About KDKA2

WDTV television station went on the air on January 11, 1949 as the 51st station in the United States and the third and last DuMont-owned station to launch, following WABD (now WNYW) in New York City and WTTG in Washington, D.C. It was the first owned-and-operated station in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and was owned and operated by the DuMont Television Network.

To mark the occasion, WDTV aired a live television special from 8:30 to 11 p.m. on the day of its launch, which began with a one-hour local program broadcast from the Syria Mosque in Pittsburgh. The remainder of the show featured live segments from DuMont, CBS, NBC, and ABC, with appearances by Arthur Godfrey, Milton Berle, DuMont host Ted Steele, and many other celebrities. This special marked an important milestone in the development of television in the United States and set the stage for WDTV to become an important source of news and entertainment for the region.