WFFF-TV
Encyclopedia
WFFF-TV is the Fox
-affiliated television station
for Vermont
's Champlain Valley
and Upstate
New York's North Country
. Licensed to Burlington, Vermont
, it broadcasts a high definition
digital signal on UHF channel 43 (virtual channel
44.1 via PSIP) from a transmitter on Vermont's highest peak, Mount Mansfield
. The station can also be seen on Time Warner Cable
channel 7 as well as Comcast
and Charter
channel 9. There is a high definition feed offered on Charter digital channel 709, Comcast digital channel 744, and Time Warner
Cable digital channel 868. Owned by Smith Media, WFFF operates ABC
affiliate WVNY
(owned by Lambert Broadcasting, LLC) through a local marketing agreement
.
The two stations share studios on Mountain View Drive in Colchester, Vermont
. Syndicated
programming on WFFF includes How I Met Your Mother
, Two and a Half Men
, The Simpsons
, and King of the Hill
among others. Like other network stations serving Plattsburgh and Burlington, it has a large audience in Southern Quebec
, Canada
. This includes Montreal
, a city ten times more populous than all of WFFF's entire American
viewing area combined. On Vidéotron
systems in Canada, this station can be seen on channel 46 in West Montreal and channel 36 in Central/East Montreal. WFFF can also be seen in Canada on Illico digital channel 54.
, Charter channel 11, Comcast channel 20, and Time Warner Cable digital channel 266 is the area's CW affiliate known on-air as The CW Burlington. Syndicated programming on this station includes COPS
, Star Trek: The Next Generation
, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire
, and America's Funniest Home Videos
along with others. Although most CW Plus
affiliates are located on digital subchannel
s of another station, WFFF-DT2 is not part of the national service. There is currently no website for the station. It is not available on cable in Canada or some provider's basic tier within its home market
such as Saranac Lake, New York
where Time Warner Cable offers CW flagship WPIX
from New York City
instead.
affiliate WPTZ
on Terry Mountain in Peru, New York
. Prior to WFFF's sign-on, the area was the last top-100 television market
without a primary Fox affiliate. For a year prior to 1997, CBS
affiliate WCAX-TV
cleared some shows from the network while the full schedule was available on most Vermont cable systems through Foxnet
. In New York State, the network was offered on cable through flagship WNYW
from New York City. In Canada, Fox was seen on cable through either WUTV
from Buffalo, New York
or WUHF
from Rochester, New York
. Originally, WFFF was owned by Smith Broadcasting but operated by the Sinclair Broadcast Group
(then owner of WPTZ) through an LMA. In 1998, Sinclair sold WPTZ and its LMA with WFFF to Sunrise Television who in turn swapped both stations and the LMA to Hearst-Argyle Television in July.
The station gained secondary WB affiliation after Class A WBVT-CA
dropped the network in favor of UPN
. For a time, the two hours of prime time programming from The WB aired in separate two hour-long blocks weeknights at 5 and 10. WFFF eventually moved the entire two hours of programming to a delayed basis at 10 p.m. after Fox prime time in continuous block named "The WB Time". The network was also offered on cable in the area from flagship WPIX. In February 1999, WFFF began airing thirty second daily vignettes called Vermont's Most Wanted along with sister program Citizen's Patrol. The efforts were produced in cooperation with local law enforcement and the Champlain Valley branch of the national Crimestoppers
non-profit organization. WFFF began operating as an independently-controlled station owned by Smith Broadcasting in 2000 when the LMA with WPTZ was terminated.
In 2005, the death of Bob Smith (head of family-owned Smith Broadcasting) led to the family's decision to sell its group of stations to an investment group called Smith Media, LLC. After researching markets where the company now had ownership in, it was discovered WVNY was up for sale. Finding a way to satisfy Federal Communications Commission
(FCC) ownership rules, Smith Media partnering with Lambert Broadcasting and became the senior partner in a local marketing agreement with WVNY. Smith Media shut down that station's longtime original studios on Farrell Street in South Burlington
, reduced redundant staff, and relocated its operations into WFFF's Colchester facilities. During the 2004-2005 television season, the broadcast time of Kids' WB
on WFFF moved from a weekday morning to afternoon time slot. It also continued to air child programming during the Saturday morning time slot.
The WB discontinued the weekday airing of Kids' WB in January 2006 and replaced it with reruns of ER
, 8 Simple Rules
, and Reba
. In Fall 2006, WFFF began offering the Saturday Kids' WB schedule in hour-long blocks on weekday mornings. The station became digital-only effective February 17, 2009. As a result, some parts of the viewing area were left without a full-powered Fox affiliate including Enosburg
in Franklin County, Vermont
as well as parts of Franklin
and Essex
Counties in New York State. Due to an ongoing retransmission dispute, Time Warner Cable replaced WFFF with WNYF from Watertown
/Massena, New York
on December 16, 2010. Its CW second digital subchannel
was also dropped with existing WPIX serving as the affiliate. On the same date for the same reason, WVNY was replaced with WUTR
from Utica, New York
. The dispute was eventually resolved and all home stations were brought back to the cable system.
unit of Time Warner. Until The CW's launch on September 18, it was unknown if there would be an affiliate in Burlington and Plattsburgh. Just before the date, it was announced The CW would air on WFFF in a delayed basis at 10 p.m. as did programming from The WB. As was the case with the previous network, The CW would also be available on cable the area through WPIX from New York City. It was unlikely UPN affiliate WGMU would have been The CW. Network officials were on record as preferring the "stronger" WB and UPN affiliates and, despite secondary status, WFFF was by far the stronger station with its full-powered signal.
