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WSYR-TV

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Coordinates:42°56′42″N76°1′27″W/ 42.94500°N 76.02417°W/42.94500; -76.02417
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This article is about the television station currently known as WSYR. For the station originally known as WSYR until 1980, seeWSTM-TV.
"WIXT-TV" redirects here. For theAM radio stationwhich currently uses this callsign, seeWIXT (AM).
WSYR-TV
Channels
BrandingNewsChannel 9
Programming
Affiliations
Ownership
Owner
History
First air date
September 9, 1962(61 years ago)(1962-09-09)
Former call signs
  • WNYS-TV (1962–1978)
  • WIXT (1978–1982)
  • WIXT-TV (1982–2005)
Former channel number(s)
  • Analog:9 (VHF,1962–2009)
Call signmeaning
Syracuse; adopted fromWSYR radio
Technical information[1]
Licensing authority
FCC
Facility ID73113
ERP
  • 105kW
  • 285 kW (CP)
HAAT402 m (1,319 ft)
Transmitter coordinates42°56′42″N76°1′27″W/ 42.94500°N 76.02417°W/42.94500; -76.02417
Links
Public license information
Websitewww.localsyr

WSYR-TV(channel 9) is atelevision stationinSyracuse, New York,United States, affiliated withABC.Owned byNexstar Media Group,the station maintains studios on Bridge Street (offNY 290) inEast Syracuse(avillageofDeWitt), and its transmitter is located on Sevier Road inPompey, New York.

WWTI(channel 50) inWatertownoperates as asemi-satelliteof WSYR-TV. As such, it clears all network programming as provided by its parent andsimulcastsmost of WSYR-TV's newscasts, but airs a separate offering ofsyndicatedprogramming; there are also separatestation identificationsand commercial inserts. WWTI maintains its own studios on Court Street in downtown Watertown.

History[edit]

Channel 9 was the last of Syracuse's major network affiliates to sign on, doing so September 9, 1962, after a channel shuffle involving rivalWHEN-TVandRochester'sWROC-TVallowed a thirdanalogVHFstation in Syracuse. The original call letters were WNYS-TV (now assigned to Syracuse'sMyNetworkTVaffiliate). It signed-on under the ownership of a group of local investors. The station has always been an ABC affiliate. Channel 9's original studios were located in the basement of theShoppingtownshopping center on Erie Boulevard in DeWitt. Fire overtook the studios in April 1967, forcing the station to temporarily move toWCNY-TV(channel 24)'s studios inLiverpooluntil its facilities were rebuilt.[2]

In 1969, then-ownerW. R. G. Baker Television Corporationapplied for a WNYS-TV translator on channel 7,[3]W07BA; this facility, serving Syracuse and nearbyNedrow,came on the air in 1972.[4]W07BA, which later moved its second city of license to DeWitt, remained a repeater of channel 9 until 2014; its license was canceled on March 24, 2014.[5]The station was purchased byThe Outlet Companyin 1971.

First call sign change[edit]

The Outlet Company sold WNYS in 1978 to WNYS Acquisition Corp., which was a joint partnership ofCoca-Cola's New York bottling division and formerWashington Postpresident Larry H. Israel. The call sign was then changed to WIXT on March 1 with "IX" standing forRoman numeral9. TheAckerley Groupbought the station in 1982 and the -TV suffix was added to the WIXT calls. The station moved its studios to the current location on Bridge Street in 1985.

In 1999, WIXT-TV implemented adigital central-castingcontrol hub for Ackerley's New York State cluster that also includedWHAM-TVin Rochester,WWTIinWatertown,WIVTinBinghamton,WETM-TVinElmira,andWUTRinUticato help with the upcoming digital television transition. The central-casting still exists today; however, now that Nexstar owns WSYR-TV as well as most of the other stations in New York State that were previously owned by Ackerley, the hub is in the process of being relocated to now sister stationWWLPinSpringfield, Massachusetts.[citation needed]Other stations throughout Ackerley's New York cluster have received updated studios.

Second call sign change[edit]

Clear Channel Communications (nowiHeartMedia) bought Ackerley in 2001, putting WIXT-TV under the same ownership asWSYRradio (570 AM). The call sign was then changed to the current WSYR-TV on June 13, 2005. The change caused a small amount of confusion, as the WSYR-TV call letters had last resided on rivalNBCaffiliateWSTM-TVfrom its sign-on in 1950 until its sale to theTimes Mirror Companyin 1980. The WIXT (AM) call letters were moved to sister stationWLFHinLittle Falls, New York.This was part of a strategy that Clear Channel would use the older callsign for an existing TV station they co-owned with the radio stations, the others wereWOAI-TVinSan Antonioand WHAM-TV in Rochester.[6][7]

On April 20, 2007, Clear Channel entered into an agreement to sell its entire television division toNewport Television,a broadcasting group established byProvidence Equity Partners.[8]WSYR radio was not part of the sale as it remains owned and operated by iHeartMedia. Nevertheless, the WSYR-TV call letters were retained.

