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WGTW-TV AI simulator
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Hub AI
WGTW-TV AI simulator
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WGTW-TV
WGTW-TV (channel 48) is a television station licensed to Millville, New Jersey, United States, owned and operated by the Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN). It previously served the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, television market, but can now only be received over-the-air in Southern New Jersey. The station's transmitter is shared with True Crime Network affiliate WMGM-TV (channel 40) and is located along Avalon Boulevard in the Swainton section of Middle Township, New Jersey.
Channel 48 was originally allocated to Burlington, New Jersey, and was used by WKBS-TV from 1965 to 1983. That independent station folded in 1983 as a result of the dissolution of its owner, Field Communications. Nearly immediately, applicants filed to the Federal Communications Commission to build a new station on the channel; in 1986, the FCC selected Black radio station owner Dorothy Brunson. Appeals and delays in securing financing delayed the station's start until August 1992. It broadcast primarily older movies and sitcoms as well as some local programs; it ran on a limited budget compared to similar stations in the market.
TBN acquired WGTW-TV from Brunson in 2004. It continued to maintain a physical presence in the Philadelphia area for another 15 years, most of that time from a studio in Folcroft, Pennsylvania. In the 2017 incentive auction, TBN sold the station's spectrum; it began sharing the channel of WMGM-TV, requiring a city of license change and removing its signal from most of the Philadelphia metro area.
The channel 48 allocation, which had been located at Burlington, New Jersey, until 2017, was first occupied by WKBS-TV, an independent station founded by Kaiser Broadcasting that broadcast from September 1965 to August 1983. For years, WKBS-TV was a popular independent station, but it began to lose market share to WTAF-TV (channel 29, now WTXF-TV) and WPHL-TV (channel 17) by the early 1980s. WKBS-TV's final owner Field Communications, which was in the process of being broken up due to disagreements among its controlling family, could not find a buyer and opted to surrender the station's license and liquidate the station's assets in lieu of selling WKBS-TV as a going concern, even though it still turned a profit.
With WKBS-TV having surrendered its license, the doors were open for applicants to file to build a new station on the channel. The major-market allocation attracted intense interest, with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) designating 11 bids for comparative hearing in 1984. Bidders included Cornerstone Television, a Christian broadcaster from Pittsburgh; Dorothy Brunson, a Black radio executive and station owner from Baltimore; and BCT Communications, which included former CBS president Arthur R. Taylor. The Spanish International Network, which also applied, was ruled to already be at the FCC's seven-station limit.
By the time the hearing began in October, the field had thinned to seven, which had attempted to reach a settlement but failed in doing so. The independent market also rapidly shifted, with the relaunch of two subscription television outlets into general-entertainment independents while hearing was underway: WGBS-TV (channel 57, now WPSG) and Vineland, New Jersey–based WSJT-TV (channel 65, now WUVP-DT). This prompted two bidders—BCT and Burlington TV—to take an offer from competing Adelphi Broadcasting, a women-owned firm, and drop out in late 1985.
While Adelphi was seen as the frontrunner, FCC administrative law judge Joseph Chachkin disagreed. Calling its corporate structure "clearly a sham" for the way Black ownership interests were structured—and dismissing another applicant on similar grounds—he selected the Brunson application in February 1986. Brunson committed to selling her three radio stations to move to Burlington and build channel 48.
Nearly immediately, two losing applicants appealed the Brunson initial decision to the FCC. The commission upheld the decision in early 1987; the last appeals stretched until 1990, when the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear the case. In 1989, Brunson purchased a facility on North Broad Street; it had been heavily vandalized and required extensive work to be refitted for use. To raise capital, she liquidated the radio stations she owned. Brunson struggled to get lenders to take her seriously; in 1998, she told The Philadelphia Tribune, "They blamed not lending money on inexperience. Now I'm not a rocket scientist, but I know the real reason was that they hadn't seen anything like me before and were scared to take a chance."
WGTW-TV
WGTW-TV (channel 48) is a television station licensed to Millville, New Jersey, United States, owned and operated by the Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN). It previously served the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, television market, but can now only be received over-the-air in Southern New Jersey. The station's transmitter is shared with True Crime Network affiliate WMGM-TV (channel 40) and is located along Avalon Boulevard in the Swainton section of Middle Township, New Jersey.
Channel 48 was originally allocated to Burlington, New Jersey, and was used by WKBS-TV from 1965 to 1983. That independent station folded in 1983 as a result of the dissolution of its owner, Field Communications. Nearly immediately, applicants filed to the Federal Communications Commission to build a new station on the channel; in 1986, the FCC selected Black radio station owner Dorothy Brunson. Appeals and delays in securing financing delayed the station's start until August 1992. It broadcast primarily older movies and sitcoms as well as some local programs; it ran on a limited budget compared to similar stations in the market.
TBN acquired WGTW-TV from Brunson in 2004. It continued to maintain a physical presence in the Philadelphia area for another 15 years, most of that time from a studio in Folcroft, Pennsylvania. In the 2017 incentive auction, TBN sold the station's spectrum; it began sharing the channel of WMGM-TV, requiring a city of license change and removing its signal from most of the Philadelphia metro area.
The channel 48 allocation, which had been located at Burlington, New Jersey, until 2017, was first occupied by WKBS-TV, an independent station founded by Kaiser Broadcasting that broadcast from September 1965 to August 1983. For years, WKBS-TV was a popular independent station, but it began to lose market share to WTAF-TV (channel 29, now WTXF-TV) and WPHL-TV (channel 17) by the early 1980s. WKBS-TV's final owner Field Communications, which was in the process of being broken up due to disagreements among its controlling family, could not find a buyer and opted to surrender the station's license and liquidate the station's assets in lieu of selling WKBS-TV as a going concern, even though it still turned a profit.
With WKBS-TV having surrendered its license, the doors were open for applicants to file to build a new station on the channel. The major-market allocation attracted intense interest, with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) designating 11 bids for comparative hearing in 1984. Bidders included Cornerstone Television, a Christian broadcaster from Pittsburgh; Dorothy Brunson, a Black radio executive and station owner from Baltimore; and BCT Communications, which included former CBS president Arthur R. Taylor. The Spanish International Network, which also applied, was ruled to already be at the FCC's seven-station limit.
By the time the hearing began in October, the field had thinned to seven, which had attempted to reach a settlement but failed in doing so. The independent market also rapidly shifted, with the relaunch of two subscription television outlets into general-entertainment independents while hearing was underway: WGBS-TV (channel 57, now WPSG) and Vineland, New Jersey–based WSJT-TV (channel 65, now WUVP-DT). This prompted two bidders—BCT and Burlington TV—to take an offer from competing Adelphi Broadcasting, a women-owned firm, and drop out in late 1985.
While Adelphi was seen as the frontrunner, FCC administrative law judge Joseph Chachkin disagreed. Calling its corporate structure "clearly a sham" for the way Black ownership interests were structured—and dismissing another applicant on similar grounds—he selected the Brunson application in February 1986. Brunson committed to selling her three radio stations to move to Burlington and build channel 48.
Nearly immediately, two losing applicants appealed the Brunson initial decision to the FCC. The commission upheld the decision in early 1987; the last appeals stretched until 1990, when the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear the case. In 1989, Brunson purchased a facility on North Broad Street; it had been heavily vandalized and required extensive work to be refitted for use. To raise capital, she liquidated the radio stations she owned. Brunson struggled to get lenders to take her seriously; in 1998, she told The Philadelphia Tribune, "They blamed not lending money on inexperience. Now I'm not a rocket scientist, but I know the real reason was that they hadn't seen anything like me before and were scared to take a chance."