WRLP-TV, Channel 32 (NBC./Ind.)
Greenfield, MA (1957-1978)
Owned by Springfield Television Corporation
The former tower for WRLP-TV,
located on Gun Hill, Winchester, NH
Courtesy of Mike Fitzpatrick/NECRAT
Channel 32, WRLP-TV in Greenfield, MA came to the air on May 15, 1957.
The call-letters WRLP-TV stood for Roger Lowell Putnam, the brother of
WWLP-TV (Channel 22, Springfield, MA) founder William L. Putnam.
Originally, "TV-32" was specifically designed to rebroadcast the
programming of co-owned and operated WWLP-TV, Channel 22. The rugged
terrain of Western Massachusetts, Southern Vermont and New Hampshire
made it VERY hard to get Channel 22's signal, especially in the area of
Greenfield, MA and Keene, NH. Cable was very new and comparatively
expensive in those days. What signals hit the "headend" were limited
and hardly worth the expense. No CNN, no HBO and no TV Land. This was
the 1950's. TV-32 provided the much needed TV service to those who
otherwise would be stuck with blank screens.
The WRLP-TV transmitter site was on Gun Hill in Winchester, New
Hampshire. (The tower is still there, to this day.) The high elevation there made it possible for "TV-32" to
be viewable EVEN in the Springfield area. This resulted in coverage
overlap between Channels 22 and 32. So, even though this "mini-duopoly"
was grandfathered, Springfield Television (Channel 32's parent company)
decided to break away in 1974 from Channel 22's full-time simulcast in
the evening and offered Independent programming during the prime-time
hours, including a local evening newscast.
Cable was growing throughout
Western New England and WRLP's Bruins, Red Sox and Celtics sports telecasts from
WSBK-TV and WBZ-TV in Boston were EXTREMELY popular. Nearly 50 cable systems
in 5 states (MA, NH, CT, VT and NY) added Channel 32 to their lineup. Unfortunately,
advertisers (at that time) did not include TV-32's cable audience, in terms of
advertising dollars. Cable viewership accounted for nearly 70% of
WRLP's total audience. The result, WRLP-TV's rate card was
extraordinarily low for the total amount of audience being served. So, even with some
good syndicated product like "Alfred Hitchcock Presents", "The Lucy
Show", "Sha-na-na", "The Brady Bunch", "Warner Bros. Cartoons" and more, WRLP-TV still lost lots of $$$$$$. It was said by Bill Putnam that Channel 32 "never made a dime
since the day it was turned on". So, after 20+ years of service (just 5 weeks before WRLP was to celebrate its' 21st anniversary), the sad saga of WRLP-TV, Channel 32
came to a close.... not with a bang, but a whimper. Had Channel 32
stuck around for even a couple more years, the tide could have
eventually turned around. However, the Corporation basically ran out of patience. This was 1978, and they didn't feel that they had a prayer to turn a profit with this particular station.
Ironically, the last show (which followed the last regular season game for the 1978 Boston Bruins and one last newscast from WWLP) on Sunday night, April 9th, 1978 at 11:30 PM was "The 700
Club".
The WRLP-TV transmitter did live on! It was immediately shipped to Salt Lake City, Utah to start up Springfield Television's new UHF station, KSTU-TV/Channel 20 (now on VHF Channel 13).
And now you know.....the rest of the story.
History written by Peter Q. George,
with many thanks to Peter J. Wiggins for checking out further information about Channel 32!