In January 1949 WDTV on Channel 3 (owned and operated by the DuMont Television Network, a TV equipment and set manufacturer) became the first American “networked” television station, providing a link between thirteen Midwestern and East Coast stations from Boston to St. Louis.
To mark the occasion, a live evening television special aired on WDTV with a local broadcast from the Syria Mosque performance hall in Pittsburgh and live segments from DuMont, CBS, NBC, and ABC featuring Arthur Godfrey, Milton Berle, the DuMont host Ted Steele and other celebrities.
Despite its broadcast innovations and features such as the TV star Jackie Gleason, the Dumont Network was never financially successful and went off the air in 1956.