WNJU is the flagship owned-and-operated station of the Spanish language Telemundo television network, licensed to Linden, New Jersey and serving the New York City television market. In 1965, WNJU-TV was the first commercial UHF (ultra high frequency) station in the New York City/New Jersey television market. The station's initial schedule featured a mix of English, Asian, Spanish and Italian shows. The station was not profitable due to the lack of awareness of UHF stations in the New York metropolitan area. WNJU served minority audiences with mostly brokered programming. By the late 1970s, WNJU had evolved into mostly Spanish programming, along with some ethnic brokered programs that aired on weekends. In 1984, WNJU joined with two Spanish language television stations and formed NetSpan, the United States' second Spanish-language television network. In 1987, NetSpan added more affiliates, and changed its name to Telemundo. In the early 1990s, WNJU dropped its English-language religious shows and became a full-time Telemundo station.
Collection Restrictions:
Collection is open for research.
Collection Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Collection Citation:
Spanish Language Broadcasting Collection, Archives Center, National Museum of American History
Sponsor:
This collection received Federal support from the Latino Initiatives Pool, administered by the Smithsonian Latino Center.
