WFPG-TV
Encyclopedia
WFPG-TV was one of the earliest UHF television station
s in the United States, licensed to Atlantic City, New Jersey
. The station broadcast over channel 46 from December 1952 until May 1954, and held affiliations with all four major networks of the era: NBC, CBS, ABC and DuMont.
is sandwiched between New York City
and Philadelphia
. Between them, the two large cities were granted most of the available VHF channels. The only VHF station assigned to New Jersey was located in Newark
, the state's largest city. However, channel 13 -- WATV, later to become WNTA-TV (and now WNET
) -- was programmed as a New York City station. New York City was directly awarded channels 2
, 4, 5
, 7
, 9
and 11
; while Philadelphia was assigned channels 3
, 6
and 10. Channel 8 became unavailable as it was given to Lancaster, Pennsylvania
's WGAL-TV, and later to WNHC-TV (now WTNH
) in New Haven, Connecticut
. Around the same time, WDEL-TV in Wilmington, Delaware
(later WVUE
moved to channel 12, which the FCC reassigned to Wilmington to replace channel 7.
Prior to the opening of the UHF band in 1952, Atlantic City viewers could receive some of the Philadelphia stations. However, they could only be received with very large rooftop antennas, and signals were marginal even under the best conditions.
The use of a channel on the newly opened UHF TV band would allow Atlantic City to boast (in the words of one promotion to 1954-era convention
-goers) "Operation of Atlantic City's own television station, WFPG-TV has begun, and it is expected that many national programs will visit here and originate their shows from 'On the Boardwalk
in Atlantic City'."
Construction began on October 30, 1952 and was completed 52 days later, with WFPG's AM broadcasts continuing uninterrupted while the new building and its UHF TV facilities were constructed around the existing radio operation.
While local television receiver vendors were initially hesitant to promote the then largely unproven UHF band, due both to unfamiliarity with the selection of antennae required for the higher frequencies and a lack of factory-installed UHF tuners in many TV sets, the ability to serve Atlantic City from even a relatively low-powered local station was to provide stronger signals and better-quality images in the local community than could be had at the time through the distant reception of Philadelphia VHF stations.
, and WSBA-TV (channel 43, now WPMT
) in York, Pennsylvania
. As a result, channel 46 went off the air almost unnoticed on May 17, 1954.
It is not likely that WFPG-TV would have survived for long in any event, however. Shortly after WFPG-TV went dark, the FCC collapsed Atlantic City into the Philadelphia market. Almost immediately, the Philadelphia stations all secured construction permits to built tall towers in the Roxborough
neighborhood, on some of the highest ground in the region. The new towers enabled the Philadelphia stations to provide a clear signal to all of South Jersey, including Atlantic City.
While WFPG-TV is no longer on the air, its radio siblings continued operation. WFPG-FM
96.9 and WFPG (now WENJ) AM 1450 currently operate from studios in Northfield
with the original callsign still in active use on FM radio. The WFPG-TV tower also still stands; the facilities built for channel 46 now house WMID
1340 and 99.3 WZBZ
radio.
Local TV broadcasting did not return to Atlantic City until January 25, 1966, when WCMC-TV (channel 40, now WMGM-TV
) signed on as an affiliate of NBC
.
Television station
A television station is a business, organisation or other such as an amateur television operator that transmits content over terrestrial television. A television transmission can be by analog television signals or, more recently, by digital television. Broadcast television systems standards are...
s in the United States, licensed to Atlantic City, New Jersey
Atlantic City, New Jersey
Atlantic City is a city in Atlantic County, New Jersey, United States, and a nationally renowned resort city for gambling, shopping and fine dining. The city also served as the inspiration for the American version of the board game Monopoly. Atlantic City is located on Absecon Island on the coast...
. The station broadcast over channel 46 from December 1952 until May 1954, and held affiliations with all four major networks of the era: NBC, CBS, ABC and DuMont.
Background
Geographically, New JerseyNew Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
is sandwiched between New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
and Philadelphia
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...
. Between them, the two large cities were granted most of the available VHF channels. The only VHF station assigned to New Jersey was located in Newark
Newark, New Jersey
Newark is the largest city in the American state of New Jersey, and the seat of Essex County. As of the 2010 United States Census, Newark had a population of 277,140, maintaining its status as the largest municipality in New Jersey. It is the 68th largest city in the U.S...
