WVUE-DT
WVUE-DT, virtual channel 8 (UHF digital channel 29), is a Fox-affiliated television station located in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. The station is owned by the Louisiana Media Company, which is controlled by Tom Benson (owner of the New Orleans Saints NFL and New Orleans Pelicans NBA franchises);Raycom Media operates WVUE under a shared services agreement.
WVUE maintains primary studio facilities located on Jefferson Davis Parkway in the city's Gert Town section, with a secondary studio located within the Benson Tower in downtown New Orleans; its transmitter is located on Paris Road/Highway 47 in Chalmette. On cable, WVUE is available on Cox Communications channel 9 in standard definition, and in high definition on digital channel 1009.
History
Early years with ABC and CBS
The station first signed on the air on November 1, 1953 as WJMR-TV; it was the second television station to sign on the air in the New Orleans market (behind WDSU-TV, which signed on in December 1948) and the third in Louisiana (behind WDSU-TV and Baton Rouge's WAFB, which signed on in April 1953). Originally broadcasting on UHF channel 61, it was moved to channel 20 on July 20, 1955. It originally operated as a primary CBS affiliate, while splitting ABC programming in off-hours with WDSU-TV. During 1957 and 1958, WJMR-TV had simulcast its signal on VHF channel 12, using the call sign KK2XFW. When WWL-TV (channel 4) signed on in September 1957, WWL took over the CBS affiliation because of WWL radio's longtime affiliation with the CBS Radio Network, leaving WJMR with ABC.
WVUE (Delaware)
WVUE was a television station in Wilmington, Delaware from 1949 to 1958. For the last part of its history, it attempted to target the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania market. Studios were located in Wilmington.
WVUE first signed in March 1949 as WDEL-TV, owned by the Steinman family of Lancaster, Pennsylvania along with WDEL radio (AM 1150 and FM 93.7, now WSTW). It received a full license on June 30. It shared a studio and tower on Shipley Road in north Wilmington with its radio sisters. It operated on channel 7 as the NBC affiliate for Wilmington, and also carried a secondary affiliation with the DuMont Television Network. At the time, Wilmington was a separate television market.
However, WDEL-TV found the going somewhat difficult. It was forced to operate at only 1,000 watts because it was sandwiched between New York City's WJZ-TV (now WABC-TV) and Washington, D.C.'s WMAL-TV (now WJLA-TV). This resulted in hit-or-miss reception outside of Wilmington itself. In 1951, WDEL-TV moved to channel 12 for two reasons—to allow its sister station in Lancaster, WGAL-TV, to move to channel 8 and to alleviate the aforementioned interference from WJZ-TV and WMAL-TV. The channel switch allowed WDEL-TV to significantly increase its power to cover much of the Philadelphia market. While Philadelphia already had an NBC affiliate, WPTZ-TV (channel 3, later WRCV-TV and now KYW-TV), its transmitter was not strong enough to cover Wilmington at the time. The Steinmans realized that Philadelphia and Wilmington were going to be a single market (Wilmington is only 25 miles southwest of Philadelphia). In hopes of boosting the station's profile, the Steinmans persuaded Joe Pyne, who had been a popular talk show host on WILM radio, to come back to Wilmington and start a talk show there. Pyne stayed at the station for two years before going to Los Angeles.
Podcasts:
