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Backup equipment kept station on the air In New York
As the horror of events unfolded around them last Tuesday, the citizens of New York-like the rest of the nation-kept updated by watching television. In New York, that meant staying tuned to WCBS-TV, the only network affiliate that was able to keep transmitting its signal during the tragedy.
The majority of the city's broadcast TV stations, including WCBS (Channel 2), had antennas atop the World Trade Center. The others were WABC (Channel 7), WNBC (4), WPIX (11), WNYW (5), WWOR (9), WNET (13) and WPXN (31).
WCBS was one of only two stations that was able to bring over-theair live, local, commercial-free coverage to the 25 percent of the New York DMA that does not have access to cable TV. With only a oneminute interruption, WCBS stayed on the air, thanks to its backup transmitter on the Empire State Building, from which the station transmits two analog and one digital signal.
Univision's WXTV (41), the other New York station that remained on the air, also has its tower on the Empire State Building. As it was broadcasting its network morning show Despierta America out of...