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phase 1 overhaul — redo the WKJF-TV era
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On July 11, 1953, WKJF-TV put out its first test picture; it was on for five minutes and still elicited a call from a viewer.<ref name="Pitt530712">{{Cite news|url=https://newspapers.com/article/pittsburgh-sun-telegraph-uhf-station-tes/145357572/|date=July 12, 1953|page=1|title=UHF Station Test on Air|newspaper=Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph|location=Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=April 16, 2024}}</ref><!-- Sun --> A regular schedule of test patterns followed <ref name="Pitt530715">{{Cite news|url=https://newspapers.com/article/pittsburgh-post-gazette-new-tv-station-s/145357616/|date=July 15, 1953|page= 15|title=New TV Station Starts Career|newspaper=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette|location=Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=April 16, 2024}}</ref><!-- Wed --> Days before launching, the station finally secured network programming in the form of a secondary affiliation with [[NBC]]. WDTV continued to enjoy right of first refusal to telecast NBC programs in Pittsburgh, so WKJF-TV would only get those programs not aired by channel 2.<ref name="Pitt530728">{{Cite news|url=https://newspapers.com/article/pittsburgh-post-gazette-wkjf-tv-to-get-s/145357771/|date=July 28, 1953|page= 13|title=WKJF-TV To Get Some NBC Shows: New Ultra High Frequency Station Completing Testing|newspaper=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette|location=Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=April 16, 2024}}</ref><!-- Tue --> On July 28, the station initiated its first test programs beyond a pattern.<ref name="PittS530728">{{Cite news|url=https://newspapers.com/article/pittsburgh-sun-telegraph-wkjf-tv-to-sign/145357741/|date=July 28, 1953|page=23|title=WKJF-TV To Sign With NBC|first=Wilbur D.|last=Clark|newspaper=Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph|location=Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=April 16, 2024}}</ref><!-- Tue --> From studios on Grandview Avenue,<ref name="Pitt530310">{{Cite news|url=https://newspapers.com/article/the-pittsburgh-press-block-of-mount-wash/145357224/|date=March 10, 1953|page= 39|title=Block of Mount Washington Property Included: New Television Station to Buy KQV Tower|newspaper=The Pittsburgh Press|location=Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=April 16, 2024}}</ref><!-- Tue --> WKJF-TV began airing regular programming on August 1, 1953. At the end of August, after an [[AT&T]] network loop was completed to the Mount Washington facility, the first NBC shows appeared on the station.<ref name="Pitt530801">{{Cite news|url=https://newspapers.com/article/pittsburgh-sun-telegraph-tv-channel-53-d/145373495/|date=August 1, 1953|page=9|title=TV Channel 53 Debut Tonight|newspaper=Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph|location=Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=April 16, 2024}}</ref><!-- Sat --><ref name="Pitt530802">{{Cite news|url=https://newspapers.com/article/the-pittsburgh-press-picture-on-channel/145357810/|date=August 2, 1953|page=4:14|title=Picture on Channel 53: 2nd Pittsburgh TV Station Begins Regular Programs|newspaper=The Pittsburgh Press|location=Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=April 16, 2024}}</ref><!-- Sun --><ref name="Pitt530831">{{Cite news|url=https://newspapers.com/article/pittsburgh-sun-telegraph-wens-signal-to/145358154/|date=August 31, 1953|page=23|title=WENS Signal to Improve|newspaper=Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph|location=Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=April 16, 2024}}</ref><!-- Mon --> In at least one instance, the station also carried a [[DuMont Television Network]] program; WDTV passed over DuMont's ''Boxing from Eastern Parkway Arena'' to carry ''[[Studio One (American TV series)|Studio One]]'', so WKJF-TV picked it up.<ref name="Pitt531019">{{Cite news|url=https://newspapers.com/article/pittsburgh-sun-telegraph-wkjf-tv-picks-u/145358282/|date=October 19, 1953|first=Wilbur D.|last=Clark|page=23|title=WKJF-TV Picks Up Boxing|newspaper=Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph|location=Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=April 16, 2024}}</ref><!-- Mon --> |