Before it was confirmed this station would be a secondary CW affiliate, there was a possibility new television station WCWF (now WNMN) in Saranac Lake, New York
would become affiliated with the network. On September 27, 2007, WFFF moved The CW to a new second digital subchannel. For Comcast viewers in Vermont, WFFF-DT2 immediately replaced WPIX. The subchannel was to be known on-air as "The CW 20" after its channel location on the cable provider. It was not until December 31, 2008 when Charter systems WFFF-DT2 in New York State did the same thing. At its launch, the station became known on-air as "The CW Burlington".
were blocked by simultaneous substitution
(simsub) on Montreal cable systems by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC). Simultaneous substitution demanded the cable companies in Canada replace WFFF's signal with CJNT's signal when the same program and episode was running at the same time. This is the same practice as the FCC's syndication exclusivity
rule in the United States
.
In response, WFFF frequently shifted its schedule to keep its commercials from being blocked in Montreal. In response to this station's schedule shuffling, CJNT moved its schedule accordingly to retain simsub rights. This resulted in a cat-and-mouse game of changing programming schedules every few weeks leaving viewers confused. The changes usually occurred with little to no advance warning sometimes making local schedules in TV Guide
(both US and Canadian versions) outdated by the time they were published. WFFF eventually solved the problem by adding a second daily airing of That 70's Show, giving it access to a second strip of programming from the distributor which was available only to stations carrying a full hour of the program. It would then flip the two airings so the exclusive strip was shown in the shared time slot, meaning CJNT could no longer simsub the program since WFFF was not airing the same episode.
On August 31, 2009, CJNT was sold by previous owners Canwest Global to Channel Zero
. Under this new ownership, that station began to increase its focus on multicultural programming and no longer aired any American programming. With this development, it leaves CFCF-TV and CKMI-TV as the only stations in the Montreal area to simsub over American stations including WFFF (although this situation may change as CJNT has picked up some American programming as of September 2010).
After WVNY moved into WFFF's studios in 2005, Smith Media made an announcement the company was planning to establish a news department for the two stations. However, after the 2006 creation of The CW and WFFF initially airing the network's programming in prime time at 10, there was some doubt as to the status of the local news operation launch. In mid-July 2007, planning for a nightly prime time newscast at 10 started with the posting of related jobs on WFFF's website. On November 26, advertisements began appearing on WFFF and WVNY for the launch of the 10 p.m. show which occurred December 3.
The broadcast, known as Fox 44 Local News at 10, originally ran every night for a half-hour but the weeknight show eventually expanded to 45 minutes on September 7, 2009. This is followed by a fifteen minute sports highlight show known as Sports Wrap. The first ten minutes of the news portion of the program airs in a format called "10 Minute Advantage" where the top stories of the day and a complete weather forecast are shown before a commercial break. Although WFFF is the area's first local news operation presented in high definition, it was actually the second prime time production established. WCAX began offering a thirty minute weeknight broadcast at 10 on its 24-hour local weather channel back on July 16, 2007 which still airs today.
On March 3, 2008, WFFF added a weeknight and Saturday broadcast at 7 on WVNY known as Fox 44 Local News on ABC. As a result, that station became first in the area to offer local news in the time slot. The move to launch the show was due in part to tough competition of newscasts at 6 seen on WCAX and WPTZ. As is the case on WFFF, the WVNY broadcasts are aired in high definition. The Saturday edition eventually moved to 6:30 which has been the case on Sundays from the start in order to accommodate ABC programming. The WVNY broadcasts mark the return of local news on that station since it shut down its own news department back on September 12, 2003. The only "ABC 22" identification seen during the show is in the intro package and the "bug" in the bottom right hand corner of the screen.
On August 18, 2008, WFFF began airing a two-hour weekday morning show called Fox 44 Local News This Morning. Included in the launch were local news and weather cut-ins on WVNY during its airing of Good Morning America
. This occurs at :25 and :55 past the hour at which time the two stations simulcast each other. Eventually, an additional hour of the broadcast starting at 6 was added to WVNY and is known as ABC 22 This Morning. That station has since expanded it to a traditional two hour newscast. At some point in time, WVNY added a nightly broadcast at 11 becoming more of a big three affiliate
offering local news (taking on WCAX and WPTZ) even though WFFF produces the broadcasts.
Due to the relatively new status of the news department, there is a Vermont focus in coverage. During weather forecast segments, WFFF uses live NOAA National Weather Service
radar data from three regional sites. It is presented on-screen in a system known as "Sky Tracker HD Triple Doppler". WFFF-DT2
airs the nationally syndicated
morning show known as The Daily Buzz
on weekdays from 6 until 9. Weather forecasts from this station can be heard on WSNO
-AM 1450, WMOO
-FM 92.1/W257AU-FM 99.3, WDOT-FM 95.7, WWFY
-FM 100.9, WCPV
-FM 101.3, WEXP-FM 101.5/WTHK
-FM 100.7/W264AB-FM 104.7, and WORK-FM
107.1.
