Media > Television index > US television start dates

Start dates of television services

On 30 September 1948 the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) suspended all licensing of television stations, pending resolution of problems about neighbouring stations causing interference, and the longer-term possibility of establishing colour broadcasting. At the time, 37 stations were already in operation and a further 86 were licensed and under construction. But around 300 others that had lodged applications were told they would have to wait for six months.
        In fact the moratorium lasted far longer: it was not until 14 April 1952 that the FCC lifted the ban, effective from 1 July. The new plan established three zones across the US, with different regulations for spacing and frequency allocation in each. The total number of frequencies now available was 617 VHF and 1,436 UHF.

date	call sign	location	channel	network [later ownership]	later call sign
1939
Apr	W9XZV	Chicago, IL [Zenith]	2		WBBM
6 Nov	WGY TV	Schenectady, NY		NBC
6 Nov	WRGB TV	Schenectady-Albany-Troy, NY	6	CBS
1940
Aug	W9XBK	Chicago, IL [Paramount]	4	CBS	WBKB (see 1943)
Aug	W9XBK	Chicago, IL	2	CBS	Ch4 (Nov)
1941
1 Jul	WCBW TV	NY, NY	2	CBS	WCBS
1 Jul	WNBT TV	NYC	4	NBC	W2XBS, WNBC
3 Sep	KYW TV	Philadelphia, PA	3	Philco/NBC
1943
13 Oct	WBKB TV	Chicago, IL (see 1940)	4	CBS	WLS (1970)
1944
2 May	WABD TV	NYC	5	DuMont [Metro, Fox]	WNEW, WNYW
1947
1 Jan	WTTG TV	Washington DC	5	Metro
22 Jan	KTLA TV	Los Angeles, CA	5	Ind
8 Feb	KSD TV	St Louis, MO	5	NBC	KSDK
4 Mar	WWJ TV	Detroit, MI	4	NBC	WDIV
27 Jun	WRC TV	Washington, DC	4	NBC
13 Sep	WPVI TV	Philadelphia, PA	6	ABC
3 Oct	WMAL TV	Washington, DC	7	ABC	WJLA
27 Oct	WMAR TV	Baltimore, MD	2	NBC
17 Dec	WEWS TV	Cleveland, OH	5	ABC
Dec	WTMJ TV	Milwaukee, WI	4	NBC
1948
2 Jan	WNDT TV	New York-Newark, NY	13	PBS	WNET
6 Feb	KNXT TV	Los Angeles, CA	2	CBS	KCBS
9 Feb	WLWT TV	Cincinnati, OH	5	NBC
11 Mar	WBAL TV	Baltimore, MD	11	CBS
15 Mar	WCAU TV	Philadelphia, PA	10	CBS
5 Apr	WGN TV	Chicago, IL	9	DuMont, CBS
15 Apr	KCPX TV	Salt Lake City, UT	4	ABC	KTVX
22 Apr	WTVR TV	Richmond, VA	6	CBS
23 Apr	KSTP TV	St Paul-Minneapolis, MN	5	ABC
14 May	WBEN TV	Buffalo, NY	4	CBS	WIVB
9 Jun	WBZ TV	Boston, MA	4	NBC
15 Jun	WPIX TV	NY, NY	11	Ind
15 Jun	WTNH TV	New Haven, CT	8	ABC
21 Jul	WSPD TV	Toledo, OH	13	NBC
