Entry 3. WFCY celebrates Sixty Years On The Air
Title: WFCY Celebrates Sixty Years On The Air
Entry Number: 03
Author: rsn_studios
Genre: original, from my Stories of Southern Gothams universe
Rating: PG-13
Spoiler Warnings: none
Word Count:
Originally published on August 6, 2009 in the Forest City Tribune
Just down the road from the large building that held the Forest City Tribune newspaper was a small three story building where the studios of WFCY-AM studios resided, and on this momentous occasion, a team of technicians, entertainers, and executives were coming together to launch the second television station in North Carolina: WFCY-TV, Channel 5. It would be part of the fledgling NBC television network, helmed by that pioneer of radio and now television, David Sarnoff, who was in the City Of Trees for the dedication ceremony.
However, he wasn't a happy man, and neither were the owners of WFCY, the Fieldcrest family. The representatives of the Federal Communications Commission were given a chilly reception that would have been cold for even Antarctica, and Sarnoff occasionally glared at the bureaucrats who had held up the launch of the station long enough for rival Jefferson Pilot Communications to launch their CBS affiliate, WBTV Channel 3, out of Charlotte. While the Charlotte papers trumpeted this rare win over the three large metropolises to the west, the papers in the Tri-Cities were scathing in their accusations against the FCC about kickbacks.
The mood inside the studio shortly before the initial telecast at 8pm on that Saturday night was of incredible tension. Equipment was checked, double checked and triple checked to make sure it worked. Anson Fieldcrest, who headed up the media side of Fieldcrest Enterprises, roamed the control room with nervous tension. This was the young man's big experiment, and his father was keeping a keen eye on him to see if this gamble paid off. Television sales had been brisk in the Tri-Cities, but thanks to the FCC, not for reasons that the powers that be at WFCY TV were happy about. WBTV had already made an impact out west, and some thirty thousand television sets had already been sold before WFCY got the go-ahead to launch on August 6th.
The clock ticked eight and a finger from stage manager Dewey Henson pointed to popular radio personality Clyde Parker, who looked dapper in his tuxedo in the cramped, hot studio. "Good evening, my friends, and welcome to this new, wonderful world of television here on the first NBC affiliate in the lovely foothills of western North Carolina! And now, we start off with a rendition of the national anthem by Betty Hawks and the Earthquakes!" The camera cut to the image of a buxom brunette in front of a jazz quartet, and she belted out a spirited rendition of the Star Spangled Banner, which caused some controversy as some initial viewers called in to complain that the performance was "too racy" and "not patriotic".
The first night broadcast lasted three hours as variety acts were the name of the game that night. Some were good, but some didn't go over so well. One bluegrass act was so awful that Spindale Star critic David Rapp quipped in his Sunday column, "Who let the toothless hillbillies into town?" But Sarnoff was happy, and that was all that mattered to the Fieldcrest family. No glitches, no huge controversies aside from the anthem, and all the ads were read right by the presenters, which would satisfy those who had been wary of plunking down advertising dollars on this fledgling industry.
Later that night at the Baxter Hotel, champagne bottles popped and their contents flowed freely despite the law that said that alcohol sales were banned after midnight. Damon Fieldcrest was too savvy for that, though, and he made sure all the bubbly had been purchased before the deadline. With a wink and a broad smile to his son, the tall, broad-shouldered financier shook the outstretched hand of Sarnoff, who was pleased as punch despite the setback about the launch.
Months later, in November of that year, Rutherfordton scored with their own CBS station, WRT Channel 2, and the fight for ratings was on. In 1950, Spindale launched their DuMont affiliate, WSPN-TV 8, and the trifecta battle continues until independent station WAGY TV 12 launched in the 1970s, which would become a Fox station in 1986.
Sixty years later, that small building where WFCY started on Cherry Mountain Street no longer exists, as they made the move to the large headquarters at the intersection of Bethany and the 74 Bypass in the 1970s. Like WBTV, WFCY had been a staunch affiliate of its network, and the station had stayed strong no matter the ups and downs of the network. The Fieldcrest family still owns the station, one of the few family-run broadcasters still left in this era of corporate media. And the station will celebrate the anniversary in style with a three hour special on Thursday August 6th, but film clips of the station's history will be the star, unlike that initial broadcast. It will originate from the Forest City Hilton, just up the road at the corner of Bethany and Piney Ridge, and the guest list will be a who's who of local celebrity. Bob Costas, the NBC sportscaster, will be making a speech, and relatives of the Fieldcrest family will present a retrospective of Anson Fieldcrest, who had been bold enough to talk his father in risking expanding the highly profitable radio station into television.
One wonders, though, if it will still be around for another sixty years. In this era of streaming media over the internet and on mobile phones, just how much longer will there be a need for local affiliates for broadcast networks, or if they'll even be broadcast networks given that basic and premium cable networks continue to grow while broadcast networks decline? One thing is for sure, WFCY will probably be the last to go, given the history of the station. Just ask them if it still irks them that WBTV got on the air before them, and you'll see current WFCY brass get riled up even to this day. They had wanted to be the first fully licensed station in the South, but because of politics, WBTV got there ahead of them, and the folks there never failed to remind them of it even if Charlotte always lagged behind the Tri-Cities in most other areas.
Still, WFCY has been there for so many historic moments locally: the founding of the various universities, the racial tensions and student uprisings of the 1960s, the launching of professional sports teams in the 1970s, the explosive growth of the outlying suburbs of Rutherford County in the 1980s, and the problems with urban sprawl in the 1990s. Who could have imagined that night so much would happen here in those sixty years between then and now? Maybe Anson Fieldcrest, but no one else, probably.
