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    Philadelphia Television
    Philadelphia Television
    Philadelphia Television
    Ebook163 pages25 minutes

    Philadelphia Television

    By Bill Shull

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    The history of Philadelphia television is the history of television in America. Philo Farnsworth, credited with inventing television, performed some of his earliest experiments at the Franklin Institute and at 1230 Mermaid Lane. Those experiments led to the city's first television station, W3XE. Channel 3 was also the first local station in the country to broadcast in color. WCAU-TV Channel 10 constructed the first building in the world designed specifically as a television station. WFIL created one of the most iconic shows in television history, American Bandstand, as well as Action News, which has helped Channel 6 stay on top of the ratings for most of the last 40 years. Dick Clark, Ed McMahon, Ernie Kovacs, Tom Snyder, David Brenner, Maury Povich, Kelly Ripa, Brian Williams, and others are among those who have worked in Philadelphia television throughout its history.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherArcadia Publishing
    Release dateJul 6, 2015
    ISBN9781439652183
    Philadelphia Television
    Author

    Bill Shull

    Bill Shull grew up watching Philadelphia television, appearing at a young age on the KYW kids' quiz show, Challenge. Shull produced the Fox 10 O'Clock News at WTXF-TV before spending 16 years at WCAU-TV. During that time, Shull produced the top-rated 11:00 p.m. newscast in the city. Currently, he is a freelance producer, television consultant, and owner of BillShullPhotography.com. Images for this book come from the Special Collections Research Center, Temple University Libraries, Philadelphia, as well as private collections.

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      Philadelphia Television - Bill Shull

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      INTRODUCTION

      Philadelphia television can trace its roots back to a young engineer named Philo Farnsworth. He began experimenting with the new medium starting in 1931 at the Philco Company at C and Tioga Streets. He then worked in two different labs on Mermaid Lane starting in 1933. Farnsworth also experimented at the Franklin Institute. His work led to W3XE Channel 3, the city’s first broadcast TV station. The station would also become the first commercial station in Philadelphia, as WPTZ. It was the first to broadcast some programs in color. Channel 3 was first owned by Philco, and was sold to Westinghouse on June 1, 1953. It became WRCV when it was purchased by NBC in 1956. Westinghouse reacquired the station in June 1965 and moved the call letters from Cleveland after swapping stations with NBC. Channel 3’s first facilities were in the Philco building at C and Tioga Streets. During World War II, the station relocated to its transmitter site in Wyndmoor. In 1946, WPTZ moved into the Architect’s Building at Seventeenth and Sansom Streets in Center City. The station moved into the KYW radio building at 1619 Walnut Street about a year later. In 1972, Channel 3 built a new building on Independence Mall, giving it a front-row seat for the city’s Bicentennial celebration in 1976. KYW is still based in Center City, at 1555 Hamilton Street.

      WCAU-TV went on the air May 23, 1948. Channel 10 was first located in the building erected for WCAU Radio (but the structure was also designed for a future TV station, according to the company) at 1622 Chestnut Street. It was owned by the Philadelphia Bulletin newspaper. The station’s transmitter was atop the PSFS building, then the city’s tallest skyscraper. There was a plan to move the entire operation there, but the Bulletin decided to make history instead. It constructed the first building in the world designed to be a TV/radio facility from the ground up. (WFIL has also claimed its structure at Forty-sixth and Market Streets was the first built for TV.) The new building opened in 1952 at the corner of City Avenue and Monument Road on the Montgomery County side of the street, making WCAU the first Philadelphia station to leave the city limits. WCAU was also the first affiliate of the CBS Television Network. CBS bought the station from the Bulletin in 1958. NBC became the owner of WCAU on September 10, 1995, as part of an affiliate swap that saw CBS acquire KYW Channel 3.

      WFIL-TV Channel 6 started broadcasting on September 13, 1947. The station was owned by the Philadelphia Inquirer (part of publisher Walter Annenberg’s media empire, which included TV Guide). The first Channel 6 studios were on the 11th and 18th floors of the Widener Building at Broad and Chestnut Streets in Center City. In 1947, WFIL moved to a brand new building at Forty-sixth and Market Streets in West Philadelphia. The building was the first ever built to be a TV station (WFIL AM/FM radio moved in later). The building became famous as the first home of Bandstand, which went on the air in September 1952. In 1964, Channel 6 moved to a new, round building at 4100 City Avenue, directly across from Channel 10. (It is on the Philadelphia side, so Channel 6 employees have always paid city wage tax.) Capital Cities Broadcasting purchased Channel 6 in 1970. On April 27, 1971, WFIL changed call letters to WPVI. But arguably the biggest event in Channel 6 history happened in April 1970. That’s when the station launched Action News, a fast-paced newscast anchored by a young journalist named Larry Kane. Viewers immediately connected with the new format, and Action News became a dynasty that has lasted more than 45 years. WPVI is currently owned by ABC/Disney and is still at 4100 City Avenue, but in a new building constructed for the digital age that opened in 2009.

      WHYY has been a nomad for much of its existence. Its first studios were on Chestnut Street in Center City, in the former home of WCAU-TV. In 1963, the station moved to the old WFIL-TV building at Forty-sixth and Market

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