WITA-TV

Last updated
WITA-TV
Channels
Programming
Affiliations Independent station
History
First air date
June 12, 1966;57 years ago (1966-06-12)
Last air date
June 28, 1967;56 years ago (1967-06-28)
Technical information
ERP 625 kW [1]
HAAT 280 ft (85 m)
Transmitter coordinates 18°21′30″N66°08′00″W / 18.35833°N 66.13333°W / 18.35833; -66.13333

WITA-TV was a television station on ultra high frequency (UHF) channel 30 in San Juan, Puerto Rico. It was owned by El Imparcial newspaper and broadcast in English. The station operated from June 1966 to June 1967; the underlying permit continued for several years and was sold to United Hemisphere TV of Puerto Rico but never reactivated. The Federal Communications Commission later voided the sale. The newspaper also held construction permits for UHF stations in Ponce and Mayagüez that were included in the sale but never built.

History

In May 1964, Electronic Enterprises Inc., a company affiliated with the San Juan newspaper El Imparcial and owner of San Juan radio station WITA, applied to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to construct three new ultra high frequency (UHF) TV stations in Puerto Rico: channel 30 in San Juan, channel 20 in Ponce, and channel 22 in Mayagüez. [2] The San Juan station received approval on June 16, 1965, [3] followed by the Ponce and Mayagüez stations six months later. [4] El Imparcial Broadcasting Company, which assumed the permit for WITA-TV from Electronic Enterprises, [5] then signed a contract with RCA for a color camera, three black-and-white cameras, and color film equipment, said to be the first complete system of its kind in Puerto Rico. [6]

WITA-TV began broadcasting on June 12, 1966. The station left the air on June 28, 1967, reportedly for financial reasons. [1] [7] A later analysis of the 1972 closure of WTSJ (channel 18), another UHF station, indicated that even then, not all television households on the island could tune the UHF band. [8]

In 1969, El Imparcial Broadcasting arranged sales for all of its properties. WITA-AM-FM in San Juan was sold to Pueblo Broadcasting Company, a division of Pueblo Supermarkets, and WRJS in San Germán was also sold off. The television stations were sold to United Hemisphere TV of Puerto Rico, Inc., a subsidiary of motion picture studio United Hemisphere Pictures. Art Merrill was named general manager of the television stations; he had run the Quality network of English-language FM stations. [9] The $200,000 sale received FCC approval in June 1970, [10] over the objections of Tele San Juan, owner of the English-language WTSJ-TV. [7] United Hemisphere TV immediately announced that the Ponce and Mayagüez stations, under new WUHP-TV and WUHM-TV call letters, would be built as repeaters of WKAQ-TV (Telemundo) in San Juan and that channel 30 would become WUHT-TV and return to the air with English-language programming. [11] United Hemisphere sought approval to upgrade the transmitter of the San Juan station. [7] It went as far as holding a reception for Mayagüez civic leaders to announce the arrival of channel 22. [12]

However, within months, United Hemisphere's television plans fell apart. In November, the commission stayed its grant of previously approved changes to the construction permit for the Mayagüez station on a petition from Tele San Juan and WOLE-TV in Aguadilla. In doing so, it noted that new developments in the firm's financial plans had potentially cast doubt on the earlier finding that the company was financially qualified and that the petitioners had raised claims of lack of complete candor. [13] In federal appeals court, where the petitioners had challenged the sale by El Imparcial to United Hemisphere, the FCC had the case remanded back to the commission. In March 1971, the FCC's Broadcast Bureau asked United Hemisphere to demonstrate its financial qualifications. No reply was ever received, and the commission set aside its approval of the sale on May 26, 1971. [14]

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References

  1. 1 2 "WITA-TV". Television Factbook (PDF). 1968. p. 799-b.
  2. ↑ "For the Record". Broadcasting. May 11, 1964. pp. 93–94. ProQuest   1014478266.
  3. ↑ "For the Record". Broadcasting. June 28, 1965. p. 79. ProQuest   1014498293.
  4. ↑ "Canales 20, 22 y 30: CFC Decide Aumentar Estaciones TV en Isla" [Channels 20, 22 and 30: FCC Decides to Increase Number of TV Stations on Island]. El Mundo (in Spanish). June 30, 1970. pp. 1-A, 18-A.
  5. ↑ "For the Record". Broadcasting. November 15, 1965. p. 98. ProQuest   1014485516.
  6. ↑ "WITA-TV buys color gear". Broadcasting. January 24, 1966. p. 69. ProQuest   1016840176.
  7. 1 2 3 "Transfer Cues 2d Eng. TV In P.R.". Variety. July 8, 1970. p. 38. ProQuest   1505832387.
  8. ↑ "Cierra WTSJ-TV Canal 18" [WTSJ-TV Channel 18 Closes]. Avance (in Spanish). November 29, 1972. p. 54.
  9. ↑ "Station sales in Puerto Rico: Three AM's, one TV and two CP's going for under $1 million". Broadcasting. September 1, 1969. pp. 45–46. ProQuest   1016850747.
  10. ↑ "Four sales get FCC nod". Broadcasting. June 29, 1970. p. 9. ProQuest   1014518962.
  11. ↑ "Canal 30 Poco Después: Canales 20, 22 Iniciarán Programas TV en Sept. 1" [Channel 30 Shortly After: Channels 20, 22 Will Begin TV Programs on Sept. 1]. El Mundo. July 1, 1970. pp. 1-A, 18-A.
  12. ↑ "Explican Planes Nuevo Canal TV" [Plans for New TV Channel Explained]. El Mundo (in Spanish). August 26, 1970. p. 13-C.
  13. ↑ "Memorandum Opinion and Order (26 FCC 2d)". FCC Record Second Series. November 25, 1970. pp. 666–667.
  14. ↑ "Memorandum Opinion & Order (29 FCC 2d 801)". FCC Reports, Second Series. May 26, 1971. p. 801.
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