By 1951, TV had become a way of life in major cities, but rural communities lagged. But rural areas were working hard to have the magic of television. We previously explained the herculean efforts which brought TV to Marathon, Ontario. The March 1951 issue of Radio & Television News showed the system put in place in the Panther Valley of Pennsylvania, starting with the town of Lansford, Pennsylvania. The town was 75 miles away from the Philadelphia stations, and had the added problem of having a mountain in the way. In fact, rural residents of Summit Hill, just a mile away from the town, had TV, but the residents of the larger town did not.

The radio dealers in town, eager to be able to start selling TV, decided to take action. A test was run by putting an antenna on the hill and running a coaxial cable into town. The test was successful, and the system was built, as described in the magazine. The system was able to pull in three Philadelphia stations, WPTZ, channel 3, WFIL, channel 6, and WCAU, channel 10.

Fortunately, the cable was allowed on utility poles, and a legal inquiry confirmed that the franchise would not need to be regulated as a public utility. Another legal opinion was obtained from the FCC that no licensing was required. The system was originally envisioned as a nonprofit, but the bankers balked and insisted that the system be operated on a for-profit basis before financing was forthcoming.