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Appendix 10: A Trail of Bleached Bones
These pages are presented as they existed in 2014, for historical purposes. The information under "Channels" on the main UHF History website is more complete.
The following is a list of defunct UHF TV stations and construction permits (CPs) from the authorization of UHF in 1952 until the early 1980's. The list also includes a number of UHF stations which vacated the higher UHF channels for lower ones, a common practice in UHF's early days.
The original compiler of this list was Mike Dorner, Jr. of Metairie, Louisiana, with whom the author has unfortunately lost contact in the intervening two decades. (The title, A Trail of Bleached Bones, is original with Dorner.) The author does not know which sources Dorner used for his original research, and he did not differentiate between formerly operating stations and unbuilt construction permits.
Updates to this list were made by the author, and also taken from several articles written by Robert B. Cooper, Jr., former editor of the Community Antenna Television Journal (CATJ). Credit must also be given to the Worldwide TV-FM DX Association (WTFDA), publisher of the VHF-UHF Digest, where this list first appeared in May 1977.
A comprehensive review of the entire list was undertaken in 2011 (and updated in 2014) by Los Angeles-based radio programming consultant K.M. Richards, who used the online library of archived Broadcasting Magazines and Broadcasting Yearbooks at www.americanradiohistory.com to verify and correct entries on the Dorner list, as well as add dozens of stations, the existence of which were apparently not known to Dorner (undoubtedly due to the lack of easy access to such reference material when he did his research).
Richards also extended the list by an additional five years, to 1982, and rewrote most of the historical notes in Appendix Twelve, adding many new notes in the process and updating the note-linking system so that any note relating to multiple list entries can be more easily located.
Like the original, this list is arranged by channel number, then by state, city, and chronological order of CP or operation. Educational UHF outlets are preceded with an asterisk (*). Stations which changed channels have a "»" symbol following them with the later channel number, with additional notes added where needed. (If no accompanying entry appears for a station at its new channel number, it can be presumed that the station remained on the air at its new frequency without any "dark" periods.) Not included are stations which never requested call letters before their CP either expired or was returned, unbuilt.
Stations which made it on the air, however briefly, have the dates of their operation noted in parentheses following their call letters and city of license (although in some cases we could only reliably identify the year a station went dark); if no such notation appears, the station was issued a construction permit but never made it on the air. If a station used more than one set of call letters before going dark, all call letters it used on the air are listed. We did not include experimental authorizations except by reference in the notes when those authorizations were relevant to a station's history. Some station listings appear as a link to an external site with additional information about the station. We obviously do not guarantee that linked external sites will have correct information and you will find discrepancies between some of these sites and the researched information we present here.
This list is complete through 1982. Stations that were operating in that year (or those that came later) do not appear in this list; exceptions were made for the very few stations that "went dark" prior to 1982 but returned to the air after then.
The choice of 1982 as the cut-off point is based on the fact that very few UHFs failed past that point, largely due to the expansion of cable television service bringing them to a much larger audience than had been the case when nearly all viewing was off-air reception. Generally speaking, from the late 1970s onward whenever a UHF was failing there was usually a willing buyer, and unused channel allocations were increasingly subject to multiple applications from prospective station operators. In fact, less than a dozen of the outstanding unbuilt CPs at the beginning of 1982 failed to get on the air over the next few years.
It should also be noted that a year earlier (12/12/81) the first low-power television station (LPTV) had gone on the air in Bemidji MN (K26AC), and a great many of the LPTVs that followed over the years were also on UHF. These additional stations -- as well as increasing numbers of new full-power UHFs that took to the air in the 1980s and 1990s -- would make it extremely difficult to keep the list accurate and complete. (K26AC was still on the air as the 21st Century began, owned by a North Dakota-based group that owned four additional LPTVs in Minnesota and six full-power stations in the Dakotas; its original owner, John Boler, was not so lucky, having applied for and received a CP for channel 11 at nearby International Falls MN, which never got on the air.)
1982 also marked 30 years since the original group of 126 UHF grants were issued, making it an appropriate point of conclusion for the list.
The authors also would like to note the two VHF stations which were moved to the UHF band: KERO-TV, channel 10, Bakersfield CA and KFRE-TV, channel 12, Fresno CA. Both were moved as a result of the FCC's experiment to "deintermix" some television markets.
When UHF had difficulty taking off in its early years, the FCC began a years-long discussion over which markets could be made all-UHF, to remove the disadvantage UHFs had in markets where there were already established VHFs. Deintermixture was first proposed in 1955, with the proposed channel reassignment list released in 1957.
