Appendix 12: Notes on Bleached Bones
Stations that returned to the air from going dark and
remained on the air beyond 1982 have the notation "§" following the year of return, although there may have been subsequent call letter changes.
[1] Three years after the FCC reviewed unbuilt CPs[21], with almost half of the UHF CPs having been surrendered and 90 of 165 UHF stations that had been built having gone dark, they issued a "build or quit" letter giving all permittees who had never gone on the air until 2/15/60 to begin construction or surrender their CPs. Despite appearing at a special hearing to plead their cases, the permittees for KFMX-TV, KMPT-TV, KMYR, KTRB-TV, WAMT, WAZL-TV, WCBF-TV, WCIN-TV, WBID-TV, WEHS, WERE-TV, WFOX-TV, WHLS-TV, WHCU-TV, WJDW, WLAN-TV, WNLC-TV, WOCN, WPHD, WQCY, WTLC, WTMV, WTOH-TV, WTVX and WXEL all lost their CPs in a mass purge that November (KMYR, WCBF-TV, WOCN, WPHD and WXEL filed petitions for reconsideration; all were denied the following March). KSPG, WEOL-TV, WIND-TV, WKNE-TV and WPTR-TV surrendered their CPs; the rest were deleted prior to the hearing for non-response.
[2] CP was sold in 1957 (3½ years after its issuance) to KJEO Fresno, which intended to operate it as a satellite. Since KTRB-AM/FM remained under its original ownership, the call letters for channel 14 should have been changed when the CP changed hands, per the FCC rules at the time; we have not been able to find any reason why the FCC failed to require that.
[3] KCSM-TV applied using the channel 14 allocation from Modesto when KTRB-TV was deleted.
[4] KCSM-TV and KDTV jointly petitioned the FCC to reassign channel 14 as a commercial allocation to San Francisco and channel 60 as a non-commercial allocation to San Mateo, after which they traded licenses and transmitting facilities; KDTV also donated its channel 60 facilities to KCSM-TV.
[5] KIHP-TV was originally granted channel 26 in Santa Barbara and reallocated channel 14 in the 1965 allocation table revision; the CP was surrendered in 1968 and the call letters moved to a co-owned CP for channel 18 in San Bernardino, which was subsequently deleted in 1970 after an "unbuilt CP" hearing.
[6] Filed for a renewal of license in 1973 while silent and was denied/deleted.
[7] Began operation 10/1/82 as *KOOD on channel 9.
[8] Resumed 12/1/58 as a satellite of WWLP, then changed calls to WJZB-TV as an independent; went dark 5/??/69 after a fire destroyed their transmitter site (by which time they were only on the air 90 minutes a day with all programming originating via film at the transmitter).
[9] Originally granted channel 19 and reallocated channel 14 in the 1965 allocation table revision; was granted a waiver during its last four months to transmit stock market ticker tape with a recorded music background (necessary because rules at the time prohibited "separate" video and audio transmission).
[10] WPSJ and WMGZ were satellites of WTSJ and all went dark simultaneously.
[11] Began operation 10/5/74 as KMUV-TV on channel 31 (reallocated from Stockton 9/19/72). §
[12] The permittees for 24 UHF stations that were either unbuilt or had gone dark were summoned to a hearing 5/25/65 to justify retaining their CPs. The permits were subsequently cancelled for KCEB, WACH-TV, WBPZ-TV, WELI-TV[86], WFPG-TV, WICC-TV, WKNA-TV, WPFA-TV (which had been dark since 1955) and WTVU; WKYT-TV Owensboro KY, which had merged with WKXP-TV Lexington in 1958 but never surrendered its CP, was also deleted. WBTM-TV, WRTV and WVNA-TV were given CP extensions which subsequently expired, unbuilt (WRTV's remained active until 1969) and WNET was given an extension, only to be included in the next set of inquiries[28]; WLEV-TV surrendered its CP. KCEB's CP was subsequently reinstated in 1966 to allow it to be sold; it expired, unbuilt, in 1970. WICC-TV's CP was also reinstated in 1966 but they did not surrender their CP until 1971.
[13] Resumed 5/10/57-6/3/57 and 12/1/57-6/5/58.
[14] KHTV, WALN-TV, WBLN (which had been dark since 1958) and WFMZ-TV did not respond to a 1964 inquiry by the FCC as to their status and had their CPs cancelled as a result.
