WPST-TV

Not to be confused with Trenton, New Jersey, radio station WPST.

WPST-TV
A black circle with a stylized white silhouette of a pennant-shaped flag in the center, a black circle within the flag contains the number "10" in an oblique serif font; outside of the main black circle is a white ring with the text "WPST-TV" on top and "MIAMI" on bottom, with two black stars separating the text.
Channels
Programming
AffiliationsABC (1957–1961)
Ownership
Owner
History
First air date
August 2, 1957 (1957-08-02)
Last air date
  • November 19, 1961 (1961-11-19)
  • (4 years, 109 days)
Call sign meaning
"Public Service Television"
Technical information
ERP316 kW[1]
HAAT932 ft (284 m)
Transmitter coordinates25°57′27″N 80°12′43″W / 25.95750°N 80.21194°W / 25.95750; -80.21194

WPST-TV was a television station that broadcast on channel 10 in Miami, Florida, United States, for four years, from 1957 to 1961. Launched as the third commercially licensed very high frequency (VHF) station in Miami and the market's second American Broadcasting Company (ABC) affiliate after WITV (channel 17), it was owned by Public Service Television, Inc., the broadcasting subsidiary of Miami-based National Airlines (NAL), and managed by NAL founder/CEO George T. Baker. It was the first television station in the United States to have its broadcast license revoked by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).[2]

The majority of WPST-TV's existence was shrouded in controversy. NAL prevailed after a protracted bidding process against three other applicants for the station license. Storer Broadcasting, another bidder forced to withdraw early on, sold to NAL the studio facilities and tower of WGBS-TV (channel 23), which was taken dark in advance of WPST-TV's sign-on on August 2, 1957. The uncovering of a wide-ranging ethics scandal within the FCC in early 1958 revealed NAL, along with two other bidders for the license, engaged in unethical lobbying and unauthorized ex parte communications with several commissioners prior to their voting in favor of the NAL application. After FCC commissioner and Miami native Richard A. Mack—directly influenced by close friend and practicing attorney Thurman A. Whiteside to vote for NAL—resigned in the scandal's wake, the bidding process for the channel 10 license was reopened. NAL's license for WPST-TV was ultimately revoked and a replacement license granted to L. B. Wilson, Inc., which launched WLBW-TV, now known as WPLG, on November 20, 1961.

WPST-TV was one of two stations in Miami to have their licenses revoked outright due to this scandal, the other being WCKT (channel 7). Unlike WCKT, which had all assets and programming sold to the succeeding owners, the only connection between WPST-TV and WLBW-TV was the ABC affiliation.

  1. ^ "WPST-TV" (PDF). Broadcasting Yearbook. 1961–62. p. A-19. Archived (PDF) from the original on February 20, 2022. Retrieved February 24, 2022 – via World Radio History.
  2. ^ "National gets walking papers in Miami: WPST-TV told to get off Ch. 10 by Nov. 20 for Wilson takeover" (PDF). Broadcasting. Vol. 61, no. 17. October 23, 1961. pp. 42–43. ProQuest 962769416. Archived (PDF) from the original on November 8, 2021. Retrieved June 12, 2022 – via World Radio History.