| |
|---|---|
| Channels | |
| Programming | |
| Affiliations | ABC,DuMont |
| Ownership | |
| Owner |
|
| WEEX,WEEX-FM | |
| History | |
First air date | August 14, 1953 (1953-08-14) |
Last air date | October 31, 1957 (1957-10-31) |
| Technical information | |
| ERP | 100 kW[1] |
| HAAT | 1,063 feet (324 m) |
| Transmitter coordinates | 40°37′35″N75°15′19″W / 40.62639°N 75.25528°W /40.62639; -75.25528 |
WGLV (channel 57) was atelevision station inEaston, Pennsylvania, United States, which operated from August 1953 to October 1957. It was owned by the Easton Publishing Company, publisher of theEaston Express newspaper, and broadcast programming fromABC and theDuMont Television Network. It was the second station in theLehigh Valley, which at one point had three localUHF outlets. However, largely due to power increases from competingvery high frequency (VHF) stations in Philadelphia and New York City, WGLV left the air on October 31, 1957.
When theFederal Communications Commission (FCC) ended its four-year freeze on television stations in 1952 and established the UHF band for television broadcasting, theLehigh Valley received four channel allotments: two inAllentown, one inBethlehem, and channel 57 in Easton.[2] A preexisting application by Easton Publishing, which had specified channel 8,[3] was amended after the freeze to specify channel 57.[4] The commission granted aconstruction permit to the company on December 18, 1952.[5]
Construction took place in the early part of 1953. In addition to securing affiliation with ABC and DuMont,[6] work took place to erect a transmitter building and interim studio on Gaffney Hill inWilliams Township. WGLV promised stronger signals than those put into the area by thevery high frequency (VHF) stations in Philadelphia, as well as regional news coverage.[3] The first day of telecasting was August 14, 1953.[7] Two days prior, in a demonstration staged byDuMont Laboratories, journalists saw WGLV-TV pictures on a set in the upper floors of theEmpire State Building in New York City.[8]
WGLV moved its studios from Gaffney Hill to a former school building, dubbed "Television Center", in January 1955.[9]
October 31, 1957, marked the end of an era in Lehigh Valley television. Within 24 hours of each other, NBC affiliateWLEV-TV inBethlehem and WGLV both received permission to go silent, and both did so on the same night.[10] WGLV declared that FCC policies had made UHF survival unworkable in the market, particularly after the commission granted power and coverage increases to existing VHF stations in the region; this came even thoughVariety called WGLV "one of the best equipped U[HF] stations in the country".[11] The former studio building was sold to two Easton doctors in 1959.[12]