transcontinent exited broadcasting in 1964 and sold several of its stations, including wnep-tv, to taft broadcasting. when taft purchased philadelphia independent station wibf-tv (channel 29, now wtxf-tv) in 1969, it sought a waiver to keep both stations. channel 16's grade b signal reaches the lehigh valley, which is part of the philadelphia market. wnep-tv had also operated an outlying translator on channel 7 in allentown for many years. the federal communications commission (fcc) normally did not allow one company to own two stations with overlapping coverage areas. while it initially granted the waiver, it reversed itself four years later and forced taft to sell channel 16. a group of wnep-tv station employees and executives formed nep communications, which bought the station from taft in late 1973.