Channel 1 (North American TV)
This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. (January 2024) |
In
During the
Until 1948,
As Mexico signed on its first station in 1950 and Canada's first station went on-air in 1952, the historical Channel 1 (System M) is exclusively a U.S. allocation artifact.
History
Channel 1 was allocated at 44–50
In 1940, the FCC reassigned 42–50 MHz to the FM broadcast band. Television's channel 1 frequency range was moved to 50–56 MHz (see table below). Experimental television stations in New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles were affected.[1]
Commercial TV allocations were made by the
In the first postwar allocation in the spring of 1946, Channel 1 was moved back to 44–50 MHz, with visual at 45.25 MHz and aural at 49.75 MHz. FM was moved to its current 88–108 MHz band. But WNBT and all other existing stations were moved to other channels, because the final Channel 1 was reserved for low-power community stations covering a limited area. While a handful of construction permits were issued for this final version of Channel 1, no station ever actually broadcast on it before it was removed from use in 1948.
When the FCC initially allocated broadcast television frequencies, channel 1 was logically the first channel. These U.S. TV stations originally broadcast on the 50–56 MHz channel 1:
- W2XBS/WNBT/WRCA (today's WNBC), New York City (1941–1946), reassigned in 1946 to channel 4;
- W6XAO/KTSL/KNXT (today's KCBS-TV), Los Angeles, reassigned post-war to channel 2;
- W9XZV .
- KARO, Riverside, California; never began broadcasting, no current VHF allocation;
- WSBE, South Bend due to its proximity to Chicago, making the city a UHF island.
By September 1945, additional stations temporarily granted construction permits to operate on channel 1 included:
- W8XCT (WLW) Cincinnati, Ohio ultimately built on channel 4 as commercial station WLWT, later moved to channel 5.
- W9RUI
- W8XGZ Charleston, West Virginia, licensed to a chemical company, also held a channel one construction permit; there is no indication the stations ever got on the air.[7]
See also list of experimental television stations for additional channel one pioneers.
As a virtual channel, however,
Community television
In 1946, prior to
From 1945 to 1948 TV stations in the U.S. shared Channel 1 and other channels with fixed and mobile services. The FCC decided in 1948 that a primary (non-shared) allocation of the
The FCC in May 1948 formally changed the rules on TV band allocations based on propagation knowledge gained during the era of shared-user allocations. The 44–50 MHz
Channel 1 was reassigned to fixed and mobile services (44–50 MHz) in order to end their former shared use of other VHF TV frequencies. Rather than renumber the TV channel table, it was decided to merely remove Channel 1 from the table.
Cable television
On cable television systems, channel 1 was optionally used by some providers in between channels 4 and 5 at the frequencies of 72–78 MHz (moving channel 5 and 6 allocations up by 2 MHz; however, this would prevent channels 5 and 6 from being viewed on non-cable-ready television sets). Channel 1, where available, has also been mapped to 99 (frequency range 114–120 MHz) on some cable boxes.[8]
Modern allocations 43–50 MHz
As of September 2000, the Federal Spectrum Use of the band (which is regulated by the NTIA and not the FCC)[9] was as follows:
- 43.69–46.6 Non-Military Land Mobile Radio (LMR):
Primarily used by Federal agencies for mutual aid response with local communities.
Military LMR: Used by the military services for tactical and training operations on a non-interference basis. (Band is otherwise non-government exclusive). - 46.6–47 Govt. FIXED MOBILE Allocation:
Non-Military LMR: Extensive use of this band is for contingency response to various national disasters. Others uses are for national resources management, law enforcement, tornado tracking, and various meteorological research support.
Military LMR: This band is used primarily for tactical and training operations byU.S. militaryunits for combat net radio operations that provide command and control for combat, combat support, and combat service support units. Frequencies also used for air-to-ground communications for military close air support requirements as well as some other tactical air-ground and air-air communications. - 47–49.6 Experimental:
Used for experimental research to observe and measure currents in harbor areas in support of vessel safety.