, the state's largest city. However, channel 13 -- WATV, later to become WNTA-TV (and now WNET
WNET
WNET, channel 13 is a non-commercial educational public television station licensed to Newark, New Jersey. With its signal covering the New York metropolitan area, WNET is a primary station of the Public Broadcasting Service and a primary provider of PBS programming...
) -- was programmed as a New York City station. New York City was directly awarded channels 2
WCBS-TV
WCBS-TV, channel 2, is the flagship station of the CBS television network, located in New York City. The station's studios are located within the CBS Broadcast Center and its transmitter is atop the Empire State Building, both in Midtown Manhattan....
, 4, 5
WNYW
WNYW, virtual channel 5 , is the flagship television station of the News Corporation-owned Fox Broadcasting Company, located in New York City. The station's transmitter is atop the Empire State Building and its studio facilities are located in the Yorkville section of Manhattan...
, 7
WABC-TV
WABC-TV, channel 7, is the flagship station of the Disney-owned American Broadcasting Company located in New York City. The station's studios and offices are located on the Upper West Side section of Manhattan, adjacent to ABC's corporate headquarters, and its transmitter is atop the Empire State...
, 9
WWOR-TV
WWOR-TV, virtual channel 9 , is the flagship station of the MyNetworkTV programming service, licensed to Secaucus, New Jersey and serving the Tri-State metropolitan area. WWOR is owned by Fox Television Stations, a division of the News Corporation, and is a sister station to Fox network flagship...
and 11
WPIX
WPIX, channel 11, is a television station in New York City built, signed on, and owned by the Tribune Company. WPIX also serves as the flagship station of The CW Television Network...
; while Philadelphia was assigned channels 3
KYW-TV
KYW-TV, virtual channel 3, is an owned and operated television station of the CBS Television Network, located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. KYW-TV shares a studio facility with its sister station, CW flagship WPSG just north of Center City Philadelphia...
, 6
WPVI-TV
WPVI-TV, channel 6, is an owned-and-operated television station of the Walt Disney Company-owned American Broadcasting Company, located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. WPVI has its studios located on the border between Philadelphia and Bala Cynwyd, and its transmitter is located in the...
and 10. Channel 8 became unavailable as it was given to Lancaster, Pennsylvania
Lancaster, Pennsylvania
Lancaster is a city in the south-central part of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is the county seat of Lancaster County and one of the older inland cities in the United States, . With a population of 59,322, it ranks eighth in population among Pennsylvania's cities...
's WGAL-TV, and later to WNHC-TV (now WTNH
WTNH
WTNH is the ABC-affiliated television station for the state of Connecticut that is licensed to New Haven. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on VHF channel 10 from a transmitter in Hamden. Owned by the LIN TV Corporation, the station is sister to MyNetworkTV affiliate WCTX and the two...
) in New Haven, Connecticut
New Haven, Connecticut
New Haven is the second-largest city in Connecticut and the sixth-largest in New England. According to the 2010 Census, New Haven's population increased by 5.0% between 2000 and 2010, a rate higher than that of the State of Connecticut, and higher than that of the state's five largest cities, and...
. Around the same time, WDEL-TV in Wilmington, Delaware
Wilmington, Delaware
Wilmington is the largest city in the state of Delaware, United States, and is located at the confluence of the Christina River and Brandywine Creek, near where the Christina flows into the Delaware River. It is the county seat of New Castle County and one of the major cities in the Delaware Valley...
(later WVUE
WVUE (Delaware)
This article is about a defunct television station in Wilmington, Delaware. For the current use of call letters "WVUE" by a station in New Orleans, Louisiana, see WVUE. For the current channel 12, see WHYY-TV....
moved to channel 12, which the FCC reassigned to Wilmington to replace channel 7.
Prior to the opening of the UHF band in 1952, Atlantic City viewers could receive some of the Philadelphia stations. However, they could only be received with very large rooftop antennas, and signals were marginal even under the best conditions.
The use of a channel on the newly opened UHF TV band would allow Atlantic City to boast (in the words of one promotion to 1954-era convention
Convention (meeting)
A convention, in the sense of a meeting, is a gathering of individuals who meet at an arranged place and time in order to discuss or engage in some common interest. The most common conventions are based upon industry, profession, and fandom...
-goers) "Operation of Atlantic City's own television station, WFPG-TV has begun, and it is expected that many national programs will visit here and originate their shows from 'On the Boardwalk
Boardwalk
A boardwalk, in the conventional sense, is a wooden walkway for pedestrians and sometimes vehicles, often found along beaches, but they are also common as paths through wetlands, coastal dunes, and other sensitive environments....
in Atlantic City'."
