WYCN-CD

WYCN-CD
Nashua, New Hampshire/Boston, Massachusetts
United States
City Nashua, New Hampshire
Branding NBC 10 Boston (general)
NBC 10 Boston News (newscasts)
Slogan Boston's Ten
Channels Digital: 43 (UHF)
(shared with WGBX-TV)
Virtual: 15 (PSIP)
Affiliations NBC (O&O, as a satellite of WBTS-LD)
Owner NBCUniversal
(NBC Telemundo License LLC)
First air date 1988 (1988)
Call letters' meaning W-Your Community Network (former branding under community broadcasting format)
Sister station(s) WBTS-LD, WNEU, NECN, NBC Sports Boston
Former callsigns W13BG (1985–1996)
WYCN-LP (1996–2014)
Former channel number(s) Analog:
13 (VHF, 1988–2014)
Digital:
36 (UHF, 2014–2018)
Virtual:
13 (PSIP, 2014–2018)
Former affiliations Community programming
FamilyNet
The Family Channel
TouchVision
TheCoolTV
Queue Network
Heroes & Icons
Transmitter power 500 kilowatts
Height 391 meters (1,283 ft)
Class Class A
Facility ID 9766
Transmitter coordinates 42°18′37″N 71°14′14″W / 42.31028°N 71.23722°W / 42.31028; -71.23722 (WYCN-CD)Coordinates: 42°18′37″N 71°14′14″W / 42.31028°N 71.23722°W / 42.31028; -71.23722 (WYCN-CD)
Licensing authority FCC
Public license information: Profile
CDBS
Website www.nbcboston.com

WYCN-CD (channel 15) is an NBC owned-and-operated Class A low-powered television station serving Boston, Massachusetts, United States that is licensed to Nashua, New Hampshire. The station is owned by the NBC Owned Television Stations subsidiary of the NBCUniversal division of Comcast, and is a sister station to low-powered NBC owned-and-operated WBTS-LD and Telemundo owned-and-operated WNEU. The three stations share studio facilities with sister regional cable news channel New England Cable News (NECN) on Wells Avenue in Newton; WYCN shares transmitter facilities with Boston-licensed full-power PBS member station WGBX-TV (channel 44) located in Needham through a channel sharing arrangement.

WYCN-CD operates as a full-power satellite station of sister WBTS-LD (channel 8) in order to ensure complete reception across the Boston area.

History

The station signed on in 1988[1] as W13BG[2] on channel 13 in Nashua.[1] It changed its call letters to WYCN-LP on April 8, 1996.[2] Originally owned by Center Broadcasting Corporation of New Hampshire, the station aired local community programming for the Nashua era, with FamilyNet airing for most of the day. Its analog-era tower was located on the Rivier University campus between two above-ground reservoirs and Brassard Hall, with studios located in Memorial Hall on the same campus.[3]

WYCN-LP was nearly dropped by Harron Cable on its Nashua-area systems in October 1999 to accommodate a must-carry request by WMFP (channel 62),[4] a move that could have led to the closure of channel 13[5] even though its carriage on MediaOne in Nashua itself was not affected.[4] Its carriage was ultimately continued by Adelphia Communications following its purchase of Harron,[6] though the station was dropped for a time in 2000 after an additional must-carry request, from WYDN (channel 48), while Adelphia rebuilt the systems.[7]

WYCN-LP, along with three co-owned translators in Nashua, Manchester, and Concord, was sold by Center Broadcasting Corporation of New Hampshire to New Hampshire 1 Network, a company controlled by William H. Binnie, in 2010.[8] The deal was completed January 3, 2012;[9] in the meantime, Binnie would also acquire WBIN-TV (channel 50, now WWJE-DT) in Derry. As a result of the sale, much of WYCN's community programming, including aldermatic debates, was discontinued.[10] In December 2012, the station's studios moved from Rivier University to a location shared with sister station WFNQ (106.3 FM).[11]

New Hampshire 1 Network filed to sell WYCN-LP to OTA Broadcasting, a company controlled by Michael Dell's MSD Capital, on January 14, 2013; the three translators were not included in the deal,[12] and began to simulcast WBIN-TV. Operation of WYCN continued to be handled by New Hampshire 1.[13] At the time of the sale, WYCN was affiliated with My Family TV.[14] The FCC approved the sale on March 22,[15] and it was completed on May 20.[16]

WYCN's logo under OTA Broadcasting ownership.

