WRGT-TV
Encyclopedia
WRGT-TV, virtual channel
45, is the Fox-affiliated television station
for the Miami Valley
area of Ohio
, which is licensed to Dayton
. It broadcasts a high definition
digital signal on UHF channel 30 from a transmitter at its Broadcast Plaza studios near the New Chicago section of the city. It can also be seen on Time Warner Cable
channel 8 and in high definition on digital channel 1008. Owned by Cunningham Broadcasting
, WRGT is operated though a local marketing agreement
(LMA) by the Sinclair Broadcast Group
. However, that company effectively owns the station due to Cunningham's ownership structure. It shares studios with and is sister to ABC
affiliate WKEF
. Syndicated
programming on WRGT includes: The Office, Judge Joe Brown, Judge Alex
, and Divorce Court
.
affiliate on a second digital subchannel and Time Warner digital channel 995. Known on-air as My TV Dayton, this channel also airs programming from This TV
.
WRGT signed on as an independent station on September 23, 1984, owned by Act III Broadcasting
. It ran a general-entertainment format consisting of cartoons, classic sitcoms, recent off network sitcoms, old movies, drama shows, and sports. On its sign on date, WRGT broadcast 2001: A Space Odyssey with a stereo simulcast of the audio over WTUE
-FM 104.7. WRGT was Act III's second station following WVAH-TV
in Charleston, West Virginia
two years earlier. Act III founded WRGT following a high stake "in-contest" competition among four potential owners in the late-1970s. Dayton Telecasting Inc. became the founder of the station with its first slogan "Off To a Flying Start" featuring an animated Wright "B" Flyer used in its first promos (the WRGT calls are a reference to the Wright brothers
).
Prior to its sign on, the only source of non-network programming in Dayton (aside from WXIX-TV
, WIII-TV now WSTR-TV
in Cincinnati, and WTTE
in Columbus
), which all reach portions of the Dayton market
, was WTJC (now WBDT
) a mostly religious station. However, Act III persuaded WTJC's owner, Miami Valley Christian Television, to sell most of that station's non-religious programming to WRGT. For all intents and purposes, it was now the only general-entertainment station in Dayton and the first independent since the demise of WKTR-TV in 1970 (now public station WPTD
) and WSWO-TV in Springfield in 1972 (now WBDT after being WTJC from 1980 to 1988 following eight years of being silent).
Despite the competition from larger-market stations and with WXIX and WSTR being available on cable, WRGT prospered. It would not have any real competition in Dayton until 1999 when WBDT became a WB affiliate (it was briefly a PAX affiliate before then). After Fox launched on October 6, 1986, Act III signed an affiliation deal with the network. All of its stations, including WRGT, became charter affiliates of the fledgling network. Act III merged with Abry in 1994. A few months later, Abry merged with Sinclair but sold WRGT to Sullivan Broadcasting. However, Sullivan outsourced WRGT's operations to Sinclair.
By 1999, more reality and talk shows would be in the station's mix. In 1998, Sullivan's managing partner Sinclair bought WKEF (then an NBC
affiliate). In 2001, Sinclair purchased most of Sullivan's other stations but could not buy WRGT for two reasons. The Dayton market has only seven full-power stations which are not enough to legally permit a duopoly
. Also, the Federal Communications Commission
(FCC) does not allow common ownership of two of the four highest-rated stations in a single market. With this in mind, WRGT was sold to Glencairn, Ltd. However, nearly all of Glencairn's stock was controlled by trusts in the name of the Smith family who were founding owners of Sinclair. This effectively gave Sinclair a duopoly in Dayton. Glencairn later changed its name to Cunningham Broadcasting. There is undeniable evidence that Glencairn/Cunningham are merely shell corporations used to circumvent FCC ownership rules.
Sinclair and Fox finalized a six-year affiliation contract extension for Sinclair's 19 Fox affiliates including WRGT in mid-2006. Its affiliation contract now expires in March 2012. WRGT is also considered an alternate ABC affiliate airing that network's programs when WKEF is unable to do so such as during a breaking news emergency or local special. WRGT, along with CBS affiliate WHIO-TV
, are the only two stations in the area who have not changed their network affiliations even through the swaps of 2004.
