WENS (TV)
{{Short description|Television station in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (1953–1957)}}
{{good article}}
{{Infobox television station
| logo = file:WENSTV16Logo.jpg
| logo_alt = A black-and-white slide. On a gray background, a white 16 towers over a triangular-shaped area in dark gray. The letters WENS run in an incomplete stripe to the left diagonally from middle-left to the bottom.
| name = WENS
| location = Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania | country = US
| airdate = {{start date|1953|8|29}}
| coordinates = {{coord|40|29|39|N|80|00|16|W}}
| owner = Telecasting, Inc.
| analog = 16 (UHF)
| haat = {{cvt|870|ft|m}}
| affiliations = ABC, CBS, NBC
| last_airdate = {{end date|1957|8|31}}
}}
WENS was a television station broadcasting on ultra high frequency (UHF) channel 16 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States, from 1953 to 1957. An ABC and CBS affiliate, it was one of two early UHF television stations in Pittsburgh, built by an ownership group that included Pittsburgh Pirates owner Thomas P. Johnson. WENS was the first station to telecast the Pirates in Pittsburgh and the third station in the market.
For most of its history, WENS struggled with the attitudes of the day toward UHF television. At the time, most television sets could not receive UHF stations without modification, and advertisers and networks alike shunned UHF, even though Pittsburgh only had one commercial very high frequency (VHF) station. WENS struggled to obtain sponsorships to air major network programming. WENS temporarily broadcast some of its programs on a VHF channel; after its tower collapsed in March 1955, some of its programs aired on the transmitter of educational broadcaster WQED for 47 days. The imminent arrival of more VHF stations, whose channels had been tied up in public hearings, prompted WENS to close on August 31, 1957, and sell its technical facilities to educational broadcaster WQED for use as a second educational channel, WQEX. Owners of WENS later invested in WDTV in West Virginia, and the WENS permit remained active into the 1960s but was never brought back into use.
Early years
On December 23, 1952, the Telecasting Company of Pittsburgh obtained a construction permit for a new UHF television station on channel 16, one of three commercial channel assignments to Pittsburgh. The idea for the station came from the sales manager and assistant general manager of Pittsburgh's only television station at the time, WDTV. The WDTV staff left the station, then brought in recognized local sports announcer Bob Prince and several businessmen, including Pittsburgh Pirates owner Thomas P. Johnson, to be part of the ownership group.{{cite news|via=Newspapers.com|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/70850478/|accessdate=February 14, 2021|work=Pittsburgh Press|date=August 23, 1953|page=16|title=WENS.. A Dream Came True|archive-date=August 29, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220829063321/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/70850478/wens-a-dream-came-true/|url-status=live}} It signed a deal in February 1953 to become ABC's exclusive Pittsburgh affiliate, marking the beginning of the market's transformation from one with a single station, WDTV, to one with competing stations;{{cite news|via=Newspapers.com|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/70847911/|accessdate=February 14, 2021|date=February 10, 1953|title=WENS Signs with ABC To Bring TV Network Here|page=1|work=Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph|archive-date=August 29, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220829063343/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/70847911/wens-signs-with-abc-to-bring-tv-network/|url-status=live}} it then added a CBS affiliation agreement in May, allowing CBS clearance of additional programs beyond the 40 to 50 percent of the network slate that WDTV carried.{{cite news|via=Newspapers.com|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/70849787/|accessdate=February 14, 2021|date=May 20, 1953|title=Video Station WENS to Be CBS Outlet|work=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette|page=25|archive-date=August 29, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220829063337/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/70849787/video-station-wens-to-be-cbs-outlet/|url-status=live}} Channel 16 would broadcast from facilities on Ivory Avenue built by another Pittsburgh radio station: WCAE. WCAE had opted to sell because it was abandoning FM radio; it was pursuing VHF channel 4, which at the time was allocated to Irwin and for which the winning permittee would need to build facilities there.