WUVN#History
{{Short description|Television station in Hartford, Connecticut}}
{{good article}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2024}}
{{Infobox television station
| callsign = WUVN
| logo = Univision 18 2019.webp
| logo_upright = 1
| branding = Univision 18; {{lang|es|Noticias Nueva Inglaterra}}
| digital = 22 (UHF), shared with WUTH-CD
| virtual = 18
| affiliations = {{ubl|18.1: Univision|18.4: LATV}}
| airdate = {{start date and age|1954|9|25|p=y|br=y}}
| location = Hartford, Connecticut
| country = United States
| callsign_meaning = Univision
| former_callsigns = {{ubl|WGTH-TV (1954–1956)|WHCT (1956–1972)|WHCT-TV (1972–2001)}}
| former_channel_numbers = {{ubl|Analog: 18 (UHF, 1954–2009)|Digital: 46 (UHF, 2002–2018), 47 (UHF, 2018–2019)}}
| owner = Entravision Communications
| licensee = Entravision Holdings, LLC
| sister_stations = WUTH-CD
| former_affiliations = {{ubl|ABC and DuMont (1954–1955)|CBS (1955–1958)|Independent (1958–1972, 1985–1991)|Faith Broadcasting Network (1972–1985)|Dark (1985, 1991–1997)|inTV (1997–1998)|Shop at Home (1998–1999)|ValueVision (1999–2001)}}
| erp = 15 kW
| haat = {{convert|164.2|m|ft|0|abbr=on}}
| facility_id = 3072
| coordinates = {{Coord|41|42|30|N|72|28|32|W|type:landmark_scale:2000}}
| licensing_authority = FCC
| website = {{URL|https://noticiasya.com/hartford-springfield/}}
| embed_header = Semi-satellite
| embedded = {{Infobox television station
| child = yes
| callsign = WHTX-LD
| city = Springfield, Massachusetts
| logo = File:Univision Springfield 2019.webp
| logo_size = 180px
| location = Springfield–Holyoke, Massachusetts
| branding = Univision Springfield
| digital = 24 (UHF)
| virtual = 43
| affiliations = {{ubl|43.1: Univision}}
| airdate = {{start date and age|1997|2|p=y|br=y}}
| former_callsigns = {{ubl|W10CG (1992–1997)|WHTX-LP (1997–2015)}}
| former_channel_numbers = {{ubl|Analog: 10 (VHF, 1997–2003), 43 (UHF, 2003–2015)|Digital: 43 (UHF, 2015–2019)}}
| former_affiliations = {{ubl|America One (1997–1998)|AIN (1997–1998)|Dark (1998–2003, 2009–2015)}}
| erp = 15 kW
| haat = {{convert|125.32|m|ft|0|abbr=on}}
| class = LD
| facility_id = 26337
| coordinates = {{coord|42|5|1.3|N|72|42|14.3|W|type:_region:_source:enwiki}}
| licensing_authority = FCC
}}
}}
WUVN (channel 18) is a television station in Hartford, Connecticut, United States, affiliated with the Spanish-language network Univision. It is owned by Entravision Communications alongside low-power UniMás affiliate WUTH-CD (channel 47). The two stations share studios at Constitution Plaza in downtown Hartford and transmitter facilities on Birch Mountain Road in Glastonbury, Connecticut. WUVN's Univision programming is also broadcast on WHTX-LD (channel 43) in Springfield, Massachusetts, from a transmitter on Provin Mountain in Agawam.
Channel 18 is Hartford's oldest television station. It began broadcasting on September 25, 1954, as WGTH-TV, a joint venture of The Hartford Times newspaper and General Teleradio. The station was an affiliate of ABC and the DuMont Television Network and operated from studios on Asylum Street. As with many ultra high frequency (UHF) stations of its day, it was at an economic disadvantage to very high frequency (VHF) stations; however, Hartford's VHF channel 3 was tied up in hearings. In 1955, CBS announced its intention to purchase channel 18; the station became a CBS affiliate later that year, and the deal closed in September 1956, at which time the call letters were changed to WHCT. Two years later, CBS—citing potential injury to the network if it did not do so—opted to close down WHCT and affiliate with the VHF station, WTIC-TV (channel 3). The station was off the air for two months before returning as an independent station in 1959.
In 1960, RKO General acquired WHCT, primarily for use as a test bed for subscription television technology, then hotly debated nationally. From June 1962 to January 1969, WHCT was the nation's first subscription TV station. It offered commercial programming receivable on all sets during the day; at night, it presented scrambled programs, including movies and sporting events, only receivable with decoders in the homes of paying customers. RKO General used the Phonevision system by Zenith Radio Corporation; when the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) authorized pay TV nationally, it stipulated that the programs offered were in color, which Phonevision could not do. RKO General ceased the subscription programming and ran channel 18 as a full-time commercial independent. It investigated a power increase but ran into the issue that a high-power WHCT would overlap impermissibly with the stations it owned in New York and Boston. RKO General attempted to sell the station but found no takers.
As a result, RKO donated the station to Faith Center, a California Christian church and television ministry. Faith Center investigated changes but ran into opposition from neighbors to new tower construction as well as its own financial difficulties. After Gene Scott became the pastor of Faith Center, the church took a hardline stance that it should not have to pay taxes, even though it was not tax-exempt; its refusal to pay taxes led to the temporary seizure of its transmitter site on two occasions. Under Scott's administration, the station's equipment and capabilities broke down, and by the early 1980s, its programming consisted of a still shot of Scott with audio of his speeches. An FCC investigation of Faith Center's practices led to years of attempts to sell the station under a distress sale policy that permitted below-market-value sales of legally troubled stations to minority-controlled groups.
On the third try, Faith Center was successful in proposing Astroline Communications, a Hispanic-controlled partnership, as the buyer. The station was off the air from January to September 1985 and returned as the market's third independent. WTXX and WTIC-TV (channel 61) were already established, and channel 18 was stuck in third place with less attractive programming outside of sports broadcasts. Alan Shurberg, a computer consultant who wanted to run channel 18 himself, protested Astroline's qualifications and the distress sale policy in a case that reached the Supreme Court as Metro Broadcasting, Inc. v. FCC in 1990; the justices upheld the distress sale policy. The legal battles sapped an already drained station; it filed for bankruptcy reorganization in 1988, and the case was converted to a liquidation in 1991, forcing channel 18 off the air. The trustee identified a buyer, but Shurberg challenged the minority qualifications of Astroline itself, resulting in the FCC calling an evidentiary hearing on the matter in 1997. In order to meet new federal regulations, the station returned to the air that year and broadcast infomercial and home shopping programming.
Entravision brought the long-running proceeding to an end in 2000 by settling the case for a total of $18 million and becoming the new buyer. On April 1, 2001, WHCT became WUVN, an affiliate of Univision; two years later, Entravision began producing a regional newscast for its Boston and Hartford stations. Entravision sold the station's spectrum for $125 million in 2017; as a result, WUVN is broadcast by the low-power WUTH-CD with a signal largely confined to the Hartford area.
Early years
=Establishment as WGTH-TV=
On April 14, 1952, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) ended a multi-year freeze on new television station assignments and allocated two channels to Hartford: very high frequency (VHF) channel 3 and ultra high frequency (UHF) channel 18.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-city-to-get-two-tv-outl/137239923/|date=April 14, 1952|pages=1, [https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-city-to-get/137239960/ 2]|title=City To Get Two TV Outlets, State 16 As Freeze On New Channels Is Lifted By FCC|newspaper=Hartford Courant|location=Hartford, Connecticut|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 23, 2023|archive-date=December 23, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231223034952/https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-city-to-get-two-tv-outl/137239923/|url-status=live}} The first applicant for the channel was The Hartford Times, the city's afternoon newspaper and owner of radio station WTHT,{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-hartford-times-seeks-us/137239972/|date=April 30, 1952|page=4|title=Hartford Times Seeks Use of TV Channel 18|newspaper=Hartford Courant|location=Hartford, Connecticut|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 23, 2023|archive-date=December 23, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231223034951/https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-hartford-times-seeks-us/137239972/|url-status=live}} the youngest of Hartford's major radio stations.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-5-applicants-amend-bids/137240240/|date=September 20, 1953|page=5|title=5 Applicants Amend Bids For City TV: FCC Asks Finance, Site, Program Data In Race for Channels|newspaper=Hartford Courant|location=Hartford, Connecticut|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 23, 2023|archive-date=December 23, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231223034949/https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-5-applicants-amend-bids/137240240/|url-status=live}} The second group to apply was Hartford radio station WONS, owned by the General Tele-Radio Corporation and the city's Mutual Broadcasting System and Yankee Network outlet. WONS had been interested in television since 1947, when it applied for channel 3, at the time allocated to Springfield, Massachusetts; when channel 3 was reassigned to Hartford, the WONS application was dismissed.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-wons-files-tv-channel-a/137240062/|date=July 11, 1952|page=5|title=WONS Files TV Channel Application: Hearing To Be Held Before FCC; City Rates Low on Priority List|newspaper=Hartford Courant|location=Hartford, Connecticut|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 23, 2023|archive-date=December 23, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231223034948/https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-wons-files-tv-channel-a/137240062/|url-status=live}} General Tele-Radio exercised an option on land on Avon Mountain.{{r|Hart530920}} By September 1953, the FCC was ready to set up the hearings to determine winning applicants for channels 3 and 18.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-hartfords-tv-station-n/137240326/|date=September 27, 1953|page=Magazine 11|first=Jack|last=Fitzgerald|title=Hartford's TV Station Now In Hands of FCC|newspaper=Hartford Courant|location=Hartford, Connecticut|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 23, 2023|archive-date=December 23, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231223034944/https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-hartfords-tv-station-n/137240326/|url-status=live}}
On October 20, 1953, WTHT and WONS announced they were merging their radio and television stations, clearing the way for channel 18 to be awarded to the new General-Times Television Corporation, owned 55 percent by General Tele-Radio.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-citys-first-tv-station/137240351/|date=October 22, 1953|page=1|title=City's First TV Station Authorized: FCC Grants Joint Application of WONS, WTHT for Channel 18|newspaper=Hartford Courant|location=Hartford, Connecticut|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 23, 2023|archive-date=December 23, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231223034945/https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-citys-first-tv-station/137240351/|url-status=live}} Consequently, on February 15, 1954, WTHT left the air; its programming and ABC was merged with WONS to become WGTH on February 13, 1954.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-wtht-leaves-air-after-1/137240504/|date=February 14, 1954|page=III:13|title=WTHT Leaves Air After 18 Years Of Broadcasting|newspaper=Hartford Courant|location=Hartford, Connecticut|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 23, 2023|archive-date=December 23, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231223034950/https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-wtht-leaves-air-after-1/137240504/|url-status=live}} Channel 18 obtained affiliation with ABC and the DuMont Television Network;{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-2-affiliates-scheduled/137240591/|date=July 8, 1954|page=4|title=2 Affiliates Scheduled By WGTH-TV: Station Arranging ABC, Du Mont Shows For Debut Next Week|newspaper=Hartford Courant|location=Hartford, Connecticut|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 23, 2023|archive-date=December 23, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231223034946/https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-2-affiliates-scheduled/137240591/|url-status=live}} it was the 200th affiliate of ABC.{{Cite news|title=ABC-TV's 200th Affil|work=Variety|date=July 21, 1954|page=18|id={{ProQuest|962650009}} }} In Avon, the FM antenna of the former WONS-FM was removed to make way for a new antenna to broadcast channel 18 on the same tower.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-tht-ons-merger-gave-bir/137240780/|date=October 3, 1954|page=VI:1|title=THT-ONS Merger Gave Birth To TV Possibility|newspaper=Hartford Courant|location=Hartford, Connecticut|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 23, 2023|archive-date=December 23, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231223034953/https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-tht-ons-merger-gave-bir/137240780/|url-status=live}}
WGTH-TV put out its first test pattern on August 4, 1954,{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-local-television-statio/137240620/|date=August 5, 1954|page=3|title=Local Television Station Flashes Test Pattern|newspaper=Hartford Courant|location=Hartford, Connecticut|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 23, 2023|archive-date=December 23, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231223034954/https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-local-television-statio/137240620/|url-status=live}} and began broadcasting regular programming on September 25 as the first TV station in Hartford. Its first presentation was an ABC college football game between Michigan State and Iowa; studios were on 555 Asylum Street,{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-citys-first-tv-station/137240641/|date=September 25, 1954|page=2|title=City's First TV Station To Carry Iowa Game|newspaper=Hartford Courant|location=Hartford, Connecticut|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 23, 2023|archive-date=December 23, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231223034955/https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-citys-first-tv-station/137240641/|url-status=live}} where WTHT had its radio studios.{{r|Hart541003}}
Channel 18, now on the air, joined a growing attempt involving other UHF stations in Connecticut and western Massachusetts to have channel 3—still pending award—removed from commercial use in Hartford and replaced with channel 24, which had been allocated for educational broadcasts. The stations believed that channel 3, if built as a commercial station, would "upset" the work done by the stations in converting households to UHF.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-tv-stations-file-petiti/137241118/|date=October 8, 1954|page=1|title=TV Stations File Petition Against New VHF Outlet|newspaper=Hartford Courant|location=Hartford, Connecticut|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 23, 2023|archive-date=December 23, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231223050245/https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-tv-stations-file-petiti/137241118/|url-status=live}} The commission barred this action,{{Cite news|work=Variety|page=43|date=December 15, 1954|title=Hartford Nixed On No-VHF Bid|id={{ProQuest|1016990636}} }} but it continued to be up for discussion as the FCC wrestled with the question of deintermixing VHF and UHF stations.{{Cite news|date=July 4, 1955|pages=60–62|title=Is De-Intermixture Needed? FCC Must Answer Question|work=Broadcasting|id={{ProQuest|1016855270}} }} One of the pending applicants for channel 3 was Hartford radio station WTIC, a longtime NBC affiliate. NBC upset WTIC's likely plans by acquiring WKNB-TV in New Britain, Connecticut. At the time, one company could own up to five VHF stations but up to seven UHF outlets,{{Cite news|work=Broadcasting|page=86|date=July 11, 1955|id={{ProQuest|1014908989}}|title=CBS Buys 2d UHF, WGTH-TV Hartford, from General Teleradio for $650,000}} incentivizing an otherwise capped station group like NBC to add a UHF station.{{Cite news|pages=25, 40|work=Variety|title=NBC-TV Hartford U Buy a Blow To Morency's Hopes|id={{ProQuest|1032357451}}|date=January 12, 1955}}
In addition to network programs, WGTH-TV produced local shows at its Asylum Street studios. Charles Norwood, a newscaster on New Haven–based WNHC-TV, moved to channel 18 and presented the evening news.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-charles-norwood-to-hand/137270322/|date=October 3, 1954|page=VI:1|title=Charles Norwood To Handle News WGTH-TV Duties|newspaper=Hartford Courant|location=Hartford, Connecticut|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 23, 2023|archive-date=December 23, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231223073945/https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-charles-norwood-to-hand/137270322/|url-status=live}} In 1955, channel 18 began airing Flippy the Clown, a children's show that had originated on WNHC-TV the year before.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-ivor-hugh-to-start-tv-s/137270255/|date=September 15, 1954|page=25|title=Ivor Hugh To Start TV Series In Guise Of 'Flippy The Clown'|newspaper=Hartford Courant|location=Hartford, Connecticut|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 23, 2023|archive-date=December 23, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231223073948/https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-ivor-hugh-to-start-tv-s/137270255/|url-status=live}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-for-the-youngsters/137270293/|date=July 17, 1955|page=Magazine 9|title=For The Youngsters|newspaper=Hartford Courant|location=Hartford, Connecticut|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 23, 2023|archive-date=December 23, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231223073938/https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-for-the-youngsters/137270293/|url-status=live}}