As one might expect, stations already on the air on VHF channels, as well as those parties holding construction permits for VHF channels in the proposed markets, were steadfastly opposed, and over the next couple of years there were many counter-proposals made by VHF licensees and permittees, all proposing markets other than their own for the experiment. (A more detailed article on deintermixture appears on K.M. Richards' site.)
By the time all the opposition died down, only two of
the markets finally chosen in 1959 to be non-VHF were not already all-UHF (or had a combination of on-air UHF stations and unbuilt construction permits that could be reassigned UHF channels); Bakersfield and Fresno were chosen because they had only a single VHF each and the remaining on-air stations, UHF.
As luck would have it, KFRE-TV had just changed
ownership and the new owners were cooperative in the effort, volunteering to immediately move from channel 12 to channel 30, beginning 2/8/61 (KFRE-TV was granted a two-month period of operation on both channels -- over the objections of competing UHFs KMJ-TV and KJEO -- which was later extended for an additional 45 days to facilitate a translator in an area which had lost coverage as a result of the move).
KERO-TV, on the other hand, fought against the move at every turn -- including filing for renewal of its channel 10 license while fighting the FCC in an appellate court -- until 1963, when it finally ran out of legal options and moved to channel 23. KERO-TV began UHF operation 7/1/63 and operated on both of its channels for two months (unlike KFRE-TV, they were not given an extension of dual-channel operation). Ironically, in the conversion to digital broadcasting four decades later, KERO-TV (still operating under those call letters) ended up transmitting on channel 10 once again!
And also noteworthy are the true UHF pioneers ... the
16 stations that got their original first-year construction permits on the air within the required eight-month construction period, and stayed there, through thick and thin, without ever going dark or jockeying for a lower channel number. The call letters may be different on many of them now, but here are the longevity champions, listed by channel, with their original calls from 1952-53:
- WTAP-TV (15) Parkersburg WV
- WTVP (17) Decatur IL
- WCOV-TV (20) Montgomery AL
- WICS (20) Springfield IL
- WGBI-TV (22) Scranton PA
- KMJ-TV (24) Fresno CA
- WKBN-TV (27) Youngstown OH
- WKOW-TV (27) Madison WI
- WBRE-TV (28) Wilkes-Barre PA
- KAFY-TV (29) Bakersfield CA
- KIMA-TV (29) Yakima WA
- WKNB-TV (30) New Britain CT
- WKJG-TV (33) Fort Wayne IN
- WSBA-TV (43) York PA
- KJEO (47) Fresno CA
- WLBC-TV (49) Muncie IN
