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Alternate TV Channel Lineups
- Thread starter Mr. Mike
- Start date
Currently, Charlotte (DMA #23) is the largest market with only 2 (now virtual) VHFs. Even back in the early 60s, that market was the largest with only 2 stations. Hartford was a larger market in those days, but had a UHF NBC (2, actually) which allowed them full access to all 3 nets. San Diego was also a large market with only 2 V's, but of course XETV provided the third network. Had the all-channel TV law not gone into effect in 1964, I believe Charlotte would have still gotten a third channel (on UHF) much like Louisville had a few years earlier.
Charles1 said:
I can't comment on Birmingham since I'm not familiar with the market, but Louisville's problem was that it was just too close to the larger markets of Indianapolis and Cincinnati. Dayton had the same problem.
Chicago, San Francisco, and Boston should have had the maximum 7 VHF channels assigned. Philadelphia should have had 3, 6, 8, 10, and 12.
Chicago's problem was Grand Rapids (not Milwaukee) - WKZO-TV should have been moved to Channel 10, keeping WTMJ-TV on 3. Giving 7 VHFs to Chicago would have made Rockford and Madison all-UHF markets, Grand Rapids/Kalamazoo a two-VHF market (Chs. 8 & 10), Lansing a one-VHF (Ch. 6, although maybe Ch. 3 could have been dropped in), and Milwaukee would have been assigned 3, 6, 10, and 12.
Boston had New Hampshire taking 9 and 11 since the Feds mandated at least one VHF channel per state. Could Portland have been assigned 3 instead of 13, or is it too close to Hartford?
I don't know why Stockton got 13 instead of San Francisco. Stockton should have been assigned 12 instead of Fresno, which later became an all-UHF market anyway.
Philly got screwed because of that Federal mandate that gave 12 to Wilmington (how did that work out for the state of Delaware? :
) and lost 8 because of WGAL Lancaster having to move there from 4.This is, of course, all speculation. It didn't happen that way, and it's all moot now.
Austin (1), Gainesville/Ocala (1), Tallahasee/Thomasville (2), Wilmington (NC) (2), Florence/Myrtle Beach (1) and Austin (1) come to mind, as well as the aforementioned Columbia (1) and Charlotte (2).
My market, Raleigh-Durham got three VHF's but--just like Birmingham--one (VHF 4) was designated NCE, as was the case in the Tri-Cities (TN/VA) market with VHF channel 2 ,in Tallahassee/Thomasville with VHF channel 11, and in Gainesville/Ocala with VHF channel 5).
I don't know that Austin with its lone VHF 7 was a short change so much as a political maneuver by former owner Lyndon Johnson, a powerful senator when the station signed on. KTBC remained the only game in town until 1965 when the city's first UHF signed on.
On the subject of Charlotte, I'm guessing Knoxville is likely the reason they didn't get VHF channel 6 there. Wilmington, just like Charlotte, had VHF 3, but Wilmington had 6 as well. VHF 6 was actually used in Charlotte for HD testing in the mid-1990s.
My market, Raleigh-Durham got three VHF's but--just like Birmingham--one (VHF 4) was designated NCE, as was the case in the Tri-Cities (TN/VA) market with VHF channel 2 ,in Tallahassee/Thomasville with VHF channel 11, and in Gainesville/Ocala with VHF channel 5).
I don't know that Austin with its lone VHF 7 was a short change so much as a political maneuver by former owner Lyndon Johnson, a powerful senator when the station signed on. KTBC remained the only game in town until 1965 when the city's first UHF signed on.
On the subject of Charlotte, I'm guessing Knoxville is likely the reason they didn't get VHF channel 6 there. Wilmington, just like Charlotte, had VHF 3, but Wilmington had 6 as well. VHF 6 was actually used in Charlotte for HD testing in the mid-1990s.
...the original WBKB wasn't moved to channel 7. Balaban & Katz sold it to CBS, which changed the call sign to WBBM-TV and moved it to channel 2. ABC then picked up the WBKB call sign and put it on what had been WENR-TV/7, and after CBS moved into new facilities on McClurg Court, ABC took the opportunity to move its station out of the Merchandise Mart (where it had been sharing studios and offices with NBC's WNBQ/5) and into the original WBKB's location at the old Lake Theater, just off of State Street...Videovet said:
KeithE4 said:
There was another station in another market that posed a problem for Chicago getting the max of 7 V's assigned: WHBF-4 Rock Island, IL (Quad Cities IA/IL), which signed on in July 1950. Also WOC-TV (now KWQC) signed on Oct. 31, 1949 originally at channel 5, moving to channel 6 after the freeze. The Quad Cities would not get its third V until the sign-on of WQAD-8 (ABC) in Moline on Aug. 1, 1963--but the 1952 post-freeze allocations had channel 8 originally assigned to Peoria. It would not be until the late '50s that the FCC officially deemed Peoria an all-UHF market (although Peoria's first UHF channels signed on in '53)--and also took away the channel 2 allocation from Springfield, IL in the process (with two new 2's assigned to St. Louis and Terre Haute--which I always used to think was a near short-spacing).