[15] WANE-TV originally held a construction permit for channel 69, but instead purchased WIRL Waterloo IN on channel 15, moved the WANE-TV call letters there 4/1/57 and surrendered the CP for channel 69.
[16] Resumed 9/15/67 as satellite of WSIL-TV Harrisburg IL. §
[17] Resumed 12/15/65-12/26/67.
[18] Resumed 5/2/57. §
[19] WVEC-TV and WTOV-TV merged and moved to channel 13.
[20] The CPs for KVMP and WGLJ were surrendered, and the CPs for KMYO-TV and KIKS-TV cancelled, after a 1972 hearing on the character qualifications of the permittee due to his guilty plea to Security and Exchange Commission charges. The CP for WTVU remained in effect and finally went on the air 4/3/1995.[134]
[21] As of 8/8/55, a little over three years after the FCC began reissuing construction permits for television, 116 UHF CPs had been surrendered or deleted (compared to only 30 for VHF). They then issued a blanket extension of all outstanding UHF CPs to 10/16/56 while they considered several allocation proposals. After that extension expired, In November of that year, the FCC sent a letter to 83 non-operating UHF permittees (including several that had gone on the air and subsequently went dark), giving them until 2/15/57 to justify extension of their CPs. KCOA, KGTV, WKNY-TV, WFTV, WJLN-TV and WOTV were deleted during this process; KEDD and WAAB-TV surrendered their CPs before the deadline.
[22] CP deleted as part of the 1965 allocation table revision.
[23] Returned 6/20/1972 as *WOET-TV when the Ohio Educational Network Commission acquired the license in bankruptcy proceeding; was not officially made a non-commercial allocation until 9/14/77. §
[24] Unsuccessfully attempted to change its allocation to channel 11 in 1958.
[25] After the collapse of its tower forced it off the air on channel 16, WENS shared-time with *WQED on channel 13 until 4/22/55. It then resumed operation at lower power until 8/31/57; they subsequently sold their facilities to *WQED in 1958, which relicensed it as *WQEX using the CP from their existing channel 22 application (which had originally been for channel 47). WENS was then reallocated channel 22 but finally surrendered its CP, unbuilt, in 1970 (they also owned part of WDTV Reston WV on channel 5 when it began operation in 1959). *WQEX operated from 9/14/59-11/1/61 and resumed 1/18/63. §
[26] WARM-TV and WILK-TV merged 2/12/58 into WNEP-TV on channel 16; WILK-TV continued to operate as a satellite until 7/1/58.
[27] CP was deleted 4/8/69 and reinstated when an appellate court remanded the matter back to the FCC 2/19/71 (but the call letters, having been reassigned to channel 13 Newark NJ, were not reinstated); it finally resumed 9/5/81 as WSTG on channel 64 (reallocated when channel 16 assigned to land mobile 9/8/71).
[28] As the FCC continued to request valid reasons from permittees to grant extensions to their CPs, KPVC-TV, KHER-TV, KWIG-TV, WCCT, WDNB-TV, WFNT, WPNG, WRIV-TV and WTML had their CPs cancelled in 1968; WNET[27], WPCT and WPDT followed in 1969. WMLK and WROA-TV received extensions to their CPs but they subsequently expired unbuilt; KWID-TV surrendered its CP. WTML appealed its cancellation and the CP was reinstated in 1971 but then expired unbuilt; KWIG-TV similarly appealed, was also reinstated in 1971, then surrendered the CP one month later. KTOV-TV's CP was granted multiple extensions, expired in 1973, was reinstated the following year, and deleted two months after its reinstatement. In 1970, the FCC changed the eight-month CP period to an 18- to 24-month period, saying it was "no longer reasonable to expect a grantee to begin construction within two months and be finished six months after that."
[29] KRTV's physical assets were subsequently acquired by KATV Pine Bluff AR on channel 7.
[30] WITV's license renewal was subsequently challenged by educational television interests and its license cancelled 9/18/61, the allocation made non-commercial and a CP issued for *WSEC-TV Miami.
[31] The WBUF facilities were then donated by NBC for *WNED-TV, which operated under a STA from the WBUF tower 3/30/59-5/29/59 before resuming from licensed facilities 10/19/59. §
[32] CP originally issued as WKDN-TV Camden NJ; resumed 9/17/65 as WPHL-TV. §
[33] Resumed 1/24/59 as WHCT and was the first subscription TV station in the U.S. (6/29/62-1/31/69).
