WNNE
 | |
| |
|---|---|
| City | Montpelier, Vermont |
| Channels | |
| Branding | The Valley CW |
| Programming | |
| Affiliations | The CW(viaThe CW Plus,2018–present) |
| Ownership | |
| Owner |
|
| WPTZ,WMUR-TV | |
| History | |
First air date | September 27, 1978(inHartford, Vermont;license moved to Montpelier in 2018[2]) |
Former channel number(s) |
|
| NBC(1978–2018;semi-satelliteof WPTZ after 1990) | |
Call signmeaning | Northern New England |
| Technical information[3] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 73344 |
| ERP | 650kW |
| HAAT | 845 m (2,772 ft) |
| Transmitter coordinates | 44°31′32.1″N72°48′56.4″W/ 44.525583°N 72.815667°W |
| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Website | www |
WNNE(channel 31), brandedThe Valley CW,is atelevision stationlicensed toMontpelier, Vermont,United States, serving theBurlington, Vermont–Plattsburgh, New Yorkmarketas an affiliate ofThe CW Plus.It is owned byHearst Televisionalongside Plattsburgh-licensedNBCaffiliateWPTZ(channel 5). WNNE and WPTZ share studios on Community Drive inSouth Burlington, Vermont,with a secondary studio andnews bureauon Cornelia Street in Plattsburgh; through achannel sharing agreement,the two stations transmit using WPTZ's spectrum from an antenna on Vermont's highest peak,Mount Mansfield.
Overview[edit]
Originally licensed toHartford, Vermont,and established as a separate station in its own right, WNNE previously served as asemi-satelliteof WPTZ, serving theUpper Connecticut River Valleyof east-central Vermont and west-centralNew Hampshire.WNNE broadcast the same program schedule as its parent station, but aired some limited advertising specific to the Upper Valley that was added to WPTZ's programming.Master controland most internal operations were based at the WPTZ studios in Plattsburgh.
WNNE primarily served the southern and eastern portions of the Plattsburgh–BurlingtonmarketincludingSullivanandGraftoncounties in west-central New Hampshire. Additional viewership came from surrounding counties in the southern New Hampshire sub-market which is actually part of theGreater Bostondesignated market area. As a result, WNNE was within reach of the home territories of sister stationsWMUR-TVinManchester, New Hampshire,andWMTWinPortland, Maine,as well as Hearst'sNew Englandflagship,WCVB-TVinBoston.
History[edit]
Theanalogchannel 31 allocation in the Upper Valley was first occupied byWRLHinWest Lebanon, New Hampshire,an NBC affiliate which operated from 1966 to 1968 and from 1971 to 1974. (The WRLH call letters arecurrently usedby aFoxaffiliate inRichmond, Virginia,owned by theSinclair Broadcast Group.)
The Taft Broadcasting Corporation, the same company who founded KGUL-TV inGalveston, Texas(nowKHOUinHouston), but unrelated to the largerTaft Broadcasting CompanyofCincinnati,obtained a permit for a new channel 31 that was by then reallocated to Hartford in 1977. Initially, this new television station was assigned the call letters WMVW but went on-the-air September 27, 1978, as WNNE-TV from its facility inWhite River Junction.[4][5][6]The station was granted a waiver by theFederal Communications Commission(FCC) to identify as "Hartford–Hanover"in 1980[7]and the "-TV" suffix was subsequently dropped at a later time.
For its first twelve years, WNNE was a full-fledged station running its own syndicated lineup as well as network programming from NBC. On December 17, 1990,Heritage Media(then-owner of WPTZ) bought WNNE and turned it into asemi-satelliteof WPTZ.[8]For a time, most programming still originated out of WNNE, but certain shows were relayed from Plattsburgh through a newmicrowaverelay system. In 2000, WPTZ moved WNNE's master control to its studios in Plattsburgh. This move would be followed by WNNE's website being integrated into a separate section of WPTZ's website in July 2001.[9]On some cable systems in Central Vermont (such asCharter Communicationssystems servingBarre,St. JohnsburyandChelsea;[10]and Comcast inRutland[11]), both WPTZ and WNNE were carried even though the two stations' schedules were identical.
