WGGB-DT2
Encyclopedia
WGGB-DT2 is the primary Fox and secondary MyNetworkTV
-affiliated television station
for Western Massachusetts
' Pioneer Valley
. The station is a second digital subchannel
of ABC
affiliate WGGB-TV
owned by Gormally Broadcasting. Over-the-air, it broadcasts a standard definition digital signal on UHF channel 40.2 from a transmitter on Mount Tom
in Holyoke
. This can also be seen on Comcast
channel 6 (with high definition
on digital channel 861) and Charter
channel 10 (with HD on digital channel 786). Its parent station has studios on Liberty Street in Springfield
. Syndicated
programming on WGGB-DT2 includes: How I Met Your Mother
, Family Guy
, The Simpsons
, and America's Funniest Home Videos
.
ownership as part of The Tube
, a 24-hour digital music channel. At the end of 2006, the channel became vacant when the network folded due to lack of advertising. Before the second launch of WGGB-DT2, the Springfield/Holyoke television market was the largest DMA
to not have a Fox affiliate of its own. Along with WFXT
from Boston
, WTIC-TV
in Hartford, Connecticut
were the previous de-facto affiliates on cable.
On November 16, 2007 the Springfield Republican
reported WGGB would launch a Fox affiliate on this second digital subchannel. It was expected to begin broadcasting by the end of the year but was delayed until March 31, 2008. When it re-launched, WGGB-DT2 took WTIC's cable channel location on Comcast systems. The latter moved to the digital tier on channel 292.
Charter followed suit as well placing WTIC on digital channel 261. When the station relaunched on March 31, it also started to show MyNetworkTV programming as a secondary affiliate. On weeknights, programming from the network is delayed until 11:30. The layout for its separate website was the same as Fox stations that are owned-and-operated
by the network but has since been abandoned.
It was announced with the start up of WGGB-DT2, a new weeknight prime time newscast would be added to the lineup. This began airing on September 8, 2008 (known as Fox 6 News at 10) and has since expanded to weekends. Back on August 18, low-powered CBS
affiliate WSHM-LD launched the market's first 10 o'clock broadcast on its 24-hour local weather channel that aired seven nights a week. For an unknown reason, that has since been dropped. WGGB-DT2 also simulcasts the 5 to 7 a.m. portion of the main channel's weekday morning show and then replays it from 7 until 9.
Anchors
StormTrack HD Meteorologists
Reporters
Contributors
MyNetworkTV
MyNetworkTV is a television broadcast syndication service in the United States, owned by the Fox Entertainment Group, a division of News Corporation...
-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 Western Massachusetts
Western Massachusetts
Western Massachusetts is a loosely defined geographical region of the U.S. state of Massachusetts which contains the Berkshires, the Pioneer Valley, and some or all of the Swift River Valley. The region is always considered to include Berkshire, Franklin, Hampshire, and Hampden counties, and the...
' Pioneer Valley
Pioneer Valley
The Pioneer Valley is the colloquial name for the U.S. Commonwealth of Massachusetts's portion of the Connecticut River Valley. The Pioneer Valley consists of three counties in Massachusetts which collectively feature much of New England's most fertile farmland...
. The station is a 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...
of 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 WGGB-TV
WGGB-TV
WGGB-TV is the ABC-affiliated television station for the Pioneer Valley of Western Massachusetts licensed to Springfield. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 40 from a transmitter on Mount Tom in Holyoke. The station can also be seen on Charter and Comcast channel 4...
owned by Gormally Broadcasting. Over-the-air, it broadcasts a standard definition digital signal on UHF channel 40.2 from a transmitter on Mount Tom
Mount Tom (Massachusetts)
Mount Tom, , is a steep, rugged traprock mountain peak on the west bank of the Connecticut River 4.5 miles northwest of downtown Holyoke, Massachusetts. The mountain is the southernmost and highest peak of the Mount Tom Range and the highest traprock peak of the long Metacomet Ridge...
in Holyoke
Holyoke, Massachusetts
Holyoke is a city in Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States, between the western bank of the Connecticut River and the Mount Tom Range of mountains. As of the 2010 Census, the city had a population of 39,880...
. This can also be seen on 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...
channel 6 (with 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...
on digital channel 861) 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 10 (with HD on digital channel 786). Its parent station has studios on Liberty Street in Springfield
Springfield, Massachusetts
Springfield is the most populous city in Western New England, and the seat of Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States. Springfield sits on the eastern bank of the Connecticut River near its confluence with three rivers; the western Westfield River, the eastern Chicopee River, and the eastern...
. 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 WGGB-DT2 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...
, Family Guy
Family Guy
Family Guy is an American animated television series created by Seth MacFarlane for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series centers on the Griffins, a dysfunctional family consisting of parents Peter and Lois; their children Meg, Chris, and Stewie; and their anthropomorphic pet dog Brian...
, 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 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...
.