=WHCT: Hartford's CBS station=
NBC's purchase of WKNB-TV set up a series of affiliate switches in Connecticut television, as WKNB-TV had been the CBS affiliate, and WNHC-TV lost its NBC affiliation; the New Haven station's protests had delayed the sale to NBC. CBS would be otherwise without an affiliate in the state, leading to a sudden burst of speculation in early July 1955 that the CBS network would buy WGTH-TV to become its Hartford station.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-cbs-said-buying-wgth-n/137240973/|date=July 8, 1955|page=1|title=CBS Said Buying WGTH; NBC Ends Tie To WNHC|newspaper=Hartford Courant|location=Hartford, Connecticut|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 23, 2023|archive-date=December 23, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231223050242/https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-cbs-said-buying-wgth-n/137240973/|url-status=live}} On July 8, CBS announced the $650,000 purchase of WGTH-TV from General-Times Television Corporation with the intention of moving CBS network programming to channel 18; simultaneously, the Times exited WGTH radio. The move was hailed as a boost for the flagging fortunes of UHF television.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-cbs-buys-wgth-tv-shot-i/137265568/|date=July 9, 1955|pages=1, [https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-cbs-buys/137265544/ 2]|first=John G.|last=Fitzgerald|title=CBS Buys WGTH-TV Shot In Arm For UHF: Channel 18 Purchased For $650,000, FCC Approval Needed for Sale|newspaper=Hartford Courant|location=Hartford, Connecticut|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 23, 2023|archive-date=December 23, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231223050243/https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-cbs-buys-wgth-tv-shot-i/137265568/|url-status=live}} It was CBS's second UHF purchase; in 1954, the network had bought WXIX in Milwaukee.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-pittsburgh-press-cbs-purchases-secon/137265743/|date=July 11, 1955|page=33|title=CBS Purchases Second UHF Channel|newspaper=The Pittsburgh Press|location=Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 23, 2023|archive-date=December 23, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231223050240/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-pittsburgh-press-cbs-purchases-secon/137265743/|url-status=live}} The news was a surprise to NBC executives, who did not expect CBS to follow them into UHF broadcasting in the same market.{{Cite news|title=Surprise|page=9|date=July 11, 1955|work=Broadcasting|id={{ProQuest|1014908834}} }} It also caused WNHC-TV to affiliate with ABC, which would soon be forced from channel 18.{{Cite news|date=July 27, 1955|page=20|title=WNHC-TV Pacted As ABC Affiliate|work=Variety|id={{ProQuest|1017005315}} }} While the sale was pending, WGTH-TV became the CBS affiliate for Connecticut on October 1.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-channel-18-joins-cbs-ne/137241016/|date=September 9, 1955|page=25|title=Channel 18 Joins CBS Network|newspaper=Hartford Courant|location=Hartford, Connecticut|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 23, 2023|archive-date=December 23, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231223050241/https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-channel-18-joins-cbs-ne/137241016/|url-status=live}} During 1955, General Teleradio carried an acquisition of its own: the purchase of and merger with RKO Radio Pictures.{{Cite news|title=Gen. Teleradio and RKO Radio Pictures Forming RKO Teleradio Pictures|page=54|work=Broadcasting|date=November 28, 1955|id={{ProQuest|1016845778}} }}
The FCC granted the sale of WGTH-TV to CBS in February 1956{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-sale-of-wgth-tv-to-netw/137266999/|date=February 25, 1956|page=1|first=Robert D.|last=Byrnes|title=Sale Of WGTH-TV To Network Gets Approval Of FCC|newspaper=Hartford Courant|location=Hartford, Connecticut|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 23, 2023|archive-date=December 23, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231223050247/https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-sale-of-wgth-tv-to-netw/137266999/|url-status=live}} but stayed it two months later on a petition from WNHC-TV, whose protests also had held up the sale of WKNB-TV to NBC. The New Haven station believed that the loss of CBS would cause economic injury only partially compensated by the addition of ABC programs.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-fcc-suspends-approval-o/137241179/|date=April 24, 1956|pages=1, [https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-fcc-suspends/137241206/ 26]|title=FCC Suspends Approval Of WGTH-TV To CBS|newspaper=Hartford Courant|location=Hartford, Connecticut|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 23, 2023|archive-date=December 23, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231223050239/https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-fcc-suspends-approval-o/137241179/|url-status=live}} After Triangle Publications acquired WNHC-TV, it immediately withdrew the protests, clearing the commission to grant the sale to CBS.{{cite news|page=69|date=September 17, 1956|title=WGTH-TV Sale to CBS Given Second FCC OK|work=Broadcasting|id={{ProQuest|1285744519}} }} On September 16, 1956, WGTH-TV changed its call sign to WHCT.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-cbs-buys-hartford-tv-st/109729572/|date=September 13, 1956|page=1|first=John G.|last=Fitzgerald|title=CBS Buys Hartford TV Station|newspaper=Hartford Courant|location=Hartford, Connecticut|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 23, 2023|archive-date=December 23, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231223050246/https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-cbs-buys-hartford-tv-st/109729572/|url-status=live}}
In April 1957, the station's morning news segments began to be presented from a streetside studio with large windows fronting onto Asylum Street, allowing passersby to see programs in production and for the incorporation of outdoor images into the weathercasts.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-whct-tv-to-telecast-fro/137241571/|date=April 7, 1957|page=35A|title=WHCT-TV To Telecast From Studio Windows|newspaper=Hartford Courant|location=Hartford, Connecticut|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 23, 2023|archive-date=December 23, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231223073950/https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-whct-tv-to-telecast-fro/137241571/|url-status=live}} Later that year, the station debuted a local talent show featuring area children.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-young-talent-show-lau/137241802/|date=October 13, 1957|page=TV Week 2|title='Young Talent' Show Launched On Channel 18|newspaper=Hartford Courant|location=Hartford, Connecticut|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 23, 2023|archive-date=December 23, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231223073941/https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-young-talent-show-lau/137241802/|url-status=live}} CBS acquired the studio building in the transaction but sold it to Louis K. Roth in January 1958. It arranged to lease back the portion used by channel 18, much of which had been remodeled since the sale; the upper two floors were unused, while an office tenant was about to vacate the second floor.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-cbs-sells-building-on-a/137241918/|date=January 25, 1958|page=4|title=CBS Sells Building On Asylum St.|newspaper=Hartford Courant|location=Hartford, Connecticut|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 23, 2023|archive-date=December 23, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231223073947/https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-cbs-sells-building-on-a/137241918/|url-status=live}}
=Exit of CBS=
{{Quote box
| quote = The network felt compelled to affiliate with WTIC-TV while the opportunity was still available. To ignore the opportunity at this time would have placed the network at the grave risk of a serious competitive disadvantage for the indefinite future.
| author = Frank Stanton
| source = on the decision to shut down WHCT and affiliate with WTIC-TV{{r|Hart581010}}
| align = right
| width = 250px
| salign = right
}}
For the entire time CBS owned WHCT, proceedings in the channel 3 case continued. In July 1956, the FCC tentatively awarded the channel to WTIC and its parent, Travelers Insurance Company, though its construction was deferred until the FCC decided whether to keep the VHF channel in Hartford or transfer it to Providence, Rhode Island.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-travelers-tv-nearer-p/137270437/|date=July 26, 1956|pages=1, [https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-travelers/137270466/ 2]|first=Robert D.|last=Byrnes|title=Travelers' TV Nearer: Permit Grant by FCC Is Subject to Delay|newspaper=Hartford Courant|location=Hartford, Connecticut|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 23, 2023|archive-date=December 23, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231223073951/https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-travelers-tv-nearer-p/137270437/|url-status=live}} On February 27, 1957, the FCC decided on a 4–3 vote that channel 3 would remain allocated to Hartford. The manager of the new WTIC-TV declared that his station would not seek a network affiliation,{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-fcc-gives-channel-3-to/137270499/|date=February 27, 1957|page=1|title=FCC Gives Channel 3 To Travelers; On Air Within Four Months: Starts With No Network Connection|newspaper=Hartford Courant|location=Hartford, Connecticut|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 23, 2023|archive-date=December 23, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231223073951/https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-fcc-gives-channel-3-to/137270499/|url-status=live}} and it began as an independent station on September 23, 1957.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-wtic-tv-formally-opens/137270548/|date=September 23, 1957|page=1|title=WTIC-TV Formally Opens With Telecast Tonight|newspaper=Hartford Courant|location=Hartford, Connecticut|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 23, 2023|archive-date=December 23, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231223073939/https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-wtic-tv-formally-opens/137270548/|url-status=live}}
In a surprise announcement in New York, CBS president Frank Stanton declared on October 9, 1958, that CBS would take WHCT off the air and affiliate with WTIC-TV on November 15. Stanton justified the decision as a good for the network by increasing its coverage on the VHF station with a wider coverage area and the assurance of reception in all homes; his statement cited the need to avoid the CBS television network being put at a long-term "serious competitive disadvantage". Simultaneously, Merle Jones, the president of the CBS television stations division, informed WHCT's 72 employees that their jobs would be eliminated.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-cbs-switches-channels/137242091/|date=October 10, 1958|pages=1, [https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-cbs/137242119/ 4]|title=CBS Switches Channels: WTIC-TV On, WHCT Off|newspaper=Hartford Courant|location=Hartford, Connecticut|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 23, 2023|archive-date=December 23, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231223073938/https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-cbs-switches-channels/137242091/|url-status=live}} The decision by CBS to abandon the WHCT project came three months after NBC abandoned its highly-touted UHF station in Buffalo, New York, WBUF-TV. A column in Variety noted that "CBS probably figured 'If NBC could do it in Buffalo, why can't we do it in Hartford?'". It also pointed out that many in the industry had expected NBC to move from its UHF station to WTIC-TV, whose radio sister station had a lengthy historic association with NBC and which had been assumed as early as 1953 to be a likely NBC television affiliate.{{r|Hart530920}}{{cite news |page=31 |id={{ProQuest|1014807048}}|work=Variety|date=October 15, 1958|title=The Hartford Story}}
As CBS took WHCT off the air, it filed to sell channel 18 to Capital Broadcasting—a consortium led by Edward D. Taddei, the general manager of WNHC-TV—for $250,000, which was less than half what CBS had paid for the station two years prior.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-channel-18-is-bought-by/137242201/|date=November 14, 1958|page=5|title=Channel 18 Is Bought By New Haven Executive|newspaper=Hartford Courant|location=Hartford, Connecticut|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 23, 2023|archive-date=December 23, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231223073941/https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-channel-18-is-bought-by/137242201/|url-status=live}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-cbs-asks-authority-for/137242250/|date=December 11, 1958|page=12|agency=Associated Press|title=CBS Asks Authority For Sale of Ch. 18|newspaper=Hartford Courant|location=Hartford, Connecticut|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 23, 2023|archive-date=December 23, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231223073955/https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-cbs-asks-authority-for/137242250/|url-status=live}} The new owners put channel 18 back into service on January 24, 1959, with a limited schedule of programs.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-channel-18-coming-back/137242240/|date=January 14, 1959|page=2|title=Channel 18 Coming Back On Air Jan. 24|newspaper=Hartford Courant|location=Hartford, Connecticut|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 23, 2023|archive-date=December 23, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231223073953/https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-channel-18-coming-back/137242240/|url-status=live}} Two duckpin bowling lanes were installed on the third floor of the 555 Asylum building, and the station began offering weekly bowling telecasts.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-whct-building-alleys-fo/137242293/|date=February 22, 1959|page=33A|title=WHCT Building Alleys For TV Bowling Series|newspaper=Hartford Courant|location=Hartford, Connecticut|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 23, 2023|archive-date=December 23, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231223074022/https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-whct-building-alleys-fo/137242293/|url-status=live}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-live-duckpin-bowling-ma/137242283/|date=February 22, 1959|page=1D|title=Live Duckpin Bowling Matches To Be Televised By Channel 18|newspaper=Hartford Courant|location=Hartford, Connecticut|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 23, 2023|archive-date=December 23, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231223073944/https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-live-duckpin-bowling-ma/137242283/|url-status=live}} Another source of programming was an affiliation with New York's WNTA-TV, bringing to the channel 18 lineup shows such as The Mike Wallace Interview and Open End.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/record-journal-whtc-18-sic-affiliates/137242341/|date=May 2, 1959|page=12|title=WHTC-18 [sic] Affiliates With N.Y. Station|newspaper=Meriden Record|location=Meriden, Connecticut|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 23, 2023|archive-date=December 23, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231223073946/https://www.newspapers.com/article/record-journal-whtc-18-sic-affiliates/137242341/|url-status=live}}
RKO General ownership and subscription TV test
On March 31, 1960, RKO General announced plans to use Hartford and WHCT as a test bed for subscription television (STV) programming. It proposed a service to bring otherwise unavailable programs, such as first-run motion pictures, to viewers utilizing specialized decoders to be made by Zenith Radio Corporation. While the proposed service required FCC approval, RKO General moved to purchase channel 18 from Taddei immediately for $900,000.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-rko-set-to-offer-pay-tv/137242524/|date=April 1, 1960|pages=1, [https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-pay-tv-in-hartford/137242552/ 2]|first=E. Roy|last=Ray|title=RKO Set To Offer Pay TV In Hartford: 3-Year Test Planned For Channel 18, Authorization Of FCC Needed|newspaper=Hartford Courant|location=Hartford, Connecticut|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 23, 2023|archive-date=December 23, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231223080813/https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-rko-set-to-offer-pay-tv/137242524/|url-status=live}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-channel-18-price-set-at/137242658/|date=April 5, 1960|page=2|title=Channel 18 Price Set At $900,000 By RKO General|newspaper=Hartford Courant|location=Hartford, Connecticut|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 23, 2023|archive-date=December 23, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231223080817/https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-channel-18-price-set-at/137242658/|url-status=live}} The subscription system would utilize Zenith's Phonevision technology; each program would cost between 75 cents and $1.50, and the decoder would keep a running receipt for subscribers to calculate their bill and send money to RKO.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/record-journal-from-75-cents-to-150-c/137242797/|date=June 23, 1960|page=2|agency=Associated Press|title=From 75 Cents To $1.50: Cost Of Pay TV Spelled Out|newspaper=Record-Journal|location=Meriden, Connecticut|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 23, 2023|archive-date=December 23, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231223080808/https://www.newspapers.com/article/record-journal-from-75-cents-to-150-c/137242797/|url-status=live}}
