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Stations that SWAPPED frequencies

> > I know in the Miami Market, WTVJ Channel Four (O&O - NBC)
> > and WCIX Channel 6 (O&O - CBS) literally swapped
> frequencies
> > not affiliations. WTVJ went to channel 6 and WCIX went to
> > Channel 4 (becoming WFOR in the process)
> >
> > Has there ever been any other cases of stations swapping
> > frequencies. I dont' mean switch affiliations, and I'm not
>
> > counting those that move channels, for instance WPWR moved
>
> > from Channel 60 to Channel 50, but there was no station on
>
> > channel 50.
> >
> > I mean actual swaps.
>
> I'm pretty sure there wasn't actually a channel swap in
> Miami. NBC and CBS swapped *stations* - the station that
> was on channel 4 stayed on channel 4 but changed ownership
> from NBC to CBS; and the station that was on channel 6 also
> stayed on channel 6 but changed ownership and call letters
> in the other direction.
>
> In fact, I can't think of *any* other incident since 1980
> where two TV stations have actually swapped channels;
> they've all been cases of swapping *licenses*.
>
> (some of the older cited cases actually did involve channel
> swaps)
>
There was a prior case of AFFLIATION changes in Miami but WTVJ was on Channel 4 and everything stayed the same except they stopped broadcasting on Channel 4 and moved to channel 6. WCIX same thing everything stayed the same, they except they also changed their call letters from WCIX (Channel 6) to WFOR(Channel 4)<P ID="signature">______________
Once I figured out the meaning of life....Then I forgot to write it down.</P>
 
> >Also, WAFB-TV Baton Rouge changed from 28 to 9 sometime in
> the early 60s.
>
> WDAM-TV in Laurel, Miss., had been on Channel 9 from its
> sign-on in 1956 until WAFB-TV wanted to move to the better
> position in 1959, if I recall correctly. WDAM-TV then moved
> to Channel 7.

I read somwhere, two or three years ago, that KOAA-5-NBC in Pueblo/Colo. Spgs. was going to swap channels with the PBS station there on Channel 8. Does anyone have any information concerning this?
 
> There was a prior case of AFFLIATION changes in Miami but
> WTVJ was on Channel 4 and everything stayed the same except
> they stopped broadcasting on Channel 4 and moved to channel
> 6. WCIX same thing everything stayed the same, they except
> they also changed their call letters from WCIX (Channel 6)
> to WFOR(Channel 4)

Sorry, Mark, but according to the FCC database the licenses themselves were swapped between CBS and NBC. So, legally, WTVJ/4 became WCIX/4 (with a same-day call letter change to WFOR) and WCIX/6 became WTVJ/6.<P ID="signature">______________


</P>
 
>
> I read somwhere, two or three years ago, that KOAA-5-NBC in
> Pueblo/Colo. Spgs. was going to swap channels with the PBS
> station there on Channel 8. Does anyone have any information
> concerning this?
>

I think the FCC blocked the deal back in 1999.<P ID="signature">______________
"Your solution is both fair and democratic ... and I want no part of it."

http://kcradio.tripod.com
http://zerwekh.hypermart.net</P>
 
> > There was a prior case of AFFLIATION changes in Miami but
> > WTVJ was on Channel 4 and everything stayed the same
> except
> > they stopped broadcasting on Channel 4 and moved to
> channel
> > 6. WCIX same thing everything stayed the same, they except
>
> > they also changed their call letters from WCIX (Channel 6)
>
> > to WFOR(Channel 4)
>
> Sorry, Mark, but according to the FCC database the licenses
> themselves were swapped between CBS and NBC. So, legally,
> WTVJ/4 became WCIX/4 (with a same-day call letter change to
> WFOR) and WCIX/6 became WTVJ/6.
>
I guess I was wrong, I just went by an Article in the Miami Herald, which indicated that everything was the same the stations just swapped channels
<P ID="signature">______________
Once I figured out the meaning of life....Then I forgot to write it down.</P>
 
> At some point in the late 60s or early 70s, WEHT-25-ABC
> moved from Channel 50 to its present location at Channel 25,
> don't know exactly dates though.
>
> And Harrisburg, Illinois WSIL-3-ABC originally started out
> on Channel 22 before moving to Channel 3 sometime in the
> 60s.
>
> Obviously back in the early days of television there were
> quite a few switches, one being that Chicago lost the
> Channel 4 signal to nearby Milwaukee (I want to say that
> WBBM was originally to be on Channel 4 before the
> realignment).
>
>
Channel four in Chicago was on the air as WBKB. Then moved to chanel two by order of the FCC I believ it was because Channel four was causeing interference with channle four in Milwaukee. If you want to read more about it the video veteren has a great Chicago TV history site that talks about this. It is
www.chicagotelevision.com
Also, WEEK tv 25 the NBC affiliate in Peoria Illinois started out on Channle 43. NOt sure why they moved to Channle 25.
 