10 Aug	WABC TV	New York, NY	7	ABC
17 Sep	WENR TV	Chicago, IL	7	ABC	Ch 4 (1953)
17 Sep	KCOP TV	Los Angeles/Hollywood, CA	13	DuMont, CBS
29 Sep	WSB TV	Atlanta, GA	2	ABC
29 Sep	WBAP TV	Fort Worth-Dallas, TX	5	NBC	KXAS
6 Oct	KHJ TV	Los Angeles, CA	9	Ind
9 Oct	WXYZ TV	Detroit, MI	7	ABC
24 Oct	WJBK TV	Detroit, MI	2	CBS
Oct	WKYC TV	Cleveland, OH	3	NBC
2 Nov	WJZ TV	Baltimore, MD	13	ABC
24 Nov	WAVE TV	Louisville, KY	3	NBC
25 Nov	KING TV	Seattle, WA	5	NBC
29 Nov	KOB TV	Albuquerque, NM	4	NBC
11 Dec	WHEN TV	Syracuse, NY	5	CBS	WTVH
11 Dec	WMC TV	Memphis, TN	5	NBC
18 Dec	WDSU TV	New Orleans, LA	6	NBC
22 Dec	KPIX TV	San Francisco, CA	5	CBS
1949
1 Jan	KTTV TV	Los Angeles, CA	11	Metro
1 Jan	KPRC TV	Houston, TX	2	NBC
2 Jan	KDKA TV	Pittsburgh, PA	2	CBS
16 Jan	KNBH	Los Angeles, CA	4	NBC	KNBC
16 Jan	WTOP	Washington, DC	9	CBS	WUSA
26 Jan	WHIO TV	Dayton, OH	7	CBS
Jan	WNBQ TV	Chicago, IL	5	NBC	WMAQ (1964)
8 Mar	WAGA TV	Atlanta, GA	5	CBS
8 Mar	WBAP-FM	Fort Worth, TX
15 Mar	WICU TV	Erie, PA	12	NBC
15 Mar	WLWD	Dayton, OH	2	NBC	WDTN
16 Mar	KFMB TV	San Diego, CA	8	CBS
18 Mar	WGAL TV	Lancaster, PA	8	NBC
21 Mar	WTVJ TV	Miami, FL	4	NBC [CBS]
3 Apr	WLWS	Columbus, OH	4	NBC	WCMH
5 May	KGO TV	San Francisco, CA	7	ABC
30 May	WRTV TV	Indianapolis, IN	6	ABC
May	WAPI	Birmingham, AL	13	NBC	WVMT
1 Jun	KSL TV	Salt Lake City, UT	5	CBS
6 Jun	WKY	Oklahoma City, OK	4	NBC	KTVY
14 Jun	WROC TV	Rochester, NY	8	NBC
1 Jul	WCCO TV	Minneapolis-St.Paul, MN	4	CBS
1 Jul	WBRC TV	Birmingham, AL	6	ABC
15 Jul	WBTV TV	Charlotte, NC	3	CBS
10 Jul	WJAR TV	Providence, RI	10	NBC
26 Jul	WCPO TV	Cincinnati, OH	9	CBS
15 Aug	WOTV TV	Grand Rapids, MI	8	NBC
30 Aug	WTVN TV	Columbus, OH	6	ABC	WSYX
1 Sep	KMTV TV	Omaha, NB	3	CBS [NBC]
15 Sep	WJAC TV	Johnstown, PA	6	NBC [ABC]
15 Sep	WJXT TV	Jacksonville, FL	4	CBS
16 Sep	KABC TV	Los Angeles, CA	7	ABC
17 Sep	WFAA TV	Dallas-Fort Worth, TX	8	ABC
22 Sep	WFMY TV	Greensboro-High Point, NC	2	CBS
5 Oct	WBNS TV	Columbus, OH	10	CBS
5 Oct	WOR TV	New York-Secaucus, NY	9	Ind	WWOR
16 Oct	WDAF TV	Kansas City, MO	4	NBC
31 Oct	WOC TV	Davenport, IA	6	NBC	KWQC
11 Nov	WTTV TV	Bloomington-Indianapolis, IN	4	Ind
15 Nov	KRON TV	San Francisco, CA	4	NBC
15 Nov	WSAZ TV	Huntington-Charleston, NV	3	NBC
30 Nov	KOTV TV	Tulsa, OK	6	CBS
1 Dec	WBNG TV	Binghamton, NY	12	CBS
1 Dec	WKTV TV	Utica, NY	2	NBC
3 Dec	KRLD TV	Dallas-Fort Worth, TX	4	CBS	KDFW