WSYR-DT2 was affiliated with theVariety Television Network(operated by Newport Television) until its demise in early-January 2009. This station once served on cable as the default ABC affiliate in Northern New York State communities such asOgdensburg,Potsdam,Massena,andMalone.Since then, most of those areas have been replaced with WSYR-TV's sister station and fellow ABC affiliate WWTI. However, both were available in these markets for a short time withWVNYfromBurlington, Vermontnow serving Malone.

On July 19, 2012, Newport Television announced the sale of WSYR-TV and all of its stations in New York State exceptWXXA-TVinAlbanyandWHAM-TVin Rochester to theNexstar Broadcasting Groupas part of a 22-station deal that involved Nexstar,Sinclair Broadcast GroupandCox Media Group.[9]The transaction was completed on December 3.[10]

Programming[edit]

Past programming preemptions and deferrals[edit]

In October 1987, WIXT decided to preempt ABC's airings ofFull Housein order to air first-run syndicated airings ofSilver Spoons,feeling the latter show was of superior quality.[11]

Bridge Street[edit]

In 2004, WIXT-TV premiered the area's only locally produced daytime talk/entertainment/lifestyle magazine show known asBridge Street(named from the address of the studios). The program airs weekdays at 10 a.m. from a secondary set. In July 2008, 46-year station veteran Mike Price retired. The station's news studio was renamed the "Mike Price Studio" on July 9 in dedication to his work onBridge Street.On December 29,Maureen Green(a former WSYR-TV anchor) was featured as a substitute co-host onBridge Streetfilling in for Rick Gary. This was the first time Green was seen on the airwaves since being fired from her position at WTVH as main weeknight anchor in December 2007.

On March 20, 2009, Keith Kobland (former weekday morning and noon anchor on WTVH until its consolidation with WSTM-TV) joined Carrie Lazarus to co-hostBridge Streetfilling in for Rick Gary. On April 24, WSYR-TV announced that Rick Gary had left the station after serving for more than two decades. Dan Cummings and Keith Kobland joined Carrie Lazarus as temporary replacements until February 1, 2010, whenBridge Streetwas relaunched with a new look hosted by Chris Brandolino with an occasional guest. The show was then hosted by TeNesha Murphy and Sistina Giordano as of January 2017. Murphy left the station in 2020.[12]On September 1, 2020, WSYR Sports Director Steve Infanti joined Sistina Giordano as co-host.[13]

News operation[edit]

By the early 1980s, channel 9 rose from third to first place in the Syracuse ratings, and it has remained there more or less ever since. Coinciding with this ratings growth, work commenced on a new facility on Bridge Street in East Syracuse in 1985. Construction was completed in 1986 and WIXT-TV moved there soon afterward. In 2000, a new news set and newsroom built by NewSet debuted. Also that year in response to declining ratings, WIXT-TV began a new segment called "Your Stories". This feature is where viewers can call the station, not an automated phone system, and get right on-line with a staffer for help with questions. The most popular topics are turned into segments which air at 5:16 during the weeknight news at 5.[14]"Your Stories" was reinvented in 2007 when WSYR-TV started the "Consumer Protection Unit". This is divided into three different parts: "Your Stories", "The Real Deal", and "Consumer Reports".

While WSYR-TV remains number one inNielsen ratingsin Central New York for the whole day-part, it has spent much of the new millennium in a spirited battle with WSTM-TV on weekday mornings and weeknights at 11. WSYR-TV makes up for this with huge leads during the week at noon, 5, 5:30, and 6. With the consolidation of WTVH and WSTM-TV on March 2, 2009, there has been a noticeable decline in viewership especially on WTVH which now only airs separately-branded newscasts on weeknights with the same coverage. As a result, WSYR-TV has seen increased viewership. Currently, there are only three news operations that cover the area including cable-onlySpectrum News.

Sister station WWTI in Watertown was hit by across the board cuts from Newport Television in June 2009. Eventually, it began simulcasting WSYR-TV's newscasts every night at 11 and added half-hour reports from theBuffalo Billstraining camp produced by fellow ABC affiliate and sister station WHAM-TV in Rochester.[15]On September 8, 2009, WWTI began simulcasting WSYR-TV's weekday morning and nightly 6 o'clock newscasts.[15]After letting go the few on-air news staff that it had, the station became a news bureau of WSYR-TV with contributions of content from theNorth Countryfrom a single reporter.[15]

On September 7, 2010, WSYR-TV added a prime time newscast weeknights at 10 on WSYR-DT2. However, unlike the hour-long weeknight and half-hour weekend broadcasts onlow-powerCWaffiliateWSTQ-LP(produced by WSTM-TV), WSYR-DT2's newscast only airs live for the first fifteen minutes and is then repeated four times in the 10 p.m. hour. The station also added a half-hour to the weekday morning show, which now starts at 4:30, becoming the first station outside ofNew York Cityto make such a launch.[16]WSYR-TV was an affiliate ofCNN Newsource,but in a late-2008 cost-cutting move Newport Television chose to terminate all station affiliations with the network. That leavesABC NewsOneas its lone source of national and world material.