SkyTracker HD Meteorologists
Sports (both seen on Sports Wrap)
Reporters
Photographers
Fox Broadcasting Company
Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...
-affiliated television station
Television station
A television station is a business, organisation or other such as an amateur television operator that transmits content over terrestrial television. A television transmission can be by analog television signals or, more recently, by digital television. Broadcast television systems standards are...
for Vermont
Vermont
Vermont is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state ranks 43rd in land area, , and 45th in total area. Its population according to the 2010 census, 630,337, is the second smallest in the country, larger only than Wyoming. It is the only New England...
's Champlain Valley
Champlain Valley
The Champlain Valley is a region of the United States around Lake Champlain in Vermont and New York extending slightly into Quebec, Canada as part of the St. Lawrence River drainage basin drained northward by the Richelieu River into the St...
and Upstate
Upstate New York
Upstate New York is the region of the U.S. state of New York that is located north of the core of the New York metropolitan area.-Definition:There is no clear or official boundary between Upstate New York and Downstate New York...
New York's North Country
North Country, New York
The North Country is a region of the U.S. state of New York that encompasses the state's extreme northern frontier, bordering Lake Ontario on the west, the Saint Lawrence River and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec on the north and northwest, and Lake Champlain and Vermont on the east...
. Licensed to Burlington, Vermont
Burlington, Vermont
Burlington is the largest city in the U.S. state of Vermont and the shire town of Chittenden County. Burlington lies south of the U.S.-Canadian border and some south of Montreal....
, it broadcasts a high definition
High-definition television
High-definition television is video that has resolution substantially higher than that of traditional television systems . HDTV has one or two million pixels per frame, roughly five times that of SD...
digital signal on UHF channel 43 (virtual channel
Virtual channel
In telecommunications, a logical channel number , also known as virtual channel, is a channel designation which differs from that of the actual radio channel on which the signal travels....
44.1 via PSIP) from a transmitter on Vermont's highest peak, Mount Mansfield
Mount Mansfield
Mount Mansfield is the highest mountain in Vermont with a summit that peaks at above sea level. The summit is in Underhill; the ridgeline, including some secondary peaks, extends into the town of Stowe, and the mountain's flanks also reach into the town of Cambridge.When viewed from the east or...
. The station can also be seen on Time Warner Cable
Time Warner Cable
Time Warner Cable is an American cable television company that operates in 28 states and has 31 operating divisions...
channel 7 as well as Comcast
Comcast
Comcast Corporation is the largest cable operator, home Internet service provider, and fourth largest home telephone service provider in the United States, providing cable television, broadband Internet, and telephone service to both residential and commercial customers in 39 states and the...
and Charter
Charter Communications
Charter Communications is an American company providing cable television, high-speed Internet, and telephone services to more than 4.7 million customers in 25 states. By revenues, it is the fourth-largest cable operator in the United States, behind Comcast, Time Warner Cable, and Cox Communications...
channel 9. There is a high definition feed offered on Charter digital channel 709, Comcast digital channel 744, and Time Warner
Time Warner
Time Warner is one of the world's largest media companies, headquartered in the Time Warner Center in New York City. Formerly two separate companies, Warner Communications, Inc...
Cable digital channel 868. Owned by Smith Media, WFFF operates ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
affiliate WVNY
WVNY
WVNY is the ABC-affiliated television station for Vermont's Champlain Valley and Upstate New York's North Country. Licensed to Burlington, Vermont, it broadcasts a high definition digital signal on VHF channel 13 from a transmitter on Vermont's highest peak Mount Mansfield. The station can also be...
(owned by Lambert Broadcasting, LLC) through a local marketing agreement
Local marketing agreement
In U.S. and Canadian broadcasting, a local marketing agreement is an agreement in which one company agrees to operate a radio or television station owned by another licensee...
.
The two stations share studios on Mountain View Drive in Colchester, Vermont
Colchester, Vermont
Colchester is a town in Chittenden County, Vermont, United States. The population was 17,067 at the 2010 census. It is the fourth-largest municipality and second-largest town in Vermont by population.-Geography:...
. Syndicated
Television syndication
In broadcasting, syndication is the sale of the right to broadcast radio shows and television shows by multiple radio stations and television stations, without going through a broadcast network, though the process of syndication may conjure up structures like those of a network itself, by its very...
programming on WFFF includes How I Met Your Mother
How I Met Your Mother
How I Met Your Mother is an American sitcom that premiered on CBS on September 19, 2005, created by Craig Thomas and Carter Bays.As a framing device, the main character, Ted Mosby with narration by Bob Saget, in the year 2030 recounts to his son and daughter the events that led to his meeting...
, Two and a Half Men
Two and a Half Men
Two and a Half Men is an American television sitcom that premiered on CBS on September 22, 2003. Starring Charlie Sheen, Jon Cryer, and Angus T. Jones, the show was originally about a hedonistic jingle writer, Charlie Harper; his uptight brother, Alan; and Alan's growing son, Jake...
