By William “Skip” Deegans
In 1951, a group of 25 businessmen in Rainelle organized the second community cable television company in the United States. The first town to have a community cable system was Lansford, Pennsylvania.
Capitalized with $25,000, the initial officers of the Rainelle Television Corporation (RTC) were A. C. “Jim” Haynes, President; J. E. Decker, Secretary; O. Ray Smith, Treasurer; and Howard G. Combs, Vice-president, chairman of the board, and business manager.
Because of Rainelle’s remote location and surrounding hills, radio and television reception was, at best, challenging. To listen to WVU football and basketball games, residents drove to the top of Sewell Mountain for better reception.
It was on this mountain, near Lee’s Tree, that the RTC erected a tower. The tower picked up television signals, and a transmitter sent the signals on coaxial cable to subscribers in Rainelle and East Rainelle.
The system began with one channel – Huntington’s WSAZ which was West Virginia’s first television channel that went on the air October 14, 1949.
The technical geniuses behind the system were, in all likelihood, the Haynes brothers, Jim and Squire, who were skilled radio and television technicians. Additional channels from stations in Charleston and Roanoke were added. In 1953, board member George Aide announced that Oak Hill’s WOAY had been added to the offering.
One of the first popular shows for children was the Howdy Doody Show (shown in the photo) that began in 1947. Along with Buffalo Bill Smith and Clarabelle the clown, the puppet show started with the jingle, “It’s Howdy Doody Time.” The show ran until 1960.
Sources: The West Virginia News, Beckley Post Herald, The News Chronicle, The Morning Call.
