alfred e. anscombe, former general manager of wkbw-am-tv in buffalo, secured a construction permit for binghamton's third television station on april 25, 1961. he named it wbja-tv after his wife beth j. anscombe. initially, the station was allocated to uhf analog channel 56. however, five years earlier, two competing abc affiliates in northeastern pennsylvania (wilk-tv channel 34 in wilkes-barre and warm-tv channel 16 in scranton) merged to form wnep-tv, retaining wilk's license but using warm's old uhf channel 16.