Channel 35 to sign on today

["Chris Beckwith" <beckwith@ime.net>]

Channel 35 (WPME-TV) is slated to commence regular broadcasting this
afternoon at 5 with an episode of "Star Trek: Voyager."  The UPN
affiliate is (to my knowledge) the first Lewiston commercial U since
WLAM-TV broadcast briefly as a repeater (for the most part) of
Portland's WPMT-TV Channel 52 in the 1950s. For those interested,
WPMT-TV signed on in 1952, taking advantage of the FCC's VHF
allocation freeze.  The station was at one point affiliated with all
four TV networks, but after the freeze was lifted they were left
with only the affiliation with the crumbling DuMont network by the
end of 1954. Their fate was sealed, and they signed off for good in
1955 or '56. WLAM-TV signed off shortly thereafter.

Take care,

Chris Beckwith

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