WYTV

WYTV, virtual channel 33 (UHF digital channel 31), is a dual ABC/MyNetworkTV-affiliated television station licensed to Youngstown, Ohio, United States. Owned by Vaughan Media, LLC, it is operated under joint sales and shared services agreements (JSA/SSA) by Nexstar Media Group, making it sister to CBS affiliate WKBN-TV (channel 27) and low-powered Fox affiliate WYFX-LD (channel 19). The three stations share studios and transmitter facilities on Sunset Boulevard in Youngstown's Pleasant Grove neighborhood.

WYTV
Youngstown, Ohio
United States
Branding33 WYTV (general)
33 News (newscasts)
SloganWe believe in this Valley.
ChannelsDigital: 31 (UHF)
(shared with WKBN-TV)
Virtual: 33 (PSIP)
Affiliations33.1: ABC
33.2: MyNetworkTV
OwnerVaughan Media
LicenseeWYTV Television, LLC
OperatorNexstar Media Group
(via JSA/SSA)
First air dateApril 4, 1953 (1953-04-04)
Call sign meaningW Youngstown TeleVision
Sister station(s)WKBN-TV, WYFX-LD
Former call signsWKST-TV (1953–1963)
Former channel number(s)Analog:
45 (UHF, 1953–1959)
33 (UHF, 1959–2009)
Digital:
36 (UHF, 2002–2019)
Former affiliationsSecondary:
Fox (1994–1998)
DT3:
Bounce TV (2013–2018)
Transmitter power703 kW
Height437.1 m (1,434 ft)
Facility ID4693
Transmitter coordinates41°3′23.4″N 80°38′43″W
Licensing authorityFCC
Public license informationProfile
CDBS
Websitewww.wytv.com

History

The station originated as WKST-TV (UHF analog channel 45) as the television partner to WKST radio, and was licensed to New Castle, Pennsylvania on April 4, 1953.

Besides serving New Castle, it was the default ABC affiliate in Youngstown. It also served western portions of the Pittsburgh market with poor signals from WENS-TV (now WINP-TV). After WENS-TV signed off due to financial problems, WKST-TV was the only full-time ABC affiliate in Western Pennsylvania until September 1958 when WTAE-TV went live.

WKST-TV moved to the stronger channel 33 in 1959, improving its over-the-air signal in the process.[1] After moving channels, WYTV was replaced on channel 45 by independent station WXTV, which signed on in November of 1960;[2] WXTV would be forced off the air on February 28, 1962 and never resumed broadcasting,[3] the FCC denied their license application in April 1964 after an extensive investigation into it and co-owned WWIZ in Lorain, Ohio.[4][5][6] In 1973, channel 45 was re-allocated to nearby Alliance, Ohio as an educational channel and became WNEO.[7] In September 1963, WKST-TV's city of license designation was moved to Youngstown and the call letters were changed to WYTV-TV (the redundant "-TV" suffix would be dropped in 1998).

Along with WTAE-TV and to a lesser extent WTVN/WSYX in Columbus, WYTV at times has also served as the default ABC affiliate to the Wheeling, West Virginia–Steubenville, Ohio market, which has only two commercial stations, WTOV-TV and WTRF-TV (the latter being a sister station to WYTV during the 1990s). Although the area finally got a full-time ABC affiliate in 2008 when WTRF-TV launched one on its third digital subchannel, WYTV remains on cable in parts of the market. The station was Youngstown's first Fox network affiliate from 1994 to 1998. Youngstown did not have a full-time Fox affiliate for the network's first decade, so WYTV joined the network as a secondary affiliate in part due to the network's acquisition of the rights to NFL football.

WYTV was owned by a consortium of local investors for years. A company known as Aurovideo, Inc., which was owned by the Adams-Russell Company,[8] acquired WYTV on November 13, 1970.[9] On June 22, 1983, Benedek Broadcasting purchased 50% of the station with investor Robert L. Dudley, and formed the Youngstown Broadcasting Company as licensee.[10] Benedek purchased the remaining stake on November 25, 1985,[11] and remained the station's owner until the company's bankruptcy filing in 2002. Instead of being purchased by Gray Television, WYTV was bought by Chelsey Television, LLC and was managed by Barrington Broadcasting.[12] The station has applied to increase its digital signal to one megawatt at the end of the transition.[13]

On February 6, 2007, Chelsey Television filed an application with the FCC to sell WYTV to Parkin Broadcasting of California, which then leased out the station to WKBN/WYFX owner New Vision Television under a shared services agreement—essentially a local marketing agreement under different legal terms. At the time, some critics wondered if the shared services agreement was legal, since the Youngstown market only has four full-powered television stations (WFMJ, WKBN, WYTV, and PBS member station WNEO)—not enough to legally permit a duopoly under FCC rules. New Vision and Parkin share an office building in Los Angeles and have a "cozy relationship", leading to speculation that Parkin is simply a shell corporation that enables New Vision to circumvent FCC ownership rules. This is not unlike what Sinclair Broadcast Group does with Cunningham Broadcasting, which is a shell corporation of Sinclair. Nonetheless, the FCC approved the shared services agreement on July 30, 2007.[14] WYTV then moved from its 3800 Shady Run Road studios over to the WKBN/WYFX facilities in Boardman Township.

