WTAG-TV?

[vzeej5wn@myfairpoint.net]

I've always been curious about WATR-TV's NBC affiliation, given that 
WHNB-TV Channel 30 in New Britain was only about thirty miles away (if 
that).   Is the terrain down there so hilly that one NBC affiliate 
wasn't sufficient to cover the area?  -Doug

Quoting "Peter Q. George" <radiojunkie3@yahoo.com>:
>  I'm not sure
> > but I think some other short-lived UHF station lived and
> > died in Worcester in the 50's as well.  In that
> > climate, the T&G's judgment might not look totally
> > crazy. 
>
> The other UHF station (which never came to the air) was WAAB-TV Channel 20 in
> Worcester.  After seeing that Channel 14 (WWOR-TV) was loosing money
> hand-over-fist, they decided to let the WAAB-TV CP lapse.  At that 
> time, UHF's
> were losing money, except for those who were in UHF Islands (markets 
> without a
> VHF station).  And even then, it was at a minimal profit. Springfield 
> was one of
> those rare markets.  WWLP and WHYN-TV (Channels 22 and 40) had no other
> competitors until 1957 when WTIC-TV (Channel 3, now WFSB) signed on, 
> eventually
> displacing the existing CBS affiliate (owned and operated WHCT-TV, 
> Channel 18). WHCT had a dismal signal and was not a factor in the 
> Springfield area. About
> that time, WWLP (then a combo NBC/ABC affiliate) and WHYN-TV (a combo CBS/ABC
> affiliate, now WGGB) changed their part-time affiliations to 
> full-time with WWLP
> going full-time NBC and WHYN-TV going full-time ABC, a line-up that 
> continues to
> this very day.  Of course WWLP
>  had a better coverage in the the market with fulltime satellite WRLP 
> (Channel
> 32) in Greenfield signing on in '57, serving the northern area of Western
> Massachusetts. 
>
>     As for Channel 20 in Worcester.  That allocation was eventually 
> shifted to
> Waterbury, CT to allow WATR-TV to move from Channel 53 to Channel 20, 
> though to
> a shorter tower in lieu of their old Meriden site atop Meriden Mountain. 
>
>
>
> Peter Q. George (K1XRB)
> Whitman, Massachusetts
> "Scanning the bands since 1967"
>
> radiojunkie3@yahoo.com
> ***********************************************************
>
>
>
>
>
>
>