WTVE-TV 51 is a full-power commercial independent television station licensed to Reading, Pennsylvania and assigned to the Philadelphia (DMA) designated market area. Over the years, the station has evolved from serving a handful of viewers on the local cable channel to roughly 2.5 million subscribers on cable, satellite and FiOS. The station is picked up on cable systems in its sprawling market area from Allentown to Atlantic City and from Wilmington, Delaware to points in Pennsylvania’s coal region.

WTVE’s unique location makes it a regional powerhouse allowing it to serve the entire Philadelphia DMA and parts of two other major TV markets over-the-air. Over-the-air capabilities are considered vital in the digital age when not every subchannel will be available over cable – plus a host of mobile applications.

Much has changed over the decades for WTVE, both on the programming and technology fronts:

  • 1980 – Signed on as local independent with news and syndication.
  • 1982 – Became affiliated of over-the-air scrambled movie network.
  • 1986 – Became first-ever broadcast affiliate of Home Shopping Network.
  • 1996 – Became affiliate of the Info-Mall.
  • 1997 – Affiliated with Telemundo.
  • 1998 – Local Marketing Agreement with Philadelphia Television News.
  • 2000 – Became Philadelphia’s Prime Time Christian Station.
  • 2008 – Acquired by WRNN-TV out of New York in June.
  • 2008 – Transitioned to digital only in November.

With purchase of the station in 2008, a clear direction has been instituted: WRNN is combining forces with its NY, NJ & CT presence to create a regional Northeast Corridor juggernaut encompassing Philadelphia, Delaware, all of New Jersey, the Hudson Valley and NYC. Led by its flagship news/call-in shows, “Real Politics Live” and “Richard French Live,” viewers at WTVE will now be connected with viewers in New York creating a unique synergy found nowhere else in the area.

It is interesting to note that through the early years, WTVE produced popular viewer call-in shows like “Newsbeat” and “Night Beat,” and that now “Real Politics Live” and “Richard French Live” are carrying on the tradition, only on a much, much larger stage.