WGAL

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WGAL
Lancaster / Harrisburg / York, Pennsylvania
Branding	WGAL 8
Slogan	Coverage You Can Count On
Channels	8 (VHF) analog, 58 (UHF) digital
Affiliations	NBC NBC Weather Plus (DT2)
Owner	Hearst-Argyle Television
Founded	March 18, 1949 (Began on Ch. 4 and moved to Ch. 8 in 1952)
Call letters meaning	Wonderful Garden's at Lancaster
Former affiliations	CBS (secondary, 1949-63), ABC (secondary, 1949-63), DuMont (secondary, 1949-1956) [1]
Transmitter Power	110 kW
Website	wgal.com

WGAL is the NBC television affiliate serving the Lancaster/Harrisburg/York (Susquehanna Valley) region of Pennsylvania. It broadcasts its analog signal on channel 8, and its digital signal on channel 58. Its studio facilities are located in Lancaster, its city of license. Its transmitter is located in Hallam, Pennsylvania. WGAL News 8 WeatherPlus is offered on its digital station.

[edit] History

WGAL began operations on March 18, 1949 on channel 4, as the fourth television station in Pennsylvania and the first outside Philadelphia (beating WDTV, now KDKA-TV, in Pittsburgh, which began operations in November of that year). It was owned by the Steinman family, owners of WGAL-AM 1490 and Lancaster's two major newspapers, the Intelligencer Journal and the Lancaster New Era. At the time, Lancaster was the smallest city in the country with a television station.

Its first formal program, shown on March 22, was to a group of RCA executives, television dealers and radio station personnel at the Stevens House Hotel in downtown Lancaster.

In 1952 WGAL increased its power from 1,000 to 7,200 watts. Under this new grant, the station was required by the FCC to move to channel 8 to prevent interference with WRC-TV in Washington. That change took place on December 31, 1952.

On January 1, 1954 WGAL presented its first color television broadcast, the Tournament of Roses Parade.

WGAL has always been an NBC affiliate, but also carried some programs from CBS, DuMont, and ABC until 1963, when Nielsen made the Lancaster and Harrisburg-York areas a single market. As the only VHF station in the market, it has been the market leader for many years.

The Steinmans sold their television holdings in 1979, and WGAL-TV and its Albuquerque, New Mexico sister station KOAT-TV went to Pulitzer Publishing. Under Pulitzer's ownership, in 1985 WGAL became the first television station in Pennsylvania to broadcast in stereo, beating much larger stations in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. Pulitzer sold its entire television division, including WGAL and KOAT, to Hearst-Argyle Television in 1999. The sale closed on March 18, the station's 50th anniversary. In 2005 WGAL adopted a Hearst-styled logo somewhat similar to fellow Hearst stations WBAL-TV in Baltimore, Maryland and WTAE-TV in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, but containing old elements.

WGAL-TV is the #1 station in the country (Top 50 markets) in terms of audience share for the 6AM and 6PM News.^[1]

[edit] References and footnotes

[edit] External links

• WGAL Homepage
• Query the FCC's TV station database for WGAL