WNDU-TV

WNDU-TV, virtual channel 16 (UHF digital channel 27), is an NBC-affiliated television station licensed to South Bend, Indiana, United States. The station is owned by Gray Television. WNDU-TV's studios are located on State Road 933 on South Bend's north side, and its transmitter is located southeast of the St. Joseph County Fairgrounds on the city's south side. The station's studios also house production facilities for the syndicated agricultural news programs AgDay and U.S. Farm Report, the former of which is broadcast locally by WNDU-TV; WNDU-TV's weather department provides the forecasts seen on those shows.

Not to be confused with KNDU or WUND-TV.
WNDU-TV
South Bend/Elkhart, Indiana
United States
CitySouth Bend, Indiana
BrandingWNDU Channel 16 (general)
16 News Now (newscasts)
SloganThis is Home
ChannelsDigital: 27 (UHF)
Virtual: 16 (PSIP)
Affiliations16.1: NBC
16.2: Antenna TV
16.3: Circle (O&O)
OwnerGray Television
LicenseeGray Television Licensee, LLC
First air dateJuly 15, 1955 (1955-07-15)
Call sign meaningNotre
Dame
University
(former owner)
Former channel number(s)
  • Analog:
  • 46 (UHF, 1955–1957)
  • 16 (UHF, 1957–2009)
  • Digital:
  • 42 (UHF, 2000–2019)
Transmitter power650 kW
Height310.4 m (1,018 ft)
Facility ID41674
Transmitter coordinates41°36′20″N 86°12′46″W
Licensing authorityFCC
Public license informationProfile
CDBS
Websitewww.wndu.com

History

The station first signed on the air on July 15, 1955, originally broadcasting on UHF channel 46. WNDU-TV was owned by the Michiana Television Corporation, a subsidiary of the University of Notre Dame. The station took its call letters from WNDU radio (1490 AM and 92.9 FM, now WNDV-FM), which were also owned by the university until 1998. However, like its radio sisters, it is a full-fledged commercial station rather than a public broadcaster (which is the norm, and much like fellow NBC affiliate KOMU-TV in Columbia, Missouri was and still is; after WNDU-TV was sold, this left KOMU and WVUA-CD/WVUA in Tuscaloosa, Alabama as the only commercial TV stations owned by a university). In 1957, to much fanfare, WNDU-TV moved to UHF channel 16.

The station immediately took the NBC affiliation from WSJV (channel 28) and has been with the network ever since. WNDU-TV's early broadcast schedule included programs like Romper Room and the first local telecast of a Notre Dame football game. WNDU aired the children's program Sesame Street from 1970 until February 1974, when non-commercial PBS member station WNIT (channel 34) signed on the air. From 1967 to 1986, WNDU aired Beyond Our Control, a locally produced sketch comedy program, which was presented as part of the station's involvement in the Junior Achievement program.[1]

The studio at State Road 933 and Dorr Road opened in 1982.[2]

On October 18, 1995, as a result of the affiliation changes in the South Bend market, WSJV switched to Fox (it disaffiliated from Fox in 2016 and is now a primary Heroes & Icons-affiliated station) and W58BT signed on as an ABC affiliate; it eventually became WBND. WNDU was one of the two stations that retained its network affiliation (the other was WSBT-TV, which retained its affiliation with CBS).

On November 24, 2005, the University of Notre Dame entered into an agreement to sell the station to Gray Television for $85 million in an all-cash deal, with the university placing the money received from the sale in an endowment.[3] The sale closed on March 5, 2006, after which the Federal Communications Commission granted Gray a cross-ownership waiver for WNDU and Goshen-based newspaper The Goshen News. This was necessary because the FCC prohibits the common ownership of a newspaper and a television station in the same market (Gray eventually spun off the Times and four other newspapers the following year into a new company called Triple Crown Media, which was subsequently merged with Host Communications).[4] WNDU-TV was named station of the year by the Indiana Broadcasters Association for 2015 and 2016.[5][6]

Viewing area counties

Indiana

Michigan

Digital television

Digital channels

The station's digital signal is multiplexed:

Channel Video Aspect PSIP Short Name Programming[7]
16.11080i16:9WNDU-HDMain WNDU-TV programming / NBC
16.2480iAntennaAntenna TV
16.3CircleCircle

WNDU's second digital subchannel formerly carried a standard-definition simulcast of the station's main channel (with limited programming substitutions for shows preempted on the main channel for local programming); the subchannel became affiliated with Antenna TV on July 1, 2013.

Analog-to-digital conversion

WNDU-TV discontinued regular programming on its analog signal, over UHF channel 16 on February 17, 2009, the original target date in which full-power television stations in the United States were to transition from analog to digital broadcasts under federal mandate (which was later pushed back to June 12, 2009). The station's digital signal remained on its pre-transition UHF channel 42,[8][9] using PSIP to display the station's virtual channel as its former UHF analog channel 16.

