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WUVN
WUVN (channel 18) is a television station in Hartford, Connecticut, United States, affiliated with the Spanish-language network Univision. It is owned by Entravision Communications alongside low-power UniMás affiliate WUTH-CD (channel 47). The two stations share studios at Constitution Plaza in downtown Hartford and transmitter facilities on Birch Mountain Road in Glastonbury, Connecticut. WUVN's Univision programming is also broadcast on WHTX-LD (channel 43) in Springfield, Massachusetts, from a transmitter on Provin Mountain in Agawam.
Channel 18 is Hartford's oldest television station. It began broadcasting on September 25, 1954, as WGTH-TV, a joint venture of The Hartford Times newspaper and General Teleradio. The station was an affiliate of ABC and the DuMont Television Network and operated from studios on Asylum Street. As with many ultra high frequency (UHF) stations of its day, it was at an economic disadvantage to very high frequency (VHF) stations; however, Hartford's VHF channel 3 was tied up in hearings. In 1955, CBS announced its intention to purchase channel 18; the station became a CBS affiliate later that year, and the deal closed in September 1956, at which time the call letters were changed to WHCT. Two years later, CBS—citing potential injury to the network if it did not do so—opted to close down WHCT and affiliate with the VHF station, WTIC-TV (channel 3). The station was off the air for two months before returning as an independent station in 1959.
In 1960, RKO General acquired WHCT, primarily for use as a test bed for subscription television technology, then hotly debated nationally. From June 1962 to January 1969, WHCT was the nation's first subscription TV station. It offered commercial programming receivable on all sets during the day; at night, it presented scrambled programs, including movies and sporting events, only receivable with decoders in the homes of paying customers. RKO General used the Phonevision system by Zenith Radio Corporation; when the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) authorized pay TV nationally, it stipulated that the programs offered were in color, which Phonevision could not do. RKO General ceased the subscription programming and ran channel 18 as a full-time commercial independent. It investigated a power increase but ran into the issue that a high-power WHCT would overlap impermissibly with the stations it owned in New York and Boston. RKO General attempted to sell the station but found no takers.
As a result, RKO donated the station to Faith Center, a California Christian church and television ministry. Faith Center investigated changes but ran into opposition from neighbors to new tower construction as well as its own financial difficulties. After Gene Scott became the pastor of Faith Center, the church took a hardline stance that it should not have to pay taxes, even though it was not tax-exempt; its refusal to pay taxes led to the temporary seizure of its transmitter site on two occasions. Under Scott's administration, the station's equipment and capabilities broke down, and by the early 1980s, its programming consisted of a still shot of Scott with audio of his speeches. An FCC investigation of Faith Center's practices led to years of attempts to sell the station under a distress sale policy that permitted below-market-value sales of legally troubled stations to minority-controlled groups.
On the third try, Faith Center was successful in proposing Astroline Communications, a Hispanic-controlled partnership, as the buyer. The station was off the air from January to September 1985 and returned as the market's third independent. WTXX and WTIC-TV (channel 61) were already established, and channel 18 was stuck in third place with less attractive programming outside of sports broadcasts. Alan Shurberg, a computer consultant who wanted to run channel 18 himself, protested Astroline's qualifications and the distress sale policy in a case that reached the Supreme Court as Metro Broadcasting, Inc. v. FCC in 1990; the justices upheld the distress sale policy. The legal battles sapped an already drained station; it filed for bankruptcy reorganization in 1988, and the case was converted to a liquidation in 1991, forcing channel 18 off the air. The trustee identified a buyer, but Shurberg challenged the minority qualifications of Astroline itself, resulting in the FCC calling an evidentiary hearing on the matter in 1997. In order to meet new federal regulations, the station returned to the air that year and broadcast infomercial and home shopping programming.
Entravision brought the long-running proceeding to an end in 2000 by settling the case for a total of $18 million and becoming the new buyer. On April 1, 2001, WHCT became WUVN, an affiliate of Univision; two years later, Entravision began producing a regional newscast for its Boston and Hartford stations. Entravision sold the station's spectrum for $125 million in 2017; as a result, WUVN is broadcast by the low-power WUTH-CD with a signal largely confined to the Hartford area.
On April 14, 1952, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) ended a multi-year freeze on new television station assignments and allocated two channels to Hartford: very high frequency (VHF) channel 3 and ultra high frequency (UHF) channel 18. The first applicant for the channel was The Hartford Times, the city's afternoon newspaper and owner of radio station WTHT, the youngest of Hartford's major radio stations. The second group to apply was Hartford radio station WONS, owned by the General Tele-Radio Corporation and the city's Mutual Broadcasting System and Yankee Network outlet. WONS had been interested in television since 1947, when it applied for channel 3, at the time allocated to Springfield, Massachusetts; when channel 3 was reassigned to Hartford, the WONS application was dismissed. General Tele-Radio exercised an option on land on Avon Mountain. By September 1953, the FCC was ready to set up the hearings to determine winning applicants for channels 3 and 18.
On October 20, 1953, WTHT and WONS announced they were merging their radio and television stations, clearing the way for channel 18 to be awarded to the new General-Times Television Corporation, owned 55 percent by General Tele-Radio. Consequently, on February 15, 1954, WTHT left the air; its programming and ABC was merged with WONS to become WGTH on February 13, 1954. Channel 18 obtained affiliation with ABC and the DuMont Television Network; it was the 200th affiliate of ABC. In Avon, the FM antenna of the former WONS-FM was removed to make way for a new antenna to broadcast channel 18 on the same tower.