The WQAD history link on a Quad Cities TV history website has an interesting story about the fight between Moline and Peoria for the channel 8 allocation:
http://captainerniesshowboat.com/wqad.html
Also, this link to a Central Illinois TV history website created by a Champaign weathercaster has interesting information about early but unsuccessful attempts to get Channel 2 on the air in Springfield:
http://www.dougquick.com/othertelevisionhistory2.html
It would be interesting to speculate on what the Peoria, Quad Cities, and Springfield/Decatur/Champaign markets among others would have looked like today had both Peoria and Springfield been actually able to hold onto their original VHF allocations.
St. Louis, Kansas City and Chicago might be considered areas that were shortchanged with regard to VHF stations, at least to some extent.
As a matter of fact Chicago was, like LA and New York, assigned 7 VHF channels (2, 4, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13), only to have channels 4 and 13 reassigned to, respectively, Milwaukee and Rockford.
In the case of St. Louis, there were two other VHFs (Channels 7 and 13) which were reassigned to different markets. Channel 7 went to Hannibal-Quincy, while 13 was moved to Jefferson City-Columbia.
Kansas City was assigned 4 VHF channels (2, 4, 5, 9), but wound up with just three after Channel 2 was moved to nearby St. Joseph. Two other channels that would've gone to KC, 11 and 13, wound up assigned to the Topeka, Kansas area, probably at the insistence of some of Topeka's leading citizens.
If not for the reassignments, things would've been different as the proprietor of the KCIT website will attest, when one scrolls down to the bottom of the aforementioned page:
http://www.wtv-zone.com/dpjohnson/kcit50/page2.html
As a matter of fact Chicago was, like LA and New York, assigned 7 VHF channels (2, 4, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13), only to have channels 4 and 13 reassigned to, respectively, Milwaukee and Rockford.
In the case of St. Louis, there were two other VHFs (Channels 7 and 13) which were reassigned to different markets. Channel 7 went to Hannibal-Quincy, while 13 was moved to Jefferson City-Columbia.
Kansas City was assigned 4 VHF channels (2, 4, 5, 9), but wound up with just three after Channel 2 was moved to nearby St. Joseph. Two other channels that would've gone to KC, 11 and 13, wound up assigned to the Topeka, Kansas area, probably at the insistence of some of Topeka's leading citizens.
If not for the reassignments, things would've been different as the proprietor of the KCIT website will attest, when one scrolls down to the bottom of the aforementioned page:
http://www.wtv-zone.com/dpjohnson/kcit50/page2.html
When mentioning Birmingham, I didn't mention that Channel 7 was assigned to Mount Cheaha State Park, which is about 60 miles SSE of Birmingham. Thanks to the generosity of Storer Broadcasting, who owned WBRC-6 at the time, both Channel 7 and Channel 10 were able to sign on in '54-'55 as non-commercial stations, two of three original affiliates of what is now Alabama Public Television. I don't know if either or both of these stations were originally designated as educational channels, or if they were redesignated as such in order to get them on the air. Either way, it was not until '65 that Birmingham got a 3rd commercial station on the air.
Channel eight was and is assigned to Selma. It could be argued that that allotment could or should have been Birmingham's 4th VHF station, although there probably would have been spacing issues with Channel eights in Athens, GA (Atlanta) and Nashville. In 1986, Selma's station moved its tower into the Montgomery market and became their CBS station.
IIRC, in the early 70's there was some talk of trying to shoehorn a Channel 3 into Birmingham. Again, there would have major spacing issues because of existing Channel 3's in Chattanooga and Columbus, GA. The newspaper article (details are fuzzy---I was no more than 12 years old then) acknowledged that a Channel 3 in Birmingham would have to broadcast from a tower SW of Birmingham, which would probably have put it at a disadvantage against Channels 6 and 13, who broadcast from Red Mountain, just S of downtown Birmingham.
Channel eight was and is assigned to Selma. It could be argued that that allotment could or should have been Birmingham's 4th VHF station, although there probably would have been spacing issues with Channel eights in Athens, GA (Atlanta) and Nashville. In 1986, Selma's station moved its tower into the Montgomery market and became their CBS station.
