WGAL (channel 8) is a prominent NBC-affiliated television station based in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, serving the Susquehanna Valley and owned by Hearst Television. It holds a historic distinction as the first television station to launch in Pennsylvania outside of Philadelphia, signing on March 18, 1949, on VHF channel 4, and it has remained the market leader for most of its existence. The station was founded by the Steinman family, who also owned local newspapers, and it benefited from a rare FCC allocation quirk that made it the only commercial VHF license in the region. In 1952, WGAL increased its power and moved to its current channel 8 to avoid interfering with Washington, D.C.'s WRC-TV, and it broadcast its first color program—the Tournament of Roses Parade—on January 1, 1954. Though it has always been an NBC affiliate, it also carried shows from other networks until 1963, and the Steinmans sold the station to Pulitzer Publishing in 1978. Today, the station remains a television powerhouse with studios in Lancaster Township and a transmitter near Hallam, Pennsylvania.