WVUE (Delaware)
Encyclopedia
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
.
WVUE was a television station in Wilmington, Delaware
from 1949 to 1958. For the last part of its history, it attempted to target the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
market. Studios were located in Wilmington.
WVUE first signed in March 1949 as WDEL-TV, owned by the Steinman family of Lancaster, Pennsylvania
along with WDEL radio (AM 1150
and FM 93.7, now WSTW
). It received a full license on June 30. It shared a studio and tower on Shipley Road in north Wilmington with its radio sisters. It operated on channel 7 as the NBC
affiliate for Wilmington, and also carried a secondary affiliation with the DuMont Television Network
. At the time, Wilmington was a separate television market.
However, WDEL-TV found the going somewhat difficult. It was forced to operate at only 1,000 watts because it was sandwiched between New York City
's WJZ-TV (now WABC-TV
) and Washington, D.C.
's WMAL-TV (now WJLA-TV
). This resulted in hit-or-miss reception outside of Wilmington itself. In 1951, WDEL-TV moved to channel 12 for two reasons--to allow its sister station in Lancaster, WGAL-TV, to move to channel 8 and alleviate the aforementioned interference from WJZ-TV and WMAL-TV. The channel switch allowed WDEL-TV to significantly increase its power to cover much of the Philadelphia market. While Philadelphia already had an NBC affiliate, WPTZ-TV (channel 3, later WRCV-TV and now KYW-TV
), its transmitter was not strong enough to cover Wilmington at the time. The Steinmans realized that Philadelphia and Wilmington were going to be a single market (Wilmington is only 25 miles southwest of Philadelphia). In hopes of boosting the station's profile, the Steinmans persuaded Joe Pyne
, who had been a popular talk show host on Wilmington radio, to come back to Wilmington and start a talk show there. Pyne stayed at the station for two years before going to Los Angeles
.
In early 1955, the Federal Communications Commission
officially collapsed Wilmington into the Philadelphia market. By this time, NBC was negotiating to buy channel 3, and informed the Steinmans that in the event negotiations were successful, it would pull its affiliation from channel 12. With DuMont on its last legs, the Steinmans opted to sell channel 12 to Paul F. Harron, owner of Philadelphia radio powerhouse WIBG (now WNTP
). The sale closed in March 1955, and channel 12 changed its calls to WPFH, after its new owner. Harron turned channel 12 into Philadelphia's first independent station. However, he continued to lease space on WDEL-AM-FM's tower.
Two years later, Harron sold WFPH and WIBG to Storer Broadcasting
, who changed channel 12's calls to WVUE. Storer operated the station out of a studio on Baynard Boulevard in downtown Wilmington, with a satellite studio at Suburban Station in Philadelphia. Storer also moved the transmitter to Glassboro, New Jersey
. Plans were in the works to build a new transmitter at the Roxborough
tower farm in Philadelphia, but while Storer bought land for a new tower, it was never built.
In 1958, Storer brought Pyne back to Wilmington to host a late-night talk show. Pyne's program reportedly boosted the station's ratings 30-fold. However, it wasn't enough to keep the station going, and Storer took the station off the air on September 13 of the same year and returned the license to the FCC on December 18 that year. This was necessary so Storer could close on its purchase of WITI-TV in Milwaukee. Storer had actually announced the purchase of WITI back in August of that year. At that time, Storer owned VHF stations in Atlanta
, Detroit
, Cleveland and Toledo
in addition to WVUE, and a Storer purchase of WITI would have left the company one VHF station over the FCC ownership limit of the time. As a result, Storer had to either sell off or shut down WVUE in order to comply with the ownership limit.
Around this time, Philadelphia's public television station, WHYY-TV
, was looking for a way to boost its coverage. Operating on channel 35, it had difficulty attracting an audience because of the limitations of UHF's reach at the time. Shortly after WVUE went off the air for good, WHYY-TV's owners, Metropolitan Philadelphia Educational Radio and Television Corporation, asked the FCC for permission to move to channel 12. There weren't any free VHF allocations in Philadelphia itself, and the channel 12 allocation in Wilmington was the only available VHF allocation on the New Jersey or Delaware sides of the market that could cover Philadelphia with a city-grade signal. The FCC granted the request in early 1963, and on September 12, WHYY-TV moved to channel 12. It operated from the old WVUE facility in Glassboro until moving to the Roxborough tower farm in 1971.
