WENS (TV)

Last updated

WENS
WENSTV16Logo.jpg
Channels
Programming
Affiliations ABC, 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
ERP 200 kW [1]
HAAT 870 ft (270 m)
Transmitter coordinates 40°29′39″N80°00′16″W / 40.49417°N 80.00444°W / 40.49417; -80.00444

WENS was a television station broadcasting on ultra high frequency (UHF) channel 16 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States, from 1953 to 1957. An ABC and CBS affiliate, it was one of two early UHF television stations in Pittsburgh, built by an ownership group that included Pittsburgh Pirates owner Thomas P. Johnson. WENS was the first station to telecast the Pirates in Pittsburgh and the third station in the market.

Contents

For most of its history, WENS struggled with the attitudes of the day toward UHF television. At the time, most television sets could not receive UHF stations without modification, and advertisers and networks alike shunned UHF, even though Pittsburgh only had one commercial very high frequency (VHF) station. WENS struggled to obtain sponsorships to air major network programming. WENS temporarily broadcast some of its programs on a VHF channel; after its tower collapsed in March 1955, some of its programs aired on the transmitter of educational broadcaster WQED for 47 days. The imminent arrival of more VHF stations, whose channels had been tied up in public hearings, prompted WENS to close on August 31, 1957, and sell its technical facilities to educational broadcaster WQED for use as a second educational channel, WQEX. Owners of WENS later invested in WDTV in West Virginia, and the WENS permit remained active into the 1960s but was never brought back into use.

Early years

On December 23, 1952, the Telecasting Company of Pittsburgh obtained a construction permit for a new UHF television station on channel 16, one of three commercial channel assignments to Pittsburgh. The idea for the station came from the sales manager and assistant general manager of Pittsburgh's only television station at the time, WDTV. The WDTV staff left the station, then brought in recognized local sports announcer Bob Prince and several businessmen, including Pittsburgh Pirates owner Thomas P. Johnson, to be part of the ownership group. [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; it was pursuing VHF channel 4, which at the time was allocated to Irwin and for which the winning permittee would need to build facilities there. [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, in northeastern Pennsylvania. [6] [lower-alpha 1]

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 the second UHF outlet behind WKJF-TV (channel 53), which began at the start of the month. [10] [11] The baseball telecast was one of four slated in the remainder of the 1953 season [12] and the first-ever telecast of a Pirates game played in Pittsburgh. [13] 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. [13] In October 1953, Telecasting Company of Pittsburgh was restructured as Telecasting, Inc., in order to bring in new stockholders. [14]

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. [15] In spite of building the studios, financial considerations prompted the station to instead increase its use of network programs. Some NBC shows were among them after WKJF-TV closed in July 1954. [16] [17] 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. [18] When the Duquesne Dukes men's basketball team made the National Invitation Tournament in 1955, the station secured an exclusive on the tournament over the petitions of the advertising agency who wanted it cleared on channel 2 (now KDKA-TV) as well, only to be completely unable to sign up sponsors and have to surrender the games to KDKA-TV. [19]

Tower collapse and time-share with WQED

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 [20]

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. [21] The station faced the potential of months out of service, and once again Pittsburgh had only one operating commercial television station. [21]

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, [22] 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; [23] the lone dissenter was Frieda B. Hennock, who had led the creation of reserved channels for educational television. [24]

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 . [23] 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. [25] 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 . [26] Meanwhile, WENS began to work to restore channel 16 to service, using a temporary 150-foot (46 m) tower. [27]

Decline and demise

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 [28]

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. [29] However, WENS's time on VHF did little to ameliorate the fundamental problems facing the station, which stemmed from broadcasting on a UHF channel: UHF stations, requiring converters to view, had smaller audiences, and advertisers shunned them for VHF stations. [30] In July 1955, radio station WWSW was awarded a construction permit for a new TV station on VHF channel 11, which WENS contested; the FCC reopened hearings on the channel as a result of finding financial issues with the proposed permittee. [31]

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. [32] 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; [33] and the removal of channel 5 at Weston, West Virginia, to Pittsburgh. [34] Its final efforts in this regard were denied in December 1957. [35]