Weekday and weekend live newscasts that air on the main channel are repeated on WSYR-DT2 with the exception of the weekend news at 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. However, when the live news is delayed or preempted altogether by liveABC Sportsprogramming, the newscast is then replaced by another show on WSYR-DT2. The station operates its ownweather radarat its transmitter site known as "Live Doppler 9" making it the only local weather radar based in the Syracuse area. The radar is specifically tuned to be more sensitive to displayinglake-effect snowbands, which the station argues may not always appear on the further-out publicNOAANational Weather Serviceradars out ofMontague,Binghamton and Buffalo. There is a live streaming video feed of "Live Doppler 9" on its website. WSYR-TV also offers a live video stream of all its weekday newscasts.

On January 29, 2011, WSYR-TV became the first station in Central New York (and until the fall of 2016, the only station in the Syracuse area) to broadcast local news in true high definition.[17]With the switch to HD came a new set, a new logo (which uses the same "Circle 9" design as fellow ABC affiliatesWSOC-TVinCharlotte, North Carolina,WTVCinChattanooga, Tennessee,andKMBC-TVinKansas City, Missouri,though with the 2007 version of the ABC logo placed on the bottom right side) and a new slogan ( "The Local Station" ); as a result, the station's logo that was used since 1996 (which was rendered in theFF Metatypeface) was retired.WRGBin Albany, in January 2008, became the first station in upstate New York to broadcast their local newscasts in high definition. In mid-December 2010, WSTM-TV andCBSaffiliate WTVH (at the time operated by WSTM-TV) became the first two stations in the market to offer local newscasts in16:9enhanced definitionwidescreen.Although not truly high definition, the broadcasts match theaspect ratioof HD television screens. Both of those stations would ultimately upgrade their local newscasts to true HD on October 23, 2016.

On June 27, 2011, WSYR-TV's 25-year-duo Rod Wood and Carrie Lazarus were inducted into the New York State Broadcasters Association Hall of Fame. As one of the longest-running anchor teams in the United States, their names join those of Walter Cronkite, Barbara Walters and other broadcast legends.

WSYR-TV have previously used many versions ofFrank Gari's "News Station" music package including customized vocal versions of the theme using old station slogans, "Making a Difference" and "Central New York's News Source." They used the theme from 1993 until August 19, 2013, in favor of "Aerial" byStephen Arnold Music.

On January 30, 2018, WSYR-TV received a significant news studio set upgrade.

On April 3, 2023, sister stationWUTRinUticabegan simulcasting the 5 and 6 a.m. hours of WSYR-TV's morning newscast.

Personalities[edit]

On December 22, 2006,Nancy Duffy,a former general assignment reporter for the station, died after a long illness. She became the first female police reporter in Central New York after joining theSyracuse Herald-Journalin 1966. She was Syracuse's first female television reporter when she moved to WHEN-TV (now WTVH) in 1967. Duffy became the first woman to join the Syracuse Press Club and later served as its president. In 1970, Duffy served as press secretary at Syracuse City Hall. She returned to WHEN-TV after a year and moved to WNYS-TV as a weekday morning anchor and reporter in 1977. She is credited with founding the localSt. Patrick's Dayparade, formally named the Syracuse St. Patrick's Parade.

On March 2, 2017, Carrie Lazarus transitioned away from anchoring in favor of a special correspondent role. She was replaced by Christie Casciano.[18]

Due to theCOVID-19 pandemic,longtime anchor Rod Wood took a leave of absence from WSYR-TV after April 13, 2020's broadcasts.[19]He provided routine updates from home but never returned to the anchor desk and retired just before his 80th birthday in November 2020.[20]Senior reporter Jeff Kulikowsky, who filled in for most of 2020, took the job full-time.[21]

Notable former on-air staff[edit]

Technical information[edit]

Subchannels[edit]

The station's signal ismultiplexed:

Subchannels of WSYR-TV[23]
Channel Res. Aspect Short name Programming
9.1 720p 16:9 WSYR-HD ABC
9.2 480i WSYR-2 Antenna TV
9.3 Bounce Bounce TV
9.4 Laff Laff
3.2 720p 16:9 CW6 The CW(WSTM-DT2)
Broadcast on behalf of another station

