As the country marks the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, TV Tech has compiled highlights of our coverage.
Taken together these stories recall both the engineers who were tragically killed in the attack, as well as the many people who played a key role in restoring the broadcast communications infrastructures that were destroyed by the collapse of the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001.
Below you will find remembrances of the six engineers who died in the attack that we published on the 10th anniversary of 9/11, as well as two detailed features by TV Tech columnists Frank Beacham and Doug Lung that were written on the 20th anniversary. of a tragedy.
In between, you will find our year-by-year coverage of the process of restoring the critical broadcast infrastructure destroyed in the attacks and the technical challenges that came along with those rebuilding efforts.
That makes this a story not only of people and technology but also expertise. Some of our most important coverage has been written for TV Tech by Doug Lung who was deeply involved in the rebuilding effort as part of his work at NBCUniversal. Many of the other articles draw on the expertise of the broadcast engineers who read our publication.
We have highlighted that expertise by listing the authors. Most of the articles were originally commissioned by TV Tech but a few were reposted from our sister publications Radio World and B&C on the TVTechnoloy.com website. We have left unedited the original opening sentences of each article.
Taken together that makes this coverage more than a remembrance of a tragic event. It is also a story of the innovation and engineering skills that make it possible, then and now, for broadcasters to deliver crucial news and information to the public.
Published October 16, 2001
9/11: What Worked, What Didn't
By Frank Beacham
The big technology test came on the morning of Sept. 11. Terrorists had attacked the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Thousands of people were missing. Americans wanted to communicate.
Published September 3, 2002
Rebuilding NYC TV Transmission After 9/11
By Doug Lung
This month I'll look at some of the challenges New York City broadcasters face restoring TV coverage to what existed Sept. 10, 2001. As promised last month, I also will outline some of the reasons DTV to analog (and vice versa) interference in some cases is likely to be greater than what was previously predicted.
Published September 3, 2002
By Frank Beacham
Last Sept. 11, over-the-air television in the nation's largest broadcast market was devastated. A year later - in the most ambitious rebuilding effort in the history of broadcasting - progress comes painfully slow in a process so unprecedented that it's certain to rewrite the textbooks on television engineering.
Published January 1, 2003
By Don Keller
Thirteen/WNET is New York City's PBS station. It serves a coverage area containing more than 18 million people. Thirteen's studios and offices are located on Manhattan's West Side. And, until Sept. 11, 2001, its transmitters and antennas were located on Tower One of the World Trade Center (WTC). It will take years for the station to fully recover from the disaster, and an estimated $16.5 million to even come close to restoring its pre-9/11 level of service. In the recovery process, the two most important and immediate issues the station faces are securing the money to rebuild its transmission facilities and finding a suitable place for them.
Published July 1, 2004
RTNDA to Conduct Mock Crisis Drills for Media, Public Agency Response
More than two years after 9/11, many newsrooms still don't have a crisis plan to follow in the event of another terrorist attack, and many communities have emergency plans that overlook the crucial role of the media in responding to a disaster. So says the Radio-TV News Director's Association, which is planning to produce workshops to cast a light on the problem.
Published January 18, 2005
By Mary C. Gruszka
The Empire State Building once again became a hub of New York television transmission activity with the recent installation of a six-channel Dielectric UHF combiner for DTV in CBS's space on the 85th floor. This, along with the 8-bay broadband UHF omnidirectional antenna that the network had already installed on the northwest corner of the mast and had been using, is allowing full-power DTV broadcasts for five other New York City stations for the first time since 9/11.
Published December 6, 2005
9/11 Panel Doles Out Failing Grade on 'Spectrum Delay'
By TV Tech Staff
Getting letter grades like on a school report card, the federal government received several 'F's and other poor grades this week from a bipartisan group that had comprised the former Sept. 11 Commission, which was originally charged with investigating the government's response to the events of Sept. 11, 2001.
Published February 20, 2008
By TV Tech Staff
The collapse of the World Trade Center crippled New York City TV broadcasters. Today, these stations have restored on-air signals, but have not fully regained their pre-9/11 coverage. They continue to deal with the fallout from that horrific event.
Published September 6, 2011
A Decade Later, the Loss Is Still Deep
By John Merli
Bill Steckman was working on Tuesday morning, Sept. 11, 2001, shortly before 9 o'clock. But unlike thousands of others in the North Tower of the World Trade Center, the WNBC-TV transmitter engineer was not just reporting to work. Instead, he had already finished his regular overnight shift and remained at his post a bit longer to help install some new digital equipment.
Published September 7, 2011
By Tom Butts
As this issue was going to press, the NewBay offices in northern Virginia experienced the East Coast's most powerful earthquake in more than 65 years. As we rushed from our offices, still wondering what was happening, I remembered what it was like the last time I experienced this kind of fear and trepidation on such a beautiful, sunny day. That, of course, was 10 years ago on 9/11. Of course, nothing that has happened since compares to what took place back then.
Published March 23, 2016
RFS Antennas to be Added to One WTC
By Michael Balderston
According to Radio Frequency Systems, the Durst Organization has placed an order for RFS antennas as part of an installation of a terrestrial broadcasting system at One World Trade Center. These RFS PEP antennas feature Variable Polarization Technology, which will reportedly enable broadcasters to set customized polarization ratios, independent of other broadcasters.