[34] Resumed 6/8/69-3/16/71.
[35] Resumed 2/22/57 as WCTC. §
[36] Began operation 6/5/73 as *WJNB on channel 58; this was the last of the original UHF grants to begin operations, after more than 20 years (CP issued 12/3/52).
[37] WFRB surrendered its CP in 1954 to allow the channel to be reallocated to Pittsfield MA, which allowed WMGT to move there from channel 74.
[38] When KMPT went dark in 1955, it was in receivership; the permittee was granted a new CP in 1958 for KMPT-TV (it was cancelled in 1960[1]), and was granted a third CP in 1965 for KLPR-TV on channel 19[9]; it was reallocated channel 14 in the 1965 allocation table revisions.
[39] Resumed 7/29/69-3/18/70 as KAES-TV.
[40] KNAL's permittee was granted a new CP in 1957 for KMVA-TV.
[41] CBS purchased the license for WOKY-TV and the facilities of WCAN-TV to put WXIX on the air. However, WXIX experienced second harmonic interference to reception on channel 19, so it was reallocated channel 18. This also required the construction permits for WCAN-TV and WFOX-TV to be reallocated one channel lower (they were originally assigned channels 25 and 31, respectively). All these changes took effect 8/27/58.
[42] In 1966, as part of his plan to build a fourth television network, D.H. Overmyer purchased the construction permits for KBAY-TV (which he renamed KEMO-TV) San Francisco CA, WATL-TV (WBMO-TV) Atlanta GA, WNOP-TV (WSCO-TV) Newport KY/Cincinnati OH and WAND-TV (WECO-TV), Pittsburgh PA, and applied for new station KJDO-TV, Rosenburg/Houston TX. He also applied for new CPs in Stamford CT and Dallas TX but had to withdraw those applications before the FCC would approve his purchasing the Pittsburgh CP. These were to be added to his existing WDHO-TV Toledo OH (the flagship station) to form the network's complement of O&Os but, owing to the same funding shortfalls which forced him to sell part-ownership of the network, none made it on the air until after the network's single month of operation; Overmyer sold all five CPs to U.S. Communications, which completed the construction of all but KJDO-TV, the CP for which was returned to the FCC in 1971.
[43] Resumed 2/4/72. §
[44] KIRV was the first UHF CP to be denied an extension of time to complete (12/11/53).
[45] WJMR-TV was reallocated channel 20 when WTLO relinquished its CP in 1954; it also simulcast 7/1/57-12/31/58 on channel 12 under experimental license KK2XEW, then operated under a STA as WVUE on channel 13 beginning 1/28/59 in a merged operation with a competing applicant for the VHF allocation. WVUE moved 9/1/62 to channel 12 concurrent with WLOX-TV Biloxi MS beginning operation on channel 13, and then swapped 6/8/70 with *WYES-TV on channel 8. WJMR-TV finally surrendered its channel 20 CP in 1974, forced by the application which eventually became the WULT-TV CP in 1980.
[46] WITA-TV changed calls to WUHT-TV in 1970, applying for WUHM-TV and WUHP-TV as satellites, but remained dark and never constructed the satellites.
[47] First UHF CP to be surrendered, unbuilt (5/22/53).
[48] Returned 2/10/66-5/23/66 as KSJV-TV, then deleted the following year. The FCC reinstated the CP in 1968 and allowed new owners to put channel 21 back on the air as KFTV 9/21/72 (KFTV therefore operates under a separate license from the original KDAS, but the same CP). §
[49] In 1968 (13 years after surrendering the KUSH CP) the permittee unsuccessfully petitioned to have channel 27 allocated to San Diego.
[50] Jointly petitioned FCC (with *KTIN, which held the CP for channel *46) to substitute channel *21 for channel *46 and channel 50 for channel 21 in Fort Dodge, then moved to channel 50. Went dark after a tornado destroyed the new channel 50 transmitter building and tower. *KTIN began operations 4/8/1977 using the former KFVD-TV facilities.
[51] WKLO-TV changed calls to WEZI in 1958, remaining dark, and did not surrender its CP until 1972.
[52] WFMJ-TV purchased the CP for WUTV and used it to begin operations on channel 21.
