WRTV was a television station that broadcast on channel 58 in
Asbury Park, New Jersey
Asbury Park () is a beachfront city located on the Jersey Shore in Monmouth County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is part of the New York metropolitan area.
As of the 2020 U.S. census, the city's population was 15,188
, United States. It was owned by the
Walter Reade
''Walter Reade'' was the name of a father and son who had an extensive career in the United States motion picture industry.
Walter Reade Sr.
Walter Reade, Sr. (1884–1952) was the man behind a chain of theatres which grew from a single theatre ...
Organization and broadcast as an independent station between January 22, 1954, and April 1, 1955, in hopes of securing a VHF channel for the station that never came. In the 1960s, Reade attempted to move the unbuilt station from channel 58 in Asbury Park to channel 68 in
Newark
Newark most commonly refers to:
* Newark, New Jersey, city in the United States
* Newark Liberty International Airport, New Jersey; a major air hub in the New York metropolitan area
Newark may also refer to:
Places Canada
* Niagara-on-the ...
, which was treated as an application for a new station; granted in 1970, Reade sold the permit before it went on air.
History
In October 1952, 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 ...
granted a construction permit to the Atlantic Video Corporation to build a new UHF television station on channel 58 in Asbury Park. The company was headed by Walter Reade, Jr., and proposed to place the studios in Reade's Savoy Theatre, one in a chain of cinemas he owned. Originally assigned the call letters WCEE, the construction permit adopted the designation WRTV in February 1953, so as to more closely identify it with the Walter Reade organization.
Groundbreaking for the studio and transmitter site took place on August 15, 1953, at the
Eatontown
Eatontown is a borough in Monmouth County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2010 Census, the borough's population was 12,709, though some programs had been broadcast on a test basis in the days leading up to the formal launch. Broadcasting from its tower, the tallest structure in Monmouth County, WRTV broadcast five hours of programming a day, including movies and a variety of local productions. Local people were also involved in channel 58's operations, including when four local high schools and
Rutgers University
Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's ...
each took over the entire station for a day.
WRTV held its own for a year, but systemic problems with UHF television, particularly the fact that not all televisions of the time were required to have UHF tuners (a requirement that would not become reality until 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 ...
took effect in 1964), began to hinder its progress. On January 13, 1955, Reade filed to have VHF channel 8 assigned to the Asbury Park area, claiming it would allow for more viewers to see the station and enhance the impact of sponsorships on WRTV, a station which he claimed aired more live and local programming than any other in the United States. Reade declared that he would continue to operate on channel 58 and, were the petition to be denied, seek other methods of improving service. Minimum mileage separations between stations on the same channel, however, would not permit a plan without revisions to the FCC's allocation plan, which prompted the commission to take a look at scrapping what was described as the "keystone" of its television frequency management plan.
In early March, a channel 8 television station,
WGAL-TV
WGAL (channel 8) is a television station licensed to Lancaster, Pennsylvania, United States, serving the Susquehanna Valley region as an affiliate of NBC. Owned by Hearst Television, the station maintains studios on Columbia Avenue ( PA 462) in ...
in
Lancaster, Pennsylvania
Lancaster, ( ; pdc, Lengeschder) is a city in and the county seat of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. It is one of the oldest inland cities in the United States. With a population at the 2020 census of 58,039, it ranks 11th in population amon ...
, filed with the FCC to block the WRTV channel 8 petition, claiming that the proposed facility would reduce its own service area and cause interference. It was joined by WNHC-TV, the channel 8 station in
New Haven, Connecticut
New Haven is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut and is part of the New York City metropolitan area. With a population of 134,02 ...
, two weeks later. Despite Reade's claim in the initial petition, the station soon changed its mind. On March 24, WRTV asked the FCC to allow it to cease UHF operations on April 1, hopeful that the commission would look favorably on its channel 8 application and citing the interest news of the proposal generated. After a sermonette, the station went off the air at 9:05 p.m. on April 1, 1955.
WRTV's construction permit remained active for years after the closure. In November 1964, it was included as one of a series of dark UHF outlets that received letters from the FCC ordering them to get on the air or relinquish their permits. The station was able to retain authorization. The Reade Organization then filed to make a major move for WRTV, from channel 58 in Asbury Park to channel 68 in
Newark
Newark most commonly refers to:
* Newark, New Jersey, city in the United States
* Newark Liberty International Airport, New Jersey; a major air hub in the New York metropolitan area
Newark may also refer to:
Places Canada
* Niagara-on-the ...
, proposing 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 ...
as its transmitter site. The Empire State Building proposal drew the ire of New York independent station
WPIX
WPIX (channel 11) is a television station in New York City. Owned by Mission Broadcasting, it is operated under a local marketing agreement (LMA) by Nexstar Media Group, making it a ''de facto'' owned-and-operated station and flagship (broadcas ...
, which contended that Reade and competing applicant Clifton Greene were breaking FCC rules by specifying the site and that operation on channel 68 would be short-spaced to channel 67 from
Patchogue
Patchogue (, ) is a village in Suffolk County, New York. The population was 11,798 at the time of the 2010 census. Patchogue is part of the town of Brookhaven, on the south shore of Long Island, adjoining Great South Bay. It is officially known ...
. In response, Reade amended its application to specify a site in
West Orange, New Jersey
West Orange is a suburban township in Essex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States Census, its population was 48,843, an increase of 2,636 (+5.7%) from the 46,207 counted in the 2010 Census.
.
On January 21, 1969, the WRTV construction permit was deleted by the FCC, and the application for Newark was considered by the FCC to be a standalone application for a new construction permit. The FCC deleted the call sign, but allowed it to be held in abeyance for use by Reade pending appeal of the deletion. The appeal was not successful, and the WRTV call letters ultimately went to Indianapolis. Reade chose WWRO as channel 68's call letters, assigned October 5, 1970. The channel 68 construction permit was sold by Reade to Blonder-Tongue Laboratories in 1972, with that company intending to use the facility for subscription television.
Today Channel 58 is WNJB in New Brunswick, NJTV/PBS.
The WRTV call letters now reside at the ABC affiliate in Indianapolis, Indiana.