WTTE
Encyclopedia
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 channel 910, Time Warner channel 1008, and WOW! channel 208. WTTE is owned by Cunningham Broadcasting
but operated through a local marketing agreement
(a.k.a. LMA) by the Sinclair Broadcast Group
. This makes it sister to ABC
affiliate WSYX
. However, Sinclair effectively owns WTTE as well due to Cunningham's ownership structure. The two share studios on Dublin Road (a.k.a. U.S. 33
) in the Grandview Heights
section of Columbus. Syndicated
programming on WTTE includes: My Name Is Earl
, Two and a Half Men
, Family Guy
, and The Office.
in central Ohio
. It was owned by the Commercial Radio Institute, forerunner of the Sinclair Broadcast Group. It quickly became the dominant independent station in the area largely because its programming policy was far less conservative than that of the other independent in the area, Christian
-oriented WSFJ-TV
. The station became a charter Fox affiliate on October 6, 1986. From 1995 until 1997, it carried a secondary affiliation with UPN
which was then picked up by WWHO
.
In 1996, Sinclair merged with River City Broadcasting who owned WSYX. Federal Communications Commission
(FCC) rules at the time did not allow one person to own two stations in a single market
. Sinclair kept the longer-established WSYX and sold WTTE to Glencairn, Ltd. owned by former Sinclair executive Edwin Edwards. However, nearly all of Glencairn's stock was held by the Smith family who were founders and owners of Sinclair. In effect, Sinclair still owned WTTE, and now had a duopoly
in Columbus in violation of FCC rules. Sinclair and Glencairn further circumvented rules by moving WTTE's operations into WSYX' studios under a local marketing agreement, with WSYX as senior partner. Glencairn owned ten other stations—all in markets where Sinclair also had a station. Sinclair was eventually fined $40,000 for its illegal control of Glencairn.
The two companies attempted to merge in 2001 after the FCC allowed duopolies. However, the FCC would not allow Sinclair to repurchase WTTE. The FCC does not allow duopolies between two of the four highest-rated stations in a single market. Also the Columbus market, despite its relatively large size, has only seven full-power stations—too few to legally permit a duopoly. WTTE thus remained under the banner of Glencairn, which was then renamed Cunningham Broadcasting. However, the Smith family still controls nearly all of Cunningham's stock, so Sinclair still effectively has a duopoly in Columbus. By nearly all accounts, Sinclair has used Glencairn / Cunningham as a shell corporation to evade FCC ownership rules.
In 2006, all Sinclair-controlled Fox affiliates including WTTE extended their affiliation contracts until at least March 2012. WTTE-DT2 was formerly an affiliate of The Tube, a 24-hour digital music channel. Like other Sinclair-owned stations, this was dropped in January 2007 and the network ceased operations that October due to the lack of advertising. It has been off-the-air since that time.
According to Nielsen Media Research
in the May 2011 ratings period, WTTE was the 2nd most watched Fox affiliate in the United States
in prime time. The station remains intensely competitive in the Columbus television market with it remaining an extremely strong competitor against WBNS-TV
and WCMH-TV
averaging roughly 300,000 viewers each night during the station's 10 o'clock newscast despite its earlier time slot. WTTE typically wins the demographic viewership battle each and every ratings period. The demographic win is a much sought after attribute for television sales associates in the area for local advertising purposes.
WTTE was one of only two full-power television stations in the Columbus market (the other being WWHO) that honored the original DTV transition date
of February 17, 2009. At 11:59 p.m. on that date, WTTE transferred all its programming to its digital signal. However for two weeks afterward, analog
channel 28 aired a repeating loop of a short informational film (in both English
and Spanish
) about the DTV changeover and how to upgrade to digital television. Analog channel 28 has since gone dark. Although WTTE remained on its pre-transition channel number, 36, it uses PSIP
to display its virtual channel
as 28 on digital television receivers.
On October 18, 2010 the station reactivated their 28.2 digital subchannel
for the first time since December 2006, when WTTE discontinued carrying the now-defunct The Tube Music Network due to a disagreement between Sinclair and The Tube over E/I
programming. 28.2 now carries theCoolTV
, another music video network which has E/I programming pre-inserted as part of their national schedule.