The license transfer to RKO General subsidiary Hartford Phonevision, Inc., took place on July 11, 1960.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-license-transfer-paves/137242825/|date=July 12, 1960|page=14|title=License Transfer Paves Way for Pay TV Trial|newspaper=Hartford Courant|location=Hartford, Connecticut|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 23, 2023|archive-date=December 23, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231223080814/https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-license-transfer-paves/137242825/|url-status=live}} The station continued as a conventional, advertiser-supported independent station while RKO General and Zenith sought FCC permission to carry out a three-year test of subscription television service. Local programming during this time included duckpin bowling; Teensville, a local series for young adults; public affairs and interview program Be Our Guest; and Let's Travel, a weekly travelogue.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-edyth-radom-now-has-two/137242895/|date=September 18, 1960|page=TV Week 8|title=Edyth Radom Now Has Two Shows on Ch. 18|newspaper=Hartford Courant|location=Hartford, Connecticut|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 23, 2023|archive-date=December 23, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231223080841/https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-edyth-radom-now-has-two/137242895/|url-status=live}} That November, WHCT was the first station in Connecticut to present signed coverage of election returns for the benefit of deaf viewers.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-deaf-to-hear-news-of-vo/137242931/|date=November 8, 1960|page=8|title=Deaf To Hear News Of Voting on WHCT|newspaper=Hartford Courant|location=Hartford, Connecticut|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 23, 2023|archive-date=December 23, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231223080810/https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-deaf-to-hear-news-of-vo/137242931/|url-status=live}}
=Subscription TV=
After multiple days of hearings before the FCC in October 1960, discussing everything from programming to proposed charges and the possible impact on other television service,{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-local-pay-tv-hearings-o/137242982/|date=October 25, 1960|page=2|first=Robert D.|last=Byrnes|title=Local Pay-TV Hearings Open Cost to Viewers Left Uncertain|newspaper=Hartford Courant|location=Hartford, Connecticut|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 23, 2023|archive-date=December 23, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231223080826/https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-local-pay-tv-hearings-o/137242982/|url-status=live}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-listed-pay-tv-charges-l/137242999/|date=October 27, 1960|page=7|title=Listed Pay TV Charges Labeled as 'Outrageous'|first=Robert D.|last=Byrnes|newspaper=Hartford Courant|location=Hartford, Connecticut|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 23, 2023|archive-date=December 23, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231223080815/https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-listed-pay-tv-charges-l/137242999/|url-status=live}} the commission granted approval for a three-year test of subscription television over WHCT in February 1961.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-ch-18-pay-tv-test-auth/137243102/|date=February 25, 1961|pages=1, [https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-pay-tv/137243129/ 2]|first=Robert D.|last=Byrnes|title=Ch. 18 Pay TV Test Authorized by FCC: Experiment May Start This Fall, WHCT Manager Resigns Post|newspaper=Hartford Courant|location=Hartford, Connecticut|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 23, 2023|archive-date=December 23, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231223080829/https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-ch-18-pay-tv-test-auth/137243102/|url-status=live}} With approval in hand, preparations began to start the service, including the manufacture of a test run of decoders.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-veeder-root-will-make-u/137243250/|date=November 8, 1961|page=15|title=Veeder-Root Will Make Units for Pay-TV Sets|newspaper=Hartford Courant|location=Hartford, Connecticut|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 23, 2023|archive-date=December 23, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231223080818/https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-veeder-root-will-make-u/137243250/|url-status=live}} Shortly ahead of the subscription launch, in April 1962, RKO General hired Charles O. Wood III, the co-manager of RKO-owned WGMS in Washington, D.C., to run channel 18.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-new-yorker-will-head-pa/137243356/|date=April 26, 1962|page=32|title=New Yorker Will Head Pay Television Station|newspaper=Hartford Courant|location=Hartford, Connecticut|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 23, 2023|archive-date=December 23, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231223175241/https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-new-yorker-will-head-pa/137243356/|url-status=live}}
On the evening of June 30, 1962, WHCT broadcast an inaugural ceremony for subscription TV in its studios. After the program, 200 subscribers were instructed to dial the program code 000D into their decoders and saw the film Sunrise at Campobello.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-first-pay-tv-unfolds-wi/137243499/|date=June 30, 1962|page=4|title=First Pay TV Unfolds With All Its Drama|newspaper=Hartford Courant|location=Hartford, Connecticut|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 23, 2023|archive-date=December 23, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231223080835/https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-first-pay-tv-unfolds-wi/137243499/|url-status=live}} WHCT officials predicted they would have 5,000 subscribers by year's end.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-experiment-set-hartfor/137243438/|date=June 24, 1962|page=1B|first=Gerald A.|last=Ryan|title=Experiment Set: Hartford Dials Pay TV This Week|newspaper=Hartford Courant|location=Hartford, Connecticut|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 23, 2023|archive-date=December 23, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231223080827/https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-experiment-set-hartfor/137243438/|url-status=live}} The station presented subscription TV programs nightly except on evenings when the station aired New York Mets baseball.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-subscription-television/137243638/|date=July 1, 1962|pages=27, [https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-subscription-tv/137243612/ 28]|title=Subscription Television Starts Three-Year Test|newspaper=Hartford Courant|location=Hartford, Connecticut|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 23, 2023|archive-date=December 24, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231224041908/https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-subscription-television/137243638/|url-status=live}} In September, WHCT subscribers were the only viewers in America to see the boxing match of Sonny Liston vs. Floyd Patterson in their homes.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-home-subscription-tv-of/137243693/|date=September 26, 1962|page=19|title=Home Subscription TV of Fight Given Okay by Channel 18 Officials Here|first=Jerry|last=Trecker|newspaper=Hartford Courant|location=Hartford, Connecticut|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 23, 2023|archive-date=December 23, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231223080828/https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-home-subscription-tv-of/137243693/|url-status=live}}
{{Quote box
| quote = We lost money at an alarming rate ... and [RKO] let me off the hook very gently. They said, "You're fired."
| author = Charles Osgood
| source = on being WHCT's general manager from 1962 to 1963{{Cite news|title=Radio's poetic ambassador|page=143|work=Broadcasting|id={{ProQuest|1014715349}}|date=September 9, 1985}}
| align = right
| width = 250px
| salign = right
}}
By the end of the first year, subscription TV had 3,000 subscribers, fewer than anticipated; RKO officials hoped to be able to upgrade from "subsequent first-run" movies, available 17 days after a showing in a theater in Hartford, to first-run films.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/record-journal-hartford-pay-tv-year-old/137243781/|date=August 2, 1963|page=10|title=Hartford Pay-TV Year Old, Mentors Officially Pleased|newspaper=The Morning Record|agency=Associated Press|location=Meriden, Connecticut|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 23, 2023|archive-date=December 23, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231223080809/https://www.newspapers.com/article/record-journal-hartford-pay-tv-year-old/137243781/|url-status=live}} The station was losing money; Wood was fired.{{r|BC850909}} He struggled to find other managerial positions, given the uniqueness of WHCT,{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-baltimore-sun-millions-know-what-cat/137271753/|date=March 24, 1974|pages=Magazine 5, [https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-baltimore-sun-charles-osgood/137271752/ 7]|first=Frederic|last=Kelly|title=Millions Know What Catches Charles Osgood's Fancy|newspaper=The Baltimore Sun|location=Baltimore, Maryland|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 23, 2023|archive-date=December 24, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231224041902/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-baltimore-sun-millions-know-what-cat/137271753/|url-status=live}} going to work for ABC News and later CBS News under his first and middle name, Charles Osgood.{{r|Balt740324}} By 1965, subscription TV had reached its FCC-imposed cap of 5,000 subscribers; the only new users were being added to replace subscribers who discontinued service.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-channel-18-asks-fcc-to/137243888/|date=March 11, 1965|page=40|title=Channel 18 Asks FCC To Let Pay TV Expand|newspaper=Hartford Courant|location=Hartford, Connecticut|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 23, 2023|archive-date=December 23, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231223084304/https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-channel-18-asks-fcc-to/137243888/|url-status=live}} Nonetheless, the test was successful enough to motivate RKO to ask for a three-year extension, which it received,{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-pay-tv-experiment-exten/137243924/|date=May 22, 1965|page=1|title=Pay TV Experiment Extended Three Years|newspaper=Hartford Courant|location=Hartford, Connecticut|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 23, 2023|archive-date=December 23, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231223084338/https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-pay-tv-experiment-exten/137243924/|url-status=live}} and Zenith to ask for authority to allow all stations nationwide to add STV capabilities.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-hartford-test-cited-fc/137243838/|date=March 10, 1965|page=1|first=David|last=Rhinelander|title=Hartford Test Cited: FCC Asked to Extend Pay TV to Entire U.S.|newspaper=Hartford Courant|location=Hartford, Connecticut|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 23, 2023|archive-date=December 23, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231223084324/https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-hartford-test-cited-fc/137243838/|url-status=live}}
During the second term of the STV experiment, RKO General began flirting with plans to expand the WHCT physical plant at a new site and with increased non-subscription programming. In 1967, the company proposed an expanded studio and office complex at Avon Mountain, which met with strong opposition from local homeowners, as the station's transmitter site was located in a residential area.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-avon-television-comple/137244062/|date=July 9, 1967|page=5B|title=Avon: Television Complex Opposed|newspaper=Hartford Courant|location=Hartford, Connecticut|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 23, 2023|archive-date=December 23, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231223084302/https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-avon-television-comple/137244062/|url-status=live}} The station bulked up its live programming with an evening sports-and-news show; the sports segment was co-anchored by retired boxer Willie Pep.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-sports-and-news-channe/137244081/|date=October 1, 1967|page=TV Week 12|title=Sports and News: Channel 18 Moves into Live TV|newspaper=Hartford Courant|location=Hartford, Connecticut|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 23, 2023|archive-date=December 23, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231223084314/https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-sports-and-news-channe/137244081/|url-status=live}} In January 1968, RKO General announced a $2 million investment into WHCT that would include the construction of new studios, capability to present local shows in color, and a higher-power and taller transmitter facility.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-channel-18-lists-plans/137244105/|date=January 3, 1968|page=12|title=Channel 18 Lists Plans To Expand|newspaper=Hartford Courant|location=Hartford, Connecticut|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 23, 2023|archive-date=December 23, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231223084308/https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-channel-18-lists-plans/137244105/|url-status=live}} The new studios would be part of the redevelopment of Hartford's Trumbull Street; it proposed an office building on the northwest corner of Trumbull and Church streets.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-channel-18-expansion-is/137244151/|date=January 26, 1968|pages=1, [https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-channel-18-eyes-expansi/137244168/ 6]|first=James D.|last=O'Hara|title=Channel 18 Expansion Is Planned|newspaper=Hartford Courant|location=Hartford, Connecticut|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 23, 2023|archive-date=December 23, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231223084320/https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-channel-18-expansion-is/137244151/|url-status=live}} While those plans were under consideration, RKO General applied to the FCC for a second extension of the subscription TV test,{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-channel-18-asks-extensi/137244218/|date=May 4, 1968|page=14|agency=Associated Press|title=Channel 18 Asks Extension of Trial Operations|newspaper=Hartford Courant|location=Hartford, Connecticut|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 23, 2023|archive-date=December 23, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231223084323/https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-channel-18-asks-extensi/137244218/|url-status=live}} and it began presenting color films during its ad-supported broadcast day, though the Phonevision system only worked in black-and-white.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-ch-18-shifts-to-color/137244363/|date=May 26, 1968|page=TV Week 3|title=Ch. 18 Shifts to Color on Saturday|newspaper=Hartford Courant|location=Hartford, Connecticut|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 23, 2023|archive-date=December 23, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231223084305/https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-ch-18-shifts-to-color/137244363/|url-status=live}} By May 1968, RKO General's plans for its new Hartford studios had grown from a three-story facility{{r|Hart680126}} to a 15-story tower containing four floors of parking, street-level studios, offices for the station, and additional office space for lease.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-trumbull-street-to-have/137244313/|date=May 24, 1968|page=9|title=Trumbull Street to Have New 15-Story Structure|newspaper=Hartford Courant|location=Hartford, Connecticut|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 23, 2023|archive-date=December 23, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231223084317/https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-trumbull-street-to-have/137244313/|url-status=live}} A ceremonial groundbreaking was held for the RKO General Building in late July; at that time, the company anticipated completion at the end of 1969.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-tv-building-project-und/137244433/|date=July 31, 1968|page=23|title=TV Building Project Under Way|first=William M.|last=Bulkeley|newspaper=Hartford Courant|location=Hartford, Connecticut|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 23, 2023|archive-date=December 23, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231223084354/https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-tv-building-project-und/137244433/|url-status=live}}
=Switch to independent operation and legal reverses=