The authors are pleased to present this listing as a tribute to the pioneering UHF broadcasters who made television as we know it today possible. Do you remember any of these stations? Send an E-mail with your thoughts and recollections, as well as any additions or corrections to (or questions about!) this listing.
-- Mike Dorner, Jr., Clarke Ingram and K.M. Richards
KTRB-TV, Modesto CA [1] [2]
KCSM-TV, San Mateo CA (10/12/64-3/5/79) [3] [4]
KIHP-TV, Santa Barbara CA [5]
KCDE, Boulder CO-
WOOK-TV, Washington DC (3/5/63-2/12/72)-
WJJY-TV, Jacksonville IL (8/18/69-4/??/71) [6]
*WJPT, Jacksonville IL-
*KSMH-TV, Hays KS [7]
WVJS, Owensboro KY-
WWOR-TV, Worcester MA (11/16/53-9/5/55) [8]
KACY, Festus MO (10/31/53-4/2/54)-
*WIET, Ithaca NY-
KLPR-TV, Oklahoma City OK (6/1/66-12/??/67) [9]
WPSJ, Ponce PR (4/15/70-?/??/73) [10]
WACA-TV, Camden SC [1]
KGEA-TV, Tyler TX-
WVEW-TV, Wheeling WV-
WAVQ, Mobile AL-
KLUZ, Phoenix AZ-
KRAQ, Sacramento CA [11]
WPFA-TV, Pensacola FL (10/9/53-12/18/55) [12]
WBLN, Bloomington IL (12/1/53-2/7/57) [13] [14]
WINT, Waterloo IN (9/26/54-1/3/57) [15]
KLNI-TV, Lafayette LA (9/16/68-?/??/76)-
KPOB-TV, Poplar Bluff MO (9/2/61-9/21/66) [16]
KNIO-TV, Omaha NE-
*WHED-TV, Hanover NH (4/11/68-?/??/81)-
WCAF-TV, Oneonta NY-
WCBF-TV, Rochester NY [1]
WICA-TV, Ashtabula OH (8/25/53-6/16/56) [17]
WLBR-TV, Lebanon PA (10/9/53-10/16/54) [18]
WVEC-TV, Norfolk VA (9/19/53-11/13/59) [19]
KMYO-TV, Little Rock AR [20]
KPIC-TV, El Centro CA-
KKOG-TV, Ventura CA (12/14/68-9/13/69)-
WOTV, Lakeland FL-
WTKW, Key West FL-
KEDD, Wichita KS [21]
WJSK, Corbin KY [22]
WTAC-TV, Flint MI (10/28/53-4/20/54)-
WKTR-TV, Kettering OH (3/20/67-?/??/71) [23]
KOOS-TV, Coos Bay OR [24]
WENS, Pittsburgh PA (8/3/53-3/11/55) [25]
WARM-TV, Scranton PA (2/9/54-2/12/58) [26]
WMGZ, Mayaguez PR (4/15/70-?/??/73) [10]
WNET, Providence RI (3/23/54-7/10/55) [12] [27] [28]
KVVV-TV, Galveston TX (3/18/68-8/26/69)-
KHER-TV, Longview TX [28]
KICH, Longview TX-
KMSL, Marshall TX-
WWOD-TV, Lynchburg VA-
KBAS-TV, Ephrata WA (12/1/57-11/30/61)-
WOSA, Wausau WI-
KRTV, Little Rock AR (4/5/53-3/31/54) [29]
WITV, Ft. Lauderdale FL (11/25/53-1/19/58) [30]
KGTV, Des Moines IA (11/14/53-4/15/55) [21]
KSO-TV, Des Moines IA-
WTBO-TV, Cumberland MD-
WLAM-TV, Lewiston ME (11/22/53-3/25/55)-
WCOW-TV, St. Paul MN-
*WTVZ, Albany NY-
WBUF, Buffalo NY (8/17/53-10/1/58) [31]
KSPG, Tulsa OK [1]
WPCA-TV, Philadelphia PA (7/17/60-8/1/62) [32]
WSCV, Spartanburg SC-
WMCV, Nashville TN (8/15/68-3/14/71)-
KTKX, Texarkana TX-
KITO-TV, San Bernardino CA-
KCHU, San Bernardino CA (2/26/62-6/24/64)-
KIHP-TV, San Bernardino CA [5]
WGTH-TV, Hartford CT (8/4/54-11/15/58) [33]
WEAL-TV, Orlando FL [1]
KSTT-TV, Davenport IA-
WWLD-TV, Jackson MI-
KGMO-TV, Cape Girardeau MO-
WJLH, Laurel MS-
WFLB-TV, Fayetteville NC (8/29/55-8/4/58)-
WECT, Elmira NY (9/30/53-5/26/54)-
WTSJ, San Juan PR (8/25/64-?/??/73) [10]
KCTV, Austin TX-
KDCD-TV, Midland TX (12/9/61-2/16/62) [34]
*KWCS-TV, Ogden UT (10/10/60-?/??/74)-
WTVI, Fort Pierce FL (9/10/61-3/9/62)-
