WWNY-TV
Encyclopedia
WWNY-TV is the CBS
-affiliated television station
for Upstate New York
's North Country
region, licensed to Carthage
. It broadcasts a high definition
digital signal on VHF channel 7 from a transmitter along State Street/NY 126
in Wilna
's Carthage section. The station can also be seen on Time Warner Cable
channel 4 and in high definition on digital channel 855. Owned by the United Communications Corporation
, WWNY is sister to Fox affiliate WNYF and the two outlets share studios on Arcade Street/NY 3
/NY 12
in Watertown
. Syndicated
programming on WWNY includes Jeopardy!
, Wheel of Fortune
, How I Met Your Mother
, and Two and a Half Men
among others. The station can also be seen in Massena
on WNYF-LD's second digital subchannel
(UHF channel 28.2) from a transmitter in South Colton
along NY 56
and WNYF-CD's second digital subchannel (UHF channel 35.2) from WWNY's tower in Carthage.
as the first Watertown-based television station. The call sign WCNY-TV stood for Carthage, New York and it had studios in the Champion Hill section of town. It was locally-owned by the Johnson family along with the Watertown Daily Times
and WWNY radio (AM 790 now WTNY
, and FM 100.5 now silent). The station was a primary CBS
affiliate but carried programs from all networks airing at the time (DuMont
, ABC
, and NBC
) through secondary relations. During the late-1950s, WCNY was also briefly affiliated with the NTA Film Network
. By the mid-1960s, the station benefited from the ratings-dominant CBS programming lineup and established a large viewership base including nearby Canadian cities. In 1965, it changed call letters to WWNY to match its radio sisters.
The WCNY-FM
/WCNY-TV
calls now reside on Central New York NPR
/PBS
member stations serving Syracuse
. From 1958 until 1971, it also aired educational programming through NET
(becoming PBS
in 1970) provided by the St. Lawrence Valley Educational Television Council
. When the council established its own station, WNPE-TV (now WPBS-DT) in 1971, WWNY donated its original studios to the new station as it had moved to its current location near the Watertown Daily Times offices on Arcade Street in Downtown Watertown in mid-February 1970. The station added the -TV suffix to its call sign on August 24, 1978. The Johnson family sold WWNY to current owner United Communications Corporation in 1981 for $
8.2 million.
Until WFYF-TV (now WWTI
) signed-on in 1987 replacing a small WUTR
repeater on analog UHF channel 50 and taking the ABC affiliation, WWNY was Watertown's only commercial station. As such, it was permitted to carry affiliations with all three networks. As a basic CBS affiliate, WWNY carried the network's full prime time schedule and news programs with a selection of the most popular ABC and NBC shows aired at other hours. The station also aired some Fox programming starting in 1987 while Sunday Fox Sports
National Football League
games aired on WWTI. Viewers in the area could watch other network affiliates on cable such as NBC affiliate WSTM-TV
and ABC affiliate WIXT (now WSYR-TV
) in Syracuse or NBC affiliate WPTZ
in Plattsburgh.
Programming from networks other than CBS was largely phased out during the 1980s. ABC completely disappeared from the schedule when WFYF signed-on. NBC programs (including Today and The Tonight Show
) remained on WWNY into the 1980s with some prime time programming (which aired delayed) lasting until 1995. Since then, WSTM in Syracuse had served as the NBC affiliate for most of the market
while WPTZ is seen on cable in St. Lawrence County
. Fox programs largely disappeared in the early-1990s with the exception of Major League Baseball
games from Fox Sports which lasted until 1998.
In 2001, United Communications entered into an agreement with Smith Broadcasting
to operate Fox affiliate WNYF with transmitters in Watertown and Massena
. After a year of joint operation, United Communications took complete ownership of WNYF. In May 2003, WWNY started broadcasting its digital signal on UHF channel 35 and began offering CBS programming in high definition. It then created a new second digital subchannel to offer a digital signal of WNYF as that station did not operate one of its own due to Class A and low-powered signals.