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...
. For the current use of call letters "WVUE" by a station in New Orleans, Louisiana
New Orleans, Louisiana
New Orleans is a major United States port and the largest city and metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana. The New Orleans metropolitan area has a population of 1,235,650 as of 2009, the 46th largest in the USA. The New Orleans – Metairie – Bogalusa combined statistical area has a population...
, see WVUE
WVUE
WVUE-DT, broadcasting on virtual channel 8, is a TV station in New Orleans, Louisiana, affiliated with the Fox Broadcasting Company. WVUE is owned by Louisiana Media Company, with studios in the Gert Town section of New Orleans and transmitter in Chalmette, Louisiana.- Digital television :WVUE-DT...
. For the current channel 12, see WHYY-TV
WHYY-TV
For the former channel 12 in Wilmington, see WVUE .WHYY-TV, channel 12, is a non-commercial educational television station licensed to Wilmington, Delaware, USA...
.
WVUE was a television station 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...
from 1949 to 1958. For the last part of its history, it attempted to target the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
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,...
market. Studios were located in Wilmington.
WVUE first signed in March 1949 as WDEL-TV, owned by the Steinman family of 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...
along with WDEL radio (AM 1150
WDEL
WDEL is a news/talk radio station in Wilmington, Delaware. WDEL first signed on in 1922 and is one of the first 100 broadcast radio stations licensed in the US. WDEL is a class B station, currently operating at 5,000 watts....
and FM 93.7, now WSTW
WSTW
WSTW is a Pop Contemporary Hit Radio formatted radio station that broadcasts in the Wilmington, Delaware metropolitan area which is just south of Philadelphia. Although the station and transmitter are located in Wilmington, the signal is strong enough to provide city-grade coverage of most of...
). It received a full license on June 30. It shared a studio and tower on Shipley Road in north Wilmington with its radio sisters. It operated on channel 7 as the 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...
affiliate for Wilmington, and also carried a secondary affiliation with the DuMont Television Network
DuMont Television Network
The DuMont Television Network, also known as the DuMont Network, DuMont, Du Mont, or Dumont was one of the world's pioneer commercial television networks, rivalling NBC for the distinction of being first overall. It began operation in the United States in 1946. It was owned by DuMont...
. At the time, Wilmington was a separate television market.
However, WDEL-TV found the going somewhat difficult. It was forced to operate at only 1,000 watts because it was 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...
's WJZ-TV (now 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...
) and Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
's WMAL-TV (now WJLA-TV
WJLA-TV
WJLA-TV, channel 7, is the ABC affiliated television station in Washington, D.C.. It is the flagship station of the Allbritton Communications Company, which also operates local cable station NewsChannel 8. The two stations share broadcast facilities in the Rosslyn section of Arlington, Virginia...
). This resulted in hit-or-miss reception outside of Wilmington itself. In 1951, WDEL-TV moved to channel 12 for two reasons--to allow its sister station in Lancaster, WGAL-TV, to move to channel 8 and alleviate the aforementioned interference from WJZ-TV and WMAL-TV. The channel switch allowed WDEL-TV to significantly increase its power to cover much of the Philadelphia market. While Philadelphia already had an NBC affiliate, WPTZ-TV (channel 3, later WRCV-TV and now KYW-TV
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...
), its transmitter was not strong enough to cover Wilmington at the time. The Steinmans realized that Philadelphia and Wilmington were going to be a single market (Wilmington is only 25 miles southwest of Philadelphia). In hopes of boosting the station's profile, the Steinmans persuaded Joe Pyne
Joe Pyne
Joe Pyne was an American radio and television talk show host, who pioneered the confrontational style in which the host advocates a viewpoint and argues with guests and audience members...
