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WENS (TV)

Summary

WENS was a television station broadcasting on ultra high frequency (UHF) channel 16 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States, from 1953 to 1957. An ABC and CBS affiliate, it was one of two early UHF television stations in Pittsburgh. The arrival of stronger very high frequency (VHF) stations and struggles generally applicable to UHF broadcasting in the early years of television prompted the station to close and sell its technical facilities to educational broadcaster WQED for use as a second educational channel, WQEX.

WENS
A black-and-white slide. On a gray background, a white 16 towers over a triangular-shaped area in dark gray. The letters WENS run in an incomplete stripe to the left diagonally from middle-left to the bottom.
Channels
Programming
AffiliationsABC, CBS, NBC
Ownership
OwnerTelecasting, Inc.
History
First air date
August 29, 1953 (1953-08-29)
Last air date
August 31, 1957 (1957-08-31)
Technical information
ERP200 kW[1]
HAAT870 ft (270 m)
Transmitter coordinates40°29′39″N 80°00′16″W / 40.49417°N 80.00444°W / 40.49417; -80.00444

Early years edit

On December 23, 1952, the Telecasting Company of Pittsburgh obtained a construction permit for a new UHF television station on channel 16, one of three commercial channel assignments to Pittsburgh. The idea for the station came from the sales manager and assistant general manager of Pittsburgh's only television station at the time, WDTV. The group then brought in recognized local sports announcer Bob Prince and several businessmen, including Pittsburgh Pirates owner Thomas P. Johnson, to be part of the ownership group.[2] It signed a deal in February 1953 to become ABC's exclusive Pittsburgh affiliate, marking the beginning of the market's transformation from one with a single station, WDTV, to one with competing stations;[3] it then added a CBS affiliation agreement in May, allowing CBS clearance of additional programs beyond the 40 to 50 percent of the network slate that WDTV carried.[4] Channel 16 would broadcast from facilities on Ivory Avenue built by another Pittsburgh radio station: WCAE. WCAE had opted to sell because it was abandoning FM radio, and it had decided to apply not for VHF channel 11 but for channel 4, which at the time was allocated to Irwin and for which the winning permittee would need to build facilities there.[5] WCAE had been in the middle of constructing a planned 500-foot (150 m) tower at the Ivory Avenue site and had constructed the bottom 250 feet (76 m) before deciding to wait on the outcome of the various VHF hearings in progress; WENS promised to finish building the mast.[5] Telecasting Company of Pittsburgh also got a deal on equipment, buying a purchase order from radio station WQAN, which had applied for and abandoned a bid to start channel 16 in Scranton.[6][a]

WENS began broadcasting a test pattern on August 24, 1953.[9] After replacing several defective parts, and with hours to spare, the station made its air date deadline of August 29 in time to carry a Pirates baseball game from Forbes Field. It was second behind WKJF-TV channel 53 in what was considered a race to sign on.[10] The baseball telecast was one of four slated in the remainder of the 1953 season[11] and the first-ever telecast of a Pirates game in Pittsburgh.[12] With WKJF-TV and WENS having broken WDTV's monopoly on television in Pittsburgh, channel 16 initially boasted of sponsor interest and market impact "beyond expectations" and sold almost all of its advertising time.[12]

WENS initially maintained studios at the Ivory Avenue transmitter site, but by the end of the year, work was under way on full facilities costing $400,000 at a site on Mt. Troy Avenue.[13] Despite opening them in 1954, financial considerations prompted the station to instead increase its use of network programs, having added some NBC shows as a result of WKJF-TV's closure.[14] The station began facing difficulties common to other UHF broadcasters of the time and was unable to secure a local sponsor for Kukla, Fran and Ollie when that show was dropped by WDTV for Captain Video, a production of its owner, the DuMont Television Network.[15] When the Duquesne Dukes men's basketball team made the National Invitation Tournament in 1955, the station secured an exclusive on the tournament over the petitions of the advertising agency who wanted it cleared on channel 2 (now KDKA-TV) as well, only to be completely unable to sign up sponsors and have to surrender the games to the VHF outlet.[16]

Tower collapse and time-share with WQED edit

Mr. Israel, I just looked out of my window to where our tower is. It isn't.

