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WPNY-LD

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

WPNY-LD
CityUtica, New York
Channels
BrandingMyWPNYTV
Programming
AffiliationsMyNetworkTV
Ownership
Owner
WUTR,WFXV
History
First air date
January 1, 1988
(36 years ago)
(1988-01-01)
Former call signs
  • W11BS (1988–1995)
  • WUPN-LP (1995–1996)
  • WPNY-LP (1996–2021)
Former channel number(s)
  • Analog:11 (VHF, 1988–2021)
Call signmeaning
"UPN, New York"
Technical information[1]
Licensing authority
FCC
Facility ID34335
ClassLD
ERP0.16kW
HAAT178.6 m (586 ft)
Transmitter coordinates43°8′41.1″N75°10′32.2″W/ 43.144750°N 75.175611°W/43.144750; -75.175611
Translator(s)WUTR20.2 Utica
Links
Public license information
LMS
Websitewww.cnyhomepage.com

WPNY-LD(channel 11) is alow-power television stationinUtica, New York,United States, affiliated withMyNetworkTV.It is owned byNexstar Media GroupalongsideFox/CW+affiliateWFXV(channel 33); Nexstar also provides certain services toABCaffiliateWUTR(channel 20) underjoint salesandshared servicesagreements (JSA/SSA) withMission Broadcasting.The three stations share studios onSmith Hill RoadinDeerfield(with a Uticamailingaddress), where WPNY-LD's transmitter is also located.

The station broadcast on VHFanalogchannel 11 until theFCC-mandated shutdown of analog LPTV stations on July 13, 2021. It was licensed for digital broadcasting on the same channel effective July 23, 2021, and began digital operations later that year on November 30. Due to WPNY-LD's very low-power signal, its broadcasting radius only covers the immediate Utica area. Therefore, it is simulcast on WUTR's seconddigital subchannel(20.2)—which transmits from a separate facility on Smith Hill Road, shared with WFXV—in order to reach the entire market.

History

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The station signed on January 1, 1988, with the call sign W11BS licensed toLittle Falls.It was a low-power translator and general entertainmentindependentoutlet. The station joinedUPNas a charter affiliate on January 16, 1995. On December 22 of that year, W11BS upgraded to low-power status and adopted the WUPN-LP calls. However, less than a year later, the station became WPNY-LP after a full poweroutletinGreensboro, North Carolina,took the call letters.

At some point in time, WPNY became a sister outlet toWFXVand began to be housed at the latter's facility on Greenfield Road inRome.In 1996, both stations were sold to Sullivan Broadcasting which would itself be bought out by theSinclair Broadcast Grouponly two years later. Instead of being acquired by that company, WPNY and WFXV were purchased by Quorum Broadcasting founded by former Sullivan head Dan Sullivan.[2]

The stations were acquired by current owner Nexstar in 2003. It was announced in December of that year thatClear Channel Communicationswould sell WUTR to Nexstar partner company Mission Broadcasting. The sale was approved by theFederal Communications Commission(FCC) on April 1, 2004, at which point Nexstar took over operations of WUTR under local marketing and joint sales agreements through the company's operational arrangement with Mission. Although the ABC affiliate was the subordinate entity, WPNY and WFXV were consolidated into WUTR's Deerfield studios.

In 2006, UPN andThe WBmerged into one network calledThe CW.Several weeks later,Foxannounced the establishment of another network calledMyNetworkTV,for the benefit of those UPN or WB affiliates that did not earn a CW affiliation. Since "WBU",the cable-only WB affiliate operated byNBCaffiliateWKTVthroughThe WB 100+,was the default choice to take the CW affiliation, WPNY-LP chose to associate with MyNetworkTV, and promptly did so on September 5, 2006.

Newscast

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After WUTR's sale to Mission Broadcasting, speculation began circulating that Nexstar would establish a combined news department for WUTR, WFXV and WPNY in order to take on longtime dominant WKTV. Progress was not made until March 31, 2011, when the company announced it would launch a news operation for the three stations by mid-September. Nexstar invested $1 million for new equipment and the hiring of twelve employees.

Eyewitness News at 6,seen weeknights at 6 p.m. on WUTR, was repeated at 7 p.m. on WPNY from September 2011 to September 2017.[3][4][5][6][7][8]It was the Mohawk Valley region's only local newscast in its time slot, since there was no such offering on WKTV. The quiet cancellation of this rebroadcast without advance notice left no local news programming on WPNY's schedule.

References

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  1. ^"Facility Technical Data for WPNY-LD".Licensing and Management System.Federal Communications Commission.
  2. ^Fybush, Scott (July 9, 1998)."North East RadioWatch".RetrievedApril 1,2011.
  3. ^"More News is Good News - Starting from scratch".Archived fromthe originalon October 5, 2011.RetrievedSeptember 19,2023.
  4. ^says, JMyrleFuller (March 31, 2011)."Utica's WUTR to Revive Local News Operation • CNYRadio.com / CNYTVNews.com".cnyradio.com.
  5. ^"Company has not had news since 2003".Archived fromthe originalon June 20, 2010.RetrievedSeptember 19,2023.
  6. ^"Unknown page".[permanent dead link]
  7. ^"WFXV, WUTR AND WPNY ELEVATE UTICA COMMUNITY CONTENT OFFERINGS WITH THE ADDITION OF NEW LOCAL NEWS PROGRAMMING".Archived fromthe originalon October 5, 2011.RetrievedSeptember 19,2023.
  8. ^"Nexstar to Launch News in Utica on Sept. 12".August 15, 2011.
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