WJFT-TV, Albany GA-
WVJS-TV, Owensboro KY-
WMGT, Adams MA (12/20/54-2/25/56) [35]
KTIC-TV, St. Cloud MN-
WLNS-TV, Jacksonville NC-
*WTLV, New Brunswick NJ [36]
WFRB, Utica NY [37]
WHK-TV, Cleveland OH-
WCTF, Cleveland OH-
KMPT, Oklahoma City OK (11/8/53-2/4/55) [1] [38]
KLPR-TV, Oklahoma City OK [38]
KNBT-TV, Brownswood TX [1]
KTES, Nacogdoches TX (9/20/58-8/25/59) [39]
KLNL, Nacogdoches TX-
KETX, Tyler TX (8/24/53-10/23/54)-
KNAL-TV, Victoria TX [40]
KMVA-TV, Victoria TX [40]
WOKY-TV, Milwaukee WI (10/2/53-2/27/55) [41]
KEMO-TV, San Francisco CA (1/1/68-3/30/71) [42] [43]
KIRV, Denver CO [44]
KHBC, Denver CO-
WETV, Washington DC-
KUII-TV, Honolulu HI-
KEYC, Cedar Rapids IA-
WIND-TV, Chicago IL [1]
WTLO, New Orleans LA-
WJMR-TV, New Orleans LA (6/1/55-1/28/59) [45]
WULT-TV, New Orleans LA [45]
WAAB-TV, Worcester MA [21]
WPAG-TV, Ann Arbor MI (4/3/53-12/31/57)-
WHCU-TV, Ithaca NY [1]
KEQO, Enid OK-
KTVF, Springfield OR-
WUHP-TV, Ponce PR [46]
KLDS, Denison TX-
KTCO, Fort Worth TX-
KUAB, Houston TX-
KRIO-TV, McAllen TX-
WARL-TV, Arlington VA [1]
KCTL, Seattle WA-
KLAY-TV, Tacoma WA-
KQFB, Tacoma WA-
WTVS, Gadsden AL [47]
KDAS, Hanford CA (2/27/62-12/22/64) [48]
KUSH, San Diego CA [49]
WIRK-TV, West Palm Beach FL-
KVFD-TV, Fort Dodge IA (11/23/53-4/8/77) [50] » 50
WCUI, Champaign IL-
WKLO-TV, Louisville KY 9/7/53-4/20/54) [51]
WEOK-TV, Poughkeepsie NY-
WUTV, Youngstown OH [52]
WQHO, Greensburg PA-
WWLA, Lancaster PA-
WLAN-TV, Lancaster PA [1] [53]
WCRS-TV, Greenswood SC-
WSMF, Florence SC-
KFWT-TV, Fort Worth TX (9/19/67-9/5/69)-
KVAN-TV, Vancouver WA [1]
WBEY, Beckley WV-
KFSA-TV, Fort Smith AR (7/19/53-8/16/59) [54]
KEFS-TV, Fort Smith AR-
KBIC-TV/KIIX, Los Angeles CA (3/25/63-3/9/64) [55]
KNCO, Fort Collins CO-
WJNR-TV, Clearwater FL-
WSIL-TV, Harrisburg IL (12/6/53-3/??/59) » 3-
*WIUM-TV, Macomb IL [56]
WJHF, Raleigh NC-
WIFE, Dayton OH (10/3/53-3/13/54) [57]
*WQEX, Pittsburgh PA [15]
WENS, Pittsburgh PA [15]
WUHM-TV, Mayaguez PR [46]
KVDO-TV, Corpus Christi TX (6/9/54-8/19/57) [58]
KTVW, Wichita Falls TX-
KTLF, Seattle WA-
KNBS, Walla Walla WA (1/13/60-12/14/60)-
WMSL-TV, Decatur AL (7/4/54-1/7/69) » 48-
KETV, Little Rock AR-
WFTL-TV, Fort Lauderdale FL (4/7/53-12/29/54) [59]
WGBS-TV, Miami FL (12/29/54-4/13/57) [59]
*WJIA-TV, Ashburn GA-
WMCN, Grand Rapids MI [60]
WPTR-TV, Albany NY [1]
WNEC, Albany NY-
*WTVF, Buffalo NY-
WMAC-TV, Massillon OH [1] [61]
KCEB, Tulsa OK (3/13/54-12/25/54) [12]
WIBG-TV, Philadelphia PA [62]
WPHD, Philadelphia PA [1]
WGTI, Philadelphia PA-
WPDT, Florence SC [28]
WGVL, Greenville SC (7/15/53-4/29/56)-
KPSA-TV, Brownsville TX-
KDTX, Dallas TX-
KTVP, Houston TX-
*KRET-TV, Richardson TX (2/29/60-8/31/70)-
KIT-TV, Yakima WA-
KRSM, Yakima WA [63]
WTIP-TV, Charleston WV-
KAON-TV, Fort Smith AR-
WMCN-TV, Macon GA-
WDAN-TV/WICD, Danville IL (12/13/53-8/14/67) [64] » 15