Military LMR: Used by the military services for tactical and training operations on a non-interference basis. (Band is otherwise non-government exclusive). - 49.6–50 Govt. FIXED MOBILE Allocation:
Non-Military LMR: This band is used extensively to support contingencies or ecological emergencies, some public safety requirements, MARS system, and air-quality measurements.
Experimental: Research is performed in various regions of the atmosphere as well as experimental development of portable space orbital debris ground radars.
Military LMR: This band is used primarily for tactical and training operations by U.S. military units for combat net radio operations that provide command and control for combat, combat support, and combat service support units. Frequencies also used for air-to-ground communications for military close air support requirements as well as some other tactical air-ground and air-air communications.
FCC (NON-Federal) allocations for the band:
- Primarily Land Mobile use from 43-46.6.
- 46.61-46.89 is used by older cordless phone base stations. The handsets use the 49.61 - 49.89 range for transmitting to the base unit.
- 47.0-49.60 is used by LMR and then the cordless phone range. Early experiments with meteor scatter one way messaging was in the 49 - 50 range back in the early 1990s but it no longer exists due to reliable and cheaper satellite communications.
There is also a conflict with the de facto
Any receivers capable of tuning VHF TV 1, by necessity, operated on a lower intermediate frequency as 45.75 MHz video IF would overlap the incoming signal at 44-50 MHz.
Channel 1 in other NTSC-using countries
Canada did not start regular television broadcasts until after the U.S. had decommissioned Channel 1 (44–50 MHz) for television use; CBFT and CBLT signed on in 1952. This TV channel was never used in Latin America, South Korea and the Philippines excluding Japan as TV broadcasting did not start in these areas until the 1950s.
The following commercial television stations operated on channel 1 on analog:
- Hokkaido Broadcasting (HBC) in Sapporo, Hokkaido
- Aomori, Aomori Prefecture
- Tohoku Broadcasting Company (TBC) in Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture
- Tokai Television Broadcasting (THK) in Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture
- Toyama, Toyama Prefecture
- Tokushima, Tokushima Prefecture
- )
- Kyushu Asahi Broadcasting (KBC) in Fukuoka, Fukuoka Prefecture
- Minaminihon Broadcasting (MBC) in Kagoshima, Kagoshima Prefecture
On digital television, their virtual channel number is 1 for historical reasons.
References
- ^ "Threat to Television Is Feared in Frequency Modulation Order", New York Times, May 21, 1940, p. 23. "Gives Du Mont Right to Television Here", New York Times, July 21, 1940, p. 28.
- ^ "History of Zenith Electronics Corporation – FundingUniverse".
- ^ "Zenith Enters FM and TV Broadcasting", The Zenith Story (1954).
- ^ "Timeline". Archived from the original on 24 March 2022.
- ^ "CompassRose.org: WBKB Chicago". Archived from the original on 2015-06-08. Retrieved 2008-11-15.
- ^ "Television stations authorized by the FCC, January 1, 1941". RCA Radio Travel-Log. 1941. Archived from the original on August 18, 2012. Retrieved August 12, 2012.
- ^ Cooper, Bob. "Why don't US TV Sets have a Channel 1?". Archived from the original on 3 December 2022.
- ^ "Technical Notes". HackersCatalog.com. Extreme Media. 2012. Archived from the original on 2014-07-14. Retrieved 2016-08-12.
- ^ "NTIA Federal Long-Range Spectrum Plan - 30 to 1300 MHZ". Archived from the original on 2009-10-18. Retrieved 2009-11-08.
External links
- David Ferre; Radio-Electronics magazine; March 1982; pp. 43-46, 89; “What Ever Happened to Channel 1?”; archived on earlytelevision.org; retrieved September 22, 2023
- What ever happened to Channel 1? - J. W. Reiser, based on a Radio-Electronics article of the same name by David A. Ferre
- Why is there no Channel One on television? - Cecil Adams
- What became of Channel 1? - Jeff Miller
- What Happened to Channel 1? - Snopes.com