WUVN

WUVN is a Spanish-language television station serving Hartford, Connecticut, as an affiliate of the Univision network. The station originated on September 25, 1954, as WGTH-TV, making channel 18 Hartford's oldest television frequency. It was established by General-Times Television Corporation, a partnership involving The Hartford Times and General Tele-Radio Corporation, and initially carried programming from both ABC and the DuMont Television Network. Like many early UHF stations, it faced a structural disadvantage against VHF competitors because UHF reception was less widespread in the television sets of the period and because channel 3 was expected to become Hartford's dominant commercial allocation. CBS purchased the station in 1955, and channel 18 became the network's Connecticut outlet while its sale was being completed. The call sign changed to WHCT in 1956. CBS's ownership gave the station a major network affiliation, but the arrangement was short-lived. After WTIC-TV launched on VHF channel 3 in 1957, CBS moved its Hartford affiliation there, citing the broader coverage and household reception advantages of VHF. WHCT returned to independent programming in 1959 after a temporary period off the air. RKO General acquired the station in 1960 and used it as a pioneering test site for subscription television. From 1962 until 1969, WHCT transmitted conventional advertiser-supported programming during the day and scrambled movies, sports, and other programs at night for households paying to use Zenith Phonevision decoders. The experiment was one of the earliest large-scale American attempts to test pay television over a broadcast signal. After the service ended, the station operated as a commercial independent, but weak economics, difficult competition, ownership restrictions, and repeated efforts to find a buyer contributed to a prolonged period of instability. RKO eventually donated the station to Faith Center, a California-based Christian ministry. Under Faith Center, WHCT encountered financial, technical, regulatory, and tax-related difficulties. Its programming deteriorated substantially, at times consisting largely of a still image accompanied by religious audio. FCC proceedings and attempts to transfer the troubled license continued for years. Astroline Communications, a Hispanic-controlled partnership, was eventually selected as a proposed buyer through the FCC's distress-sale process. The transaction became entangled in challenges to the policy and to Astroline's qualifications, including litigation that reached the United States Supreme Court in Metro Broadcasting, Inc. v. FCC. The station entered bankruptcy reorganization in 1988; the case was later converted to liquidation, and WHCT left the air in 1991. It returned in 1997 with infomercials and home-shopping programming while the ownership dispute and FCC proceedings continued. Entravision Communications resolved the long-running matter in 2000 through an $18 million settlement and acquired the station. On April 1, 2001, the call sign changed from WHCT to WUVN and the station became a Univision affiliate. Entravision later developed regional news programming serving its Boston and Hartford Univision outlets. In 2017, Entravision sold WUVN's broadcast spectrum for $125 million in the FCC spectrum-incentive process. Following the transaction, Univision programming associated with WUVN was carried through low-power station WUTH-CD, whose coverage is concentrated primarily in the Hartford area. WUVN's operations are based with WUTH-CD at Constitution Plaza in downtown Hartford, while transmission facilities are located on Birch Mountain Road in Glastonbury. The broader service arrangement also includes WHTX-LD in Springfield, Massachusetts, which carries WUVN's Univision programming in that market.

Channel 18 began as WGTH-TV on September 25, 1954, after the FCC allocated UHF channel 18 to Hartford following the end of its television-station licensing freeze. The original venture joined The Hartford Times, which owned radio station WTHT, with General Tele-Radio Corporation, owner of WONS radio. WGTH-TV operated from studios on Asylum Street and launched with ABC and DuMont affiliations. Its first regular broadcast was an ABC college-football game. The station's early development was shaped by the unequal position of UHF broadcasting. Hartford's channel 3 was still subject to regulatory proceedings, and UHF stations argued that introducing a commercial VHF competitor would undermine efforts to persuade viewers to acquire UHF-capable sets. The eventual authorization and construction of WTIC-TV on channel 3 changed Hartford's competitive balance. CBS announced in 1955 that it would buy WGTH-TV for $650,000. The station became a CBS affiliate in October of that year, and the sale was completed in 1956 after challenges from WNHC-TV were withdrawn. The call letters changed to WHCT in September 1956. CBS invested in local presentation, including a streetside studio and locally produced programming, but its ownership lasted only briefly. When WTIC-TV began operating on VHF channel 3 in 1957, CBS moved its Hartford affiliation there and took WHCT off the air in November 1958. Capital Broadcasting restored WHCT in January 1959 as a limited-schedule independent station. RKO General acquired it in 1960 through Hartford Phonevision, Inc., intending to test subscription television. From June 1962 through January 1969, the station used Zenith's Phonevision system: daytime programming remained conventional, while selected evening films and sporting events were scrambled and made available to subscribers using home decoders. The service ended after regulatory and technical limitations, including the difficulty of meeting requirements for color programming. WHCT then returned to full-time commercial independent operation. RKO's efforts to improve the station's technical position were constrained by interference and ownership considerations involving its stations in New York and Boston. With no conventional buyer emerging, RKO donated WHCT to Faith Center, a California Christian church and television ministry. Faith Center's ownership brought prolonged difficulties. The ministry contested tax obligations despite lacking the relevant exemption, leading to temporary seizures of its transmitter site. Equipment maintenance and programming quality declined, and by the early 1980s the station was sometimes reduced to a static image with audio of sermons by pastor Gene Scott. FCC scrutiny produced a long-running effort to transfer the license under the distress-sale policy for troubled stations. Astroline Communications, a Hispanic-controlled partnership, was eventually proposed as purchaser. Alan Shurberg challenged Astroline's qualifications and the policy itself. The controversy became associated with Metro Broadcasting, Inc. v. FCC, in which the Supreme Court upheld the FCC's distress-sale policy in 1990. WHCT nevertheless entered bankruptcy reorganization in 1988, was converted to liquidation in 1991, and went off the air. It returned in 1997 with infomercials and home-shopping programs while further hearings addressed the proposed ownership transfer. Entravision Communications ended the dispute in 2000 by settling the matter for $18 million and becoming the buyer. On April 1, 2001, the station adopted the WUVN call letters and joined Univision. Entravision later produced regional news programming for its Boston and Hartford stations. In 2017 it sold WUVN's spectrum for $125 million. The station's Univision service thereafter relied on low-power WUTH-CD, with coverage largely limited to Hartford, while WHTX-LD in Springfield also carried Univision programming associated with the service. WUVN and WUTH-CD share downtown Hartford facilities at Constitution Plaza, and their transmission operations use facilities on Birch Mountain Road in Glastonbury.

