Appendix 12: Notes on Bleached Bones
Channel 15: WVEC-TV moved to VHF channel 13.
Channel 16: When WQEX, an educational station, was authorized on this channel, the WENS construction permit was modified to specify channel 22, but it never returned. After its tower fell in 1955, WENS shared channel 13 with non-commercial WQED for a brief period of time.
Channel 21: After WLAN-TV went dark, this channel was re-allocated from Lancaster to Harrisburg PA, and is now occupied by WHP-TV, which moved from channel 55. The construction permit for WUTV was purchased by crosstown WFMJ-TV, which moved from channel 73.
Channel 23: This channel was re-assigned to Akron after WMAC-TV went dark, and was occupied by WAKR-TV.
Channel 27: KPTV was the first UHF TV station on the air (on September 19, 1952) after the FCC "freeze" was lifted. It later merged with Portland's channel 12, which now bears those call letters. WCMB-TV switched channels, towers, and transmitters with WTPA-TV, channel 71, but it never returned. WROV-TV was the first UHF TV station in the United States to fold, after broadcasting for less than three months.
Channel 30: WMSB originated as WKAR-TV, channel 60, then moved to channel 30, then to channel 10 (in an unusual share-time arrangement with commercial WILX-TV), then went dark, and was later revived as WKAR on channel 23.
Channel 33: KMEC-TV became KXTX, then moved to channel 39 when KDTV donated its facilities to the station.
Channel 34: WSBT-TV moved to channel 22. WILK-TV merged with WARM-TV in Scranton to form WNEP-TV, which operates today on channel 16.
Channel 35: WHYY-TV operated on this channel until the FCC approved their application to move to the vacant channel 12 allocation in nearby Wilmington, Delaware. WUHY-TV was later introduced as a secondary educational UHF service. WJPB moved to channel 5, changing its city of license to Weston WV, and taking the call letters WDTV in honor of DuMont's former Pittsburgh station.
Channel 36: WQXI-TV was apparently an unbuilt construction permit. WQXI radio later bought channel 11, which became WQXI-TV, and is today WXIA.
Channel 37: WGOV-TV was the only known station on this channel, which is now reserved for radio astronomy. The author is unsure as to whether WGOV-TV actually made it on the air.
Channel 41: WROW-TV moved to channel 10, later taking the call letters WTEN.
Channel 45: WKST-TV moved to channel 33 and was re-licensed to Youngstown as WYTV. It was replaced on channel 45 by WXTV, which lasted until the early 1960's. Eventually, channel 45 was re-allocated to Alliance OH as an educational channel.
Channel 46: WNDU-TV moved to channel 16.
Channel 49: WAKR-TV moved to channel 23, and channel 49 was later reserved for educational television.
Channel 50: WEHT moved to channel 25. WHIZ-TV moved to channel 18.
Channel 54: WTVI moved across the river to St. Louis MO, and to the VHF band, becoming KTVI, channel 2.
Channel 55: WHP-TV moved to channel 21.
Channel 56: In one of the most convoluted histories of any UHF station, WARD-TV (originally Johnstown's ABC and CBS affiliate) moved to channel 19, where it became WJNL-TV, then independent WFAT, then WPTJ, then (after being dark for several years) returned as WTWB with the WB network, then switched to WNPA and successfully petitioned the FCC for a change in city of license to Jeannette PA, which made it a "must-carry" station on Pittsburgh's cable systems! WNPA was later acquired by Paramount, then Viacom, and today serves as Pittsburgh's UPN affiliate, even though its over-the-air signal is all but unwatchable in the city.
Channel 57: WKNX-TV moved to channel 25, later becoming WEYI.
Channel 59: WFAM-TV moved to channel 18.
Channel 60: KQEC-TV was later revived on channel 32.
Channel 61: WWLP-TV moved to channel 22.
Channel 62: WXON moved to channel 20, and channel 62 was later occupied by WGPR-TV, now WWJ-TV. In its early years, WXON was licensed to Allen Park MI.
Channel 67: WFMZ-TV was later revived on channel 69. WNOK-TV moved to channel 19.
Channel 73: WLOK-TV was purchased by WIMA radio and moved to channel 35, becoming WIMA-TV. WFMJ-TV bought the construction permit for WUTV and moved to channel 21. WTVU moved to channel 44, but never returned to the air on that channel.
Channel 74: WMOT moved to channel 19 and became WCDC-TV, a satellite of WTEN (channel 10) in Albany.
Go to Appendix 13: WDTV’s Log Books