Actually, you're both right -- this was a rare case where everything did stay the same, all that changed were a couple of sheets of paper. The folks in the WTVJ building went about their business as usual, even as they started broadcasting on Channel 6; same with the folks at WCIX/WFOR. Legally, NBC bought CBS' license and CBS bought NBC's license, but that's it -- CBS didn't take over WTVJ and its infrastructure, nor did NBC buy WCIX and its infrastructure... just their frequencies...

> > > There was a prior case of AFFLIATION changes in Miami
> but
> > > WTVJ was on Channel 4 and everything stayed the same
> > except
> > > they stopped broadcasting on Channel 4 and moved to
> > channel
> > > 6. WCIX same thing everything stayed the same, they
> except
> >
> > > they also changed their call letters from WCIX (Channel
> 6)
> >
> > > to WFOR(Channel 4)
> >
> > Sorry, Mark, but according to the FCC database the
> licenses
> > themselves were swapped between CBS and NBC. So, legally,
>
> > WTVJ/4 became WCIX/4 (with a same-day call letter change
> to
> > WFOR) and WCIX/6 became WTVJ/6.
> >
> I guess I was wrong, I just went by an Article in the Miami
> Herald, which indicated that everything was the same the
> stations just swapped channels
>
 
> > Obviously back in the early days of television there were
> > quite a few switches, one being that Chicago lost the
> > Channel 4 signal to nearby Milwaukee (I want to say that
> > WBBM was originally to be on Channel 4 before the
> > realignment).
> >
> Channel four in Chicago was on the air as WBKB. Then moved
> to chanel two by order of the FCC I believ it was because
> Channel four was causeing interference with channle four in
> Milwaukee. If you want to read more about it the video
> veteren has a great Chicago TV history site that talks about
> this. It is
> www.chicagotelevision.com
>
Chicago's Channel 4 was indeed forced by the FCC to move to Channel 2 a few months after CBS bought it and renamed it WBBM-TV. However, as the Video Veteran mentions on his site, the interference issue that caused this move actually involved a Milwaukee station and one on the other side of Lake Michigan. WTMJ-TV Milwaukee originally occupied Channel 3 and was interfering too much with Kalamazoo, Michigan's Channel 3 station, WKZO-TV. WBBM-TV's jump to Channel 2 and the FCC-mandated shutdown of Zenith Radio Corporation's Channel 2 experimental pay TV station in Chicago let the FCC move WTMJ-TV to Channel 4 and, if I'm not mistaken, also triggered the allocation of Channel 3 to Madison, Wisconsin.<P ID="signature">______________
This is AirwaveSurfer, reminding you that portions of this post have been prerecorded.</P>
 
Re: UHF Movers

> > > Some more...
> > > WTVI (originally licensed to East St. Louis, IL),
> channel
> > 56
> > > to 36 to 2 (as KTVI)
> >
> > WTVI was originally on Channel 54, not 56.
> >
>
> Yeah, and as a point of clarification, when WTVI moved to
> St. Louis and Channel 36 in 1955, that's when it changed the
> W to a K in the call letters. It moved to Channel 2 in
> 1957.
>
In Pennsylvania, there was WOPC-TV, which started in the '70s as a weak ABC
affil on Channel 38. In the '80s(not sure exactly when), WOPC-TV moved to
Channel 23(home of the current WATM-TV) and Channel 38 was taken out of Altoona
and reallocated to Scranton, where a new independent, WOLF-TV, signed on in
1985. That station is now WSWB-TV, and is the WB station for Scranton and
Wilkes-Barre. As for Altoona, 23 went to a satellite of WWCP-TV, a new Johnstown
sign-on on Channel 8, in late 1986. It then became WWPC-TV, with the then
brand-new Fox network. Two years later, Channel 23 broke away from Channel 8's
Fox programming, and went back to ABC as WATM-TV. Today, they remain co-owned
with WWCP-TV 8.
 