• 2017

  Spectrum sale

  [1]WUVNen.wikipedia.org

  Entravision sells the station's spectrum for $125 million, leading to reliance on low-power transmission facilities.

• 2001

  WUVN launches as a Univision affiliate

  [1]WUVNen.wikipedia.org

  Entravision renames WHCT as WUVN on April 1 and establishes its current Univision affiliation.

• 1997

  WHCT returns to broadcasting

  [1]WUVNen.wikipedia.org

  The station returns with infomercials and home-shopping programming during ongoing FCC proceedings.

• 1991

  Station goes off the air

  [1]WUVNen.wikipedia.org

  The bankruptcy case is converted to liquidation and WHCT ceases broadcasting.

• 1988

  Bankruptcy reorganization

  [1]WUVNen.wikipedia.org

  WHCT files for bankruptcy reorganization amid continuing ownership and regulatory problems.

• 1969

  Subscription television ends

  [1]WUVNen.wikipedia.org

  The Phonevision experiment concludes and WHCT resumes full-time independent commercial broadcasting.

• 1962

  Phonevision subscription service begins

  [1]WUVNen.wikipedia.org

  WHCT starts a major over-the-air subscription television experiment using Zenith decoders.

• 1960

  RKO General acquires WHCT

  [1]WUVNen.wikipedia.org

  RKO General purchases the station as a proposed subscription-television test site.

• 1958

  CBS affiliation ends

  [1]WUVNen.wikipedia.org

  CBS leaves WHCT for VHF station WTIC-TV, taking the channel off the air temporarily.

• 1956

  Call sign becomes WHCT

  [1]WUVNen.wikipedia.org

  CBS completes its acquisition and changes the station's call sign from WGTH-TV to WHCT.

• 1955

  CBS announces acquisition

  [1]WUVNen.wikipedia.org

  CBS announces a $650,000 purchase of WGTH-TV and makes the station its Connecticut affiliate while the transaction proceeds.

• 1954

  WGTH-TV begins broadcasting

  [1]WUVNen.wikipedia.org

  Channel 18 launches on September 25 as Hartford's first television station, carrying ABC and DuMont programming.

A local Spanish-language broadcast outlet combining Univision national programming with regional news and community service for Hispanic audiences in central Connecticut and nearby western Massachusetts.

• Broadcast television · 2001

  Univision network service

  WUVN's principal offering is Univision's Spanish-language broadcast schedule, including entertainment, news, sports, specials, and other network programming. Following the 2017 spectrum sale, the service was distributed through associated low-power facilities, particularly WUTH-CD in the Hartford area and WHTX-LD in Springfield.

• Local television news · 2003

  Regional Spanish-language news

  Entravision developed regional news programming serving its Boston and Hartford Univision stations. The offering is intended to provide Spanish-language local reporting and regional information alongside national Univision programming.

• 1980

  Faith Center ownership and regulatory problems

  During Faith Center's ownership, WHCT faced FCC scrutiny, disputes over unpaid taxes, temporary seizures of the transmitter site, deteriorating equipment, and severe programming degradation. These issues contributed to years of efforts to transfer the troubled license.

  Source

Read more

• 2017

  Spectrum transactionOther

  Background

  Entravision participated in the FCC spectrum-incentive process.

  Action taken

  Entravision sold WUVN's spectrum for $125 million and continued service through low-power associated stations.

  Aftermath

  The resulting broadcast footprint was substantially more limited, particularly through WUTH-CD's Hartford-area signal.

  Spectrum sale proceeds. 125 million USD (2017)

  Source

• 2001

  Conversion to Univision affiliationStrategy

  Background

  Entravision acquired the station after a lengthy ownership proceeding and bankruptcy history.

  Action taken

  The company changed the call sign from WHCT to WUVN and affiliated the station with Univision.

  Aftermath

  WUVN became a Spanish-language outlet serving Hartford and later participated in Entravision's regional Boston–Hartford news operation.

  Source

• 1960

  RKO adopts subscription television strategyStrategy

  Background

  RKO General sought to use WHCT to test whether broadcast television could support a direct-pay service for movies, sports, and other exclusive programs.

  Action taken

  RKO acquired the station and implemented Zenith Phonevision, scrambling selected nighttime programs for decoder-equipped subscribers.

  Aftermath

  The experiment ran from 1962 to 1969 but ended after technical and regulatory obstacles, including color-programming requirements.

  Source

• 2017

  Entravision sells WUVN spectrum[1]WUVNen.wikipedia.org

  Other

  Entravision sold the station's spectrum for $125 million through the FCC spectrum-incentive process. WUVN's programming subsequently used low-power facilities with more limited Hartford-area coverage.

• 2001

  WUVN changes call sign and becomes a Univision affiliate[1]WUVNen.wikipedia.org

  Other

  Entravision completed its acquisition of the troubled Hartford channel, renamed it WUVN, and aligned it with the Univision Spanish-language network.

1. 1WUVNen.wikipedia.org