Growth
In 1978, after ten years based in its city of license, WXTV announced it would move its studios to Secaucus, New Jersey, where they were consolidated with the station's Manhattan advertising offices.[27] The move would save money and pay for the relocation of the transmitter to the World Trade Center.[28] Meanwhile, as SIN became a pioneer in the use of television translators to extend its reach, WXTV soon began to spread outside of the New York City area. On May 3, 1980, a channel 35 translator went on the air in Philadelphia,[29] which was followed by a second translator on channel 61 for Hartford, Connecticut, the next month.[30]
WXTV was not the only Spanish-language TV station for the New York market—WNJU was already on the air—and the two began a healthy competition for viewers. However, the mix of programs on SIN and Univision, which emphasized Mexican novelas, sometimes hurt WXTV in a market with more Dominicans, Puerto Ricans, and Cubans. This allowed WNJU to beat WXTV at times.[31][32]
In the late 1990s, WXTV made substantial strides in the general-market ratings. In February 1999, it topped WWOR-TV in total-day ratings, a historic first in New York; despite this, it had just $44 million in advertising revenue compared to $155 million for WWOR.[33]
The September 11, 2001, terror attacks on the World Trade Center did not affect WXTV's over-the-air signal, as WXTV's transmitter is located at the Empire State Building. The station had filed in 1989 to return there from the World Trade Center and completed the move in 1992.[34][35] WXTV and WCBS-TV (channel 2), which had a full-powered backup transmitter at the Empire State Building, were the only major New York City stations whose over-the-air signals were not disrupted. For a time until the other English stations could re-establish emergency transmission bases at Empire or the Armstrong Tower, WXTV's anchors reported in both languages for viewers without pay access to local English stations; the station had also done so when the towers were bombed in 1993.[36]
