WTVE (Elmira, NY)
| Elmira / Corning, New York | |
|---|---|
| Channels | Analog: 24 (UHF) |
| Affiliations | Defunct, deleted |
| Founded | 1953 |
| Call letters' meaning |
W TeleVision Elmira |
| Former affiliations | DuMont (1950s-54) |
WTVE was the first television station to go on the air in the Elmira-Corning, New York market. An affiliate of the DuMont Television Network, it broadcast from studios on Market Street in Elmira, transmitting on UHF channel 24.
The station was blown off the air in 1954 when its tower on South Mountain was blown down by Hurricane Hazel. Not long after, the DuMont network itself shut down. The station remained on the FCC books until at least 1960. At one point, the licensee held a construction permit for VHF channel 9, according to BostonRadio.com.
However, the station never signed back on the air. Both channels 9 and 24 were reallocated to Syracuse, New York, where they are occupied by WSYR-TV (originally WNYS and then WIXT) and WCNY-TV, respectively. The WTVE call letters were reallocated to a station in Reading, Pennsylvania.
It is notable that Hazel also knocked WLBR-TV in Lancaster, Pennsylvania off the air, though it came back on under new ownership within a few years.