The 24-hour local weather channel had also been offered on the digital tier of Time Warner Cable at one point. Originally called Weather on the 3s, the channel shows continuous weather updates through WYTV's relationship with WeatherBug. It was redesigned on February 24, 2009, when WKBN and WYFX had their on-air look redesigned and Weather on the 3s was made to match those two station's on-air look. It was renamed My Valley Weather to coincide with the launch of the combined weather website for WYTV and WKBN. This station is currently the only commercial outlet in the area with three digital subchannels. Along with sister station WKBN, WYTV plans on having two subchannels broadcasting in high-definition with MyYTV broadcasting in HD. The future of the My Valley Weather subchannel was uncertain due to MyYTV proposing an upgrade to HD. As of February 2012, MyYTV is still in standard definition, however,[15] and its HD feed is currently available only on cable. On July 1, 2013, WYTV added Bounce TV to 33.3, displacing the MyValley Weather channel.

On May 7, 2012, LIN TV Corporation announced that it will acquire the New Vision Television station group for $330.4 million and the assumption of $12 million in debt. Along with the outright ownership of WKBN-TV, the agreement includes the acquisition of New Vision's shared services agreement with PBC Broadcasting (who is also transferring the licenses of the PBC-owned stations to Vaughan Media), giving LIN operational control of WYTV.[16] LIN and Vaughan also entered into a joint sales agreement for WYTV.[17] On October 2, the FCC approved the proposed sale to LIN TV.[18] The transaction was closed on October 12, 2012.[19]

On March 21, 2014, Media General announced that it would purchase LIN Media and its stations, including WKBN-TV, WYFX-LD, and the SSA and JSA with WYTV, in a $1.6 billion merger.[20][21] The FCC approved the deal on December 12, 2014, but a condition of the deal requires Media General to end the JSA between WKBN-TV and WYTV within two years due to tighter regulations on such deals.[22] The merger was completed on December 19.[23]

In 2017, WKBN sold its spectrum for $34 million as part of the FCC's spectrum reallocation program and will move its broadcasting to WYTV's frequency.[24] WKBN-TV moved to WYTV's frequency on April 23, 2018. To make room for WKBN-TV, Bounce TV moved from 33.3 to WYFX's 19.4 while Ion Television moved from 27.3 to WYFX 19.3.[25]

Digital channels

The station's digital signal is multiplexed:

Channel Video Aspect PSIP short name Programming [26]
33.1720p16:9WYTV-HDMain WYTV programming / ABC
33.2480iMy YTVWYTV-DT2 / MyNetworkTV

Programming

Children's programming

WYTV became known for its programming targeted to kids. WYTV aired cartoons and other kid-themed programming between the after school hours of 4:00 pm and 6:00 p.m. It once aired a kids' show during the 1980s entitled 33 Powwww which consisted of a "voice-activated" video game powered by the Mattel Intellivision. Viewers would call in to play this game and win prizes. Cartoons were also aired during the show. The TV POWWW concept was a syndicated franchise seen on television stations throughout the United States such as WCLQ in Cleveland (now WQHS-TV). WYTV also has produced the local quiz show YSU Academic Challenge in which high school and middle school students from all over the area answered questions for prizes.

Fox programming

During its affiliation pact with Fox, which lasted until low-powered sister station WYFX signed on in 1998, WYTV pre-empted ABC programming whenever Fox programming aired.

Saving Private Ryan

WYTV was not among the ABC affiliates to preempt the Veterans Day airing of the film Saving Private Ryan in 2004 out of fears of being fined by the FCC for indecency in the wake of the Super Bowl XXXVIII halftime show controversy, feeling that the film aired unedited on terrestrial television in the past without FCC repercussions.[27] Because WYTV did opt to air Saving Private Ryan, this gave viewers in the Columbus, Cleveland, and Pittsburgh television markets that were able to view WYTV either over-the-air or on cable television the option of watching the film, since Sinclair Broadcast Group, E. W. Scripps Company, and Hearst-Argyle Television (owners of WSYX, WEWS-TV, and WTAE-TV, respectively) did not allow any of their ABC affiliates to air the film. As Sinclair and Scripps each own additional ABC affiliates in the state, WYTV ultimately was one of only two ABC affiliates in the entire state of Ohio to air the film, alongside then-ABC Owned-and-operated station WTVG. It was later determined that showing the movie was not a violation of FCC regulations.

News operation

For a period as a separate station, WYTV produced a prime time newscast at 10:00 p.m. on its MyNetworkTV second digital subchannel. This competed with another broadcast airing at the same time on Fox affiliate WYFX that was produced by WKBN.