, The Simpsons
The Simpsons
The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie...
, and King of the Hill
King of the Hill
King of the Hill is an American animated dramedy series created by Mike Judge and Greg Daniels, that ran from January 12, 1997, to May 6, 2010, on Fox network. It centers on the Hills, a working-class Methodist family in the fictional small town of Arlen, Texas...
among others. Like other network stations serving Plattsburgh and Burlington, it has a large audience in Southern Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. This includes Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
, a city ten times more populous than all of WFFF's entire American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
viewing area combined. On Vidéotron
Vidéotron
Vidéotron GP is a Canadian integrated telecommunications company active in cable television, interactive multimedia development, video on demand, cable telephony, wireless communication and Internet access services. Currently, the company primarily serves Quebec, as well as the francophone...
systems in Canada, this station can be seen on channel 46 in West Montreal and channel 36 in Central/East Montreal. WFFF can also be seen in Canada on Illico digital channel 54.
Digital programming
On WFFF-DT2WFFF-DT2
WFFF-DT2 is the CW-affiliated television station for Vermont's Champlain Valley and Upstate New York's North Country. It is a second digital subchannel of Fox affiliate WFFF-TV owned by Smith Media, LLC...
, Charter channel 11, Comcast channel 20, and Time Warner Cable digital channel 266 is the area's CW affiliate known on-air as The CW Burlington. Syndicated programming on this station includes COPS
COPS (TV series)
Cops is an American documentary/reality television series that follows police officers, constables, and sheriff's deputies during patrols and other police activities...
, Star Trek: The Next Generation
Star Trek: The Next Generation
Star Trek: The Next Generation is an American science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry as part of the Star Trek franchise. Roddenberry, Rick Berman, and Michael Piller served as executive producers at different times throughout the production...
, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire (US game show)
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire is an American television quiz show which offers a maximum prize of $1,000,000 for correctly answering 14 consecutive multiple-choice questions of random difficulty. Until 2010, the format required contestants to correctly answer 15 consecutive questions of increasing...
, and America's Funniest Home Videos
America's Funniest Home Videos
America's Funniest Home Videos is an American reality television program on ABC in which viewers are able to send in humorous homemade videotapes. The most common videos usually feature slapstick physical comedy arising from incidents, accidents and mishaps...
along with others. Although most CW Plus
The CW Plus
The CW Plus is a group of primarily digital sub-channels, analog, and non-broadcast cable television outlets for the CW Television Network, for markets below the top 99 television media markets in the United States....
affiliates are located on digital subchannel
Digital subchannel
In broadcasting, digital subchannels are a means to transmit more than one independent program at the same time from the same digital radio or digital television station on the same radio frequency channel. This is done by using data compression techniques to reduce the size of each individual...
s of another station, WFFF-DT2 is not part of the national service. There is currently no website for the station. It is not available on cable in Canada or some provider's basic tier within its home market
Media market
A media market, broadcast market, media region, designated market area , Television Market Area , or simply market is a region where the population can receive the same television and radio station offerings, and may also include other types of media including newspapers and Internet content...
such as Saranac Lake, New York
Saranac Lake, New York
Saranac Lake is a village located in the state of New York, United States. As of the 2010 census, the population was 5,406. The village is named after Upper, Middle, and Lower Saranac Lakes, which are nearby....
where Time Warner Cable offers CW flagship WPIX
WPIX
WPIX, channel 11, is a television station in New York City built, signed on, and owned by the Tribune Company. WPIX also serves as the flagship station of The CW Television Network...
from New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
instead.
| Channels (physical/virtual) | Video Display resolution The display resolution of a digital television or display device is the number of distinct pixels in each dimension that can be displayed. It can be an ambiguous term especially as the displayed resolution is controlled by all different factors in cathode ray tube , flat panel or projection... |
Aspect Aspect ratio The aspect ratio of a shape is the ratio of its longer dimension to its shorter dimension. It may be applied to two characteristic dimensions of a three-dimensional shape, such as the ratio of the longest and shortest axis, or for symmetrical objects that are described by just two measurements,... |
Programming |
|---|---|---|---|
| 43.1/44.1 | 720p 720p 720p is the shorthand name for 1280x720, a category of High-definition television video modes having a resolution of 1080 or 720p and a progressive scan... |
16:9 16:9 16:9 is an aspect ratio with a width of 16 units and height of 9. Since 2009, it has become the most common aspect ratio for sold televisions and computer monitors and is also the international standard format of HDTV, Full HD, non-HD digital television and analog widescreen television ... |
main WFFF programming/Fox (HD) |
| 43.2/44.2 | 480i 480i 480i is the shorthand name for a video mode, namely the US NTSC television system or digital television systems with the same characteristics. The i, which is sometimes uppercase, stands for interlaced, the 480 for a vertical frame resolution of 480 lines containing picture information; while NTSC... |
4:3 | WFFF-DT2 "The CW Burlington" (SD) |
History
WFFF signed-on August 31, 1997 immediately taking a Fox affiliation. It aired an analog signal on UHF channel 44 from a transmitter shared with NBCNBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
affiliate WPTZ
WPTZ
WPTZ, virtual channel 5, is an NBC-affiliated television station located in Plattsburgh, New York, USA. WPTZ is owned by Hearst Television, and has its studios in Plattsburgh and transmitter located on Mount Mansfield in Vermont....
on Terry Mountain in Peru, New York
Peru, New York
Peru is a town in Clinton County in the U.S. state of New York. The population was 6,998 at the 2010 census. The town was named Peru because its mountainous nature suggested that country....
