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WNYW
WNYW (channel 5) is a television station in New York City. It is the flagship station of the Fox television network, owned and operated through its Fox Television Stations division. Under common ownership with Secaucus, New Jersey–licensed MyNetworkTV flagship WWOR-TV (channel 9), the two stations share studios at the Fox Television Center on East 67th Street in Manhattan's Lenox Hill neighborhood; WNYW's transmitter is located at One World Trade Center.
The station traces its history to 1938, when television set and equipment manufacturer Allen B. DuMont founded experimental station W2XVT in Passaic, New Jersey. That station's call sign was changed to W2XWV when it moved to Manhattan in 1940. On May 2, 1944, the station received its commercial license, the third in New York City and fifth overall in the United States. It began broadcasting on VHF channel 4 as WABD with its call sign made up of DuMont's initials. It was one of the few television stations that continued to broadcast during World War II, making it the fifth-oldest continuously broadcasting commercial station in the United States (after WNBT/WRCA/WNBC, WCBW/WCBS-TV, WPTZ/WRCV/KYW, and WRGB). The station originally had its studios in the DuMont Building at 515 Madison Avenue, with its transmitter tower atop the same building. (The original tower, long abandoned by the station, still remains.) On December 17, 1945, WABD moved to channel 5. WNBT (now WNBC) took over channel 4 the following spring, moving from channel 1, which the FCC was de-allocating from the VHF TV broadcast band. The series Here's How first aired on WABD in 1946.
Soon after channel 5 received its commercial license, DuMont Laboratories began a series of experimental coaxial cable hookups between WABD and W3XWT (now WTTG), a DuMont-owned experimental station in Washington, D.C. These hookups were the beginning of the DuMont Television Network, the world's first licensed commercial television network. (However, NBC was feeding a few programs and special events from its New York station WNBT to outlets in Philadelphia and Schenectady as early as 1940.) DuMont began regular network service in 1946 with WABD as the flagship station. On June 14, 1954, WABD and DuMont moved into the $5 million DuMont Tele-Centre at 205 East 67th Street in Manhattan's Lenox Hill neighborhood, inside the shell of the space formerly occupied by Jacob Ruppert's Central Opera House. Channel 5 is still headquartered in the same building, which was later renamed the Metromedia TeleCenter, and is now known as the Fox Television Center.
By February 1955, DuMont realized it could not continue in network television. In most cities around the U.S., NBC and CBS had secured affiliations with the top TV stations, making it difficult for DuMont shows to develop an audience and attract advertising dollars. DuMont decided to shut down the network's operations and run WABD and Washington station WTTG as independent stations. DuMont had previously sold WDTV in Pittsburgh to the locally based Westinghouse Electric Corporation, arguably hastening DuMont's demise. WABD thus became the New York market's fourth independent station, alongside WOR-TV (channel 9), WPIX (channel 11) and Newark-licensed WATV (channel 13).
After DuMont wound down network operations in August 1955, DuMont Laboratories spun off WABD and WTTG into a new firm, the DuMont Broadcasting Corporation. Channel 5 gained a sister station in 1957, when DuMont purchased WNEW (1130 AM, now WBBR) in April of that year. The deal also included a Federal Communications Commission (FCC) construction permit for an FM radio station, which went on the air as 102.7 WNEW-FM when it began operations in August 1958.
In May 1958, DuMont Broadcasting changed its name to the Metropolitan Broadcasting Corporation to distinguish itself from its former corporate parent. Four months later, on September 7, 1958, WABD's call letters were changed to WNEW-TV to match its radio sisters. The final major corporate transaction involving the station during 1958 occurred in December. Washington-based investor John Kluge acquired Paramount Pictures' controlling interest in Metropolitan Broadcasting and appointed himself as the company's chairman. Metropolitan Broadcasting began expanding its holdings across the United States, and changed its corporate name to Metromedia in 1961. However, the Metropolitan Broadcasting name was retained for Metromedia's TV and radio station properties until 1967.
In the early 1960s, WNEW-TV was a leader in producing local children's shows. They included Romper Room (until 1966, when it moved to WOR-TV), The Sandy Becker Show and The Sonny Fox Show, which was later known as Wonderama. Bob McAllister took over hosting Wonderama in 1967 and by 1970 it was syndicated to the other Metromedia stations. WNEW-TV also originated The Jerry Lewis MDA Labor Day Telethon in 1966, and broadcast the program annually until 1986 when it moved to future sister station WWOR-TV, where it aired through 2012. In the early 1960s, the educational series Columbia Lectures in International Studies was shown on early weekday mornings, before Sandy Becker, and was distributed to other Metromedia stations. The station also aired cultural programs such as Festival of the Performing Arts. However, the station's prime time schedule during those years was dominated by reruns of recently concluded crime dramas such as Peter Gunn, Outlaws, and the 1950s edition of Dragnet, bringing the station some criticism for overly violent programming. In the 1970s, and early 1980s, local programming also included a weekly public affairs show hosted by Gabe Pressman, the New York edition of PM Magazine, and Midday Live, a daily talk/information show hosted by Lee Leonard, and later by Bill Boggs. The station also carried movies, cartoons, off-network sitcoms, drama series and a prime time nightly newscast at 10 p.m.
By the 1970s, channel 5 was one of the strongest independent stations in the country. Despite WOR-TV's and WPIX's eventual status as national superstations, WNEW-TV was the highest-rated independent in New York. From the early 1970s to the late 1980s, channel 5 was available as a regional superstation in large portions of the Northeastern United States, including most of Upstate New York, and sections of eastern Pennsylvania and southern New England.
