Shortest-Lived TV Stations?

[IndigoCoyote]

KNBS 22 Walla Walla WA. Born in January 1960, died in Dec 1960. They had no STL, so the studio was high in the mountains above town in the transmitter building. In winter, no way to move people except snowcat...so they had bunks and a kitchen tucked in amongst the transmitter and master control. At least that kept them warm. Not a shock they didn't last the winter. Many FMs up there now, got a chance to see what was left in the 80's- still can make out where everything was.

 

[loeper]

What are (were) some TV stations that only existed for a short time? I'm talking maybe one to three years at most, and did not return to the air in any way, shape, or form (such as under different owners, call letters, etc.). And I'm only counting actual licenses, not applications or construction permits. And yes, LPs, CAs, and translators also count, but again, only actual licenses.

As I mentioned in another thread, KKOG channel 16 in Ventura, CA, lasted only nine months. That's the only one in my market that never returned to the air at all. As stated in that same thread, the frequency corresponding to UHF channel 16 is now used for mobile radio in Los Angeles.

How about other posters? What stations win the prize for shortest existence in your respective markets? Discuss! In York, Pennsylvania there was WNOW TV (channel 49) that only lasted a year or so in the early 50s. It was a Dumont station that went under right after the network did. There tower was later used for an fm radio station (105.7) and still stands to this day.

 

[RadioDaze]

Fayetteville, North Carolina (Raleigh-Durham TV market) had a station that certainly qualifies: WFLB-TV, channel 18. WFLB-TV signed on August 29, 1955 and went off the air in June of 1958, just two months shy of three years on the air. According to a December 1997 Fayetteville Observer article on the city's TV history, some CBS and NBC programming were seen along with the typical local fare of the era (teen dance shows, etc). The article says the station operated with 13.2 kW visual and 7kW aural, and issued a statement in 1958 that they were suspending operations in al all-out effort to get a VHF channel allocated to Fayetteville. Of course, that never came to fruition, as there were none available due to their being assigned to nearby cities-2/Greensboro, 3/Charlotte, 4/Chapel Hill, 5/Raleigh, 6/Wilmington, 7/Washington (NC), 8/Florence*, 9/Greenville, 10/Columbia, 11/Durham, 12/Winston-Salem, and 13/New Bern*. Fayetteville never had another station on channel 18, though it was later assigned UHF channels 40 and 62, which gained stations in 1981 and 1984, respectively. There is still WFLB, at 1490 AM, in Fayetteville today.

*-WVEC-TV in Hampton, Virginia, moved from UHF 15 to VHF 13, with the channel 12 allocation taking 13's place in New Bern, allowing WBTW, channel 8 in Florence, South Carolina, to move to channel 13 and channel 8 to be reallocated to High Point.

 

[tripinva]

You note the very VHF allotment they wanted in your post. When they moved WBTW from 8 to 13 (with the other moves necessary to make that happen as noted in your post), the FCC was trying to make a decision on where to put the channel 8 allotment. WFLB wanted 8 alloted to Fayetteville.

- Trip

 

[RadioDaze]

You note the very VHF allotment they wanted in your post. When they moved WBTW from 8 to 13 (with the other moves necessary to make that happen as noted in your post), the FCC was trying to make a decision on where to put the channel 8 allotment. WFLB wanted 8 alloted to Fayetteville.

- Trip

How different the Raleigh/Durham TV landscape would have been had Fayetteville gotten channel 8 instead of High Point, as well as that of the Greensboro/Winston-Salem/High Point market. Either NBC would have had a competitive VHF home in the Raleigh-Durham-Fayetteville market or we might have even seen a separate Fayetteville TV market (which would certainly have kept Raleigh a long ways from the DMA #25 they are today), while Greensboro/Winston-Salem/High Point would have had a two-VHF situation like Charlotte with the odd network out (likely ABC) getting relegated to UHF (which it actually did in the Fox/New World deal of 1995). Not to mention, there would have never been a channel 8 at Morehead City, NC (Greenville-New Bern-Jacksonville market).

To tie this back to the original subject of the thread, the group which got the channel 8 allocation at High Point, NC, Southern Broadcasting, had a short-lived UHF incarnation in Winston-Salem, WTOB-TV, channel 26. According to Wikipedia, Southern Broadcasting signed on WTOB-TV September 18, 1953 (a few days ahead of WSJS-TV 12) and ceased broadcasting May 11, 1957. An article on Triad TV history says Southern settled for UHF after losing its bid for VHF 12. In 1972, channel 26 at Winston-Salem was again occupied, but this time as full-time UNC-TV repeater WUNL, which, besides sharing the same channel, has no connection to WTOB-TV. As with WFLB, there's still a WTOB on the AM dial (1380) in Winston-Salem today.

 

[mdamico25]

Eatontown, NJ (at the Jersey Shore) had a short-lived commerical station for a time. WRTV, Channel 58 signed on in December 1953 and was off the air by April 1955. Back then, UHF was in its infancy and the station could not compete with the New York City and Philadelphia VHF's already on the air.

Curiously, the WRTV license would linger for over a decade and I've heard that new owners planned to get back on air as late as 1970. Supposedly, the owners purchased new color equipment to get back on air. Channel 58 from Eatontown never made it back on the air, but the newly purchased equipment was used to start Channel 68 in Newark, NJ later in the 70s.

The FCC eventually reallocated Channel 58 from Eatontown to New Brunswick, NJ as a non-commerical allocation. Non-commerical WNJB/58 started up in 1973 and has been on the air ever since. (Now digital RF 8 ).