{{cite news|via=Newspapers.com|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/70848663/|title=New Station Buys WCAE FM Plant|page=10|date=February 12, 1953|accessdate=February 14, 2021|work=Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph|archive-date=August 29, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220829063334/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/70848663/new-station-buys-wcaes-fm-plant/|url-status=live}} WCAE had been in the middle of constructing a planned {{convert|500|ft|m|adj=on|sp=us}} tower at the Ivory Avenue site and had constructed the bottom {{convert|250|ft|m|sp=us}} before deciding to wait on the outcome of the various VHF hearings in progress; WENS promised to finish building the mast.{{r|wcaefm}} Telecasting Company of Pittsburgh also got a deal on equipment, buying a purchase order from radio station WQAN, which had applied for and abandoned a bid to start channel 16 in Scranton, in northeastern Pennsylvania.{{cite news|via=Newspapers.com|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/70849397/|accessdate=February 14, 2021|date=April 5, 1953|title=WENS, City's First UHF Television Outlet, Rushed|work=Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph|page=28|archive-date=August 29, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220829063339/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/70849397/wens-citys-first-uhf-television/|url-status=live}}{{efn|WQAN, owned by The Scranton Times, and its partner in the channel 16 application had instead become part-owners of the channel 22 station in Scranton, WGBI-TV.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-tribune-financial-arrangements-discl/126172297/|date=January 6, 1953|page=3|title=Financial Arrangements Disclosed: Three TV Partners Pay In $50,000 Each|newspaper=The Tribune|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=June 10, 2023}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-tribune-meco-realty-times-told-by-f/126172368/|date=February 19, 1953|page=3|title=Meco Realty, Times Told by FCC to Clarify Bids for TV Channels|newspaper=The Tribune|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=June 10, 2023}}}}
WENS began broadcasting a test pattern on August 24, 1953.{{cite news|via=Newspapers.com|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/70851494/|accessdate=February 14, 2021|date=August 24, 1953|title=WENS Makes 'Debut' With Test Pattern|page=3|work=Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph|archive-date=August 29, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220829063340/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/70851494/wens-makes-debut-with-test-pattern/|url-status=live}} After replacing several defective parts, and with hours to spare, the station made its air date deadline of August 29 in time to carry a Pirates baseball game from Forbes Field. It was the second UHF outlet behind WKJF-TV (channel 53), which began at the start of the month.{{cite news|via=Newspapers.com|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/70851687/|accessdate=February 14, 2021|date=August 30, 1953|title=WENS Opener Called Success|page=1|work=Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph|archive-date=August 29, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220829063311/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/70851687/wens-opener-called-success/|url-status=live}}{{Cite news|url=https://newspapers.com/article/the-pittsburgh-press-picture-on-channel/145357810/|date=August 2, 1953|page=4:14|title=Picture on Channel 53: 2nd Pittsburgh TV Station Begins Regular Programs|newspaper=The Pittsburgh Press|location=Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=June 24, 2024}} The baseball telecast was one of four slated in the remainder of the 1953 season{{cite news|via=Newspapers.com|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/70850274/|accessdate=February 14, 2021|title=Four Pirate Games To Be Televised|page=22|work=Pittsburgh Press|date=August 13, 1953|archive-date=August 29, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220829063336/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/70850274/four-pirate-games-to-be-televised/|url-status=live}} and the first-ever telecast of a Pirates game played in Pittsburgh.{{cite news|via=World Radio History|id={{ProQuest|1401203799}}|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1953/BC-1953-09-07.pdf|accessdate=February 14, 2021|work=Broadcasting|date=September 7, 1953|title=Eight TVs In Seven Cities Is Starting Score For Week|page=56|archive-date=February 7, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210207173936/https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1953/BC-1953-09-07.pdf|url-status=live}} With WKJF-TV and WENS having broken WDTV's monopoly on television in Pittsburgh, channel 16 initially boasted of sponsor interest and market impact "beyond expectations" and sold almost all of its advertising time.{{r|score}} In October 1953, Telecasting Company of Pittsburgh was restructured as Telecasting, Inc., in order to bring in new stockholders.{{Cite news|work=Broadcasting|page=110|title=Ownership Changes|id={{ProQuest|1401210422}}|date=November 2, 1953}}