On February 17, 2009, WWNY remained on channel 7 when the analog to digital conversion was completed during a broadcast of The Late Show with David Letterman. Both broadcasts of WWNY and WWTI were set to become digital-only starting on February 17. However, the latter's plans were delayed to June 12 by the Federal Communications Commission
(FCC). WWNY-DT's previous digital facilities on channel 35 were eventually re-employed by sister station WNYF to offer Fox in high definition for the first time. At this time, this station is not airing any programming in high definition other shows from CBS.
, Lewis
, and St. Lawrence Counties in Northern New York State as well as Kingston
and Brockville
in Southeastern Ontario
, Canada
. The most distant analog reception for the station fell just short of Ottawa approximately a hundred miles distant. In the United States
, the outer limit of WWNY coverage falls near Massena
and Tupper Lake to the east. It was distributed by cable
systems in Ottawa from the late-1960s until the early-1980s but signal strength was poor and the station was dropped after area television stations complained that WWNY was broadcasting Ottawa commercials and competing with them for revenue.
At the time, the station had a sales office in Canada and was able to convince advertisers in Ontario to buy ads. The Ottawa cable companies eventually dropped WWNY and set up a series of microwave
relay towers to carry American
networks from affiliates in Rochester, New York
. These were later replaced by satellite feeds from Detroit. For many years, WWNY's largest viewership was in Kingston because for nearly twenty years it was the only reliable over-the-air analog signal aside from the local CBC Television
affiliate CKWS-TV
. Prior to 2005, WWNY was also carried on cable in Belleville, Ontario
.
by a wide margin. WWNY has traditionally been the dominant outlet in the North Country because it had the market to itself until WWTI signed-on in 1987. Even after that station began maintaining a minimal local news presence for several years, WWNY remained the most-watched and highest-rated station. In 1981, this station's weekday morning show only consisted of two five minute cut-ins. As late as 1998, it was broadcasting for thirty minutes. In 2004, the station began producing ninety minutes of news on weekday mornings. Unlike most CBS affiliates in the Eastern Time Zone
, WWNY still does not offer a full two-hour weekday morning show and/or newscasts in the weeknight 5 o'clock hour.
WWTI's original news team was quite small compared with other big three stations operating news departments. Its first attempt at airing newscasts and competing with WWNY ceased in early-1991. Four years later, a second attempt was established and WWTI maintained a small news team similar to the previous effort. After the Ackerley Group
acquired that station, it became more reliant on content originating from its sister outlets in Upstate New York particularly flagship WIXT in Syracuse.
On April 11, 2001, WWNY began airing a 35 minute weeknight prime time broadcast at 10 on WNYF called 7 News Tonight on Fox. However, it was only seen by a handful of viewers able to receive that station's two low-powered over-the-air signals because WNYF was not yet being offered on cable. An agreement with Time Warner Cable in Fall 2001 placed the station on the system and the prime time news debuted for the rest of the area on October 4. Having never successfully competed with WWNY, WWTI's nightly newscasts were canceled in 2004.
For a short time afterward, that station featured a 24 Hour News Source
-style series of short hourly news updates seen throughout the day. After this, it continued to air several daily news and weather updates. In December 2006, WWTI added a news and weather update on weeknights known as 5 at 5. On June 5, 2009, the station's news department was shut down completely after owner Newport Television
implemented across the board cuts. Even though WWTI lost a Watertown-based news operation, it began simulcasting WSYR's nightly newscast at 11 through a news share agreement. On September 8, 2009, the station began simulcasting WSYR's weekday morning and nightly 6 o'clock broadcasts. Occasionally, a reporter based in the North Country will contribute content to WSYR but most local coverage is seen on WWTI's website consisting of short headlines and features.
WNYF currently simulcasts the 6 o'clock hour of WWNY's weekday morning news. It then offers a second hour at 7 seen exclusively on the Fox affiliate while this station airs The Early Show
. The simulcast and separate show is known on WNYF as 7 News This Morning on Fox. There is no weekday morning or noon meteorologist; news anchor Beth Hall presents a forecast from Accuweather
during these segments. During the nightly evening weather forecasts, the station features a live National Weather Service
weather radar
based in Montague
's Parkers section. WWNY remains the only station operating a news department based in the North Country but Your News Now
(operated by Time Warner Cable) covers Watertown and Massena from a Syracuse-based newsroom with regional content.