History
WGGB-DT2 first became active under Sinclair Broadcast GroupSinclair 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...
ownership as part of The Tube
The Tube (TV channel)
The Tube Music Network was a music video network carried on free-to-air satellite television, select digital television subchannels and digital cable systems. The network's president and founder was Les Garland, a veteran of MTV and VH1. The Tube was a wholly owned subsidiary of The Tube Media Corp...
, a 24-hour digital music channel. At the end of 2006, the channel became vacant when the network folded due to lack of advertising. Before the second launch of WGGB-DT2, the Springfield/Holyoke television market was the largest DMA
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...
to not have a Fox affiliate of its own. Along with WFXT
WFXT
WFXT is a television station owned and operated by the News Corporation-owned Fox Broadcasting Company, located in Boston, Massachusetts. The station's studio and office facility is in Dedham, Massachusetts, and its transmitter is located in Needham, Massachusetts...
from Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
, WTIC-TV
WTIC-TV
WTIC-TV, channel 61, is a television station in Hartford, Connecticut. Owned by the Tribune Company, WTIC-TV is a charter affiliate of the Fox Broadcasting Company...
in Hartford, Connecticut
Hartford, Connecticut
Hartford is the capital of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960, it is the second most populous city on New England's largest river, the Connecticut River. As of the 2010 Census, Hartford's population was 124,775, making...
were the previous de-facto affiliates on cable.
On November 16, 2007 the Springfield Republican
Springfield Republican
The Republican is a newspaper based in Springfield, Massachusetts. It is owned by Newhouse Newspapers, a division of Advance Publications. It played important roles in the United States Republican Party's founding, Charles Dow's career, and the invention of the pronoun "Ms."-Beginning:Established...
reported WGGB would launch a Fox affiliate on this second digital subchannel. It was expected to begin broadcasting by the end of the year but was delayed until March 31, 2008. When it re-launched, WGGB-DT2 took WTIC's cable channel location on Comcast systems. The latter moved to the digital tier on channel 292.
Charter followed suit as well placing WTIC on digital channel 261. When the station relaunched on March 31, it also started to show MyNetworkTV programming as a secondary affiliate. On weeknights, programming from the network is delayed until 11:30. The layout for its separate website was the same as Fox stations that are owned-and-operated
Owned-and-operated station
In the broadcasting industry , an owned-and-operated station usually refers to a television station or radio station that is owned by the network with which it is associated...
by the network but has since been abandoned.
Newscasts
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 WSHM-LD launched the market's first 10 o'clock broadcast on its 24-hour local weather channel that aired seven nights a week. For an unknown reason, that has since been dropped. WGGB-DT2 also simulcasts the 5 to 7 a.m. portion of the main channel's weekday morning show and then replays it from 7 until 9.
Anchors
- Jeff Valin - weekday mornings and reporter
- Julia Dunn - weekday mornings and medical reporter
- Shannon Hegy - weeknights
- Dave Madsen - Managing EditorManaging editorA managing editor is a senior member of a publication's management team.In the United States, a managing editor oversees and coordinates the publication's editorial activities...
seen weeknights and "Making A Difference" segment producer - Tricia Taskey - weekends and reporter (also "Crime Files" segment producer)
- Maggie Pereiras - simply living host and Account Executive
- John DiPietro - simply living host
- Mike Leslie - Tuesday through Sunday night sports and sports reporter (also Friday Football Fever and Above the Rim host)
StormTrack HD Meteorologists
- Dan Brown - weeknights and news reporter (also "Student of Character" segment producer and heard on WAREWAREWARE is a radio station broadcasting an oldies format. Licensed to Ware, Massachusetts, USA, the station serves the Springfield market. The station is currently owned by Success Signal Broadcasting.-Trivia:...
-AM 1250) - Mike Masco (NWANational Weather AssociationThe National Weather Association is an American professional association with a mission to support and promote excellence in operational meteorology and related activities...
Seal of Approval) - weekday mornings - Rick Sluben - weekends
Reporters
- Scott Coen - "My Wide World" segment producer also Friday Football Fever and Above the Rim host
- Mike LaCrosse - weekends and producer (also "Bully Busters" segment producer)
- Ray Hershel - Chief Political and fill-in news anchor
- Ed Carroll - "Out and About" segment producer
- Gordon Shear - weekday morning traffic
- Bob Hastings - Chief Photographer
- Brendon Monahan
- Nathan O'Leary
- Jenna Hagist
Contributors
- Renee Hastings - Hastings Healthy Living
- Carrie Taylor - Living Well Eating Smart
- Stacy JohnsonStacy JohnsonStacy Johnson is an author and creator and host of Money Talks, a nationally syndicated consumer/personal finance news series.-Early life and education:...
- Money Talks NewsMoney Talks NewsMoney Talks News is a nationally syndicated consumer/personal finance news series offering tips and advice on saving money and avoiding rip offs in the United States market. It is hosted by Stacy Johnson. News segments are approximately 1.5 minutes in length and air as part of local news programs... - Brian LeesBrian LeesBrian Patrick Lees is a Massachusetts politician, currently serving as the Clerk of Courts for Hampden County...
- political analyst