Editing WNET (section)

====Transition (1961–1962)====
At least three prospective purchasers expressed interest in WNTA. The most prominent was the New York City-based group Educational Television for the Metropolitan Area (ETMA), a consortium of businesspeople, cultural leaders and educators who intended to turn channel 13 into New York City's educational station. By this time, it was obvious that the non-commercial frequency that the [[Federal Communications Commission]] (FCC) originally allocated to the city, [[UHF]] channel 25, would not be nearly adequate enough to cover a market that stretched from [[Fairfield County, Connecticut]], in the north to [[Ocean County, New Jersey]], in the south. Prior to 1964, when the FCC required television manufacturers to include UHF tuners in newer sets as per the [[All-Channel Receiver Act]] passed in 1961, most viewers could not view UHF stations except with an expensive converter; only a few manufacturers made sets with built-in UHF tuning. Even for those who could access UHF stations, reception was marginal even under the best conditions.

With assistance from the [[University of the State of New York]], ETMA had attempted to purchase channel 13 and convert it into a non-commercial station in 1957, when Bremer Broadcasting first put the station on the block;<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1957/1957-12-09-BC.pdf#page=66 |title=N.Y. State Seeks WATV (TV)'S CH. 13 |page=66) |date=December 9, 1957 |magazine=Broadcasting |access-date=March 17, 2019 |via=World Radio History}}</ref> this bid was later withdrawn. This time ETMA was competing with NTA founding president [[Ely Landau]], who had formed a syndicate to buy the station after resigning from NTA; and David Susskind, who received financial backing from [[Paramount Pictures]].<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1961/1961-04-03-BC.pdf#page=33 |title=The Dam Breaks in Station Sales" |pages=33–35 |date=April 3, 1961 |magazine=Broadcasting |access-date=March 17, 2019 |via=World Radio History}}</ref>

ETMA's initial bid of $4&nbsp;million was rejected by NTA,<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1961/1961-02-27-BC.pdf#page=36 |title=$4 million offer to buy WNTA -TV called too low |page=36  |date=February 27, 1961 |magazine=Broadcasting |access-date=March 17, 2019 |via=World Radio History}}</ref> but the citizens' group remained persistent. With the support and guidance of [[National Educational Television]] (NET), ETMA later received an endorsement from newly appointed FCC chairman [[Newton N. Minow]], who established public hearings to discuss the fate of channel 13. The pendulum quickly shifted in favor of channel 13 going non-commercial, and the commercial suitors withdrew their interest.<ref name="JARVIK">{{Cite book |title=PBS, Behind the Screen |last=Jarvik |first=Laurence  |publisher=Prima Lifestyles |year=1996 |isbn=978-0761506683 |location=Rocklin, CA}}</ref>

On June 29, 1961, ETMA agreed to purchase WNTA for $6.2&nbsp;million.<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1961/1961-07-03-BC.pdf#page=62 |title=ETV Group Buys WNTA-TV |page=62 |date=July 3, 1961 |magazine=Broadcasting |access-date=March 17, 2019 |via=World Radio History}}</ref> About $2&nbsp;million of that amount came from five of the city's six remaining commercial [[VHF]] stations (WPIX was the lone holdout), all of whom were pleased to see a competitor eliminated.<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1962/1962-09-10-BC.pdf#page=68  |title=Source of funds for acquisition of WNDT(TV) |page=64 |date=September 10, 1962 |magazine=Broadcasting |access-date=March 17, 2019 |via=World Radio History}}</ref> In addition, [[CBS]] later donated a facility in Manhattan to ETMA and NET to use as a studio. The FCC approved the transfer in October, and converted channel 13's commercial license to non-commercial.<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1961/1961-10-30-BC.pdf#page=83 |title=FCC Okays WNTA -TV Sale to ETV |pages=83–84 |date=October 30, 1961 |magazine=Broadcasting |access-date=March 17, 2019 |via=World Radio History}}</ref>

The outgoing New Jersey governor, [[Robert B. Meyner]], addressing state lawmakers' concerns over continued programming specific to New Jersey, and fearing the FCC would move the channel 13 allocation to New York City,<ref>{{cite magazine |url= https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1961/1961-09-11-BC.pdf#page=88 |title=Meyner hits again at WNTA -TV sale |page=88 |date=September 11, 1961 |magazine=Broadcasting |access-date=April 2, 2019 |via=World Radio History}}</ref> petitioned the [[United States courts of appeals]] on September 6, 1961, to block the sale of WNTA-TV. The court ruled in the state's favor two months later.<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1961/1961-11-13-BC.pdf#page=76 |title=WNTA -TV sale delayed |page=76 |date=November 13, 1961 |magazine=Broadcasting |access-date=April 2, 2019 |via=World Radio History}}</ref>

