EPISODE · Feb 5, 2024 · 22 MIN
THE QUEENS NEW YORKER EPISODE 253: WWOR-TV CHANNEL 9 PART 2
from THE QUEENS NEW YORKER · host Jason DeCanio
To buy itself some time, RKO (with the help of New Jersey senator Bill Bradley) persuaded the U.S. Congress to pass a law requiring the FCC to automatically renew the license of any VHF station that moved its license to a state not served by a commercial VHF station. New Jersey and Delaware were the only states not to be served by a commercial VHF station, and there were complaints for many years that New Jersey in particular had been "underserved" by VHF stations from the New York City and Philadelphia markets (New Jersey was left without any commercial VHF allocations located within the state due to the 1962 conversion of Newark's channel 13 to a non-commercial outlet). Soon after this law took effect, RKO moved WOR-TV's license to Secaucus, New Jersey (seven miles (11 km) west of Manhattan), on April 20, 1983. However, for all intents and purposes, it remained a New York City station. WOR radio had originally been licensed to Newark when it signed on in 1922; while it moved its studios across the Hudson River in 1926, it remained licensed in Newark until 1941. PICTURE: By This logo may be obtained from WWOR-TV, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=4517792
What this episode covers
To buy itself some time, RKO (with the help of New Jersey senator Bill Bradley) persuaded the U.S. Congress to pass a law requiring the FCC to automatically renew the license of any VHF station that moved its license to a state not served by a commercial VHF station. New Jersey and Delaware were the only states not to be served by a commercial VHF station, and there were complaints for many years that New Jersey in particular had been "underserved" by VHF stations from the New York City and Philadelphia markets (New Jersey was left without any commercial VHF allocations located within the state due to the 1962 conversion of Newark's channel 13 to a non-commercial outlet). Soon after this law took effect, RKO moved WOR-TV's license to Secaucus, New Jersey (seven miles (11 km) west of Manhattan), on April 20, 1983. However, for all intents and purposes, it remained a New York City station. WOR radio had originally been licensed to Newark when it signed on in 1922; while it moved its studios across the Hudson River in 1926, it remained licensed in Newark until 1941. PICTURE: By This logo may be obtained from WWOR-TV, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=4517792
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THE QUEENS NEW YORKER EPISODE 253: WWOR-TV CHANNEL 9 PART 2
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