How high up was your highest local channel number?

[soundsandsports]

Near Nashville, before the conversion we had WJFB on channel 66, but I have yet to find a full power TV station on any higher channels before the "big switch" through Wikipedia searches yet, so can anybody beat 66?

 

[bpatrick]

I would have if I had stayed in either Birmingham (Ch. 68)
or the Atlanta market (Ch. 69).

As it was, my highest channel numbers, during the times I
lived there:

Raleigh/Durham (1957-65) Ch. 28 (went off in the late '50s,
returned after I was gone)
(1990-present) Ch. 50
Greenville/New Bern/Washington (1965-66) Ch. 12
Norfolk (1966-68) Ch. 27
Greenville/Spartanburg/Asheville (1968-69) Ch. 29
(1979-90) Ch. 40
Birmingham (1969-73) Ch. 42
Tampa/St. Petersburg (1973-76) Ch. 44
Dallas/Ft. Worth (1976-79) Ch. 39

Of course, anyone who lived in Toronto had them all beat,
when CITY was on Ch. 79.

 

[KeithE4]

Atlanta, Indianapolis, and San Diego had Channel 69.

In the 1950s to mid '60s, there were several stations with channel numbers in the 70s:
70: Bowling Green OH
71: Bridgeport CT and Harrisburg PA
73: Lima and Youngstown OH
74: Adams MA, Cincinnati OH, and (I think) Scranton PA
75: Baltimore MD (unbuilt CP)
77: Glen Ridge NJ
78: Windsor ON
79: Toledo OH, Toronto ON

No CPs were ever granted for stations with channel numbers 80-83 other than for translators, AFAIK.

 

[KeithE4]

Atlanta, Indianapolis, and San Diego had Channel 69.

As did Miami/Hollywood FL, Providence/Block Island RI, & Allentown PA.

 

[dave73]

The highest channel issued for Chicago was 66 & was licensed to the suburb of Joliet, IL.

South Bend Indiana's highest channel for full power was 46. Once South Bend got low power stations, then the highest was 69.

For Milwaukee, the highest full power channel was 58, WDJT. For low power stations, it was WYTU-LP on 63.

For the Grand Rapids/Kalamazoo/Battle Creek, MI market, the highest channel was 64 WLLA, licensed to Kalamazoo.

I have yet to find a market close to Chicago that was higher than 66 for the highest channel number. I do remember a translator in the Chicago market on 68, but I don't remember what the station was called. All I know was that it was a TBN translator.

 

[Charles1]

I've lived in Birmingham almost all of my life, but I've also lived in Louisville, where their highest channel number was 68. I also have lived in Auburn, Alabama (part of the Columbus, GA DMA).. The highest channel number there was 66.

Other markets with 60-something channels:

Montgomery, AL: 67
Chattanooga: 61
Columbia, SC: 63
Orlando: 65
Tampa: 66
Charlotte: 64
Richmond: 65
Lexington: 67
Cincinnati: 64

 

[RadioDaze]

In the Raleigh-Durham-Fayetteville market, the honor goes to St. Augustine's College low power TV station W68BK, channel 68, which operates as "WAUG-TV" on-air.

If you're just counting full-power TV, then WFPX, channel 62 in Fayetteville (though it was not--and still isn't seen in the northern half of the market -Raleigh and Durham).

I saw WRAZ-TV 50 mentioned earlier up. They actually signed on in 1995, not 1990, but were probably the highest analog channel seen in the northern part of the Raleigh-Durham market from '95 on.

 

[dhett]

Lived in 4 markets:

NYC - highest full-power channel was WNYC 31 when I moved away, WFUT 68 at analog shutoff
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton - WBRE 28 the 1st time, WVIA 44 the 2nd and 3rd times, WQPX 64 at shutoff
Rochester NY - WUHF 31
Phoenix - KPAZ 21 the 1st and 2nd times, KASW 61 current / shutoff

Also got signals from Buffalo: WNYO 49 moveout / WNGS 67 shutoff

 

[Tim L]

All from the Cleveland Market:

1957-December 1967 49-Akron (WAKR)
December 1967-January 1968 25 Cleveland (WVIZ)
January1968-75 61-Cleveland (WKBF)
1975-80 49-Akron (WEAO)
1980-82 61-Cleveland (WCLQ)
1982-2009 67-Canton (WOAC)
2009-Present 61-Cleveland (WQHS)

Notes:
49-WAKR moved to channel 23 in December 1967 returned as PBS WEAO in 1975
61-WKBF Left the air April 22, 1975 returned with a new license as WCLQ in 1980
67-WOAC moved to its digital channel 47 in June 2009 as WRLM. 47 Is also their virtual channel number.

Cleveland Radio station WERE-1300 had a CP for Channel 65 in the 1950's. Was never built.

