I think that was true for me. I remember large groups of students watching "Ryan's Hope" so I had to go to my own room to watch the show once I got interested around 1981. That's when Paul Williams got a girl pregnant.And before WAGA picked up Y&R we were getting it on cable in Athens thanks to WSPA. It was gather-round-the-TV-in-the-dorm time when Y&R was on Channel 7 (noon at the time). Even when Channel 5 started carrying it, people continued to watch it on 7; it came on WSPA at noon and on WAGA at 1. I suspect that before WBTV picked it up, people in the Charlotte market watched it on either WSPA or WFMY.
Can you believe Paul wasn't even mentioned on the 50th anniversary special? If he was shown in any clips without audio, I missed it.