. Prior to WFFF's sign-on, the area was the last top-100 television market
Media market
A media market, broadcast market, media region, designated market area , Television Market Area , or simply market is a region where the population can receive the same television and radio station offerings, and may also include other types of media including newspapers and Internet content...
without a primary Fox affiliate. For a year prior to 1997, CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
affiliate WCAX-TV
WCAX-TV
WCAX-TV, virtual channel 3, is a television station in Burlington, Vermont, USA. WCAX is affiliated with the CBS Television Network and has been locally owned by the Hasbrook/Martin family and their company, Mount Mansfield Television, since the station's inception...
cleared some shows from the network while the full schedule was available on most Vermont cable systems through Foxnet
Foxnet
Foxnet was a cable network that was available to markets in the United States without an affiliate of the Fox Network. It was usually available in very small television markets....
. In New York State, the network was offered on cable through flagship WNYW
WNYW
WNYW, virtual channel 5 , is the flagship television station of the News Corporation-owned Fox Broadcasting Company, located in New York City. The station's transmitter is atop the Empire State Building and its studio facilities are located in the Yorkville section of Manhattan...
from New York City. In Canada, Fox was seen on cable through either WUTV
WUTV
WUTV, virtual channel 29, is the Fox-affiliated television station in Buffalo, New York. It broadcasts its digital signal on UHF channel 14. The station is owned by the Sinclair Broadcast Group, in a duopoly with the area's MyNetworkTV affiliate WNYO-TV...
from Buffalo, New York
Buffalo, New York
Buffalo is the second most populous city in the state of New York, after New York City. Located in Western New York on the eastern shores of Lake Erie and at the head of the Niagara River across from Fort Erie, Ontario, Buffalo is the seat of Erie County and the principal city of the...
or WUHF
WUHF
WUHF is the Fox-affiliated television station for Rochester, New York. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 28 from a transmitter on Pinnacle Hill on the border between Rochester and Brighton. The station can also be seen on Time Warner channel 7 and in high definition on...
from Rochester, New York
Rochester, New York
Rochester is a city in Monroe County, New York, south of Lake Ontario in the United States. Known as The World's Image Centre, it was also once known as The Flour City, and more recently as The Flower City...
. Originally, WFFF was owned by Smith Broadcasting but operated by the Sinclair Broadcast Group
Sinclair Broadcast Group
The Sinclair Broadcast Group is an American telecommunications company that operates the largest number of local television stations in the United States. Headquartered in Hunt Valley, Maryland, it owns a total of 57 stations across the country in 35 primarily small and medium markets, many of...
(then owner of WPTZ) through an LMA. In 1998, Sinclair sold WPTZ and its LMA with WFFF to Sunrise Television who in turn swapped both stations and the LMA to Hearst-Argyle Television in July.
The station gained secondary WB affiliation after Class A WBVT-CA
WGMU-CA
WGMU-CA is a Class A television station that is licensed to Burlington. It broadcasts an analog signal on UHF channel 39 from a transmitter in Charlotte. The station can also be seen on Burlington Telecom digital channel 14, Charter channel 18, and Comcast channel 80. Locally owned by CEC Media...
dropped the network in favor of UPN
UPN
United Paramount Network was a television network that was broadcast in over 200 markets in the United States from 1995 to 2006. UPN was originally owned by Viacom/Paramount and Chris-Craft Industries, the former of which, through the Paramount Television Group, produced most of the network's...
. For a time, the two hours of prime time programming from The WB aired in separate two hour-long blocks weeknights at 5 and 10. WFFF eventually moved the entire two hours of programming to a delayed basis at 10 p.m. after Fox prime time in continuous block named "The WB Time". The network was also offered on cable in the area from flagship WPIX. In February 1999, WFFF began airing thirty second daily vignettes called Vermont's Most Wanted along with sister program Citizen's Patrol. The efforts were produced in cooperation with local law enforcement and the Champlain Valley branch of the national Crimestoppers
Crimestoppers
Crime Stoppers or Crimestoppers is a program separate from the emergency telephone number system, that allows a member of the community to provide anonymous information about criminal activity. It thereby allows the person to provide crime solving assistance to the authorities without being...
non-profit organization. WFFF began operating as an independently-controlled station owned by Smith Broadcasting in 2000 when the LMA with WPTZ was terminated.
In 2005, the death of Bob Smith (head of family-owned Smith Broadcasting) led to the family's decision to sell its group of stations to an investment group called Smith Media, LLC. After researching markets where the company now had ownership in, it was discovered WVNY was up for sale. Finding a way to satisfy Federal Communications Commission
Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, created, Congressional statute , and with the majority of its commissioners appointed by the current President. The FCC works towards six goals in the areas of broadband, competition, the spectrum, the...
