A Brief
History of Analog Television
Broadcasting
in
By Glenn A.
Walsh – 2009 July
Authored By Glenn
A. Walsh *** Sponsored By Friends
of the Zeiss
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2009
July
However,
KDKA-TV
2, which started as DuMont’s WDTV-3 in 1949 [when the first television network
cable from the East to the
Originally, it had been thought that KDKA-TV 2 would become a NBC-TV affiliate, as KDKA radio had been a NBC radio affiliate for a couple decades; hence, when channel 11 finally went on the air it would be a CBS-TV affiliate. However, KDKA-TV 2 became a CBS-TV affiliate, and WIIC-TV 11 (now WPXI-TV 11) became a NBC-TV affiliate. And, in the 1950s, KDKA radio became one of the first major stations in the country to drop their NBC radio network affiliation and become an independent radio station (in later years, KDKA radio did resume their NBC radio affiliation for a short time, as well as affiliations with ABC radio, CNN radio, AP radio, and now owned by CBS and broadcasting CBS radio programming--NBC radio was divested by NBC-TV and now operates a small network will little programming).
Shortly after Southwestern Pennsylvania's two VHF channels went on the air in 1949 (WDTV-3 in Pittsburgh and WJAC-TV 13 in Johnstown), the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) imposed a moratorium on granting more television licenses. The FCC quickly realized that the number of television license applications throughout the country dwarfed the number of frequency allocations available for television broadcasting. So, Pittsburgh had to wait for additional television stations.
VHF analog television broadcasting required each channel to use 6 megaHertz of spectrum space, and there had to be at least one unused channel between television channels in the same city. Cities could have a channel 4 and a channel 5 (e.g. New York, Washington, San Francisco, Los Angeles) because these two channels existed in separate television bands. Likewise, cities could have a channel 6 and a channel 7 (e.g. Miami, Denver) for the same reason.
In the 1940s, the FCC required AM radio stations to change frequencies, to allow space for additional AM radio stations. Likewise, in 1952, the FCC required television stations to change channels, to allow more television allocations throughout the country. The UHF television band was also added to meet the television station demand. This is when WDTV converted from channel 3 to channel 2 and WJAC-TV converted from channel 13 to channel 6.
Channel 53 only lasted a year or so [and had a very low power]. The
commercial channel 16 lasted only until 1957 and went off the air shortly
before channel 11 went on the air.
However, one evening in the 1970s or 1980s, the author noticed that a program broadcast on WQEX-TV was in color! The next day, the author talked by telephone to a WQED-TV/WQEX-TV engineer about this. The author was told that, although the old WENS-TV transmitter is not permitted to transmit color television programs, due to the age of the transmitter, sometimes the color "leaks through."
When the WENS-TV transmitter finally died, WQEX-TV was off-the-air for several months, while funds were raised for a new color transmitter and the transmitter was installed.
When WQEX-TV started broadcasting with the new transmitter, it started a completely new program schedule including British situation comedies ("Britcoms"), syndicated, second-run of a few former commercial network programs (such as the hospital drama, "St. Elsewhere," which had previously run on NBC-TV), and Pittsburgh's first 10:00 p.m. weeknight, television newscast ("The News at Ten") in collaboration with the editors of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
This new program schedule included a full day of programming (but not 24-hour broadcasting) from early morning to about midnight. When WQEX-TV had originally went on the air in 1959, its school programs were sporadic. It would broadcast through most of the day, but only transmit a few programs with hours of a test-pattern between each program. When the FCC threatened to withdraw the WQEX-TV license, due to the very limited programming, WQEX-TV started a regular program schedule of weekdays from 5:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. and weekends from 7:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. This program schedule of black-and-white programs lasted until the WENS-TV transmitter died.
Channel 53 did not return as an independent channel until the late 1960s (then
went dark a few years later, before returning permanently), followed by channel
22 as an independent channel in the late 1970s, channel 40 (originally licensed
as channel 22) as a Christian channel in 1979, and channel 19 as a UPN channel
(license switched from Johnstown to Pittsburgh, but transmitter remained in
Westmoreland County!) in the 1990s.
Actually, in 1954 Pittsburgh did have four television stations:
2 WDTV (all four commercial networks: DuMont, NBC, CBS, ABC)
13 WQED-TV (educational)
16 WENS-TV (ABC)
53 WKJF-TV (CBS)
However, so few people had UHF receivers or converters (which allowed UHF channels to be received on formerly VHF-only television sets), the two UHF stations did not last
long. It was not until 1964 April 1 that the Federal Government required that all television sets manufactured in the United States of America include both VHF and UHF receiving capability.
Consequently, WQED-TV, which had already applied to the FCC for a second
educational television channel (channel 22), changed their application to apply
for channel 16.
