The proliferation of streaming services has made network TV seem increasingly out-of-date. Only 75 years ago, however, it was just getting started. On January 11, 1949, Pittsburgh news station WDTV (today KDKA-TV) debuted locally on Channel 3 while also linking, via coaxial cable, 13 stations from the Midwest to the East Coast—the most far-reaching network of television stations then in existence. The Associated Press called the broadcast “a giant stride toward coast-to-coast television.” The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, meanwhile, had a more colorful response: “The lustiest youngster in the nation’s industrial family—television—puts on long pants in Pittsburgh.” WDTV soon expanded its programming to include educational shows such as the one pictured above, and in 1952, it broke new ground yet again. By scheduling its Swing Shift Theater movie package from 1:00 a.m. to 7:00 a.m., WDTV became the first station to broadcast 24 hours a day.