On July 11, 1953, WKJF-TV put out its first test picture; it was on for five minutes and still elicited a call from a viewer.<ref name="Pitt530712">{{Cite news|url=https://newspapers.com/article/pittsburgh-sun-telegraph-uhf-station-tes/145357572/|date=July 12, 1953|page=1|title=UHF Station Test on Air|newspaper=Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph|location=Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=April 16, 2024}}</ref><!-- Sun --> A regular schedule of test patterns followed <ref name="Pitt530715">{{Cite news|url=https://newspapers.com/article/pittsburgh-post-gazette-new-tv-station-s/145357616/|date=July 15, 1953|page= 15|title=New TV Station Starts Career|newspaper=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette|location=Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=April 16, 2024}}</ref><!-- Wed --> Days before launching, the station finally secured network programming in the form of a secondary affiliation with [[NBC]]. WDTV continued to enjoy right of first refusal to telecast NBC programs in Pittsburgh, so WKJF-TV would only get those programs not aired by channel 2.<ref name="Pitt530728">{{Cite news|url=https://newspapers.com/article/pittsburgh-post-gazette-wkjf-tv-to-get-s/145357771/|date=July 28, 1953|page= 13|title=WKJF-TV To Get Some NBC Shows: New Ultra High Frequency Station Completing Testing|newspaper=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette|location=Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=April 16, 2024}}</ref><!-- Tue --> On July 28, the station initiated its first test programs beyond a pattern.<ref name="PittS530728">{{Cite news|url=https://newspapers.com/article/pittsburgh-sun-telegraph-wkjf-tv-to-sign/145357741/|date=July 28, 1953|page=23|title=WKJF-TV To Sign With NBC|first=Wilbur D.|last=Clark|newspaper=Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph|location=Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=April 16, 2024}}</ref><!-- Tue --> From studios on Grandview Avenue,<ref name="Pitt530310">{{Cite news|url=https://newspapers.com/article/the-pittsburgh-press-block-of-mount-wash/145357224/|date=March 10, 1953|page= 39|title=Block of Mount Washington Property Included: New Television Station to Buy KQV Tower|newspaper=The Pittsburgh Press|location=Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=April 16, 2024}}</ref><!-- Tue --> WKJF-TV began airing regular programming on August 1, 1953. At the end of August, after an [[AT&T]] network loop was completed to the Mount Washington facility, the first NBC shows appeared on the station.<ref name="Pitt530801">{{Cite news|url=https://newspapers.com/article/pittsburgh-sun-telegraph-tv-channel-53-d/145373495/|date=August 1, 1953|page=9|title=TV Channel 53 Debut Tonight|newspaper=Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph|location=Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=April 16, 2024}}</ref><!-- Sat --><ref name="Pitt530802">{{Cite news|url=https://newspapers.com/article/the-pittsburgh-press-picture-on-channel/145357810/|date=August 2, 1953|page=4:14|title=Picture on Channel 53: 2nd Pittsburgh TV Station Begins Regular Programs|newspaper=The Pittsburgh Press|location=Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=April 16, 2024}}</ref><!-- Sun --><ref name="Pitt530831">{{Cite news|url=https://newspapers.com/article/pittsburgh-sun-telegraph-wens-signal-to/145358154/|date=August 31, 1953|page=23|title=WENS Signal to Improve|newspaper=Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph|location=Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=April 16, 2024}}</ref><!-- Mon --> In at least one instance, the station also carried a [[DuMont Television Network]] program; WDTV passed over DuMont's ''Boxing from Eastern Parkway Arena'' to carry ''[[Studio One (American TV series)|Studio One]]'', so WKJF-TV picked it up.<ref name="Pitt531019">{{Cite news|url=https://newspapers.com/article/pittsburgh-sun-telegraph-wkjf-tv-picks-u/145358282/|date=October 19, 1953|first=Wilbur D.|last=Clark|page=23|title=WKJF-TV Picks Up Boxing|newspaper=Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph|location=Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=April 16, 2024}}</ref><!-- Mon --> |
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WKJF-TV was one of two UHF stations to start in Pittsburgh in 1953, the other being [[WENS (TV)|WENS]] on channel 16, which operated at much higher power.{{r|Pitt530831}}<ref name="Pitt540123">{{Cite news|url=https://newspapers.com/article/pittsburgh-post-gazette-what-is-the-pres/145357906/|date=January 23, 1954|page= 19|title=What is the present power of WENS and WKJF-TV?|newspaper=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette|location=Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=April 16, 2024}}</ref><!-- Sat --> Further, UHF stations performed poorly in rougher terrain.<ref>{{cite magazine|title=UHF in Portland—How is it Doing?|magazine=RCA Broadcast News|date=September 1952|pages=16–33|first=John P.|last=Taylor|url=http://www.americanradiohistory.com/ARCHIVE-RCA/RCA-Broadcast-News/RCA-71.pdf}}</ref Though Pittsburgh had only one pre-freeze and [[very high frequency]] station, WDTV on channel 2, much of the city could receive a second VHF station, [[WJAC-TV]] on channel 6. These stations could be received by any set, unlike WENS and WKJF-TV, which required converters to view on many VHF-only sets.