WIIC announced that it would begin broadcasting September 1, 1957, prompting WENS to declare that it would cease operations the day before, August 31. [30] The WENS studios were briefly used by the new WIIC prior to launch to house staff. [36]

Later use of channel 16 in Pittsburgh

In early 1957, WQED announced plans to file for the unused channel 47 frequency in Pittsburgh (which was later moved to Altoona), and later the unused channel 22 assigned to Clarksburg, West Virginia, to build a second noncommercial television station that would provide educational programming to schools and businesses. Immediately after the directors of WENS met on August 27 and decided to shutter the station, a delegation contacted WQED and offered the facilities to channel 13. [30]

An agreement was reached in June 1958 for WQED to buy the channel 16 facilities from Telecasting, Inc., contingent on being granted a new construction permit for the channel. [37] 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. [38] The original WENS transmitter, incapable of color broadcasting, remained in use by this station until it failed on March 10, 1985. [39]

WENS after suspending operations

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. [40] 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. [41] Protests from other area stations delayed approval of the transaction, which created today's WDTV, until December 1961. [42]

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. [43] Springfield even filed for a channel 14 construction permit in Greensburg to serve as a satellite station of WENS. [44] Springfield then signed a franchise agreement with the Telemeter pay television system for several stations, including WENS. [45] However, citing the financial difficulties of its Dayton station and trouble selecting a new antenna site, WENS remained off the air. [46]

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. [47] 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. [46] The permit then finally lapsed in 1970, leaving channel 22 open for new applicants again. [48]

A new channel 22 television station in Pittsburgh would sign on in 1978, when the Baltimore-based Commercial Radio Institute, the direct predecessor to today's Sinclair Broadcast Group, built WPTT-TV (now WPNT). In 1991, when Sinclair purchased WPGH-TV and sold WPTT-TV to a party that let Sinclair handle most of its operations under a local marketing agreement, the latter station moved into the Ivory Avenue facility, where WPGH-TV had been based since its return to the air in 1969. [49] [50]

See also

Notes

  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]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">DuMont Television Network</span> American television network (1942–1956)

The DuMont Television Network was one of America's pioneer commercial television networks, rivaling NBC and CBS for the distinction of being first overall in the United States. It was owned by Allen B. DuMont Laboratories, a television equipment and television set manufacturer, and began operation on April 13, 1940.

KDKA-TV, also known as CBS Pittsburgh, is a television station in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States, serving as the market's CBS outlet. It is owned and operated by the network's CBS News and Stations division alongside Jeannette-licensed WPKD-TV, an independent station. The two stations share studios at the Gateway Center in downtown Pittsburgh; KDKA-TV's transmitter is located in the city's Perry North neighborhood. KDKA-TV, along with sister station KYW-TV in Philadelphia, are the only CBS-affiliated television stations east of the Mississippi River with "K" call signs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WQED (TV)</span> PBS member station in Pittsburgh

WQED is a PBS member television station in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. Owned by WQED Multimedia, it is sister to public radio station WQED-FM (89.3). The two outlets share studios on Fifth Avenue near the Carnegie Mellon University campus and transmitter facilities near the campus of the University of Pittsburgh, both in the city's Oakland section.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WPGH-TV</span> Fox affiliate in Pittsburgh

WPGH-TV is a television station in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States, affiliated with the Fox network. It is owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group alongside dual CW and MyNetworkTV affiliate WPNT. The two stations share studios on Ivory Avenue in the city's Summer Hill neighborhood, where WPGH-TV's transmitter is also located.

WINP-TV is a television station in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States, airing programming from the Ion Television network. Owned and operated by the Ion Media subsidiary of the E. W. Scripps Company, the station maintains transmitter facilities in Pittsburgh's Oakland neighborhood.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WMTV</span> NBC affiliate in Madison, Wisconsin

WMTV is a television station in Madison, Wisconsin, United States, affiliated with NBC and The CW. The station is owned by Gray Television and maintains studios and transmitter facilities on Forward Drive in the Greentree neighborhood on Madison's southwest side.