Reporters
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...
-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 Upstate New York
Upstate New York
Upstate New York is the region of the U.S. state of New York that is located north of the core of the New York metropolitan area.-Definition:There is no clear or official boundary between Upstate New York and Downstate New York...
's North Country
North Country, New York
The North Country is a region of the U.S. state of New York that encompasses the state's extreme northern frontier, bordering Lake Ontario on the west, the Saint Lawrence River and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec on the north and northwest, and Lake Champlain and Vermont on the east...
region, licensed to Carthage
Carthage, New York
Carthage is a village located in the Town of Wilna in Jefferson County, New York. The population was 3,721 at the 2000 census. The village is named after the historic Carthage in North Africa....
. 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 VHF channel 7 from a transmitter along State Street/NY 126
New York State Route 126
New York State Route 126 is a state highway in the North Country of New York in the United States. It proceeds in a roughly northwest to southeast direction between NY 12 at the eastern city line of Watertown in central Jefferson County and NY 812 in the village of Croghan in...
in Wilna
Wilna, New York
Wilna is a town in Jefferson County, New York, United States. The population was 6,427 at the 2010 census.The Town of Wilna is in the eastern corner of the county and is east of Watertown.- History :...
's Carthage section. The station can also be seen on Time Warner Cable
Time Warner Cable
Time Warner Cable is an American cable television company that operates in 28 states and has 31 operating divisions...
channel 4 and in high definition on digital channel 855. Owned by the United Communications Corporation
United Communications Corporation
United Communications Corporation is a privately owned publisher and operator of three daily newspapers, several weekly newspapers and three television stations in the U.S. states of Illinois, Massachusetts, Minnesota, South Dakota and Wisconsin...
, WWNY is sister to Fox affiliate WNYF and the two outlets share studios on Arcade Street/NY 3
New York State Route 3
New York State Route 3 is a major east–west state highway in New York, United States, that connects central New York to the North Country region near the Canadian border via Adirondack Park. The route extends for between its western terminus at an intersection with NY 104A in the Cayuga...
/NY 12
New York State Route 12
New York State Route 12 is a state highway extending for through central and northern New York in the United States. The southern terminus of the route is at U.S. Route 11 in the town of Chenango in the Southern Tier. The northern terminus is at NY 37 near the village of...
in Watertown
Watertown (city), New York
Watertown is a city in the state of New York and the county seat of Jefferson County. It is situated approximately south of the Thousand Islands. As of the 2010 census, it had a population of 27,023, an increase of 1.2% since 2000. The U.S...
. 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 WWNY includes 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...
, Wheel of Fortune
Wheel of Fortune (U.S. game show)
Wheel of Fortune is an American television game show created by Merv Griffin, which premiered in 1975. Contestants compete to solve word puzzles, similar to those used in Hangman, to win cash and prizes determined by spinning a large wheel. The title refers to the show's giant carnival wheel that...
, 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...
, and 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...
among others. The station can also be seen in Massena
Massena (village), New York
Massena is a village in St. Lawrence County, New York, United States. The population was 13,589 at the 2000 census. The village is named after Andre Massena, one of Napoleon's generals....
on WNYF-LD's 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...
(UHF channel 28.2) from a transmitter in South Colton
Colton, New York
Colton is a town in St. Lawrence County, New York, USA. The population was 1,453 at the 2000 census. The town, originally named Matildaville, is named after early settler Jesse Colton Higley....
along NY 56
New York State Route 56
New York State Route 56 is a north–south state highway in eastern St. Lawrence County, New York, United States. The southern terminus of the route is at an intersection with NY 3 in the town of Colton. Its northern terminus is at a junction with NY 37 southwest of Massena in the...
and WNYF-CD's second digital subchannel (UHF channel 35.2) from WWNY's tower in Carthage.