On July 20, 2005, WNNE began broadcasting astandard definitiondigital signal on UHF channel 25 from a transmitter on WVTA's nearby tower on Mount Ascutney. WNNE did not carry any of the additionaldigital subchannelsthat have been carried by WPTZ, includingNBC Weather Plus(despite this, weather graphics seen on the stations' newscasts carried the "NewsChannel 5 & 31 Weather Plus" branding),This TV,MeTV,[12]or The CW,[13][14][15]thoughComcastdoes carry WPTZ's subchannels in the Upper Valley.
During the analog era and some of the digital-only broadcasting period, WNNE operated arepeater,W65AM, on channel 65 in Lebanon. W65AM had a transmitter west of Lebanon on Crafts Hill. W65AM had its license cancelled by the FCC on March 19, 2010.[16]This translator was within reach of a former analog repeater operated by Portland sister station WMTW, W27CP (channel 27) in White River Junction, which was established in 2005 after WMTW moved its main transmitter fromMount Washingtoncloser to theGreater Portlandarea in Maine. That signal had a transmitter located in Lebanon's Mascoma section. FCC regulations do not allow two or more stations from two or more different markets have coverage in the same location (in this case, White River Junction); this rule does not apply to repeaters, so WMTW's translator was allowed to operate. Hearst sold W27CP toNew Hampshire Public Televisionin 2009 after taking it silent following the loss of its lease of the transmitter site.
On August 2, 2016, WNNE quietly dropped its "Channel 31" branding and logo; the station then used WPTZ's "NBC 5" branding and logo with no separate branding, and was only mentioned during WPTZ'slegal IDs.However, it still aired separate commercials.
Spectrum sale and channel sharing agreement[edit]
In the FCC'sincentive auction,WNNE sold its spectrum for $50,464,592 and announced that it would enter into a post-auction channel sharing agreement.[17]WNNE now channel-shares with sister station WPTZ;[1]as the latter station's signal does not sufficiently reach Hartford, WNNE changed its city of license toMontpelier, Vermont.[2]The station shut down operations on its pre-auction channel and commenced channel-sharing operations, effective July 22, 2018;[18]on July 20, Hearst Television announced that WNNE would become the market's CW affiliate following the move.[19]This was done by re-numbering that station's former WPTZ subchannel on 5.2 to WNNE's 31.1 virtual channel. This resolves the concerns raised years before regarding a lack of access to the WPTZ sub-channels for WNNE viewers, yet it also limits viewers in the Upper Valley to cable and satellite viewing options for NBC programming.
In August 2019, Hearst Television upgraded WNNE to the1080ifull HD picture format;[20]prior to this upgrade, programming on this station was being presented in720p.
2019 antenna fire[edit]
On November 19, 2019, WNNE, WPTZ andCBSaffiliateWCAX-TV(channel 3) were knocked off the air by a fire of their combined antenna at their transmitter facility. The cause of the fire was unknown. The outage affected over-the-air and satellite viewers; cable subscribers continued to receive the three stations via direct fiber feeds.[21][22]
News operation[edit]
Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, WNNE operated a fairly large news department for a station of its size. The original anchor team consisted of Mike Harding with news, John Yacavone providing weather, and sports from Rick Karle. On-air personnel routinely performed multiple tasks often shooting, editing, and producing their entire stories for air. During the week, the station offered local news and weather updates from 7 to 9a.m. at 25 and 55 minutes past the hour duringTodayon weekday mornings in lieu of a traditional broadcast.