— Clint Prewitt, assistant chief engineer of WENS, to general manager Larry Israel on the morning of the station's tower collapse[17]

On the morning of March 11, 1955, a wind storm blowing through Pittsburgh toppled WENS's tower, rendering it and the equipment on it a total loss.[18] The station faced the potential of months out of service, and once again Pittsburgh had only one operating commercial television station.[18]

After the launch of WENS, another Pittsburgh television station had signed on, this one on the VHF band: WQED channel 13, an educational station. WQED and KDKA-TV, from whose tower channel 13 broadcast, offered the use of their facility to broadcast WENS's programming,[19] and plans immediately were devised to allow WENS programs to be telecast through WQED starting the day after the tower collapse, with station and telephone company engineers working feverishly to make it possible. The Federal Communications Commission approved an unprecedented agreement to allow WENS and WQED to temporarily share the reserved channel 13 through April 1;[20] the lone dissenter was Frieda B. Hennock, who had led the creation of reserved channels for educational television.[21]

The combined service aired mostly WQED's programming on weekdays and WENS network shows on weeknights; as WQED did not broadcast on weekends, only WENS shows would be presented then, including Toast of the Town.[20] It was a combination that gave WENS its first exposure to viewers whose sets could not receive UHF and WQED star power and viewership not typically available to educational television stations.[22] One of WQED's programs—Campus On Call, a phone-in program suddenly placed between ABC and CBS programs from WENS—found its switchboard "clobbered" thanks to viewers who saw the show in between Disneyland and I've Got a Secret.[23] Meanwhile, WENS began to work to restore channel 16 to service, using a temporary 150-foot (46 m) tower.[24]

Decline and demise edit

One position I wouldn't wanna have is managing a UHF station. They surely aren't getting any breaks.

— Wilbur D. Clark, radio-TV columnist, Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph[25]

Channel 16 returned to the air on April 27, ending 46 days of sharing time with WQED and having reimbursed the educational station for extra costs incurred in the emergency arrangement.[26] However, WENS's time on VHF did little to ameliorate the fundamental problems facing the station. In July 1955, radio station WWSW was awarded a channel 11 construction permit, which WENS contested; the FCC reopened hearings on the channel as a result of finding financial issues with the proposed permittee.[27]

On February 24, 1957, a day before scheduled FCC hearings on the channel 11 dispute, WWSW and WENS reached an out-of-court settlement. WENS would withdraw its challenge to WWSW's channel 11 television station, to be called WIIC; WWSW would acquire channel 16's Ivory Avenue facilities to lease them back to channel 16 and pay $500,000 to the UHF station, with $300,000 of that to be paid when channel 11 began broadcasting.[28] The settlement, however, did not dampen WENS's desire to attempt to move to VHF itself. That June, the station made three distinct proposals to add a fourth commercial VHF allocation to Pittsburgh: one involving trading channel 9 from Steubenville, Ohio (where it was used by WSTV-TV) to Pittsburgh, sending the channel 16 allotment to Steubenville in the process; a larger deintermixture plan that would ultimately bring channel 6 into Pittsburgh;[29] and the removal of channel 5 at Weston, West Virginia, to Pittsburgh.[30] Its final efforts in this regard were denied in December 1957.[31]

WIIC announced that it would begin broadcasting September 1, 1957, prompting WENS to declare that it would cease operations the day before, August 31.[32]

Later use of channel 16 in Pittsburgh edit

In the spring of 1957, WQED announced plans to file for the unused channel 47 frequency in Pittsburgh (which was later moved to Altoona), and later the unused channel 22 assigned to Clarksburg, West Virginia, to build a second noncommercial television station that would provide educational programming to schools and businesses. Immediately after the directors of WENS met on August 27 and decided to shutter the station, a delegation contacted WQED and offered the facilities to channel 13.[32]

An agreement was reached in June 1958 for WQED to buy the channel 16 facilities from Telecasting, Inc., the final owner of WENS, contingent on being granted a new construction permit for the channel.[33] After the FCC's reservation of the station for noncommercial use and the granting of a new and separate construction permit, WQED's second station, WQEX, began broadcasting on March 23, 1959.[34] The original WENS transmitter, incapable of color broadcasting, remained in use by this station until it failed on March 10, 1985.[35]

The WENS studios were briefly used by the new WIIC prior to launch to house staff.[36] Since its return to the air in 1969, WPGH-TV, the successor to WKJF-TV, has been based at the same site.[37]

WENS after suspending operations edit

Though Telecasting, Inc. never broadcast again in Pittsburgh, the WENS permit transferred to channel 22, with the station's consent, when the FCC reserved channel 16 for noncommercial use.[38] The company then filed for the channel 5 allocation at Weston, West Virginia, and ultimately merged with the other applicant, J. Patrick Beacom's WJPB-TV channel 35 in Fairmont, with Thomas P. Johnson and George Eby paying $200,000 for half of the company.[39] Protests from other area stations delayed approval of the transaction, which created today's WDTV, until December 1961.[40]

The WENS construction permit remained active for more than a decade after the station suspended operations. In 1965, Telecasting filed to sell it to Springfield Television, which owned two other stations on the same channel: WKEF in Dayton, Ohio, and WWLP in Springfield, Massachusetts.[41] Springfield even filed for a channel 14 construction permit in Greensburg to serve as a satellite station of WENS.[42] Springfield then signed a franchise agreement with the Telemeter pay television system for several stations, including WENS.[43] However, citing the financial difficulties of its Dayton station and trouble selecting a new antenna site, WENS remained off the air.[44]