Digital programming
Sister station WNYF can be seen in high definition on WWNY's second digital subchannel.| Channel | Name | Video | Aspect Aspect ratio The aspect ratio of a shape is the ratio of its longer dimension to its shorter dimension. It may be applied to two characteristic dimensions of a three-dimensional shape, such as the ratio of the longest and shortest axis, or for symmetrical objects that are described by just two measurements,... |
Programming |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7.1 | WWNY-HD | 1080i 1080i 1080i is the shorthand name for a high-definition television mode. The i means interlaced video; 1080i differs from 1080p, in which the p stands for progressive scan. The term 1080i assumes a widescreen aspect ratio of 16:9, implying a frame size of 1920×1080 pixels... |
16:9 16:9 16:9 is an aspect ratio with a width of 16 units and height of 9. Since 2009, it has become the most common aspect ratio for sold televisions and computer monitors and is also the international standard format of HDTV, Full HD, non-HD digital television and analog widescreen television ... |
main WWNY programming/CBS (HD) |
| 7.2 | WWNY-DT2 | 720p 720p 720p is the shorthand name for 1280x720, a category of High-definition television video modes having a resolution of 1080 or 720p and a progressive scan... |
16:9 | WNYF "Fox 28" (HD) |
History
The station signed-on October 22, 19541954 in television
The year 1954 in television involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 1954.-Events:*January 1 – NBC broadcasts the Rose Parade in NTSC color on 21 stations.*January 3 – RAI launched in Italy....
as the first Watertown-based television station. The call sign WCNY-TV stood for Carthage, New York and it had studios in the Champion Hill section of town. It was locally-owned by the Johnson family along with the Watertown Daily Times
Watertown Daily Times
The Watertown Daily Times is a daily newspaper published in Watertown, New York. It provides coverage of Jefferson County, Lewis County, and St. Lawrence County. It was founded in 1861....
and WWNY radio (AM 790 now WTNY
WTNY
WTNY is a news/talk radio station in Watertown, New York. The station broadcasts at 790 kHz and is owned by Stephens Media Group.The station features a local morning news block as well as syndicated personalities Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, Bill O'Reilly, Laura Ingraham, Jim Bohannon, and Coast to...
, and FM 100.5 now silent). The station was a primary CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
affiliate but carried programs from all networks airing at the time (DuMont
DuMont Television Network
The DuMont Television Network, also known as the DuMont Network, DuMont, Du Mont, or Dumont was one of the world's pioneer commercial television networks, rivalling NBC for the distinction of being first overall. It began operation in the United States in 1946. It was owned by DuMont...
, 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...
, and 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...
) through secondary relations. During the late-1950s, WCNY was also briefly affiliated with the NTA Film Network
NTA Film Network
The NTA Film Network was an early American television network founded by Ely Landau in 1956. The network was not a full-time television network like CBS, NBC, or ABC. Rather, it operated on a part-time basis, broadcasting films and several first-run television programs from major Hollywood studios...
. By the mid-1960s, the station benefited from the ratings-dominant CBS programming lineup and established a large viewership base including nearby Canadian cities. In 1965, it changed call letters to WWNY to match its radio sisters.
The WCNY-FM
WCNY-FM
WCNY-FM is a public radio station in Syracuse, New York that plays classical music and is a National Public Radio member station...
/WCNY-TV
WCNY-TV
WCNY-TV is Syracuse, New York's public television station and PBS member station. WCNY-TV's programming is also seen in Utica on low-powered repeater W22DO-D channel 24 Digital...
calls now reside on Central New York NPR
NPR
NPR, formerly National Public Radio, is a privately and publicly funded non-profit membership media organization that serves as a national syndicator to a network of 900 public radio stations in the United States. NPR was created in 1970, following congressional passage of the Public Broadcasting...
/PBS
Public Broadcasting Service
The Public Broadcasting Service is an American non-profit public broadcasting television network with 354 member TV stations in the United States which hold collective ownership. Its headquarters is in Arlington, Virginia....
member stations serving Syracuse
Syracuse, New York
Syracuse is a city in and the county seat of Onondaga County, New York, United States, the largest U.S. city with the name "Syracuse", and the fifth most populous city in the state. At the 2010 census, the city population was 145,170, and its metropolitan area had a population of 742,603...
. From 1958 until 1971, it also aired educational programming through NET
National Educational Television
National Educational Television was an American non-commercial educational public television network in the United States from May 16, 1954 to October 4, 1970...