WENS initially maintained studios at the Ivory Avenue transmitter site, but by the end of the year, work was under way on full facilities costing $400,000 at a site on Mt. Troy Avenue.{{cite news|via=Newspapers.com|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/70853226/|title=More Television Channels on Way|first=Si|last=Steinhauser|date=December 13, 1953|accessdate=February 14, 2021|page=Renaissance 13|work=Pittsburgh Press|archive-date=August 29, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220829063331/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/70853226/more-television-channels-on-way/|url-status=live}} In spite of building the studios, financial considerations prompted the station to instead increase its use of network programs. Some NBC shows were among them after WKJF-TV closed in July 1954.{{cite news|via=Newspapers.com|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/70854126/|title=Hook on a Cable, ETV at the Fair|first=Win|last=Fanning|work=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette|accessdate=February 15, 2021|page=Daily Magazine 3|archive-date=August 29, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220829063311/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/70854126/hook-on-a-cable-etv-at-the-fair/|url-status=live}}{{Cite news|url=https://newspapers.com/article/pittsburgh-post-gazette-station-wkjf-tv/145357930/|date=July 3, 1954|page=8|title=Station WKJF-TV Goes Off the Air|newspaper=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette|location=Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=April 16, 2024|archive-date=April 19, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240419051506/https://www.newspapers.com/article/pittsburgh-post-gazette-station-wkjf-tv/145357930/|url-status=live}} The station began facing difficulties common to other UHF broadcasters of the time and was unable to secure a local sponsor for Kukla, Fran and Ollie when that show was dropped by WDTV for Captain Video, a production of its owner, the DuMont Television Network.{{cite news|via=Newspapers.com|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/70855003/|accessdate=February 15, 2021|date=December 19, 1954|first=Wilbur D.|last=Clark|work=Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph|title=Expense for UHF Means Little Here|page=3:9}} When the Duquesne Dukes men's basketball team made the National Invitation Tournament in 1955, the station secured an exclusive on the tournament over the petitions of the advertising agency who wanted it cleared on channel 2 (now KDKA-TV) as well, only to be completely unable to sign up sponsors and have to surrender the games to KDKA-TV.{{cite news|via=Newspapers.com|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/70855509/|accessdate=February 15, 2021|date=March 11, 1955|title=Customers' Pros, Cons|first=Wilbur D.|last=Clark|work=Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph|page=27|archive-date=August 29, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220829063336/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/70855509/customers-pros-cons/|url-status=live}}
Decline and demise
{{Quote box
| quote = One position I wouldn't wanna have is managing a UHF station. They surely aren't getting any breaks.
| author = — Wilbur D. Clark
| source = radio-TV columnist, Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph{{cite news|via=Newspapers.com|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/70859190/|title=Movies Win Battle To Keep Their Films|first=Wilbur D.|last=Clark|work=Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph|accessdate=February 15, 2021|date=December 8, 1955|page=33|archive-date=August 29, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220829063310/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/70859190/movies-win-battle-to-keep-their-films/|url-status=live}}
| align = right
| width = 250px
| quoted = yes
| salign = left
}}
Channel 16 returned to the air on April 27, ending 46 days of sharing time with WQED and having reimbursed the educational station for extra costs incurred in the emergency arrangement.{{cite news|via=Newspapers.com|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/70858432/|accessdate=February 15, 2021|date=April 28, 1955|title=WENS, WQED End Joint TV Operations|work=Pittsburgh Sun Telegraph|page=33|archive-date=August 29, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220829063325/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/70858432/wens-wqed-end-joint-tv-operations/|url-status=live}} However, WENS's time on VHF did little to ameliorate the fundamental problems facing the station, which stemmed from broadcasting on a UHF channel: UHF stations, requiring converters to view, had smaller audiences, and advertisers shunned them for VHF stations. In July 1955, radio station WWSW was awarded a construction permit for a new TV station on VHF channel 11, which WENS contested; the FCC reopened hearings on the channel as a result of finding financial issues with the proposed permittee.{{cite news|via=Newspapers.com|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/70859366/|title=Channel 11 TV Hearings To Re-Open|page=12|date=November 29, 1955|work=Pittsburgh Press|accessdate=February 15, 2021|archive-date=August 29, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220829063322/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/70859366/channel-11-tv-hearings-to-re-open/|url-status=live}}
