WMDT
Encyclopedia
WMDT is the ABC-affiliated television station
broadcasting on the Delmarva Peninsula
that is licensed to Salisbury, Maryland
. It broadcasts a high definition
digital signal on UHF channel 47 from a transmitter in rural Wicomico County
northeast of Mardela Springs
. The tower is the second tallest structure in the state of Maryland
. It can also be seen on Comcast
channel 7 and in high definition on digital channel 210. Owned by the Brechner Management Company, the station has studios on West Main Street (although its address is Downtown Plaza) in Salisbury.
Syndicated
programming on WMDT includes: The Insider
, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire
, Judge Judy
, and Judge Joe Brown. It operates the area's CW affiliate on a second
digital subchannel. Known on-air as Delmarva CW 3, this can also be seen on Comcast channel 3 (hence the branding). WMDT-DT2 gets all of its programming from The CW Plus
. WMDT also broadcasts a 10pm newscast on WMDT-DT2. WMDT can also be seen on low-powered analog repeater, WEVD-LP channel 27, in Dover, Delaware
. This channel has a transmitter northeast of the city between DE 1 and DE 9
.
WMDT-TV initiated broadcast operations in the Salisbury area on April 11, 1980. It was a primary ABC station with secondary NBC
affiliation. It was the brainchild of the late Jean Paul Audet, a television pioneer who spent some of his early years in the Albuquerque, New Mexico
and Charleston, South Carolina
markets
. In its early years of operation, WMDT won AP
and UPI awards for its then innovative ENG efforts. In 1992, the station became a sole ABC affiliate carrying that network's programming as well as a mix of syndicated shows.
In 2000, WMDT launched cable-only WB affiliate "WBD" (the call letters were fictional). It was part of The WB 100+
as a result of the Salisbury market not being among the top 100 broadcast markets in the United States
. The station was only available on Comcast and Mediacom
channel 14 and, as a result, was known on-air as "WB 14". It replaced WPHL-TV
's channel location on both systems. Several months after the launch, it was relocated to Comcast channel 3 and renamed "WB 3". On Mediacom systems, it moved to channel 2. WBD frequently aired cross-promotions for WMDT's main channel and its weeknight news programs.
In July 2003, WMDT's transmitter tower experienced a fire after a severe storm caused extensive damage to the transmitter. The analog UHF channel 47 signal was unavailable for many weeks although its cable channel, digital signal, and cable-only WB station were unaffected. In 2002, the station dropped the -TV suffix and its current logo debuted. In 2004, WMDT won the top "Service to Children" award for small market stations from the National Association of Broadcasters
Education Foundation. The station also has a "Teachers Who Make a Difference" program and a "Summer Reading Challenge" among other community-service activities.
On January 24, 2006, The WB and UPN
announced that they would cease broadcasting and merge. The new combined network would be called The CW. The letters would representing the first initial of its corporate parents: CBS
(the parent company of UPN) and the Warner Bros.
unit of Time Warner
. UPN was offered on WBOC-TV
's second
digital subchannel and Comcast channel 5. It was announced on March 28 that WBD would become an affiliate of The CW via The CW Plus (a similar operation to The WB 100+). WMDT would then create a new second digital subchannel to simulcast WBD and offer CW programming for non-cable viewers. WBOC announced on May 9 that its UPN subchannel would become a Fox affiliate beginning August 21. On September 18, The CW debuted on WBD (now officially using the WMDT-DT2 calls). The station began to be known on-air as "Delmarva CW 3". During the annual Delaware State Fair
, the 6 pm newscast is broadcast live from the Exhibit Hall
's network non-duplication and syndicated program exclusivity rules. The petition involved the carriage of two stations, WMAR-TV
(filed in 1999) and WTTG
(filed in 2000). The petitions were filed by Comcast, the cable provider in the area that WMDT is located in within a 35 mile / 56 km radius of its studios. WMAR and WTTG carried programming that WMDT held exclusive programming rights for, either by syndication or by network distribution, within its market catchment area. In both cases, the FCC ruled in favor of WMDT in that: the stations in question (WMAR and WTTG) failed to meet the criteria set by the FCC for "distant stations" with "significant" level of over-the-air viewership.
The effect of the ruling resulted in that when WMAR and / or WTTG broadcast programming which WMDT has exclusive rights to (specifically in the communities of: Salisbury
, Delmar
, Fuitland
, Hebron
, unincorporated areas of Wicomico County, and unincorporated areas of Sussex County, Delaware
), Comcast would have to blackout
those channels while the programs were being shown. Today, WMDT carries the full line-up of ABC network programming and a number of popular syndicated shows. For many years, the station was the only one in the area to broadcast Jeopardy!
and Wheel of Fortune. Both shows have since moved to WBOC-DT2.
