General Manager Morris Quave was previously involved in WDOD’s programing.

Mr. Quave said a very popular program was the “Late Show” after the 11 p.m. news, that featured old movies. Mr. Quave said one of the most frequent questions asked was about the theme music. It was “Enchanted” by Otto Cesana’s orchestra, and you can find it on YouTube.

Mr. Quave also said just before the Star Spangled Banner at sign off, the station aired the “High Flight” film with an Air Force jet racing across the blue sky. Forty seconds into the video, an un-identified announcer reads fighter pilot and war poet John Gillespie Magee Jr’s 1941 letter to home;

Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of Earth
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;
Sunward I've climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth
of sun-split clouds,—and done a hundred things
You have not dreamed of—wheeled and soared and swung
High in the sunlit silence. Hov'ring there,
I've chased the shouting wind along, and flung
My eager craft through footless halls of air ....

Up, up the long, delirious, burning blue
I've topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace
Where never lark nor ever eagle flew—
And, while with silent lifting mind I've trod
The high untrespassed sanctity of space,
Put out my hand, and touched the face of God.

Mr. Quave said, although the video played about 1 a.m., the station received numerous calls from viewers asking how they could get a copy of the poem. This video can also be seen on YouTube.

The television station used the engineering talents of Buford Young and Bob Briscoe, who served on the WDEF radio staff almost from the beginning. Both experienced technicians were involved in planning the new super radio and television broadcast center on South Broad Street and transmitter site on Signal Mountain.

Retired WDEF TV Program Director Doris Ellis, who started to work at the station when she was 19, remembered when they signed on the air. Mrs. Ellis said four years later when the studios moved from downtown to S. Broad Street, her parents took her to tour the new facility and Luther was standing at the front door greeting visitors.

Mrs. Ellis said, “Viewers got a chance to see the studios and meet the TV personalities for the first time. The biggest thrill of my life was finally meeting Luther. He was the same off the air as during his broadcasts. In the early 70s, Luther came by my office a few minutes before noon wanting some make up; he was preparing for a telecast. That was the beginning of the longest running segment on WDEF TV’s Tri-State Report at mid-day with Massingill giving community events and lost dogs; it ran every day probably for over four decades. Luther was on television up until a few days before his death in 2014.”

He also did a morning round up of community events about 5:45 a.m.

Mrs. Ellis said a lot of broadcasters started at Channel 12, including Lori New, who was named the CBS Television director of daytime promotions.

Ben Cagle worked for WDEF Broadcasting for several decades, starting at Channel 12 in production and eventually moving to sales. Mr. Cagle saw many changes, including the recording of all station breaks and commercials.

Mr. Cagle said, “When I started, they still had live booth announcers. WDEF TV had some of their highest ratings when Harry Thornton hosted the Morning Show and Mort Lloyd anchored the six o’clock news. At one time, Thornton pulled a 71 share, one of the highest ratings in the history of Chattanooga television. Harry was a business associate, but also a close friend; Harry treated me like a son. We were on a hunting trip together when he told me first about his retirement plans.”

Mr. Parham and his investors sold WDEF radio and television in 1963 to Roy Park Communication in New York. After Mr. Park died in the mid 90s, his broadcasting division was sold to various other communication corporations. Bahakel Communications purchased WDEF AM, FM, and WDEF TV was sold to Media General, who later sold to Morris Multimedia.

Mr. Massingill was asked at lunch one day about his thoughts on television. He responded, “It used to take a truck load of equipment to do a live broadcast somewhere, now all you need is a cell phone. I wonder what they’ll come up with next.”

This article is by no means a history of WDEF TV. There have been hundreds involved in the 70 years the station had been telecasting.

It’s hard to travel anywhere without someone sharing a memory or two about the city’s first TV station and how television changed their lives in the 1950s. Many of those memories come from former employees.

Some of our senior readers will remember in the early days the booming voices of Herschel Nation and Bob Bosworth saying, “You’re watching the Big 12 in Chattanooga.”

Viewers also can’t forget for over 30 years the announcement before the late news, “It’s 11 o'clock, do you know where your children are?”

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Heyearl1971@epbfi.com