Why is there no channel one on TV?

Answer 1

When the U.S. Federal Communications Commission initially allocated Broadcast Television frequencies (after the first post-WWII telecommunications conferences formally allocated TV frequencies in 1945-1946), channel 1 was logically the first channel. In 1945, the FCC decided to reserve channel 1 for low-power community television stations, and moved existing channel 1 stations to higher frequencies.

The FCC in 1948 formally changed the rules on TV band allocations based on propagation knowledge gained during the era of shared-user allocations. The 44~50MHz band used by Channel 1 was replaced by lower-power narrowband users. Channel 1 was reassigned to: * fixed and mobile services (44-50 MHz) Rather than renumber the TV channel table, it was decided to merely remove Channel 1 from the table.

In the 1990s, it was decided that digital television would be limited to the channels between 2 and 51, so that another 18 channels (from 698 to 806 MHz) could be auctioned and given to DAB radio or emergency services such as police radios. Renumbering in this case is not relevant, as virtual channels maintain the original TV station brand number, despite actually transmitting on another channel. Digital cable subscribers in many areas, such as those serviced by Comcast, can find video on demand content at Channel 1. Cable subscribers in the New York area receive the channel NY1 on channel one, served by Time Warner Cable and Cablevision. In Europe, other recently abandoned TV channels are being used for DAB digital radio, in VHF band III. Japanese public broadcaster NHK General TV broadcasts on Channel 1 in Tokyo and other cities.

Answer 2

In 1948, radio operators demanded one of the FCC's 13 frequencies as their own. TV broadcasters chose Channel 1 because it had the weakest signal.