WQLN (TV) - History

History

Groundwork for an Educational television station in northwest Pennsylvania was laid in 1953 with the founding of Educational Television of Erie. Its initial effort to sign on a station was unsuccessful, but the group eventually reserved channel 54 for noncommercial use. The group, which was renamed Educational Television of Northwest Pennsylvania in 1964, pressed on until finally winning a construction permit on December 6, 1966. The group initially chose the call letters WLRN (for "learning"), but those letters were already being used by a radio station in Miami, Florida. They then went with their next choice, WQLN ("We question and learn"). On August 13, 1967; WQLN finally went on the air. WQLN-FM signed on in 1973.

WQLN is the second-smallest PBS member in Pennsylvania. Its coverage area is limited due to Erie being sandwiched between Pittsburgh to the south, Youngstown to the west and Buffalo to the north. As a result, the station has struggled financially for most of its history. At various times in the life of the station, PBS mainstays such as Mister Rogers, Nova, and Macneil/Lehrer Newshour were not seen on WQLN.

The station's transmitter was knocked off-air early September 15, 2008 after its antenna and transmission line were damaged by Hurricane Ike. There was also additional damage (possibly from a prior lightning strike) to the 680-foot transmission line. The station later returned using a temporary digital antenna, making WQLN the first Erie station to become fully digital. With the impending end of analog broadcasting only four months away, the station opted not to rebuild its analog facility and broadcast exclusively in digital.