 

[onairb]

In the SF Bay Area, the highest channel number when I was growing up was channel 60, KCSM, nominally a PBS station located at the College of San Mateo. Three other stations came along later in the '80s and '90s:
Channel 65, San Jose, started off as a religious station, then became the affiliate for Pax TV/Ion/I/whatever that 'network' is calling itself this week.
Channel 66, Vallejo, used to air Home Shopping Network, then Chinese programming, now the Spanish-language Telefutura.
Channel 68-, San Rafael(Marin County, just north of SF)religious(affiliated with 'Total Living Network')

 

[dave73]

I found a few more markets with their highest channels.

For Rockford, IL, the highest channel on the air was 39 WQFR Rockford. There was a channel 65 allocated to Freeport, IL, but no takers for that license since it's allocated as a non-commercial license. That makes Rockford, IL one of the few markets without a PBS station. They rely on WHA-TV Madison, WI & WTTW Chicago for PBS. Now WQFR Rockford still holds the title as the highest channel in that market, as they're now on 42, which is the highest channel today for that market. If we llook at low power stations, then the highest channel is currently analog 46 WBKM-LP, licensed to Chana, IL.

For Madison, WI, the highest channel was 57 WBUW, licensed to Janesville, WI. If we look at low power stations, then WDMW-LP Janesville, WI would hold that title being on channel 65.

For Fort Wayne, IN channel 55 was their highest channel by WFFT.

For the Champaign/Urbana/Springfield/Decatur market, 55 was the highest channel with WRSP-TV, licensed to Springfield, IL.

Terre Haute, IN is a 4 full power station market, & the highest channel was 38 (now 39), & that would be WXFW. If we look at low power stations, then that would be analog 43 W43BV.

 

[KML0224]

In Hartford/New Haven, the highest channel on a full-powered license was WEDY-TV (PBS) channel 65. The highest channel I could receive here was WTIC-TV (FOX) channel 61.

 

[Bob1370]

In Rochester, NY (full-power stations only);
1949-53; Channel 6 (only game in town)
1953-62; Channel 10
1962-66: Channel 13
1966-80; Channel 21
1980-2005; Channel 31 (Analog)
2005-now; Channel 45 (Digital)

 

[mjlarochelle]

Atlanta, Indianapolis, and San Diego had Channel 69.

In the 1950s to mid '60s, there were several stations with channel numbers in the 70s:
70: Bowling Green OH
71: Bridgeport CT and Harrisburg PA
73: Lima and Youngstown OH
74: Adams MA, Cincinnati OH, and (I think) Scranton PA
75: Baltimore MD (unbuilt CP)
77: Glen Ridge NJ
78: Windsor ON
79: Toledo OH, Toronto ON

No CPs were ever granted for stations with channel numbers 80-83 other than for translators, AFAIK.

76 was also used in Kitchener, ON.

In my neck of the woods (London, ON) 69 remains the highest channel, since CFMT signed on here circa 1993. For a long time 40 was the highest channel, occupied by CBLFT, which moved up to 53 in 1988.

 

[PDXREXX]

In Seattle in the early 90's Ch. 68 was a Low Power 3ABN repeater it is still a low power digital but on channel 8
and KTPS (now KBTC) was on channel 62 from the 60's to the early 80's

 

[charlestondxman]

In Charleston, the highest station was channel 49, WCHD, but that station has signed off. Now, the highest is Channel 42, WJNI (the same people that own WJNI 106.3 own WJNI-TV).

 

[ngriffin]

76.. K76BZ. I grew up in Ottumwa, Iowa, which only had one full power station for many years (KTVO, ABC). All other networks were carried by translators. KIIN was on 33, KCCI on 74, and WHO on 76. All have moved to lower channels now. If it is still on the air, the highest channel in the Ottumwa area is the TBN relayer on 42.

 

[Ultimajock]

76.. K76BZ. I grew up in Ottumwa, Iowa, which only had one full power station for many years (KTVO, ABC). All other networks were carried by translators. KIIN was on 33, KCCI on 74, and WHO on 76. All have moved to lower channels now. If it is still on the air, the highest channel in the Ottumwa area is the TBN relayer on 42.

...I recall that Fond du Lac WI had two translators in the early '70s on Channels 72 and 78. They were rebroadcasting WBAY-TV/2 Green Bay and WISN-TV/12 Milwaukee (both CBS affiliates at the time, and both easily receivable with most antennae in FDL, so they largely cancelled each other out)...

 

[radiorob2.0]

Kentucky had it share of high UHF numbers. Lexington had Channel 62 as a full power station twice, longest as the predecessor to WTVQ Channel 36 and briefly as a independent station. It returned again as a LP. WKMJ was KET in Louisville on Channel 68. When KET purchased WKPC Channel 15 programming moved there and Channel 68 was a secondary outlet. Speaking of KET, they did have a few translators above Channel 69 but moved them or did away with them as the seventies progressed.

 

[RyanHoward]

In the Philadelphia area, highest channel numbers since 1966:

Ch. 48(WKBS-TV; signed off August 30, 1983; back in 1992 as newly licensed WGTW-TV,
now a TBN station)(1966-71)
Ch. 52(WNJT; a PBS station from Trenton, NJ that is the flagship for NJN)(1971-76)
Ch. 69(WFMZ-TV; Allentown independent station)(1976-2009)