WGLV (channel 57) was a

television station A television station is a set of equipment managed by a business, organisation or other entity, such as an amateur television (ATV) operator, that transmits video content and audio content via radio waves directly from a transmitter on the earth ...

Easton, Pennsylvania Easton is a city in, and the county seat of, Northampton County, Pennsylvania, United States. The city's population was 28,127 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Easton is located at the confluence of the Lehigh River, a river tha ...

, United States, which operated from August 1953 to October 1957. It was owned by the Easton Publishing Company, publisher of the '' Easton Express'' newspaper, and broadcast programming from

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

and the

DuMont Television Network The DuMont Television Network (also known as the DuMont Network, DuMont Television, simply DuMont/Du Mont, or (incorrectly) Dumont ) was one of America's pioneer commercial television networks, rivaling NBC and CBS for the distinction of being ...

. It was the second station in the

Lehigh Valley The Lehigh Valley (), known colloquially as The Valley, is a geographic region formed by the Lehigh River in Lehigh County and Northampton County in eastern Pennsylvania. It is a component valley of the Great Appalachian Valley bound to the no ...

, which at one point had three local

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 ...

outlets. However, largely due to power increases from competing

very high frequency Very high frequency (VHF) is the ITU designation for the range of radio frequency electromagnetic waves ( radio waves) from 30 to 300 megahertz (MHz), with corresponding wavelengths of ten meters to one meter. Frequencies immediately below VHF ...

(VHF) stations in Philadelphia and New York City, WGLV left the air on October 31, 1957.

History

When the

Federal Communications Commission The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains jurisdiction ...

(FCC) ended its four-year freeze on television stations in 1952 and established the UHF band for television broadcasting, the

received four channel allotments: two in

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 ...

, one in

Bethlehem Bethlehem (; ar, بيت لحم ; he, בֵּית לֶחֶם '' '') is a city in the central West Bank, Palestine, about south of Jerusalem. Its population is approximately 25,000,Amara, 1999p. 18.Brynen, 2000p. 202. and it is the capital o ...

, and channel 57 in Easton. A preexisting application by Easton Publishing, which had specified channel 8, was amended after the freeze to specify channel 57. The commission granted a

construction permit Planning permission or developmental approval refers to the approval needed for construction or expansion (including significant renovation), and sometimes for demolition, in some jurisdictions. It is usually given in the form of a building perm ...

to the company on December 18, 1952. Construction took place in the early part of 1953. In addition to securing affiliation with ABC and DuMont, work took place to erect a transmitter building and interim studio on Gaffney Hill in Williams Township. WGLV promised stronger signals than those put into the area by the

(VHF) stations in Philadelphia, as well as regional news coverage. The first day of telecasting was August 14, 1953. Two days prior, in a demonstration staged by

DuMont Laboratories Allen B. DuMont Laboratories, Inc. (printed on products as Allen B. Du Mont Laboratories, Inc., commonly referred to as DuMont Laboratories, shortened to DuMont Labs; referred to on company documents as DuMont) was an American television equipmen ...

, journalists saw WGLV-TV pictures on a set in the upper floors of the

Empire State Building The Empire State Building is a 102-story Art Deco skyscraper in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. The building was designed by Shreve, Lamb & Harmon and built from 1930 to 1931. Its name is derived from "Empire State", the nickname of the st ...

in New York City. WGLV moved its studios from Gaffney Hill to a former school building, dubbed "Television Center", in January 1955. October 31, 1957, marked the end of an era in Lehigh Valley television. Within 24 hours of each other, NBC affiliate

WLEV-TV WLEV-TV (channel 51) was a television station in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, United States. Owned by Associated Broadcasters Inc. alongside WEST, the station telecast from 1953 to 1957. It was the first station in the Lehigh Valley, which at one po ...

and WGLV both received permission to go silent, and both did so on the same night. 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 though ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' called WGLV "one of the best equipped U Fstations in the country". The former studio building was sold to two Easton doctors in 1959.

References

{{Philly TV GLV GLV Defunct television stations in the United States Television channels and stations established in 1953 Television channels and stations disestablished in 1957 1953 establishments in Pennsylvania 1957 disestablishments in Pennsylvania Easton, Pennsylvania