Published September 26, 2016
First TV Broadcast Antennas Go Up at One World Trade Center
By Tom Butts
The Durst Organization has begun installing the first of several UHF antennas atop the spire of One World Trade Center as plans to move transmission facilities from the nearby Empire State Building—home to New York-area TV broadcasters since 9/11—get underway. The first panels of a 40-foot RFS PEP-40 UHF antenna are currently being installed at approximately 40 feet below the tip of the One WTC spire, which stands at 1,776 feet above lower Manhattan. That antenna will be joined by an RFS 662-16D CP VHF antenna immediately below, along with another UHF, the RFS PEP-96 antenna below that. The first broadcasters to use the antennas will be CBS, WNBC, Telemundo’s WNJU and PBS, according to John Lyons, director of broadcast communication for Durst, which co-developed 1 WTC with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, who added that transmission facilities should be ready in time for full operations by next May.
Published May 4, 2017
NAB Show: Durst Brings Broadcasting to One World Trade Center
By Michael Balderston
Fifteen and a half years after the events of Sept. 11 and four and a half years since the Durst Broadcast Organization took up the endeavor, broadcasting is on the eve of returning to lower Manhattan. The broadcast site on top of One World Trade Center will begin broadcasting in May.
Published May 9, 2017
ION Media to Broadcast From One World Trade Center
By Deborah D. McAdams
ION Media announced that it would commence broadcasting from One World Trade Center in New York. The announcement was made in cooperation with The Durst Organization and The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which co-developed and co-manage the property.
Published June 26, 2017
WNJU New York Brings Broadcasting Back to World Trade Center
By Diana Marszalek, B&C
On Friday morning, Telemundo-owned WNJU became the first New York TV station to resume transmitting its over-the-air signal from the site of the World Trade Centers. Twelve linear feet in size, Telemundo 47’s transmitter is powered by 66kW of state-of-the-air technology, providing WNJU full coverage of the New York market, the station said. Sister station WNBC, NBC’s New York flagship, will also relocate its transmission technology to One World Trade Center later this year, NBC said.
Published July 17, 2017
By Doug Lung
On June 23, 2017, WNJU Telemundo 47 officially began broadcasting from One World Trade Center (1WTC) in New York, becoming the first station to return to this site since Sept. 11, 2001. Other New York City stations will be joining WNJU there soon—WCBS, WNBC, WPXN and WNET—sharing the UHF and VHF panel antennas mounted on the spire.
Published October 3, 2017
AES New York Hosting One WTC Broadcasting Operations Event
By Michael Balderston
2017 marks a big year for One World Trade Center, as television transmission will be returning to the building. To recognize the event, AES New York has announced it will host an exclusive event that will look at the broadcast operations of One WTC.
Published February 1, 2018
Details Emerge About 1WTC Transmitter Lineup
By Phil Kurz
Five TV broadcasters locating at One World Trade Center in downtown Manhattan have selected the Rohde & Schwarz THU9evo digital transmitter to serve over-the-air viewers in New York City and a sixth will partner to channel share with a sister station using the transmitter, the company announced today.
Published August 2, 2019
NYC OTA Viewers Need to Rescan for New Channels
By Tom Butts
With the channel repack entering its final year, Durst Broadcasting—which manages the broadcast antenna facility atop One World Trade Center—announced this week that it had successfully completed phase four of the repack. The organization urged New York City residents to rescan their TV sets in order to receive the channels in their new spots on the spectrum band.
Published August 26, 2019
Phase 4 and More: Surviving the Repack
By Doug Lung
I was on the 90th floor of One World Trade Center in New York with the transmitters on Aug. 1 when many stations in Hartford, Conn., New York, Philadelphia and Washington D.C. transitioned to their new channels. The switch took place at 1 p.m., in the middle of the day and not at the 11:59 p.m. Aug. 2 deadline. Boston changed channels at 1:05 p.m. the next day.
Published December 2, 2019
John Lyons Dies; Helped Shape New York’s RF Skyline
By Paul McLane
John Lyons has died. He suffered cardiac arrest at home Friday, according to his family. He was 71. Lyons was assistant vice president and director of Broadcast Communications at The Durst Organization. He was responsible for the communications infrastructure of Durst’s multimillion-square-foot commercial portfolio and played a major role in helping broadcasters return to the air in New York City after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attack on the World Trade Center. Among his many accomplishments was leading the design and implementation of the redesigned master antenna at 4 Times Square and the new broadcast transmission facility at One World Trade Center. In 2006 Lyons received the Radio World Excellence in Engineering Award; in 2017 he was honored with the NAB Television Engineering Achievement Award.
Published September 8, 2021
20 Years Broadcasters Will Never Forget By Frank Beacham
When the massive antenna mast atop the north tower of the trade center crumbled into rubble on Sept. 11, 2001—20 years ago—the on-air signals of most major New York City broadcasters went with it. The disaster was pure chaos, and six broadcast engineers lost their lives that historic day. It has taken most of the past 20 years since to get signals back on the air from the World Trade Center site.
Published September 8, 2021
Restoring Over-the-Air TV in New York City After 9/11
By Doug Lung
In our second of two features on the impact of 9/11, we look at the engineers and tech teams that helped restore broadcast signals and their eventual move to One World Trade Center.
Published April 20, 2022
One World Trade Center Ready for NextGen TV
By Tom Butts
In advance of the expected launch of NextGen TV in the U.S.’s largest market, Radio Frequency Systems (RFS), announced today that it has expanded the existing RFS antenna and combiner infrastructure atop One World Trade Center to deliver ATSC 3.0 to 7.45 million households across the New York City area.
[Editor's note: Because our coverage is focused on broadcast technology, our 9/11 stories have focused on New York City, where the collapse of the World Trade Center destroyed the broadcast transmitters of local TV and radio stations and had a profound impact the major broadcast networks headquartered in NYC. In addition to the 2,753 people who died in the collapse of the twin towers and the many others who were sickened and killed by the toxic smoke and waste produced by the disaster, 184 people were killed in the attack on the Pentagon and another 44 killed in the crash of United Airlines Flight 93 that had been taken over by terrorists.]
