The Metropolitan Television Alliance, LLC (MTVA) was organized in the wake of the loss of the transmission facilities atop the World Trade Center

World Trade Center

The original World Trade Center was a complex with seven buildings featuring landmark twin towers in Lower Manhattan, New York City, United States. The complex opened on April 4, 1973, and was destroyed in 2001 during the September 11 attacks. The site is currently being rebuilt with five new...

 in 2001. Its mission is to identify, design and build a facility suitable for the long term requirements of its member stations to meet their over-the-air digital broadcast requirements. This could include designing facilities for the Freedom Tower

Freedom Tower

One World Trade Center , more simply known as 1 WTC and formerly known as the Freedom Tower, is the lead building of the new World Trade Center complex in Lower Manhattan in New York City...

 in Lower Manhattan

Lower Manhattan

Lower Manhattan is the southernmost part of the island of Manhattan, the main island and center of business and government of the City of New York...

, assessing alternative sites and technologies and dealing with local, state and federal authorities on relevant issues.

The group, which includes stations WABC-TV

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...

 7, WCBS-TV

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....

 2, WFUT–TV 68, WNBC

WNBC

WNBC, virtual channel 4 , is the flagship station of the NBC television network, located in New York City. WNBC's studios are co-located with NBC corporate headquarters at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in midtown Manhattan...

–TV 4, 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...

–TV 13, WNJU

WNJU

WNJU, channel 47, is the flagship station of the Spanish-language Telemundo television network, licensed to Linden, New Jersey and serving the Tri-State area television market. WNJU is owned by NBCUniversal, and is one-half of a duopoly with NBC network flagship WNBC-TV...

–TV 47, WNYE-TV

WNYE-TV

WNYE-TV, channel 25 is an non-commercial educational, independent television station located in New York City, USA. WNYE-TV is part of the NYC Media Group and has its studios located in Brooklyn and Manhattan, and transmitter at the Conde Nast Building....

 25, WNYW

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...

–TV 5, WPIX

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...

–TV 11, WPXN-TV

WPXN-TV

WPXN-TV, which broadcasts on channel 31 in New York City, is the flagship station of the Ion Television network, formerly known as Pax TV and i.-Municipal ownership:...

 31, WWOR-TV

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...

 9 and WXTV

WXTV

WXTV-DT channel 41 is a Univisión owned-and-operated television station, licensed to Paterson, New Jersey and serving the New York metropolitan area. WXTV's studios are located in Teaneck, New Jersey, and its transmitter in on the Empire State Building in Manhattan...

–TV 41, signed a memorandum of understanding

Memorandum of understanding

A memorandum of understanding is a document describing a bilateral or multilateral agreement between parties. It expresses a convergence of will between the parties, indicating an intended common line of action. It is often used in cases where parties either do not imply a legal commitment or in...

 in 2003 with the developer, Larry A. Silverstein, to install antennas atop the Freedom Tower

Freedom Tower

One World Trade Center , more simply known as 1 WTC and formerly known as the Freedom Tower, is the lead building of the new World Trade Center complex in Lower Manhattan in New York City...

. Broadcasters have used the Empire State Building

Empire State Building

The Empire State Building is a 102-story landmark skyscraper and American cultural icon in New York City at the intersection of Fifth Avenue and West 34th Street. It has a roof height of 1,250 feet , and with its antenna spire included, it stands a total of 1,454 ft high. Its name is derived...

 (and, to a lesser degree, 4 Times Square) since the terrorist attack of Sept. 11, 2001 . In 2006, control of the project was transferred to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey

Port Authority of New York and New Jersey

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey is a bi-state port district, established in 1921 through an interstate compact, that runs most of the regional transportation infrastructure, including the bridges, tunnels, airports, and seaports, within the Port of New York and New Jersey...

, with which further discussions have been ongoing.

The group received a grant from the NTIA to study distributed transmission system

Distributed transmission system

In North American digital terrestrial television broadcasting, a distributed transmission system is a form of single-frequency network in which a single broadcast signal is fed via microwave, landline, or communications satellite to multiple synchronised terrestrial radio transmitter sites...

 (DTS) in New York City. Multiple tests were run from various sites in the New York and Newark region in 2006 and 2007 by MTVA and individual member stations, with the use of distributed transmission on a permanent, non-experimental basis ultimately approved for US stations by the Federal Communications Commission

Federal Communications Commission

The Federal Communications Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, created, Congressional statute , and with the majority of its commissioners appointed by the current President. The FCC works towards six goals in the areas of broadband, competition, the spectrum, the...

 on November 7, 2008.

In 2008, Saul Shapiro

Saul Shapiro

Saul Taylor Shapiro is President of the Metropolitan Television Alliance, LLC . The MTVA was formed by the New York area television broadcast stations shortly after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001...

was appointed President.