WNAC-TV signed-on for the first time on June 21, 1948 as the second TV station in Boston, and the 30th in the United States. The station was originally owned by General Tire (later General Teleradio), along with WNAC (today WRKO) AM radio, serving as a regional New England Radio Network. The original WNAC-TV had an affiliation with CBS until 1961, and the secondary with ABC and DuMont.
1953–1957[]
In 1955, General Teleradio and RKO Pictures (after the film dissolution) merged into RKO General, owner of this station along with WOR-TV in New York, WHBQ-TV in Memphis, and KHJ-TV in Los Angeles.
1957–1964[]
By 1961, the station became an ABC full-affiliation for eleven years; leaving CBS with WHDH-TV (Channel 5).
After WHDH-TV was replaced with WCVB-TV on March 19, 1972, both ABC and CBS switch back to their original TV stations.
1973–1974[]
Designer:
Unknown
Typography:
Avant Garde Gothic
Launched:
late July 1973
Despite only being used for little over 6 months, this logo would eventually be dropped due to complaints from ABC that the "Circle 7" logo was too similar to those used for its owned-and-operated stations; all of which were on VHF channel 7 at the time.
1974–1977[]
Designer:
Unknown
Typography:
Avant Garde Gothic
Launched:
February 7, 1974
1977–1981[]
Station ID 1978
1981–1982[]
The logo design looks similar to KHON-TV's "2" logo from 1977 to 1994. This was the last logo used by WNAC-TV; the FCC revoked the station's license due to misconduct by RKO General. The station was sold by the New England Television Corporation (NETV), and went off the air for the final time at 1:00 AM on May 22, 1982. Later that morning, the station became WNEV-TV (today WHDH) with a new FCC license, and began broadcasting. The WNAC-TV callsign would pop-up back in New England — this time in Providence, Rhode Island — in 1986, with WSTG-TV changing its callsign to WNAC-TV.