(FCC) ownership rules, Smith Media partnering with Lambert Broadcasting and became the senior partner in a local marketing agreement with WVNY. Smith Media shut down that station's longtime original studios on Farrell Street in South Burlington
South Burlington, Vermont
-Economy:CommutAir, a regional airline, is headquartered in the city, by the airport. The Magic Hat Brewing Company, one of the United States's larger craft breweries, is located here.One measure of economic activity is retail sales...
, reduced redundant staff, and relocated its operations into WFFF's Colchester facilities. During the 2004-2005 television season, the broadcast time of Kids' WB
Kids' WB
Kids' WB! was Warner Bros. American childrens programing division brand for The WB Television Network. In September 2006, the block moved to The CW Television Network. The CW is the result of The WB's merger with UPN in 2006...
on WFFF moved from a weekday morning to afternoon time slot. It also continued to air child programming during the Saturday morning time slot.
The WB discontinued the weekday airing of Kids' WB in January 2006 and replaced it with reruns of ER
ER (TV series)
ER is an American medical drama television series created by novelist Michael Crichton that aired on NBC from September 19, 1994 to April 2, 2009. It was produced by Constant c Productions and Amblin Entertainment, in association with Warner Bros. Television...
, 8 Simple Rules
8 Simple Rules
8 Simple Rules is an American sitcom that originally aired on ABC from September 17, 2002, to April 15, 2005, with 76 episodes produced over three seasons. It is based on the self-improvement book of the same name. The show starred John Ritter until his death on September 11, 2003...
, and Reba
Reba (TV series)
Reba is an American sitcom starring Reba McEntire, which ran from 2001 to 2007. For the show's first five seasons, it ran on The WB, with the show transitioning to The CW in its last year.-Synopsis:...
. In Fall 2006, WFFF began offering the Saturday Kids' WB schedule in hour-long blocks on weekday mornings. The station became digital-only effective February 17, 2009. As a result, some parts of the viewing area were left without a full-powered Fox affiliate including Enosburg
Enosburg, Vermont
Enosburgh is a town in Franklin County, Vermont, United States. The population was 2,788 at the 2000 census. Enosburgh includes the village Enosburg Falls and the locations Bordoville, East Enosburgh, North Enosburgh, Samsonville, West Enosburgh, and Enosburgh Center. Enosburgh was named for Roger...
in Franklin County, Vermont
Franklin County, Vermont
Franklin County is a county located in the U.S. state of Vermont. It is part of the Burlington-South Burlington, VT Metropolitan Statistical Area. As of 2010, the population was 47,746. Its shire town is the City of St. Albans.-Geography:...
as well as parts of Franklin
Franklin County, New York
Franklin County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2010 census, the population was 51,599. It is named in honor of American Founding Father Benjamin Franklin...
and Essex
Essex County, New York
Essex County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2010 census, the population was 39,370. Its name is from the English county of Essex. Its county seat is Elizabethtown...
Counties in New York State. Due to an ongoing retransmission dispute, Time Warner Cable replaced WFFF with WNYF from Watertown
Watertown (city), New York
Watertown is a city in the state of New York and the county seat of Jefferson County. It is situated approximately south of the Thousand Islands. As of the 2010 census, it had a population of 27,023, an increase of 1.2% since 2000. The U.S...
/Massena, New York
Massena (town), New York
Massena is a town in St. Lawrence County, New York, United States. The town is on the northern border of the county and is nicknamed "The Gateway to the Fourth Coast". The population was 13,121 at the 2000 census. The town of Massena contains a village also called Massena...
on December 16, 2010. Its CW second digital subchannel
Digital subchannel
In broadcasting, digital subchannels are a means to transmit more than one independent program at the same time from the same digital radio or digital television station on the same radio frequency channel. This is done by using data compression techniques to reduce the size of each individual...
was also dropped with existing WPIX serving as the affiliate. On the same date for the same reason, WVNY was replaced with WUTR
WUTR
WUTR is the ABC-affiliated television station for Central Upstate New York's Mohawk Valley. Licensed to Utica, it broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 30 from a transmitter at its studios on Smith Hill Road in Deerfield...
from Utica, New York
Utica, New York
Utica is a city in and the county seat of Oneida County, New York, United States. The population was 62,235 at the 2010 census, an increase of 2.6% from the 2000 census....
. The dispute was eventually resolved and all home stations were brought back to the cable system.
The CW
On January 24, 2006, The WB and UPN announced the two networks would cease broadcasting and merge. The new combined service would be called The CW. The letters would represent the first initials of corporate parents "C"BS (the parent company of UPN) and the "W"arner Bros.Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...
unit of Time Warner. Until The CW's launch on September 18, it was unknown if there would be an affiliate in Burlington and Plattsburgh. Just before the date, it was announced The CW would air on WFFF in a delayed basis at 10 p.m. as did programming from The WB. As was the case with the previous network, The CW would also be available on cable the area through WPIX from New York City. It was unlikely UPN affiliate WGMU would have been The CW. Network officials were on record as preferring the "stronger" WB and UPN affiliates and, despite secondary status, WFFF was by far the stronger station with its full-powered signal.