IIRC, in the early 70's there was some talk of trying to shoehorn a Channel 3 into Birmingham. Again, there would have major spacing issues because of existing Channel 3's in Chattanooga and Columbus, GA. The newspaper article (details are fuzzy---I was no more than 12 years old then) acknowledged that a Channel 3 in Birmingham would have to broadcast from a tower SW of Birmingham, which would probably have put it at a disadvantage against Channels 6 and 13, who broadcast from Red Mountain, just S of downtown Birmingham.
Charlotte was originally allocated 3 VHF channels in the 1947 table of allocations---3, 9, and 11. Meanwhile, Greensboro was given 2 allocations--channels 2 and 10. and Winston Salem was also given 2, channels 6 and 12. Durham got 7 and 11 and Asheville got 3 Vs. Raleigh wasn't given a single channel, nor did any other city in the eastern part of the state! South Carolina was not allocated a single channel in the 1947 allocations. When the 1952 allocation came out, Charlotte had lost 11 to Johnson City TN, but had gained 36 and 42. UHF allocations were amply spread across both states. The first four stations to come on the air in SC were on UHF, but two of them eventually failed.
...wrong side of Pennsylvania. Scranton/Wilkes-Barre is north of Philadelphia, not Pittsburgh...Greg Goodfellow said:
Ultimajock said:
For the record, the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre market was originally awarded two VHF stations (7 and 11). It only became an all-VHF market when it was determined that it was too close to NYC to have Channels 7 and 11 in the NE Pennsylvania area.
If Wheeling-Steubenville had become an all-UHF market, it wouldn't have doomed the market to failure. For that matter, if Channel 7 and Channel 9 had been moved to Pittsburgh, which already had Channel 11, the Pittsburgh area itself might've gotten at least one VHF independent, on par with WGN Chicago, WPIX New York, KPLR St. Louis, etc.
.
Chicago's problem was Grand Rapids (not Milwaukee) - WKZO-TV should have been moved to Channel 10, keeping WTMJ-TV on 3. Giving 7 VHFs to Chicago would have made Rockford and Madison all-UHF markets, Grand Rapids/Kalamazoo a two-VHF market (Chs. 8 & 10), Lansing a one-VHF (Ch. 6, although maybe Ch. 3 could have been dropped in), and Milwaukee would have been assigned 3, 6, 10, and 12.
I did not know Lansing was originally given just one VHF. I know that later, 10 was going to originally be educational ,because WKAR-TV,then on 60 was going nowhere with the lack of UHF sets, and converters being high=priced, but in 1959 that's how WILX-TV and WKAR-TV as WMSB ended up sharing Channel 10. And I know 23 would be reassigned to East Lansing in 1971 or so,before WKAR-TV returned on 23 in 9/1972. I think 47 and 53 would be assigned by 1980, with WFSL-TV (now WSYM-TV ) going on before Christmas 1982, and WLAJ TV ABC 53 going on in Fall 1990.
Chicago's problem was Grand Rapids (not Milwaukee) - WKZO-TV should have been moved to Channel 10, keeping WTMJ-TV on 3. Giving 7 VHFs to Chicago would have made Rockford and Madison all-UHF markets, Grand Rapids/Kalamazoo a two-VHF market (Chs. 8 & 10), Lansing a one-VHF (Ch. 6, although maybe Ch. 3 could have been dropped in), and Milwaukee would have been assigned 3, 6, 10, and 12.
I did not know Lansing was originally given just one VHF. I know that later, 10 was going to originally be educational ,because WKAR-TV,then on 60 was going nowhere with the lack of UHF sets, and converters being high=priced, but in 1959 that's how WILX-TV and WKAR-TV as WMSB ended up sharing Channel 10. And I know 23 would be reassigned to East Lansing in 1971 or so,before WKAR-TV returned on 23 in 9/1972. I think 47 and 53 would be assigned by 1980, with WFSL-TV (now WSYM-TV ) going on before Christmas 1982, and WLAJ TV ABC 53 going on in Fall 1990.
fortmill said:
Jeff Miller's Broadcast History Page http://jeff560.tripod.com/1947tvalloc.html has a chart showing the 1947 Table of Allotments. At this time, Durham was alloted channels 4 and 7, Winston-Salem 6 and 8, and Asheville 5, 7 and 12. Greenville (both SC and NC), Spartanburg, Johnson City, Bristol, Florence, Washington (NC), New Bern and Lynchburg are among the VHF cities noticeably absent from the '47 Table.
