Orlando Sentinel ends TV listings after nearly 72 years
After being a daily feature of the newspaper for nearly 72 years, the Orlando Sentinel has dropped its daily TV schedule.
Television has evolved a lot since July 31, 1951, the day we first published a TV program schedule. There were only two TV stations in Florida back then – neither was in Orlando and the closest one was more than 100 miles away.
WMBR-Channel 4 in Jacksonville was the station whose schedule we published that day. According to our listings, the CBS-affiliated station signed on the air at 9 a.m. and broadcast a test pattern for 30 minutes before getting on to its first show, “Just Music.” It signed off at 11:30 at night with the national anthem.
The few people in Orlando who had television sets back then needed big outdoor antennas to pull in the static-filled, black-and-white programs from the Jacksonville station. The weather had to be just right or you ended up seeing the signal from Florida’s other TV station, WTVJ in Miami, which also broadcast on channel 4. Some days, the Sentinel reported back then, the two stations’ signals canceled out each other and people in Orlando couldn’t see either one.
Orlando wouldn’t get its first TV station until 1954, when WDBO-Channel 6 started broadcasting on July 1. WESH-Channel 2 would arrive in 1956, followed by WLOF-Channel 9 in 1958, WMFE-Channel 24 in 1965 and WSWB-Channel 35 in 1974. Then came more stations. And then cable and more channels, and then streaming and even more and more choices
Fast-forward to 2023, and now it’s hard to define what is “television.” It’s complicated.
The Nielsen Company, which tracks viewership, reported that in January more people turned to streaming services (38.1%) than they did for cable (30.4%) or broadcast TV (24.9%). That’s a trend that began in the middle of last year when streaming overtook cable.
The concept of a television schedule is also a bit outdated. You don’t have to watch “Ted Lasso” on AppleTV+ on Wednesday nights at 9. Like virtually all shows today, you can watch it literally anytime and anywhere there is Wi-Fi, internet or cell phone service. Even some shows from ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC are streamed before they air on the networks.
Also, almost every TV today has a built-in program schedule – either for over-the-air channels or for a video service provider like Spectrum, Comcast, DirecTV or YouTube TV.
The economics of TV listings have changed a lot, too. Like everything else, the cost of buying our TV listings has gone up, as has the cost of newsprint. The TV grid took up a half-page of space each day. Hit the Guide button and you can see listings immediately.
We’ve come a long way since 1951. And, yes, it’s the end of an era.
If you still want to see local TV listings, you can find the Orlando night-time schedule from OnTVTonight.com here.
