History of Upstate TV

[dustintv]

Here's something nifty: This channel line-up is from the NY state edition and comes from the May 23rd 1959 issue of TVGuide:

2 WKTV (ABC, CBS, NBC) P.O. Box 386, Utica, N.Y. Redwood 3-0404
3 WSYR-TV (ABC, NBC) 1030 James St., Syracuse, N.Y. Granite 4-3911
5 WROC-TV (ABC, NBC) 201 Humboldt St., Rochester, N.Y. Butler 8-8400
6 WRGB (NBC) 1400 Balltown Rd., Schenectady, N.Y. Franklin 7-2261
7 WCNY-TV (ABC, CBS) P.O. Box 211, Watertown, N.Y. Sunset 2-2600
8 WHEN-TV (ABC, CBS) 101 Court St., Syracuse, N.Y. Granite 4-8511
10 WHEC-TV (ABC, CBS) 40 Franklin St., Rochester, N.Y. Baker 5-3050
10 WVET-TV (ABC, CBS) 17 Clinton Avenue South,Rochester Hamilton 6-4820
10 WTEN 19 WCDC 41 WCDA (CBS) P.O. Box 10, Albany, N.Y. 3-2225
11 CKWS-TV (Independent, CBC) 170 Queen St.,Kingston,Ont LIberty 2-4977
12 WNBF-TV (ABC, CBS) Sheraton Inn, Front St.,Binghamton RAymond 3-7311
13 WAST (ABC) 15 North Pearl St., Menands, Albany 5-5291

By August 1963, we get a more familiar looking line-up:


2 WKTV (ABC, CBS, NBC)
3 WSYR-TV (NBC)
5 WHEN-TV (CBS)
6 WRGB (NBC)
7 WCNY-TV (ABC, CBS)
8 WROC-TV (NBC)
9 WNYS-TV (ABC)
10 WHEC-TV (CBS)
10 WTEN 19 WCDC (CBS)
11 CKWS-TV (Independent, CBC)
12 WNBF-TV (CBS)
13 WAST (ABC)
13 WOKR (ABC)

Questions: When did WROC and WHEN flip? I know that the FCC rewrote the broadcast table to give all the cities three VHFs each, but how did they insert channel nine into Syracuse? Finally, those WCNY call letters...when were they moved to Syracuse, a PBS station?

 

[KML0224]

Is that channel 7 of Carthage/Watertown? Also did channel 19 of Adams, MA sign on at the same time as channel 10 of Albany?

 

[oldschooler1]

Here's something nifty: This channel line-up is from the NY state edition and comes from the May 23rd 1959 issue of TVGuide:

2 WKTV (ABC, CBS, NBC) P.O. Box 386, Utica, N.Y. Redwood 3-0404
3 WSYR-TV (ABC, NBC) 1030 James St., Syracuse, N.Y. Granite 4-3911
5 WROC-TV (ABC, NBC) 201 Humboldt St., Rochester, N.Y. Butler 8-8400
6 WRGB (NBC) 1400 Balltown Rd., Schenectady, N.Y. Franklin 7-2261
7 WCNY-TV (ABC, CBS) P.O. Box 211, Watertown, N.Y. Sunset 2-2600
8 WHEN-TV (ABC, CBS) 101 Court St., Syracuse, N.Y. Granite 4-8511
10 WHEC-TV (ABC, CBS) 40 Franklin St., Rochester, N.Y. Baker 5-3050
10 WVET-TV (ABC, CBS) 17 Clinton Avenue South,Rochester Hamilton 6-4820
10 WTEN 19 WCDC 41 WCDA (CBS) P.O. Box 10, Albany, N.Y. 3-2225
11 CKWS-TV (Independent, CBC) 170 Queen St.,Kingston,Ont LIberty 2-4977
12 WNBF-TV (ABC, CBS) Sheraton Inn, Front St.,Binghamton RAymond 3-7311
13 WAST (ABC) 15 North Pearl St., Menands, Albany 5-5291

By August 1963, we get a more familiar looking line-up:


2 WKTV (ABC, CBS, NBC)
3 WSYR-TV (NBC)
5 WHEN-TV (CBS)
6 WRGB (NBC)
7 WCNY-TV (ABC, CBS)
8 WROC-TV (NBC)
9 WNYS-TV (ABC)
10 WHEC-TV (CBS)
10 WTEN 19 WCDC (CBS)
11 CKWS-TV (Independent, CBC)
12 WNBF-TV (CBS)
13 WAST (ABC)
13 WOKR (ABC)

Questions: When did WROC and WHEN flip? I know that the FCC rewrote the broadcast table to give all the cities three VHFs each, but how did they insert channel nine into Syracuse? Finally, those WCNY call letters...when were they moved to Syracuse, a PBS station?

WROC & WHEN flipped in 1962, to make room for ch. 9 (which could've actually gone to Cornell U., but they didn't want to give up their CBS affiliation on WHCU-AM). 8 in Syracuse (too close to 9) went to 5, 5 in Rochester went to 8. As well, ch. 2 in Utica went on the air in 1949 on ch. 13. They found they could squeeze in to ch. 2 by moving their xmitter farther away from Utica. And ch. 3 in Syracuse went on the air as ch. 5 in 1950, and stayed there for a couple years. As well, the ORIGINAL WHAM-TV in Rochester hit the air on ch. 6 in 1949, and WRGB on ch. 65 was on the air for some years as ch. 4.
That second listing does not list WNYR ch. 40 (NBC) in Binghamton, which went on the air in 1957, WBJA ch. 34 (ABC) in Binghamton, which hit the air in 1962, and WSYE ch. 18 in Elmira, which went on the air in 1956 as a satellite of WSYR in Syracuse. (Elmira had 2 UHF stations before that, on ch. 14 and 24, but 14 got blown down in a Hurricane in 1954 after only a few months, and not much is known about the short life of ch. 24, either).

 

[pqgeorge]

Is that channel 7 of Carthage/Watertown? Also did channel 19 of Adams, MA sign on at the same time as channel 10 of Albany?

WCDC/19 (formerly WMGT/74) signed-on in late 1953 or early 1954. Originally, it was a separate entity unto itself. After a winter storm toppled the WMGT tower on Mt. Greylock (in Adams, MA) in 1956, the license was sold to the parent company of WCDA/41, WCDB/29 and the soon to be activated WTEN/10. When they bought WMGT, they got a CP to move to Channel 19. Once the CP was OKAY'ed, they changed the call-letters to WCDC before 19 was activated. They also had to sacrifice WCDB/29 (Hagamon, NY) due to too much overlap of coverage. Once Channel 10 signed-on, the need for Channel 29 was pretty much moot due to their similar coverage areas. Later, once Channel 10 got the OK to go to full-power and change the City of License to Albany, they shut down WCDA/41. Again, too much overlap with 10 and 41. So, once 1962 rolled around, WTEN/10 and WCDC/19 were the same package that still operates today (both TV and DT). I will be adding the WMGT/74 exhibit very shortly on the UHF Morgue. BTW: The WICA/15 exhibit will be on line this week. Check it out!