So, after channel 11 came on the air in 1957 [for a short time affiliated with
the Block family-owned Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and WWSW-AM & FM
radio--WWSW-FM was Pennsylvania's first FM radio station in 1940], ABC was relegated to
a secondary affiliation on channel 2. So, ABC wanted an affiliate in
Earlier, the CBS Television Network (which wanted to own a station in this top-10 television market) attempted to start a television station on channel 9 in
So, Hearst did a study and found that a channel 4 would be available to serve
When channel 16 returned as the nation's first sister educational television
station in November of 1959, Pittsburgh had five television stations, more than
most cities its size:
2 KDKA-TV (CBS, Westinghouse)
4 WTAE-TV (ABC)
11 WIIC-TV (NBC)
13 WQED-TV (educational)
16 WQEX-TV (educational)
WQEX-TV channel 16 continued using the original, 1950s WENS-TV transmitter for decades until this transmitter finally died. During this time period, WQEX-TV was only permitted to transmit programs in black-and-white, as the old WENS-TV transmitter was not qualified, by the Federal Communications Commission, to transmit color programs.
My sister, who worked for a time at channel 11, tells me that the channel 4
transmitter is actually located in a valley, which has further impeded the
channel 4 signal. Although the channel 4 analog signal could be received
throughout the quad-state area, it was always the most difficult
This has been made worse by channel 4 moving to digital channel 51 (to be the highest channel allocated for broadcast television, once all of the digital conversions are complete). The WQED
chief engineer told me that the low VHF channels are actually the worst for
digital transmissions; so WTAE-TV does not have the option to go back to
channel 4. They are now planning repeater transmitters, to serve areas channel 51 does not reach.
The WQED chief engineer also told me that he was surprised that Pittsburgh's
channel 11 does not do the same thing as channel 13 is doing--return to their
original VHF channel for digital transmissions. He tells me that channel 11 is
almost as good as channel 13 for digital transmissions. However, channel 11,
which was almost bought by NBC, is owned by Cox out of Atlanta [the same Cox
family of the Harding-Cox election returns, which was the world's first
commercial radio broadcast on KDKA-AM radio on 1920 November 2]. Apparently,
Cox does not mind the channel 48 digital signal for
In my house, I have two televisions, each on a separate outdoor antenna pointed
in different directions. I can barely receive WTAE-TV on the one digital set;
usually, it is too difficult to view, if I receive any signal at all. I can
receive digital signals from WTAE-TV and its weather sub-channel on the other
set, in which I use a digital converter. However, there are still a fair number
of people in the
Oddly, a year ago I had easy reception of the digital channels of WWCP-TV 8
from
I tried to watch most of the
KDKA-TV 2 aired the "High Flight" poem, while showing a USAF jet
flying. Many years ago, several television stations [including channel 53 in
So, KDKA-TV had the nicest sign-off of their analog signal. However, not one
station signed-off, on 2009 June 12, with the National Anthem!!! It may be that
the young people running these stations today have no idea that the National
Anthem was used for sign-offs years ago!!!
Due to
topography,
Some
months ago, I had a long talk with the chief engineer of
Their sister station, WQEX-TV 16 [now with a commercial license transmitting
the NBC home-shopping channel ShopNBC, due to financial difficulties with
educational television] will move from digital channel 26 to WQED-TV's channel
38, on August 18, since channel 38 is already "built-out" for digital
transmissions. They chose not to keep channel 16 for financial reasons, nor
channel 26 as KDKA-TV 2 is now licensed to channel 25 and they still fear
possible interference problems in the future. Still, the chief engineer stated
at a WQED board meeting that the transmission range of both WQED-TV and WQEX-TV
are considerably extended due to the new digital signals!
Chronology
of conversion from analog to digital television broadcasting –
2009
February 17 (original conversion deadline):
12:30
p.m. EDST: WTRF-TV 7,
11:59:59
p.m. EDST: WWCP-TV 8,
WTOV-TV 9,
WQEX-TV 16,
WPMY-TV 22,
WPGH-TV 53,
2009 March
(late March):
WPCB-TV 40,
2009
April 1 (early morning, not at Midnight):
WQED-TV 13 (55TH
anniversary of nation’s first community-sponsored educational television
station)
(digital channel 38 until
approx. 2009 Aug. 18: digital channel 13)
2009 June
12 (rescheduled conversion deadline):
12:06 p.m.
EDST: WKBN-TV 27,
11:35
p.m. EDST: WJAC-TV 6,
11:59:59
p.m. EDST:
KDKA-TV 2,
WTAE-TV 4,
WPXI-TV 11,
WPCW-TV 19,
WFMJ-TV 21,
Very
shortly after KDKA-TV 2 and WTAE-TV 4 shut-down their analog transmissions, both stations restarted
analog broadcasting and began airing a National Association of Broadcasters
(NAB) public service announcement (PSA), of approximately nine minutes in
length, which instructed viewers regarding the digital television conversion
process and how to obtain the necessary equipment to watch the new digital
transmissions.
