WNEP-TV

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WNEP-TV
Scranton-Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania
Branding	WNEP TV 16
Slogan	The News Station
Channels	16 (UHF) analog, 49 (UHF) digital
Translators	7 WO7DC Allentown 14 W14CO Clarks Summit 26 W26CV Mansfield 61 W61AG Pottsville 40 W40BS Renovo 36 W36BE and 39 W39BE State College 66 W66AL Stroudsburg 10 W10CP and 69 W69CE Towanda 20 W20AD Willamsport
Affiliations	ABC
Owner	The New York Times Company (sale pending [1])
Founded	September 16, 1953: WILK-TV Channel 34 January 2, 1954: WARM-TV Channel 16 merged as WNEP-TV on January 1, 1956
Call letters meaning	W North East Pennsylvania
Former callsigns	WILK-TV (1953-1956) and WARM-TV (1954-1956)
Former affiliations	DuMont (1953-1956) [2]
Website	www.wnep.com/

WNEP-TV is the ABC network afiliate of the Scranton / Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania television market. The station is licensed to Scranton, formerly owned by The New York Times Company (pending completion of a sale to Oak Hill Capital Partners in 2007, the station will be operated as part of Local TV LLC), and has its studios located outside the Scranton city limits in Moosic, Pennsylvania. WNEP broadcasts an analog signal on UHF channel 16 and a digital signal on UHF channel 49 from a transmitter located on Penobscot Knob in Mountaintop, Pennsylvania. The station is known on-air as "WNEP TV 16".

Contents 1 History 2 Translators 3 Local Programming 3.1 History 3.2 Current Locally-Produced Programs 3.3 Newscasts 4 Website 5 Controversies 6 References 7 External links

[edit] History

There were originally two ABC network affiliates in Northeastern Pennsylvania. WILK-TV channel 34 in Wilkes-Barre took to the air on September 16, 1953. It was followed by WARM-TV channel 16 in Scranton on January 2, 1954.

WILK wanted to get a head start on the other local stations when it signed on in 1953, going on the air at 2 PM rather than the 3 PM sign on that the other stations did. The engineers got the signal ready by Noon and decided to take a break. However, at lunch, they turned on the station to inspect their handiwork, only to find the signal was dead. They rushed back and were able to establish the link by 1:50 PM, 10 minutes before sign on.^{[citation needed]}

Getting a signal from ABC headquarters in New York City was a challenge in the early days with no access to satellites. As a result, WILK set up a microwave tower in Effort, about 45 miles east of Wilkes-Barre. From there, the network signal was bounced to the Penobscot Knob transmitter site. Often, station engineers had to adjust the Effort transmitter to accept a signal from WFIL-TV in Philadelphia (now WPVI-TV) if they were unable to receive the New York feed.

WILK and WARM-TV were both losing money, in large part because ABC was not on an equal footing with NBC and CBS (and would not be until the 1970s). However, they stayed on the air because they were owned by well-respected local radio stations. Finally, in 1955, WILK and WARM agreed to merge, this coming after it was made clear that Scranton and Wilkes-Barre would be considered one television market. The new station, WNEP-TV, went on the air on New Year's Day in 1956. It operated under WILK's license, using WARM's channel 16. Along with the merger came a new owner, Transcontinent Broadcasting of Buffalo, New York. WILK's old channel number was then re-assigned to WIVT, another ABC affiliate in Binghamton, New York. WNEP broadcasted out of WILK's studios in Downtown Wilkes-Barre, but was still licensed to Scranton. In 1962, it moved to a new studio near the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton International Airport.

WNEP initially struggled to survive, just like WILK and WARM-TV. However, the station took off in 1968 thanks in part to ABC's color programming and the station's new transmitter on Penobscot Knob. The new transmitter, which was the first million-watt signal in the market, increased WNEP's broadcast range to cover a large portion of Northeastern and Central Pennsylvania [3]. After bouncing back and forth in the ratings for most of the 1960s and 1970s, it surged to number one in 1978 and has held the lead ever since.

Transcontinent merged with Taft Broadcasting in 1964. When Taft bought WIBF-TV in Philadelphia and changed the calls to WTAF-TV in 1969 (now WTXF-TV), it sought a waiver to keep both stations. WNEP's Grade B signal reaches the Lehigh Valley, which is part of the Philadelphia market. WNEP has also operated an outlying transmitter on channel 7 in Allentown for many years. The FCC normally did not allow one company to own two stations with overlapping coverage areas. While it initially granted the waiver, it reversed itself later in 1969 and forced Taft to sell WNEP. An employee group, NEP Communications, bought the station. In 1985, The New York Times Company bought the station and WNEP moved to its current studios in Moosic in 1989.

