Stations that went from commercial to non-commercial and/or vice-versa

[w9wi]

All TBN stations are commercial licenses.

Actually, that isn't true -- see CDBS. Of the 35 TBN stations, 29 are commercial licenses -- six are non-commercial.

Some of these are owned by a TBN subsidiary, Community Educational Television, which is operated independently of TBN:

http://www.communityedtv.org/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Community_Educational_Television

Taken literally, true enough. There is (at least was, last I looked, admittedly some time ago) interlocking directorship.

I didn't even know that the FCC "owned" a television station -- I always thought the City of New York owned the station, up until it became WBIS in the early-1990s.

The FCC owned it initially, as WUHF, a station intended to research UHF and maybe more important, to prove UHF would work in large cities. The city programmed the station when it wasn't running test patterns for the research.

Once the tests were complete the station was sold to the city.

 

[dhett]

All TBN stations are commercial licenses.

Actually, that isn't true -- see CDBS. Of the 35 TBN stations, 29 are commercial licenses -- six are non-commercial.

D'OH!!! Missed those stations.

All TBN stations are commercial licenses, except the six licensed to TBN subsidiary Community Educational Television: KETH 14 Houston, KHCE 23 San Antonio, KITU 34 Beaumont TX, KLUJ 44 Harlingen TX, WJEB 59 Jacksonville FL and WTCE 21 Fort Pierce FL.

Fixed. ;D

Other than WNET, I don't know of any NCE stations that broadcast on a channel allocated as commercial.

WKPD Paducah
WNYC-TV guess where
WNED Buffalo

Two of the three once were commercial stations. (the second was to my knowledge the only station ever to be licensed to the FCC)

I'm guessing you read "broadcast" in the past tense, and you are correct on all three. I actually meant "broadcast" in the present tense, and, as Scott pointed out, Buffalo channel 43 (WNED 17) is now an NCE allocation. Turns out that New York channel 24 (WNYE 25, formerly WNYC) is now NCE also. Paducah channel 41 (WKPD 6) is still a commercial allocation, so there are two NCE stations using commercially-allocated channels.

 

[radiorob2.0]

WKPD Paducah

They signed on the air in the early seventies as WDXR-TV, sister to their AM station. Channel 29 was an independent and the first UHF in the area beyond a couple of non-com. The market covered a wide area that never had much use for UHF so the station struggled and signed off a few years later. The license eventually transferred to the Commonwealth of Kentucky and returned to the air as WKPD.

 

[w9wi]

I'm guessing you read "broadcast" in the past tense, and you are correct on all three. I actually meant "broadcast" in the present tense, and, as Scott pointed out, Buffalo channel 43 (WNED 17) is now an NCE allocation. Turns out that New York channel 24 (WNYE 25, formerly WNYC) is now NCE also. Paducah channel 41 (WKPD 6) is still a commercial allocation, so there are two NCE stations using commercially-allocated channels.

Regarding past vs. present tense, the excuse is appreciated but in fact, I screwed up

WNYC-TV was on channel 31 which was a commercially-allocated channel at the time and of course still is. Channel 25 was reserved NCE in the initial 1952 table and to my recollection always has been. (it was the only reserved channel assigned to NYC)