WTTE is also considered an alternate ABC affiliate airing that network's programs when WSYX is unable to do so such as during a breaking news emergency or local special.
that was produced by WCMH. Former Fox 28 Kids Club
host Yolanda Harris was one of the original anchors and now serves as weeknight co-anchor on WTTE and WSYX. By August 1999, this station's newscast was absorbed into WSYX's news department which then began producing WTTE's news programs under the NewsCenter branding that WSYX used at the time. This title was eventually dropped. Today, WSYX produces four hours of news each week on WTTE. It places a prime focus on its weather operation that uses the full suite of "Weather Central" technology by placing the forecast near the beginning of each broadcast and by providing weather updates every ten minutes on weekday mornings.
WTTE did not participate in the wider implementation of Sinclair's now-defunct, controversial News Central
format for its newscasts but did air "The Point", a one-minute political commentary, that was also controversial and a requirement of all Sinclair-owned stations with newscasts until the series was discontinued in December 2006. WSYX launched its newscasts in high definition
on May 10, 2008 making it the third Columbus and second Sinclair-owned station to make the upgrade. The WTTE broadcasts, Fox 28 News at 10 and Good Day Columbus, were included in the change.
Fox 28 First Warning Meteorologists
Sports
Reporters
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 Columbus, Ohio
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...
. 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 36 from a transmitter on Stimmel Road. The station can be seen on Insight
Insight Communications
Insight Communications is the 13th largest multiple system operator in the United States with approximately 692,000 customers in the three contiguous states of Kentucky, Indiana and Ohio...
, 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...
, and WOW! channel 8. For high definition digital cable, it is offered on Insight channel 910, Time Warner channel 1008, and WOW! channel 208. WTTE is 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...
but operated 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...
(a.k.a. 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...
. This makes it 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 WSYX
WSYX
WSYX, channel 6, is an ABC-affiliated television station located in Columbus, Ohio. WSYX is owned by the Sinclair Broadcast Group, which also operates Fox affiliate WTTE through a local marketing agreement...
. However, Sinclair effectively owns WTTE as well due to Cunningham's ownership structure. The two share studios on Dublin Road (a.k.a. U.S. 33
U.S. Route 33
U.S. Route 33 is a United States federal highway that runs northwest-southeast for 709 miles from northern Indiana to Richmond, Virginia, passing through Ohio and West Virginia en route. Although most odd-numbered U.S...
) in the Grandview Heights
Grandview Heights, Ohio
Grandview Heights is a city in Franklin County, Ohio, United States. The population was 6,695 at the 2000 census.The city was originally part of Marble Cliff, one of the first suburbs of Columbus, which settled as a community in 1890 and incorporated as the "Hamlet of Marble Cliff" in 1901...
section of Columbus. 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 WTTE includes: My Name Is Earl
My Name Is Earl
My Name Is Earl is an American television comedy series created by Greg Garcia that was originally broadcast on the NBC television network from September 20, 2005, to May 14, 2009, in the United States...
, 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...
, 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...
, and The Office.
Digital programming
The station's digital channel is multiplexed.| Channel | Programming |
|---|---|
| 28.1 | Main WTTE programming / FOX |
| 28.2 | TheCoolTV TheCoolTV THECOOLTV is a United States over-the-air digital subchannel launched in March 2009. The network's current program schedule consists of an all-music video lineup that can be customized to meet an affiliate's preference, along with the three hours per week of E/I programming as required by the... |
History
The station began operations on June 1, 1984 as the first general entertainment independent stationIndependent station
An independent station is in the category of television terminology used to describe a television station broadcasting in the United States or Canada that is not affiliated with any television network....
in central 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...
. It was owned by the Commercial Radio Institute, forerunner of the Sinclair Broadcast Group. It quickly became the dominant independent station in the area largely because its programming policy was far less conservative than that of the other independent in the area, Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
-oriented WSFJ-TV
WSFJ-TV
WSFJ-TV is a Trinity Broadcasting Network-owned and operated television station in Columbus, Ohio, licensed to Newark. It broadcasts in digital on UHF channel 24.-History:...
