WFHW-LP was a low-powered community-oriented television station licensed to Buffalo, New York, founded by

consumer rights Consumer protection is the practice of safeguarding buyers of goods and services, and the public, against unfair practices in the marketplace. Consumer protection measures are often established by law. Such laws are intended to prevent business ...

advocate

Ralph Nader Ralph Nader (; born February 27, 1934) is an American political activist, author, lecturer, and attorney noted for his involvement in consumer protection, environmentalism, and government reform causes. The son of Lebanese immigrants to the U ...

in summer 1989 as W58AV on UHF 58. The station broadcast from the top of the

Marine Midland Bank Marine Midland Bank was an American bank formerly headquartered in Buffalo, New York, with several hundred branches throughout the state of New York. In 1998, branches extended to Pennsylvania. It was acquired by HSBC in 1980, and changed its na ...

Tower (now

Seneca One Tower Seneca One Tower is a skyscraper located in downtown Buffalo, New York. The building was formerly known as One HSBC Center (1999–2013) and prior to that, as Marine Midland Center (1972–1999), its name was changed in 1999 shortly af ...

) in downtown Buffalo, with an initial power of 100 watts (later upgraded to 1000, and finally, 15,100 watts). From the beginning, the station aired a large amount of locally produced fare, with programming from

Channel America Channel America (CA), officially Channel America Network, Inc., was the first United States terrestrial broadcast television network to be intentionally assembled out of LPTV, or low-power television licensees. The network was founded by David Po ...

,http://ecfsdocs.fcc.gov/filings/1991/09/09/114987.html as well as a partnership with

The Learning Channel TLC is an American cable television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. First established in 1980 as The Learning Channel, it initially focused on educational and instructional programming. By the late 1990s, after an acquisition by the ow ...

. By 1991, the station had partnered up with

Medaille College Medaille University is a private university in Buffalo, New York. The Sisters of St. Joseph founded Medaille in 1937. Medaille serves roughly 1,600 students from Western New York and Southern Ontario. Campuses Medaille's main campus is in Buffa ...

, though this would only last until January 1, 1993. At some point in the mid-1990s, the station upgraded from translator to low-powered television status, and changed its

call letters In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign (also known as a call name or call letters—and historically as a call signal—or abbreviated as a call) is a unique identifier for a transmitter station. A call sign can be formally assigne ...

to WFHW-LP after what would become its last operator, the local branch of the non-profit

Friendship House Friendship House was a missionary movement founded in the early 1930s by Catholic social justice activist Catherine de Hueck Doherty, one of the leading proponents of interracial justice in the period prior to the mid-20th-century civil rights m ...

. The station ceased operations on Halloween in 1999 after the Friendship House ceased operations, several years before the

Digital television transition in the United States The digital transition in the United States was the switchover from analog to exclusively digital broadcasting of terrestrial television programming. According to David Rehr, then president and CEO of the National Association of Broadcasters, t ...

. Channel 58 would not be reissued; it would later be allocated to

WJET-TV WJET-TV (channel 24) is a television station in Erie, Pennsylvania, United States, affiliated with ABC. It is owned by Nexstar Media Group, which provides certain services to Fox affiliate WFXP (channel 66) under a local marketing agreement ...

Erie, Pennsylvania Erie (; ) is a city on the south shore of Lake Erie and the county seat of Erie County, Pennsylvania, United States. Erie is the fifth largest city in Pennsylvania and the largest city in Northwestern Pennsylvania with a population of 94,831 ...

as a temporary digital channel prior to the transition, after which it (along with all stations between 52 and 69) would be removed from the television spectrum.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wfhw-Lp Defunct television stations in the United States Television stations in New York (state) Television channels and stations established in 1989 Television channels and stations disestablished in 1999 1989 establishments in New York (state) 1999 disestablishments in New York (state) Ralph Nader FHW-LP