11 Dec	WOAI	San Antonio, TX	4	NBC	KMOL
19 Dec	WJW TV	Cleveland, OH	8	CBS
1950
15 Feb	KENS TV	San Antonio, TX	5	CBS
15 Feb	WSYR TV	Syracuse, NY	3	NBC	WSTM
21 Feb	WOI TV	Ames-Des Moines, IA	5	ABC [PBS]
27 Mar	WHAS TV	Louisville, KY	11	CBS
2 Apr	WTAR TV	Norfolk, VA	3	CBS	WTKR
1 May	WJIM TV	Lansing, MI	6	CBS	WLNS
1 Jun	WKZO TV	Kalamazoo, MI	3	CBS	WWMT
1 Jul	WHBF TV	Rock Island, IL	4	CBS
30 Sep	WSM TV	Nashville, TN	4	NBC
1958
1 Jan	WMBD TV	Peoria, IL	3	CBS
6 Jan	WIPR TV	San Juan, PR	6	PBS
20 Jan	KUED TV	Salt Lake City, UT	7	PBS
21 Jan	KMOT TV	Minot, ND	10	NBC
22 Jan	KRSD TV	Rapid City, SD	7	ABC	KEVN
1 Feb	WFTV TV	Orlando, FL	9	ABC
2 Feb	WRIK TV	Ponce, PR	7	PTC	WLUZ
8 Feb	KIRO TV	Seattle, WA	7	CBS
11 Feb	WTVC TV	Chattanooga, TN	9	ABC
17 Feb	WETV TV	Atlanta, GA	3	PBS	WPBA
Feb	WSUR TV	Ponce, PR	9
3 Mar	KTVU TV	Oakland-San Francisco, CA	3	CBS
5 Mar	KDUH TV	Scottsbluff-Hay Spring, NB	4	ABC
15 Mar	KULR TV	Billings, MT	8	NBC/ABC/CBS
1 Apr	KVIQ TV	Eureka, CA	6	NBC/ABC/CBS
5 May	KNME TV	Albuquerque, NM	5	PBS
2 Sep	KAYS TV	Hays, KS	7	CBS
5 Sep	WKPC TV	Louisville, KY	15	PBS
10 Sep	WJCT TV	Jacksonville, FL	7	PBS
14 Sep	WTAE TV	Pittsburgh, PA	4	ABC
5 Oct	KRTV TV	Great Falls, MT	3	CBS
8 Oct	KCMT TV	Alexandria, MN	7	CBS/NBC/ABD
12 Oct	WJRT TV	Flint, MI	12	ABC
27 Oct	WEDU TV	Tampa-St Petersburg, FL	3	PBS
5 Nov	KGLD TV	Garden City, KS	11	NBC	KSNG
10 Nov	WUFT TV	Gainersville, FL	5	PBS
17 Nov	KAII TV	Wailuku, HI	7	NBC
28 Nov	KCOO TV	Aberdeen, SD	9	ABC	KABY
30 Nov	WKBW TV	Buffalo, NY	7	ABC
2 Dec	KNOP TV	North Platte, NB	2	NBC
5 Dec	WTOL TV	Toledo, OH	11	CBS
1960
Jan	KDSJ TV	Lead-Deadwood, SD	5	NBC	KIVV
29 Feb	KRET TV	Richardson, TX	23	PBS
27 Mar	WSLA TV	Selma, AL	8	CBS	WAKA
2 Apr	KPEC TV	Lakewood Center-Tacoma, WA	56	PBS
28 Apr	WIPM TV	Mayaguez, PR	3	PBS
13 May	WOLE TV	Aguadillo, PR	12
15 May	KHVO TV	Hilo, HI	13	ABC
23 May	WKBM TV	Caguas-San Juan, PR	11		WLII
23 May	WGTV TV	Athens-Atlanta, GA	8	PBS
1 Jun	WDTV TV	Clarksburg-Weston, WV	5	CBS
12 Jun	KORN TV	Mitchell-Sioux Falls, SD	5	ABC	KDLT
31 Jul	KSOO TV	Sioux Falls, SD	13	NBC	KSFY;
14 Sep	KERA TV	Dallas, TX	13	PBS
20 Sep	WFSU TV	Tallahassee, FL	11	PBS
1 Oct	KCBY TV	Coos Bay, OR	11	CBS
5 Oct	KBYC TV	Mankato, MN	12	CBS
10 Oct	WGTE TV	Toledo, OH	30	PBS
19 Oct	KWCS TV	Ogden, UT	30	independent	KOOG
7 Nov	KNRR TV	Pembina, ND	12	CBS

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