WKAR-TV is a PBS member television station licensed to East Lansing, Michigan, United States, serving central southern Michigan. The station is owned by Michigan State University (MSU) and operated as part of WKAR Public Media, along with NPR members WKAR and WKAR-FM (90.5). The three stations share studios in the Communication Arts and Sciences Building, at the southeast corner of Wilson and Red Cedar Roads on the MSU campus in East Lansing; WKAR-TV's transmitter is located on Kinawa Road in Meridian Charter Township between East Lansing and Williamston.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WTVE (New York)</span> Television station in New York, United States

WTVE was a television station in Elmira, New York, United States, which operated from 1953 to 1954 and again from 1956 to 1957. It was the first station to sign on in the Elmira area. It broadcast from studios on Market Street in Elmira and a transmitter on Comfort Hill, also known as South Mountain, near Ashland. Economic problems surrounding early UHF television stations played a major role in its demise and in its pursuit of a VHF channel assignment for Elmira, which was first granted and then taken away. It lost $350,000 in 44 months of broadcasting.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WVLT-TV</span> CBS/MyNetworkTV affiliate in Knoxville, Tennessee

WVLT-TV is a television station in Knoxville, Tennessee, United States, affiliated with CBS and MyNetworkTV. It is owned by Gray Television alongside Crossville-licensed dual CW/Telemundo affiliate WBXX-TV. The two stations share studios on Papermill Drive on the west side of Knoxville; WVLT-TV's transmitter is located on Sharp's Ridge in North Knoxville.

WKLO-TV was a UHF television station in Louisville, Kentucky, United States, that operated from October 18, 1953, to April 20, 1954.

KCTY was a television station in Kansas City, Missouri, United States. It broadcast on ultra high frequency (UHF) channel 25 from June 6, 1953, to February 28, 1954, and was the second television station to begin broadcasting in the Kansas City area after WDAF-TV. KCTY was an affiliate of the DuMont Television Network; originally owned by the Empire Coil Company, which had pioneered UHF telecasting, DuMont purchased the station outright at the end of 1953 and operated it for two months as a study in the problems of struggling UHF stations nationwide before concluding that there was no path to economic viability. The studio for KCTY was located in the Pickwick Hotel in downtown Kansas City; the transmitter was located in a rural area that today is part of Overland Park, Kansas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WROV-TV</span> Television station in Virginia, United States

WROV-TV was a television station on ultra high frequency (UHF) channel 27 in Roanoke, Virginia, United States. It broadcast from March 2 to July 18, 1953, becoming the first UHF station in the United States to cease broadcasting. Its failure was the first of many in the early days of UHF television, which was hindered by signal issues in mountainous areas and the lack of UHF tuning on all television sets—a problem not resolved until the All-Channel Receiver Act took effect in 1964.

WGBS-TV was a television station that broadcast on channel 23 in Miami, Florida, United States, from 1953 to 1957. Originally established as WFTL-TV in Fort Lauderdale, it moved south to Miami when it was purchased by Storer Broadcasting at the end of 1954 and consolidated with a construction permit Storer bought for a Miami station.

WNAO-TV, UHF analog channel 28, was a CBS-affiliated television station licensed to Raleigh, North Carolina, United States. Owned by the Sir Walter Television Company, it was the first television station in the Raleigh–Durham area and the first UHF television station in North Carolina, broadcasting from July 12, 1953, to December 31, 1957. The station closed because of the establishment of higher-powered, more accessible very high frequency (VHF) television stations in the region.

WNEX-TV, known as WETV from 1953 to 1954 and WOKA in May 1955, was a television station on channel 47 in Macon, Georgia, United States. It was the first station on the air in Macon and held an affiliation with NBC throughout its existence; it initially was also affiliated with ABC. The station's studios and transmitter were located along Pio Nono Avenue.

WPMT was a television station in Portland, Maine, United States. It operated from August 30, 1953, to December 15, 1954, and was the first television station in Portland. Much of its programming was also rebroadcast on WLAM-TV in Lewiston–Auburn, which broadcast from November 26, 1953, to March 25, 1955; the two stations were known as the Maine Television Network. Like many early UHF television stations, the arrival of VHF stations—in this case WCSH-TV, WGAN-TV, and WMTW-TV—took away network programming and economic viability from the UHF outlets.