On February 24, 1957, a day before scheduled FCC hearings on the channel 11 dispute, WWSW and WENS reached an out-of-court settlement. WENS would withdraw its challenge to WWSW's channel 11 television station, to be called WIIC; WWSW would acquire channel 16's Ivory Avenue facilities to lease them back to channel 16 and pay $500,000 to the UHF station, with $300,000 of that to be paid when channel 11 began broadcasting.{{cite news|via=Newspapers.com|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/70860117/|title=New TV Station This Summer: WWSW Wins Fight for Channel 11|accessdate=February 15, 2021|date=February 25, 1957|work=Pittsburgh Press|pages=1, [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/70860186/ 4]|archive-date=August 29, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220829063322/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/70860117/new-tv-station-this-summer-wwsw-wins/|url-status=live}} The settlement, however, did not dampen WENS's desire to attempt to move to VHF itself. That June, the station made three distinct proposals to add a fourth commercial VHF allocation to Pittsburgh: one involving trading channel 9 from Steubenville, Ohio (where it was used by WSTV-TV) to Pittsburgh, sending the channel 16 allotment to Steubenville in the process; a larger deintermixture plan that would ultimately bring channel 6 into Pittsburgh;{{cite news|title=WENS Hoping to Shift From UHF: 4th VHF Station Sought|first=Ingrid|last=Jewell|work=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette|via=Newspapers.com|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/70860370/|date=June 4, 1957|pages=1, [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/70860470/ 7]|accessdate=February 15, 2021|archive-date=August 29, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220829063341/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/70860370/wens-hoping-to-shift-from-uhf-4th-vhf/|url-status=live}} and the removal of channel 5 at Weston, West Virginia, to Pittsburgh.{{cite news|via=Newspapers.com|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/70860539/|date=June 7, 1957|work=Pittsburgh Press|title=WENS Asks For Channel In W. Va.|accessdate=February 15, 2021|page=5|archive-date=August 29, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220829063359/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/70860539/wens-asks-for-channel-in-w-va/|url-status=live}} Its final efforts in this regard were denied in December 1957.{{cite news|via=Newspapers.com|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/70861093/|accessdate=February 15, 2021|title=FCC Denies TV Petition|work=Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph|page=23|archive-date=August 29, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220829063311/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/70861093/fcc-denies-tv-petition/|url-status=live}}
WIIC announced that it would begin broadcasting September 1, 1957, prompting WENS to declare that it would cease operations the day before, August 31.{{cite news|via=Newspapers.com|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/70860765/|page=24|work=Pittsburgh Press|title=WENS Goes Off Air as Channel 11 Opens|first=Fred|last=Remington|date=August 28, 1957|accessdate=February 15, 2021|archive-date=August 29, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220829063322/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/70860765/wens-goes-off-air-as-channel-11-opens/|url-status=live}} The WENS studios were briefly used by the new WIIC prior to launch to house staff.{{cite news |date=June 23, 1957 |title=Channel 11 Sets New Target Date |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/70861867/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220829063401/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/70861867/channel-11-sets-new-target-date/ |archive-date=August 29, 2022 |accessdate=February 15, 2021 |work=Pittsburgh Press |page=3:1 |via=Newspapers.com}}
Later use of channel 16 in Pittsburgh
{{main|WINP-TV}}