-Mike

 

[williamb3]

I remember WXPO-TV, channel 50, Windham, N.H., east of Nashua. It signed on in October of 1969 and was off, at the latest, by March 1970. It was an independent, and their studios were in Windham with additional studios in Lowell, Mass., and offices in Manchester, N.H. Initially they were on 12 noon to 12 midnight, and the first few hours of their schedule were devoted to "Info-50", a stock market program similar to what WCIU in Chicago did for years, and what CNBC does now. They carried the short-lived Dennis Wholey talk show, as well as Mike Douglas and Steve Allen, even though other Boston stations (chs 4 and 7, respectively) were carrying those. They apparently were seriously under-capitalized, and by January, 1970 had already laid off the vast majority of their staff and cut back their hours to 3:30-11 pm. They signed off for good by spring--if I remember correctly, in the middle of a program! It would be well over another decade before channel 50 returned, this time as WNDS. Currently they're WZMY.

 

[azumanga]

I remember WXPO-TV, channel 50, Windham, N.H., east of Nashua. It signed on in October of 1969 and was off, at the latest, by March 1970... They signed off for good by spring--if I remember correctly, in the middle of a program!

According to Wikipedia and UHF Morgue, it was said that the station was deep in debt and has let some bills go unpaid. The station closed down in early 1970 when the power company cut power to the station -- in the middle of "Maverick".

It would be well over another decade before channel 50 returned, this time as WNDS. Currently they're WZMY.

The station became WBIN-TV earlier this year.

 

[Bob1370]

Even big markets sometimes don't support stations. Case in point, WBES-TV, Channel 59 in Buffalo, NY, which signed on late in September of 1953 and didn't even make it to the end of the year. The Buffalo Broadcasters Association website tells the story of the three month wonder on Channel 59 in Buffalo this way;

"By August 1953...WBES-TV’s 428-foot tower began to rise atop the Lafayette Hotel. The station was criticized by the Courier-Express for "a curtain of silence" regarding news of Channel 59’s progress. This likely was due to the lack of a network affiliation agreement. The Courier angrily huffed: "As to Why, What and When, we find none forthcoming. In fact, WBES has apparently decided not to answer the phone!" At the Lafayette, WBES planned to use the hotel ballroom as its main studio, a crafty ploy to augment the station’s small penthouse location. Situated on those upper floors were the transmitter, projection, film and editing rooms, an engineering workshop, dressing rooms, management offices and reception area. WBES took out a full-page newspaper ad to trumpet its upcoming sign-on. The ad proclaimed: "Life Begins at 59." Supposedly dedicated to community service, Channel 59 debuted on Sept. 29, 1953...The station’s maiden program was the National Community Chest's "All-Star Red Feather Show," followed by the "NBC Weekly News Review." Also on the schedule: "Hopalong Cassidy," "Times Square Playhouse" and local news with longtime radio sports personality Roger Baker. The sky collapsed on Channel 59 almost immediately. Poor advertising sales and mounting debt triggered a stockholder revolt. On December 19, 1953, less than 3 months after signing on, WBES folded up its tent, returning its license to the FCC."

No station ever occupied Channel 59 in Buffalo again. Channel 2, WGR-TV, had already been authorized by the FCC at the time WBES first signed on; advertisers who had shunned WBES were apparently just waiting for the day in the spring of 1954 when Channel 2 signed on with NBC and ABC affiliations, probably blocking anyone from ever trying life at the upper end of the Buffalo TV dial. Channel 2 even continued to do well after it lost its NBC affiliation and went ABC-only in 1955, as NBC started an experiment to see if could make an owned-and-operated station on UHF succeed in a big market and bought crosstown Channel 17. The failure of NBC to make a go of WBUF-TV on Channel 17 as an O&O, and the arrival of WKBW-TV on Channel 7 in 1958, further sealed the UHF band's fate in the market--no commercial enterprise would sign on on in the UHF band and survive in western New York until 1970 when current Fox affiliate WUTV, Channel 29, arrived.

 

[The King Bee]

I believe WKLO-TV, Louisville (Ch. 21, ABC/DuMont; Great Trails Broadcasting Co.) was only on the air from March 1 to June 30 or July 15, 1953. The analog UHF range vs. power disadvantage, the FCC's confusion on UHF/VHF intermixture, a lack of all-channel sets, and two legendary VHF competitors in WAVE-TV (Ch. 3, NBC) amd WHAS-TV (Ch. 11, CBS) doomed WKLO.

Channel 7 had mysteriously been spirited away from Louisville in the final 1952 FCC Report and Order, which shuffled dozens of TV allocations. I've seen the one existing WKLO-TV kinescope, and the production values led me to believe they could have succeeded in the market had they had Ch. 7 (Their sister station, WKLO-AM, kept the kinescopes for the historical record after the demise of the TV).

By the time WLKY-TV, Channel 32 came on the air in September 1961, UHF transmission and reception technology had made huge strides forward, and ABC-TV was a stronger partner in WLKY's successful launch.

 

[JeeperOne]

There have been a few (Forgettable) LPTVers here in Denver which were either Latin outlets or Godcasters

Most of those however were either on Channel 31 before KDVR went on the air or Channel 57 which is now the home of the CW affiliate in Colorado Springs & sister to FOX affiliate KXRM 21

Cheers

 

[only1moore]

You may want to add KTKB-LD/Hagatna, Guam to the list. The CW affiliate was on the air from April 20, 2009 to March 31, 2011. Financial problems was the main reason they left the air.