WPNY-LP

WPNY-LP
Utica–Rome, New York
United States
City Utica, New York
Branding My WPNY TV (general)
WUTR Eyewitness News (newscasts)
Channels Analog: 11 (VHF)
Translators WUTR-DT 20.2 (30.4 UHF) Utica
Affiliations MyNetworkTV
Owner Nexstar Media Group
(Nexstar Broadcasting, Inc.)
First air date January 1, 1988 (1988-01-01)
Call letters' meaning UPN New York
(previous affiliation)
Sister station(s) WUTR, WFXV,
WROC-TV, WETM-TV,
WSYR-TV, WWTI,
WIVT, WBGH-CD,
WFFF-TV, WVNY
Former callsigns W11BS (1988–1995)
WUPN-LP (1995–1996)
Former affiliations Independent (1988–1995)
UPN (1995–2006)
Transmitter power 0.094 kW
Height 181 m (594 ft)
Class LP
Facility ID 34335
Transmitter coordinates 43°8′43″N 75°10′34″W / 43.14528°N 75.17611°W / 43.14528; -75.17611
Licensing authority FCC
Public license information: Profile
CDBS

WPNY-LP is a MyNetworkTV-affiliated television station licensed to Utica, New York, United States and serving Central Upstate New York's Mohawk Valley. It broadcasts a low-powered analog signal on VHF channel 11 from a transmitter at its studios on Smith Hill Road in Deerfield (official address is Utica). The station can also be seen on Charter Spectrum channels 12 and 1215 in both standard and high definition (however, the HD feed is cable-only).[1] Owned by Nexstar Media Group, WPNY-LP is a sister station to Fox affiliate WFXV (channel 33) and ABC affiliate WUTR (channel 20, owned by Mission Broadcasting and operated by Nexstar through joint sales and shared services agreements) and the three stations share studios.

Due to its low-power status, WPNY-LP does not currently operate a digital signal of its own, and at the present time, there are no plans to convert the station's signal to digital. Additionally, the station's broadcasting radius only covers the immediate Utica area. Therefore, the station can also be seen through a standard definition simulcast on WUTR digital subchannel 30.4 (or virtual channel 20.2 via PSIP)—which also transmits from the Smith Hill Road facility—in order to reach the entire market.

History

The station signed-on January 1, 1988 with the call sign W11BS licensed to Little Falls. It was a low-powered translator and general entertainment Independent outlet. The station joined UPN as a charter affiliate on January 16, 1995. On December 22 of that year, W11BS upgraded to low-powered status and adopted the WUPN-LP calls. However, less than a year later, the station became WPNY-LP after a full-powered outlet in Greensboro, North Carolina took the call letters.

At some point in time, WPNY became a sister outlet to WFXV and began to be housed at the latter's facility on Greenfield Road in Rome. In 1996, both stations were sold to Sullivan Broadcasting which would itself be bought out by the Sinclair Broadcast Group only two years later. Instead of being acquired by that company, WPNY and WFXV were purchased by Quorum Broadcasting founded by former Sullivan head Dan Sullivan.[2]

The stations were acquired by current owner Nexstar in 2003. It was announced in December of that year that Clear Channel Communications would sell WUTR to Nexstar subsidiary Mission Broadcasting. The sale was approved by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on April 1, 2004 at which point Nexstar took over operations of WUTR under local marketing and joint sales agreements through the company's operational arrangement with Mission. Although the ABC affiliate was the subordinate entity, WPNY and WFXV were consolidated into WUTR's Deerfield studios.

In 2006, The WB and UPN merged into one network called The CW Television Network. Several weeks later, Fox announced the establishment of another network called MyNetworkTV, for the benefit of those UPN or WB affiliates that did not earn a CW affiliation. Since "WBU", the cable-only WB affiliate operated by NBC affiliate WKTV through The WB 100+, was the default choice to take the CW affiliation, WPNY-LP chose to associate with MyNetworkTV, and promptly did so on September 5, 2006.

Programming

In addition to MyNetworkTV programming, syndicated programming on WPNY-LP includes Dish Nation, The Jerry Springer Show, Judge Mathis and Divorce Court among others. It also simulcasts some New York Yankees games produced by the YES Network for WPIX in New York City.

Newscast

After WUTR's sale to Mission Broadcasting, speculation began circulating that Nexstar would establish a combined news department for WUTR, WFXV and WPNY in order to take on longtime dominant WKTV. Progress was not made until March 31, 2011 when the company announced it would launch a news operation for the three stations by mid-September. Nexstar invested $1 million for new equipment and the hiring of twelve employees.

Eyewitness News at 6, seen weeknights at 6:00 p.m. on WUTR, was repeated at 7:00 p.m. on WPNY from September 2011 to September 2017. It was the only offering of local news in its time slot, since there was no broadcast seen on WKTV. After this rebroadcast was quietly canceled, there was no local news programming airing on WPNY.[3][4][5][6][7][8]

References

  1. ↑ tv.twcc.com/listings (Via Entering The Appropriate Zip Codes)
  2. ↑ Fybush, Scott (July 9, 1998). "North East RadioWatch". Retrieved April 1, 2011.
  3. ↑ http://cnyhomepage.com/more-news
  4. ↑ http://www.cnyradio.com/2011/03/31/uticas-wutr-to-revive-local-news-operation/
  5. ↑ http://uticadailynews.com/utica_daily_focus/13012-Company-has-not-had-news-since-2003.html
  6. ↑ http://www.uticaod.com/topstories/x479634772/Local-news-coming-to-ABC-and-FOX-in-Utica-and-Rome
  7. ↑ http://cnyhomepage.com/fulltext/?nxd_id=52196
  8. ↑ http://www.tvnewscheck.com/article/2011/08/15/53260/nexstar-to-launch-news-in-utica-on-sept-12
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.