uses see abc 6 . this article needs additional citations for verification . please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . december 2012 learn how and when to remove this template message wpvi tv philadelphia pennsylvania united states branding 6 abc general channel 6 secondary channel 6 action news newscasts slogan delaware valley s leading news program used to promote all action news newscasts channels digital 6 vhf virtual 6 psip subchannels .1 720p 16 9 wpvi hd .2 720p 16 9 livewel .3 480i 4 3 laff tv 1 affiliations .1 abc o & o .2 live well .3 laff 1 owner disney abc abc inc. first air date september 13 1947 ; 69 years ago 1947 09 13 call letters meaning philadelphia vi 6 in roman numerals sister station s wphl tv newscasts only former callsigns wfil tv 1947 1971 former channel number s analog 6 vhf 1947 2009 digital 64 uhf 1997 2009 former affiliations primary dumont 1947 1948 secondary dumont 1948 1956 transmitter power 30 kw height 332 metres 1 089 feet facility id 8616 transmitter coordinates 40 2 39 n 75 14 26 w 40.04417 n 75.24056 w 40.04417 ; 75.24056 coordinates 40 2 39 n 75 14 26 w 40.04417 n 75.24056 w 40.04417 ; 75.24056 licensing authority fcc public license information profile cdbs website 6abc . com wpvi tv channel 6 is an abc owned and operated television station located in philadelphia pennsylvania united states . the station is owned by the abc owned television stations subsidiary of the walt disney company . wpvi maintains studios located on city line avenue us 1 in the wynnefield heights section of philadelphia and its transmitter is located in philadelphia s roxborough neighborhood . contents 1 history 1.1 wfil tv 1.2 as wpvi tv 2 digital television 2.1 digital channels 2.2 analog to digital conversion 2.2.1 reception issues 3 news operation 3.1 on air staff 3.1.1 current on air staff 3.1.2 inside story staff 3.2 notable former staff 4 in popular culture 5 cable and satellite carriage 6 see also 7 references 8 external links history edit wfil tv edit the station first signed on the air on september 10 1947 as wfil tv ; it is philadelphia s second oldest television station . it was originally owned by triangle publications publishers of the philadelphia inquirer and owners of wfil radio 560 am and 102.1 fm . wfil radio had been an abc radio affiliate dating back to the network s existence as the nbc blue network . however wfil tv started out carrying programming from the dumont television network as abc had not yet ventured into broadcast television . when the abc television network debuted on april 19 1948 wfil tv became its first affiliate . channel 6 joined abc before the network s first owned and operated station wjz tv in new york city now wabc tv signed on in august of that year . however it retained a secondary affiliation with dumont until that network shut down in 1956 . the wfil stations were the flagship of the growing communications empire of walter annenberg s triangle publications which owned two philadelphia newspapers the morning inquirer and later the evening daily news periodicals including tv guide seventeen and the daily racing form and a broadcasting group that would grow to ten radio and six television stations . the wfil radio stations originally broadcast from the widener building in downtown philadelphia . with the anticipated arrival of wfil tv triangle secured a new facility for the stations located at market and 46th streets which opened in 1947 . in 1963 triangle built one of the most advanced broadcast centers in the nation on city or city line avenue in the wynnefield heights community in a circular building across from rival wcau tv channel 10 . the station still broadcasts from the facility today even as a new digital media building was constructed that now houses production of the station s newscasts and other local programs while the original studio was turned over to public broadcaster whyy fm tv . channel 6 has a long history of producing local programs . on march 26 1948 it aired a production of parsifal from the john wanamaker store that featured bruno walter conducting 50 players from the philadelphia orchestra a chorus of 300 and the wanamaker organ . perhaps its most notable local production was bandstand which began in 1952 and originated from wfil tv s newly constructed studio b located in the 1952 addition to the 46th and market studio . in 1957 abc added the program as part of its weekday afternoon network lineup and renamed it american bandstand to reflect its more widespread broadcast scope . other well known locally produced shows included the children s programs captain noah and his magical ark ; a cartoon show hosted by sally starr ; and chief halftown whose host traynor ora halftown was a full blooded member of the seneca nation and two variety programs the al alberts showcase a talent show emceed by the lead singer of the four aces ; and the larry ferrari show on which the host played organ versions of both popular and religious music . wfil tv also produced an early yet long running program on adult literacy operation alphabet . one of its earliest local series was let s pop the question from 1947 to 1948 . channel 6 was the first station to sign on from the roxborough neighborhood . it originally transmitted from a 600 foot 180 m tower but in 1957 it moved to a new 1 100 foot 340 m tower which it co owned with nbc owned wrcv tv channel 3 now kyw tv . the new tower added much of delaware and the lehigh valley to the station s city grade coverage . wfil tv was also one of the first tv stations