W69AQ, Channel 69 (//Ind.)
Springfield, MA (1977-2001)
Operated by Springfield Television Corporation
The W69AQ antenna was side mounted on the WWLP/22 tower
on Provin Mountain in Agawam, MA.
(Photos courtesy of Mike Fitzpatrick at NECRAT)
W69AQ, Channel 69 in Springfield, MA was originally put on the air in November, 1977 to re-broadcast the sports programming of WSBK-TV/Channel 38 in Boston, MA, via WRLP-TV/Channel 32 in Greenfield, MA. WRLP-TV was co-owned and operated by WWLP/Channel 22 in Springfield, MA. Word has it that W69AQ, while being licensed to a "Mrs. Downey" of Agawam, MA (a friend of former WWLP and Springfield Television Corporation CEO, Bill Putnam), was being supported by WWLP in order to try to stave off the cable "monster" in Springfield, a city not yet wired for cable at the time. Virtually every other community around the Pioneer Valley had been wired for cable, for years.
Originally, W69AQ was to pick-up the off-air signal of Channel 32. However, WRLP-TV (as you may have read through our history of the late Channel 32) was to permanantly leave the air in March, 1978 at the request of Springfield Television (WRLP's owner), due to continued operating losses. Thus, W69AQ was stuck in a limbo as its' primary, WRLP, ceased to exist. Without WRLP's off-air signal to feed it, how could Channel 69 continue to rebroadcast the Red Sox and Bruins games to Springfield? At that time, the FCC did not allow retransmission of distant signals via microwave links on translators. Low Power TV (in the way we know it exists today) was still many years into the future. Apparently, WWLP sought and received a special FCC waiver of this rule and got special permission to rebroadcast WSBK-TV/Boston ONLY during sports programming. This had never been done before. HOWEVER, late information from a current WWLP staffer (Mike Fitzpatrick from NECRAT) suggests that W69AQ never did receive its' sports programming via WRLP-TV. Rather, Channel 69 received its' signal from WSBK, using a microwave hop from an off-air receiver at Coy's Hill in Warren, MA to Provin Mountain in Agawam. And that WRLP received its' feed directly off-the-air from WSBK-TV, due to the height of the receive antenna at Gun Hill in Winchester, NH (WRLP's transmitter site). We will double check on that.
In any event, in essence, W69AQ was the FIRST LPTV (per say) in existence. Prior to and after all transmissions, WWLP played a pre-recorded announcement that said "WWLP/Channel 22 supports Channel 69 as a public service...". Many times, Channel 69 was "accidentally" left on the air after the sports programming on WSBK-TV had ended, providing viewers a chance to watch some of WSBK's late night programming ("Ironside" and "Hogan's Heroes").
In spite of a minimum signal and very directional antenna pattern, W69AQ apparently had a faithful audience throughout the Greater Springfield and Westfield areas (myself included). (It was very viewable at Westfield State College, an area outside of the normal antenna pattern.) However, that was not to last for long. Springfield DID eventually get wired for cable in the early 1980's. Thus, WSBK-TV (a major superstation, even then) was now available AT ALL TIMES to all who subscribed to cable. With cable penetration being at an all-time high in the Greater Springfield area, the need for W69AQ became moot. It simply was no longer in WWLP's interest to continue to support Channel 69's operations when WSBK was now available on cable in Downtown Springfield. Channel 69 went dormant in 1982 until the license and facility were bought by WHLL-TV/Channel 27 in Worcester (now WUNI-TV) in 1985. However, WHLL-TV was only able to operate Channel 69 for a few hours a day, in the morning hours, due to territorial exclusivity of some of syndicated programs seen on Channel 27, that were also being shown on the Greater Springfield/Hartford market stations. The station never regained a foothold in the market. Plus the fact that the W69AQ transmitter was heavily damaged due to lightning on Provin Mountain in the late 1980's and as a result of a "blown" output transmitter tube (which was never replaced), didn't help matters much. People found more and more convenient choices to watch television than trying to watch a once-in-a-while transmission from W69AQ. Channel 69 had gone full circle.
Jasas Corporation (licensee of Channel 27, now WUNI) held the license for W69AQ for many years. Eventually, they secured a Construction Permit to move the station to Channel 46 (W46CS). However, that station never made it to the air. As of March, 2001 the license and call-sign were deleted on the FCC's database. Thus, the long strange story of W69AQ ends. However, as you can see, it was a very historical station. LPTV was invented here!
History written by Peter Q. George,
with additional information provided by Mike Fitzpatrick, WWLP-TV/NECRAT