WRNN-TV

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WRNN-TV
Kingston / Poughkeepsie / Newburgh, New York
Branding	RNN
Slogan	Your regional news network
Channels	No analog, was 62 (UHF) analog, 48 (UHF) digital
Translators	57 WRNN-LP Nyack, N.Y.
Affiliations	Jewelry TV; FUNimation Channel
Owner	WRNN License Company, LLC
Founded	December 15, 1985
Call letters meaning	Regional News Network
Website	www.rnntv.com

WRNN-TV broadcasts a schedule of mainly infomercials and home shopping from Rye Brook, New York with two and a half hours of news programs weekdays, some hourly one minute news updates, and enough children's programs to meet FCC Educational / Informational (E/I) license requirements. The main, full-power signal broadcasts in digital only on UHF channel 48.

It first went on the air in December 15, 1985 as WTZA, an independent station serving the mid-upper Hudson Valley region of New York State (the cities of Kingston, Poughkeepsie and Newburgh and region) and peripherally (by virtue of the outer range of their signal) the Albany area and the northern suburbs of New York City. The area is one of the biggest in the country to lack its own TV stations due to being in the signal range of both the New York and Albany stations.

The RNN talk set, where nightly programming is hosted from, in Rye Brook, NY. July 2006.

The weather portion of the newscast was unique in that it would give full forecasts for both New York City and Albany even though the station was not on-air in either city. WTZA would be relatively successful given the underserved nature of its coverage area. In 1993, station founder Ed Swyer (an Albany-area commercial developer) would encounter financial difficulties and late that year would sell the station to Richard French Sr., a Westchester County businessman who is active in the state Democratic party.

Though WTZA was still doing well in its market, the station had begun to struggle prior to the sale due to the station being shut out of many syndicated programs by larger stations in New York and Albany. In early 1995, most general entertainment programming was replaced with infomercials with news remaining and that October the call letters were changed to WRNN and its focus shifted to mostly news and infomercials with a lean going southward towards the French's home base of Westchester County. After a 1999 reduction of news programming to only weekday evening hours, the station began to target New York City even more. For example, weather forecasts are not given for points north of Kingston even though its license is there, and more emphasis on New York City news is given than in the past. Oddly enough, the station applied for must-carry in the entire Albany market several years after the station stopped covering the area outside of politics.

In 2004, WRNN was one of the first stations to turn off their analog signal early; originally seen on analog channel 62, it could now only be seen on digital channel 48, requiring a digital converter or television to pick the channel up off-air.

WRNN has a low-power analog translator in Nyack, New York, operating on WRNN-LP channel 57.

As of September 12, 2005, WRNN's studios are located in Rye Brook, New York.

On March 6, 2007, WRNN became an affiliate with the FUNimation Channel on digital channel 48.3.[1]

[edit] Broadcasts

Weekdays

• News On the Hour Update - A One Minute News Update At the Top of Every Hour
• Hudson Valley's NewsCenter Now - 5:00-7:00 p.m., focuses on Hudson Valley news
• Richard French Live - 7:00-8:00 p.m., deals mainly with politics and current events, mostly from a Liberal perspective.
• Real Politics Live - 8:00-8:30 p.m.,through November 7th, deals with campaign and election news
• Metro News Live - 8:30-9:00 p.m., focusing on New York City and Long Island news

[edit] NEWSCENTER NOW

In January 2007 it was announced that RNN and The Journal News will be teaming up beginning in mid-March 2007 to create a 2-hour "daily in-depth newscast" titled NEWSCENTER NOW. The newscast will be broadcast from RNN's Rye Brook studios and will air weekdays, from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.^[1]

[edit] Former personalities

• Jeanine Agnolet (anchor from about the mid-1990s to 1998, now Director of Public Relations at Vassar Brothers Medical Center in Poughkeepsie)
• Nina Anastos (News Anchor during the middle 1990's, daughter of famed NYC anchorman Ernie Anastos. Later married anchorman Greg Floyd. As of 2006 works for Anastos Media Group in Malta, NY)
• Kelly (Cass) Boland (Meteorologist, 1990-1993, Moved to WRGB, and now at The Weather Channel)
• Kevin Connors (Sports anchor and director, 1997 to 2005, now at WCBS)
• Nancy Cozean (co-anchor during the first several years of WTZA, now mayor of the City of Poughkeespie)
• Greg Floyd (anchor during the early to mid-90s up until the WTZA/RNN transition, now at WRGB in Schenectady)
• Cat Greenleaf (ran the now-defunct Queens bureau in the early 2000s, now with NYC TV)
• Brian Kenny (Sports anchor/director from WTZA days to 1996, now at ESPN)
• [Phil Lipof] (anchor of Regional News Live during the mid-1990s, now weekend morning anchor at WABC-TV in New York City)
• Brian Madden (Co-anchored the original evening newscast in 1985)
• Ann Marie O'Keefe (anchor of Valley News Live during the late 1990s, now midday and weekend morning anchor at WSOC-TV in Charlotte, North Carolina)
• Colleen McCarthy (anchor in early 2000s, now at News 12 Westchester and Host of Empire State Outdoors TV www.esotv.com )
• John Patrick (Weekday Evening Meteorologist June 1998 through August 2001, moved to WJAC-TV Johnstown/Altoona/State College, PA from 2001-2003, then to KNWA-TV Fayetteville/Fort Smith, AR from 2003-2005 and now is Morning Meteorologist at WZVN-TV Naples/Fort Myers, Florida. John first did weather in Kingston at the beginning of his tenure at RNN, then Christened the now defunct Palisades Center studio.)
• Rolland Smith (anchor of Rundown was most recently anchor at WWOR-TV in New York City, and previously, at WCBS-TV; retired July 23, 2006)
• Dave Tolleris (Chief meteorologist during the early 1990's, later worked for the National Weather Service and now owns the private weather consulting firm WxRisk.com)

[edit] Footnotes

[edit] External links

• WRNN website
• Query the FCC's TV station database for WRNN