Was I seeing things, or does the lettering on that WDSU-TV camera state "WDSU-TV channel 5"? I always thought the station was on channel 6 the entire time it has been in New Orleans. When did it switch, and if so why?
BTW, what station did New Orleans' WJMR-TV become when it switched to a VHF channel, and what UHF channel was it on? Was it a network affiliate? I'm surprised it didn't remain a UHF station from the beginning. If it had, it probably would have been a pioneer, New Orleans' first UHF station. My best guess is that, like a lot of early UHF TV stations, it began on a very high UHF channel (sixty-nine or higher; 70 thru 83 were still being used for TV broadcasting until 1970) and had a very weak signal (by today's standards), viewable only in a very small area, possibly only a small section of the city of New Orleans itself, leaving most of the rest of the metro area with no signal whatsoever from that station. I live near Cleveland and remember when the city's first UHF station, NET (now PBS) affiliate WVIZ, channel 25, went on the air in 1965. The station had a one-megawatt (!) ERP signal at the time and was darned nearly unwatchable in many areas far from Cleveland, including the suburb where I grew up, which was only 15 miles east of the city. I think clear OTA reception of WVIZ may have been darn near impossible in 1965 in the area where I live today (Fairport Harbor, Ohio, 35 miles east of downtown and very low elevation--610 feet ASL, above sea level) unless a UHF antenna on a tower was used, as this area is far enough removed from where all seven Cleveland TV transmitters are located (Parma, Ohio, a southwestern suburb of Cleveland some 40 miles from here) that the signals are very weak and outdoor antennas are required for any kind of decent OTA TV reception. (That was for analog TV; I hate to think of the problems some folks here are having with OTA digital--most have probably given up on antennas and switched to cable by now.) One station, NBC channel 3, doesn't reach here at all using rabbit ears, and the other two VHF network stations, channels 5 and eight, are barely watchable; the area's four UHF stations, except the CBS affiliate on channel 19, are unwatchable much of the time OTA as well, unless a good antenna is employed, which is why most folks around here these days have cable or satellite service. I'm thinking WJMR-TV had the same problems (weak signal with spotty coverage of the city, and little or no signal in the suburbs), which may have been why it eventually switched to a VHF channel and probably increased power at the same time.