In early 1957, WQED announced plans to file for the unused channel 47 frequency in Pittsburgh (which was later moved to Altoona), and later the unused channel 22 assigned to Clarksburg, West Virginia, to build a second noncommercial television station that would provide educational programming to schools and businesses. Immediately after the directors of WENS met on August 27 and decided to shutter the station, a delegation contacted WQED and offered the facilities to channel 13.{{r|goesoff}}
An agreement was reached in June 1958 for WQED to buy the channel 16 facilities from Telecasting, Inc., contingent on being granted a new construction permit for the channel.{{cite news|via=Newspapers.com|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/70522024/|accessdate=February 13, 2021|date=June 18, 1958|title=UHF Outlet Is Sought in WQED Buy|page=8|work=Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph|archive-date=August 29, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220829063322/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/70522024/uhf-outlet-is-sought-in-wqed-buy/|url-status=live}} After the FCC's reservation of the station for noncommercial use and the granting of a new and separate construction permit, WQED's second station, WQEX, began broadcasting on March 23, 1959.{{Cite web|url= https://cdbs.recnet.com/corres/?doc=84293 |title= History Cards for WINP-TV|publisher=Federal Communications Commission}} (Guide to reading History Cards) The original WENS transmitter, incapable of color broadcasting, remained in use by this station until it failed on March 10, 1985.{{cite news|work=Pittsburgh Press|via=Newspapers.com|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/33723598/wqex_makes_repairs/|date=March 19, 1985|title=WQEX makes repairs|access-date=July 10, 2019|archive-date=July 10, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190710070748/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/33723598/wqex_makes_repairs/|url-status=live}}
WENS after suspending operations
{{see|WDTV}}
Though Telecasting, Inc. never broadcast again in Pittsburgh, the WENS permit transferred to channel 22, with the station's consent, when the FCC reserved channel 16 for noncommercial use.{{cite news|via=World Radio History|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1960/BC-1960-05-02.pdf|work=Broadcasting|date=May 2, 1960|title=W. Va. tv transfer protested by rival|id={{ProQuest|962836774}}|accessdate=February 15, 2021|page=75|archive-date=March 8, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308024455/https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1960/BC-1960-05-02.pdf|url-status=live}} The company then filed for the channel 5 allocation at Weston, West Virginia, and ultimately merged with the other applicant, J. Patrick Beacom's WJPB-TV channel 35 in Fairmont, with Thomas P. Johnson and George Eby paying $200,000 for half of the company.{{cite news|via=World Radio History|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1959/1959-12-14-BC.pdf|accessdate=February 15, 2021|date=December 14, 1959|page=60|title=WJPB-TV and WENS(TV) merger details|id={{ProQuest|1014445981}}|work=Broadcasting|archive-date=March 8, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308035317/https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1959/1959-12-14-BC.pdf|url-status=live}} Protests from other area stations delayed approval of the transaction, which created today's WDTV, until December 1961.{{cite news|via=World Radio History|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1961/1961-12-25-BC.pdf|accessdate=February 15, 2021|date=December 25, 1961|work=Broadcasting|pages=44, 46|title=WJPB-TV sale okayed but will be watched|id={{ProQuest|962780922}}|archive-date=March 8, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308042625/https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1961/1961-12-25-BC.pdf|url-status=live}}
The WENS construction permit remained active for more than a decade after the station suspended operations. In 1965, Telecasting filed to sell it to Springfield Television, which owned two other stations on the same channel: WKEF in Dayton, Ohio, and WWLP in Springfield, Massachusetts.{{cite news|via=World Radio History|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1965/1965-04-19-BC.pdf|accessdate=February 15, 2021|id={{ProQuest|1014478198}}|title=Changing hands|page=68|date=April 19, 1965|work=Broadcasting|archive-date=March 8, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308033907/https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1965/1965-04-19-BC.pdf|url-status=live}} Springfield even filed for a channel 14 construction permit in Greensburg to serve as a satellite station of WENS.{{cite news|title=For the Record|pages=88, 89|via=World Radio History|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1965/1965-10-25-BC.pdf|work=Broadcasting|date=October 25, 1965|accessdate=February 15, 2021|archive-date=March 8, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308023411/https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1965/1965-10-25-BC.pdf|id={{ProQuest|1014496642}}|url-status=live}} Springfield then signed a franchise agreement with the Telemeter pay television system for several stations, including WENS.{{cite news|via=World Radio History|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1966/1966-06-06-BC.pdf|id={{ProQuest|1014509177}}|accessdate=February 15, 2021|title=Bill Putnam signs up for Telemeter pay TV|page=9|date=June 6, 1966|work=Broadcasting|archive-date=March 8, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308032832/https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1966/1966-06-06-BC.pdf|url-status=live}} However, citing the financial difficulties of its Dayton station and trouble selecting a new antenna site, WENS remained off the air.{{r|dormant}}