[53] In 1961, the FCC granted a request by WHP-TV to move to channel 21 from channel 55, as part of a proposal to concentrate the stations in the Harrisburg PA market into a smaller range of channels. This was made possible by the cancellation of WLAN-TV's permit on channel 21 earlier that year[1], allowing that channel to be reallocated from Lancaster to Harrisburg. The construction permits were changed for WDTV -- formerly WCMB-TV -- to channel 33 from channel 71, and WRAK-TV to channel 26 from channel 36; this required a change for WTLF Baltimore MD's CP as well, to channel 24 from channel 18. WTLF subsequently changed calls to WMET-TV before beginning operation.
[54] Purchased KNAC-TV on channel 5 and moved there, surrendering its license for channel 22.
[55] Under its original call letters of KBIC-TV, it infamously broadcast a test pattern -- and nothing else -- almost continuously for seven years (from 1955 to 1962), until being sold. (The dates of operation shown in the list entry are for KIIX, excluding the non-stop test pattern period.) Resumed 3/29/65 as KPOL-TV. §
[56] Originally issued in 1976 and expired unbuilt; in 1983, reapplied and was granted a new CP.
[57] Resumed 9/27/64 as WKEF. §
[58] Resumed 5/4/64 as KIII-TV on channel 3. §
[59] WGBS-TV purchased the CP for WMIE-TV on channel 27 and the facilities of WFTL-TV to begin operation on channel 23; WFTL-TV went dark on channel 39 but never resumed operation. WGBS-TV resumed 11/15/67 as WAJA-TV. §
[60] WMCN was allowed to keep its CP, unbuilt, while it pursued an application for channel 13; it was deleted in the 1965 allocation table revision.
[61] WAKR-TV's move to channel 23 was made possible by the eventual reallocation of that channel to Akron after the surrender of WMAC-TV's permit. The channel 49 allocation was then made non-commercial and WAKR-TV donated its previous transmitting facilities to the subsequent station on that channel.
[62] Surrendered its CP in 1956 in order to acquire WDEL-TV Wilmington DE on channel 12.
[63] After deletion, subsequently reapplied for the same channel but was denied.
[64] WCHU merged with WICD and moved to channel 15 under the latter's call letters, surrendering the channel 24 license. §
[65] Resumed 3/23/72. §
[66] Resumed 5/6/56-2/13/57.
[67] Satellite of KERA Dallas TX; replaced by translator K24AD.
[68] Purchased WAFG-TV on channel 31 in 1963, moved the WAAY-TV call letters there and surrendered the channel 25 CP.
[69] WIRL-TV received a construction permit in 1954 for channel 8. However, in the FCC's deintermixture plan, Peoria IL was proposed to be an all-UHF market and the FCC modified the CP to channel 25 in 1956. WIRL-TV appealed all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, which remanded it back to the Court of Appeals, which further remanded it to the FCC in 1959. After further hearings, WIRL-TV was deemed in 1963 to have waived its rights to channel 25; it subsequently purchased WTVH-TV on channel 19 and WEEK-TV moved from channel 43 to channel 25.
[70] WROV-TV was the first UHF to go dark, and WBES-TV was the second (both operated for less than six months before relinquishing their licenses). KCTY was the third; WOSH-TV was the fourth. After that, Broadcasting stopped including the order in which UHFs had failed in its reporting. KTHE was the first non-commercial educational station to go dark. Broadcasting provided a full report on the failure of WROV-TV in its July 13, 1953 issue.
[71] Merged with WSLI-TV on channel 12.
[72] Resumed as *KOKH-TV 2/2/59, after the Oklahoma City Schools acquired the station in bankruptcy. Sold and resumed commercial operation 10/1/79.
[73] In one of the odder UHF stories, the CP for KAVU was cancelled and reinstated twice -- in 1970 and again in 1974 -- before being deleted 42 days after the second reinstation. A new CP, under different owners, used the KAVU-TV calls to begin operation in Victoria 7/4/82.
[74] Did not surrender its CP until 10/24/62, when it merged with WNAO-TV Greensboro-High Point NC on channel 8.
[75] Resumed briefly in 1972, exact dates unknown.
[76] Deleted in the 1965 allocation table revision.
[77] KPTV was the first UHF on the air, using the transmitter and antenna from RCA's experimental KC2AX Bridgeport CT; it subsequently bought KLOR-TV on channel 12 and moved there, surrendering the license for channel 27.