Full newscasts aired weekdays at noon (for thirty minutes) as well as weeknights at 6 and 11p.m. In addition, there were also prime time weather forecast cut-ins provided during network programming. However, it did not produce any weekend news shows. All newscasts aired out of WNNE's studios in the basement of the Pines Motel that later became a Regency Inn & Suites property.[23]
In the mid-1980s, NBC wantedsatellite truckcoverage in theNortheastern United States,particularly New England. Due to WNNE's central location, it was considered a perfect fit and a new satellite vehicle partially funded by the network was stationed at the outlet's White River Junction studios. The station also maintained its own satellite truck that assisted in local news gathering efforts in the Upper Valley and the surrounding areas. In the mid-1990s, both satellite trucks including the network-owned vehicle were acquired by WPTZ. The latter actually remained in service with a WPTZ logo until 2003.[24]
After being acquired by Heritage Media in 1990, WNNE's local operations were significantly cut back. This eventually culminated in the cancellation of the station's newscasts in June 2001. By then, it had eliminated the weekday morning and weekday noon newscasts with the station simulcasting only the 6 a.m. hour of WPTZ's morning show andTodaycut-ins. WNNE's noon show would be replaced with aninfomercial.[25][26]After dropping full separate local broadcasts on weeknights, the station began inserting updates originating from its White River Junction studios during the WPTZ newscast simulcasts. There were also separate Upper Valley-specific weather forecasts provided. To further establish a link between WNNE and WPTZ, the microwave link between the two was upgraded in order to allow live news coverage from WNNE to air on WPTZ. This move also allowed WPTZ's reports from Montpelier andNew York Stateto be seen on WNNE.
In 2007, the weeknight news updates were dropped as well. Since then, WNNE has functioned as WPTZ's "Upper Valley Newsroom" and is referred to as such during all newscasts. After this change, there was only a separate title opening that remained indicating WNNE was ever a separate station. Eventually, the news opening was dropped as well. Previously during all local news programming, the station superimposed its channel 31 logo over the channel 5 logo in the right hand corner of the screen. On occasion when WNNE has technical problems, WPTZ's logo peeked through. Contributions by WNNE to WPTZ's newscasts included video footage and a live headline (weeknights at 5:30) from its White River Junction studios (which was staffed with a full-time multimedia journalist). In addition to the Upper Valley and another Vermont bureau inColchestercovering Burlington, WPTZ also airs national news from aWashington, D.C.,bureau that is operated by Hearst. It employs several reporters who give live reports to the various company-owned affiliates.
Despite including "HD" in its logo, all newscasts were aired inpillarboxed4:3standard definition until April 26, 2011, when WPTZ finally upgraded to16:9enhanced definitionwidescreen.Although not truly high definition, broadcasts match theaspect ratioof HD television screens. That station was one of six remaining outlets owned by Hearst that had yet to make the upgrade to local news in enhanced definition or full HD-level. For a period of time thereafter, the simulcasts on WNNE remained in pillarboxed 4:3 due to lack of a high definition-capable master control for WNNE at WPTZ's studios in Plattsburgh. This has since been upgraded as well.
On August 2, 2016, following the change to "NBC 5", the newscasts were retitled toNBC 5 News;in addition, the station no longer superimposed the channel 31 logo and it began using the "NBC 5" logo during all of its local news programming. Upon the channel share and transfer of the CW+ affiliation from WPTZ-DT2, WNNE now carries WPTZ's 10 p.m. prime time newscast, a half-hour program simulcast on WPTZ's MeTV subchannel.
In August 2018, WPTZ's Upper Valley bureau moved from White River Junction to a new space on Mechanic Street in Lebanon, New Hampshire.[27]In July 2019, WPTZ's Vermont facilities moved from Colchester to a new facility in South Burlington; production of the station's newscasts were concurrently relocated to the new facility from the Plattsburgh studio, which remains as a secondary facility.[28]
Notable former on-air staff[edit]
- Tom Caron– sports anchor (now atNESN)
- Brett Haber– sports anchor (formerly atWUSA)
Technical information[edit]
Subchannel[edit]
| Channel | Res. | Aspect | Short name | Programming |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 31.1 | 1080i | 16:9 | WNNE-HD | The CW Plus |
Analog-to-digital conversion[edit]
WNNE discontinued regular programming on its analog signal, overUHFchannel 31, on February 17, 2009, the original target date on which full-power television stations in the United States were totransition from analog to digital broadcastsunder federal mandate (which was later pushed back to June 12, 2009). The station's digital signal remained on its pre-transition UHF channel 25,[30]usingvirtual channel31.