In December 2007, the news departments of WYTV and WKBN physically merged. As a result, over 40 personnel at WYTV and six at WKBN were laid-off.[28] Under the shared services agreement, the senior station partner began producing newscasts on this ABC affiliate from a secondary set at the Sunset Boulevard studios. A previous plan calling for WYTV to build streetside satellite studios in downtown Youngstown was abandoned due to the consolidation. The current operational status of its Doppler weather radar based at the old facility on Shady Run Road is unknown. The two stations gradually had their on-air looks mirror each other while their respective websites became identical. New logos for the stations and updated websites debuted in January 2009 including combined operations for sports and weather.

Due to the duopoly, WYTV and WKBN maintain separate primary anchors for news, weather, and sports during the week but share most general assignment reporters and video footage. The two initially maintained separate websites as well; however, after LIN Media took over ownership of WKBN/WYFX and operations of WYTV, WYTV's website became a redirect to WKBN's website with only WYTV's station identification information available on WKBN's site.

On May 6, 2010, the two outlets upgraded their combined news operation to high definition complete with new graphics on WYTV. There are news and weather sharing partnerships with WNCD-FM 93.3, WAKZ-FM 95.9, WMXY-FM 98.9, WBBG-FM 106.1, WKBN-AM 570, and WNIO-AM 1390.

In November 2013, WYTV along with WKBN debuted a branded tool for showing live broadcasts from a moving vehicle. "33 Live Drive Action Cam" is a Jeep Patriot that can chase storms, show road conditions and respond to breaking news.

Also in November 2013, WYTV began separating its content from that of WKBN and WYFX. This included WYTV receiving its own website once again.

References
  1. "Government notes" (PDF). Broadcasting. August 3, 1959. p. 76. Retrieved November 14, 2019.
  2. Silika, Adrian (November 15, 1960). "Information Shows Lift Quality of Sunday's TV". The Vindicator. p. 17. Retrieved November 13, 2019.
  3. "Channel 45 Goes Off Air; Faces Hearing Before FCC". The Vindicator. March 1, 1962. pp. 1, 2. Retrieved November 13, 2019.
  4. "FCC kills WWIZ, WXTV (TV)" (PDF). Broadcasting. April 6, 1964. p. 92. Retrieved November 13, 2019.
  5. "WWIZ, WXTV(TV) ordered off air" (PDF). Broadcasting. April 27, 1964. p. 64. Retrieved November 13, 2019.
  6. "Date of WWIZ, WXTV(TV) & WFAR renewal decision" (PDF). Broadcasting. April 6, 1964. p. 174. Retrieved November 13, 2019.
  7. "2 ETV's for 3 schools asked" (PDF). Broadcasting. May 24, 1971. p. 36. Retrieved November 14, 2019.
  8. "WYTV Broadcasting Cablecastng Yearbook 1983" (PDF). americanradiohistory.com. Retrieved March 3, 2019.
  9. "WYTV Broadcasting Cablecasting Yearbook 1973" (PDF). americanradiohistory.com. Retrieved March 3, 2019.
  10. "WYTV Broadcasting Cablecastng Yearbook 1985" (PDF). americanradiohistory.com. Retrieved March 3, 2019.
  11. "WYTV Broadcasting Cablecastng Yearbook 1986" (PDF). americanradiohistory.com. Retrieved March 3, 2019.
  12. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on January 3, 2007. Retrieved July 5, 2006.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  13. Service Area Map - FCC
  14. "WYTV employees to lose seniority under new owner". vindy.com. Archived from the original on August 22, 2007. Retrieved January 23, 2013.
  15. Archived March 6, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
  16. Malone, Michael (May 7, 2012). "LIN Acquiring New Vision Stations for $330 Million". Broadcasting & Cable. Retrieved May 7, 2012.
  17. "Joint Sales Agreement" (PDF). Federal Communications Commission. May 4, 2012. Archived from the original (PDF) on January 12, 2016. Retrieved January 26, 2015.
  19. "LIN Completes New Vision Stations Buy". TVNewsCheck. October 12, 2012. Retrieved January 26, 2015.
  20. Reid Blackwell, John (March 21, 2014). "MG will combine with LIN TV chain". Richmond Times-Dispatch. Retrieved March 22, 2014.
  21. "Television companies to merge". The Vindicator. March 22, 2014. Retrieved March 22, 2014.
  22. FCC Okays Media General/LIN Merger Broadcasting & Cable (December 12, 2014)
  23. Media General Completes Merger With LIN Media Archived December 19, 2014, at the Wayback Machine, Press Release, Media General, Retrieved December 19, 2014
  24. "Big money from FCC auction means end of some TV stations". post-gazette.com. Retrieved March 3, 2019.
  25. Attention viewers: WKBN is switching frequencies WKBN-TV (April 20, 2018)
  26. "Digital TV Market Listing for WYTV". rabbitears.info. Retrieved March 3, 2019.
  27. "Scaring Private Ryan: 20 ABC Affiliates Nix Movie". businessdailyjournal.com. Archived from the original on November 9, 2013. Retrieved March 3, 2019.
  28. "WKBN-TV lays off at least 6 workers". Vindy.com. Archived from the original on July 29, 2012. Retrieved January 23, 2013.
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