<ref name="Pitt530831">{{Cite news|url=https://newspapers.com/article/the-pittsburgh-press-pittsburgh-tv-scene/145358002/|date=August 31, 1953|page= 31|first=Si|last=Steinhauser|title=Pittsburgh TV Scene Is Greatly Changed: Converter Trade Boom Reported|newspaper=The Pittsburgh Press|location=Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=April 16, 2024}}</ref><!-- Mon --> On July 2, 1954, the station left the air indefinitely, expressing hope of returning if Congress did something to alleviate the plight of UHF stations.<ref name="Pitt540622">{{Cite news|url=https://newspapers.com/article/pittsburgh-post-gazette-wkjf-tv-station/145358085/|date=June 22, 1954|page= 1|title=WKJF-TV Station To Close July 2: Will Reopen In Fall If Senators Act|newspaper=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette|location=Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=April 16, 2024}}</ref><!-- Tue --><ref name="Pitt540703">{{Cite news|url=https://newspapers.com/article/pittsburgh-post-gazette-station-wkjf-tv/145357930/|date=July 3, 1954|page= 8|title=Station WKJF-TV Goes Off the Air|newspaper=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette|location=Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=April 16, 2024}}</ref><!-- Sat --> WENS remained on air but struggled to get sponsors despite carrying popular network shows.<ref name="Pitt541219">{{Cite news|url=https://newspapers.com/article/pittsburgh-sun-telegraph-expense-for-uhf/70855003/|date=December 19, 1954|page=3:9|first=Wilbur D. Clark|title=Expense for UHF Means Little Here|newspaper=Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph|location=Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=April 16, 2024}}</ref><!-- Sun --> |
WKJF-TV was one of two UHF stations to start in Pittsburgh in 1953, the other being [[WENS (TV)|WENS]] on channel 16, which operated at much higher power.{{r|Pitt530831}}<ref name="Pitt540123">{{Cite news|url=https://newspapers.com/article/pittsburgh-post-gazette-what-is-the-pres/145357906/|date=January 23, 1954|page= 19|title=What is the present power of WENS and WKJF-TV?|newspaper=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette|location=Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=April 16, 2024}}</ref><!-- Sat --> Further, UHF stations performed poorly in rougher terrain.<ref>{{cite magazine|title=UHF in Portland—How is it Doing?|magazine=RCA Broadcast News|date=September 1952|pages=16–33|first=John P.|last=Taylor|url=http://www.americanradiohistory.com/ARCHIVE-RCA/RCA-Broadcast-News/RCA-71.pdf}}</ref> Though Pittsburgh had only one pre-freeze and [[very high frequency]] station, WDTV on channel 2, much of the city could receive a second VHF station, [[WJAC-TV]] on channel 6. These stations could be received by any set, unlike WENS and WKJF-TV, which required converters to view on many VHF-only sets.<ref name="Pitt530831">{{Cite news|url=https://newspapers.com/article/the-pittsburgh-press-pittsburgh-tv-scene/145358002/|date=August 31, 1953|page= 31|first=Si|last=Steinhauser|title=Pittsburgh TV Scene Is Greatly Changed: Converter Trade Boom Reported|newspaper=The Pittsburgh Press|location=Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=April 16, 2024}}</ref><!-- Mon --> On July 2, 1954, the station left the air indefinitely, expressing hope of returning if Congress did something to alleviate the plight of UHF stations.<ref name="Pitt540622">{{Cite news|url=https://newspapers.com/article/pittsburgh-post-gazette-wkjf-tv-station/145358085/|date=June 22, 1954|page= 1|title=WKJF-TV Station To Close July 2: Will Reopen In Fall If Senators Act|newspaper=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette|location=Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=April 16, 2024}}</ref><!-- Tue --><ref name="Pitt540703">{{Cite news|url=https://newspapers.com/article/pittsburgh-post-gazette-station-wkjf-tv/145357930/|date=July 3, 1954|page= 8|title=Station WKJF-TV Goes Off the Air|newspaper=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette|location=Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=April 16, 2024}}</ref><!-- Sat --> WENS remained on air but struggled to get sponsors despite carrying popular network shows.<ref name="Pitt541219">{{Cite news|url=https://newspapers.com/article/pittsburgh-sun-telegraph-expense-for-uhf/70855003/|date=December 19, 1954|page=3:9|first=Wilbur D. Clark|title=Expense for UHF Means Little Here|newspaper=Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph|location=Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=April 16, 2024}}</ref><!-- Sun --> |