Re: Stations that SWAPPED frequencies-Knoxville, TN

I don't know the details, but what is now WVLT-TV 8 in Knoxville, Tennessee, was originally on channel 26, before securing a VHF frequency in the 1980s.

> > At some point in the late 60s or early 70s, WEHT-25-ABC
> > moved from Channel 50 to its present location at Channel
> 25,
> > don't know exactly dates though.
> >
> > And Harrisburg, Illinois WSIL-3-ABC originally started out
>
> > on Channel 22 before moving to Channel 3 sometime in the
> > 60s.
> >
> > Obviously back in the early days of television there were
> > quite a few switches, one being that Chicago lost the
> > Channel 4 signal to nearby Milwaukee (I want to say that
> > WBBM was originally to be on Channel 4 before the
> > realignment).
> >
> > Another I know if is WSB-TV in Atlanta. Started out on
> > Channel 8 under ownership of the Atlanta Journal, but when
>
> > the Journal bought out the Constitution (which owned the
> > Channel 2 frequency) the station migrated over to Channel
> 2
> > and Channel 8 became the city's PBS station.
>
> Which put ABC on Channel 11 in Atlanta until WSB dropped NBC
>
> for ABC in 1980.
>
> Some channel changes I can think of:
>
> WBRC Birmingham, Channel 4 to Channel 6
> WTAR (now WTKR) Norfolk, VA, Channel 4 to Channel 3
> WGAL Lancaster, PA, Channel 4 to Channel 8
> WTVM Columbus, GA, Channel 28 to Channel 9 (28 later
> became PBS
> for that market)
> WAVE Louisville, Channel 5 to Channel 3
> WHAS Louisviile, Channel 9 to Channel 11
> WBTW Florence, SC, Channel 8 to Channel 13
> WCTI New Bern, NC, Channel 13 to Channel 12
> >
>
 
> I'm pretty sure there wasn't actually a channel swap in
> Miami. NBC and CBS swapped *stations* - the station that
> was on channel 4 stayed on channel 4 but changed ownership
> from NBC to CBS; and the station that was on channel 6 also
> stayed on channel 6 but changed ownership and call letters
> in the other direction.

Sorry, but the original post was right. The Miami situation is VERY complicated and involves BOTH an affiliation swap and a frequency swap by two stations.

Years ago the lineup in Miami was as follows:
WTVJ-4 CBS
WCIX-6 FOX
WSVN-7 NBC
WPLG-10 ABC

WCIX is a weak VHF in that market because it's transmitter is south of where all the other transmitters are. NBC bought WTVJ and set a date to dump the CBS affiliation for NBC. CBS decided not to affiliate with WSVN and wound up buying WCIX. After that swap, the market looked like this:

WTVJ-4 NBC
WCIX-6 CBS
WSVN-7 FOX
WPLG-10 ABC

CBS tried to fix the Channel 6 signal with all kinds of LPTV stations, antenna giveaways, and an affiliation swap in the Ft. Myers/W. Palm Beach market. They may have even been able to move the tower a few miles to the north, but not much. Ultimately, they decided to do a deal with NBC to swap frequencies. I think CBS paid a premium to NBC for the improved signal on 4. After that swap, the market looked like this:

WFOR-4 CBS
WTVJ-6 NBC
WSVN-7 FOX
WPLG-10 ABC

If I'm not mistaken, there was little impact on the ratings from the switch. Obviously the rise and fall of CBS and NBC respectively has changed that somewhat.

The overall big winners out of all of these changes were Fox and ABC. Fox wound up on a station with a strong news department. ABC stayed on the strongest station in the market.
 
> CBS tried to fix the Channel 6 signal with all kinds of LPTV
> stations, antenna giveaways, and an affiliation swap in the
> Ft. Myers/W. Palm Beach market.

Fort Myers and West Palm Beach are separate markets, and Fort Myers never had an affiliation swap (now counting low-powered and cable-only stations involving UPN and WB).<P ID="edit"><FONT class="small">Edited by rugrats1 on 08/26/05 04:10 AM.</FONT></P>
 
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