(becoming PBS
Public Broadcasting Service
The Public Broadcasting Service is an American non-profit public broadcasting television network with 354 member TV stations in the United States which hold collective ownership. Its headquarters is in Arlington, Virginia....
in 1970) provided by the St. Lawrence Valley Educational Television Council
WPBS-TV
WPBS-DT and WNPI-DT are a Public Broadcasting Service member Public television station serving northern New York. Originating in the Watertown/Potsdam region, its primary audience includes Kingston, Ottawa and most of eastern Ontario....
. When the council established its own station, WNPE-TV (now WPBS-DT) in 1971, WWNY donated its original studios to the new station as it had moved to its current location near the Watertown Daily Times offices on Arcade Street in Downtown Watertown in mid-February 1970. The station added the -TV suffix to its call sign on August 24, 1978. The Johnson family sold WWNY to current owner United Communications Corporation in 1981 for $
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
8.2 million.
Until WFYF-TV (now WWTI
WWTI
WWTI is the ABC-affiliated television station for Upstate New York's North Country. Licensed to Watertown, it broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 21 from a transmitter on Hayes Road in Copenhagen. The station can also be seen on Time Warner Cable channel 5 and in high...
) signed-on in 1987 replacing a small WUTR
WUTR
WUTR is the ABC-affiliated television station for Central Upstate New York's Mohawk Valley. Licensed to Utica, it broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 30 from a transmitter at its studios on Smith Hill Road in Deerfield...
repeater on analog UHF channel 50 and taking the ABC affiliation, WWNY was Watertown's only commercial station. As such, it was permitted to carry affiliations with all three networks. As a basic CBS affiliate, WWNY carried the network's full prime time schedule and news programs with a selection of the most popular ABC and NBC shows aired at other hours. The station also aired some Fox programming starting in 1987 while Sunday Fox Sports
NFL on FOX
NFL on Fox is the brand name of the Fox Broadcasting Company's coverage of the National Football League's National Football Conference games, produced by Fox Sports...
National Football League
National Football League
The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...
games aired on WWTI. Viewers in the area could watch other network affiliates on cable such as NBC affiliate WSTM-TV
WSTM-TV
WSTM-TV is the NBC-affiliated television station for Central New York State licensed to Syracuse. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 24 from a transmitter on Sentinel Heights Road in LaFayette. The station can also be seen on Verizon FiOS channel 3 and Time Warner channel 4...
and ABC affiliate WIXT (now WSYR-TV
WSYR-TV
WSYR-TV is the ABC-affiliated television station for Central New York State that is licensed to Syracuse. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 17 from a transmitter on Sevier Road in Pompey. The station can also be seen on Time Warner channel 9 and in high definition on...
) in Syracuse or NBC affiliate WPTZ
WPTZ
WPTZ, virtual channel 5, is an NBC-affiliated television station located in Plattsburgh, New York, USA. WPTZ is owned by Hearst Television, and has its studios in Plattsburgh and transmitter located on Mount Mansfield in Vermont....
in Plattsburgh.
Programming from networks other than CBS was largely phased out during the 1980s. ABC completely disappeared from the schedule when WFYF signed-on. NBC programs (including Today and The Tonight Show
The Tonight Show
The Tonight Show is an American late-night talk show that has aired on NBC since 1954. It is the longest currently running regularly scheduled entertainment program in the United States, and the third longest-running show on NBC, after Meet the Press and Today.The Tonight Show has been hosted by...
) remained on WWNY into the 1980s with some prime time programming (which aired delayed) lasting until 1995. Since then, WSTM in Syracuse had served as the NBC affiliate for most of the 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...
while WPTZ is seen on cable in St. Lawrence County
St. Lawrence County, New York
St. Lawrence County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2010 census, the population was 111,944. The county seat is Canton. The county is named for the Saint Lawrence River, which in turn was named for the Catholic saint on whose Feast day the river was discovered by...
. Fox programs largely disappeared in the early-1990s with the exception of Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...
games from Fox Sports which lasted until 1998.