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A Cleveland mail-order distributor expressed interest in buying WKJF-TV in 1955; he would have renamed the station WDAV and run it for the benefit of disabled veterans.<ref name="Pitt550115">{{Cite news|url=https://newspapers.com/article/the-pittsburgh-press-would-go-on-air-abo/145361965/|date=January 15, 1955|pages= 1, [https://www-newspapers-com.wikipedialibrary.idm.oclc.org/article/the-pittsburgh-press-sale-of-wkjf-tv-rep/145361991/ 3]|first=Fred|last=Remington|title=Would Go on Air About March 15: Cleveland Man Offers $500,000 for WKJF-TV|newspaper=The Pittsburgh Press|location=Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=April 16, 2024}}</ref><!-- Sat --> The deal never came to fruition as the owners waited for the UHF situation to change.<ref name="Pitt550328">{{Cite news|url=https://newspapers.com/article/pittsburgh-sun-telegraph-wens-orders-new/70858356/|date=March 28, 1955|page=23|first=Wilbur D.|last=Clark|title=WENS Orders New Tower|newspaper=Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph|location=Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=April 16, 2024}}</ref><!-- Mon --> Rumors circulated that the group putting together Pittsburgh's new VHF station on channel 11 was interested in the property.<ref name="Pitt550626">{{Cite news|url=https://newspapers.com/article/the-pittsburgh-press-channel-11-operator/145362057/|date=June 26, 1955|page=5:11|first=Fred|last=Remington|title=Channel 11 Operators Deny They're Seeking WKJF Site|newspaper=The Pittsburgh Press|location=Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=April 16, 2024}}</ref><!-- Sun --> The WKJF-TV antenna was dismantled in 1962 and replaced with a new FM antenna for the co-located radio station.<ref name="Pitt620118">{{Cite news|url=https://newspapers.com/article/pittsburgh-post-gazette-changes/140219799/|date=January 18, 1962|page= 37|title=Changes|newspaper=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette|location=Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=April 16, 2024}}</ref><!-- Thu --> |
A Cleveland mail-order distributor expressed interest in buying WKJF-TV in 1955; he would have renamed the station WDAV and run it for the benefit of disabled veterans.<ref name="Pitt550115">{{Cite news|url=https://newspapers.com/article/the-pittsburgh-press-would-go-on-air-abo/145361965/|date=January 15, 1955|pages= 1, [https://www-newspapers-com.wikipedialibrary.idm.oclc.org/article/the-pittsburgh-press-sale-of-wkjf-tv-rep/145361991/ 3]|first=Fred|last=Remington|title=Would Go on Air About March 15: Cleveland Man Offers $500,000 for WKJF-TV|newspaper=The Pittsburgh Press|location=Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=April 16, 2024}}</ref><!-- Sat --> The deal never came to fruition as the owners waited for the UHF situation to change.<ref name="Pitt550328">{{Cite news|url=https://newspapers.com/article/pittsburgh-sun-telegraph-wens-orders-new/70858356/|date=March 28, 1955|page=23|first=Wilbur D.|last=Clark|title=WENS Orders New Tower|newspaper=Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph|location=Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=April 16, 2024}}</ref><!-- Mon --> Rumors circulated that the group putting together Pittsburgh's new VHF station on channel 11 was interested in the property.<ref name="Pitt550626">{{Cite news|url=https://newspapers.com/article/the-pittsburgh-press-channel-11-operator/145362057/|date=June 26, 1955|page=5:11|first=Fred|last=Remington|title=Channel 11 Operators Deny They're Seeking WKJF Site|newspaper=The Pittsburgh Press|location=Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=April 16, 2024}}</ref><!-- Sun --> The WKJF-TV antenna was dismantled in 1962 and replaced with a new FM antenna for the co-located radio station.<ref name="Pitt620118">{{Cite news|url=https://newspapers.com/article/pittsburgh-post-gazette-changes/140219799/|date=January 18, 1962|page= 37|title=Changes|newspaper=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette|location=Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=April 16, 2024}}</ref><!-- Thu --> |
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| Branding | Pittsburgh's Fox 53 |
| Programming | |
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| WPNT | |
| History | |
First air date |
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Last air date |
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Former call signs |
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Former channel number(s) |
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Call sign meaning | Pittsburgh |
| Technical information[1] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 73875 |
| ERP | 800 kW |
| HAAT | 302.8 m (993 ft) |
| Transmitter coordinates | 40°29′43″N 80°0′16″W / 40.49528°N 80.00444°W / 40.49528; -80.00444 |
| Links | |
Public license information |
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| Website | wpgh53 |
WPGH-TV (channel 53) is a television stationinPittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States, affiliated with the Fox network. It is owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group alongside dual CW and MyNetworkTV affiliate WPNT (channel 22). The two stations share studios on Ivory Avenue in the city's Summer Hill neighborhood, where WPGH-TV's transmitter is also located.
