WYOU

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WYOU-TV
Scranton / Wilkes-Barre / Hazleton, Pennsylvania
Branding	WYOU / WYOU News
Slogan	It's All About YOU!
Channels	22 (UHF) analog, 13 (VHF) digital
Translators	19 W19AR Clarks Summit 54 W54AV Mansfield 66 W66AI Pottsville 60 W60AH Stroudsburg 26 W26AT and 55 W55AG Williamsport
Affiliations	CBS
Owner	Mission Broadcasting Company
Founded	June 7, 1953
Call letters meaning	Why? Because You're YOU
Former callsigns	WGBI-TV (1953-1958), WDAU-TV (1958-1987)
Former affiliations	none
Transmitter Power	2950 kW (analog) 30 kW (digital)
Website	wyou.com

WYOU-TV is the CBS affiliate for the Wilkes-Barre-Scranton, Pennsylvania television market. Nexstar Broadcasting Group acquired WYOU, a CBS affiliate, in June 1996 and subsequently sold it to Mission Broadcasting, Inc. in 1998. Later that year the parties entered into a shared services agreement.

The station’s syndicated programming includes Dharma & Greg, Judge Judy, Judge Joe Brown, Entertainment Tonight, Montel Williams, and Seinfeld. WYOU-TV News strengthened its visibility and competitiveness in the market by unveiling a new, street level newsroom in Scranton, Lackawanna County (2nd largest county in the area), and repositioning itself as “Lackawanna County’s” News Source. This re-launch included a newly designed logo and enhanced graphics.

A new transmitter was installed to improve the station’s signal quality and coverage area. In November 2002, WYOU began broadcasting both a digital and analog signal.

In October of 2004, WYOU entered into a Joint Sales Agreement with WBRE, allowing for more effective marketing of both stations’ advertising inventory.

Contents 1 History 2 Newscasts 2.1 Weekdays 2.2 Weekends 3 News Team 4 Trivia 5 Translators 6 References 7 External links

[edit] History

WYOU was launched on June 7, 1953 by Edward Megargee, owner of Scranton Broadcasters, Inc. Its original call letters were WGBI-TV, named after Megargee's radio station, WGBI-AM. Megargee's father, Frank, had signed on the radio station in 1926.

Despite being affiliated with one of northeast Pennsylvania's most prestigious radio stations, WGBI operated on a tight budget. WGBI's engineers simply switched to and from the signal of WCBS-TV in New York.

WGBI was sold to the Philadelphia Bulletin in 1958 and was renamed WDAU-TV after WCAU-TV in Philadelphia, which was also owned by the Bulletin. The FCC ruled that there was so much signal overlap between the two CBS stations that they were effectively a duopoly. Ironically, CBS was placed in a similar situation because WCAU overlapped with WCBS, but CBS was able to get a waiver to keep both stations.

WDAU stayed strong in the market with competitors WBRE-TV and later WNEP-TV, for much of the time from the 1950s to the 1980s through its coverage of major stories, including the Knox Mine Disaster and U.S. Senate hearings on racketeering in the late 1950s. The Associated Press commended the station on its gavel-to-gavel coverage of the Senate hearings and WDAU news director Tom Powell was courted by CBS to be a network news anchor.

In 1986, WDAU was sold to Diversified Communications, and its call letters were changed to the current WYOU. It changed hands 10 years later to Nexstar Broadcasting. WYOU later moved its newsroom and production facilities to WBRE's Wilkes-Barre studio. In 2002, both stations dropped their separate morning and noon newscasts in favor of Pennsylvania Morning and Pennsylvania Midday, which are jointly-produced newscasts that are simulcasted on both stations.

Today, special portions of the afternoon broadcasts include Mr. Food, which highlights recipes depending on the time of year and the occasion, and the Law and You, in which an attorney from the local law firm of Munley, Munley, and Cartwright offers legal advice for concerned viewers who have the option of e-mailing or sending a letter to the WYOU offices.

[edit] Newscasts

[edit] Weekdays

• Pennsylvania Morning (5-7 AM, also airs on WBRE-TV)
• Pennsylvania Midday (12-12:30 PM, also airs on WBRE-TV)
• WYOU News at 5 (5-5:30 PM)
• WYOU News at 6 (6-6:30 PM)
• WYOU News at 11 (11-11:35 PM)

[edit] Weekends

• WYOU News at 6 (6-6:30 PM Saturdays, 6:30-7 PM Sundays)
• WYOU News at 11 (11-11:35 PM)

(no morning news on weekends)

[edit] News Team

• Candice Grossklaus - Anchor
• Eric Scheiner - Anchor
• Eric Deabill - reporter
• David DeCosmo - reporter
• Mike Conigliaro - sports
• Scott Stuccio - chief meteorologist
• Les Still - weekend meteorologist
• David Kuharchik - meteorologist (also with PA Morning & Midday)

Pennsylvania Morning and Pennsylvania Midday Staff

• Mark Hiller - anchor
• Kerry Shahen - anchor
• David Kuharchik - meteorologist

[edit] Trivia

WYOU still has a film archive dating back to the 1950s. A 1972 flood ruined the film archive in WBRE's basement.

[edit] Translators

WYOU serves one of the largest geographic markets in the country. This area is very mountainous, making UHF reception difficult. However, WYOU is in a unique situation since Scranton/Wilkes-Barre is a "UHF island". As a result, it operates several translators to repeat its signal.

• Clarks Summit: W19AR, channel 19
• Mansfield: W54AV, channel 54 (in the Elmira market)
• Pottsville: W66AI channel 66
• Stroudsburg: W60AH channel 60
• Williamsport: W26AT channel 26 and W55AG channel 55

[edit] References

• Krawczeniuk, Boris. Pioneering anchorman Tom Powell dies at 76. Scranton Tribune. February 25, 2004.
• Mates, Rich. A look back at 50 years of local television. The Scranton Times. July 19, 2003.
• Mates, Rich. Randy Williams takes new position of station manager at WBRE-TV. The Scranton Times. November 13, 2004.
• Mates, Rich. Reinventing the wheel for morning newscasts. The Scranton Times. September 21, 2002.
• Mates, Rich. Time is now to preserve local television archives. The Scranton Times. July 26, 2003.
• Mates, Rich. WYOU cameraman Jim Keenan reflects on four-decade career. The Scranton Times. April 17, 2004.

[edit] External links

• WYOU Website
• WBRE Website
• WDAU-TV Tribute (photographs and information collected from former employees)
• Photos of WYOU's news set
• Query the FCC's TV station database for WYOU
• Query the FCC's TV station database for W19AR
• Query the FCC's TV station database for W54AV
• Query the FCC's TV station database for W66AI
• Query the FCC's TV station database for W60AH
• Query the FCC's TV station database for W26AT
• Query the FCC's TV station database for W55AG

Broadcast television in the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre market  (Nielsen DMA #53)
W07BV 7 / W19CI 19 (EWTN) - WNEP 16 (ABC) - WYOU 22 (CBS) - WBRE 28 (NBC) - WYLN 35 (A1) - WSWB 38 (The CW) - WVIA 44 (PBS) - WQMY 53 (MNTV) - WOLF 56 (Fox) - WQPX 64 (i)