1 of 1- RadioActive
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The Time CTV Had An Affiliate In Buffalo
It's hard finding exact info about this, so I'm presenting this in the hope all the facts are right - because this story is just amazing. If you can add or correct any of it, please feel free.
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Did you know that CTV once had an affiliate in the Buffalo area? This is the incredible story of what is now WNYB-TV, Channel 26 in Jamestown, New York. It was recently highlighted here as one of the newest affiliates for METV’s all cartoon channel.
But in 1966, long before it was a religious broadcaster, it was called WNYP. And somehow, it would end up as a very unlikely American CTV affiliate. The place, run by the guy who would one day become the founder of the much more successful Home Shopping Network in the U.S., was - by all accounts – a mess.
To begin with, they couldn’t afford a satellite or a direct line to pick up CTV. So they simply rebroadcast Toronto’s Channel 9 signal off the air, sometimes including CFTO’s station I.D., which was against FCC rules.
The odd way they received the station meant that in tropo circumstances, other channel 9s would often cut into the T.O. signal, which meant viewers might suddenly be watching something else entirely!
There were endless technical glitches with the broadcaster, including audio interference from a nearby Jamestown radio station.
And then there’s the fact that CTV bought the rights to American shows, which meant the station would often be showing the same programs that were on local Buffalo ABC, NBC or CBS affiliates, which they didn’t appreciate and threatened expensive lawsuits over.
Not only that, but the station would sometimes air programming from CHCH or CBC-TV without asking permission, prompting legal threats from those channels, as well – which they frequently won.
WNYP disappeared in the early 70s, when WUTV debuted, taking what few viewers the “little-independent-that-couldn’t” had, with them. In the end, the owner decided to shut the place down entirely, leaving the channel blank until it returned in various incarnations, finally emerging as a fulltime religious outlet in 1995.
- tvguy
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Re: The Time CTV Had An Affiliate In Buffalo
Saul might have some DX comments but here are mine. The antenna was located near Akrwright i the US side of the Niagara Escaprpment. The place was known as the arkwright hills. It was a DX haven and I atteneded a couple of DX conventions - there was a farmhouse on the top of one of the hills with electrical power where we plugged in TV’s in the 60’s and early 70’s. Every morning in the summer there was tropo on UHF out to the east coast of the USA and well into the midwest. It was not unusual to see Chicago area UHF’s up there every day. WNYP’s signal was massive and I had constant reception on a Delhi 6 foot parabolic UHF dish in North York. I used to visit a DXer in Buffalo and I remember how “good” the signal was, despite the fact that the transmitter was nearer to Dunkirk NY. I recall that WNYP had Phillips colour cameras which were always mis-adjusted. Perhaps it was studio lighting but the flesh tones were bizarre - pinkish at best. Our TV was a Clairtone (Canadian made in NS) and the pictures on other stations were very good with excellent colour fidelity. But WNYP’s picture was strange…But it was fun to watch, bizarre local shows, and of course the pirated programmng was
- RadioActive
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Re: The Time CTV Had An Affiliate In Buffalo
Sounds like the original SCTV!
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Thread Starter- paterson1
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Re: The Time CTV Had An Affiliate In Buffalo
I posted about this five years ago. WKBW, WGR and WBEN didn't like when WNYP became the CTV affiliate in the Buffalo area since CTV often ran the US imports prior to the local Buffalo stations. The owner of WNYP Lowell (Bud) Paxton had a long association with CTV long after his Buffalo experiment finished. Bud formed the PAX network in the US which eventually became ION. These networks always carried a lot of cancon particularly from CTV.
Here is the original post regarding CTV's Buffalo affiliate and information from Wikipedia..
- RadioActive
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Re: The Time CTV Had An Affiliate In Buffalo
Here's a small addition to the story that's about CTV's main affiliate, CFTO.
Did you know ABC in the U.S. once tried to buy a piece of Channel 9 just a few months after it signed on Dec. 31, 1960? I'd never heard this before, but this article confirms that it happened. The BBG - the forerunner of the CRTC - turned them down. 
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Thread Starter- paterson1
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Re: The Time CTV Had An Affiliate In Buffalo
I believe ABC did "loan" CTV money to keep them afloat in the early months. The new network got a bit of traction when they got rights to the CFL playoffs and figure skating. Both thanks to Johnny Esaw, their first sports director.
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Re: The Time CTV Had An Affiliate In Buffalo
RadioActive wrote:
Here's a small addition to the story that's about CTV's main affiliate, CFTO.
Did you know ABC in the U.S. once tried to buy a piece of Channel 9 just a few months after it signed on Dec. 31, 1960? I'd never heard this before, but this article confirms that it happened. The BBG - the forerunner of the CRTC - turned them down.
This offer apparently had a profound effect on the Board of Broadcast Governors. After this investment attempt, according to Broadcasting Magazine, the Board announced "it will not recommend any future transactions which will permit financial participation by U.S. networks in Canadian television stations."
I believe that policy is still in effect all these years later.
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