Springfield filed to sell WENS and WJZB-TV in Worcester, Massachusetts, to United Artists in 1968, but the sale proposal was dropped over concerns it would derail the then-proposed merger of Metromedia into UA corporate parent Transamerica Corporation; instead, a sale agreement was reached with Evans Broadcasting, owned by Thomas Mellon Evans, who sought approval to buy four different silent UHF television stations.{{cite news|via=World Radio History|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1968/1968-12-15-BC.pdf|accessdate=February 15, 2021|date=December 15, 1968|id={{ProQuest|1016850371}}|title=Evans casts his net for another flock of U's|page=45|work=Broadcasting|archive-date=March 8, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308030012/https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1968/1968-12-15-BC.pdf|url-status=live}} The purchase languished so long at the FCC that Springfield canceled the sale agreement in September 1969, prompting Evans to petition the commission to declare the WENS construction permit—now off air for more than 12 years—expired or forfeited.{{cite news|via=World Radio History|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1969/1969-10-13-BC.pdf|accessdate=February 15, 2021|date=October 13, 1969|work=Broadcasting|title=Pittsburgh UHF remains dormant|id={{ProQuest|1016855520}}|page=74|archive-date=March 8, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308032202/https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1969/1969-10-13-BC.pdf|url-status=live}} The permit then finally lapsed in 1970, leaving channel 22 open for new applicants again.{{cite news|via=Newspapers.com|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/70964155/|accessdate=February 15, 2021|date=January 21, 1971|first=Win|last=Fanning|work=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette|title=Church Group Seeks Ch. 22|page=29|archive-date=August 29, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220829063342/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/70964155/church-group-seeks-ch-22/|url-status=live}}
A new channel 22 television station in Pittsburgh would sign on in 1978, when the Baltimore-based Commercial Radio Institute, the direct predecessor to today's Sinclair Broadcast Group, built WPTT-TV (now WPNT). In 1991, when Sinclair purchased WPGH-TV and sold WPTT-TV to a party that let Sinclair handle most of its operations under a local marketing agreement, the latter station moved into the Ivory Avenue facility, where WPGH-TV had been based since its return to the air in 1969.{{cite news |last=Fanning |first=Win |date=December 6, 1968 |title=Charles Owen Rice Special for Ch. 13 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/70862017/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220829063323/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/70862017/charles-owen-rice-special-for-ch-13/ |archive-date=August 29, 2022 |accessdate=February 15, 2021 |work=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette |page=39 |via=Newspapers.com}}{{Cite news |last=Weiskind |first=Ron |date=September 27, 1991 |title=WPTT to air WPGH programming 9 hours a day |page=1, [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/108529582/wpgh-to-buy-wptt-telecast-time/ 6] |newspaper=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette |location=Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/108529589/wptt-to-air-wpgh-programming-9-hours-a-d/ |access-date=August 29, 2022 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=August 29, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220829063340/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/108529589/wptt-to-air-wpgh-programming-9-hours-a/ |url-status=live }}
See also
- {{Section link|UHF television broadcasting|United States}}
Notes
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References
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{{Pittsburgh TV}}
Category:Television stations in Pittsburgh
Category:Defunct television stations in the United States
Category:Television channels and stations established in 1953
Category:Television channels and stations disestablished in 1957