Beginning in late 1968, WHCT experienced a series of reverses and changes in business plan. The first came in November 1968, when the station slashed its subscription output from 28 hours a week to 12, saying that it would be able to present a higher quality of films with fewer repetition. To fill the time, channel 18 began airing CBS shows not cleared by WTIC-TV.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-tv-station-to-cut-16-ho/137244598/|date=November 21, 1968|page=37|title=TV Station to Cut 16 Hours Off Movie Schedules|newspaper=Hartford Courant|location=Hartford, Connecticut|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 23, 2023|archive-date=December 23, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231223084312/https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-tv-station-to-cut-16-ho/137244598/|url-status=live}} On December 30, citing the recent approval of national pay TV service by the FCC, RKO announced that it would terminate the six-year experiment on January 31, 1969, and remove the decoders from the more than 4,000 subscribing households. Not only had the experimental period ended, in RKO's estimation, but the standards adopted by the FCC required subscription programs to be in color—something its existing system was incapable of doing,{{r|Hart681231}} which Osgood later assessed as a reason for the system's failure at a time when color TV was growing in popularity.{{r|BC850909}} Even though the company had 10,000 decoders on hand and as many as 7,000 subscribers, heavy losses in the STV test had led to the company running a minimum service toward the end.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-pay-television-to-end-j/137244642/|date=December 31, 1968|pages=1, [https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-channel-18-will-end-sub/137244657/ 3]|first=David H.|last=Rhinelander|title=Pay Television To End Jan. 31|newspaper=Hartford Courant|location=Hartford, Connecticut|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 23, 2023|archive-date=December 23, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231223084342/https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-pay-television-to-end-j/137244642/|url-status=live}}
With the station once again a full-time, commercial independent station, WHCT promoted its new program lineup as "Yours for the Viewing: Now All You Pay Is Attention".{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-yours-for-the-viewing/137244797/|date=February 4, 1969|page=17|title=Yours for the Viewing: The New WHCT Channel 18|type=Advertisement|newspaper=Hartford Courant|location=Hartford, Connecticut|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 23, 2023|archive-date=December 23, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231223084313/https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-yours-for-the-viewing/137244797/|url-status=live}} Among the local shows channel 18 programmed was Operation Unabridged, hosted by Larry Woods, the only TV show in Hartford focusing on the Black community.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-city-tv-show-features-y/137244939/|date=January 3, 1970|page=12|first=Dick|last=Behn|title=City TV Show Features Young Black Host-Producer|newspaper=Hartford Courant|location=Hartford, Connecticut|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 23, 2023|archive-date=December 23, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231223084628/https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-city-tv-show-features-y/137244939/|url-status=live}} Citing the end of the subscription experiment, RKO General began to reevaluate its business plan for WHCT as well as its Hartford construction plans.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-channel-18-delays-decis/137244831/|date=February 28, 1969|page=31|title=Channel 18 Delays Decision On Building in Renewal Area|newspaper=Hartford Courant|location=Hartford, Connecticut|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 23, 2023|archive-date=December 23, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231223084321/https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-channel-18-delays-decis/137244831/|url-status=live}}
Also weighing on channel 18 in 1969 and 1970 were a pair of adverse FCC actions. In June 1969, the FCC renewed WHCT's license, as well as those for the RKO General stations in Boston (WNAC-TV) and New York (WOR-TV), on a conditional basis pending antitrust lawsuits against RKO General subsidiaries in Ohio.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-anti-trust-suit-imperil/137244863/|date=June 20, 1969|page=15|first=Robert|last=Waters|title=Anti-Trust Suit Imperils License Of Channel 18|newspaper=Hartford Courant|location=Hartford, Connecticut|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 23, 2023|archive-date=December 23, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231223084340/https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-anti-trust-suit-imperil/137244863/|url-status=live}} WHCT's bid for a power increase was protested by WHNB-TV (channel 30) in New Britain and designated for hearing by the FCC in March 1970; the main issue was whether the increase would cause WHCT's signal to overlap those of WOR-TV and WNAC-TV, something generally forbidden at the time.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-washington-scene-state/137244963/|date=March 21, 1970|page=2|first=Robert|last=Waters|title=Washington Scene: State Firms Buy Gun Mailing List|newspaper=Hartford Courant|location=Hartford, Connecticut|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 23, 2023|archive-date=December 23, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231223084353/https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-washington-scene-state/137244963/|url-status=live}} In an attempt to secure FCC approval, RKO General said it would sell the station if the increase were approved.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-whct-tv-to-be-sold-if-p/137245016/|date=June 23, 1970|page=34|title=WHCT-TV To Be Sold If Power Hike Granted|newspaper=Hartford Courant|location=Hartford, Connecticut|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 23, 2023|archive-date=December 23, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231223084325/https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-whct-tv-to-be-sold-if-p/137245016/|url-status=live}} When the commission refused to grant the requested upgrade, RKO General put WHCT up for sale anyway; it believed that a buyer without New York and Boston stations would have no trouble proposing the same improvement. While the station was on the market, the owners laid off eleven employees and reduced its broadcast day.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-citys-oldest-tv-statio/137245046/|date=September 12, 1970|page=27|first=Patricia|last=Stewart|title=City's Oldest TV Station Up for Sale; No Bids Yet|newspaper=Hartford Courant|location=Hartford, Connecticut|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 23, 2023|archive-date=December 23, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231223084316/https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-citys-oldest-tv-statio/137245046/|url-status=live}} The station was losing $50,000 to $60,000 a month and had lost a total of $11 million during the six and a half years it aired subscription TV programming.{{r|Hart710501}}
Faith Center ownership
{{see|Faith Broadcasting Network}}
=Donation=
After receiving no offers for WHCT at an asking price of $2 million, RKO General announced on April 30, 1971, that it would donate the station to Faith Center of Glendale, California, which operated KHOF FM and KHOF-TV in the Los Angeles area. Faith Center proposed to broadcast primarily religious programs but keep New York Yankees baseball on the channel 18 schedule.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-switch-this-fall-chann/137245173/|date=May 1, 1971|pages=1, [https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-channel-18-donated-to-r/137245184/ 2]|first=Bruce|last=Kauffman|title=Switch This Fall: Channel 18 Given to Church|newspaper=Hartford Courant|location=Hartford, Connecticut|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 23, 2023|archive-date=December 23, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231223181411/https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-switch-this-fall-chann/137245173/|url-status=live}} Black and Puerto Rican leaders in Hartford protested the acquisition on fears that Faith Center would not be responsive to their needs, noting that Faith Center proposed to ax 56 hours of programming a week from the station's schedule.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-fcc-urged-to-halt-plan/137245208/|date=July 10, 1971|page=8|title=FCC Urged To Halt Plan for Channel 18|newspaper=Hartford Courant|location=Hartford, Connecticut|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 23, 2023|archive-date=December 23, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231223181357/https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-fcc-urged-to-halt-plan/137245208/|url-status=live}} The commission disagreed with the objection and approved the transfer of WHCT to Faith Center in February 1972.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-channel-18-assigned-to/137245251/|date=February 18, 1972|page=15|first=Robert|last=Waters|title=Channel 18 Assigned to Faith Center|newspaper=Hartford Courant|location=Hartford, Connecticut|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 23, 2023|archive-date=December 23, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231223181354/https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-channel-18-assigned-to/137245251/|url-status=live}} A local minority group appealed this action in federal court, which rejected its contention that the conversion of WHCT to a specialized Christian program format diminished service to the community in the same way as was being contended in several contemporary cases about radio station formats.{{Cite news|pages=23–24|work=Broadcasting|title=Citizen protests on format change kill another sale|id={{ProQuest|1016876166}}|date=August 21, 1972}}
Under its new ownership, channel 18 again made tentative steps toward expanding its facilities. Avon officials denied the station in its first attempt to expand the Avon Mountain transmitter facility in November 1972, insisting the station own more surrounding land in the event of a tower collapse.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-avon-whct-denied-expan/137245301/|date=November 30, 1972|page=74|first=Diane|last=Brozek|title=Avon: WHCT Denied Expansion Request|newspaper=Hartford Courant|location=Hartford, Connecticut|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 23, 2023|archive-date=December 23, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231223181351/https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-avon-whct-denied-expan/137245301/|url-status=live}} A local family agreed to sell land to Faith Center to accommodate a new site on Talcott Mountain; local residents were upset by the town of Bloomfield's decision to permit the construction of a new {{convert|500|ft|m|adj=on}} tower in the residential zone,{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-appeal-filed-opposing-d/137245323/|date=May 16, 1973|page=3|title=Appeal Filed Opposing Decision To Allow Tower Construction|newspaper=Hartford Courant|location=Hartford, Connecticut|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 23, 2023|archive-date=December 23, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231223181359/https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-appeal-filed-opposing-d/137245323/|url-status=live}} and the matter was appealed in court.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-bloomfield-lawyers-to/137245435/|date=November 6, 1973|page=20|title=Bloomfield: Lawyers To File Briefs On Transmitter Appeal|newspaper=Hartford Courant|location=Hartford, Connecticut|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 23, 2023|archive-date=December 24, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231224041839/https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-bloomfield-lawyers-to/137245435/|url-status=live}} Channel 18 tried again by joining a proposal by radio station WKSS to build on Rattlesnake Mountain in Farmington.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-tv-radio-stations-to-e/137245456/|date=March 2, 1974|page=4|title=TV, Radio Stations To Extend Range|newspaper=Hartford Courant|location=Hartford, Connecticut|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 23, 2023|archive-date=December 23, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231223181409/https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-tv-radio-stations-to-e/137245456/|url-status=live}} Faith Center briefly merged with the Hartford Gospel Tabernacle, a local church, in 1973; the church was renamed the Faith Center of Hartford,{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-city-tabernacle-center/137245352/|date=July 3, 1973|pages=1, [https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-gospel-tabernacle-fait/137245383/ 13]|first=Laurence|last=Cohen|title=City Tabernacle, Center Merge|newspaper=Hartford Courant|location=Hartford, Connecticut|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 23, 2023|archive-date=December 23, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231223181348/https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-city-tabernacle-center/137245352/|url-status=live}} but the affiliation had been dissolved by 1977.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-pastor-from-bible-belt/137245721/|date=February 28, 1977|page=15|first=Laurence|last=Cohen|title=Pastor from 'Bible Belt' Sees Challenge Ahead|newspaper=Hartford Courant|location=Hartford, Connecticut|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 23, 2023|archive-date=December 23, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231223195704/https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-pastor-from-bible-belt/137245721/|url-status=live}}
In 1975, Faith Center attempted to sell bonds in the church to its parishioners and instead found itself $3.5 million in debt, the plan leaving the church and its broadcasting stations in a perilous financial condition.{{r|LosA800810}} Twice between January and June, WHCT reduced its hours of operation, citing a poor economy.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-channel-18-to-cut-back/137245510/|date=June 5, 1975|page=18|title=Channel 18 To Cut Back Time on Air This Week|newspaper=Hartford Courant|location=Hartford, Connecticut|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 23, 2023|archive-date=December 24, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231224041841/https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-channel-18-to-cut-back/137245510/|url-status=live}} That year, Faith Center attempted to sell WHCT to the Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN) of Portsmouth, Virginia; at the time, it had deals pending to sell KHOF FM in Los Angeles and KVOF-TV in San Francisco to the Trinity Broadcasting Network.{{cite news|date=July 28, 1975|title=Changing Hands|work=Broadcasting|page=28|id={{ProQuest|1016875180}} }} The application met with local opposition, with groups signaling that CBN would face the same issues in running the station in the same manner; the station manager for Faith Center blamed the underpowered transmitter, which limited channel 18's reach.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-committee-moves-to-bloc/137245538/|date=August 23, 1975|page=12|first=Barry|last=Schiffman|title=Committee Moves To Block Sale of Channel 18|newspaper=Hartford Courant|location=Hartford, Connecticut|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 23, 2023|archive-date=December 23, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231223195637/https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-committee-moves-to-bloc/137245538/|url-status=live}} Faith Center rescinded this application in February 1976.{{Cite news|page=84|date=February 16, 1976|title=For the Record|work=Broadcasting|id={{ProQuest|1014671083}} }} The station continued to broadcast some non-religious programming. It fired Woods in 1976 over the involvement of Wesleyan University students in producing his programming,{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-tv-show-host-charges-di/137245644/|date=October 18, 1976|page=42|title=TV Show Host Charges Discrimination Over Firing|first=Ken|last=Cruickshank|newspaper=Hartford Courant|location=Hartford, Connecticut|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 23, 2023|archive-date=December 23, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231223195659/https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-tv-show-host-charges-di/137245644/|url-status=live}} but the station picked up several New England Whalers hockey games in a trial run for possible future telecasts.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-3-whalers-games-will-b/137245690/|date=October 23, 1976|page=27|first=Tom|last=Hine|title=3 Whalers' Games Will Be Televised|newspaper=Hartford Courant|location=Hartford, Connecticut|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 23, 2023|archive-date=December 23, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231223195653/https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-3-whalers-games-will-b/137245690/|url-status=live}}
=Tax battles=