[78] WCMB-TV traded channels with WTPA and then went dark on channel 71. In 1960, it was reallocated channel 33 as part of a proposal by WHP-TV Philadelphia[53], then surrendered its CP in 1964 in order for *WITF-TV Hershey PA to be allocated that channel (it had been granted its CP on channel 65).
[79] These two CPs are separate -- issued 2/12/53 for channel 29 (surrendered 1/17/56) and 12/13/67 for channel 27 -- but both were issued to the same owner (Gordon McLendon).
[80] Resumed 5/20/55-10/30/59, then merged with WVEC-TV on channel 13.
[81] Relinquished its CP in 1954 after successfully applying for a VHF allocation; went on the air 5/4/56 on channel 4.
[82] Surrendered its CP in 1962 and merged with WTOB-TV on channel 8.
[83] Donated its license and facilities to Kentucky Educational Television, and resumed as *WKPD-TV in 4/17/78. §
[84] Was a satellite of WCDA (the former WROW-TV) on channel 41 and went dark when that station became WTEN on channel 10[115].
[85] KHOF-TV and KVOF-TV lost their licenses after refusing to give the FCC access to its financial records in 1978 (WHCT Hartford was also initially included but was allowed to be sold to a minority-owned group while hearings were in process, in 1981). KHOF-TV's license was revoked 5/7/81, after which 47 applications were received for the vacant channel; it resumed from 1985 to 1992 under interim authority as KAGR-TV, then went dark to allow the new licensee to construct facilities for permanent operation. KVOF-TV was also to be sold to a minority-owned group, but when that sale failed to receive FCC approval several competing applications were filed for the channel and the license was revoked in the course of the comparative hearing process.
[86] Survived the 1957 review of unbuilt CPs[21] and the oral hearings in 1965[12], received two CP extensions; after the second extension, the CP was cancelled, then reinstated in 1971 only to have it cancelled again after a review board hearing.
[87] Resumed 8/3/71-?/??/76.
[88] WUHF was an experimental FCC station operated by the City of New York, duplicating programming from NYC VHF stations during test hours, with municipal/educational programming the rest of day; after the experiment, the FCC donated the antenna and RCA sold the transmitter at a discount to the city, and it continued operation, relicensed as *WNYC-TV. They also operated on channel 77 for three months in 1968 to test the feasibility of translators in metropolitan areas. §
[89] Replaced by translator W31AA retransmitting WOSU-TV Columbus OH, from which WGSF originally received its PBS feed. WGSF resumed operations on Newark Cable TV's channel 19 in 1977, largely by time-shifting WOSU-TV's classroom-oriented programming.
[90] Resumed 7/18/61 on channel 12.
[91] Resumed 2/19/66-3/22/68 as a satellite of KICU-TV Visalia CA, then sold to Metromedia, who operated it as KNEW-TV 7/1/68-4/15/71; Metromedia then donated the station to KQED, which put it back on the air 6/28/71-8/23/72 using the CP for *KQEC. Channel 60 then became a commercial allocation, until KDTV and KCSM-TV traded channels six years later[4]. KQEC was told to resume within 90 days of its 1975 license renewal but was subsequently permitted to stay dark until 1/2/77; it remained on the air until 11/5/79, mainly simulcasting KQED, then resumed 5/29/80 until 5/2/88 when its license was revoked because of misstatements made to the FCC regarding the reasons for its dark periods.
[92] WKST-TV then changed calls and city of license to WYTV Youngstown OH. §
[93] Resumed 2/21/72-12/16/72 as KBFI-TV, then resumed 4/16/73 as KXTX. Purchased KDTV on channel 39 and moved there 12/20/73. §
[94] Resumed 8/1/54-7/1/55.
[95] Resumed 8/1/64-11/1/65.
[96] The WTVX call letters were first assigned to a CP in Goldsboro NC on channel 34. When that CP was surrendered, the calls were taken by a new permittee for channel 48 in Gastonia NC. WTVX did eventually end up on channel 34 -- two states away, in Fort Pierce FL -- on a station which began operation 4/5/66.
[97] Resumed 10/24/70-12/31/72 as KMXN-TV.
[98] Merged with KWTX-TV on channel 10.
[99] Resumed 10/15/79 as WOFL. §
[100] Resumed 3/1/56-1/1/59, then moved to channel 13 as WAST-TV.