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WUVN
WUVN (channel 18) is a television station in Hartford, Connecticut, United States, affiliated with the Spanish-language network Univision. It is owned by Entravision Communications alongside low-power UniMás affiliate WUTH-CD (channel 47). The two stations share studios at Constitution Plaza in downtown Hartford and transmitter facilities on Birch Mountain Road in Glastonbury, Connecticut. WUVN's Univision programming is also broadcast on WHTX-LD (channel 43) in Springfield, Massachusetts, from a transmitter on Provin Mountain in Agawam.
Channel 18 is Hartford's oldest television station. It began broadcasting on September 25, 1954, as WGTH-TV, a joint venture of The Hartford Times newspaper and General Teleradio. The station was an affiliate of ABC and the DuMont Television Network and operated from studios on Asylum Street. As with many ultra high frequency (UHF) stations of its day, it was at an economic disadvantage to very high frequency (VHF) stations; however, Hartford's VHF channel 3 was tied up in hearings. In 1955, CBS announced its intention to purchase channel 18; the station became a CBS affiliate later that year, and the deal closed in September 1956, at which time the call letters were changed to WHCT. Two years later, CBS—citing potential injury to the network if it did not do so—opted to close down WHCT and affiliate with the VHF station, WTIC-TV (channel 3). The station was off the air for two months before returning as an independent station in 1959.
In 1960, RKO General acquired WHCT, primarily for use as a test bed for subscription television technology, then hotly debated nationally. From June 1962 to January 1969, WHCT was the nation's first subscription TV station. It offered commercial programming receivable on all sets during the day; at night, it presented scrambled programs, including movies and sporting events, only receivable with decoders in the homes of paying customers. RKO General used the Phonevision system by Zenith Radio Corporation; when the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) authorized pay TV nationally, it stipulated that the programs offered were in color, which Phonevision could not do. RKO General ceased the subscription programming and ran channel 18 as a full-time commercial independent. It investigated a power increase but ran into the issue that a high-power WHCT would overlap impermissibly with the stations it owned in New York and Boston. RKO General attempted to sell the station but found no takers.
As a result, RKO donated the station to Faith Center, a California Christian church and television ministry. Faith Center investigated changes but ran into opposition from neighbors to new tower construction as well as its own financial difficulties. After Gene Scott became the pastor of Faith Center, the church took a hardline stance that it should not have to pay taxes, even though it was not tax-exempt; its refusal to pay taxes led to the temporary seizure of its transmitter site on two occasions. Under Scott's administration, the station's equipment and capabilities broke down, and by the early 1980s, its programming consisted of a still shot of Scott with audio of his speeches. An FCC investigation of Faith Center's practices led to years of attempts to sell the station under a distress sale policy that permitted below-market-value sales of legally troubled stations to minority-controlled groups.
On the third try, Faith Center was successful in proposing Astroline Communications, a Hispanic-controlled partnership, as the buyer. The station was off the air from January to September 1985 and returned as the market's third independent. WTXX and WTIC-TV (channel 61) were already established, and channel 18 was stuck in third place with less attractive programming outside of sports broadcasts. Alan Shurberg, a computer consultant who wanted to run channel 18 himself, protested Astroline's qualifications and the distress sale policy in a case that reached the Supreme Court as Metro Broadcasting, Inc. v. FCC in 1990; the justices upheld the distress sale policy. The legal battles sapped an already drained station; it filed for bankruptcy reorganization in 1988, and the case was converted to a liquidation in 1991, forcing channel 18 off the air. The trustee identified a buyer, but Shurberg challenged the minority qualifications of Astroline itself, resulting in the FCC calling an evidentiary hearing on the matter in 1997. In order to meet new federal regulations, the station returned to the air that year and broadcast infomercial and home shopping programming.
Entravision brought the long-running proceeding to an end in 2000 by settling the case for a total of $18 million and becoming the new buyer. On April 1, 2001, WHCT became WUVN, an affiliate of Univision; two years later, Entravision began producing a regional newscast for its Boston and Hartford stations. Entravision sold the station's spectrum for $125 million in 2017; as a result, WUVN is broadcast by the low-power WUTH-CD with a signal largely confined to the Hartford area.
On April 14, 1952, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) ended a multi-year freeze on new television station assignments and allocated two channels to Hartford: very high frequency (VHF) channel 3 and ultra high frequency (UHF) channel 18. The first applicant for the channel was The Hartford Times, the city's afternoon newspaper and owner of radio station WTHT, the youngest of Hartford's major radio stations. The second group to apply was Hartford radio station WONS, owned by the General Tele-Radio Corporation and the city's Mutual Broadcasting System and Yankee Network outlet. WONS had been interested in television since 1947, when it applied for channel 3, at the time allocated to Springfield, Massachusetts; when channel 3 was reassigned to Hartford, the WONS application was dismissed. General Tele-Radio exercised an option on land on Avon Mountain. By September 1953, the FCC was ready to set up the hearings to determine winning applicants for channels 3 and 18.
On October 20, 1953, WTHT and WONS announced they were merging their radio and television stations, clearing the way for channel 18 to be awarded to the new General-Times Television Corporation, owned 55 percent by General Tele-Radio. Consequently, on February 15, 1954, WTHT left the air; its programming and ABC was merged with WONS to become WGTH on February 13, 1954. Channel 18 obtained affiliation with ABC and the DuMont Television Network; it was the 200th affiliate of ABC. In Avon, the FM antenna of the former WONS-FM was removed to make way for a new antenna to broadcast channel 18 on the same tower.