Construction began on October 30, 1952 and was completed 52 days later, with WFPG's AM broadcasts continuing uninterrupted while the new building and its UHF TV facilities were constructed around the existing radio operation.
While local television receiver vendors were initially hesitant to promote the then largely unproven UHF band, due both to unfamiliarity with the selection of antennae required for the higher frequencies and a lack of factory-installed UHF tuners in many TV sets, the ability to serve Atlantic City from even a relatively low-powered local station was to provide stronger signals and better-quality images in the local community than could be had at the time through the distant reception of Philadelphia VHF stations.
Demise
As Philadelphia's VHF stations increased their transmitted signal power to cover a growing market, they were able to regain market share in various outlying communities in New Jersey and Pennsylvania which in 1953. These areas already had local UHF stations of their own; along with WFPG-TV, they included WEEU-TV (channel 33) and WHUM-TV (channel 61) in Reading, PennsylvaniaReading, Pennsylvania
Reading is a city in southeastern Pennsylvania, USA, and seat of Berks County. Reading is the principal city of the Greater Reading Area and had a population of 88,082 as of the 2010 census, making it the fifth most populated city in the state after Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Allentown and Erie,...
, and WSBA-TV (channel 43, now WPMT
WPMT
WPMT, also known as channel 43 or Fox 43, is a Fox-affiliated television station licensed to York, Pennsylvania. Owned by the Tribune Company, the station has studios in Spring Garden, Pennsylvania , and its transmitter is located in Hallam, Pennsylvania...
) in York, Pennsylvania
York, Pennsylvania
York, known as the White Rose City , is a city located in York County, Pennsylvania, United States which is in the South Central region of the state. The population within the city limits was 43,718 at the 2010 census, which was a 7.0% increase from the 2000 count of 40,862...
. As a result, channel 46 went off the air almost unnoticed on May 17, 1954.
It is not likely that WFPG-TV would have survived for long in any event, however. Shortly after WFPG-TV went dark, the FCC collapsed Atlantic City into the Philadelphia market. Almost immediately, the Philadelphia stations all secured construction permits to built tall towers in the Roxborough
Roxborough, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Roxborough is a neighborhood in the Northwest Philadelphia section of the United States city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is bordered to the southwest, along the Schuylkill River, by the neighborhood of Manayunk, along the northeast by the Wissahickon Creek section of Fairmount Park, and to...
neighborhood, on some of the highest ground in the region. The new towers enabled the Philadelphia stations to provide a clear signal to all of South Jersey, including Atlantic City.
While WFPG-TV is no longer on the air, its radio siblings continued operation. WFPG-FM
WFPG
This article is about the FM radio station. For the former WFPG AM 1450 and TV 46, see WENJ and WFPG-TV.WFPG is an adult contemporary music radio station based in Atlantic City, New Jersey....
96.9 and WFPG (now WENJ) AM 1450 currently operate from studios in Northfield
Northfield, New Jersey
Northfield is a city in Atlantic County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city population was 8,624.Northfield was incorporated as a city by an Act of the New Jersey Legislature on March 21, 1905, from portions of Egg Harbor Township...
with the original callsign still in active use on FM radio. The WFPG-TV tower also still stands; the facilities built for channel 46 now house WMID
WMID
WMID is a radio station in Atlantic City, New Jersey which plays "the classic oldies". Its parent company is Equity Communications ....
1340 and 99.3 WZBZ
WZBZ
WZBZ is a radio station also known as "99.3 Kiss FM" in Atlantic City, New Jersey. The station plays a Rhythmic Top 40/Rhythmic Contemporary format. It is simulcast on WSNQ.-History:...
radio.
Local TV broadcasting did not return to Atlantic City until January 25, 1966, when WCMC-TV (channel 40, now WMGM-TV
WMGM-TV
WMGM-TV is the NBC-affiliated television station for South Jersey that is licensed to Wildwood. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 36 from a transmitter along CR 601 in Swainton east of the Garden State Parkway. The station can also be seen on Comcast channel 4 and in...
) signed on as an affiliate of NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
.
External links
- Printed advertisement for WFPG-TV, "TURN TO WFPG-TV channel 46 Featuring Four Great Networks: N.B.C - C.B.S. - A.B.C. - DuMont Telecasting From The World's Finest Playground WFPG-TV channel 46 ATLANTIC CITY