Gene Scott joined the church as a financial consultant and then became its pastor after Faith Center's board ousted Raymond Schoch.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-los-angeles-times-life-and-times-of/137288223/|date=August 10, 1980|pages=IV:1, [https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-los-angeles-times-life-and-times-of/123312031/ 10], [https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-los-angeles-times-life-and-times-of/123312047/ 11], [https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-los-angeles-times-life-and-times-of/123312079/ 12], [https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-los-angeles-times-life-and-times-of/123312108/ 13], [https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-los-angeles-times-life-and-times-of/123312149/ 14]|first=Allan|last=Parachini|title=Life and Times of an Electronic Pastor: Controversial Dr. Gene Scott|newspaper=The Los Angeles Times|location=Los Angeles, California|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 23, 2023|archive-date=December 23, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231223185120/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-los-angeles-times-life-and-times-of/137288223/|url-status=live}} Under Scott, a televangelist,{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/record-journal-channel-13s-scott-loses/164942819/|date=March 6, 1984|page=14|agency=UPI|title=Channel 13's Scott loses in court|newspaper=Record-Journal|location=Meriden, Connecticut|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=February 8, 2025}} Faith Center became more strident, particularly in its belief that—as a religious organization—its activities were tax-exempt. Local governments disagreed, finding that Faith Center had not qualified for tax-exempt status. On March 1, 1977, the deputy sheriff of Avon padlocked the WHCT transmitter site for nonpayment of a $7,000 tax bill to the town.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-tax-woes-force-whct-off/137245758/|date=March 2, 1977|page=26|title=Tax Woes Force WHCT Off Air|newspaper=Hartford Courant|location=Hartford, Connecticut|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 23, 2023|archive-date=December 23, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231223195657/https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-tax-woes-force-whct-off/137245758/|url-status=live}} The station paid the bill and returned to the air the next night. On his taped Festival of Faith program, Scott announced that Faith Center was challenging the government's ability to collect taxes owed by religious institutions without a court hearing in the belief that, unfettered, local governments could "destroy" financially strapped churches.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-faith-channel-returns/137245831/|date=March 3, 1977|page=2|first=Laurence|last=Cohen|title='Faith' Channel Returns to Air|newspaper=Hartford Courant|location=Hartford, Connecticut|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 23, 2023|archive-date=December 23, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231223195648/https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-faith-channel-returns/137245831/|url-status=live}} On March 4, facing a $77,000 tax bill from the city of Hartford for the Asylum Street studio building, station officials holed up inside and refused to allow the deputy sheriff entry when he attempted to serve eviction papers. Scott taped messages calling for viewers to sign a "letter of outrage" and urged them to call city and county authorities.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-channel-18-tv-executive/137245867/|date=March 5, 1977|pages=1, [https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-station-fights-tv-taxat/137245920/ 5]|first=Michael|last=Regan|title=Channel 18 TV Executives Bar Taxman, Rally Faithful|newspaper=Hartford Courant|location=Hartford, Connecticut|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 23, 2023|archive-date=December 23, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231223195645/https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-channel-18-tv-executive/137245867/|url-status=live}} At one point, Scott went 65 hours without sleeping.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-whct-tv-airing-reruns-o/137245947/|date=March 6, 1977|page=54|title=WHCT-TV Airing Reruns of Tax Battle|newspaper=Hartford Courant|location=Hartford, Connecticut|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 23, 2023|archive-date=December 23, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231223195633/https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-whct-tv-airing-reruns-o/137245947/|url-status=live}}
On March 9, 1977, Avon officials seized the transmitter again, this time for the unpaid tax bill in Hartford; earlier in the day, Scott had denounced an effort to silence him with "police-state tactics".{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-station-is-silenced-des/137246014/|date=March 10, 1977|pages=1, [https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-station-is-silenced-des/137246044/ 6]|title=Station Is Silenced Despite Protests|newspaper=Hartford Courant|location=Hartford, Connecticut|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 23, 2023|archive-date=December 23, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231223205053/https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-station-is-silenced-des/137246014/|url-status=live}} Under protest, Faith Center paid the $77,000 in taxes plus penalties.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-tv-18-pays-city-tax-bil/137246072/|date=March 13, 1977|page=1|first=Michael|last=Regan|title=TV 18 Pays City Tax Bill|newspaper=Hartford Courant|location=Hartford, Connecticut|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 23, 2023|archive-date=December 23, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231223204704/https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-tv-18-pays-city-tax-bil/137246072/|url-status=live}} While Faith Center continued to challenge Hartford and Avon officials in court over the tax obligations{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-channel-18-takes-tax-ca/137246273/|date=January 28, 1978|page=29|title=Channel 18 Takes Tax Case to Court|newspaper=Hartford Courant|location=Hartford, Connecticut|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 23, 2023|archive-date=December 23, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231223204838/https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-channel-18-takes-tax-ca/137246273/|url-status=live}}—a case that reached the Connecticut Supreme Court, which found against Faith Center{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-court-upholds-taxes-on/137294986/|date=March 14, 1984|page=B2|first=Thomas D.|last=Williams|title=Court Upholds Taxes On Church TV Station|newspaper=Hartford Courant|location=Hartford, Connecticut|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 23, 2023|archive-date=December 23, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231223205101/https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-court-upholds-taxes-on/137294986/|url-status=live}}—the station suffered through a variety of other problems. A fire in June 1977 activated the sprinkler system at 555 Asylum, causing heavy water damage;{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-police-news-suspiciou/137246153/|date=June 19, 1977|page=24|title=Police News: 'Suspicious' Fire Hits Station|newspaper=Hartford Courant|location=Hartford, Connecticut|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 23, 2023|archive-date=December 23, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231223204858/https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-police-news-suspiciou/137246153/|url-status=live}} the station fired six engineers for attempts to unionize, which a National Labor Relations Board administrative law judge found to be illegal and ordered the station to compensate them.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-tv-station-firings-decl/137246305/|date=June 27, 1978|page=14|first=Manuel|last=Vargas|title=TV Station Firings Declared Illegal|newspaper=Hartford Courant|location=Hartford, Connecticut|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 23, 2023|archive-date=December 23, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231223204705/https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-tv-station-firings-decl/137246305/|url-status=live}} Vandals smashed $600,000 of WHCT's transmitting equipment in July 1979, which was estimated to keep channel 18 off the air for a month. The vandals left a handwritten note containing an unspecified "derogatory remark" against Scott.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-broadcasts-to-stop-for/137246347/|date=July 11, 1979|page=84|title=Broadcasts To Stop for a Month: Channel 18's Transmitter Smashed|newspaper=Hartford Courant|location=Hartford, Connecticut|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 23, 2023|archive-date=December 24, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231224041840/https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-broadcasts-to-stop-for/137246347/|url-status=live}}
=First distress sale attempt=
By the end of the 1970s, Faith Center was facing increasing FCC scrutiny of its broadcast properties in California. In 1978, the FCC began investigating charges that KHOF-TV in San Bernardino solicited funds from viewers but did not use them for the purposes that were stated; Faith Center refused to turn over financial documents, calling the exercise an "illegal fishing expedition" and claiming that it violated separation of church and state.{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/86107791/fcc-probing-religious-tv-station-in/|title=FCC probing religious TV station in fund appeal|first=Doug|last=Underwood|agency=Gannett News Service|page=B-3|work=The Sun-Telegram|location=San Bernardino, California|date=June 30, 1978|access-date=September 28, 2021|archive-date=September 28, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210928074346/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/86107791/fcc-probing-religious-tv-station-in/|url-status=live}} In March 1980, administrative law judge Edward Luton found against KHOF-TV and ruled that that station's license should not be renewed.{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/86107955/fcc-judge-wont-renew-license-for/|title=FCC judge won't renew license for KHOF-TV|agency=Associated Press|date=March 24, 1980|page=A-12|work=San Bernardino County Sun|access-date=September 28, 2021|archive-date=September 28, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210928074351/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/86107955/fcc-judge-wont-renew-license-for/|url-status=live}} The ruling called into question Faith Center's character qualifications to be a licensee and put the other broadcast outlets at risk, especially the California stations that also had pending license renewals.{{r|Hart800419}}
In April 1980, Faith Center reached an agreement to sell all three of its television stations to the Television Corporation of Hartford for $15 million.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-minority-firm-seeks-pur/137246371/|date=April 19, 1980|page=39|first=Rosemary|last=Brady|title=Minority Firm Seeks Purchase Of Channel 18|newspaper=Hartford Courant|location=Hartford, Connecticut|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 23, 2023|archive-date=December 24, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231224041841/https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-minority-firm-seeks-pur/137246371/|url-status=live}} The agreement utilized the then-new distress sale policy, which allowed for stations facing possible hearings at the FCC to exit them by selling to minority-controlled licensees for substantially less than market value.{{Cite news|id={{ProQuest|2471833446}}|work=The Hollywood Reporter|page=8|date=April 25, 1979|title='Distress sale' of WAEO-TV first approved by FCC}} Television Corporation of Hartford was a joint venture constructed in such a way as to qualify as a minority-controlled licensee. It consisted of Television Corporation of Virginia, a group of investors that owned WTVZ-TV in Norfolk, Virginia; Herman Valentine, a Black employee of WTVZ; and the East Los Angeles Community Union (TELACU), a Hispanic group. It proposed to operate the two California stations owned by Faith Center with Spanish-language programming and WHCT as an English-language independent.{{r|Hart800419}} The station was in dire need of investment, having vacated the Asylum Street studios due to a proposed rent increase. By 1981, it had no working video tape machines at Avon Mountain, so viewers saw a still image of Scott.{{r|Hart810510}}
The deal met with opposition and difficulty from various sources, among them the 46 different legal cases involving Faith Center as of 1980. A group of religious leaders in Hartford filed a petition to instead deny WHCT a renewal of its broadcast license, seeking to prevent Faith Center from profiting from a sale of the station; the FCC denied this request, allowing Faith Center to pursue a distress sale for the Hartford outlet, but stripped KHOF-TV of its license and forced KVOF-TV into comparative hearing with other applicants. The complicated ownership structure of Television Corporation of Hartford, with Valentine as the deciding shareholder, raised questions as to whether minority ownership or Valentine's affiliation with Television Corporation of Virginia would prevail in making decisions.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/122478132/fcc-to-decide-stations-fate-embattled/|date=May 10, 1981|pages=A1, [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/122478156/church-would-sell-tv-station-to-escape-l/ A28]|first=Colin|last=McEnroe|title=FCC To Decide Station's Fate: Embattled Channel 18 Faces Judgment Day|newspaper=Hartford Courant|location=Hartford, Connecticut|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=April 8, 2023|archive-date=April 8, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230408055803/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/122478132/fcc-to-decide-stations-fate-embattled/|url-status=live}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-day-tv-station-sale-advances/137297953/|date=June 23, 1981|page=24|title=TV station sale advances|agency=Associated Press|newspaper=The Day|location=New London, Connecticut|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 23, 2023|archive-date=December 24, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231224041841/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-day-tv-station-sale-advances/137297953/|url-status=live}}
In early March 1982, the FCC transferred the license to Television Corporation of Hartford, though LDA Communications, a group involved in the comparative hearing for the Faith Center station in San Francisco, appealed the decision in federal court, fearing that the $4 million obtained in the sale would become a "war chest" for Faith Center to prolong litigation. As such, the deal remained pending when a new complication arose involving TELACU. In March 1982, the Los Angeles Times published a three-part report revealing that the Department of Labor was investigating TELACU for misuse of federal funds. The reports revealed that much of TELACU's spending took place away from its focus area of East Los Angeles, with investments in projects elsewhere in the U.S. and in Europe, and that current and former employees had illegally borrowed from the company;{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-los-angeles-times-anti-poverty-agenc/122510173/|date=March 28, 1982|pages=I:1, [https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-los-angeles-times-poverty-barrio-is/122510194/ 3]|title=Anti-Poverty Agency: Leaving Barrio Behind: East L.A. Community Union's Spending Runs Into Millions and, Now, Official Suspicion|first1=Claire|last1=Spiegel|first2=Robert|last2=Welkos|newspaper=The Los Angeles Times|location=Los Angeles, California|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 23, 2023|archive-date=December 24, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231224041841/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-los-angeles-times-anti-poverty-agenc/122510173/|url-status=live}} that TELACU executives received shares in the station without any financial outlay on their part; that some of the company's business investments, made based on federal anti-poverty grants, were unsound;{{Cite news|first1=Robert|last1=Welkos|first2=Claire|last2=Spiegel|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-los-angeles-times-far-flung-east-la/122510797/|date=March 29, 1982|pages=I:3, [https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-los-angeles-times-telacu-far-flung/122510846/ 8], [https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-los-angeles-times-telacu-an-empire/122510861/ 9], [https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-los-angeles-times-telacu-empire/122510879/ 10]|title=Far-Flung East L.A. Financial Empire Built on U.S. Grants|newspaper=The Los Angeles Times|location=Los Angeles, California|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 23, 2023|archive-date=December 23, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231223222534/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-los-angeles-times-far-flung-east-la/122510797/|url-status=live}} and that TELACU was doing little to create jobs in the communities it was intended to serve.{{Cite news|first1=Claire|last1=Spiegel|first2=Robert|last2=Welkos|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-los-angeles-times-giant-anti-poverty/122510951/|date=March 30, 1982|page=1, [https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-los-angeles-times-telacu-giant-agen/122510992/ 3], [https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-los-angeles-times-telacu-agency-cre/122511081/ 18], [https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-los-angeles-times-telacu-few-jobs-c/122511108/ 19]|title=Giant Anti-Poverty Agency Did Little to Create Jobs|newspaper=The Los Angeles Times|location=Los Angeles, California|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 23, 2023|archive-date=December 24, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231224045129/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-los-angeles-times-giant-anti-poverty/122510951/|url-status=live}}
{{Quote box
| quote = Almost anything would be better than what the city has been given on the frequency for the last few years. For just a few hours at night, the television station has shown a slide of the Rev. W. Eugene Scott ... The station had no locally originated programs and no equipment to create them even if it wanted to. Its phone number for a time was unlisted.
