WEEU-TV was a television station that broadcast on

UHF Ultra high frequency (UHF) is the ITU designation for radio frequencies in the range between 300 megahertz (MHz) and 3 gigahertz (GHz), also known as the decimetre band as the wavelengths range from one meter to one tenth of a meter (on ...

channel 33 from

Reading, Pennsylvania Reading ( ; Pennsylvania Dutch: ''Reddin'') is a city in and the county seat of Berks County, Pennsylvania, United States. The city had a population of 95,112 as of the 2020 census and is the fourth-largest city in Pennsylvania after Philade ...

, United States, between 1953 and 1955. It was owned by the Hawley Broadcasting Company alongside radio station

WEEU WEEU (830 AM) is a commercial station in Reading, Pennsylvania. It has a news/talk radio format and is owned by Twilight Broadcasting, Inc. WEEU is powered at 20,000 watts by day. Because AM 830 is a clear channel frequency reserved for Cla ...

(850 AM). The station ceased broadcasting because of the economic difficulties associated with early UHF television stations.

History

WEEU-TV began commercial broadcasting on April 15, 1953, as an extension of the radio station; the transmitter on Mount Penn had been radiating test patterns since April 9. Airing NBC and ABC programming, the station operated on a reduced-power basis for the first month and a half until it was ready to broadcast at its full authorized power. Prior to the passage of the

All-Channel Receiver Act The All-Channel Receiver Act of 1962 (ACRA) (), commonly known as the All-Channels Act, was passed by the United States Congress in 1961, to allow the Federal Communications Commission to require that all television set manufacturers must include ...

in 1964, receiving UHF television stations like WEEU-TV and competitor WHUM-TV (channel 61)—which signed on in February—typically required a converter. Channel 33 worked with TV dealers and salesmen to go door-to-door to promote UHF conversions and the WEEU-TV program lineup. The local lineup included news, weather and sports programs, as well as ''Studio Date'', a program for teenagers hosted by William Webber, later a children's television personality in Philadelphia. The station also produced other entertainment programs, including a cooking show and a quiz show titled "Know Your Reading". On June 28, 1955, Hawley Broadcasting announced that it would cease operation of WEEU-TV on June 30. In a full-page advertisement that ran in the ''Eagle'' and then in ''

Broadcasting Broadcasting is the distribution (business), distribution of sound, audio or video content to a dispersed audience via any electronic medium (communication), mass communications medium, but typically one using the electromagnetic spectrum (radio ...

'' magazine, the next week, the company declared that it had closed the television station due to the "tremendous operating costs" involved and the "apathy" of national advertisers. (also republished i
''Broadcasting'', July 4, 1955, p. 37
The move came as more viewers tuned to the more powerful—and VHF—signals of

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

's network stations. The channel 33 allocation was immediately considered to be shifted. In 1957, the FCC instituted a rulemaking proceeding to decide between two proposals by other UHF stations to move channel 33 to

York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...

Harrisburg Harrisburg is the capital city of the Pennsylvania, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, Dauphin County. With a population of 50,135 as of the 2021 census, Harrisburg is the List of c ...

. At year's end, WEEU-TV surrendered the construction permit, which it still held. By that time, fellow UHF outlet WHUM-TV had closed as well. While the tower has been removed, the former transmitter building is still in use for a number of FM translators, as well as a translator for

WFMZ-TV WFMZ-TV (channel 69) is an independent television station in Allentown, Pennsylvania. Locally-based Maranatha Broadcasting Company owns the station and Wilmington, Delaware–licensed MeTV affiliate WDPN-TV. Both stations share studios on East ...

Allentown Allentown may refer to several places in the United States and topics related to them: * Allentown, California, now called Toadtown, California * Allentown, Georgia, a town in Wilkinson County * Allentown, Illinois, an unincorporated community in T ...

. It was also used by

WTVE WTVE (channel 51) is a television station licensed to Willow Grove, Pennsylvania, United States, serving the Philadelphia area and primarily airing paid programming. It is owned by WRNN-TV Associates alongside Princeton, New Jersey–licensed ...

when that station started in 1980; it left Reading and moved into Philadelphia proper in 2017.

References

{{Philly TV EEU-TV Defunct television stations in the United States 1953 establishments in Pennsylvania 1955 disestablishments in Pennsylvania Television channels and stations established in 1953 Television channels and stations disestablished in 1955 Reading, Pennsylvania