. The station became a charter Fox affiliate on October 6, 1986. From 1995 until 1997, it carried a secondary affiliation with 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...
which was then picked up by WWHO
WWHO
WWHO is the Columbus, Ohio television affiliate for The CW Television Network. The station is licensed to Chillicothe, though it operates out of a facility in Columbus with its transmitter located in Williamsport, halfway between Columbus and Chillicothe...
.
In 1996, Sinclair merged with River City Broadcasting who owned WSYX. 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) rules at the time did not allow one person to own two stations in a single 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...
. Sinclair kept the longer-established WSYX and sold WTTE to Glencairn, Ltd. owned by former Sinclair executive Edwin Edwards. However, nearly all of Glencairn's stock was held by the Smith family who were founders and owners of Sinclair. In effect, Sinclair still owned WTTE, and now had 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....
in Columbus in violation of FCC rules. Sinclair and Glencairn further circumvented rules by moving WTTE's operations into WSYX' studios under a local marketing agreement, with WSYX as senior partner. Glencairn owned ten other stations—all in markets where Sinclair also had a station. Sinclair was eventually fined $40,000 for its illegal control of Glencairn.
The two companies attempted to merge in 2001 after the FCC allowed duopolies. However, the FCC would not allow Sinclair to repurchase WTTE. The FCC does not allow duopolies between two of the four highest-rated stations in a single market. Also the Columbus market, despite its relatively large size, has only seven full-power stations—too few to legally permit a duopoly. WTTE thus remained under the banner of Glencairn, which was then renamed Cunningham Broadcasting. However, the Smith family still controls nearly all of Cunningham's stock, so Sinclair still effectively has a duopoly in Columbus. By nearly all accounts, Sinclair has used Glencairn / Cunningham as a shell corporation to evade FCC ownership rules.
In 2006, all Sinclair-controlled Fox affiliates including WTTE extended their affiliation contracts until at least March 2012. WTTE-DT2 was formerly an affiliate of The Tube, a 24-hour digital music channel. Like other Sinclair-owned stations, this was dropped in January 2007 and the network ceased operations that October due to the lack of advertising. It has been off-the-air since that time.
According to Nielsen Media Research
Nielsen Media Research
Nielsen Media Research is an American firm that measures media audiences, including television, radio, theatre films and newspapers...
in the May 2011 ratings period, WTTE was the 2nd most watched Fox affiliate in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
in prime time. The station remains intensely competitive in the Columbus television market with it remaining an extremely strong competitor against WBNS-TV
WBNS-TV
WBNS-TV, channel 10, is a television station in Columbus, Ohio, USA. The station is an affiliate of the CBS Television Network and is owned by the Dispatch Broadcast Group, a subsidiary of the Columbus Dispatch, along with WBNS radio...
and WCMH-TV
WCMH-TV
WCMH-TV, channel 4, is a television station in Columbus, Ohio, affiliated with the NBC television network and owned by Media General. The station's studios and transmitter are located in Columbus. NBC-4 broadcasts from its studio and office complex near the Ohio State University on Olentangy River...
averaging roughly 300,000 viewers each night during the station's 10 o'clock newscast despite its earlier time slot. WTTE typically wins the demographic viewership battle each and every ratings period. The demographic win is a much sought after attribute for television sales associates in the area for local advertising purposes.
WTTE was one of only two full-power television stations in the Columbus market (the other being WWHO) that honored the original DTV transition date
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...
of February 17, 2009. At 11:59 p.m. on that date, WTTE transferred all its programming to its digital signal. However for two weeks afterward, analog
Analog television
Analog television is the analog transmission that involves the broadcasting of encoded analog audio and analog video signal: one in which the message conveyed by the broadcast signal is a function of deliberate variations in the amplitude and/or frequency of the signal...
channel 28 aired a repeating loop of a short informational film (in both English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
and Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
) about the DTV changeover and how to upgrade to digital television. Analog channel 28 has since gone dark. Although WTTE remained on its pre-transition channel number, 36, it uses PSIP
Program and System Information Protocol
The Program and System Information Protocol is the protocol used in the ATSC digital television system for carrying metadata about each channel in the broadcast MPEG transport stream of a TV station and for publishing information about television programs so that viewers can select what to watch...