KWIS-TV, Wichita KS-
WMET-TV, Baltimore MD (3/1/67-1/14/72) [53]
KGSL-TV, St. Louis MO-
WHTV, Meridian MS (6/10/68-10/30/70) [65]
WTVE, Elmira NY (6/1/53-10/15/54) [66]
KPVC-TV, Portland OR [28]
KPIC, Salem OR-
WGLJ, Memphis TN [20]
KTVA, Austin TX-
*KIDZ-TV Wichita Falls TX (11/15/73-6/17/80) [67]
WBTM-TV, Danville VA (1/13/54-12/31/54) [12]
WAAY-TV Huntsville AL [68]
WJUD, West Palm Beach FL-
WIRL, Peoria IL [69]
KTAG-TV, Lake Charles LA (11/15/53-8/13/61)-
*KIXV, St. Cloud MN-
KCTY, Kansas City MO (6/6/53-3/1/54) [70]
WROA-TV, Gulfport MS [28]
WJTV, Jackson MS (1/20/53-5/31/55) [71]
WJAQ-TV, Jackson MS-
KTVQ, Oklahoma City OK (11/1/53-12/15/55) [72]
WCOS-TV, Columbia SC (4/25/53-1/21/56)-
KAVU, Victoria TX [73]
WACO-TV, Waco TX-
WCAN-TV, Milwaukee WI (9/5/53-2/27/55) [41]
WVNA-TV, Florence AL-
KPRT, San Francisco CA-
KDEN, Denver CO-
WNLC-TV, New London CT [1]
WEHS, Chicago IL [1]
WCBC-TV, Anderson IN (1/28/58-3/20/59)-
WJRE, Indianapolis IN-
*WISU-TV, Terre Haute IN-
WCKG, New Orleans LA [1]
*WUOM-TV, Ann Arbor MI-
WTOB-TV, Winston-Salem NC (9/18/53-5/11/57) [74]
WSWO-TV, Springfield OH (7/24/68-6/??/70) [75]
WRAK-TV, Williamsport PA [53]
WTSK-TV/WTVK, Knoxville TN (10/1/53-12/8/88) » 8-
KFMX-TV, San Diego CA [1]
KVVG, Tulare CA (11/16/53-8/6/57)-
KCOK-TV, Tulare CA [76]
WSTF, Stamford CT [1]
WMIE-TV, Miami FL [59]
WHKP-TV, Hendersonville NC-
WRNY-TV, Rochester NY-
KPTV, Portland OR (9/20/52-4/30/57) [77]
KHTV, Portland OR (7/6/59-11/1/59) [14]
WCMB-TV, Harrisburg PA (9/2/54-4/9/57) [53] [78]
KLIF-TV, Dallas TX [79]
WTOV-TV, Norfolk VA (10/22/53-10/3/54) [19] [80]
WROV-TV, Roanoke VA (2/15/53-7/18/53) [70]
WRFT-TV, Roanoke VA (3/4/66-?/??/74)-
KDWN-TV, Cheyenne WY-
*KTHE, Los Angeles CA (8/3/53-9/10/54) [70]
KICU, Salinas CA-
WMJA, Panama City FL-
WTSS-TV, Tampa FL-
WDAK-TV/WTVM, Columbus GA (10/6/53-2/15/60) » 9-
WAFB-TV Baton Rouge LA (4/19/53-8/8/60) » 9-
WTEV-TV, New Bedford MA-
WCTV, Flint MI-
WCBI-TV, Columbus MS [81]
WNAO-TV, Raleigh NC (7/6/53-1/1/58) [82]
WJHF, Raleigh NC-
*WGSF, Newark OH (3/18/63-5/31/70) » 31-
WMRI-TV, Marion IN-
WDXR-TV, Paducah KY (5/31/71-2/14/77) [83]
KIKS-TV, Lake Charles LA [20]
WGTC-TV, St. Paul MN-
WNYT-TV, Buffalo NY [1]
WCDB, Hagaman NY (4/2/56-12/1/57) [84]
WTLC, Canton OH [1]
KVMP, Tulsa OK [20]
WIP-TV, Philadelphia PA-
WSES, Philadelphia PA-
*WTIE-TV, State College PA-
KLIF-TV, Dallas TX [79]
KAEI, Dallas TX-
KXYZ-TV, Houston TX [1]
KBRT, San Antonio TX-
WOTV, Richmond VA [21]
KHOF-TV, San Bernardino CA (10/12/69-5/23/83) [85]
WQIK-TV, Jacksonville FL-
WDUV-TV, Jacksonville FL-
KFUO-TV, Clayton MO-
WCOC-TV, Meridian MS (1/1/54-7/30/54) [86]
WRLO, Portsmouth OH (5/14/66-?/??/69)-
WITA-TV, San Juan PR (6/24/66-6/30/67) [46]
WMTU-TV, Memphis TN-
WKTO-TV, Nashville TN-
WFOX-TV, Milwaukee WI [1] [41]
WMKE-TV, Milwaukee WI-
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