Columbus TV in 1992: election coverage, baseball and local ads

This is the Columbus tape where every time I thought I knew what kind of evening it was, it changed channels. Early on there's public television: The McLaughlin Group, Washington Week, WOSU underwriting and station messages. Then WBNS carries Oprah's Scared Silent special with a whole other set of breaks, including taco-flavored string cheese and a Back to School '92 promo. A stray soap fragment still has no name. Inside Edition brings in rival DeWine and John Glenn campaign spots, Westland Mall and RevCo before the recording heads back toward PBS. I called it a very good tape before we were finished.

The election keeps pulling it forward. The McLaughlin Group is arguing about Clinton, Donahue and Perot; there's a Jeopardy-style 'Hypocrisy' spot in its breaks. Larry King has Clinton and Gore, then Donahue has them in Nashville with local WSYX ads for Ricart, Family Dental Center and the Ohio Lottery's potatoes. Ross Perot's America in Danger town hall gives way to Braves versus Pirates in the NLCS. Even the baseball breaks are local: Riverside Cancer Care, IMMKE, Richman Brothers and a Columbus Chill news tease sit next to the national car and fast-food ads.

Near the end A Current Affair follows Charlie, who ate only bologna, into an Oscar Mayer Wienermobile and a reunion with his sister. The final viewing picks up that show again, then reaches WSYX 6 News; KFC and White Cloud ads recur along the way because they're on the recording twice. Several individual programs point to September or October 1992, but these are separate recorded blocks, not one continuous broadcast. The tape is strongest as a stretch of Columbus television where a presidential campaign, a ballgame and the local commercial breaks keep interrupting one another.

Content inventory

Shows and segments

McLaughlin Group — Gulf War, Bush vs. Clinton — WOSU-TV (34)

1. McLaughlin Group — Gulf War, Bush vs. Clinton — WOSU-TV (34)

Washington Week in Review

1. Washington Week in Review

Oprah — Scared Silent Special — WBNS-10TV — 9/4/1992

1. Oprah — Scared Silent Special — WBNS-10TV — 9/4/1992

Unidentified soap opera fragment

1. Unidentified soap opera fragment

Inside Edition — Old dudes found treasure, insurance company takes it — WSYX

1. Inside Edition — Old dudes found treasure, insurance company takes it — WSYX
2. Inside Edition: DuPont inheritance story

The ViewPoint — PBS WOSU-TV (Partial)

1. The ViewPoint — PBS WOSU-TV (Partial)

McLaughlin Group — Phil Donahue and Clinton (October 9, 1992)

1. McLaughlin Group — Phil Donahue and Clinton (October 9, 1992)
2. Issue 2 — Ross Perot

McLaughlin Group — Phil Donahue and Clinton (October 9, 1992) — continued

1. McLaughlin Group — Phil Donahue and Clinton (October 9, 1992) — continued
2. They were even complaining about the filibuster
3. WOSU health item (format uncertain)

Washington Week in Review

1. Washington Week in Review
2. Paul Duke, Moderator

CNN: Larry King Live with Bill Clinton/Al Gore

1. CNN: Larry King Live with Bill Clinton/Al Gore
2. Talking sex ed, adoption, etc.

Donahue from Nashville — Clinton and Al Gore (October 6, 1992)

1. Donahue from Nashville — Clinton and Al Gore (October 6, 1992)

Ross Perot Town Hall — America in Danger — CBS — October 6, 1992

1. Ross Perot Town Hall — America in Danger — CBS — October 6, 1992

Braves vs. Pirates — NLCS Game 1 — Baseball in the Fall — CBS/WBNS — October 6, 1992

1. Braves vs. Pirates — NLCS Game 1 — Baseball in the Fall — CBS/WBNS — October 6, 1992

A Current Affair — Charlie segment (October 1992)

1. A Current Affair — Charlie segment (October 1992)
2. A man named Charlie with a medical condition who only ate bologna. Oscar Mayer took him out in the Wienermobile, and he found his long-lost sister. Published from this tape: https://youtu.be/VAOMIGsSONg

A Current Affair — Charlie segment (October 1992) — continued

1. A Current Affair — Charlie segment (October 1992) — continued
2. Fergie and the Royal family — WSYX

WSYX 6 News

1. WSYX 6 News
2. Man gunned down his estranged wife in Lancaster
3. The police call him big butt — Crime Stoppers needs your help

Commercial inventory

Oprah — Scared Silent Special — WBNS-10TV — 9/4/1992

1. County Line cheese — taco flavored string cheese
2. RiteRug
3. Covenant House Nine-Line
4. Miracle Whip — she puts that stuff on everything — 1-800-Miracle
5. Famous Footwear
6. Marijuana PSA — kids smoking in the suburbs
7. V8 ad
8. Playtex lingerie

Inside Edition — Old dudes found treasure, insurance company takes it — WSYX

1. DeWine campaign ad smearing John Glenn
2. GMC Freedom 1993 Sierra — Heart of Ohio Dealers
3. Westland Mall local advertisement
4. Continental Airlines
5. John Glenn taking shots at DeWine
6. RevCo Pharmacy ad
7. LCI International long distance
8. Saturdays Family Hair Care — no appointment necessary