WYCN-LP resumed producing local programming soon after the sale to OTA Broadcasting; however, in June 2013, Comcast (successor to both Harron/Adelphia and MediaOne) informed the station that it would be dropped from its lineup as of August 15 due to the earlier cessation of local programming, as well as its limited broadcast reach and continued analog broadcasting (even though WYCN had a construction permit to convert to digital operations and increase its broadcast range).[17][18][19][20] Comcast subsequently pushed back the date of the removal to September 3, despite protests from viewers, politicians, and Nashua's public access station.[21] Due to its low power, WYCN's analog signal reached only portions of Nashua, its city of license. In contrast, its digital signal was expected to reach Manchester and Boston. The digital facility was planned to sign on by December 2013,[22] but was not licensed by the Federal Communications Commission until October 23, 2014. Their digital transmitter was located 625 feet (0.191 km) off Trigate Road in rural Hudson, southeast of Nashua.

Spectrum reallocation, sale to NBC

WYCN-CD sold its frequency rights as part of the Federal Communications Commission's spectrum auction for $80.4 million;[23] in the auction, the station indicated that it would continue operations through a post-auction channel sharing agreement.[24] On October 18, 2017, OTA Broadcasting entered into a channel sharing agreement with WGBX-TV (channel 44); under the terms of the agreement, channel sharing operations could not begin until the WYCN-CD license was acquired by NBCUniversal.[25] NBC agreed to purchase WYCN-CD the same day.[26] In December 2017, the station announced on its website that it would "cease broadcasting on its current frequency on January 16, 2018 and begin broadcasting NBC Boston on a new frequency."[27] As WYCN's signal overlaps with WGME-TV in Portland, Maine, which also uses virtual channel 13, WYCN began using virtual channel 15 following the commencement of channel sharing, as WGME's post-auction physical channel will be 15 (WGME's pre-auction channel, 38, is not available to WYCN as virtual channel 38 is assigned to CBS-owned MyNetworkTV affiliate WSBK-TV).[28] The sale to NBC was completed on January 18, 2018;[29] the transition to the Needham tower took place the same day. At the time of transition, it was affiliated with Heroes & Icons, duplicating the same affiliation held by WSBK-DT2 in the market; that station continues to carry H&I, though the network lost the low channel number cable carriage it held with WYCN-CD.

Digital television

Digital channels

The station's digital channel is multiplexed:

Channel Video Aspect PSIP Short Name Programming[30]
15.11080i16:9WYCN-CDSimulcast of WBTS-LD / NBC
15.2480iCoziSimulcast of WBTS-LD3 / Cozi TV

Analog-to-digital conversion

WYCN-CD shut down its analog signal, over VHF channel 13, on October 23, 2014. The station's digital signal remained on its pre-transition UHF channel 36. Through the use of PSIP, digital television receivers displayed the station's virtual channel as its former VHF analog channel 13 prior to January 2018.