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 28 on digital television receivers.
On October 18, 2010 the station reactivated their 28.2 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...
for the first time since December 2006, when WTTE discontinued carrying the now-defunct The Tube Music Network due to a disagreement between Sinclair and The Tube over E/I
E/I
E/I, which stands for "educational and informative," refers to a type of children's television programming shown in the United States. The Federal Communications Commission requires that every full-service Terrestrial television station in the U.S. show at least three hours of these television...
programming. 28.2 now carries theCoolTV
TheCoolTV
THECOOLTV is a United States over-the-air digital subchannel launched in March 2009. The network's current program schedule consists of an all-music video lineup that can be customized to meet an affiliate's preference, along with the three hours per week of E/I programming as required by the...
, another music video network which has E/I programming pre-inserted as part of their national schedule.
WTTE is also considered an alternate ABC affiliate airing that network's programs when WSYX is unable to do so such as during a breaking news emergency or local special.
News operation
The station began a 10 p.m. newscast in 1995 and was the second in central Ohio after an attempt by WWHOWWHO
WWHO is the Columbus, Ohio television affiliate for The CW Television Network. The station is licensed to Chillicothe, though it operates out of a facility in Columbus with its transmitter located in Williamsport, halfway between Columbus and Chillicothe...
that was produced by WCMH. Former Fox 28 Kids Club
Fox Kids
Fox Kids was the Fox Broadcasting Company's American children's programming division and brand name from September 8, 1990 until September 7, 2002. It was owned by Fox Television Entertainment airing programming on Monday–Friday afternoons and Saturday mornings.Depending on the show, the...
host Yolanda Harris was one of the original anchors and now serves as weeknight co-anchor on WTTE and WSYX. By August 1999, this station's newscast was absorbed into WSYX's news department which then began producing WTTE's news programs under the NewsCenter branding that WSYX used at the time. This title was eventually dropped. Today, WSYX produces four hours of news each week on WTTE. It places a prime focus on its weather operation that uses the full suite of "Weather Central" technology by placing the forecast near the beginning of each broadcast and by providing weather updates every ten minutes on weekday mornings.
WTTE did not participate in the wider implementation of Sinclair's now-defunct, controversial News Central
News Central
News Central was a primetime newscast on Sinclair television stations in the United States, mixing locally produced news with nationally produced news and an opinion segment from Sinclair's Hunt Valley, Maryland studios...
format for its newscasts but did air "The Point", a one-minute political commentary, that was also controversial and a requirement of all Sinclair-owned stations with newscasts until the series was discontinued in December 2006. WSYX launched its newscasts in 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 May 10, 2008 making it the third Columbus and second Sinclair-owned station to make the upgrade. The WTTE broadcasts, Fox 28 News at 10 and Good Day Columbus, were included in the change.
News team
Anchors- Pete Scalia - weekday mornings
- Carolyn Bruck - weekday mornings
- Yolanda Harris - weeknights
- Bob Kendrick - weeknights
- Walter Allen - weekends and reporter
Fox 28 First Warning Meteorologists
- Jerry Martz (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...
Seal of Approval) - Chief seen weeknights and "Jerry's Garden" segment producer - Lisa Colbert - weekday mornings
- Dana Turtle - weekends
- weather and science reporter
Sports
- Clay Hall - Director seen weeknights
- Natalie Taylor - weekends (can be seen on "Good Day Columbus" weekday mornings)
Reporters
- Susan Burton - health and medical
- Johnny DiLoretto - entertainment weekday mornings 7 to 9
- AJ Ross - Day
- Dana Jay
- Dave Detling
- Ashley Yore
- Tom Bosco
- Maria Durant
- Carol Luper
- Mike McCarthy
- Steve Levine
- Chelby Kosto