WNYE-TV

WNYE-TV, channel 25, is a non-commercial educational, independent television station located in New York City, owned by the NYC Media Group. WNYE-TV maintains studios in the Manhattan Municipal Building, and its transmitter is located at the Condé Nast Building in midtown Manhattan.

History

Instructional use

WNYE-TV operates on New York City's original educational television allocation, one of ten awarded by the Federal Communications Commission in 1952 to the University of the State of New York, the state's overall educational governing body. After initial plans to build a statewide network were abandoned, the construction permits were transferred to local educational interests; channel 25 was reassigned to the City's Board (now Department) of Education, operators of WNYE radio (91.5 FM).

However, it was obvious soon after the FCC opened up the UHF band that a UHF station would not be nearly strong enough to cover a market that had grown to take in large swaths of southwestern Connecticut and northern New Jersey, as well as southern New York state and Long Island. Moreover, until 1964 UHF stations were usually unviewable without a separate converter. For this reason, in September 1962, Newark, New Jersey-licensed commercial independent WNTA-TV (channel 13) was converted into non-commercial WNDT (now WNET), which would become the New York metropolitan area's main educational outlet.