The unsettled deal almost caused National Telefilm Associates to reconsider its decision to sell the station altogether, and NTA made plans to go forward: WNTA-TV made a play to acquire broadcast rights for the [[New York Mets]] baseball team for its inaugural 1962 season.<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1961/1961-11-20-BC.pdf#page=88 |title=WNTA-TV 'hopeful' of commercial future|magazine=Broadcasting |date=November 20, 1961 |pages=88–89 |access-date=April 5, 2019 |via=World Radio History}}</ref> Faced with either consummating the transaction or seeing it canceled, ETMA settled their differences with New Jersey officials on December 4, 1961.<ref>{{cite magazine |title=WNTA-TV Sale: More Chaos |url=https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1961/1961-12-04-BC.pdf#page=74 |magazine=Broadcasting |date=December 4, 1961 |pages=74–75 |access-date=April 5, 2019 |via=World Radio History}}</ref> After a few last-minute issues arose to cause further delays, the transfer became final on December 22.<ref name="EBCH"/><ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1961/1961-12-25-BC.pdf#page=9 |title=It's final: WNTA-TV sale to ETMA closed |page=9 |date=December 25, 1961 |magazine=Broadcasting |access-date=April 5, 2019 |via=World Radio History}}</ref> Later that evening, WNTA-TV signed off for the final time. ETMA and NET then went to work converting the station, which they said would return with its new educational format within three months.

[[File:WNET Edward R. Murrow 1962.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|"Tonight, you join me in being present at the birth of a great adventure." [[Edward R. Murrow]], on the first broadcast of WNDT on September 16, 1962.<ref name=JamesDay>{{Cite book |title=The Vanishing Vision: The Inside Story of Public Television |last=Day |first=James |publisher=University of California Press |year=1995 |isbn=978-0520086593 |location=Berkeley, CA |pages=[https://archive.org/details/vanishingvisioni00dayj/page/386 386] |url=https://archive.org/details/vanishingvisioni00dayj/page/386 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://vimeo.com/85157403 |title=Edward R. Murrow: WNDT First Day of Air |via=Vimeo |date=January 27, 2014 |access-date=March 17, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170517222843/https://vimeo.com/85157403 |archive-date=May 17, 2017 |url-status=live  }}</ref>]]
Ten months later, channel 13 was ready to be reborn under new call letters, WNDT (for "New Dimensions in Television"). With [[Edward R. Murrow]]—then director of the [[United States Information Agency]]—as host of the maiden broadcast, ETMA—now the Educational Broadcasting Corporation—flipped the switch on September 16, 1962.<ref name="EBCH"/><ref name="JARVIK" /><ref>{{cite magazine |url= https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1962/1962-04-02-BC.pdf#page=128|title=For The Record |page=128 |date=April 2, 1962 |magazine=Broadcasting |access-date=April 8, 2019 |via=World Radio History}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1962/1962-09-10-BC.pdf#page=66 |title=New York ETV Goes On Air Next Week |pages=62–64 |date=September 10, 1962 |magazine=Broadcasting |access-date=April 8, 2019 |via=World Radio History}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-gr-QxU1Sz0 |title=Thirteen/WNET Opening Night Broadcast September 16, 1962 |date=July 13, 2007 |via=YouTube |access-date=July 13, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131205150008/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-gr-QxU1Sz0 |archive-date=December 5, 2013 |url-status=live  }}</ref> The return of channel 13 as WNDT gave the New York City market its first educational station, and with a dial position on the coveted VHF band (in many other cities, including large ones, educational stations had to make do with UHF frequencies). New York's non-commercial UHF channel, on the other hand, signed on as [[WNYE-TV]] four-and-a-half years later in April 1967. [[Richard Heffner]] was appointed as WNDT's first general manager, serving in that position in its first year; Heffner continued to appear on channel 13 as producer and host of the [[public affairs (broadcasting)|public affairs]] program ''[[The Open Mind (TV series)|The Open Mind]]'' until his death in December 2013.<ref>{{cite news|last=Lapin|first=Andrew|title=Richard Heffner, WNET pioneer and TV host, dies at 88|url=http://www.current.org/2013/12/richard-heffner-wnet-pioneer-and-tv-host-dies-at-88/|work=[[Current (newspaper)|Current]]|date=December 19, 2013|access-date=December 31, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140804110938/http://www.current.org/2013/12/richard-heffner-wnet-pioneer-and-tv-host-dies-at-88/|archive-date=August 4, 2014|url-status=live}}</ref>