When the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) opened up applications for new TV stations after a years-long freeze, in 1952, it allocated three commercial ultra high frequency (UHF) TV channels to the city. The only applicant for channel 53 was Agnes Jane Reeves Greer, owner of WKJF-FM, the city's only standalone FM radio station.[2] The FCC awarded permits for the other two UHF channels, 16 and 47, in December 1952; it deferred action on the channel 53 application until Reeves supplied "further information",[3] granting it on January 8, 1953. Two executives from Pittsburgh's only operating TV station, WDTV, left to take up posts with the new WKJF-TV.[4] Officials expected to be on the air within months based on a prior equipment order.[4] The planned spring date was scrapped when a strike at General Electric delayed fabrication of the antenna, to be fastened to WKJF's tower on Mount Washington.[5] It arrived in July,[6] but a dispute over union jurisdiction held up completion of the job.[7]
On July 11, 1953, WKJF-TV put out its first test picture; it was on for five minutes and still elicited a call from a viewer.[8] A regular schedule of test patterns followed [9] Days before launching, the station finally secured network programming in the form of a secondary affiliation with NBC. WDTV continued to enjoy right of first refusal to telecast NBC programs in Pittsburgh, so WKJF-TV would only get those programs not aired by channel 2.[10] On July 28, the station initiated its first test programs beyond a pattern.[11] From studios on Grandview Avenue,[12] WKJF-TV began airing regular programming on August 1, 1953. At the end of August, after an AT&T network loop was completed to the Mount Washington facility, the first NBC shows appeared on the station.[13][14][15] In at least one instance, the station also carried a DuMont Television Network program; WDTV passed over DuMont's Boxing from Eastern Parkway Arena to carry Studio One, so WKJF-TV picked it up.[16]
WKJF-TV was one of two UHF stations to start in Pittsburgh in 1953, the other being WENS on channel 16, which operated at much higher power.[15][17] Further, UHF stations performed poorly in rougher terrain.[18] Though Pittsburgh had only one pre-freeze and very high frequency station, WDTV on channel 2, much of the city could receive a second VHF station, WJAC-TV on channel 6. These stations could be received by any set, unlike WENS and WKJF-TV, which required converters to view on many VHF-only sets.[15] On July 2, 1954, the station left the air indefinitely, expressing hope of returning if Congress did something to alleviate the plight of UHF stations.[19][20] WENS remained on air but struggled to get sponsors despite carrying popular network shows.[21]
A Cleveland mail-order distributor expressed interest in buying WKJF-TV in 1955; he would have renamed the station WDAV and run it for the benefit of disabled veterans.[22] The deal never came to fruition as the owners waited for the UHF situation to change.[23] Rumors circulated that the group putting together Pittsburgh's new VHF station on channel 11 was interested in the property.[24] The WKJF-TV antenna was dismantled in 1962 and replaced with a new FM antenna for the co-located radio station.[25]
On February 12, 1965, the FCC announced that an application was filed to sell the Channel 53 construction permit (now with call letters WAND-TV)[26] from Agnes Jane Reeves Greer to Daniel H. Overmyer for consideration of $28,000, with the FCC granting approval of the sale on July 28, 1965.[27][28][29] Mr. Overmyer was planning a group of UHF stations to be part of the Overmyer Network which was intended to begin programming in 1967.[30] The Pittsburgh station call letters were changed to WECO-TV for one of his daughters, Elizabeth Clark Overmyer.[31][32][33]
Channel 53 remained silent for nearly 15 years, it returned to the air under new owners U.S. Communications Corporation on February 1, 1969, as independent station WPGH-TV.[34][35] It was jointly owned by the U.S. Communications Corporation (a subsidiary of AVC Corporation) station group of Philadelphia holding an 80% interest and the remaining 20% by D.H. Overmyer. Mr. Overmyer had previously sold the majority interest (80%) in his construction permits for stations in Atlanta, Cincinnati, San Francisco, Pittsburgh and Houston to AVC on March 28, 1967, with FCC approval of their sale coming December 8, 1967.[36][37][38][39] None of the stations were on the air at the time of their sale to AVC. U.S. Communications also operated WPHL-TV in Philadelphia, WATL-TV in Atlanta, WXIX-TV in Cincinnati and KEMO-TV (now KOFY-TV) in San Francisco. WPGH-TV signed on from its new studio and transmitter location at 750 Ivory Avenue, just north of the city of Pittsburgh.[40] This location had been the home of another Pittsburgh station, WENS, which went off the air in 1957.[41][42][43] WPGH-TV still broadcasts from this location today.