Before it was confirmed this station would be a secondary CW affiliate, there was a possibility new television station WCWF (now WNMN) in Saranac Lake, New York
Saranac Lake, New York
Saranac Lake is a village located in the state of New York, United States. As of the 2010 census, the population was 5,406. The village is named after Upper, Middle, and Lower Saranac Lakes, which are nearby....
would become affiliated with the network. On September 27, 2007, WFFF moved The CW to a new second digital subchannel. For Comcast viewers in Vermont, WFFF-DT2 immediately replaced WPIX. The subchannel was to be known on-air as "The CW 20" after its channel location on the cable provider. It was not until December 31, 2008 when Charter systems WFFF-DT2 in New York State did the same thing. At its launch, the station became known on-air as "The CW Burlington".
Simultaneous substitution problems
WFFF has significant viewership in the much larger Montreal market because it is available over-the-air alongside other Vermont stations and used as the Fox station on Vidéotron's cable systems. As the youngest full-power station covering the entire market, it still relies heavily on Montreal for advertising revenue while the area's other stations have somewhat lessened their dependence on advertising. In 2003 and 2004, WFFF was involved in a "commercial war" with CJNT-TV in that city. For some time, its commercials on non-network programs such as That '70s ShowThat '70s Show
That '70s Show is an American television period sitcom that centers on the lives of a group of teenage friends living in the fictional suburban town of Point Place, Wisconsin, from May 17, 1976, to December 31, 1979...
were blocked by simultaneous substitution
Simultaneous substitution
Simultaneous substitution is a practice mandated by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission requiring Canadian cable, direct broadcast satellite and multichannel multipoint distribution service television distribution companies to substitute the signal of a foreign or...
(simsub) on Montreal cable systems by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC). Simultaneous substitution demanded the cable companies in Canada replace WFFF's signal with CJNT's signal when the same program and episode was running at the same time. This is the same practice as the FCC's syndication exclusivity
Syndication exclusivity
Syndication exclusivity is a federal law in the United States designed to protect a local television station's rights to syndicated television programs by granting exclusive rights to the station for that program in the local market, usually defined by a station's Nielsen DMA...
rule in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
In response, WFFF frequently shifted its schedule to keep its commercials from being blocked in Montreal. In response to this station's schedule shuffling, CJNT moved its schedule accordingly to retain simsub rights. This resulted in a cat-and-mouse game of changing programming schedules every few weeks leaving viewers confused. The changes usually occurred with little to no advance warning sometimes making local schedules in TV Guide
TV Guide
TV Guide is a weekly American magazine with listings of TV shows.In addition to TV listings, the publication features television-related news, celebrity interviews, gossip and film reviews and crossword puzzles...
(both US and Canadian versions) outdated by the time they were published. WFFF eventually solved the problem by adding a second daily airing of That 70's Show, giving it access to a second strip of programming from the distributor which was available only to stations carrying a full hour of the program. It would then flip the two airings so the exclusive strip was shown in the shared time slot, meaning CJNT could no longer simsub the program since WFFF was not airing the same episode.
On August 31, 2009, CJNT was sold by previous owners Canwest Global to Channel Zero
Channel Zero Inc.
Channel Zero is an independent Canadian broadcasting and media group, which holds assets in television broadcasting and film distribution.The company is headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.-Ownership structure:...
. Under this new ownership, that station began to increase its focus on multicultural programming and no longer aired any American programming. With this development, it leaves CFCF-TV and CKMI-TV as the only stations in the Montreal area to simsub over American stations including WFFF (although this situation may change as CJNT has picked up some American programming as of September 2010).
News operation
The broadcast, known as Fox 44 Local News at 10, originally ran every night for a half-hour but the weeknight show eventually expanded to 45 minutes on September 7, 2009. This is followed by a fifteen minute sports highlight show known as Sports Wrap. The first ten minutes of the news portion of the program airs in a format called "10 Minute Advantage" where the top stories of the day and a complete weather forecast are shown before a commercial break. Although WFFF is the area's first local news operation presented in high definition, it was actually the second prime time production established. WCAX began offering a thirty minute weeknight broadcast at 10 on its 24-hour local weather channel back on July 16, 2007 which still airs today.
On March 3, 2008, WFFF added a weeknight and Saturday broadcast at 7 on WVNY known as Fox 44 Local News on ABC. As a result, that station became first in the area to offer local news in the time slot. The move to launch the show was due in part to tough competition of newscasts at 6 seen on WCAX and WPTZ. As is the case on WFFF, the WVNY broadcasts are aired in high definition. The Saturday edition eventually moved to 6:30 which has been the case on Sundays from the start in order to accommodate ABC programming. The WVNY broadcasts mark the return of local news on that station since it shut down its own news department back on September 12, 2003. The only "ABC 22" identification seen during the show is in the intro package and the "bug" in the bottom right hand corner of the screen.