As part of the SAFER Act,[10] WNDU-TV kept its analog signal on the air until March 3 at 7 p.m. to inform viewers of the digital television transition through a loop of public service announcements from the National Association of Broadcasters.

Programming

Syndicated programming seen on WNDU includes Dateline (in its daily syndication package; first-run episodes of the series are also seen on the station through NBC), The Wendy Williams Show, Dr. Phil, Inside Edition, and Entertainment Tonight. As an NBC affiliate, it is the home station for the network's broadcast of Notre Dame football home games. It produces and airs its own pregame show, Countdown to Kickoff, which airs prior to every Notre Dame football home game broadcast on NBC. The station also airs reruns of Inside Notre Dame Football and Inside Notre Dame Basketball, a review show of Notre Dame athletic teams that is produced by Fighting Irish Media at the University of Notre Dame.[11]

Due to an increased focus on news programming, WNDU-TV made room for a three-hour Saturday morning newscast in 1994,[12] by airing NBC's teen-oriented program block TNBC in early hours of Saturday and Sunday mornings to fulfill E/I guidelines. WNDU currently airs the network's The More You Know programming block for two of the three hours on Saturday with the final hour airing on Sundays at 7:00 a.m. In addition, the station's primary channel preempts the Saturday edition of Today for its Saturday morning newscast with the program airing on its second digital subchannel instead; the primary channel airs the Sunday edition of Today on a one-hour delay in order to accommodate its Sunday morning newscast. WNDU also airs the NBC soap opera Days of Our Lives one hour later than most NBC affiliates, airing it at 2:00 p.m.

Programming controversies

Under Notre Dame's ownership, WNDU opted not to air certain NBC programs out of concerns over inappropriate content. Such shows included the animated series God, the Devil and Bob (for content offensive to the religious values of the university) and the American version of the British sitcom Coupling (due to the program's sexual content). The latter series instead aired on WSBT-DT2, then South Bend's UPN affiliate on Thursday nights after UPN programming. Neither show was renewed for a second season. The station also aired the Notre Dame commencement address of President Barack Obama in full on May 17, 2009 (four years after the university sold the station), in lieu of the first half of an NHL playoff game.

News operation

WNDU-TV broadcasts a total of 38½ hours of local newscasts each week (with 6½ hours each weekday, four hours on Saturdays and two hours on Sundays). WNDU-TV used a helicopter for its news-gathering purposes from the 1980s through 2006.

On April 21, 2010, starting with its 12 noon newscast, WNDU became the second television station in the South Bend market (behind WSBT-TV) to begin broadcasting its local newscasts in high definition.[13]

On September 4, 2018, WNDU debuted a 4:00 p.m. newscast.[14]

The current main news team consists of Lauren Moss and Terry McFadden as the main weekday news anchors, Mike Hoffman as the chief meteorologist, and Mark Skol Jr. as the sports director.[15] Terry's sister and former co-anchor Maureen McFadden retired from WNDU on March 15, 2019.[16]

Notable former on-air staff

References
  1. TV Guide: "One Vice President Resigned Because He Was Failing Algebra", June 9–15, 1973.
  2. "New News Center". South Bend Tribune. June 27, 1982.
  3. WNDU to be sold to Gray Television, South Bend Tribune, November 24, 2005.
  4. Gray Closes on WNDU Sale, Broadcasting & Cable, March 6, 2006.
  5. http://www.wndu.com/home/headlines/WNDU-earns-Station-of-the-Year-award-349708571.html
  6. https://www.indianabroadcasters.org/2016-conference/2016-awards/
  7. RabbitEars TV Query for WNDU
  8. "DTV Tentative Channel Designations for the First and Second Rounds" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-08-29. Retrieved 2012-03-24.
  9. CDBS Print
  10. "UPDATED List of Participants in the Analog Nightlight Program" (PDF). Federal Communications Commission. June 12, 2009. Retrieved June 4, 2012.
  11. http://www.und.com
  12. "Times-Union - Google News Archive Search". news.google.com. Retrieved 2017-11-11.
  13. NewsCenter 16 now broadcasting in HD
  14. Roly Ortega (August 24, 2018). "Small minor newscast changes… #223". The Changing Newscasts Blog. Retrieved October 7, 2018.
  15. http://www.wndu.com/station
  16. Swiercz, Greg (March 16, 2019). "Maureen McFadden signs off after four-decade broadcast career at WNDU-TV". South Bend Tribune. Retrieved March 16, 2019.
  17. https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarahmplatt
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