. Some well-known television personalities that started their careers at WMDT include Bonnie Bernstein (of ESPN
), Mike Tobin, Gregg Jarrett of the Fox News Channel
, and Greg Fishel
now with WRAL-TV
. WMDT does not currently operate a sports department. It airs a pre-recorded public affairs program, Good Things Delmarva, on Sunday mornings at 7. Unlike most ABC affiliates, it does not air local news weeknights at 5 or 5:30pm.
and Dish Network
in the Delmarva counties of Wicomico, Somerset, Worcester, and Dorchester in Maryland and Sussex County in Delaware.
Anchors/Reporters
Reporters
Meteorologists
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...
broadcasting on the Delmarva Peninsula
Delmarva Peninsula
The Delmarva Peninsula is a large peninsula on the East Coast of the United States, occupied by most of Delaware and portions of Maryland and Virginia...
that is licensed to Salisbury, Maryland
Salisbury, Maryland
-Demographics:Salisbury is the principal city of the Salisbury-Ocean Pines CSA, a Combined Statistical Area that includes the Salisbury metropolitan area and the Ocean Pines micropolitan area , which had a combined population of 176,657 at the 2010 census.As of the census of 2000, there were...
. 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 47 from a transmitter in rural Wicomico County
Wicomico County, Maryland
As of the census of 2010, there were 98,733 people, 37,220 households, and 24,172 families residing in the county. The population density was 261.7 people per square mile . There were 41,192 housing units at an average density of 109.2 per square mile...
northeast of Mardela Springs
Mardela Springs, Maryland
Mardela Springs is a town in Wicomico County, Maryland, United States. The population was 364 at the 2000 census. It is included in the Salisbury, Maryland Metropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:Mardela Springs is located at ....
. The tower is the second tallest structure in the state of Maryland
Maryland
Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...
. It 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 7 and in high definition on digital channel 210. Owned by the Brechner Management Company, the station has studios on West Main Street (although its address is Downtown Plaza) in Salisbury.
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 WMDT includes: The Insider
The Insider (TV series)
The Insider is an American tabloid television news program covering events and celebrities. It debuted on September 13, 2004 as a spinoff of Entertainment Tonight and started as a popular segment that took viewers "behind closed doors" and gave them "inside" information...
, 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...
, Judge Judy
Judge Judy
Judge Judy is an American court show featuring former family court judge Judith Sheindlin arbitrating over small claims cases in small claims court...
, and Judge Joe Brown. It operates the area's CW affiliate on a second
WMDT-DT2
WMDT-DT2 is the CW-affiliated television station for the Delmarva Peninsula. The station is part of The CW Plus, a special CW feed that broadcasts on cable and / or over-the-air on a digital signal. It is a second digital subchannel of ABC affiliate WMDT which is owned by the Brechner Management...
digital subchannel. Known on-air as Delmarva CW 3, this can also be seen on Comcast channel 3 (hence the branding). WMDT-DT2 gets all of its programming from The 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....
. WMDT also broadcasts a 10pm newscast on WMDT-DT2. WMDT can also be seen on low-powered analog repeater, WEVD-LP channel 27, in Dover, Delaware
Dover, Delaware
The city of Dover is the capital and second largest city in the U.S. state of Delaware. It is also the county seat of Kent County, and the principal city of the Dover, Delaware Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Kent County. It is located on the St. Jones River in the Delaware...
. This channel has a transmitter northeast of the city between DE 1 and DE 9
Delaware Route 9
Delaware Route 9 is a state highway that connects with Delaware Route 1 at the Dover Air Force Base to Interstate 95 in the City of Wilmington. Much like their U.S...
.
History
NBC
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...
affiliation. It was the brainchild of the late Jean Paul Audet, a television pioneer who spent some of his early years in the Albuquerque, New Mexico
Albuquerque, New Mexico
Albuquerque is the largest city in the state of New Mexico, United States. It is the county seat of Bernalillo County and is situated in the central part of the state, straddling the Rio Grande. The city population was 545,852 as of the 2010 Census and ranks as the 32nd-largest city in the U.S. As...
and Charleston, South Carolina
Charleston, South Carolina
Charleston is the second largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. It was made the county seat of Charleston County in 1901 when Charleston County was founded. The city's original name was Charles Towne in 1670, and it moved to its present location from a location on the west bank of the...
markets
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...
. In its early years of operation, WMDT won AP
Associated Press
The Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...
and UPI awards for its then innovative ENG efforts. In 1992, the station became a sole ABC affiliate carrying that network's programming as well as a mix of syndicated shows.