References[edit]
- ^ab"Licensing and Management System".enterpriseefiling.fcc.gov.
- ^ab"WNNE Community of License Change Exhibit".
- ^"Facility Technical Data for WNNE".Licensing and Management System.Federal Communications Commission.
- ^Broadcasting Yearbook 1978(PDF).1978. p. B-116.
- ^Broadcasting Yearbook 1979(PDF).1979. p. B-113.
- ^Broadcasting Yearbook 1981(PDF).1981. p. B-117.
- ^"Application Search Details (1)".CDBS Public Access.Federal Communications Commission.RetrievedFebruary 18,2010.
- ^"Application Search Details (2)".CDBS Public Access.Federal Communications Commission.RetrievedFebruary 18,2010.
- ^"TheChamplainChannel.com - WNNE".Archived fromthe originalon August 1, 2001.RetrievedAugust 1,2001.
- ^PerZap2it,zip codes 05819 (St. Johnsbury) and 05038 (Chelsea).
- ^PerZap2it,zip codes 05701.
- ^Me-TV Adds WPTZ Burlington, KVLY Fargo,TVNewsCheck,November 14, 2012.
- ^"Official WPTZ-TV announcement of plans to launch the CW Network | Vermont - WPTZ Home".www.wptz.com.Archived fromthe originalon November 12, 2013.RetrievedMay 22,2022.
- ^"The CW Network joins the WPTZ Family | WPTZ News - WPTZ Home".Archived fromthe originalon October 4, 2013.RetrievedMarch 4,2013.
- ^Staff, NBC5 News (June 11, 2015)."How to find the CW and MeTV".WPTZ.
{{cite web}}:CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^"Station Search Details".licensing.fcc.gov.
- ^"FCC Broadcast Television Spectrum Incentive Auction Auction 1001 Winning Bids"(PDF).Federal Communications Commission.April 4, 2017.RetrievedNovember 20,2017.
- ^ab"Program alert: Rescan your TV to continue receiving WNNE's signal".WPTZ.August 1, 2018.RetrievedAugust 1,2018.
- ^"WNNE MONTPELIER, VT".www.rabbitears.info.
- ^Murray, Elizabeth (November 20, 2019)."Transmitter fire on Mt. Mansfield knocks out NBC5, WCAX broadcast. When will they be back?".Burlington Free Press.Gannett Company.RetrievedNovember 23,2019.
- ^Balderston, Michael (November 22, 2019)."Tower Fire Keeping Vermont's WCAX, WPTZ Off The Air".TV Technology.RetrievedNovember 23,2019.
- ^"WNNE TV 31 - Hanover/Hartford".Archivedfrom the original on February 23, 1999.
- ^"TV Hat: WNNE (NBC)".October 27, 2009. Archived fromthe originalon October 27, 2009.
- ^"News 31".WNNE Online.Archived fromthe originalon October 19, 2000.RetrievedNovember 25,2009.
- ^"WNNE Programming Guide".WNNE Online.Archivedfrom the original on October 26, 2000.RetrievedNovember 25,2009.
- ^"NBC5 announces new Vermont & New Hampshire locations".MyNBC5.com.Hearst Television.June 12, 2018.RetrievedNovember 1,2018.
- ^Delise, McKenzie (July 27, 2019)."WPTZ newscasts now out of VT".Press-Republican.RetrievedJuly 29,2019.
- ^"RabbitEars TV Query for WNNE".www.rabbitears.info.
- ^"DTV Tentative Channel Designations for the First and the Second Rounds"(PDF).Archived fromthe original(PDF)on August 29, 2013.RetrievedMarch 24,2012.