On June 15, 2016, Nexstar Broadcasting Group, owners of WSYR-TV, announced that it has entered into an affiliation agreement withKatz Broadcastingfor theEscape,Laff,Grit,andBounce TVnetworks (the last one of which is owned by Bounce Media LLC, whoseCOOJonathan Katz is president/CEO of Katz Broadcasting), bringing one or more of the four networks to 81 stations owned and/or operated by Nexstar, including WSYR-TV. As a result, WSYR-TV renewed its DT3 subchannel's affiliation with Bounce TV and added a new fourth subchannel carrying programs from Laff on August 25, 2016. (At the time of the agreement, Grit was available in Syracuse on WTVH-DT2).[24]

Analog-to-digital conversion[edit]

WSYR-TV shut down its analog signal, over VHF channel 9, on June 12, 2009, the official date on which full-power television stations in the United Statestransitioned from analog to digital broadcastsunder federal mandate. The station's digital signal remained on its pre-transitionUHFchannel 17,[25]usingvirtual channel9.

References[edit]

  1. ^"Facility Technical Data for WSYR-TV".Licensing and Management System.Federal Communications Commission.
  2. ^"Mike Price Timeline".Archived fromthe originalon January 1, 2009.RetrievedSeptember 17,2023.
  3. ^"For the Record"(PDF).Broadcasting.December 15, 1969. p. 87.RetrievedMarch 27,2014.
  4. ^"For the Record"(PDF).Broadcasting.June 26, 1972. p. 61.RetrievedMarch 27,2014.
  5. ^"Station Search Details (DW07BA)".CDBS Public Access.Federal Communications Commission.RetrievedMarch 27,2014.
  6. ^"KMOL-TV changing call letters to WOAI".bizjournals.RetrievedNovember 5,2021.
  7. ^Dickinson, Mike (November 19, 2004)."WOKR to change call letters to WHAM | Rochester Business Journal".RetrievedNovember 5,2021.
  8. ^"Clear Channel Agrees to Sell Television Station Group to Providence Equity Partners"(Press release).Clear Channel Communications.April 20, 2007. Archived fromthe originalon April 25, 2007.RetrievedApril 20,2007.
  9. ^Newport Sells 22 Stations For $1 Billion,TVNewsCheck,July 19, 2012.
  10. ^"Nexstar Media Group, Inc".
  11. ^"WIXT GIVES EVICTION NOTICE TO ABC'S `FULL HOUSE' - NETWORK PROGRAM REPLACED BY RERUNS OF `SILVER SPOONS'," Syracuse Herald American, Page 15, October 11, 1987
  12. ^"TeNesha Murphy exits 'Bridge Street' after five years".syracuse.May 29, 2020.RetrievedJune 1,2022.
  13. ^"Steve Infanti joins Sistina Giordano as new Bridge Street co-host".WSYR.August 24, 2020.RetrievedJune 1,2022.
  14. ^"NewsLab Resources: Your Stories".Archived fromthe originalon November 3, 2008.RetrievedOctober 5,2008.
  15. ^abc"nny360".
  16. ^"NewsChannel 9 expands; adds newscast - NewsChannel 9 WSYR".Archived fromthe originalon September 8, 2010.
  17. ^"NewsChannel 9 HD - February 2011 - Watch over the air 9.1, Time Warner 890, Verizon FiOS 509 - NewsChannel 9 WSYR".Archived fromthe originalon January 8, 2011.RetrievedJanuary 5,2011.
  18. ^"NewsChannel 9's Carrie Lazarus: Leaving anchor desk my decision; money not an issue".February 28, 2017.
  19. ^"Rod Wood provides an update as he self-quarantines during the COVID-19 pandemic".WSYR.April 2, 2020.RetrievedApril 11,2021.
  20. ^"Rod Wood announces retirement after 44 years at NewsChannel 9".WSYR.November 11, 2020.RetrievedApril 11,2021.
  21. ^"WSYR-TV′s new anchor Jeff Kulikowsky: 'I'm a Central New Yorker, through and through'".syracuse.November 21, 2020.RetrievedApril 11,2021.
  22. ^"Jeff Rossen bio".NBC News.February 19, 2011.RetrievedMarch 10,2013.
  23. ^RabbitEars TV Query for WSYR
  24. ^"Bounce TV, Grit, Escape, Laff Multicast Deal Covers 81 Stations, 54 Markets".Broadcasting & Cable.June 15, 2016.RetrievedJune 18,2016.
  25. ^"DTV Tentative Channel Designations for the First and the Second Rounds"(PDF).Archived fromthe original(PDF)on August 29, 2013.RetrievedMarch 24,2012.

External links[edit]

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=WSYR-TV&oldid=1232317006"