In August 2006, it was confirmed that Fox's new sister network, MyNetworkTV
, would air on a new second digital subchannel of WRGT. On September 16, 2006, Time Warner Cable added WRGT-DT2 to its digital cable lineup. In November 2008, WRGT-DT2 was a launch-day affiliate of This TV
(a joint operation between MGM and Weigel Broadcasting
).
WRGT-TV ended its analog broadcast on UHF channel 45, on June 12, 2009, as part of the DTV transition in the United States
. It remained on its digital channel, 30, using PSIP to display its virtual channel
as 45.
Around November 11, 2010, Sinclair announced that when carriage agreements expired at the end of the year, it planned to pull all of its owned and/or operated TV stations in the United States, including WRGT-TV and WKEF, from Time Warner Cable, in a dispute over "retransmission fees". Negotiations began between the two parties. Around December 6, Time Warner announced that it would continue to provide Fox network programming on its systems (presumably via video on demand
services), under a deal reached with Fox earlier in 2010; syndicated and local programs on Sinclair's Fox affiliates would not be seen. On December 31, Time Warner reached an agreement with an out-of-market station, presumably Cincinnati's WXIX-TV
, to provide Fox network programming at least through the end of February. Later that same day, Sinclair and Time Warner extended talks for another two weeks, with continued cable carriage of Sinclair's stations, through January 14, 2011.
On January 15, 2011, after a 24 hour extension of the previous deadline, Time Warner and Sinclair reached a tentative settlement.
After further negotiations, a final agreement was reached on February 2, 2011, keeping WRGT-TV and WKEF on Time Warner.
In 1998, WRGT started its nightly 10 o'clock newscast, now known as Fox 45 Dayton's News Source at 10, using WKEF's existing news team. In June 2006, it began airing weekday morning news from 7 to 9 called Fox 45 in the Morning. In the February 2006 sweeps period, that prime time news was the fastest growing local broadcast out of any in the Dayton market sometimes winning the time slot on certain nights. There was no over-the-air
competition to the nightly broadcast until August 18, 2007 when NBC affiliate WDTN
began to produce a nightly 10 o'clock newscast on CW affiliate WBDT.
This beat WRGT's show in Dayton's metered market household ratings on the 26th day of its broadcast. (There was, during its existence, competition from WHIO-TV's Miami Valley Channel
, which appeared on Time Warner Cable.) In August 2008, Fox 45 Dayton's News Source at 6:30 was added to this station that airs on weeknights against the national broadcasts on the big three
channels.
Anchors
Fox 45 First Warning Meteorologists
Sports
Reporters
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....
45, is the Fox-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 the Miami Valley
Miami Valley
The Miami Valley, broadly, refers to the land area surrounding the Great Miami River in southwest Ohio, USA, and also includes the Little Miami, Mad, and Stillwater rivers as well...
area of Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
, which is licensed to Dayton
Dayton, Ohio
Dayton is the 6th largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County, the fifth most populous county in the state. The population was 141,527 at the 2010 census. The Dayton Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 841,502 in the 2010 census...
. 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 30 from a transmitter at its Broadcast Plaza studios near the New Chicago section of the city. It 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 8 and in high definition on digital channel 1008. Owned by Cunningham Broadcasting
Cunningham Broadcasting
Cunningham Broadcasting Corporation is an owner of television stations in the United States. The company currently owns six stations—four affiliated with Fox Broadcasting Company , one affiliated with MyNetworkTV and one affiliated with The CW Television Network.Cunningham has very close ties to...
, WRGT is operated though 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...
(LMA) 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...
. However, that company effectively owns the station due to Cunningham's ownership structure. It shares studios with and is sister to 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 WKEF
WKEF
WKEF, virtual channel 22, is the ABC-affiliated television station for the Miami Valley area of Ohio, which is licensed to Dayton. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 51 from a transmitter at their Broadcast Plaza studios near the New Chicago section of the city...