[101] Moved to channel 12 in Wilmington DE, after petitioning for the allocation to be made non-commercial when WVUE went dark in 1958; the channel 35 facilities were then relicensed as WUHY-TV, which continued operation until 1975.
[102] Resumed sporadically through the fall of 1955, then resumed 6/22/60 on channel 5 in Weston WV.
[103] Authorized 8/26/55 to resume as a satellite of KCCC-TV Sacramento, but remained dark.
[104] Attempted unsuccessfully to renew its license in 1958, instead deleted.
[105] Resumed as WATL-TV 8/16/69-3/31/71; resumed again 7/5/76. §
[106] Allowed CP to expire after initial term in 1965; reapplied on channel 26 and was granted a CP 10/2/80, which was cancelled 10/28/87.
[107] WTVI purchased the facilities for KSTM-TV and moved to channel 36 as KTVI St. Louis MO 4/10/55-3/20/57; it moved to channel 2 under Special Temporary Authority 4/15/57, made permanent 8/27/62 after the deintermixture proceedings.
[108] Resumed 9/5/61-5/16/63 as WUTV; resumed 11/1/64-11/1/66 as WCCB-TV, then moved to channel 18. §
[109] WGOV-TV is the only station ever issued a CP for channel 37, which has been reserved for radio astronomy since 10/4/63. The only other application for channel 37 pending at that time was for WXTV Paterson NJ, which was assigned channel 41 instead.
[110] Resumed 8/4/74-12/30/85 as KVOF-TV[84].
[111] Purchased WWOM-TV on channel 26, moved the WGNO-TV call letters there 3/9/72 and surrendered the channel 38 CP.
[112] Resumed 1/1/68 as KCST. §
[113] Resumed 8/31/70-8/16/71 as KYAY-TV, then resumed 10/6/74 as KLAA on channel 14. §
[114] WSHA has the distinction of being the first television CP ever revoked for cause by the FCC (10/27/54).
[115] Resumed 1/6/67 as KHTV. §
[116] Merged with KOVR on channel 13.
[117] Although KTXL did eventually manage to get on the air (10/26/68), its pre-broadcast history is worth mentioning. The application was originally filed in 1963 as a challenge to the renewal of KVUE's license (which had been dark since 1960 after operating for less than five months); shortly after receiving its CP, it was reallocated channel 29 in the 1965 allocation table revision, then moved back to channel 40 when no transmitter site could be found that met mileage separation requirements with KMUV-TV on channel 31.
[118] WCDA-TV was granted a STA for continued dual operation on channel 41 until 1/15/58 (later extended to 11/15/61). It changed calls to WTEN shortly after moving to channel 10.
[119] Moved to channel 36 as KTVV.
[120] Purchased the CP for WFRV-TV Oshkosh WI on channel 5 and surrendered the channel 42 CP 3/10/55.
[121] Went dark concurrently with KSAN-TV San Francisco (which had been operating as a satellite[90]); its authority to remain dark expired 12/19/70, but the license was not cancelled until 4/1/75. Channel 43 was made a non-commercial allocation 6/22/77, and then moved to Fresno as a commercial allocation 4/10/81.
[122] WEEK-TV held a pre-freeze CP for channel 12, which was surrendered due to "extenuating circumstances" 5/4/49. The CP for channel 43 was considered a regrant.
[123] Began operations 12/20/65 as *WCNY-TV on channel 24.
[124] WKST-TV resumed 10/30/57-11/26/59, then moved to channel 33 as WYTV, which allowed WXTV to begin operations on channel 45 instead of channel 73. §
[125] Resumed 6/7/73-12/??/77, then resumed 4/??/84 as KIHS-TV. §
[126] CP rescinded after the grantee's principal officers were convicted of illegal stock sales.
[127] This is an unusual but sad case of an early UHF's problems. WETV received its CP 2/12/53 and went on the air 8/21/53, operated by a partnership of local radio stations WBNL and WNEX; the latter took full ownership 2/10/54 and changed the calls to WNEX-TV 3/22/54. Control was transferred to a new owner for assumption of liabilities 4/19/55, who changed the calls to WOKA on 5/23/55; the station went dark eight days later, on 5/31/55. From CP to air to new owners to dark, with three sets of call letters, all in the space of just over two years.
