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 (operated by Nexstar Broadcasting Group under local sales agreement)
Founded	June 7, 1953
Call letters meaning	unknown
Former callsigns	WGBI-TV (1953-58) WDAU-TV (1958-87)
Former affiliations	none
Transmitter Power	2950 kW (analog) 30 kW (digital)
Website	pahomepage.com (shared with WBRE)

WYOU-TV is the CBS affiliate for the Wilkes-Barre-Scranton, Pennsylvania television market. It is owned by Mission Broadcasting, but is operated by Nexstar Broadcasting Group through a joint sales agreement with NBC affiliate WBRE-TV. The station is licensed to Scranton, but its operations (except for news) are consolidated in WBRE's studios in Wilkes-Barre.

Contents 1 History 2 Newscasts 2.1 Weekdays 2.2 Weekends 3 News and Production 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. It was unable to afford a network feed, forcing station engineers to switch 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 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 Mission 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.

In September 2006, WYOU departed from the traditional evening newscast and switched to a topic/debate format. For the 5:00, 5:30, 6:00 and 11:00 PM shows, the show starts off with weather ("No Wait Weather", another innovation) and a shortened rundown of the day's top stories. The show then focuses on an ongoing story, investigation or topic and brings in analysts and experts to discuss it. A graphic with the station's phone number is posted on the bottom right hand corner of the screen so that callers may call in, as they often do throughout the show. In advertisements, WYOU has claimed that the new format has been a success.

[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 (5-6 PM)
• WYOU News at 6 (6-6:30 PM)
• WYOU News at 11 (11-11:35 PM)

• Periodic 5 min updates in the morning Mon-Fri ; 7:25,7:55,8:25,8:55

[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 and Production Team

• Studio Camera: Paul Salerno, Kim Schuetrum, Neil Prisco, Christa Cleeton, Heather Barcheski
• Chyron: Jim Tartella, Kim Schuetrum, Leo Wentline
• Director: Leo Wentline, Alan Brocavich, Kim Schuetrum
• Audio: Alan Brocavich, Leo Wentline, Kim Schuetrum
• News Director: Ron Krisulevicz
• Executive Producer: Dawn Miller
• Candice Grossklaus: Anchor
• Eric Scheiner: Anchor
• Eric Deabill: Weekend Anchor/Reporter
• Producers: Sarah Klinges, Nicole Borocci, Eric Deabill
• Nicole Borocci: Reporter
• David DeCosmo: Reporter
• Mike Conigliaro: Sports
• Sid Michaels: Sports (fill-in)
• Brett Thackara: Fill-in Meteorologist
• Scott Stuccio: Chief Meteorologist
• Les Still: Weekend Meteorologist
• David Kuharchik: Meteorologist (also with PA Morning & Midday)

Pennsylvania Morning and Pennsylvania Midday news and Production Staff

• Producer: Sherry Gardner, Bill Jones, Sarah Klinges
• Director: Wes Kontasky Jr., Bob Piorkowski
• Electronic Graphics: Jim Mcglynn
• Studio Camera: Maria Tomassoni, Bill Griffiths, Heather Barcheski, Tom Walzer
• Operations: Camio Camerella
• Assignment Manager: Bobby Day
• Photo Journalist: Joe Butash
• Mark Hiller: Anchor
• Kerry Shahen: Anchor
• David Kuharchik: Meteorologist
• Dave Skutnik: Fill in Meteorologist
• Brian Fitzgerald: Fill in meteorologist
• April Gonzales: Fill In 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 (shared with WBRE-TV)
• 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

v • d • e

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)