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Originally Posted by Jeffhs
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I don't think they ever put a UHF converter on the Muntz TV when Cleveland's first UHF TV station, NET (now PBS) channel 25, went on the air; it may have been just as well if they didn't, since that station did not reach our area very well when it first went on the air in 1965. Just as well, I guess, since the programming on channel 25, at least in the beginning, was meant for the schools in the Cleveland area (the local elementary school in my home town put up a large antenna to get channel 25 and also the Cleveland network stations, although, of course, the TVs in the school were kept on channel 25 most of the time; the station signed on early in the morning (IIRC, around 8 a.m.) and called it quits for the night around midnight or so). The reception of channel 25 in my area was not good (unless a large antenna was installed), but then again, as I said, the station's programming in its early years was meant for the schools in the Cleveland area and not for mainstream viewing.
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Philadelphia and Pittsburgh had "educational tv" on VHF channels like most large cities. Pennsylvania State University operated WPSU-3 since 1965, the only TV station for a great interior area of PA. The Philadelphia's WHYY (originally channel 35 from 1957-63) was on what used to be VHF 12 in Wilmington (DuMont network like WFIL-6), part of the tri-state metro area. There was several years battle for channel 12 spot after WVUE shut down. Several commercial broadcasters wanted the only TV station in town, but FCC was petitioned to ensure the station was used for educational TV. Delaware's only other TV channel, in Seaford, is also PBS.
Several states like WV, MD and NJ organized a network of (mostly UHF) channels statewide dedicated to educational broadcasting.
Most schools designed in 1963 and later I recall as having a VHF antenna on the roof for WHYY included on plans and specs. Often, there would also be a professional grade UHF antenna for channel 33 in Hershey, 39 from Bethlehem, 44 in Scranton or 67 from Baltimore, other "area" educational channels that were not so easy to get as VHF 12.