To overcome the UHF terrain problem that plagued WKJF-TV, WPGH was only the second station to use the most powerful UHF-TV transmitter available at that time, an RCA 110 kW model TTU-110.[44][45][46] Despite excellent signal quality and a well-programmed lineup, financial problems continued to trouble the station, leading U.S. Communications Corporation to take WPGH-TV off the air on August 16, 1971.[47][48][49]
Under technical leadership of chief engineer Robert Boyd, broadcast engineer James G. Miller, and others, the station was repaired and updated in 1973. WPGH-TV was finally back on-air for good on January 14, 1974, after being sold again in December 1973 to Pittsburgh Telecasting, Inc., a company headed by Leon Crosby, who had acquired off-the-air San Francisco station KEMO-TV just two years before.[50] Crosby had been working on the deal for more than a year before the sale was finalized.[51][52][53][54][55][56] Coincidentally, KEMO-TV, like WPGH-TV, had been a U.S. Communications property.[57]
Initially, the station broadcast for 10 hours daily, beginning at around 2 pm. The station gradually added more hours to its programming lineup, broadcasting about 18 hours a day by the end of the decade.
The deep bass and melodious voice of announcer William C. Trushel II was often heard during station identification and other audio spots. It was a typical independent station airing cartoons, off-network sitcoms and dramas, movies, and religious programs.
WPGH-TV also became known for some locally produced programming fare. Using a similar strategy for producing local programs on KEMO-TV, Crosby believed in creative types willing to cross-train and work cheap very early in their careers, and packaged the shows in a way to make them more attractive to advertisers.
Among the more successful programs included a Polka dance show videotaped at the WPGH-TV studios, and attempting to copy the popular Chiller Theatre program on NBC competitor WIIC-TV, it aired Thing Theater; a show produced around B-grade horror movies, hosted by a man calling himself "Scorpio". The show aired on Saturday afternoons until the station began clearing college football games. In its early years, the station also cleared CBS, ABC, and NBC programs that KDKA-TV, WTAE-TV, and WIIC-TV passed on.
The Meredith Corporation purchased WPGH-TV in 1978 and added stronger shows and some first-run syndicated talk shows to the station. It also gradually added more recent off-network sitcoms. With WPTT-TV (channel 22, now WPNT) now in the competition, WPGH-TV put in very high bids for programming and even overpaid for some to prevent shows from ending up on WPTT-TV. That practice, however, caused the station to become unprofitable despite its high ratings. As a result, Meredith put WPGH-TV up for sale in 1985. The Sinclair Broadcast Group (owner of WPTT-TV) put in a bid so it could combine assets and sell WPTT-TV to the Home Shopping Network (HSN). However, it was outbid by Lorimar-Telepictures which took over the station in 1986.
WPGH-TV became Pittsburgh's charter Fox affiliate upon the network's October 9, 1986, launch; the station was sold to Renaissance Broadcasting in 1987 after Lorimar-Telepictures reduced the purchase price from $35 million to $21.5 million.[58] As a Fox affiliate, WPGH-TV continued to receive very high ratings. However, it also continued to overpay for programming, keeping it in the red. It was put up for sale again in 1990, and this time, Sinclair was the successful buyer. However, the group struggled to obtain financing, so it worked out a deal to sell WPTT-TV to its general manager and longtime employee Eddie Edwards. Sinclair took over operations of WPGH-TV through a local marketing agreement (one of the earliest such LMAs to be formed) in the fall of 1991 and moved the best programming on WPTT-TV's schedule to WPGH-TV. The former then became a full-time Home Shopping Network affiliate at midnight on August 30, 1991, with plans of gradually adding entertainment programming.