In 2001, United Communications entered into an agreement with Smith Broadcasting
Smith Media, LLC
Smith Media, LLC, successor to Smith Television, is a broadcasting group co-based in Los Angeles, California and St. Petersburg, Florida, that owns and operates seven television stations across the United States....
to operate Fox affiliate WNYF with transmitters in Watertown and Massena
Massena (town), New York
Massena is a town in St. Lawrence County, New York, United States. The town is on the northern border of the county and is nicknamed "The Gateway to the Fourth Coast". The population was 13,121 at the 2000 census. The town of Massena contains a village also called Massena...
. After a year of joint operation, United Communications took complete ownership of WNYF. In May 2003, WWNY started broadcasting its digital signal on UHF channel 35 and began offering CBS programming in high definition. It then created a new second digital subchannel to offer a digital signal of WNYF as that station did not operate one of its own due to Class A and low-powered signals.
On February 17, 2009, WWNY remained on channel 7 when the analog to digital conversion was completed during a broadcast of The Late Show with David Letterman. Both broadcasts of WWNY and WWTI were set to become digital-only starting on February 17. However, the latter's plans were delayed to June 12 by 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). WWNY-DT's previous digital facilities on channel 35 were eventually re-employed by sister station WNYF to offer Fox in high definition for the first time. At this time, this station is not airing any programming in high definition other shows from CBS.
Coverage area
Its coverage area includes JeffersonJefferson County, New York
Jefferson County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2010 census, the population was 116,229. It is named after Thomas Jefferson, third President of the United States of America, and president at the time the county was created in 1805...
, Lewis
Lewis County, New York
As of the census of 2000, there were 26,944 people, 10,040 households, and 7,309 families residing in the county. The population density was 21 people per square mile . There were 15,134 housing units at an average density of 12 per square mile...
, and St. Lawrence Counties in Northern New York State as well as Kingston
Kingston, Ontario
Kingston, Ontario is a Canadian city located in Eastern Ontario where the St. Lawrence River flows out of Lake Ontario. Originally a First Nations settlement called "Katarowki," , growing European exploration in the 17th Century made it an important trading post...
and Brockville
Brockville, Ontario
Brockville is a city in Eastern Ontario, Canada, in the Thousand Islands region. Though it serves as the seat of the United Counties of Leeds and Grenville, Brockville is politically independent and is grouped with Leeds and Grenville for census purposes only.Known as the "City of the 1000...
in Southeastern Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. The most distant analog reception for the station fell just short of Ottawa approximately a hundred miles distant. In the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, the outer limit of WWNY coverage falls near Massena
Massena (village), New York
Massena is a village in St. Lawrence County, New York, United States. The population was 13,589 at the 2000 census. The village is named after Andre Massena, one of Napoleon's generals....
and Tupper Lake to the east. It was distributed by cable
Cable television
Cable television is a system of providing television programs to consumers via radio frequency signals transmitted to televisions through coaxial cables or digital light pulses through fixed optical fibers located on the subscriber's property, much like the over-the-air method used in traditional...
systems in Ottawa from the late-1960s until the early-1980s but signal strength was poor and the station was dropped after area television stations complained that WWNY was broadcasting Ottawa commercials and competing with them for revenue.
At the time, the station had a sales office in Canada and was able to convince advertisers in Ontario to buy ads. The Ottawa cable companies eventually dropped WWNY and set up a series of microwave
Microwave
Microwaves, a subset of radio waves, have wavelengths ranging from as long as one meter to as short as one millimeter, or equivalently, with frequencies between 300 MHz and 300 GHz. This broad definition includes both UHF and EHF , and various sources use different boundaries...
relay towers to carry American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
networks from affiliates in Rochester, New York
Rochester, New York
Rochester is a city in Monroe County, New York, south of Lake Ontario in the United States. Known as The World's Image Centre, it was also once known as The Flour City, and more recently as The Flower City...
. These were later replaced by satellite feeds from Detroit. For many years, WWNY's largest viewership was in Kingston because for nearly twenty years it was the only reliable over-the-air analog signal aside from the local CBC Television
CBC Television
CBC Television is a Canadian television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcaster.Although the CBC is supported by public funding, the television network supplements this funding with commercial advertising revenue, in contrast to CBC Radio which are...
affiliate CKWS-TV
CKWS-TV
CKWS is an affiliate of the CBC Television Network in Kingston, Ontario, providing coverage to Eastern Ontario from Campbellford to Morrisburg and from Perth to Oswego, New York in the United States....