In 2000, WMDT launched cable-only WB affiliate "WBD" (the call letters were fictional). It was part of The WB 100+
The WB 100+ Station Group
The WB 100+ Station Group was a group of primarily non-broadcast local cable television outlets for The WB Television Network, for markets below the top 100 television media markets in the United States. Dayparts with no WB programming were programmed by the network...
as a result of the Salisbury market not being among the top 100 broadcast markets in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The station was only available on Comcast and Mediacom
Mediacom
Mediacom is a cable television and communications provider in the United States. Founded in July 1995, it serves primarily smaller markets in the Midwest and Southern United States. Formerly a publicly traded firm, it went private in a $600.0 million transaction in March 2011 and is, as of 2011,...
channel 14 and, as a result, was known on-air as "WB 14". It replaced WPHL-TV
WPHL-TV
WPHL-TV, channel 17, is a television station in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, owned by the Tribune Company and currently affiliated with the News Corporation-owned MyNetworkTV television network. This makes it the largest non-O&O station of the network...
's channel location on both systems. Several months after the launch, it was relocated to Comcast channel 3 and renamed "WB 3". On Mediacom systems, it moved to channel 2. WBD frequently aired cross-promotions for WMDT's main channel and its weeknight news programs.
In July 2003, WMDT's transmitter tower experienced a fire after a severe storm caused extensive damage to the transmitter. The analog UHF channel 47 signal was unavailable for many weeks although its cable channel, digital signal, and cable-only WB station were unaffected. In 2002, the station dropped the -TV suffix and its current logo debuted. In 2004, WMDT won the top "Service to Children" award for small market stations from the National Association of Broadcasters
National Association of Broadcasters
The National Association of Broadcasters is a trade association, workers union, and lobby group representing the interests of for-profit, over-the-air radio and television broadcasters in the United States...
Education Foundation. The station also has a "Teachers Who Make a Difference" program and a "Summer Reading Challenge" among other community-service activities.
On January 24, 2006, The WB and 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...
announced that they would cease broadcasting and merge. The new combined network would be called The CW. The letters would representing the first initial of its corporate parents: 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...
(the parent company of UPN) and the Warner 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
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...
. UPN was offered on WBOC-TV
WBOC-TV
WBOC-TV, channel 16 , is a CBS affiliate based in Salisbury, Maryland, USA. WBOC-TV is owned by the Draper Holdings Business Trust, with its main studios in Salisbury, secondary studios/office facilities in Dover and Milton, Delaware, and transmitter in Laurel, Delaware...
's second
WBOC-DT2
WBOC-DT2 is the Fox-affiliated television station for the Delmarva Peninsula of Maryland and Delaware. It is a second digital subchannel of CBS affiliate WBOC-TV locally owned by Draper Holdings Business Trust. Over-the-air, the station broadcasts a standard definition digital signal on UHF channel...
digital subchannel and Comcast channel 5. It was announced on March 28 that WBD would become an affiliate of The CW via The CW Plus (a similar operation to The WB 100+). WMDT would then create a new second digital subchannel to simulcast WBD and offer CW programming for non-cable viewers. WBOC announced on May 9 that its UPN subchannel would become a Fox affiliate beginning August 21. On September 18, The CW debuted on WBD (now officially using the WMDT-DT2 calls). The station began to be known on-air as "Delmarva CW 3". During the annual Delaware State Fair
Delaware State Fair
The Delaware State Fair is the annual state fair for the state of Delaware. It is held in Harrington. The fair is a ten-day event at the end of July.-History:...
, the 6 pm newscast is broadcast live from the Exhibit Hall
Programming rights
WMDT has twice filed a petition seeking a waiver of the FCCFederal 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...
's network non-duplication and syndicated program exclusivity rules. The petition involved the carriage of two stations, WMAR-TV
WMAR-TV
WMAR-TV, channel 2, is the ABC affiliate television station in Baltimore, Maryland, owned by the broadcasting division of the E.W. Scripps Company...
(filed in 1999) and WTTG
WTTG
WTTG, channel 5, is an owned-and-operated television station of the Fox Broadcasting Company, located in the American capital city of Washington, D.C...
(filed in 2000). The petitions were filed by Comcast, the cable provider in the area that WMDT is located in within a 35 mile / 56 km radius of its studios. WMAR and WTTG carried programming that WMDT held exclusive programming rights for, either by syndication or by network distribution, within its market catchment area. In both cases, the FCC ruled in favor of WMDT in that: the stations in question (WMAR and WTTG) failed to meet the criteria set by the FCC for "distant stations" with "significant" level of over-the-air viewership.
The effect of the ruling resulted in that when WMAR and / or WTTG broadcast programming which WMDT has exclusive rights to (specifically in the communities of: Salisbury
Salisbury, Maryland
-Demographics:Salisbury is the principal city of the Salisbury-Ocean Pines CSA, a Combined Statistical Area that includes the Salisbury metropolitan area and the Ocean Pines micropolitan area , which had a combined population of 176,657 at the 2010 census.As of the census of 2000, there were...