McLaughlin Group — Phil Donahue and Clinton (October 9, 1992) — continued

1. Hypocrisy commercial with Jeopardy spoof
2. GE Commercial

CNN: Larry King Live with Bill Clinton/Al Gore

1. Pitney Bowes Copiers — 9070 model
2. Boeing Company
3. Office Depot

Donahue from Nashville — Clinton and Al Gore (October 6, 1992)

1. Diet Coke ad
2. Credit General Insurance
3. Ricart — still has his guitar
4. Family Dental Center — clear braces!
5. Ohio Lottery — Potatoes
6. Cheer with bleach; barn and socks
7. No Yolks Noodles
8. Dirt Devil hot sauce commercial
9. Kroger Billboard — Dollar Days ad
10. Pizza Hut buy one, get one half off
11. Oil of Olay
12. LCI International — call us
13. White Cloud — on a bus
14. Lees for Life Carpets — so sensual
15. Beltone hearing aids

Braves vs. Pirates — NLCS Game 1 — Baseball in the Fall — CBS/WBNS — October 6, 1992

1. Health care choices — Riverside Cancer Care (Columbus)
2. GTE Phones — delivering a baby over the phone
3. IMMKE Buick, Cadillac, Honda
4. Richman Brothers — 40% off
5. Dr Pepper football commercial
6. McDonald's Double Dates — 2 for $2
7. Sprint special-announcement commercial (source description unfinished)
8. Discover card ATM ad
9. Buick Skylark commercial in car wash
10. Frosted Mini Wheats — body builder
11. Autolite Spark plugs — actors in engine
12. Alka Seltzer
13. BK TeeVee Mount Rushmore — breakfast
14. Buick — Supercharged
15. Crest Neat Squeeze
16. Sears sale ending Saturday
17. Buick LeSabre on a boat

A Current Affair — Charlie segment (October 1992)

1. KFC — Founders Day Feast, just $2.99
2. Cream of Wheat — people used to eat breakfast together!
3. Polident for partials
4. Benadryl allergy, sinus, headache formula
5. Pringles Festivas – really good quality

A Current Affair — Charlie segment (October 1992) — continued

1. Right Car, Right Deal — Mazda MX3
2. White Cloud TP on bus
3. KFC Founders Day Feast
4. Oscar Mayer Lunchables with pudding

WSYX 6 News

1. Chevy trucks

Station and show promos

McLaughlin Group — Gulf War, Bush vs. Clinton — WOSU-TV (34)

1. Brought to you by GE bumper
2. AEP Ohio Power / Columbus and Southern Power Company
3. Dale K. Ouzts, WOSU General Manager — thank you for donating
4. Friends of WOSU — make a generous check and send it to us
5. Burges and Niple — engineers and architects

Washington Week in Review

1. Brought to you by Ford
2. Vintage PBS bumper
3. "Are you bored with the voting process? Why bother voting" promo
4. Presidents Week on the American Experience program

Oprah — Scared Silent Special — WBNS-10TV — 9/4/1992

1. Bobby Orr news promo
2. CBS Kid TV promo
3. Rescue 911 premiere promo
4. Do you know the muffin man promo
5. Back to School '92 promo
6. Disney World vacation giveaway (format uncertain)
7. Little Mermaid — Whale of a Tale on CBS promo
8. Football on CBS — he's a big fan
9. CBS This Morning — fortified (cereal ad spoof)

Inside Edition — Old dudes found treasure, insurance company takes it — WSYX

1. Workout video promotion
2. Blue Jean Biz on Entertainment Tonight

Washington Week in Review

1. Presidential debate promo — WOSU 10 (Clinton/Bush)
2. Space Age promo
3. Frontline: Anita Hill vs. Clarence Thomas
4. Scientific American Frontiers promo

Donahue from Nashville — Clinton and Al Gore (October 6, 1992)

1. Inside Edition promo: Adoption (WSYX 6)
2. WSYX news at 6 promo
3. Inside Edition promo
4. All new channel 6 news at 5:30 promo — channel 6 on your side

Braves vs. Pirates — NLCS Game 1 — Baseball in the Fall — CBS/WBNS — October 6, 1992

1. Columbus Chill news-story promo
2. School Bus Safety — CBS This Morning promo
3. Mr. Baseball film promo
4. CBS promo with guy watching TV

A Current Affair — Charlie segment (October 1992) — continued

1. Tomorrow on A Current Affair — man hunts hunters — the most dangerous game promo

Tape details

Archive ID

VHS-2026-339

Format

T-120 home TV recording in mismatched BASF Fantastic Colors sleeve; EP cataloged.

Recording

Distinct Columbus-market blocks from September and October 1992. Program-date identifications do not mean one continuous recording date.

Viewed

May 7 and June 28, 2026 (partial), July 1 (finished).

Digitization

Full local capture exists; this proposal embeds no video or private cuts.

Label

No confidently readable handwritten content label in the reviewed cover photo.