. Prior to 2005, WWNY was also carried on cable in Belleville, Ontario
Belleville, Ontario
Belleville is a city located at the mouth of the Moira River on the Bay of Quinte in Southern Ontario, Canada, in the Quebec City-Windsor Corridor. It is the seat of Hastings County, but is politically independent of it. and the centre of the Bay of Quinte Region...
.
News operation
On the same night it began airing in 1954, WWNY produced a five minute local update at 11:15. For its entire existence, the station has held the number one spot in area Nielsen ratingsNielsen Ratings
Nielsen ratings are the audience measurement systems developed by Nielsen Media Research, in an effort to determine the audience size and composition of television programming in the United States...
by a wide margin. WWNY has traditionally been the dominant outlet in the North Country because it had the market to itself until WWTI signed-on in 1987. Even after that station began maintaining a minimal local news presence for several years, WWNY remained the most-watched and highest-rated station. In 1981, this station's weekday morning show only consisted of two five minute cut-ins. As late as 1998, it was broadcasting for thirty minutes. In 2004, the station began producing ninety minutes of news on weekday mornings. Unlike most CBS affiliates in the Eastern Time Zone
Eastern Time Zone
The Eastern Time Zone of the United States and Canada is a time zone that falls mostly along the east coast of North America. Its UTC time offset is −5 hrs during standard time and −4 hrs during daylight saving time...
, WWNY still does not offer a full two-hour weekday morning show and/or newscasts in the weeknight 5 o'clock hour.
WWTI's original news team was quite small compared with other big three stations operating news departments. Its first attempt at airing newscasts and competing with WWNY ceased in early-1991. Four years later, a second attempt was established and WWTI maintained a small news team similar to the previous effort. After the Ackerley Group
Ackerley Group
The Ackerley Group was an American media company that owned several television stations that was taken over by Clear Channel Communications in 2001. Its chairman was Seattle-based businessman Barry Ackerley.-Stations list :...
acquired that station, it became more reliant on content originating from its sister outlets in Upstate New York particularly flagship WIXT in Syracuse.
On April 11, 2001, WWNY began airing a 35 minute weeknight prime time broadcast at 10 on WNYF called 7 News Tonight on Fox. However, it was only seen by a handful of viewers able to receive that station's two low-powered over-the-air signals because WNYF was not yet being offered on cable. An agreement with Time Warner Cable in Fall 2001 placed the station on the system and the prime time news debuted for the rest of the area on October 4. Having never successfully competed with WWNY, WWTI's nightly newscasts were canceled in 2004.
For a short time afterward, that station featured a 24 Hour News Source
24 Hour News Source
The 24 Hour News Source brand was a common name used by American television stations starting in the early 1990s for brief hourly news updates, usually running 30 seconds to a minute in length. At its peak, dozens of stations across the U.S. were producing these brief news updates...
-style series of short hourly news updates seen throughout the day. After this, it continued to air several daily news and weather updates. In December 2006, WWTI added a news and weather update on weeknights known as 5 at 5. On June 5, 2009, the station's news department was shut down completely after owner Newport Television
Newport Television
Newport Television, LLC is a television station holding company founded by Providence Equity Partners and Sandy DiPasquale in 2007 to acquire the television stations owned by Clear Channel Communications. In September 2007, Newport agreed to sell KFTY and KVOS-TV to LK Station Group LLC for $26.6...
implemented across the board cuts. Even though WWTI lost a Watertown-based news operation, it began simulcasting WSYR's nightly newscast at 11 through a news share agreement. On September 8, 2009, the station began simulcasting WSYR's weekday morning and nightly 6 o'clock broadcasts. Occasionally, a reporter based in the North Country will contribute content to WSYR but most local coverage is seen on WWTI's website consisting of short headlines and features.
