WNET History

WNET started off as a commercial channel in 1948. It was owned by Atlantic Television, a subsidiary of Bremer Broadcasting Corporation. The channel was known as WATV and was the first of the three television stations to start in 1948. It was also the first independent station and one of the first programs that became popular was Daywatch.

In October 1957, Bremer Broadcasting Corporation announced that they has sold off the station to National Telefilm Associates for a sum of $4.5 million and a few months later in May 1958 the channels call sign was changed to WNTA-TV. The cash reserves that National Telefilm Associates had made it possible for the channel to produce programs that had a better focus on the events and people of New Jersey. Some of the early programs included the drama series Play of the Week, talk show Open End and children's show The Magic Clown. Despite these changes the channel was nowhere compared to the other independent channels in the area.

Among the many organizations that bid for this debt laden channel was Educational Television for the Metropolitan Area (ETMA). The company involved people from cultural backgrounds, educators and local businesspeople. They felt that the frequency allotted as the non-commercial frequency was not adequate to cover the market. The initial bid of $4 million was rejected by NTA but ETMA was persistent and later bought the channel for $6.2 million in 1961.

After a few legal issues channel 13 was ready to be reborn towards the end of 1962 and as it was launched as WNDT New York city got its first educational channel and that too in the VHF band. Since then, the channel has covered various aspects of education on television and ensured that the people of New York receive all this information without being hassled by commercials. And all this has been made possible due to the donors that subscribe to the channel and donate in various ways to the channel.

NOTE: Information on this site is not guaranteed to be accurate. Some content is compiled from 3rd party sources. If you are aware of incorrect or outdated information, feel free to contact us.