. 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 WRGT includes: The Office, Judge Joe Brown, Judge Alex
Judge Alex
Judge Alex is a United States syndicated courtroom television show that debuted September 12, 2005. The host/arbitrator is the Hon. Alex Ferrer, a former police officer, lawyer, and Florida judge. The show was produced in Houston at the television studios of Fox's KRIV , as was previously done with...
, and Divorce Court
Divorce Court
Divorce Court is a judge show about cases which only involve divorcing couples. Out of the shows currently airing in the court-themed genre, Divorce Court is the oldest...
.
Digital programming
It operates the area's MyNetworkTVMyNetworkTV
MyNetworkTV is a television broadcast syndication service in the United States, owned by the Fox Entertainment Group, a division of News Corporation...
affiliate on a second digital subchannel and Time Warner digital channel 995. Known on-air as My TV Dayton, this channel also airs programming from This TV
This TV
This TV is a United States general entertainment television network, with a large emphasis in its programming on movies....
.
| Channel | Programming |
|---|---|
| 45.1 | Main WRGT programming / Fox |
| 45.2 | WRGT-DT2 "My TV MyNetworkTV MyNetworkTV is a television broadcast syndication service in the United States, owned by the Fox Entertainment Group, a division of News Corporation... Dayton" & "This TV This TV This TV is a United States general entertainment television network, with a large emphasis in its programming on movies.... Dayton" |
History
Act III Broadcasting
Act III Broadcasting was a company that owned several television stations that started as independents, and later became Fox affiliates. The stations were located in medium-sized markets, and the company existed from the mid 1980s to the mid 1990s, eventually to be sold to Abry in 1994...
. It ran a general-entertainment format consisting of cartoons, classic sitcoms, recent off network sitcoms, old movies, drama shows, and sports. On its sign on date, WRGT broadcast 2001: A Space Odyssey with a stereo simulcast of the audio over WTUE
WTUE
WTUE is a classic rock formatted radio station with studios in Dayton, Ohio. Its transmitter is located in Moraine, Ohio and can be heard clearly throughout Southwest Ohio, including in Cincinnati....
-FM 104.7. WRGT was Act III's second station following WVAH-TV
WVAH-TV
WVAH-TV is the Fox-affiliated television station for Charleston and Huntington, West Virginia which is the second-largest market in terms of area east of the Mississippi River. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 19 from a transmitter south of Scott Depot along the Putnam...
in Charleston, West Virginia
Charleston, West Virginia
Charleston is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of West Virginia. It is located at the confluence of the Elk and Kanawha Rivers in Kanawha County. As of the 2010 census, it has a population of 51,400, and its metropolitan area 304,214. It is the county seat of Kanawha County.Early...
two years earlier. Act III founded WRGT following a high stake "in-contest" competition among four potential owners in the late-1970s. Dayton Telecasting Inc. became the founder of the station with its first slogan "Off To a Flying Start" featuring an animated Wright "B" Flyer used in its first promos (the WRGT calls are a reference to the Wright brothers
Wright brothers
The Wright brothers, Orville and Wilbur , were two Americans credited with inventing and building the world's first successful airplane and making the first controlled, powered and sustained heavier-than-air human flight, on December 17, 1903...
).
Prior to its sign on, the only source of non-network programming in Dayton (aside from WXIX-TV
WXIX-TV
WXIX-TV channel 19 is the Fox Broadcasting Company affiliate in Cincinnati, Ohio. The station's city of license is Newport, Kentucky, across the Ohio River...
, WIII-TV now WSTR-TV
WSTR-TV
WSTR-TV is the MyNetworkTV-affiliated television station for the Tri-State area of Southwestern Ohio, Southeastern Indiana, and Northern Kentucky. Licensed to Cincinnati, the station broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 33 from a transmitter in the College Hill section of the...
in Cincinnati, and WTTE
WTTE
WTTE is the Fox-affiliated television station for Columbus, Ohio. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 36 from a transmitter on Stimmel Road. The station can be seen on Insight, Time Warner, and WOW! channel 8. For high definition digital cable, it is offered on Insight...
in Columbus
Columbus, Ohio
Columbus is the capital of and the largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio. The broader metropolitan area encompasses several counties and is the third largest in Ohio behind those of Cleveland and Cincinnati. Columbus is the third largest city in the American Midwest, and the fifteenth largest city...