WNYF currently simulcasts the 6 o'clock hour of WWNY's weekday morning news. It then offers a second hour at 7 seen exclusively on the Fox affiliate while this station airs The Early Show
The Early Show
The Early Show is an American television morning news talk show broadcast by CBS from New York City. The program airs live from 7 to 9 a.m. Eastern Time Monday through Friday; most affiliates in the Central, Mountain, and Pacific time zones air the show on tape-delay from 7 to 9 a.m. local time. ...
. The simulcast and separate show is known on WNYF as 7 News This Morning on Fox. There is no weekday morning or noon meteorologist; news anchor Beth Hall presents a forecast from Accuweather
AccuWeather
AccuWeather is an American media company that provides for-profit weather forecasting services worldwide.AccuWeather was founded in 1962 by Joel N. Myers, then a Penn State graduate student working on degrees in meteorology. His first customer was a gas company in Pennsylvania. While running the...
during these segments. During the nightly evening weather forecasts, the station features a live National Weather Service
National Weather Service
The National Weather Service , once known as the Weather Bureau, is one of the six scientific agencies that make up the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration of the United States government...
weather radar
Weather radar
Weather radar, also called weather surveillance radar and Doppler weather radar, is a type of radar used to locate precipitation, calculate its motion, estimate its type . Modern weather radars are mostly pulse-Doppler radars, capable of detecting the motion of rain droplets in addition to the...
based in Montague
Montague, New York
Montague is a town in Lewis County, New York, United States. The population was 108 at the 2000 census. The town is named after Mary Montague Pierpont, the daughter of the original owner....
's Parkers section. WWNY remains the only station operating a news department based in the North Country but Your News Now
Your News Now
YNN ' is the brand for Time Warner Cable's 24-hour cable news television channels.The channels operate on the half-hour wheel format popularized by CNN Headline News. Weather reports are aired every 10 minutes and a Top Stories or Your News in a Minute is aired at the top and bottom of every hour,...
(operated by Time Warner Cable) covers Watertown and Massena from a Syracuse-based newsroom with regional content.
Newscast Titles
- TV-7 News (1970s-1981)
- Newswatch 7 (1981-1986)
- News 7 (1986-1991)
- News Sight 7 (1991-1996)
- 7 News (1996-present)
News team
Anchors- Jeff Cole - weekday morning news
- Beth Hall - weekday morning news also weekday morning and noon weather
- Diane Rutherford - weekday news at noon also "Your Turn" and "Academic All-Star" segments producer
- Anne Richter - Assistant News DirectorNews DirectorA news director is an individual at a broadcast station or network or a newspaper who is in charge of the news department. In local news, the news director is typically in charge of the entire news staff, including journalists, news presenters, photographers, copy writers, television producers,...
and weeknight news at 6 (also producer) - Brian Ashley - weeknight news at 6
- Jeff Nelson - weeknight news at 10 and 11 (also "Arts All-Star" segment producer)
- John Moore - weekend news and reporter
- John Kubis - weeknight meteorologist
- Joe LaPlante - weekend meteorologist
- Mel Busler - weeknight sports and "Athlete of the Week" segment producer
- Rob Krone - weekend sports
Reporters
- Craig Thornton - "Craig's To Do List" segment producer
- Chris Manning - "TV Diner" segment producer
- Art Ginsburg - "Mr. FoodMr. FoodArt Ginsburg, commonly known as Mr. Food, is a television chef and best selling author of cookbooks who emphasizes simple recipes. He is the originator of "quick & easy cooking" who, for the past 30+ years, has paved the way for TV food personalities who have followed. With his enthusiastic style,...
" segment producer - John Friot - St. Lawrence CountySt. Lawrence County, New YorkSt. Lawrence County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2010 census, the population was 111,944. The county seat is Canton. The county is named for the Saint Lawrence River, which in turn was named for the Catholic saint on whose Feast day the river was discovered by...
- Jude Seymour - politics
- Cindy Habeeb - health
- Katie Alexander - general
- Jessica Shaw - general
- Sarah Compo - general
- Jackson MurphyJackson MurphyJackson Murphy, known as Lights Camera Jackson is a teenaged movie critic, and author of the popular online column . He brands himself the "Kid Critic", offering family movie reviews on his website, and on television and radio...
- film reviewer