, who had been a popular talk show host on Wilmington radio, to come back to Wilmington and start a talk show there. Pyne stayed at the station for two years before going to Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
.
In early 1955, 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...
officially collapsed Wilmington into the Philadelphia market. By this time, NBC was negotiating to buy channel 3, and informed the Steinmans that in the event negotiations were successful, it would pull its affiliation from channel 12. With DuMont on its last legs, the Steinmans opted to sell channel 12 to Paul F. Harron, owner of Philadelphia radio powerhouse WIBG (now WNTP
WNTP
WNTP 990 is a politically conservative talk radio station which serves the Philadelphia area. It is owned by Salem Communications, along with a number of similar channels in various markets. Some of those whose programs are run by WNTP include Michael Medved, Dennis Prager, Dennis Miller, Michael...
). The sale closed in March 1955, and channel 12 changed its calls to WPFH, after its new owner. Harron turned channel 12 into Philadelphia's first independent station. However, he continued to lease space on WDEL-AM-FM's tower.
Two years later, Harron sold WFPH and WIBG to Storer Broadcasting
Storer Broadcasting
Storer Broadcasting, Inc. was an American company which owned several television and radio stations in the northeast United States. It was incorporated in Ohio in 1927, and sold its broadcasting properties in 1983.-1920s—1940s:...
, who changed channel 12's calls to WVUE. Storer operated the station out of a studio on Baynard Boulevard in downtown Wilmington, with a satellite studio at Suburban Station in Philadelphia. Storer also moved the transmitter to Glassboro, New Jersey
Glassboro, New Jersey
Glassboro is a borough in Gloucester County, New Jersey, United States. As of the United States 2000 Census, the borough population was 19,068....
. Plans were in the works to build a new transmitter at 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...
tower farm in Philadelphia, but while Storer bought land for a new tower, it was never built.
In 1958, Storer brought Pyne back to Wilmington to host a late-night talk show. Pyne's program reportedly boosted the station's ratings 30-fold. However, it wasn't enough to keep the station going, and Storer took the station off the air on September 13 of the same year and returned the license to the FCC on December 18 that year. This was necessary so Storer could close on its purchase of WITI-TV in Milwaukee. Storer had actually announced the purchase of WITI back in August of that year. At that time, Storer owned VHF stations in Atlanta
WAGA-TV
WAGA-TV, virtual channel 5.1 is an owned-and-operated television station of the News Corporation-owned Fox Television Network and based in Atlanta, Georgia, United States...
, Detroit
WJBK
WJBK is the Fox–owned and operated television station in Detroit, Michigan broadcasting on digital channel 7...
, Cleveland and Toledo
WTVG
This is about the TV station in Toledo, Ohio for the former WTVG-TV in Newark, New Jersey see WFUT-DT.WTVG, channel 13, is the ABC-affiliated television station for Northwest Ohio and licensed in Toledo, Ohio. WTVG's studios and offices are located in Toledo and its transmitter is located in...
in addition to WVUE, and a Storer purchase of WITI would have left the company one VHF station over the FCC ownership limit of the time. As a result, Storer had to either sell off or shut down WVUE in order to comply with the ownership limit.
Around this time, Philadelphia's public television station, WHYY-TV
WHYY-TV
For the former channel 12 in Wilmington, see WVUE .WHYY-TV, channel 12, is a non-commercial educational television station licensed to Wilmington, Delaware, USA...
, was looking for a way to boost its coverage. Operating on channel 35, it had difficulty attracting an audience because of the limitations of UHF's reach at the time. Shortly after WVUE went off the air for good, WHYY-TV's owners, Metropolitan Philadelphia Educational Radio and Television Corporation, asked the FCC for permission to move to channel 12. There weren't any free VHF allocations in Philadelphia itself, and the channel 12 allocation in Wilmington was the only available VHF allocation on the New Jersey or Delaware sides of the market that could cover Philadelphia with a city-grade signal. The FCC granted the request in early 1963, and on September 12, WHYY-TV moved to channel 12. It operated from the old WVUE facility in Glassboro until moving to the Roxborough tower farm in 1971.