U.S. Communications ownership
In 1967, U.S. Communications Corporation, a division of the American Viscose Corporation (AVC), acquired WPHL-TV in exchange for 30 percent of the stock in a larger station group it was assembling. This group would include WPHL-TV and five construction permits for new major-market UHF stations held by Daniel H. Overmyer's Overmyer Communications.[14] The relationship between WPHL-TV and Overmyer had been developing since the start of 1966, when former Overmyer director Robert F. Adams left the company and started a consulting firm serving the Overmyer group and WPHL-TV;[15] further, channel 17 had signed up for the proposed Overmyer Network,[16] which operated in May 1967 under other ownership as the short-lived United Network with WPHL-TV as one of its affiliates.[17][18] One partner in the investment firm facilitating the sale of the Overmyer construction permits had been a stockholder in channel 17.[19] The FCC approved the sale on December 8, 1967,[20][21][22] waiving a proposed rule in place since 1965[23] that sought to limit television station ownership within the top 50 markets,[24] a practice the FCC had employed before in similar transactions.[25] Katz and Stevens, the previous owners of WPHL-TV, became senior executives in the new U.S. Communications Corporation. After the sale, in May 1968, WPHL-TV built a new tower and transmitter facility in Roxborough, separate from the Wyndmoor studio site, with an effective radiated power of 4.3 million watts.[26]
WPHL-TV, which launched with 76ers games, built an identity as a sports station. It made history in 1969 as the first UHF independent station to air a scheduled regular-season pro football game between the Philadelphia Eagles and Baltimore Colts; the game had been delayed from Sunday to Monday night due to the World Series being played in Baltimore, but WCAU-TV (channel 10), Philadelphia's CBS affiliate, refused to air it to prioritize prime time programming.[27] In November 1970, the Philadelphia Phillies baseball team announced the move of their telecasts from WFIL-TV (channel 6), the team's broadcaster for 21 seasons, in a three-year deal for 70 games a season. This came after AVC acquired the rightsholder from Phillies owner R. R. M. Carpenter Jr.[28][29] The next season, WPHL dropped the 76ers to carry Big 5 college basketball, which it believed more popular.[30] In 1974, the station broadcast road games of the Philadelphia Bell in the World Football League.[31]
U.S. Communications considered WPHL-TV its flagship station;[32] it was the strongest ratings performer of the three Philadelphia-market independent stations, with a sign-on–sign-off audience share of 7 percent in November 1969,[33] and the number-one UHF independent nationwide in prime time.[34] WPHL-TV was reportedly the company's only moneymaker when, in October 1970, Stevens was promoted to chief operating officer in an executive reshuffle.[35] At that time, WPHL-TV was detached from U.S. Communications into a separate entity, WPHL-TV Inc.[36] This situation reflected the wide gap in outcomes between WPHL-TV and the other stations. Over the course of 1971, every other U.S. Communications station was threatened with closure: KEMO-TV in San Francisco and WATL-TV in Atlanta were shuttered in March due to low advertising revenues,[37] and the group intended to do the same to
After prior sale attempts, and in spite of the fact that channel 17 was losing money, AVC instead invested in WPHL-TV. In 1975, it moved from Wyndmoor, as well as sales offices on Walnut Street, into a converted A&P grocery store in Philadelphia's Wynnefield neighborhood.[44] That same year, Gene McCurdy became channel 17's new general manager less than a month after being ousted from WPVI-TV.[45]
During the 1970s, channel 17 had a host for horror movies: Joseph Zawislak, better known as Dr. Shock, who developed his on-air persona in the mold of John Zacherle on WCAU-TV. Zawislak's 13-week trial as a host was ended by station management due to low ratings, but after receiving thousands of letters and cards in protest of the cancellation, management reversed its decision and brought him back, first on Saturday nights and later Saturday afternoons; his show was among the station's highest-rated programs outside of Phillies games. His young daughter Doreen, known on air as "Bubbles", frequently appeared. Zawislak, a magician, died of a heart attack in 1979.[46][47]