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WNYW
WNYW (channel 5) is a television station in New York City. It is the flagship station of the Fox television network, owned and operated through its Fox Television Stations division. Under common ownership with Secaucus, New Jersey–licensed MyNetworkTV flagship WWOR-TV (channel 9), the two stations share studios at the Fox Television Center on East 67th Street in Manhattan's Lenox Hill neighborhood; WNYW's transmitter is located at One World Trade Center.
The station traces its history to 1938, when television set and equipment manufacturer Allen B. DuMont founded experimental station W2XVT in Passaic, New Jersey. That station's call sign was changed to W2XWV when it moved to Manhattan in 1940. On May 2, 1944, the station received its commercial license, the third in New York City and fifth overall in the United States. It began broadcasting on VHF channel 4 as WABD with its call sign made up of DuMont's initials. It was one of the few television stations that continued to broadcast during World War II, making it the fifth-oldest continuously broadcasting commercial station in the United States (after WNBT/WRCA/WNBC, WCBW/WCBS-TV, WPTZ/WRCV/KYW, and WRGB). The station originally had its studios in the DuMont Building at 515 Madison Avenue, with its transmitter tower atop the same building. (The original tower, long abandoned by the station, still remains.) On December 17, 1945, WABD moved to channel 5. WNBT (now WNBC) took over channel 4 the following spring, moving from channel 1, which the FCC was de-allocating from the VHF TV broadcast band. The series Here's How first aired on WABD in 1946.
Soon after channel 5 received its commercial license, DuMont Laboratories began a series of experimental coaxial cable hookups between WABD and W3XWT (now WTTG), a DuMont-owned experimental station in Washington, D.C. These hookups were the beginning of the DuMont Television Network, the world's first licensed commercial television network. (However, NBC was feeding a few programs and special events from its New York station WNBT to outlets in Philadelphia and Schenectady as early as 1940.) DuMont began regular network service in 1946 with WABD as the flagship station. On June 14, 1954, WABD and DuMont moved into the $5 million DuMont Tele-Centre at 205 East 67th Street in Manhattan's Lenox Hill neighborhood, inside the shell of the space formerly occupied by Jacob Ruppert's Central Opera House. Channel 5 is still headquartered in the same building, which was later renamed the Metromedia TeleCenter, and is now known as the Fox Television Center.
By February 1955, DuMont realized it could not continue in network television. In most cities around the U.S., NBC and CBS had secured affiliations with the top TV stations, making it difficult for DuMont shows to develop an audience and attract advertising dollars. DuMont decided to shut down the network's operations and run WABD and Washington station WTTG as independent stations. DuMont had previously sold WDTV in Pittsburgh to the locally based Westinghouse Electric Corporation, arguably hastening DuMont's demise. WABD thus became the New York market's fourth independent station, alongside WOR-TV (channel 9), WPIX (channel 11) and Newark-licensed WATV (channel 13).
After DuMont wound down network operations in August 1955, DuMont Laboratories spun off WABD and WTTG into a new firm, the DuMont Broadcasting Corporation. Channel 5 gained a sister station in 1957, when DuMont purchased WNEW (1130 AM, now WBBR) in April of that year. The deal also included a Federal Communications Commission (FCC) construction permit for an FM radio station, which went on the air as 102.7 WNEW-FM when it began operations in August 1958.
In May 1958, DuMont Broadcasting changed its name to the Metropolitan Broadcasting Corporation to distinguish itself from its former corporate parent. Four months later, on September 7, 1958, WABD's call letters were changed to WNEW-TV to match its radio sisters. The final major corporate transaction involving the station during 1958 occurred in December. Washington-based investor John Kluge acquired Paramount Pictures' controlling interest in Metropolitan Broadcasting and appointed himself as the company's chairman. Metropolitan Broadcasting began expanding its holdings across the United States, and changed its corporate name to Metromedia in 1961. However, the Metropolitan Broadcasting name was retained for Metromedia's TV and radio station properties until 1967.
In the early 1960s, WNEW-TV was a leader in producing local children's shows. They included Romper Room (until 1966, when it moved to WOR-TV), The Sandy Becker Show and The Sonny Fox Show, which was later known as Wonderama. Bob McAllister took over hosting Wonderama in 1967 and by 1970 it was syndicated to the other Metromedia stations. WNEW-TV also originated The Jerry Lewis MDA Labor Day Telethon in 1966, and broadcast the program annually until 1986 when it moved to future sister station WWOR-TV, where it aired through 2012. In the early 1960s, the educational series Columbia Lectures in International Studies was shown on early weekday mornings, before Sandy Becker, and was distributed to other Metromedia stations. The station also aired cultural programs such as Festival of the Performing Arts. However, the station's prime time schedule during those years was dominated by reruns of recently concluded crime dramas such as Peter Gunn, Outlaws, and the 1950s edition of Dragnet, bringing the station some criticism for overly violent programming. In the 1970s, and early 1980s, local programming also included a weekly public affairs show hosted by Gabe Pressman, the New York edition of PM Magazine, and Midday Live, a daily talk/information show hosted by Lee Leonard, and later by Bill Boggs. The station also carried movies, cartoons, off-network sitcoms, drama series and a prime time nightly newscast at 10 p.m.
By the 1970s, channel 5 was one of the strongest independent stations in the country. Despite WOR-TV's and WPIX's eventual status as national superstations, WNEW-TV was the highest-rated independent in New York. From the early 1970s to the late 1980s, channel 5 was available as a regional superstation in large portions of the Northeastern United States, including most of Upstate New York, and sections of eastern Pennsylvania and southern New England.