KCCC-TV was a television station on ultra high frequency (UHF) channel 40 in Sacramento, California, United States. Owned by the Capital City TV Corporation, KCCC-TV was Sacramento's first television outlet and broadcast from 1953 to 1957. However, the arrival of new very high frequency (VHF) stations, which unlike UHF outlets did not require special converters to tune on most television sets, limited the station's reach and programming. The station's demise was caused when Stockton's KOVR obtained the ABC affiliation by moving its transmitter; KCCC-TV's ownership then purchased a stake in KOVR and shut down channel 40.

WBUF-TV was a television station that broadcast on ultra high frequency (UHF) channel 17 in Buffalo, New York, United States. It broadcast from August 17, 1953, to February 1955 and again from March 1955 until the morning of October 1, 1958.

KTVU was a television station in Stockton, California, United States, which broadcast from December 18, 1953, to April 30, 1955. An independent station and later an NBC affiliate, KTVU failed because of economic problems common to early UHF television stations.

WGLV was a television station in Easton, Pennsylvania, United States, which operated from August 1953 to October 1957. It was owned by the Easton Publishing Company, publisher of the Easton Express newspaper, and broadcast programming from ABC and the DuMont Television Network. It was the second station in the Lehigh Valley, which at one point had three local UHF outlets. However, largely due to power increases from competing very high frequency (VHF) stations in Philadelphia and New York City, WGLV left the air on October 31, 1957.

References

  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. 1 2 "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. "Picture on Channel 53: 2nd Pittsburgh TV Station Begins Regular Programs". The Pittsburgh Press. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. August 2, 1953. p. 4:14. Retrieved June 24, 2024 via Newspapers.com.
  12. "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.
  13. 1 2 "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.
  14. "Ownership Changes". Broadcasting. November 2, 1953. p. 110. ProQuest   1401210422.
  15. 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.
  16. 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.
  17. "Station WKJF-TV Goes Off the Air". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. July 3, 1954. p. 8. Archived from the original on April 19, 2024. Retrieved April 16, 2024 via Newspapers.com.
  18. Clark, Wilbur D. (December 19, 1954). "Expense for UHF Means Little Here". Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph. p. 3:9. Retrieved February 15, 2021 via Newspapers.com.
  19. Clark, Wilbur D. (March 11, 1955). "Customers' Pros, Cons". Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph. p. 27. Archived from the original on August 29, 2022. Retrieved February 15, 2021 via Newspapers.com.
  20. 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.
  21. 1 2 "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.
  22. "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.
  23. 1 2 Remington, Fred (March 12, 1955). "Storm-Tossed WENS, WLOA Returning to Air". Pittsburgh Press. pp. 1, 3 . Retrieved February 15, 2021 via Newspapers.com.
  24. "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.
  25. 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.
  26. "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.
  27. 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.
  28. 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.
  29. "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.
  30. 1 2 3 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.
  31. "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.
  32. "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.
  33. 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.
  34. "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.
  35. "FCC Denies TV Petition". Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph. p. 23. Archived from the original on August 29, 2022. Retrieved February 15, 2021 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. "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.
  38. FCC History Cards for WINP-TV
  39. "WQEX makes repairs". Pittsburgh Press. March 19, 1985. Archived from the original on July 10, 2019. Retrieved July 10, 2019 via Newspapers.com.
  40. "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.
  41. "WJPB-TV and WENS(TV) merger details" (PDF). Broadcasting. December 14, 1959. p. 60. ProQuest   1014445981. Archived (PDF) from the original on March 8, 2021. Retrieved February 15, 2021 via World Radio History.
  42. "WJPB-TV sale okayed but will be watched" (PDF). Broadcasting. December 25, 1961. pp. 44, 46. ProQuest   962780922. Archived (PDF) from the original on March 8, 2021. Retrieved February 15, 2021 via World Radio History.
  43. "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.
  44. "For the Record" (PDF). Broadcasting. October 25, 1965. pp. 88, 89. ProQuest   1014496642. Archived (PDF) from the original on March 8, 2021. Retrieved February 15, 2021 via World Radio History.
  45. "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.
  46. 1 2 "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.
  47. "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.
  48. 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.
  49. 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.
  50. 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.