| author = Editorial board of the Hartford Courant{{Cite news|newspaper=Hartford Courant|location=Hartford, Connecticut|page=A16|title=Revival Time for Ch. 18|date=January 5, 1982|id={{ProQuest|546596602}} }}
| align = right
| width = 250px
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}}
The report caused concern for the future of the WHCT purchase.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-probe-may-hinder-purcha/111521207/|date=March 30, 1982|pages=B1, [https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-probe-may-hinder-purcha/111521224/ B2]|title=Probe May Hinder Purchase of WHCT: Labor Department Checking Investor For Possible Misuse of Federal Funds|first=Charles|last=McCollum|newspaper=Hartford Courant|location=Hartford, Connecticut|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 23, 2023|archive-date=December 24, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231224042355/https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-probe-may-hinder-purcha/111521207/|url-status=live}} In April, the FCC rescinded its approval for the sale, acting on the LDA Communications petition, in order to review stockholder and purchase agreements related to Television Corporation of Hartford in light of the revelations in the Times{{'s}} reporting.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-los-angeles-times-anti-poverty-agenc/122511512/|date=April 20, 1982|pages=3, [https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-los-angeles-times-telacu-purchase-o/122511537/ 21]|first=Claire|last=Spiegel|title=Anti-Poverty Agency's TV Deal Held Up: Bureau Revokes Order Permitting Sale of Station to TELACU|newspaper=The Los Angeles Times|location=Los Angeles, California|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 23, 2023|archive-date=December 24, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231224042355/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-los-angeles-times-anti-poverty-agenc/122511512/|url-status=live}} In the meantime, Television Corporation of Hartford began the zoning process for a new {{convert|499|ft|m|adj=on}} tower in Middletown to broadcast channel 18;{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-middletown-panel-approv/115758628/|date=May 4, 1982|page=B5|first=Tao|last=Woolfe|title=Middletown Panel Approves 499-Foot TV Tower|newspaper=Hartford Courant|location=Hartford, Connecticut|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 23, 2023|archive-date=December 24, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231224042356/https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-middletown-panel-approv/115758628/|url-status=live}} approval was controversial and contested by nearby landowners who feared depreciation of their property values.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-television-firm-to-figh/122511339/|date=June 26, 1982|page=B3|title=Television Firm To Fight for Tower|newspaper=Hartford Courant|location=Hartford, Connecticut|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 23, 2023|archive-date=December 23, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231223222535/https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-television-firm-to-figh/122511339/|url-status=live}}
The Virginia investors of Television Corporation of Virginia withdrew from the transaction in July; Gene Loving, one of the investors, told the Richmond Times-Dispatch in a 1983 interview that "[w]e made the decision we couldn't be in business with them".{{Cite news|first=Douglas|last=Durden|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/115758558/riding-herd-on-tvs-final-frontier/|date=March 6, 1983|pages=J-1, [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/115758595/tvx-sees-tv-stations-grow/ J-3]|title=Riding herd on TV's final frontier|newspaper=Richmond Times-Dispatch|location=Richmond, Virginia|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=April 5, 2023|archive-date=April 5, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230405041708/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/115758558/riding-herd-on-tvs-final-frontier/|url-status=live}} TELACU continued to pursue the purchase of channel 18, in spite of the loss of its financial backing and the pending federal investigation,{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-group-has-new-plan-to-b/122511594/|date=July 13, 1982|page=B6|first=Charles|last=McCollum|title=Group Has New Plan To Buy TV Station|newspaper=Hartford Courant|location=Hartford, Connecticut|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 23, 2023|archive-date=December 23, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231223224146/https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-group-has-new-plan-to-b/122511594/|url-status=live}} but unable to raise funds, it abandoned its bid to acquire WHCT in October 1982.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-los-angeles-group-drops/122511664/|date=October 21, 1982|page=C2|first=Charles|last=McCollum|title=Los Angeles Group Drops Bid To Buy Channel 18|newspaper=Hartford Courant|location=Hartford, Connecticut|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 23, 2023|archive-date=December 24, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231224042357/https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-los-angeles-group-drops/122511664/|url-status=live}}
=Second and third distress sale attempts=
With TELACU's withdrawal, Faith Center made a second attempt to conduct a distress sale of WHCT. The proposed buyer was Interstate Media Corporation, a Los Angeles broadcast consulting firm controlled by Joseph Delano Jones.{{r|Hart821021}} The transaction received FCC approval in September 1983,{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-san-bernardino-county-sun-scott-avoi/122511698/|date=September 30, 1983|page=B-7|agency=Associated Press|title=Scott avoids probe|newspaper=The San Bernardino County Sun|location=San Bernardino, California|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 23, 2023|archive-date=December 23, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231223230255/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-san-bernardino-county-sun-scott-avoi/122511698/|url-status=live}} but it never closed. In June 1984, Faith Center proposed another distress buyer to the commission: Richard Ramirez, head of Astroline Communications.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-buyer-report-latest-twi/122511903/|date=June 2, 1984|page=C4|title=Buyer Report Latest Twist In WHCT Saga|newspaper=Hartford Courant|location=Hartford, Connecticut|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 23, 2023|archive-date=December 24, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231224042358/https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-buyer-report-latest-twi/122511903/|url-status=live}} Ramirez was the Hispanic owner and general partner of Astroline, which was connected to Astroline Corporation, a Saugus, Massachusetts–based oil wholesale company.{{r|Hart850203}} The $3.1 million sale was officially filed in August 1984; Ramirez promised a major investment to upgrade the ailing station's facilities and a switch to full-time independent status. The viability of such a station was questioned from the start, as two additional independent stations had been established in the Connecticut market in recent years: WTXX (channel 20) in 1982{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-wtxx-pitch-help-tv-fan/137300440/|date=September 5, 1982|pages=E1, [https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-wtxx-gives-slip-to-netw/137300496/ E7]|first=Garret|last=Condon|title=WTXX Pitch: Help TV Fans Slip From Networks' Grip|newspaper=Hartford Courant|location=Hartford, Connecticut|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 23, 2023|archive-date=December 23, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231223230309/https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-wtxx-pitch-help-tv-fan/137300440/|url-status=live}} and WTIC-TV (channel 61) in 1984.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/108004885/station-opens-with-steele-rerun/|date=September 18, 1984|page=C10|first=Marc|last=Gunther|title=Station Opens With Steele Rerun|newspaper=Hartford Courant|location=Hartford, Connecticut|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=August 21, 2022|archive-date=August 23, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220823050359/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/108004885/station-opens-with-steele-rerun/|url-status=live}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-massachusetts-company-b/122511989/|date=August 31, 1984|page=B1|first=Marc|last=Gunther|title=Massachusetts Company Bids On Channel 18: Sale Would End Preacher's Seven-Year Struggle With FCC Over Licensing|newspaper=Hartford Courant|location=Hartford, Connecticut|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 23, 2023|archive-date=December 24, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231224042358/https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-massachusetts-company-b/122511989/|url-status=live}}
Another prospective television station owner sought channel 18. Alan Shurberg, a computer programmer from Rocky Hill, filed in December 1983 for a competing application to the WHCT license.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-notice/137300208/|date=December 23, 1983|page=D2|title=Notice|newspaper=Hartford Courant|location=Hartford, Connecticut|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 23, 2023|archive-date=December 24, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231224042927/https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-notice/137300208/|url-status=live}} Shurberg, who desired to program channel 18 as an independent station, sought the ability to apply for a whole new license.{{r|Hart840602|Hart840831}} Over the objections of FCC staff, the commission moved to approve the sale to Astroline in late September, but it said that if Astroline's deal were to fall through or the buyer were to not qualify as a minority, the channel would be opened to new applicants.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-sale-of-channel-18-move/122512032/|date=October 2, 1984|pages=C1, [https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-channel-18-sale-approva/122512070/ C3]|first=Marc|last=Gunther|title=Sale of Channel 18 Moves Closer|newspaper=Hartford Courant|location=Hartford, Connecticut|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 23, 2023|archive-date=December 24, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231224043001/https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-sale-of-channel-18-move/122512032/|url-status=live}} A final decision was approved by the FCC{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-network-officials-get-o/122512124/|date=December 10, 1984|page=D2|first=Marc|last=Gunther|title=Network Officials Get Out the Ax: Changes Made for 'Second Season'|newspaper=Hartford Courant|location=Hartford, Connecticut|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 23, 2023|archive-date=December 23, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231223230254/https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-network-officials-get-o/122512124/|url-status=live}} and upheld by the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in December.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-panel-of-us-judges-cl/122512154/|date=December 25, 1984|page=B3|first=Marc|last=Gunther|title=Panel of U.S. Judges Clears Way for Sale of Hartford's Channel 18|newspaper=Hartford Courant|location=Hartford, Connecticut|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 23, 2023|archive-date=December 23, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231223230309/https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-panel-of-us-judges-cl/122512154/|url-status=live}}
Astroline Communications ownership
=Acquisition and reconstruction=
Astroline took control of WHCT on January 24, 1985. The station immediately left the air while the new owners assembled a programming inventory to replace Gene Scott with off-network reruns of shows such as Dallas, Knots Landing, and Columbo.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-channel-18-sold-for-3/122512253/|date=January 24, 1985|page=C1|first=Marc|last=Gunther|title=Channel 18 Sold for $3.1 Million; Lawsuit Opposes Sale|newspaper=Hartford Courant|location=Hartford, Connecticut|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 23, 2023|archive-date=December 24, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231224042907/https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-channel-18-sold-for-3/122512253/|url-status=live}} Shurberg—notoriously private and a mystery to others in the WHCT case—was profiled in a February 1985 article in the Courant, noting that others wondered about the source of his money—a computer consulting business—and his friendship with Arnold Chase, owner of WTIC radio and television. He made weekly trips to Washington to keep up with the case.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-channel-18-sale-perfum/122512382/|date=February 3, 1985|pages=A1, A20|first1=Marc|last1=Gunther|first2=Clifford|last2=Teutsch|id={{ProQuest|755868590}}|title=Channel 18 Sale: Perfume, a Preacher, and a Whiff of Intrigue|newspaper=Hartford Courant|location=Hartford, Connecticut|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 23, 2023|archive-date=December 24, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231224042907/https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-channel-18-sale-perfum/122512382/|url-status=live}}
Astroline initially intended to begin "interim operation" with a satellite-delivered program service before returning the station to air with its full schedule for the fall television season.{{r|Hart850124|Hart850203}} However, the station needed more significant investment. In February, Astroline applied to the town of Avon to replace its existing tower with one twice as tall.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-channel-18-wants-higher/122512606/|date=March 2, 1985|page=B3|first=Vincent M.|last=Valvo|title=Channel 18 Wants Higher Avon Tower|newspaper=Hartford Courant|location=Hartford, Connecticut|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 23, 2023|archive-date=December 24, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231224042908/https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-channel-18-wants-higher/122512606/|url-status=live}} Once more, the proposal met with bitter opposition. Residents feared that the taller tower would require strobe lights to meet federal aviation requirements,{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-residents-object-to-put/122512638/|date=March 21, 1985|pages=E1, [https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-lights-could-dim-prospe/137301694/ E9]|first=Terry|last=Bartlett|title=Residents Object To Putting Lights On Avon TV Tower|newspaper=Hartford Courant|location=Hartford, Connecticut|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 23, 2023|archive-date=December 24, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231224042911/https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-residents-object-to-put/122512638/|url-status=live}} as had been the case when WTIC-TV erected its tower on Rattlesnake Mountain.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-mountaintop-residents-p/122512667/|date=April 27, 1985|page=B3|first=Terry|last=Bartlett|title=Mountaintop Residents Prepare for Fight|newspaper=Hartford Courant|location=Hartford, Connecticut|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 23, 2023|archive-date=December 24, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231224042910/https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-mountaintop-residents-p/122512667/|url-status=live}}
After being denied a {{convert|796|ft|m|adj=on}} tower by the town of Avon,{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-whct-tv-loses-bid-to-bu/122512714/|date=June 12, 1985|page=C3|first=Terry|last=Bartlett|title=WHCT-TV Loses Bid To Build 796-Foot Tower|newspaper=Hartford Courant|location=Hartford, Connecticut|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 23, 2023|archive-date=December 24, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231224043011/https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-whct-tv-loses-bid-to-bu/122512714/|url-status=live}} station officials began a search for a new site{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-whct-officials-seek-loc/122512755/|date=July 13, 1985|page=B3|first=Terry|last=Bartlett|title=WHCT Officials Seek Location for New Tower|newspaper=Hartford Courant|location=Hartford, Connecticut|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 23, 2023|archive-date=December 24, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231224043500/https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-whct-officials-seek-loc/122512755/|url-status=live}} but returned to Avon Mountain, this time with a proposal to build a {{convert|750|ft|m|adj=on}} mast on a much larger parcel across from the towers of several other local broadcast stations.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-2nd-tower-application-s/122512775/|date=September 7, 1985|page=B3|first=Terry|last=Bartlett|title=2nd Tower Application Submitted by WHCT|newspaper=Hartford Courant|location=Hartford, Connecticut|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 23, 2023|archive-date=December 24, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231224043336/https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-2nd-tower-application-s/122512775/|url-status=live}} Yet again, residents of Avon, Farmington, and West Hartford organized in opposition, primarily on unfounded concerns over radiation,{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-residents-renew-fight-o/122512814/|date=October 1, 1985|page=B3|first=Terry|last=Bartlett|title=Residents Renew Fight Over Tower|newspaper=Hartford Courant|location=Hartford, Connecticut|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 23, 2023|archive-date=December 24, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231224043334/https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-residents-renew-fight-o/122512814/|url-status=live}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-residents-from-3-towns/122512853/|date=October 2, 1985|page=B3|first=Terry|last=Bartlett|title=Residents From 3 Towns Oppose Tower|newspaper=Hartford Courant|location=Hartford, Connecticut|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 23, 2023|archive-date=December 24, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231224043334/https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-residents-from-3-towns/122512853/|url-status=live}} but Avon granted zoning approval to the new site in November 1985.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-plan-for-tv-tower-anger/122512901/|date=December 3, 1985|page=B3|first=Terry|last=Bartlett|title=Plan for TV Tower Angers Residents in Avon|newspaper=Hartford Courant|location=Hartford, Connecticut|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 23, 2023|archive-date=December 24, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231224043335/https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-plan-for-tv-tower-anger/122512901/|url-status=live}}