On January 4, 2007, the station, along with the eight other stations owned by the Times' broadcast media group, were sold to Oak Hill Capital Partners in a $575 million transaction. The station will be operated as part of Local TV LLC.^[1]

[edit] Translators

WNEP serves one of the largest coverage areas east of the Mississippi River. This area is very mountainous, meaning that some areas cannot get a clear signal from channel 16. WNEP faces an additional problem because the Scranton / Wilkes-Barre television market is a "UHF island" due to the fact that it is too close to Philadelphia and New York for VHF analog service. As a result, it operates the largest translator system of any station in Pennsylvania.

• Allentown: W07DC channel 7 (part of Philadelphia market)
• Clarks Summit: W14CO channel 14
• Mansfield: W26CV channel 26 (part of the Elmira / Corning market)
• Pottsville: W61AG channel 61
• Renovo: W40BS channel 40
• State College: W36BE channel 36 & W39BE channel 39 (part of Johnstown market)
• Stroudsburg: W66AL channel 66
• Towanda: W10CP channel 10 & W69CE channel 69
• Willamsport: W20AD channel 20

[edit] Local Programming

[edit] History

Many of the programs air on WNEP have been in-house productions rather than syndicated shows. The most popular of these was a children's program called The Land of Hatchy Milatchy. Another program, Uncle Ted's Ghoul School, once employed Bill O'Reilly as a writer. He was also a reporter at the station for a brief period during the mid-1970s. Also during the 1970s, WNEP produced two game shows, Bowling for Dollars and Dialing for Dollars. Unlike the station's newscasts, the game shows were absolute failures considering that they were pitted against other more successful national syndicated primetime games such as Family Feud and Match Game PM.

[edit] Current Locally-Produced Programs

Today, WNEP produces two in-house programs: Pennsylvania Outdoor Life, a show about hunting and fishing in Pennsylvania, and Home & Backyard, a show about do-it-yourself home improvements, cooking and gardening. 'Pennsylvania Outdoor Life' airs Sundays at 6:30pm on WNEP and 'Home & Backyard' airs Saturdays at 7:30pm on WNEP. Both of these programs re-air on the "Newswatch 16 Anytime" channel.

The station also participates in several local charity events, including the Jerry Lewis Muscular Dystrophy telethon and Scranton's annual Santa Parade.

[edit] Newscasts

The station is best known for its local newscasts, which are among the highest-rated in the United States. [4] The station runs its newscasts under the branding of "Newswatch 16". According to A.C. Nielsen data, WNEP reaches more viewers than the competition combined in almost all time periods. WNEP's on-air personalities are well-known in the area. Chief meteorologist Tom Clark is one of the region's popular broadcasters. Marisa Burke, a native of nearby Danville has been with the station since 1984 and now co-anchors the 6 PM newscast with Mike Lewis.

WNEP runs Newswatch 16 Anytime, a local program channel that also features rebroadcasts of newscasts. It is available on WNEP's DT2 digital subchannel as well as cable. WNEP produces a daily half-hour 10 PM newscast for the area's FOX affiliate, WOLF-TV. The station's weathercasts are branded "Stormtracker 16". In 2003, WNEP installed a new set for its newscasts. The main news studio includes a main anchor desk and a secondary set. The station uses three robotic cameras during its newscasts.

WNEP is the only media outlet in the Scranton / Wilkes-Barre television market to utilize a helicopter for news gathering purposes. Known as "Skycam 16", it is live-broadcast capable. WNEP is also the only television station in the area to broadcast local news weekdays at 7 PM.

Weekdays

• Newswatch 16 This Morning (5 to 7 AM)
• Newswatch 16 at Noon (12 to 12:30 PM)
• Newswatch 16 at 5 PM (5 to 5:30 PM)
• Newswatch 16 at 5:30 PM (5:30 to 6 PM)
• Newswatch 16 at 6 PM (6 to 6:30 PM)
• Newswatch 16 at 7 PM (7 to 7:30 PM)
• Newswatch 16 at 10 PM on FOX 56 / FOX 56 News at 10 (10-10:30 PM on WOLF-TV)
• Newswatch 16 at 11 PM (11 to 11:35 PM)

Weekends

• Newswatch 16 Saturday / Sunday Morning (5 to 8 AM)
• Newswatch 16 at 6 PM (6 to 6:30 PM)
• Newswatch 16 at 10 PM on FOX 56 / FOX 56 News at 10 (10 to 10:30 PM on WOLF-TV)
• Newswatch 16 at 11 PM (11 to 11:30 PM)

[edit] Website

Meteorologist Mark Sowers launched WNEP's website in 1995, making it the first commercial television station with a website in the state of Pennsylvania. In 2002, Sowers became the station's full-time webmaster and oversaw the relaunch of the website, powered by television station website producer World Now. He still gives the forecast from time to time, whenever one of the current meteorologists are out on vacation. WNEP's website has quickly become one the region's most visited sites and features a wide selection of content including:

• local news
• local sports
• Local weather featuring current conditions, "Realtime Doppler" radar, and "Future Radar".
• Syndicated content such as recipes, personals, and yellow pages.
• Streaming video of the first block of the morning news, entire morning weather blocks and "cut-ins". The station will occasionally offer the first block of its other newscasts or specific segments when there is a story with high local interest.