Springfield filed to sell WENS and WJZB-TV in Worcester, Massachusetts, to United Artists in 1968, but the sale proposal was dropped over concerns it would derail the then-proposed merger of Metromedia into UA corporate parent Transamerica Corporation; instead, a sale agreement was reached with Evans Broadcasting, owned by Thomas Mellon Evans, who sought approval to buy four different silent UHF television stations.[45] The purchase languished so long at the FCC that Springfield canceled the sale agreement in September 1969, prompting Evans to petition the commission to declare the WENS construction permit—now off air for more than 12 years—expired or forfeited.[44] The permit then finally lapsed in 1970, leaving channel 22 open for new applicants again.[46]

A new channel 22 television station in Pittsburgh would sign on in 1978, when the Baltimore-based Commercial Radio Institute, the direct predecessor to today's Sinclair Broadcast Group, built WPTT-TV (now WPNT). In 1991, when Sinclair purchased WPGH-TV and sold WPTT-TV to a party that let Sinclair handle most of its operations under a local marketing agreement, the latter station moved into the Ivory Avenue facility.[47]

Notes edit

  1. ^ WQAN, owned by The Scranton Times, and its partner in the channel 16 application had instead become part-owners of the channel 22 station in Scranton, WGBI-TV.[7][8]

References edit

  1. ^ "WENS" (PDF). Television Factbook. Spring 1957. p. 228. Archived (PDF) from the original on March 3, 2022. Retrieved February 15, 2021 – via World Radio History.
  2. ^ "WENS.. A Dream Came True". Pittsburgh Press. August 23, 1953. p. 16. Archived from the original on August 29, 2022. Retrieved February 14, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ "WENS Signs with ABC To Bring TV Network Here". Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph. February 10, 1953. p. 1. Archived from the original on August 29, 2022. Retrieved February 14, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ "Video Station WENS to Be CBS Outlet". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. May 20, 1953. p. 25. Archived from the original on August 29, 2022. Retrieved February 14, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ a b "New Station Buys WCAE FM Plant". Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph. February 12, 1953. p. 10. Archived from the original on August 29, 2022. Retrieved February 14, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ "WENS, City's First UHF Television Outlet, Rushed". Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph. April 5, 1953. p. 28. Archived from the original on August 29, 2022. Retrieved February 14, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ "Financial Arrangements Disclosed: Three TV Partners Pay In $50,000 Each". The Tribune. January 6, 1953. p. 3. Retrieved June 10, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ "Meco Realty, Times Told by FCC to Clarify Bids for TV Channels". The Tribune. February 19, 1953. p. 3. Retrieved June 10, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ^ "WENS Makes 'Debut' With Test Pattern". Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph. August 24, 1953. p. 3. Archived from the original on August 29, 2022. Retrieved February 14, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ "WENS Opener Called Success". Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph. August 30, 1953. p. 1. Archived from the original on August 29, 2022. Retrieved February 14, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ^ "Four Pirate Games To Be Televised". Pittsburgh Press. August 13, 1953. p. 22. Archived from the original on August 29, 2022. Retrieved February 14, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ a b "Eight TVs In Seven Cities Is Starting Score For Week" (PDF). Broadcasting. September 7, 1953. p. 56. ProQuest 1401203799. Archived (PDF) from the original on February 7, 2021. Retrieved February 14, 2021 – via World Radio History.
  13. ^ Steinhauser, Si (December 13, 1953). "More Television Channels on Way". Pittsburgh Press. p. Renaissance 13. Archived from the original on August 29, 2022. Retrieved February 14, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. ^ Fanning, Win. "Hook on a Cable, ETV at the Fair". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. p. Daily Magazine 3. Archived from the original on August 29, 2022. Retrieved February 15, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
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  17. ^ Fanning, Win (March 14, 1955). "Random Notes About 'Black Friday'". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. p. 33. Archived from the original on August 29, 2022. Retrieved February 15, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  18. ^ a b "WENS Tower Down, UHF Sets Useless". Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph. March 11, 1955. p. 4. Archived from the original on August 29, 2022. Retrieved February 15, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  19. ^ "WENS Using Channel 13, WLOA Back". Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph. March 12, 1955. pp. 1, 3. Archived from the original on August 29, 2022. Retrieved February 15, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  20. ^ a b Remington, Fred (March 12, 1955). "Storm-Tossed WENS, WLOA Returning to Air". Pittsburgh Press. pp. 1, 3. Retrieved February 15, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  21. ^ "Radio, Tv Stations Hurt By Rain, Heavy Winds" (PDF). Broadcasting. March 14, 1955. p. 7. ProQuest 1285728178. Archived (PDF) from the original on March 8, 2021. Retrieved February 15, 2021 – via World Radio History.