WPGH-TV had a huge inventory of programming, but with Fox stepping up its programming, it soon ran out of timeslots to run a large amount of it. So beginning on January 6, 1992, WPGH-TV began running shows on WPTT-TV that it lacked the time to run itself. WPGH-TV bought the 3 p.m. to midnight time period on WPTT-TV. That station continued running HSN for fifteen hours a day. In 1993, WPGH-TV programmed WPTT-TV daily from noon to midnight. Beginning in 1995, it controlled the entire day's programming on WPTT-TV, except for a few hours in the overnight. WPGH-TV then added more first-run syndicated talk and reality shows along with recent cartoons, and sitcoms, while WPTT-TV ran older classic sitcoms, cartoons, movies, drama shows, and some recent sitcoms.
In 1998, to coincide with the launch of its news department the year prior, WPGH-TV launched a new logo based around the colors of black and gold to match that of the city's local sports teams. The station, under various forms of the logo, still use it today, and would later be copied by fellow Fox affiliate and sister station WTTEinColumbus, Ohio, who in 2000 adopted a similar logo in a scarlet and gray color scheme to match the Ohio State Buckeyes.
WPGH-TV and WPTT-TV (the latter has changed its call letters to WCWB after gaining the WB affiliation from WNPA, channel 19, now WPKD-TV) moved into the same building in 1997 and eventually became officially co-owned by Sinclair in 2000 after the FCC relaxed its media ownership rules to allow one company to own two television stations in the same market, provided the market has at least eight full-power stations and that one or both of the stations involved in the duopoly are not among the four highest-rated.
By 2002, WPGH-TV was no longer running cartoons after the Fox Kids weekday lineup was discontinued around the country. It focused now on court shows, talk shows, reality shows, and off-network sitcoms along with Fox programming. Until 2007, the station served as the de facto affiliate for the Wheeling, West Virginia/Steubenville, Ohio market. Although it is still carried on area cable systems, CBS affiliate WTRF-TV added a primary Fox and secondary MyNetworkTV affiliation on a new digital subchannel; sister station WTOV-TV later acquired the Fox affiliation for their second subchannel in 2014. It can also be seen in some parts of the Clarksburg/Weston/Morgantown, West Virginia market, even though that area is served by WVFX.
On May 15, 2012, Sinclair Broadcast Group and Fox agreed to a five-year extension to the network's affiliation agreement with Sinclair's 19 Fox stations, including WPGH-TV, allowing them to continue carrying Fox programming through 2017.[59]
Since acquiring the rights to the NFL's NFC broadcasts in 1994, WPGH-TV normally airs two Pittsburgh Steelers games each season (when they host an NFC team at Acrisure Stadium). A change in the NFL broadcasting contracts for the 2014 NFL season allowing cross-network flex-scheduling allows WPGH-TV the opportunity to broadcast more Steelers games, but as of 2017, the NFL has not yet cross-flexed a Steelers game from CBS (KDKA-TV, in turn) to Fox (and to WPGH, in turn). The Steelers' 2018 Sunday night matchup with the Oakland Raiders, however, was flexed out into the afternoon and will air on Fox, giving WPGH-TV its first all-AFC Steelers matchup.[60]
Under Meredith ownership, WPGH-TV aired locally produced newscasts anchored by Tom Peterson, Mavis Logan, Tim Sohier and others, with varying degrees of success. One such show, Good Day Pittsburgh, aired with a similar format to that of contemporary show Pittsburgh 2Day on KDKA-TV. Some of the staff were alumni of WYTV in nearby Youngstown, Ohio. The newscasts would remain in some form until Sinclair acquired the station and eliminated the news department.[61]
Under Sinclair ownership, WPGH-TV established a news department on January 28, 1997, with the debut of a nightly prime time newscast called the Fox 53 Ten O'Clock News.[62] This program was launched to compete with NBC affiliate WPXI's Pittsburgh Cable News Channel (PCNC), which also offered a 10 p.m. news broadcast in that timeslot. In August 2001, UPN affiliate WNPA launched Pittsburgh's third 10 p.m. newscast, produced by CBS station KDKA-TV.