While the station sought tower site approvals, Astroline put WHCT back on the air on September 30, 1985, from new studios on Garden Street. The station entered a competitive market; it was not assured coverage on local cable thanks to the recent abolition of must-carry rules,{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-whct-going-on-air-monda/111521718/|date=September 28, 1985|page=B5|first=James|last=Endrst|title=WHCT Going on Air Monday Despite Unsettled Legal Battle|newspaper=Hartford Courant|location=Hartford, Connecticut|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 23, 2023|archive-date=December 24, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231224043336/https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-whct-going-on-air-monda/111521718/|url-status=live}} but United Cable, the main system in the Hartford area, added channel 18 to its lineup in mid-October.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-jubilant-channel-18-joi/137302273/|date=October 19, 1985|page=F5|first=James|last=Endrst|title=Jubilant Channel 18 Joins United Cable Viewing Roster|newspaper=Hartford Courant|location=Hartford, Connecticut|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 23, 2023|archive-date=December 24, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231224043336/https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-jubilant-channel-18-joi/137302273/|url-status=live}} Over the next year, it secured the rights to Hartford Whalers hockey and Hartford Hawks men's basketball and began producing some local programs.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-ramirez-is-the-star-at/122513066/|date=September 30, 1986|page=E1|first=Tom|last=Condon|title=Ramirez Is The Star at Channel 18|newspaper=Hartford Courant|location=Hartford, Connecticut|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 23, 2023|archive-date=December 24, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231224043337/https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-ramirez-is-the-star-at/122513066/|url-status=live}} Despite the Whalers deal, with WHCT replacing WVIT as the team's broadcaster, channel 18 could not fully capitalize on the hockey team because of its poor signal. The station was missing from cable systems in half of the state, and some of those that did carry it only added the station for hockey.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/valley-advocate-springfield-on-the-tail/137304948/|date=November 10, 1986|page=39|title=On the Tail of the Whale|newspaper=The Valley Advocate|first=Bob|last=Philips|location=Springfield, Massachusetts|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 24, 2023|archive-date=December 24, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231224043337/https://www.newspapers.com/article/valley-advocate-springfield-on-the-tail/137304948/|url-status=live}}
=Shurberg court battle and bankruptcy=
Responding to Shurberg's continued challenges to the FCC's distress sale policy, the commission upheld its 1984 approval of the Astroline sale in April 1987.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-decision-by-fcc-allows/122513123/|date=April 24, 1987|page=D2|title=Decision by FCC allows company to retain WHCT|newspaper=Hartford Courant|location=Hartford, Connecticut|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 23, 2023|archive-date=December 24, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231224043433/https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-decision-by-fcc-allows/122513123/|url-status=live}} In February 1988, after a requirement to do so was attached to the commission's appropriations by Congress, the FCC again affirmed its statements in the Shurberg case and two others involving preferences to minority and female applicants for new stations.{{Cite news|page=34|title=Minority policies reaffirmed|work=Broadcasting|id={{ProQuest|1016917798}}|date=February 22, 1988}}
WHCT faced tough market conditions, with three independent stations operating in Hartford; by 1987, some industry experts feared one would likely be unable to continue within a year.{{Cite news|page=12|first=Billy|last=House|title=Station Death May Loom in 3-Way TV Shootout|work=Across the Board|date=June 26, 1987|id={{ProQuest|205260660}} }} As the latest entrant, its syndicated programming inventory was of lower quality than channels 20 or 61, which it trailed in the ratings, and other independents from outside the market were available on cable. Further, the Shurberg case required continued time and legal resources.{{r|Hart881108}} In late 1988, syndicators including Columbia Pictures Television and Lorimar Television began to pull programming rights from channel 18 for nonpayment,{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-life-of-liberace-abc-a/137302955/|date=October 1, 1988|pages=B1, [https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-abc-cbs-to-broadcast-v/137271813/ B3]|first=James|last=Endrst|title=Life of Liberace: ABC and CBS will chronicle the rise and fall of showy star|newspaper=Hartford Courant|location=Hartford, Connecticut|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 23, 2023|archive-date=December 24, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231224043434/https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-life-of-liberace-abc-a/137302955/|url-status=live}} and that November, Lorimar, MCA Television, and Orion Pictures—together owed $11.6 million—filed a motion to force the station into involuntary bankruptcy.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-whct-facing-involuntary/122513211/|date=November 8, 1988|pages=B1, [https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-channel-18-facing-at-le/122513241/ B3]|first1=James|last1=Endrst|first2=Stephen M.|last2=Williams|title=WHCT facing involuntary bankruptcy|newspaper=Hartford Courant|location=Hartford, Connecticut|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 23, 2023|archive-date=December 24, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231224043504/https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-whct-facing-involuntary/122513211/|url-status=live}} A judge instead let WHCT continue operating while it worked out a repayment plan for its debts.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-station-granted-repriev/122513307/|date=December 7, 1988|pages=G1, [https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-judge-allows-whct-tv-to/122513331/ G3]|first=Stephen M.|last=Williams|title=Station granted reprieve: Court lets WHCT continue running to work on debts|newspaper=Hartford Courant|location=Hartford, Connecticut|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 23, 2023|archive-date=December 24, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231224043440/https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-station-granted-repriev/122513307/|url-status=live}} Among the creditors was the Whalers, who nonetheless renewed their contract with channel 18 for the 1989–90 NHL season.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-whalers-returning-to-wh/122513481/|date=May 27, 1989|page=E2|title=Whalers returning to WHCT next year|newspaper=Hartford Courant|location=Hartford, Connecticut|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 23, 2023|archive-date=December 24, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231224043435/https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-whalers-returning-to-wh/122513481/|url-status=live}} As the Home Shopping Network began to occupy more of channel 18's broadcast day,{{r|Hart881001}} the station's audience became too small to measure in total-day ratings.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-may-sweeps-crown-wfsb/137304559/|date=June 9, 1989|page=C7|first=James|last=Endrst|title=May sweeps crown WFSB; WTIC news has hard trek|newspaper=Hartford Courant|location=Hartford, Connecticut|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 24, 2023|archive-date=December 24, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231224043435/https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-may-sweeps-crown-wfsb/137304559/|url-status=live}}
On March 31, 1989, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit in Shurberg Broadcasting of Hartford Inc. vs. FCC ruled 2–1 in favor of Alan Shurberg and struck down the FCC's distress sale policy. The majority decision cited the 1978 Supreme Court decision Regents of the University of California v. Bakke, which considered racial preference in medical school admissions. The FCC announced it would not appeal the decision,{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-court-rules-in-whct-cas/122513413/|date=April 1, 1989|pages=F1, [https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-us-court-rules-in-cha/122513367/ F6]|title=Court rules in WHCT case|first=Stephen M.|last=Williams|newspaper=Hartford Courant|location=Hartford, Connecticut|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 23, 2023|archive-date=December 24, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231224043842/https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-court-rules-in-whct-cas/122513413/|url-status=live}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1989/04/01/business/fcc-policy-assisting-minorities-is-overturned.html|date=April 1, 1989|work=The New York Times|first=Martin|last=Tolchin|title=F.C.C. Policy Assisting Minorities Is Overturned|access-date=December 24, 2023|archive-date=December 20, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171220010716/http://www.nytimes.com/1989/04/01/business/fcc-policy-assisting-minorities-is-overturned.html|url-status=live}} and the court refused an en banc review.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-court-not-to-reconsider/122513530/|date=June 17, 1989|page=B1|first=Sandra|last=Clark|title=Court not to reconsider Channel 18 sale|newspaper=Hartford Courant|location=Hartford, Connecticut|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 23, 2023|archive-date=December 24, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231224043843/https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-court-not-to-reconsider/122513530/|url-status=live}} Ramirez declared that the sale of WHCT would be a last resort and that the company would seek new investors or financing to keep channel 18 going.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-channel-18-seeks-new-in/122513442/|date=May 2, 1989|page=B1|first=Stephen M.|last=Williams|title=Channel 18 seeks new investors or new financing|newspaper=Hartford Courant|location=Hartford, Connecticut|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 23, 2023|archive-date=December 24, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231224043843/https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-channel-18-seeks-new-in/122513442/|url-status=live}}
Astroline, arguing that the court's decision applied an unreasonable standard, appealed to the Supreme Court.{{cite news|page=112|date=November 6, 1989|title=Supreme Court asked to rule on distress sales|work=Broadcasting|id={{ProQuest|1014733215}} }} The court took up Astroline's appeal as well as that of Metro Broadcasting in a case involving preferences for women and minorities in the award of a television station permit in Orlando, Florida.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/simi-valley-star-court-to-decide-tv-rad/137304138/|date=January 8, 1990|page=2|title=Court to decide TV, radio licensing issue|newspaper=The Enterprise|location=Simi Valley, California|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 24, 2023|archive-date=December 24, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231224043843/https://www.newspapers.com/article/simi-valley-star-court-to-decide-tv-rad/137304138/|url-status=live}} That case had also been decided by the D.C. Circuit but in favor of minority preferences.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-orlando-sentinel-investors-to-fight/158889842/|date=June 20, 1989|pages=C-1, [https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-orlando-sentinel-tv/158889835/ C-6]|first=Susan G.|last=Strother|title=Investors to fight for TV station|newspaper=The Orlando Sentinel|location=Orlando, Florida|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=November 12, 2024}} Briefs by the FCC, in the Astroline portion of the case, and the Department of Justice, in the Metro portion of the case, illustrated opposing views on affirmative action programs, which the FCC defended and the Department of Justice attacked.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-us-agencies-take-oppo/122513713/|date=February 10, 1990|page=A4|first=Miranda S.|last=Spivack|title=U.S. agencies take opposing stands in case involving Hartford station|newspaper=Hartford Courant|location=Hartford, Connecticut|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 24, 2023|archive-date=December 24, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231224043939/https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-us-agencies-take-oppo/122513713/|url-status=live}} The case was of interest to many court watchers due to its possible impact outside of broadcasting.{{r|Hart900210}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-high-court-may-decide-w/122513863/|date=March 26, 1990|pages=B1, [https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-high-court-may-decide-f/122513816/ B9]|first=Miranda S.|last=Spivack|title=High court may decide WHCT-TV's fate|newspaper=Hartford Courant|location=Hartford, Connecticut|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 24, 2023|archive-date=December 24, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231224043905/https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-high-court-may-decide-w/122513863/|url-status=live}} During oral argument, the justices hinted that the scarcity of mass media outlets, radio frequencies and TV channels and the regulated status of broadcasting might move them to allow preferential policies.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-justices-hint-at-allowi/122513953/|date=March 29, 1990|page=A4|first=Miranda S.|last=Spivack|title=Justices hint at allowing special treatment in broadcasting|newspaper=Hartford Courant|location=Hartford, Connecticut|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 24, 2023|archive-date=December 24, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231224043939/https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-justices-hint-at-allowi/122513953/|url-status=live}}
On June 27, 1990, the last day of the court's term, the Supreme Court handed down its decision in Metro Broadcasting, Inc. v. FCC. In a 5–4 decision authored by liberal justice William J. Brennan Jr. and unusually joined by the conservative Byron White, the court upheld the FCC's policies giving preference to women and minorities and the distress sale policy. The ruling was a victory for WHCT; Ramirez believed it opened the door to putting the station on a sound financial footing.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-court-upholds-broadcast/122514051/|date=June 28, 1990|pages=A1, [https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-court-upholds-affirmati/122514064/ A8]|first=Miranda S.|last=Spivack|title=Court upholds broadcast rule on minorities: Decision is victory for Hartford station|newspaper=Hartford Courant|location=Hartford, Connecticut|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 24, 2023|archive-date=December 24, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231224043846/https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-court-upholds-broadcast/122514051/|url-status=live}}
=Shutdown and trusteeship=
With the Shurberg court fight at last over, WHCT's existing problems became the renewed focus of attention, headlined by its $20 million in outstanding debt. The Whalers left the team in the 1990–91 season, opting to put their games on WTXX to better reach New Haven County.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-whalers-switch-to-chann/137305826/|date=April 25, 1990|page=D3|agency=Associated Press|title=Whalers switch to Channel 20|newspaper=Hartford Courant|location=Hartford, Connecticut|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 24, 2023|archive-date=December 24, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231224044350/https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-whalers-switch-to-chann/137305826/|url-status=live}} A Courant preview of the November 1990 television sweeps said of the station, "Against all odds, it's still alive and kicking."{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-local-stations-offer-ne/137285656/|date=October 22, 1990|pages=B1, [https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-can-30-unseat-8-will-1/137285638/ B3]|first=James|last=Endrst|title=Local stations offer new looks; WFSB's still tops|newspaper=Hartford Courant|location=Hartford, Connecticut|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 24, 2023|archive-date=December 24, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231224044351/https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-local-stations-offer-ne/137285656/|url-status=live}} The main highlights of its programming day were the Catholic Mass and Boston Celtics basketball telecasts.{{Cite news|date=April 9, 1991|work=New Haven Register|page=TV 14|title=Channel 18 teeters; others wait in wings|first=Joe|last=Amarante}}
In February 1991, the major creditors of Astroline filed a motion to convert the bankruptcy case from a Chapter 11 reorganization to a Chapter 7 liquidation of the company's assets.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-whct-tv-motion/122514093/|date=February 21, 1991|page=C2|title=WHCT-TV motion|newspaper=Hartford Courant|location=Hartford, Connecticut|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 24, 2023|archive-date=December 24, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231224044351/https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-whct-tv-motion/122514093/|url-status=live}} As time went on, Astroline's lawyers became less optimistic about reaching a deal with the creditors;{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-whct-tv-hearing/122514133/|date=March 29, 1991|page=D2|title=WHCT-TV hearing|newspaper=Hartford Courant|location=Hartford, Connecticut|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 24, 2023|archive-date=December 24, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231224044352/https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-whct-tv-hearing/122514133/|url-status=live}} by early April, the station began preparing for an expected order to liquidate and shut down, as the creditors refused to grant Astroline time to find a buyer{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-station-expects-to-clos/121248530/|date=April 3, 1991|pages=D1, [https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-whct-tv-management-prep/121250537/ D2]|first=Stephen M.|last=Williams|title=Station expects to close: Bankruptcy court gives WHCT-TV week's extension|newspaper=Hartford Courant|location=Hartford, Connecticut|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 24, 2023|archive-date=December 24, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231224044352/https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-station-expects-to-clos/121248530/|url-status=live}} even though the station had generated positive cash flow for more than a year.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-in-the-red-channel-18/122514331/|date=April 8, 1991|pages=A9, [https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-forced-into-liquidation/122514307/ A11]|first=James|last=Endrst|title=In the red, Channel 18 fading to black|newspaper=Hartford Courant|location=Hartford, Connecticut|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 24, 2023|archive-date=December 24, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231224044354/https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-in-the-red-channel-18/122514331/|url-status=live}}
WHCT left the air on the afternoon of April 9, 1991, shortly after a judge converted the Chapter 11 bankruptcy to Chapter 7.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-astroline-signs-off-aft/122514231/|date=April 10, 1991|pages=C1, [https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-judge-orders-liquidatio/122514276/ C2]|first=Stephen M.|last=Williams|title=Astroline signs off after six-year battle|newspaper=Hartford Courant|location=Hartford, Connecticut|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 24, 2023|archive-date=December 24, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231224044353/https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-astroline-signs-off-aft/122514231/|url-status=live}} Causes cited for the station's demise included the drain of legal representation in the Shurberg cases; the end of must-carry limiting the station's cable reach; rising prices for syndicated programming; and the recession that was most acute in New England.{{r|Hart910408}} Its demise left the Celtics to sign last-minute deals with WVIT and WTWS in New London to air the remaining games in the NBA season.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-celtics-looking-for-out/137271833/|date=May 24, 1991|page=E3|first=Jim|last=Shea|title=Celtics looking for outlet|newspaper=Hartford Courant|location=Hartford, Connecticut|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 24, 2023|archive-date=December 24, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231224044354/https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-celtics-looking-for-out/137271833/|url-status=live}}