  22. ^ Remington, Fred (March 14, 1955). "Wind Blows Good to Both WQED, WENS". Pittsburgh Press. Archived from the original on August 29, 2022. Retrieved February 15, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  23. ^ "WQED Politics Show Catches Big Audience". Pittsburgh Press. March 20, 1955. p. 5:11. Archived from the original on August 29, 2022. Retrieved February 15, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  24. ^ Clark, Wilbur D. (March 20, 1955). "Temporary Antenna To Be Built by WENS". Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph. p. 4:9. Archived from the original on August 29, 2022. Retrieved February 15, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  25. ^ Clark, Wilbur D. (December 8, 1955). "Movies Win Battle To Keep Their Films". Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph. p. 33. Archived from the original on August 29, 2022. Retrieved February 15, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  26. ^ "WENS, WQED End Joint TV Operations". Pittsburgh Sun Telegraph. April 28, 1955. p. 33. Archived from the original on August 29, 2022. Retrieved February 15, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  27. ^ "Channel 11 TV Hearings To Re-Open". Pittsburgh Press. November 29, 1955. p. 12. Archived from the original on August 29, 2022. Retrieved February 15, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  28. ^ "New TV Station This Summer: WWSW Wins Fight for Channel 11". Pittsburgh Press. February 25, 1957. pp. 1, 4. Archived from the original on August 29, 2022. Retrieved February 15, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  29. ^ Jewell, Ingrid (June 4, 1957). "WENS Hoping to Shift From UHF: 4th VHF Station Sought". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. pp. 1, 7. Archived from the original on August 29, 2022. Retrieved February 15, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  30. ^ "WENS Asks For Channel In W. Va". Pittsburgh Press. June 7, 1957. p. 5. Archived from the original on August 29, 2022. Retrieved February 15, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  31. ^ "FCC Denies TV Petition". Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph. p. 23. Archived from the original on August 29, 2022. Retrieved February 15, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  32. ^ a b Remington, Fred (August 28, 1957). "WENS Goes Off Air as Channel 11 Opens". Pittsburgh Press. p. 24. Archived from the original on August 29, 2022. Retrieved February 15, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  33. ^ "UHF Outlet Is Sought in WQED Buy". Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph. June 18, 1958. p. 8. Archived from the original on August 29, 2022. Retrieved February 13, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  34. ^ FCC History Cards for WINP-TV
  35. ^ "WQEX makes repairs". Pittsburgh Press. March 19, 1985. Archived from the original on July 10, 2019. Retrieved July 10, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  36. ^ "Channel 11 Sets New Target Date". Pittsburgh Press. June 23, 1957. p. 3:1. Archived from the original on August 29, 2022. Retrieved February 15, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  37. ^ Fanning, Win (December 6, 1968). "Charles Owen Rice Special for Ch. 13". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. p. 39. Archived from the original on August 29, 2022. Retrieved February 15, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  38. ^ "W. Va. tv transfer protested by rival" (PDF). Broadcasting. May 2, 1960. p. 75. ProQuest 962836774. Archived (PDF) from the original on March 8, 2021. Retrieved February 15, 2021 – via World Radio History.
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  40. ^ "WJPB-TV sale okayed but will be watched" (PDF). Broadcasting. December 25, 1961. ProQuest 962780922. Archived (PDF) from the original on March 8, 2021. Retrieved February 15, 2021 – via World Radio History.
  41. ^ "Changing hands" (PDF). Broadcasting. April 19, 1965. p. 68. ProQuest 1014478198. Archived (PDF) from the original on March 8, 2021. Retrieved February 15, 2021 – via World Radio History.
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  43. ^ "Bill Putnam signs up for Telemeter pay TV" (PDF). Broadcasting. June 6, 1966. p. 9. ProQuest 1014509177. Archived (PDF) from the original on March 8, 2021. Retrieved February 15, 2021 – via World Radio History.
  44. ^ a b "Pittsburgh UHF remains dormant" (PDF). Broadcasting. October 13, 1969. p. 74. ProQuest 1016855520. Archived (PDF) from the original on March 8, 2021. Retrieved February 15, 2021 – via World Radio History.
  45. ^ "Evans casts his net for another flock of U's" (PDF). Broadcasting. December 15, 1968. p. 45. ProQuest 1016850371. Archived (PDF) from the original on March 8, 2021. Retrieved February 15, 2021 – via World Radio History.
  46. ^ Fanning, Win (January 21, 1971). "Church Group Seeks Ch. 22". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. p. 29. Archived from the original on August 29, 2022. Retrieved February 15, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  47. ^ Weiskind, Ron (September 27, 1991). "WPTT to air WPGH programming 9 hours a day". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. p. 1, 6. Archived from the original on August 29, 2022. Retrieved August 29, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.

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