UPDATE (8/14/2023): Thanks to Dan Harrison for adding an additional layer of context to this discussion. Broadcast year 1978-79 was the final year before M*A*S*H went into syndication, meaning that CBS was trying to cash in on M*A*S*H reruns as much as possible before they lost the exclusive rights to the series. There is a really well written post on mash4077tv.com about M*A*S*H in syndication, and it confirms that the series ran on CBS daytime from September 4, 1978 through September 14, 1979. Today, M*A*S*H reruns thanks to syndication on both nationwide networks (like TV Land and MeTV) and local affiliate stations that have purchased syndication packages.
This week’s press releases are a little different as they are four, related, separate releases. While M*A*S*H was still on the air, the series ran in reruns during the summer between seasons, but it would also air during the broadcast day. In March 1979, M*A*S*H aired on CBS at 3:30 CNYT (Current New York Time). Each of these releases is for one episode airing on different days during a single week. The releases came directly from CBS and were intended for affiliate station management to know what episode would air that afternoon.
When I first acquired these releases, I didn’t notice the details on each. Of course, I noted the obvious information including the air time, the episode title, and episode descriptions. These releases tell a far deeper story, however. The air dates for the four episodes are for four days in a row, March 6 – 9, 1979 (Tuesday – Friday). I assume that M*A*S*H also aired on Monday, March 5, but I do not have that release. The next thing I noticed was that these episodes are actually presented in broadcast order, and they are: “The Winchester Tapes” (06×05), “The Light that Failed” (06×06), “In Love and War” (06×07), and “Change Day” (06×08). I appreciate that the episodes were presented in order because I am sure we have all watched M*A*S*H in syndication and are frustrated when an episode from season four is followed by an episode from season one!
The other interesting thing that I discovered was that these season six episodes were airing in reruns while new episodes from season seven aired on Monday nights. In fact, the final episode of season seven (“The Party”) debuted the week after this on March 12, 1979. Reruns were the only way M*A*S*H fans could get caught up or catch an episode they missed from the prior season. There were no DVRs, no recordable VCRs, no streaming, and no cable networks airing reruns in syndication. In 1979, CBS would have been the only channel showing M*A*S*H. So if you missed the night it was new or its subsequent rerun the following summer, you had to try to catch it at other times when it aired.
These four pages tell a fascinating story of the television landscape in 1979. M*A*S*H was one of the most popular series, so I am not surprised that they were showing reruns in the afternoons on the network. However, I am impressed that the prior season’s episodes were being shown just over a year after their original air date, and that they were being presented in broadcast order. These press releases would have allowed local tv guides to print episode descriptions that would help M*A*S*H fans find episodes that they may have missed.
The M*A*S*H Historian 
I remember that CBS was also showing reruns of MASH late nights, I think on Thursday nights. The time slots were stretched out to 35 minutes. CBS ended its MASH reruns fall 1979, when Seasons 1-7 were released in syndication to local stations.
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