KYW-TV 3
did the same thing in
KDKA-TV 2
ran two NAB PSAs, back-to-back, in a continuous cycle. The first PSA was in the
English language; the second PSA was in the Spanish language. Both WPMY-TV 22
and WPGH-TV 53 had done the same thing following their digital conversion on
2009 February 17, through the end of February. Although both WPMY-TV 22 and
WPGH-TV 53 are now owned by the Sinclair Corporation of
WTAE-TV 4
ran only the English NAB PSA in a continuous loop. However, their transmission
was underwritten by the Comcast Corporation of
On 2009
June 17, from 7:00 to 11:00 p.m. EDST, KDKA-TV 2 pre-empted the analog NAB PSA
transmission for commercial-free simulcast, with the KDKA-TV digital
transmission (on digital channel 25), of continuous coverage of major
thunderstorm activity, including the effects of the thunderstorm on
Transmission
of the NAB PSA, on both KDKA-TV 2 and WTAE-TV 4, terminated on 2009 July 12 at
11:59:59 p.m. EDST.
WTAE-TV
4 ended the 2009 July 12 analog transmission with the following:
Official station sign-off during the
playing of an instrumental version of the National Anthem, “The Star Spangled
Banner” (audio), while showing pictures of
Short clip of Looney Tunes cartoon, where
characters say “Goodbye;”
Traditional Looney Tunes ending, “That’s
All Folks!”;
Test Pattern (black-and-white) for very
short time;
Station went off-air.
The week
of 2009 July 13, the United States Senate held hearings for the confirmation of
Presidential nominee Sonia Sotomayor to be an Associate Justice of the United
States Supreme Court. As usual, several cable television channels carried live,
gavel-to-gavel coverage of this event. No commercial radio or television
broadcast network carried this event, live and gavel-to-gavel. National Public
Radio (NPR) carried summary broadcasts of the event, later in the day, but not
live, gavel-to-gavel coverage.
The
Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), through “The News Hour with Jim Lehrer,” did
carry live, gavel-to-gavel coverage of these confirmation hearings when Sonia
Sotomayor was part of the hearings; later hearings, after Ms. Sotomayor left
the hearing room, were not covered live, gavel-to-gavel. WQED-TV broadcast the
PBS coverage on digital channel 13.3 (a.k.a. “The Neighborhood Channel”). The
Neighborhood Channel title is derived from the popular and long-running PBS
pre-school children’s television series, “MisterRogers Neighborhood,” which was
produced by Pittsburgh-native Fred Rogers and Family Communications,
Incorporated at the studios of WQED-TV 13.
In past
years, before digital broadcasting was implemented, special broadcasts such as
Senate Confirmation Hearings, would be aired on WQEX-TV 16, allowing WQED-TV 13
to continue regularly-scheduled programming. Such special broadcasts included
all-night broadcasts of transmissions from the Voyager II spacecraft, as it
passed the planet Uranus, and a few years later
the planet
WQED-TV now airs three digital channels, on digital channel 38; they will convert these channels back to digital transmission on channel 13 by or before 2009 August 18. Channel 13.1 is the traditional “main” programming channel, which includes programming from the PBS network. Channel 13.2 (a.k.a. “The Create Channel”) includes programming from the new PBS “Create Channel” network. Channel 13.3 (“The Neighborhood Channel”) includes programming from the 55-year-old archives of WQED-TV. Since channel 13.3 runs primarily reruns, pre-emption of programming for special events is not as critical. WQEX-TV 16 (currently airing on channel 26, but moving to digital channel 38 once WQED-TV vacates that channel) now operates on a commercial license, still owned by WQED-TV, and airs home-shopping programs of the ShopNBC network. All WQED-TV and WQEX-TV channels air 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
Several low-power television stations continue broadcasting in Pittsburgh on the UHF band in an analog format:
Channel 35 - Shopping channel: jewelry
Channel 47 - Trinity Broadcasting System (religious - Christian)
Channel 59 - WBGN-TV - Independent
Channel 61 - Shopping channel
Channel 69 - Shopping channel
By the beginning of 2010, only two analog channels remained (channels 35 and 69). WBGN-TV 59, the low-power independent channel which broadcasts on several other low-power channels around the Pittsburgh region (including channel 66 in Beaver County, the very first WBGN-TV channel), converted to digital broadcasting by 2010. By November of 2010, no analog television channels were broadcasting in Pittsburgh.
gaw 2009 June 17; updated 2009 July 24; updated 2009 Oct. 24; updated 2011 Jan. 20.
Return to History
of The Buhl Planetarium and Institute of Popular Science, Pittsburgh
Authored By Glenn
A. Walsh *** Sponsored By Friends
of the Zeiss
Electronic Mail: < analogtv@planetarium.cc
> *** Internet Web Site Cover Page: < http://www.planetarium.cc
>
This Internet Web Page: < https://andrewcarnegie2.tripod.com/wqex/Brief_History_of_Analog_TV_Pgh.htm
>
2009
July
NEWS: Planetarium, Astronomy,
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Pittsburgh
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