Sinclair downsized and converted WPGH-TV's news operation into its centralized News Central production on April 21, 2003.[63][64] As a result, the station's weather department was shut down. National news headlines, weather forecasts, and some sports segments originated from Sinclair's corporate headquarters on Beaver Dam Road in Hunt Valley, Maryland. However, local news and sports segments remained based at WPGH-TV's studios.
On January 12, 2006, WPGH-TV shuttered its in-house news department and entered into a news share agreement with WPXI-TV (owned by Cox Media Group) to take over production of the prime time newscast on WPGH. Essentially, PCNC's 10 p.m. show moved over to WPGH-TV.[65] All of WPGH-TV's locally based news staff, except for sportscaster Alby Oxenreiter (who was eventually hired by WPXI full-time), were laid off as a result. The news share agreement with WPXI resulted in WPGH-TV becoming the largest Fox station by market size that outsources its local news programming in lieu of producing its own newscasts; it's also the second largest "Big Four" affiliate (after WPGH-TV's sister station KDNL-TVinSt. Louis) that doesn't produce its own newscasts. Channel 11 News on Fox 53 at 10 debuted just over two weeks later on January 30, 2006; the program originates from WPXI's studios on Evergreen Road in Pittsburgh's Summer Hill neighborhood, next to the US 19 Truck/I-279 interchange. It airs Sunday through Friday nights for 45 minutes, followed by a fifteen-minute sports highlight show called Ox on Fox Sports Extra (hosted by Alby Oxenreiter). On Saturdays, the newscast is 30 minutes long. On October 6, 2007, WPXI began broadcasting its local newscasts in high definition, the WPGH-TV shows were included in the upgrade.
Unlike other Sinclair-owned stations with outsourced newscasts, WPGH-TV is permitted to air Sinclair's must-run programming as part of the newscasts, but must air them after the WPXI-produced newscast with a brief disclaimer stating that the editorials are from Sinclair and not WPXI; as a result, WPGH does not air Sinclair's must-runs, though it does air other political programming from Sinclair in prime time during election years due to Pennsylvania's status as a swing state.[66] Because WPGH-TV no longer operates its own news department, Pittsburgh is not available as a local option for Sinclair's streaming service Stirr, defaulting to WJLA-TV in Washington, D.C., though neighboring WJAC-TV and WTOV-TV are available as alternate options.
Since August 2016, the WPXI newscasts have been repeated at midnight on sister WPNT.[67]
On January 18, 2021, WPGH-TV began airing the Sinclair-produced The National Desk, a national morning news program similar in format to Nexstar Media Group's NewsNation in that it sources its news from local stations within Sinclair. None of Sinclair's must-run editorials will air during The National Desk.[68]
On March 14, 2022, Channel 11 News on Fox 53 at 6:30 debuted, replacing a second hour of You Bet Your Life with Jay Leno.[69]
On January 8, 2024, Channel 11 Morning News on Fox 53 debuted at 7 am, replacing one hour of The National Desk.
The station's signal is multiplexed:
| Channel | Res. | Aspect | Short name | Programming |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 53.1 | 720p | 16:9 | FOX | Fox |
| 53.2 | 480i | Antenna | Antenna TV | |
| 53.3 | Charge! | Charge! | ||
| 22.1 | 720p | 16:9 | MyTV | The CW/MyNetworkTV (WPNT) |
Along with all Sinclair-owned stations, WPGH-TV shut down its analog signal, over UHF channel 53, on February 17, 2009, the original date on which full-power television stations in the United States were to transition from analog to digital broadcasts under federal mandate (the deadline was later extended to June 12). The station's digital signal continued to broadcast on its pre-transition UHF channel 43,[71][72] using virtual channel 53. It was one of three stations in Pittsburgh to discontinue normal programming on their analog signals on the original transition date, alongside sister station WPNT and then-WQED-owned WQEX (now WINP-TV).
As part of the SAFER Act,[73] WPGH-TV and WPNT kept their analog signals on the air until March 19 to inform viewers of the digital television transition through a loop of public service announcements from the National Association of Broadcasters. Due to the early sign-off, this made WPGH-TV one of the only stations broadcasting among channels 52–69 participating in the SAFER Act as that part of the spectrum would be removed from broadcasting use immediately after June 12 to be freed up for other uses.
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