proposed a station airing programming for the tri-state area's Spanish-speaking and Black communities, came out the winner in a settlement that also saw Bartell drop out and Spanish International get the option to acquire 50 percent of the permit. This option was exercised in 1967. Initially planned to broadcast from the Empire State Building, construction was sped up when the FCC allowed the station—taking the call letters WXTV—to move its transmitter to the Cities Service Building until the World Trade Center was completed, becoming the first television station to use the mast and first broadcast station since 1950. The station went on the air August 4, 1968, from studios at 641 Main Street in Paterson, a property it leased from former mayor Frank X. Graves, Jr. The station focused on filmed programs from Mexico and Puerto Rico at the outset, though it also aired local news, and some English-language programming, primarily public affairs material for North Jersey, including a news wrap-up and election debates. Additionally, because the electricity supply to the Cities Service Building meant the transmitter could only be powered when the air conditioning and elevator systems were off, channel 41 could only broadcast at first in the evenings. Tower woes For several years, the location of the transmitter was a hot-button issue. Rene Anselmo, one of the founders of the Spanish International Network, claimed that when WXTV initially inquired as to space at the Empire State Building, it was told it would have to sign a 20-year lease. Because all of the other stations were scheduled to move to the World Trade Center, it opted to wait at the Cities Service Building. However, when the center neared completion, it began causing reception issues for WXTV, particularly because the Cities Service transmitter was closer to the towers than the other stations at the Empire State Building. The station blamed the Port of New York Authority for poor reception and implored viewers to complain to Austin Tobin; the Port Authority complained that the intention of channel 41's actions was to try and move its transmitter to the WTC. Claiming that the Port Authority was stalling on prior agreements to move the stations to the WTC, WXTV ran a full-page advertisement in the Daily News imploring viewers to "Wake Up!" and declaring that "The Port Authority is killing your TV reception...and doesn't give a damn!". It also threatened to sue the