in philadelphia to broadcast local color . as wpvi tv edit wpvi s logo from its 1997 rebranding as 6abc to 2010 when its current logo debuted . the stylized 6 in its logo has been used with only minor changes since 1967 when the station was still wfil tv . in 1968 the federal communications commission fcc passed a rule barring companies from owning newspapers and broadcast outlets in the same market . however the agency grandfathered several existing newspaper and broadcasting cross combinations in several markets . triangle asked the fcc to grandfather its cluster of the inquirer the daily news and wfil am fm tv but was turned down . as a result in 1969 one year after the new regulation was made official triangle sold the inquirer and the daily news to knight newspapers later renamed knight ridder . in 1970 the fcc forced triangle to sell off its broadcasting properties due to protests from then pennsylvania governor milton shapp . shapp complained that triangle had used its three pennsylvania television stations wfil tv wlyh tv in lebanon and wfbg tv now wtaj tv in altoona in a smear campaign against him . 2 the wfil stations along with radio television combinations in new haven connecticut and fresno california were sold to capital cities communications . 3 as a condition of the sale capital cities had to spin off the radio stations to other entities in philadelphia wfil fm now wioq was sold to its general manager john richer 4 and wfil radio went to lin broadcasting . 5 on april 27 1971 shortly after the sale was approved 6 and capital cities took control of channel 6 the station changed its call letters to the current wpvi tv . despite the ownership change channel 6 continued preempting abc programming in favor of locally produced and syndicated shows . in 1975 when abc entered the morning news field with am america wpvi chose not to carry it nor pick up am america s successor good morning america in its entirety for nearly three years choosing instead to carry captain noah and his magical ark in place of the second hour of gma . wpvi tv also did not run other abc daytime programs notably the edge of night and numerous sitcom reruns . abc was able to get most of its daytime schedule on the air in philadelphia anyway through contracts with independent stations wkbs tv channel 48 and wtaf tv channel 29 . in march 1985 capital cities communications announced it was purchasing abc a move that stunned the broadcast industry since abc was some four times larger than capital cities at the time . some have said that capital cities was only able to pull off the deal because wpvi tv the company s flagship property had become very profitable in its own right . however the merged company almost had to sell off channel 6 due to a large signal overlap with wabc tv . in the fcc s view the merger gave the new company a de facto duopoly prohibited by the regulations of the time the same one to a market rule that forced triangle to split its newspaper broadcast combination in philadelphia many years earlier . capital cities sought a waiver of the rules to keep wpvi citing cbs then ownership of wcbs tv in new york city and wcau tv locally in philadelphia . the fcc granted the waiver and when the transaction was finalized in early 1986 wpvi tv became an abc owned and operated station . a decade later in 1996 the walt disney company purchased capital cities abc . even in the years after wpvi became an abc owned station it continued to preempt an hour of abc daytime programs in favor of other programs . wildwood new jersey based nbc affiliate wmgm tv channel 40 picked up the pre empted abc shows until 1987 when those programs moved back to channel 29 which was now wtxf tv . the preempted programs were usually magazine shows game shows or reruns of abc primetime sitcoms . by the early 1990s wpvi preempted only the first half hour of the home show . on january 22 1987 the station partially rebroadcast the suicide of pennsylvania state treasurer r. budd dwyer which had occurred at a press conference earlier that morning during its noon newscast . in 1997 per a directive from the new disney ownership wpvi tv began carrying the entire abc network schedule for the first time in the station s history with the network . unfortunately it came at the expense of its highly rated local talk show am live formerly am philadelphia which was shifted to an overnight timeslot to make room for abc s then new talk show the view . am live was moved to 12 35 a.m. following politically incorrect and was renamed philly after midnight where it lasted until 2001 . today wpvi carries the entire abc lineup as well as syndicated programs such as live with kelly and michael and who wants to be a millionaire both of which are distributed by corporate cousin disney abc domestic television . it also carries both jeopardy and wheel of fortune . in fact the station s entire weekday lineup including syndicated shows is identical to that of sister station and abc flagship station wabc tv . wpvi is also the 1 television station in the delaware valley . from 1977 until 2015 wpvi aired the pennsylvania lottery live nighttime television drawings which occur nightly at 6 59 p.m. et ; the powerball drawings on wednesdays and saturdays and the tuesday and friday mega millions drawings air during the 11 p.m. newscasts on those nights those television drawing rights moved to wtxf tv . as a result of abc losing monday night football to now sister network espn in the 2000s wpvi has aired the philadelphia eagles preseason and monday night games