References

  1. 1 2 "Application Search Details". CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved December 22, 2017.
  2. 1 2 "Call Sign History (WYCN-CD)". CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved December 22, 2017.
  3. ↑ "WYCN tv13 Nashua Studio (Google Maps pinpoint provided by former ownership)". Google Maps. Retrieved 25 January 2018.
  4. 1 2 Milbouer, Stacy (August 22, 1999). "Local station is losing out to shopping channel". The Boston Globe. Retrieved July 31, 2013.
  5. ↑ Spiller, Karen (August 17, 1999). "Operators of station may shut down business". The Telegraph. Retrieved July 31, 2013.
  6. ↑ Spiller, Karen (October 30, 1999). "Company plans channel shuffle to preserve local station". The Telegraph. Retrieved July 31, 2013.
  7. ↑ Spiller, Karen (March 21, 2000). "Cable carrier to shut off service to most towns outside of Nashua as of July 1". The Telegraph. Retrieved July 31, 2013.
  8. ↑ "Binnie buy to lead to something bigger for the Granite State?". Television Business Report. December 28, 2010. Retrieved January 18, 2011.
  9. ↑ Jackson, Gordon T. (July 5, 2011). "Extension of Consummation". CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved July 6, 2011.
  10. ↑ McKeon, Albert (October 30, 2011). "Nashua...From the inside". The Telegraph. Retrieved December 25, 2011.
  11. ↑ "Re: WYCN-LP…" (PDF). Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved January 15, 2013.
  12. ↑ "Application for Consent to Assignment of Broadcast Station Construction Permit or License". CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved January 15, 2013.
  13. ↑ "TV-13 Nashua sale announced". Foster's Daily Democrat. January 16, 2012. Retrieved January 16, 2013.
  14. ↑ Malone, Michael (January 17, 2013). "OTA Broadcasting Grabs WYCN in Boston Market". Broadcasting & Cable. Retrieved December 22, 2017.
  15. ↑ http://licensing.fcc.gov/prod/cdbs/pubacc/Auth_Files/1541195.pdf
  16. ↑ "Consummation Notice". CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. May 20, 2013. Retrieved May 26, 2013.
  17. ↑ Solomon, Dave (July 2, 2013). "Nashua TV station WYCN fights to remain on Comcast". New Hampshire Union-Leader. Retrieved July 30, 2013.
  18. ↑ Allen, Samantha (July 30, 2013). "Channel 13 WYCN's future still unknown as Comcast eyes closure in Nashua". The Telegraph. Retrieved July 3, 2013.
  19. ↑ Shaoup, Dean (July 20, 2013). "Channel 13 in Nashua adds online petition to its push to stay on Comcast". The Telegraph. Retrieved July 30, 2013.
  20. ↑ Taormina, Barbara (July 27, 2013). "Comcast's plan to drop TV 13 Nashua draws ire". New Hampshire Union-Leader. Retrieved July 30, 2013.
  21. ↑ Taorima, Barbara (August 15, 2013). "Comcast to pull plug on WYCN Channel 13 in Nashua on Sept. 3 despite outcry". New Hampshire Union-Leader. Retrieved August 25, 2013.
  22. ↑ Brooks, David (October 2, 2013). "TV-13 digital transmitter gets federal OK, will be running by Christmas". The Telegraph. Retrieved October 4, 2013.
  23. ↑ "Here are the local TV stations selling their broadcast frequencies". The Boston Globe. Boston, Massachusetts. April 13, 2017. Retrieved April 23, 2017.
  24. ↑ "FCC Broadcast Television Spectrum Incentive Auction Auction 1001 Winning Bids" (PDF). Federal Communications Commission. April 4, 2017. Retrieved October 20, 2017.
  25. ↑ "Modification of a Licensed Facility for Digital Class A TV Station Application". Licensing and Management System. October 19, 2017. Retrieved October 20, 2017.
  26. ↑ "Application For Consent To Assignment Of Broadcast Station Construction Permit Or License". CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. October 27, 2017. Retrieved October 30, 2017.
  27. ↑ "HomeWYCN". www.tv13nashua.com. Retrieved December 17, 2017.
  28. ↑ Tobey, Margaret L. (December 12, 2017). "Re: Assignment of Virtual Channel 15 WYCN-CD, Nashua, New Hampshire (FIN 9766)" (PDF). Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved December 22, 2017.
  29. ↑ "Consummation Notice". CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. January 18, 2018. Retrieved January 19, 2018.
  30. ↑ "WYCN-CD". RabbitEars.Info.
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