PLACES WITH EXTRA LARGE RADIO/TV TOWERS NEAR DOWNTOWN

[gregg75]

Some cities have downtown antennas, usually on the top of tall buildings. Then there
are other places where a solo antenna stands out like a sore thumb. In Atlanta they
are in the process of taking down the old WTCG tower (about 25 stories high) but it
really didn't stand out.

The biggest stand alone tower near downtown that comes to my mind is in
KNOXVILLE, Tennessee. There is a medium size mountain next to downtown which
is probably about 25 stories high and on the top of it are (I think two towers). The
largest one appears to be about 50 stories high.

Where else do broadcast antennas really make a bold statement?

 

[azumanga]

Others that come to mind include:

KCTV Kansas City
KQTV St. Joseph, Missouri
KETV Omaha

 

[oldiesfan6479]

Where else do broadcast antennas really make a bold statement?

Mt. Wilson, Mt. Sutro, South Mountain, Cedar Hill, just to name a few...also the Tower Site of
the Month calendar from Professor Fybush.

In addition to the Phoenix market TV/FM sticks on South Mountain, there's also a stick atop the
old Westward Ho Hotel in downtown, two sticks in an east Phoenix shopping center (originally
called Tower Plaza--it's Miss December in the 2010 TSOTM calendar BTW), and I'd be totally
remiss if I didn't mention the single stick behind a lumberyard in south Scottsdale.

 

[Sammi Brie]

What about Baltimore's Television Hill tri-candelabra and Sinclair tower?

It's so much of a landmark that WJZ had it in some of their 1990s news opens.

There's also another category of "landmark tower" that a few stations have...weather beacons or balls! KCCI has one (on since probably the 1950s or 1960s, shut off from the mid-70s until 1987); WZZM's ball was removed in 1987 due to safety issues and restored on a new site in 2003; KXTV actually turned one on in 2001 (though it was finished a year earlier). KCAU, WLWT, KCTV, KMTV, KSL, and WTAE also have similar equipment. KELO and WKRC had similar equipment at one time. Oddly enough there are a lot of Hearst stations in that set!

 

[Bengalsfan]

Don't forget Cincinnati's self supporting towers in downtown.

 

[dhett]

Don't know if it's still being used, or how long it's been since last used by KPHO-TV, but the tower atop the Westward Ho hotel in downtown Phoenix is still a prominent part of the skyline.

 

[RadioDaze]

The historic WTVR TV tower, while not in downtown Richmond, Virginia, is visible driving into the city on I-95 and I-64.

The Tenleytown, District of Columbia, antenna farm is pretty impressive.

The guyed tower of WAPE-FM 95.1 in Jacksonville, Florida, which I suspect once supported WTLV, channel 12 (it's outside their studios) is very visible over downtown.

Here in Durham, North Carolina, the 300-foot STL tower of WTVD, channel 11, looks sort of out of place in our rather low-rise downtown.

 

[KML0224]

What about the Roxborough antenna farm in Philadelphia? It's pretty visible from the I-95 viaduct north of Center City.

Also, in Portland, ME, there's an AM station's stick right next to I-295 and a shopping plaza. I want to say that the tower belongs to WPOR-AM.

 

[trapper12]

Some cities have downtown antennas, usually on the top of tall buildings. Then there
are other places where a solo antenna stands out like a sore thumb. In Atlanta they
are in the process of taking down the old WTCG tower (about 25 stories high) but it
really didn't stand out.

The biggest stand alone tower near downtown that comes to my mind is in
KNOXVILLE, Tennessee. There is a medium size mountain next to downtown which
is probably about 25 stories high and on the top of it are (I think two towers). The
largest one appears to be about 50 stories high.

Where else do broadcast antennas really make a bold statement?

The mountain you are refering to is Sharps Ridge. As far as I know all 4 major stations in Knoxville have their towers on Sharps ridge although I-75 does split this . WATE , WBIR, WVLT, AND WTNZ. The tower with the candlelabra on top is the new WVLT tower. Not sure if their old tower is still being used for anything or is even standing. I was down there a lot when the new tower was being built. That was fun to watch. Not sure what is going on with the towers now. It has been several years since I have been down there. WIMZ-fm uses the old WBIR tower for its antenna.

 

[KML0224]

To update Portland, ME: I think the shopping plaza transmitter is for WBAE-AM 1490. It's no longer WPOR-AM.

 

[FreddyE1977]

Downtown Pittsburgh is geographically pretty small. It is wedged in on a triangle of flat land lying
in between the three rivers. On the other side of those rivers are 300-400 foot hills, which are mostly
adorned with broadcast towers. Some of the closest ones I can think of are

- WDUQ-FM and KDKA-FM, both atop Mount Washington, directly to the south of Downtown.
- WPXI-TV tower in Perry Hilltop, directly to the north as you look across Downtown
- another very tall stick with multiple FM's just a bit to the east of that one

Probably 20 towers within a four or five mile radius. But interestingly not a single tower
atop any of the Downtown buildings.

 

[Bob E. Nelson]

Downtown Pittsburgh is geographically pretty small.