, Delmar
Delmar, Maryland
Delmar is a town in Wicomico County, Maryland, United States. The population was 3,003 at the 2010 census. It is included in the Salisbury, Maryland Metropolitan Statistical Area. When the population is added to "twin city" Delmar, Delaware the town's total population is 4,600...
, Fuitland
Fruitland, Maryland
Fruitland is a city in Wicomico County, Maryland, United States. The population was 4,866 at the 2010 census. It is included in the Salisbury, Maryland Metropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:Fruitland is located at ....
, Hebron
Hebron, Maryland
Hebron is a town in Wicomico County, Maryland, United States. The population was 807 at the 2000 census. It is included in the Salisbury, Maryland Metropolitan Statistical Area.It is the hometown of pro wrestler Mark Hildreth.-Geography:...
, unincorporated areas of Wicomico County, and unincorporated areas of Sussex County, Delaware
Sussex County, Delaware
Sussex County is a county located in the southern part of the U.S. state of Delaware. As of 2010 the population was 197,145, an increase of 25.9% over the previous decade. The county seat is Georgetown. The Seaford Micropolitan Statistical Area includes all of Sussex County.Sussex County is...
), Comcast would have to blackout
Blackout (broadcasting)
Blackout usually relates to the broadcasting of sports events, television programming, that is prohibited in a certain media market.The purpose is theoretically to generate more revenue by obliging certain actions from fans, either by making them buy tickets or watch other games on TV...
those channels while the programs were being shown. Today, WMDT carries the full line-up of ABC network programming and a number of popular syndicated shows. For many years, the station was the only one in the area to broadcast Jeopardy!
Jeopardy!
Griffin's first conception of the game used a board comprising ten categories with ten clues each, but after finding that this board could not be shown on camera easily, he reduced it to two rounds of thirty clues each, with five clues in each of six categories...
and Wheel of Fortune. Both shows have since moved to WBOC-DT2.
News operation
WMDT's news department, from its inception, used electronic news gathering instead of the commonly used 16 mm film which was still in use on the Delmarva Peninsula in 1980. It began broadcasting its first weekday noon show, known as Midday Live, on July 26, 1982. When WBD became WMDT-DT2, it began to simulcast the Midday broadcast. That channel also started to air a nightly prime time newscast which competes with WBOC-DT2. The 5 a.m. hour of WMDT's weekday morning show is simulcasted on WMDT-DT2 followed by the nationally syndicated morning show The Daily BuzzThe 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...
. Some well-known television personalities that started their careers at WMDT include Bonnie Bernstein (of ESPN
ESPN
Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, commonly known as ESPN, is an American global cable television network focusing on sports-related programming including live and pre-taped event telecasts, sports talk shows, and other original programming....
), Mike Tobin, Gregg Jarrett of the Fox News Channel
Fox News Channel
Fox News Channel , often called Fox News, is a cable and satellite television news channel owned by the Fox Entertainment Group, a subsidiary of News Corporation...
, and Greg Fishel
Greg Fishel
Greg Fishel is a meteorologist for WRAL-TV in Raleigh, North Carolina. He received his B.S. in Meteorology from Pennsylvania State University in 1979. He has been at WRAL since 1981, and became the station's chief meteorologist in 1989.Fishel was the first certified broadcast meteorologist in the...
now with WRAL-TV
WRAL-TV
WRAL-TV, virtual channel 5 , is a television station in Raleigh, North Carolina. WRAL-TV has been the flagship station of Capitol Broadcasting Company since its inception, and is currently the CBS affiliate for the Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill/Fayetteville area, known collectively as the Triangle...
. WMDT does not currently operate a sports department. It airs a pre-recorded public affairs program, Good Things Delmarva, on Sunday mornings at 7. Unlike most ABC affiliates, it does not air local news weeknights at 5 or 5:30pm.
Satellite availability
WMDT is available on DirecTVDirecTV
DirecTV is an American direct broadcast satellite service provider and broadcaster based in El Segundo, California. Its satellite service, launched on June 17, 1994, transmits digital satellite television and audio to households in the United States, Latin America, and the Anglophone Caribbean. ...
and Dish Network
Dish Network
Dish Network Corporation is the second largest pay TV provider in the United States, providing direct broadcast satellite service—including satellite television, audio programming, and interactive television services—to 14.337 million commercial and residential customers in the United States. Dish...
in the Delmarva counties of Wicomico, Somerset, Worcester, and Dorchester in Maryland and Sussex County in Delaware.
WMDT news team
Anchors- Ashley James
- Terrence Lee
Anchors/Reporters
- Jennifer Fallsetti
- Alyana Gomez
- Emily Lampa
Reporters
- Ryan Hughes
Meteorologists
- Marc Adamo
- Stephanie Allison
- Gina De Vecchio