[128] The 1978 license renewal by the station's bankruptcy trustee was denied; a new licensee reused the KFTY call letters beginning 5/1/81.
[129] WPWR-TV and WBBS-TV shared channel 60 until the latter was bought out by the former; WPWR-TV then acquired the CP for unbuilt WGMI Gary IN, swapped it with the CP for dark *WCAE St. John IN and moved to channel 50. *WCAE resumed 1/18/87 on channel 56 as WYIN Gary IN using the WGMI CP. Channel 60 continued operation under new owners as WEHS.
[130] Resumed 2/14/72 as WKID. §
[131] Changed call letters while dark to WAND-TV and then to WECO-TV under Overmyer[28]. Resumed 1/30/69-8/16/71 as WPGH-TV; resumed again 1/14/74. §
[132] Resumed sporadically 5/17/62-11/17/62, then resumed 12/21/66 as WKBG-TV. §
[133] Moved to channel 19 (on a CP originally authorized 3/13/57) as WJNL-TV. Later went dark from 1989 to 1997.
[134] Acquired KTVW Tacoma WA on channel 13 and changed its calls to *KCPQ 9/9/75 (simulcasting for four months); they subsequently sold KCPQ and it resumed commercial operation 9/29/80.
[135] WELI-TV New Haven CT was assigned its construction permit 6/24/53. It was one of the unbuilt CPs that the FCC went after in 1960 and again in 1965, but they survived both times, keeping their CP. After numerous ownership changes and extensions (including surviving when four co-owned CPs being either surrendered or cancelled after the then-permittee entered a guilty plea to the Securities and Exchange Commission in 1972)[20], channel 59 finally got on the air as WTVU on 4/3/95 -- having held those call letters on the CP since 11/17/65 -- and was still on the air (as WCTX) as of 2011. While technically not an "unbuilt CP" we feel it deserves inclusion as the longest outstanding unbuilt construction permit (a little more than 42 years!) in the history of television. (Its non-commercial counterpart was *WNJB New Brunswick NJ, which was granted its CP 12/3/52 and did not begin operation until 6/5/73 ... 20½ years later[36]).
[136] WKAR-TV operated a time-share 3/25/59-5/18/72 with commercial WILX-TV on channel 10 as *WMSB Onondonga MI, in which they owned the facilities and WILX-TV paid for their use; it then sold the channel 10 facilities to WILX-TV and resumed 9/10/72 on channel 23, once again using the WKAR-TV calls. §
[137] Resumed 3/4/82. §
[138] Merged with WKXP-TV Lexington KY in 1958 but never surrendered its CP, which was finally deleted in 1965.
[139] WJMY was reallocated channel 20 9/11/65 but remained dark other than some brief periods of broadcasting only a station-ID slide; WXON purchased the WJMY CP in order to move from channel 62 to channel 20.
[140] Included in the list because its CP was granted in 1980.
[141] Resumed 7/13/82. §
[142] Originally granted channel 48; reassigned channel 14 in the 1966 allocation table revision, then assigned channel 66 when channel 14 was assigned to land mobile in 1970.
[143] Authorized 6/24/55 to move to channel 21 at Poughkeepsie, but never did.
[144] Resumed 12/4/79-1/30/80, then resumed six months later as a satellite of WWHT Newark NJ.
[145] Resumed 9/28/75. §
[146] WBGU-TV was the last full power station on a channel above 69. The first batch of UHF CPs on channels 70 and higher were issued between 1952 and 1954, but by 1956 there were no stations operating there, so those channels were then reserved for "low power community stations" (there is no information available as to why an exception was made for WBGU-TV, although the same exception was apparently made to issue the CP for *WNJE-TV on channel 77). Channels 70 through 83 were then used primarily for translators until those began to be moved to lower channels, beginning in 1975, to clear the spectrum for land mobile service; the last known translator in the upper-UHF channels was K70DR Blue Earth MN, which was still rebroadcasting KTTC-TV after the digital TV transition in February 2009 and finally went dark 12/29/11.
[147] WIMA-TV purchased WLOK-TV (for the grand sum of $750), relinquished their own CP for channel 35 and moved WLOK-TV there under the WIMA-TV calls. §
[148] Authorized 6/15/55 to move to channel 45; went dark to move and never resumed.
[149] Reallocated channel 19 in the 1966 allocation table revision.
Go to Appendix 13: WDTV's Log Books