Entry Number: 03
Author: rsn_studios
Genre: original, from my Stories of Southern Gothams universe
Rating: PG-13
Spoiler Warnings: none
Word Count:
Originally published on August 6, 2009 in the Forest City Tribune
Just down the road from the large building that held the Forest City Tribune newspaper was a small three story building where the studios of WFCY-AM studios resided, and on this momentous occasion, a team of technicians, entertainers, and executives were coming together to launch the second television station in North Carolina: WFCY-TV, Channel 5. It would be part of the fledgling NBC television network, helmed by that pioneer of radio and now television, David Sarnoff, who was in the City Of Trees for the dedication ceremony.
However, he wasn't a happy man, and neither were the owners of WFCY, the Fieldcrest family. The representatives of the Federal Communications Commission were given a chilly reception that would have been cold for even Antarctica, and Sarnoff occasionally glared at the bureaucrats who had held up the launch of the station long enough for rival Jefferson Pilot Communications to launch their CBS affiliate, WBTV Channel 3, out of Charlotte. While the Charlotte papers trumpeted this rare win over the three large metropolises to the west, the papers in the Tri-Cities were scathing in their accusations against the FCC about kickbacks.
The mood inside the studio shortly before the initial telecast at 8pm on that Saturday night was of incredible tension. Equipment was checked, double checked and triple checked to make sure it worked. Anson Fieldcrest, who headed up the media side of Fieldcrest Enterprises, roamed the control room with nervous tension. This was the young man's big experiment, and his father was keeping a keen eye on him to see if this gamble paid off. Television sales had been brisk in the Tri-Cities, but thanks to the FCC, not for reasons that the powers that be at WFCY TV were happy about. WBTV had already made an impact out west, and some thirty thousand television sets had already been sold before WFCY got the go-ahead to launch on August 6th.
The clock ticked eight and a finger from stage manager Dewey Henson pointed to popular radio personality Clyde Parker, who looked dapper in his tuxedo in the cramped, hot studio. "Good evening, my friends, and welcome to this new, wonderful world of television here on the first NBC affiliate in the lovely foothills of western North Carolina! And now, we start off with a rendition of the national anthem by Betty Hawks and the Earthquakes!" The camera cut to the image of a buxom brunette in front of a jazz quartet, and she belted out a spirited rendition of the Star Spangled Banner, which caused some controversy as some initial viewers called in to complain that the performance was "too racy" and "not patriotic".
The first night broadcast lasted three hours as variety acts were the name of the game that night. Some were good, but some didn't go over so well. One bluegrass act was so awful that Spindale Star critic David Rapp quipped in his Sunday column, "Who let the toothless hillbillies into town?" But Sarnoff was happy, and that was all that mattered to the Fieldcrest family. No glitches, no huge controversies aside from the anthem, and all the ads were read right by the presenters, which would satisfy those who had been wary of plunking down advertising dollars on this fledgling industry.
Later that night at the Baxter Hotel, champagne bottles popped and their contents flowed freely despite the law that said that alcohol sales were banned after midnight. Damon Fieldcrest was too savvy for that, though, and he made sure all the bubbly had been purchased before the deadline. With a wink and a broad smile to his son, the tall, broad-shouldered financier shook the outstretched hand of Sarnoff, who was pleased as punch despite the setback about the launch.
Months later, in November of that year, Rutherfordton scored with their own CBS station, WRT Channel 2, and the fight for ratings was on. In 1950, Spindale launched their DuMont affiliate, WSPN-TV 8, and the trifecta battle continues until independent station WAGY TV 12 launched in the 1970s, which would become a Fox station in 1986.
Sixty years later, that small building where WFCY started on Cherry Mountain Street no longer exists, as they made the move to the large headquarters at the intersection of Bethany and the 74 Bypass in the 1970s. Like WBTV, WFCY had been a staunch affiliate of its network, and the station had stayed strong no matter the ups and downs of the network. The Fieldcrest family still owns the station, one of the few family-run broadcasters still left in this era of corporate media. And the station will celebrate the anniversary in style with a three hour special on Thursday August 6th, but film clips of the station's history will be the star, unlike that initial broadcast. It will originate from the Forest City Hilton, just up the road at the corner of Bethany and Piney Ridge, and the guest list will be a who's who of local celebrity. Bob Costas, the NBC sportscaster, will be making a speech, and relatives of the Fieldcrest family will present a retrospective of Anson Fieldcrest, who had been bold enough to talk his father in risking expanding the highly profitable radio station into television.
One wonders, though, if it will still be around for another sixty years. In this era of streaming media over the internet and on mobile phones, just how much longer will there be a need for local affiliates for broadcast networks, or if they'll even be broadcast networks given that basic and premium cable networks continue to grow while broadcast networks decline? One thing is for sure, WFCY will probably be the last to go, given the history of the station. Just ask them if it still irks them that WBTV got on the air before them, and you'll see current WFCY brass get riled up even to this day. They had wanted to be the first fully licensed station in the South, but because of politics, WBTV got there ahead of them, and the folks there never failed to remind them of it even if Charlotte always lagged behind the Tri-Cities in most other areas.
Still, WFCY has been there for so many historic moments locally: the founding of the various universities, the racial tensions and student uprisings of the 1960s, the launching of professional sports teams in the 1970s, the explosive growth of the outlying suburbs of Rutherford County in the 1980s, and the problems with urban sprawl in the 1990s. Who could have imagined that night so much would happen here in those sixty years between then and now? Maybe Anson Fieldcrest, but no one else, probably.