In March of 2005, WNEP's website hosted its first webcast session. An IRS spokesperson answered viewer questions, which were submitted via the Internet, for an hour. The segment was only broadcasted live over the Internet, and was not available over the air or on cable.

[edit] Controversies

In the Fall of 2005, on Newswatch 16 This Morning, during a jovial conversation about taking sick or personal days off, meteorologist Joe Snedeker jokingly suggested to morning anchor Kim Supon that if he were her boss he would make her choose between her career and motherhood. Supon was visibly upset by the comment, having just taken a day to care for her children, and walked off the set during the commercial break. When the newscast returned, recently hired reporter Ryan Leckey was in the anchor chair. The incident received national attention, including airing as a segment on MSNBC. In response to public outcry, Snedeker apologized on air during the next broadcast. [5] Coincidentally, on November 17, 2006, Kim Supon left WNEP's morning broadcast to spend more time with her children.

[edit] References

1. ^ New York Times sells TV stations for $575M. Reuters (2007-01-04). Retrieved on January 5, 2007.

[edit] External links

• WNEP-TV Website
• WNEP Wireless
• WNEP Tribute
• Photos of WNEP's studios
• Query the FCC's TV station database for WNEP-TV
• Query the FCC's TV station database for W07DC
• Query the FCC's TV station database for W14CO
• Query the FCC's TV station database for W26CV
• Query the FCC's TV station database for W61AG
• Query the FCC's TV station database for W40BS
• Query the FCC's TV station database for W36BE
• Query the FCC's TV station database for W39BE
• Query the FCC's TV station database for W66AL
• Query the FCC's TV station database for W10CP
• Query the FCC's TV station database for W69CE
• Query the FCC's TV station database for W20AD

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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, The CW via WSWB on DT2, MNTV via WQMY on DT3) - WQPX 64 (ION)

v • d • e

Broadcast television in the Philadelphia / Camden / Wilmington market (Nielsen DMA #4)

KYW 3 (CBS) - WPVI 6 (ABC, AccuWX TV on DT3) - W07DC 7 (ABC) - WELL-LP 8 (DS) - WCAU 10 (NBC) - WHYY 12 (PBS) - WPHL 17 (MNTV, The Tube on DT2) - WNJS 23/WNJT 52 (PBS/NJN) - W25AW 25 (A1) - WFPA-CA 28 (TFR) - WTXF 29 (Fox) - WQAV-LP 34 (AV/Ind) - WYBE 35 (Public) - WLVT 39 (PBS) - W40AZ 40 (Smile) - WMGM 40 (NBC) - WGTW 48 (TBN) - WTVE 51 (Religious) - WPSG 57 (The CW) - WBPH 60 (FamNet) - WPPX 61 (ION) - WWSI 62 (TEL) - WUVP 65 (UVN) - WFMZ 69 (Ind, The AccuWeather Channel on DT2)

Local digital television channels

WMCN 44 (ShopNBC)

Past broadcast stations WKBS 48 (Ind)

Local cable television channels

CN8 - Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia - La Salle 56 (La Salle U.) - MCTV 26 (Mercer Co., NJ)

See also Broadcast television in the New York City, Scranton/Wilkes Barre and Susquehanna Valley markets

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Broadcast television in the Johnstown / Altoona / State College market (Nielsen DMA #98)

Local television stations WPSU 3 (PBS) - WJAC 6 (NBC) - WWCP 8 (FOX) - WTAJ 10 (CBS) - W13BY 13 {IND} - WPCW 19 (The CW)1 - WATM 23 (ABC) - WHVL 29 (MNTV) - W36BE 36 / W39BE 39 (ABC) - WKBS 47 (CSTV) - WLLS 49 (A1) 1 Technically a Pittsburgh market station. See article.

Local cable television channels WIUP 20 (Ind)

Significantly Viewed Out-of-Market Broadcast Stations Reception may vary by geographical location Pittsburgh: KDKA 2 (CBS) - WTAE 4 (ABC, The AccuWeather Channel on DT2) - WPXI 11 (NBC) - WPMY 22 (MNTV) - WPGH 53 (FOX) Scranton/Wilkes-Barre: WNEP 16 (ABC) - WSWB 38 (The CW) Harrisburg: WLYH 15 (The CW) New York City: WPIX 11 (The CW)