[...]

Probably 20 towers within a four or five mile radius. But interestingly not a single tower atop any of the Downtown buildings.

Pittsburgh has always been a tough OTA market because so many of the stations are at divergent compass points (notably WTAE-TV way out toward Elizabeth, where 96.1 was for a while before moving to the close-in AM site).

Because cable penetration is so high there, I surmise that there wasn't a compelling need to build a master antenna to consolidate everyone's DTV at a common location. Still, in a "what if" scenario, the US Steel Building may well have achieved that goal. I remember when it was being built -- its top could be clearly seen coming south from Wexford on Perry Highway. Likewise, it was visible at quite a few spots out on Lebanon Church Road.

Had OTA been a real concern of Hearst, a move closer in (such as the hypothetical USS Building master antenna site) may have been possible for WTAE's RF-51 channel. I don't see any co-channel conflicts nearby that kept them in Buena Vista when channel 4 had to keep its distance from WCMH in Columbus.

A single azimuth aim makes things so much easier for we antenna viewers. Here in Dallas-Ft. Worth, every single full-power television is clustered within 2 degrees at Cedar Hill. No rotor is needed...just aim once and you're done.

 

[Garrett]

Hey, what about the Sutro Tower in SF?
While not in Downtown, its pretty hard to miss from there... Or is it?


And you are forgetting the most prominent towers in history: The Eiffel in Paris, (yes, its a radio tower), The Empire State Building, and once standing World Trade Towers.

You didn't specifify towers that weren't buildings!

 

[upstate29651]

There's also another category of "landmark tower" that a few stations have...weather beacons or balls! KCCI has one (on since probably the 1950s or 1960s, shut off from the mid-70s until 1987); WZZM's ball was removed in 1987 due to safety issues and restored on a new site in 2003; KXTV actually turned one on in 2001 (though it was finished a year earlier). KCAU, WLWT, KCTV, KMTV, KSL, and WTAE also have similar equipment. KELO and WKRC had similar equipment at one time. Oddly enough there are a lot of Hearst stations in that set!

Can someone clarify this post? I have no idea what the OP is referring to here.

G

 

[w00t]

The WIS-TV STL tower in downtown Columbia, SC is rather out of place but has been there so long it's part of the skyline. They even still have the old mirrors up there for the microwave links of days past.

 

[KML0224]

I don't know which station it was for, but there's a big radio tower on top of a building in downtown Scranton, PA, close to the bus terminal and The Mall At Steamtown.

 

[Ultimajock]

...is the old WORT/WMFM tower still standing on Madison's East Side? Forgot to check when I was there last year...

 

[Sammi Brie]

There's also another category of "landmark tower" that a few stations have...weather beacons or balls! KCCI has one (on since probably the 1950s or 1960s, shut off from the mid-70s until 1987); WZZM's ball was removed in 1987 due to safety issues and restored on a new site in 2003; KXTV actually turned one on in 2001 (though it was finished a year earlier). KCAU, WLWT, KCTV, KMTV, KSL, and WTAE also have similar equipment. KELO and WKRC had similar equipment at one time. Oddly enough there are a lot of Hearst stations in that set!

Can someone clarify this post? I have no idea what the OP is referring to here.

G

Some stations have lighted weather beacons or balls, some near downtown, that are local landmarks. They are often lit colors to signify different things – the older ones had a poem at times to inform viewers of the colors' meanings:

Weatherball red, warmer weather ahead.
Weatherball blue, cooler weather in view.
Weatherball green, no change foreseen.
Colors blinking bright, rain or snow in sight. - WZZM

So if you saw a blue light on the weatherball, you'd know the weather was going to be a bit cooler soon, etc. Some have other colors: the KXTV Weather Tower glows purple if the Sacramento Kings win, for example.

Many other weatherballs are in existence, but not operated by TV stations.

 

[rwells2265]

Birmingham, Alabama .... Red Mountain overlooks the city's downtown area, and with one exception (ABC 33/40) all the major TV stations have their sticks up there. The ABC stations, for those not familiar, are the former CBS affils for Tuscaloosa (WCFT-33) and Anniston (WJSU-40).

--Russell

 

[fortmill]

A lot of stations started out with fairly impressive towers located near downtown. I was thinking of Dallas where both KDAF?/4 and WFAA/8 had their towers downtown. Not very efficient for serving Fort Worth, and eventually tall buildings made those towers obsolete. 4 and 8 moved to Cedar Hill many years ago, but are the towers still standing? As someone mentioned earlier, the WTVR/6 tower very close to downtown Richmond is most impressive and can be seen virtually everywhere in the city and surrounding area. Of course, it is no longer in use for TV as WTVR-DT fled to the suburbs and is on the community TV tower on Sesame St in Chesterfield Co. WCVE-FM (NPR) ironically is still on the tower (WCVE-DT is on the Sesame St tower) and CC's WTVR-FM is still on the tower, but you have to wonder for how much longer since that old tower (very early 50s) is bound to be very high maintainance. How about the Cincinatti TV towers, made famous by WKRP, they seem pretty impressive...