), which all reach portions of the Dayton 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...
, was WTJC (now WBDT
WBDT
WBDT is the CW-affiliated television station for Ohio's Miami Valley. Licensed to Springfield, the station broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 26 from a transmitter in the Frytown section of Dayton. The station can also be seen on Time Warner Cable channel 13 and in high...
) a mostly religious station. However, Act III persuaded WTJC's owner, Miami Valley Christian Television, to sell most of that station's non-religious programming to WRGT. For all intents and purposes, it was now the only general-entertainment station in Dayton and the first independent since the demise of WKTR-TV in 1970 (now public station WPTD
WPTD
WPTD is a television station in Dayton, Ohio that is a member of the Public Broadcasting Service. It broadcasts in digital on channel 16, and is relayed by W32DS-D in Maplewood, Ohio....
) and WSWO-TV in Springfield in 1972 (now WBDT after being WTJC from 1980 to 1988 following eight years of being silent).
Despite the competition from larger-market stations and with WXIX and WSTR being available on cable, WRGT prospered. It would not have any real competition in Dayton until 1999 when WBDT became a WB affiliate (it was briefly a PAX affiliate before then). After Fox launched on October 6, 1986, Act III signed an affiliation deal with the network. All of its stations, including WRGT, became charter affiliates of the fledgling network. Act III merged with Abry in 1994. A few months later, Abry merged with Sinclair but sold WRGT to Sullivan Broadcasting. However, Sullivan outsourced WRGT's operations to Sinclair.
By 1999, more reality and talk shows would be in the station's mix. In 1998, Sullivan's managing partner Sinclair bought WKEF (then an NBC
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...
affiliate). In 2001, Sinclair purchased most of Sullivan's other stations but could not buy WRGT for two reasons. The Dayton market has only seven full-power stations which are not enough to legally permit a duopoly
Duopoly (broadcasting)
In United States broadcast television and radio, duopoly is a term used to describe a single company which owns two or more stations in the same city or community....
. Also, the 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) does not allow common ownership of two of the four highest-rated stations in a single market. With this in mind, WRGT was sold to Glencairn, Ltd. However, nearly all of Glencairn's stock was controlled by trusts in the name of the Smith family who were founding owners of Sinclair. This effectively gave Sinclair a duopoly in Dayton. Glencairn later changed its name to Cunningham Broadcasting. There is undeniable evidence that Glencairn/Cunningham are merely shell corporations used to circumvent FCC ownership rules.
Sinclair and Fox finalized a six-year affiliation contract extension for Sinclair's 19 Fox affiliates including WRGT in mid-2006. Its affiliation contract now expires in March 2012. WRGT is also considered an alternate ABC affiliate airing that network's programs when WKEF is unable to do so such as during a breaking news emergency or local special. WRGT, along with CBS affiliate WHIO-TV
WHIO-TV
WHIO-TV, virtual channel 7, is the CBS-affiliated television station licensed to Dayton, Ohio, serving that state's Miami Valley area. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 41 from its transmitter on Germantown Street in western Dayton....
, are the only two stations in the area who have not changed their network affiliations even through the swaps of 2004.
In August 2006, it was confirmed that Fox's new sister network, MyNetworkTV
MyNetworkTV
MyNetworkTV is a television broadcast syndication service in the United States, owned by the Fox Entertainment Group, a division of News Corporation...
, would air on a new second digital subchannel of WRGT. On September 16, 2006, Time Warner Cable added WRGT-DT2 to its digital cable lineup. In November 2008, WRGT-DT2 was a launch-day affiliate of This TV
This TV
This TV is a United States general entertainment television network, with a large emphasis in its programming on movies....
