Jubilee Showcase 50th Anniversary Celebrated on PBS

Long before the days of Bobby Jones Gospel, Sid Ordower hosted a groundbreaking gospel music television program that aired from 1963 to 1984 on WLS Channel 7 in Chicago featuring some of the biggest names in gospel called Jubilee Showcase. The Emmy Award winning weekly show will celebrate its 50th anniversary during a Public Broadcasting System (PBS) Pledge special on WTTW, the Chicago PBS affiliate, on October 10, 2013 at 9 P.M. CST, then began to air nationally on PBS stations throughout the United States beginning in December 2013.

The pledge program, hosted by Clifton Davis will present historic footage of The Staple Singers, The Soul Stirrers and The Caravans and others.  “I love gospel music,” Davis says of his decision to host the program. “I love historic gospel music. Every time we review this on television, a new generation has a chance to be introduced to something that inspired us back then.”