For the first two weeks of November, I present an unintentional tribute to WCIA and its 72nd anniversary!

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First, please visit the History of WCIA page, which includes a new section with images of Channel 3, including its transmitter, transmitter building, tower, studios, production control and engineering departments, and more! After a long period without receiving any "new" historical contributions from those with WCIA-related material, I was surprised to receive an email from the daughter of a former staffer from the late 1950s and early 1960s, Dayo E. Thompson. He was an avid photographer, taking many color slides of the station when most of the photographs in my collection were in black and white! His daughter, Lisa Krall, has been generous in sharing his work with Central Illinois' On-Line Broadcast Museum. See his contribution on the History of WCIA 1953-1965 page!

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The featured videos this week are all of The Beatles. I include videos (all available on YouTube) of the first appearances of the most influential musical groups in pop and rock music history. Watch their appearances on CBS's "The Ed Sullivan Show" from February 1964 through September 1965, as seen on CBS affiliates as well as WCIA.

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I also include a clip from a Late Night Show with David Letterman featuring Paul McCartney (of the Beatles), who talked about those initial appearances (of "The Ed Sullivan Show") from the original site where "Late Night with David Letterman" was produced. That is from 2009.  

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I also found, as part of the Anniversary of WISH-TV, a half-hour special on Channel 8 in Indianapolis, noting their coverage of two Indianapolis Beatles concerts! It included an exclusive interview with Paul McCartney, details of where they stayed, and clips from their performance!

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One prolific YouTube contributor has recently posted several Beatles-themed videos, and I linked a couple from that Channel that even the most dedicated Beatles fan probably hasn't seen! That includes a video of the group's first film, "A Hard Day's Night." To recreate the NBC presentation of that movie, I've included the intro that viewers saw when it aired in October of 1967!

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That YouTube contributor also included a British TV special called "The Music of Lennon and McCartney," which any Beatles fan will love, featuring the two composers introducing various acts who covered Beatles songs and even including The Beatles themselves. See that special in its entirety below!

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The collection of Featured videos concludes with a sample from the animated "Beatles" series, seen on ABC. Before, whenever selections from the series were posted on YouTube, the music had to be removed due to copyright issues. For the first time, this selection includes the music as it was presented live in concert, avoiding that copyright issue!