On August 18, 2008, WFFF began airing a two-hour weekday morning show called Fox 44 Local News This Morning. Included in the launch were local news and weather cut-ins on WVNY during its airing of Good Morning America
Good Morning America
Good Morning America is an American morning news and talk show that is broadcast on the ABC television network; it debuted on November 3, 1975. The weekday program airs for two hours; a third hour aired between 2007 and 2008 exclusively on ABC News Now...
. This occurs at :25 and :55 past the hour at which time the two stations simulcast each other. Eventually, an additional hour of the broadcast starting at 6 was added to WVNY and is known as ABC 22 This Morning. That station has since expanded it to a traditional two hour newscast. At some point in time, WVNY added a nightly broadcast at 11 becoming more of a big three affiliate
Big Three Television Networks
The Big Three Television Networks are the three traditional commercial broadcast television networks in the United States: ABC, CBS and NBC...
offering local news (taking on WCAX and WPTZ) even though WFFF produces the broadcasts.
Due to the relatively new status of the news department, there is a Vermont focus in coverage. During weather forecast segments, WFFF uses live NOAA National Weather Service
National Weather Service
The National Weather Service , once known as the Weather Bureau, is one of the six scientific agencies that make up the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration of the United States government...
radar data from three regional sites. It is presented on-screen in a system known as "Sky Tracker HD Triple Doppler". WFFF-DT2
WFFF-DT2
WFFF-DT2 is the CW-affiliated television station for Vermont's Champlain Valley and Upstate New York's North Country. It is a second digital subchannel of Fox affiliate WFFF-TV owned by Smith Media, LLC...
airs the nationally syndicated
Television syndication
In broadcasting, syndication is the sale of the right to broadcast radio shows and television shows by multiple radio stations and television stations, without going through a broadcast network, though the process of syndication may conjure up structures like those of a network itself, by its very...
morning show known as The Daily Buzz
The Daily Buzz
The Daily Buzz is a nationally syndicated breakfast television news and infotainment program. The show is produced by Fisher Communications and is owned and distributed by ACME Communications; it is broadcast every weekday morning from studios at Full Sail University in Winter Park, Florida...
on weekdays from 6 until 9. Weather forecasts from this station can be heard on WSNO
WSNO
WSNO is a radio station licensed to serve Barre, Vermont. The station is owned by Nassau Broadcasting III, LLC. It airs a Talk radio format featuring Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity and Doug Stephan.The station also features local news and weather, high school sports, NFL Football and...
-AM 1450, WMOO
WMOO
WMOO is a hot adult contemporary formatted radio station broadcasting from Derby Center, Vermont, USA. It is owned by Nassau Broadcasting Partners. It is rebroadcast on W257AU 99.3 in St. Johnsbury....
-FM 92.1/W257AU-FM 99.3, WDOT-FM 95.7, WWFY
WWFY
WWFY is a radio station licensed to serve Berlin, Vermont. The station is owned by Nassau Broadcasting III, LLC. It airs a Country format....
-FM 100.9, WCPV
WCPV
WCPV is an English-language American radio station broadcasting a sports radio format. Licensed to Essex, New York, USA, the station serves the Champlain Valley of New York and Vermont...
-FM 101.3, WEXP-FM 101.5/WTHK
WTHK
WTHK, known on-air as "The Hawk" was a radio station located at 97.5 FM which had a classic rock format. Although the station was originally licensed to Trenton, New Jersey, changing to Burlington, New Jersey in early 2006, The Hawk targeted the Philadelphia broadcasting area in addition to its own...
-FM 100.7/W264AB-FM 104.7, and WORK-FM
WORK (FM)
WORK is a radio station licensed to serve Barre, Vermont. The station is owned by Nassau Broadcasting III, LLC. It airs a Classic Hits format....
107.1.
News team
Anchors- Jackie Morlock - weekday mornings and reporter
- Lauren Maloney - weeknights at 7 and 10 (also reporter)
- Greg Navarro - weeknights at 10 and 11 (also reporter)
- Brittney Hibbs - weekends and reporter
SkyTracker HD Meteorologists
- Nick Johnston - weeknights
- Kerrin Jeromin (CBMCertified Broadcast MeteorologistCertified Broadcast Meteorologist is a rating for meteorologists given by the American Meteorological Society.The Certified Broadcast Meteorologist program was established to raise the professional standard in broadcast meteorology and encourage a broader range of scientific understanding,...
Seal of Approval) - weekday mornings - Steven Glazier - weekends and news reporter
Sports (both seen on Sports Wrap)
- Kristian Read - DirectorSports DirectorA sports director is an individual at a television or radio station who is in charge of the sports department. In local news, the sports director is typically the station's primary sportscaster, and often anchors the primetime newscasts on weekdays. They are in charge of sports programming and...
seen weeknights and "Read My Lips" segment producer - Sam Lazur - weekends and sports reporter
Reporters
- Louisa Moller - videojournalist
- Natalie Paterson
- Rachael Kent
- Matt Austin
- Nick Natario
Photographers
- Tyson Foster - weekday mornings
- Steve Longchamp
- Kyle DuBreuil
- Bob Conley
External links
- WFFF-TV "Fox 44" (can be entered into web-enabled mobile devices for wireless access)
- WVNY "ABC 22" (can be entered into web-enabled mobile devices for wireless access)