As for Durham, I'm guessing VHF 4 was designated non-commercial in the '52 version and later moved to Chapel Hill (5 miles away) to become WUNC-TV in 1955. VHF 11 must've arrived in Durham with that table as well, allowed there by the moves of Charlotte's channel 11 to Johnson City and Norfolk-Portsmouth-Newport News' channel 11 (replaced there by Richmond's 10). Roanoke, which had 5, 9 and 12, seems to have ceded 5 to Raleigh, 9 to Beckley, WV (non-commercial) and 12 to Winston-Salem and Richmond (which had 3, 6, 8 and 10), in exchange for Durham's 7 and Richmond's or Greensboro's 10. VHF 12 leaving Roanoke would allow for VHF 13 in Lynchburg, but forced Asheville's 12 to become a 13, with its 7 going to Spartanburg (same market) and its 5 going to Bristol with Greenville (SC) getting a 4, so as not to be short-spaced with Atlanta's 5. VHF 3 and 10 in Richmond moved down the road to Norfolk-Portsmouth-Newport News (the three Hampton Roads cities were jointly allotted 4, 7, 11 and 13 in the '47 table--what's now WTKR-3/Norfolk actually signed on channel 4 originally...many years later 4 was allocated to the market again in Manteo, NC and is now WSKY). Hampton Roads and Durham losing VHF 7 allowed for it to be allocated to Washington, NC. Winston-Salem's 6 went to Bluefield, WV and 8 eventually to High Point (same market).
The company that was then known as Jefferson Standard
Broadcasting (later Jefferson-Pilot) had the license for
Channel 4 in the Triangle but gave it to the University of
North Carolina for noncommercial use. It would have been
interesting to see how the affiliation situation would have panned
out if J-P had kept 4; specifically, would NBC's reception problems
in the Triangle (since 1962, anyway) have been solved if 4 had been
NBC from the beginning or taken NBC when WRAL went to ABC?
Broadcasting (later Jefferson-Pilot) had the license for
Channel 4 in the Triangle but gave it to the University of
North Carolina for noncommercial use. It would have been
interesting to see how the affiliation situation would have panned
out if J-P had kept 4; specifically, would NBC's reception problems
in the Triangle (since 1962, anyway) have been solved if 4 had been
NBC from the beginning or taken NBC when WRAL went to ABC?
RadioDaze said:
Reading between the lines I don't think the FCC considered the channels in the 1947 table to be firmly wedded to the listed cities. As you noted, Raleigh wasn't assigned ANY channels in that list -- I think the FCC figured the Durham channels could also be used in Raleigh or Chapel Hill. Channels were assigned to Davenport/Rock Island/Moline (today each channel is assigned to one of these three cities), to Duluth/Superior, to New York/Northeastern New Jersey, etc..
I'm looking at what seems to be a second pre-freeze table, out of the 1948 Yearbook. It does list channels in South Carolina -- Charleston 7, 10, 13; Columbia 2, 4, 8. But nothing upstate. I'm guessing they expected Asheville, NC's three channels (5, 7, 12) to be shared with Greenville/Spartanburg/Anderson.
The 1952 table remained largely intact, as far as VHF is concerned, through the end of analog. You can see the framework of the final analog assignments on UHF as well, though quite a few got changed over the years.
Channel 4 was assigned, non-commercial, to Chapel Hill in the 1952 table. 5 and 11 to Raleigh & Durham, as commercial. (each of the latter cities also received two UHF channels, one commercial, one non-commercial.) Channel 9 in West Virginia must have been added later, the only assignment of 9 in WV in 1952 was in Wheeling with a note the channel could be used in Steubenville, Ohio. (and eventually it was) Channel 8 at High Point was a later development, it wasn't in the initial 1952 table. (the 8 at Richmond, Va. moved to Petersburg. That's a bit closer to Winston-Salem and was probably considered too short-spaced.)
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Looking at that 1948 table, there are some large and obvious gaps. There is not a single channel anywhere that would serve Green Bay, Wisconsin. Nor Rochester, Minnesota. Nor Orlando/Daytona Beach. Nor Baton Rouge. (not even by moving a channel from elsewhere in the same market. There are simply no channels allotted in those markets.)
It really looks like there was a significant change in philosophy between the two tables. (and the FCC said as much when releasing the 1952 table) The earlier table seems to have attempted to provide for multiple, competitive stations in the large cities where they felt TV would develop first. Unfortunately, it also seems to have skipped numerous smaller cities, leaving them without television altogether. (consider that translators were not yet allowed)
The FCC was formed, in part, to ensure a "fair distribution of (radio) service" after New York and Chicago got the lion's share of AM frequencies leaving smaller places without local stations. Those smaller places have Congressmen & Senators too, and they vote! At least with AM, these smaller places got secondary service from more powerful stations elsewhere. When it came to TV, many of these smaller places faced a future with no TV service at all.
The 1952 table seems to reflect that, with the Commission seeming to go to considerable lengths to assign at least one channel to EVERY significant city. They had to shift around a lot of VHF channels to achieve that.
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