(a joint operation between MGM and Weigel Broadcasting
Weigel Broadcasting
Weigel Broadcasting is an American locally based television broadcasting company. The company is based in downtown Chicago, Illinois, alongside its flagship station WCIU-TV , at the apt address of 26 North Halsted Street in the Greektown neighborhood.- History :The company was founded by Chicago...
).
WRGT-TV ended its analog broadcast on UHF channel 45, on June 12, 2009, as part of the DTV transition in the United States
DTV transition in the United States
The DTV transition in the United States was the switchover from analog to exclusively digital broadcasting of free over-the-air television programming...
. It remained on its digital channel, 30, using PSIP to display its 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....
as 45.
Around November 11, 2010, Sinclair announced that when carriage agreements expired at the end of the year, it planned to pull all of its owned and/or operated TV stations in the United States, including WRGT-TV and WKEF, from Time Warner Cable, in a dispute over "retransmission fees". Negotiations began between the two parties. Around December 6, Time Warner announced that it would continue to provide Fox network programming on its systems (presumably via video on demand
Video on demand
Video on Demand or Audio and Video On Demand are systems which allow users to select and watch/listen to video or audio content on demand...
services), under a deal reached with Fox earlier in 2010; syndicated and local programs on Sinclair's Fox affiliates would not be seen. On December 31, Time Warner reached an agreement with an out-of-market station, presumably Cincinnati's WXIX-TV
WXIX-TV
WXIX-TV channel 19 is the Fox Broadcasting Company affiliate in Cincinnati, Ohio. The station's city of license is Newport, Kentucky, across the Ohio River...
, to provide Fox network programming at least through the end of February. Later that same day, Sinclair and Time Warner extended talks for another two weeks, with continued cable carriage of Sinclair's stations, through January 14, 2011.
On January 15, 2011, after a 24 hour extension of the previous deadline, Time Warner and Sinclair reached a tentative settlement.
After further negotiations, a final agreement was reached on February 2, 2011, keeping WRGT-TV and WKEF on Time Warner.
Newscasts
Terrestrial television
Terrestrial television is a mode of television broadcasting which does not involve satellite transmission or cables — typically using radio waves through transmitting and receiving antennas or television antenna aerials...
competition to the nightly broadcast until August 18, 2007 when NBC affiliate WDTN
WDTN
WDTN, virtual channel 2, is the NBC-affiliated television station for Ohio's Miami Valley. Licensed to Dayton, it broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 50 from a transmitter in the Frytown section of the city. The station can also be seen on Time Warner Cable channel 2 and in...
began to produce a nightly 10 o'clock newscast on CW affiliate WBDT.
This beat WRGT's show in Dayton's metered market household ratings on the 26th day of its broadcast. (There was, during its existence, competition from WHIO-TV's Miami Valley Channel
Miami Valley Channel
The Miami Valley Channel , known at various times as UPN 44 and UPN 17, was a local cable TV channel based in Dayton, Ohio. MVC launched in September, 1994 and closed down at the end of 2006...
, which appeared on Time Warner Cable.) In August 2008, Fox 45 Dayton's News Source at 6:30 was added to this station that airs on weeknights against the national broadcasts on the big three
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...
channels.
Anchors
- Meghan Mongillo - weekday mornings and reporter
- Dan Carroll - weekday mornings
- Don Hammond - weeknights and reporter
- Shannon Sims - weeknights and reporter
- TBD - Weekends
Fox 45 First Warning Meteorologists
- Jeffrey Booth (AMSAmerican Meteorological SocietyThe American Meteorological Society promotes the development and dissemination of information and education on the atmospheric and related oceanic and hydrologic sciences and the advancement of their professional applications. Founded in 1919, the American Meteorological Society has a membership...
and 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...
Seals of Approval) - Chief Meteorologist seen weeknights - Andrew Michael - Weekday Mornings
Sports
- Nathan Baker - Sports Director
- Luke Notestine - Sports Anchor/Reporter
Reporters
- Rhonda Moore - weekday mornings
- Chris Cerenelli
- Jackie Couture
- Kristin Keogh - weekday mornings/4:30am anchor
- Liza Danver
- Wale Aliyu