Martin W. Hoffman was named bankruptcy trustee for Astroline Communications and began negotiating with various prospective buyers for WHCT, while other potential owners instead applied for competing applications against its license. Among them were Alan Shurberg and Stamford-based radio group Sage Broadcasting. Industry experts suggested that a specialty programmer would be most suited to buy channel 18 given the intense competition in the market.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-channel-18-might-be-dif/122514408/|date=July 13, 1991|pages=C1, [https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-returning-whct-tv-to-ai/122514453/ C2]|first=Stephen M.|last=Williams|title=Channel 18 might be difficult to revive|newspaper=Hartford Courant|location=Hartford, Connecticut|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 24, 2023|archive-date=December 24, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231224044859/https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-channel-18-might-be-dif/122514408/|url-status=live}} In November 1993, Hoffman filed an application with the FCC to sell the station to Two If By Sea Broadcasting Corporation for $250,000. The company owned less than 30 percent of WTVE in Reading, Pennsylvania, and 51 percent of WHRC-TV in Norwell, Massachusetts.{{cite news|id={{ProQuest|1014744351}}|page=40|work=Broadcasting & Cable|date=October 11, 1993|title=Changing Hands}}
Shurberg contested the still-pending license renewal of WHCT and the sale to Two If By Sea. He asserted, based on documents uncovered in Astroline's 1991 chapter 7 bankruptcy case, that Astroline had misrepresented itself as a minority-controlled entity, claiming that its limited partners functioned as general partners and that Ramirez held less control of the company than advertised. During this time, to avoid a new deadline to go on air contained in Section 312(g) of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, the station began broadcasting on February 5, 1997.{{r|moo97|p=5228}} In April 1997, the commission designated his application for a new station for hearing with the license renewal for WHCT, finding that Shurberg's allegations raised "a substantial and material question of fact warranting exploration in an evidentiary hearing".{{Cite web|date=April 25, 1997|url=https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc2331/m1/557/?q=WHCT|title=Memorandum Opinion and Order and Hearing Designation Order (FCC 97-146)|work=FCC Record|pages=5224–5233|publisher=Federal Communications Commission|access-date=December 24, 2023|archive-date=December 24, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231224044900/https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc2331/m1/557/?q=WHCT|url-status=live}}
After returning to the air, WHCT cycled between several infomercial and home shopping services. It debuted with Infomall TV,{{cite news|last=Fybush|first=Scott|title=Just Under the Wire...|url=http://www.bostonradio.org/nerw/nerw-970207.html|access-date=June 23, 2010|newspaper=North East RadioWatch|date=February 2, 1997|archive-date=June 20, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100620220436/http://bostonradio.org/nerw/nerw-970207.html|url-status=live}} switched to Shop at Home Network in June 1998,{{cite news|last=Fybush|first=Scott|title=Tornado Topples WIVT|url=http://www.bostonradio.org/nerw/nerw-980604.html|access-date=June 23, 2010|newspaper=North East RadioWatch|date=June 4, 1998|archive-date=June 20, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100620215044/http://bostonradio.org/nerw/nerw-980604.html|url-status=live}} and changed to ValueVision in January 1999.{{cite news|last=Fybush|first=Scott|title=Still Snowbound...and the First Fall Books|url=http://www.bostonradio.org/nerw/nerw-990115.html|access-date=June 23, 2010|newspaper=North East RadioWatch|date=January 15, 1999|archive-date=June 20, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100620215218/http://bostonradio.org/nerw/nerw-990115.html|url-status=live}}
WUVN: Entravision ownership
In 2000, Entravision Communications struck a deal with the parties in the long-running proceeding under which it would pay $18 million to settle all the claims and become the proposed buyer of WHCT, with Two If By Sea receiving $9.52 million, Shurberg receiving $7.48 million, and Astroline receiving the remaining $1 million. The FCC's Enforcement Bureau believed that the length of the case warranted accepting a "white knight" offer, typically frowned upon.{{Cite news|title=Sixteen-year fight for station may end|date=May 1, 2000|work=Broadcasting & Cable|first1=Paige|last1=Albiniak|first2=Bill|last2=McConnell|page=22|id={{ProQuest|225319563}} }} Entravision's offer was briefly threatened by a separate dispute with Barbara Laurence, who attempted to obtain a 10-percent stake in WHCT and WNTO in Daytona Beach, Florida, by alleging that she found the stations for Entravision.{{cite news|title=Legal battles shadow Entravision IPO|url=https://www.nexttv.com/news/legal-battles-shadow-entravision-ipo-87026|access-date=December 24, 2023|newspaper=Broadcasting & Cable|date=June 18, 2000|archive-date=April 21, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210421182152/https://www.nexttv.com/news/legal-battles-shadow-entravision-ipo-87026|url-status=live}} The FCC granted the request in an order in October 2000, noting that its action allowed for the Astroline bankruptcy case to be terminated, avoided a comparative hearing (which had since been abolished), and wound up a proceeding dating back more than a decade.{{cite web|url=https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc2962/m1/687/|title=Memorandum Opinion and Order (FCC 00-387)|pages=22086–22094|work=FCC Record|publisher=Federal Communications Commission|access-date=December 24, 2023|archive-date=December 24, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231224044900/https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc2962/m1/687/|url-status=live}}
Entravision, an operator of Spanish-language TV stations, announced that channel 18 would affiliate with Univision, replacing the ValueVision home shopping programming previously offered by the station.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-channel-18-going-spanis/137310822/|date=January 6, 2001|page=D2|first=Mary K.|last=Feeney|title=Channel 18 Going Spanish-Language|newspaper=Hartford Courant|location=Hartford, Connecticut|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 24, 2023|archive-date=December 24, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231224044900/https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-channel-18-going-spanis/137310822/|url-status=live}} Simultaneously, it acquired WUNI (channel 27) in Worcester, Massachusetts, a Univision affiliate serving the Boston market.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-spanish-media-group-buy/137309863/|date=January 5, 2001|pages=A3, [https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-media-group-buys-city-s/137309885/ A4]|first=Peter|last=Downs|title=Spanish Media Group Buys City TV Station|newspaper=Hartford Courant|location=Hartford, Connecticut|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 24, 2023|archive-date=December 24, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231224044901/https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-spanish-media-group-buy/137309863/|url-status=live}} The station changed its call sign to WUVN and began broadcasting Univision programming on April 1, 2001.{{Cite news|title=Amor no more? WADS suspends regular slate|work=New Haven Register|page=B8|date=March 23, 2001|first=Joe|last=Amarante|url=https://www.nhregister.com/news/article/ON-TELEVISION-Amor-no-more-WADS-suspends-its-11697708.php}} Two years later, in 2003, Univision began producing a regional Spanish-language newscast from Boston to serve WUNI and WUVN.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-boston-globe-station-to-produce-even/137311102/|date=February 6, 2003|page=Northwest 5|first=Johnny|last=Diaz|title=Station to produce evening newscast in Spanish|newspaper=The Boston Globe|location=Boston, Massachusetts|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 24, 2023|archive-date=December 24, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231224044902/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-boston-globe-station-to-produce-even/137311102/|url-status=live}} Though the station continues to air the news program from Boston, Entravision raised the possibility of starting a local newscast when it bought the station in 2001{{r|Hart010106}} and again in 2006.{{cite news|first=Eileen|last=Davis Hudson|title=Hartford-New Haven|magazine=Mediaweek|date=February 13, 2006|url=http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/esearch/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1001995517&imw=Y|access-date=June 24, 2010|archive-date=December 24, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231224044902/https://www.adweek.com/mediaweek/|url-status=live}}
In 2017, Entravision sold WUVN's spectrum in the FCC's incentive auction for $125,568,545.{{cite web|title=FCC Broadcast Television Spectrum Incentive Auction Auction 1001 Winning Bids|url=http://transition.fcc.gov/Daily_Releases/Daily_Business/2017/db0413/DA-17-314A2.pdf|publisher=Federal Communications Commission|access-date=May 1, 2017|date=April 4, 2017|archive-date=April 14, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170414174258/http://transition.fcc.gov/Daily_Releases/Daily_Business/2017/db0413/DA-17-314A2.pdf|url-status=live}} Entravision then entered WUVN into a channel-sharing agreement with its WUTH-CD (channel 47), a low-power station receivable in the Hartford area.{{Cite web|url=https://enterpriseefiling.fcc.gov/dataentry/public/tv/draftCopy.html?displayType=html&appKey=25076f915d9ada67015d9deb262f002d&id=25076f915d9ada67015d9deb262f002d&goBack=N|title=#29250 Modification of a Licensed Facility for DTV Application|website=Licensing and Management System|publisher=Federal Communications Commission|date=August 11, 2017|access-date=December 24, 2023|archive-date=April 4, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230404170359/https://enterpriseefiling.fcc.gov/dataentry/public/tv/draftCopy.html?displayType=html&appKey=25076f915d9ada67015d9deb262f002d&id=25076f915d9ada67015d9deb262f002d&goBack=N|url-status=live}}{{efn|The then-Spanish International Network began broadcasting in Hartford as a translator rebroadcasting WXTV from the New York City area on June 28, 1980.{{Cite news|url=https://newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-state-spanish-tv-statio/84800363/|date=June 21, 1980|page=22|first=C.L.|last=Smith Muniz|title=State Spanish TV Station To Start Operating|newspaper=Hartford Courant|location=Hartford, Connecticut|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=June 29, 2024}} The translator switched from channel 61 to channel 47 in 1984 to accommodate a new Hartford full-power TV station.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-channel-switch/107931094/|date=June 15, 1984|page=E6|title=Channel Switch|newspaper=Hartford Courant|location=Hartford, Connecticut|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=June 29, 2024}} The translator, which gained Class A status, changed call signs to WUTH-CA in 2001{{cite web|url=https://licensing.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/pubacc/prod/call_hist.pl?Facility_id=74214|website=Consolidated Database System|publisher=Federal Communications Commission|title=Call Sign History for WUTH-CD|access-date=June 18, 2024}} and was one of the launch stations for Telefutura (now UniMás) on January 14, 2002.{{cite press release|date=January 14, 2002|id={{ProQuest|446445135}}|publisher=Business Wire|title=TeleFutura -- America's Newest TV Network -- Speaks Espanol; Univision Communications Unveils Long-Awaited Viewing Choice For Nation's Fastest Growing TV Audience|author=Univision Communications}} }}
WHTX-LD: From Hartford to Springfield
WHTX-LD, which rebroadcasts WUVN in Springfield, Massachusetts, has its origins in W10CG, a low-power station on channel 10 in Hartford that signed on in February 1997, using WHCT's former Garden Street facilities.{{cite news|last=Fybush|first=Scott|title=The Big Get Bigger|url=http://www.bostonradio.org/nerw/nerw-970228.html|access-date=June 23, 2010|newspaper=North East RadioWatch|date=February 28, 1998|archive-date=June 20, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100620221300/http://bostonradio.org/nerw/nerw-970228.html|url-status=live}} Becoming WHTX-LP on March 31,{{cite web|url=http://licensing.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/pubacc/prod/call_hist.pl?Facility_id=26337&Callsign=WHTX-LP|title=Call Sign History (WHTX-LP)|work=Consolidated Database System|publisher=Federal Communications Commission|access-date=November 10, 2014|archive-date=November 10, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141110213325/http://licensing.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/pubacc/prod/call_hist.pl?Facility_id=26337&Callsign=WHTX-LP|url-status=live}} the station shut down in December 1998 to make room for WTNH's digital signal; its programming from America One and the American Independent Network was moved to former simulcast partner WMLD-LP.{{cite news|last=Fybush|first=Scott|title=Albany Jams|url=http://www.bostonradio.org/nerw/nerw-981226.html|access-date=June 23, 2010|newspaper=North East RadioWatch|date=December 26, 1998|archive-date=June 20, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100620215826/http://bostonradio.org/nerw/nerw-981226.html|url-status=live}} As the station did not return to the air within a year of going dark, the license was deemed to have expired by the FCC on October 11, 2002.{{cite web|url=https://cdbs.recnet.com/corres/?doc=11325|title=Re: WHTX-LP, Hartford, CT…|format=PDF|last=Hashemzadeh|first=Hossein|date=March 9, 2009|work=Consolidated Database System|publisher=Federal Communications Commission|access-date=June 24, 2010|archive-date=August 9, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110809173225/http://licensing.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/prod/cdbs/forms/prod/getimportletter_exh.cgi?import_letter_id=11325|url-status=live}} However, original owner Harvard Broadcasting claimed to the FCC that WHTX had briefly resumed operations on an annual basis, and the license was reinstated a month later; it was sold to Entravision soon thereafter.{{cite news|last=Fybush|first=Scott|title=It's Beginning To Sound A Lot Like Christmas...|url=http://www.bostonradio.org/nerw/nerw-021125.html|access-date=June 24, 2010|newspaper=North East RadioWatch|date=November 25, 2002|archive-date=June 20, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100620220725/http://bostonradio.org/nerw/nerw-021125.html|url-status=live}}
Entravision moved the station to channel 43 in Springfield and signed the new WHTX-LP on the air in November 2003 as a semi-satellite of WUVN.{{cite news|last=Fybush|first=Scott|title=Willcox Applies for 50kW at WNSH|url=http://www.fybush.com/nerw-031124.html|access-date=June 24, 2010|newspaper=NorthEast Radio Watch|date=November 24, 2003|archive-date=June 28, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110628180124/http://www.fybush.com/nerw-031124.html|url-status=live}} WHTX was picked up by Comcast's Springfield-area systems on July 10, 2006, replacing the national Univision feed.{{cite press release|title=WHTX-TV Univision Channel 43 Launches On Comcast Cable|publisher=Entravision Communications|date=July 10, 2003|url=http://wuvn.entravision.com/assets/a5838.pdf|access-date=June 24, 2010}} Soon after WHTX made its move, Meredith Corporation filed an objection, stating that the station's claimed resumptions were not enough to avoid the automatic expiration of its license and that there were sufficient channels available in the Hartford area for WHTX to use. As a result, the move was never formally granted even a construction permit and was operated by a series of special temporary authority grants; on March 9, 2009, the FCC overturned the reinstatement of the WHTX license and revoked its operating authority. After finding that there was insufficient evidence to prove that WHTX-LP had in fact failed to operate for twelve consecutive months, the FCC again reinstated the station's license on November 3, 2014, and directed Entravision to file a new displacement application;{{cite web|last=Kreisman|first=Barbara A.|title=Re: WHTX-LP, Hartford, Connecticut|url=https://cdbs.recnet.com/corres/?doc=54117|format=PDF|website=Consolidated Database System|publisher=Federal Communications Commission|access-date=November 10, 2014|date=November 3, 2014|archive-date=November 10, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141110221857/http://licensing.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/prod/cdbs/forms/prod/getimportletter_exh.cgi?import_letter_id=54117|url-status=live}} on November 7, it filed to construct a digital companion channel for WHTX, again specifying operation on channel 43 in Springfield.{{cite web|title=Application for Authority To Construct or Make Changes in a Low Power TV, TV Translator or TV Booster Station (WHTX-LD)|url=http://licensing.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/forms/prod/prefill_and_display.pl?Application_id=1657200&Service=LD&Form_id=346&Facility_id=198388|website=Consolidated Database System|publisher=Federal Communications Commission|access-date=November 10, 2014|date=November 7, 2014|archive-date=November 10, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141110214026/http://licensing.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/forms/prod/prefill_and_display.pl?Application_id=1657200&Service=LD&Form_id=346&Facility_id=198388|url-status=live}} The WHTX-LD signal was licensed on September 29, 2015.{{cite web|title=Application Search Details (WHTX-LD)|url=http://licensing.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/pubacc/prod/app_det.pl?Application_id=2001868|website=Consolidated Database System|publisher=Federal Communications Commission|access-date=December 20, 2015|archive-date=December 22, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151222092322/http://licensing.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/pubacc/prod/app_det.pl?Application_id=2001868|url-status=live}}
Subchannels
{{Maplink|frame=yes|frame-width=390|frame-align=right|frame-height=260|raw={{Wikipedia:Map data/WUVN}}|text={{ubl|Grade A signal contours for WUTH-CD–WUVN and WHTX-LD|{{legend-col |thumb size=wide|{{legend|#ff0000|WUTH-CD–WUVN (RF 22) Hartford, CT}} |{{legend|#0000ff|WHTX-LD (RF 24) Springfield, MA}} }} }}}}
The stations' signals are multiplexed:
| class="wikitable"
|+Subchannels of WUTH-CD and WUVN{{Cite web|url=https://www.rabbitears.info/market.php?request=station_search&callsign=WUTH#station|website=RabbitEars|title=RabbitEars TV Query for WUTH|access-date=June 24, 2024}} ! scope = "col" | License ! scope = "col" | Channel ! scope = "col" | Res. ! scope = "col" | Aspect ! scope = "col" | Short name ! scope = "col" | Programming |
| scope = "row" style="border-right: 4px solid #60B0FF;" | WUTH-CD
! scope = "row" | 47.1 |
|---|
| rowspan= "2" scope = "row" style="border-right: 4px solid #0057AF;" | WUVN
! scope = "row" | 18.1 | WUVN-HD || Univision |
| scope = "row" | 18.4 |
| class="wikitable"
|+Subchannels of WHTX-LD{{Cite web|url=https://www.rabbitears.info/market.php?request=station_search&callsign=WHTX#station|website=RabbitEars|title=RabbitEars TV Query for WHTX|access-date=December 24, 2023|archive-date=December 24, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231224045128/https://www.rabbitears.info/market.php?request=station_search&callsign=WHTX-LD#station|url-status=live}} ! scope = "col" | Channel ! scope = "col" | Res. ! scope = "col" | Aspect ! scope = "col" | Short name ! scope = "col" | Programming |
| scope = "row" | 43.1
| 1080i || rowspan=1|16:9 || Univisn || Univision |
|---|
{{clear}}
Notes
{{notelist}}
References
{{reflist}}
{{Hartford/New Haven TV}}
{{Springfield MA TV}}
{{Other New England Stations}}
{{Entravision Communications}}
Category:1954 establishments in Connecticut
Category:Entravision Communications stations
Category:Television channels and stations established in 1954