Broadcasting-Telecasting – WISL Radio Museum

WISL Testimonial Ad for Standard Rate & Data Service – 1950

February 28, 2022February 28, 2022 by jjtreese, posted in Advertisements, Trade Magazine Ads

WISL was in competition for national advertising dollars in the 1950s. One way to get noticed by national advertising buyers was to purchase print ads in various trade publications. Standard Rate & Data Service published a directory of media outlets and their contact details. This directory was distributed to the marketing departments of companies and advertising agencies around the United States. SRDS is still around today serving the advertising buying community in the digital world.

In 1950, WISL radio ran a series of ads in the SRDS directory and provided a testimonial to the effectiveness of this promotion. Here we find a full-page advertisement produced by SRDS featuring this testimonial and published in the August 28th, 1950 edition of Broadcasting Telecasting.

Standard Rate & Data Service Advertisement from Broadcasting Telecasting – August 28th, 1950

Where Would The WISL TV Tower Have Been Built?

February 18, 2022February 18, 2022 by jjtreese, posted in News Articles, Trade Magazines

In 1952, WISL submitted an application to the FCC proposing to add a one-hundred thousand watt television station on channel 65. Radio Anthracite, parent company of WISL would eventually pull their application and WISL-TV would never become a reality. You can learn more about the story of WISL-TV HERE.

Broadcasting – Telecasting TV Application Announcement – November 3rd, 1952

In the application process, Radio Anthracite submitted their proposed tower location and through the power of technology, we can pinpoint exactly where the WISL-TV tower would have been constructed.

Here is a Google Maps view of 40°48’02.0″N 76°33’26.0″W, the proposed location of the WISL-TV tower.

Google Maps View of Proposed WISL-TV Tower Site

RCA Tube Advertisement

May 8, 2021 by jjtreese, posted in Advertisements, Trade Magazine Ads

Here’s an interesting find; A trade magazine advertisement for RCA-866A rectifier tubes printed in a 1956 edition of “Broadcasting Magazine.”

When WISL was built, the entire operation, from studio to transmitter, was outfitted with RCA equipment. RCA was one of the leading manufacturers of radio and broadcasting equipment from the earliest days of broadcasting through the 1970s.

WISL was a happy customer and this sentiment is reflected in a testimonial provided by Chief Engineer Ray Willard on the dependability of RCA’s rectifier tubes.

Mr. Willard wrote;

“I thought you might be interested in the report of two RCA-866A mercury-vapor rectifiers we have been operating at WISL. They have already recorded 20,500 hours of continuous service and are still going strong… not a record, perhaps, for this type tube… but at any rate, the practicability of purchasing dependable RCA tubes is obvious.”