WBQT
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| "WBQT" | |
|---|---|
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| Springfield / Holyoke, Massachusetts | |
| Branding | Pioneer Valley's CW |
| Channels | Analog: Comcast 16 DirecTV 14 Digital: n/a |
| Affiliations | The CW (via The CW Plus) |
| Owner | operated by Comcast |
| Founded | late-1998 |
| Call letters’ meaning | The WB (previous affiliation) |
| Former callsigns | n/a |
| Former affiliations | The WB (via The WB 100+, 1998-2006) |
| Transmitter Power | n/a |
| Website | yourcwpioneervalley.com |
"WBQT" is the CW-affiliated television station for the Pioneer Valley of Massachusetts. The call letters are fictional as it is a cable-only station. It broadcasts exclusively on cable as part of The CW Plus as the Springfield television market is ranked above 100. The station is operated by Comcast and is located on channel 16. On DirecTV systems, the station is located on channel 14. WBQT is known on-air as Pioneer Valley's CW
Like most CW Plus stations, WBQT offers the nationally syndicated morning show, The Daily Buzz, on weekday mornings from 6 to 9. WBQT's website lists Don Davis as the advertising representative. There is also a phone number listed that has a Texas area code. WBQT is operated out of Comcast's Pioneer Valley offices located on East Mountain Road in Westfield.
[edit] History
WBQT began in late-1998 alongside the launch of The WB 100+ and its cable-only affiliates. As a WB 100+ station, WBQT was a rarity among other stations in the group in that it was not aligned with an established over-the-air station in the market. The practice currently continues with the station being a CW affiliate as part of The CW Plus. This non-alignment may have played a role in the slow establishment of the station as opposed to other stations in the group.
Unlike many other similar stations, WBQT initially did not replace out-of-market WB affiliates (such as WPIX from New York City, WBNE from Hartford, Connecticut and WLVI from Boston) on local cable systems. This approach led the station to develop slowly given that most cable systems in the market saw higher viewership on the out-of-market affiliates as opposed to WBQT. A blow was struck in 1999 when WBQT was taken off the AT&T Broadband systems which served the majority of the Springfield / Holyoke market.
When Comcast took over the AT&T Broadband cable systems in 2001, the cable company began a push to expand WBQT's reach. In late-2001, WBQT replaced the out-of-market WB affiliates on most systems with near total replacement taking place by 2003. Throughout WBQT's affiliation with The WB, it was known on-air as Pioneer Valley's WB 16 (named after its cable location) and had a WB logo.
[edit] The CW
On January 24, 2006, The WB and UPN announced that they would shut down and merge. The new combined network would be called The CW. The letters would represent the first initial of its corporate parents, CBS (the parent company of UPN) and the Warner Bros. unit of Time Warner.
During months of confusion, it was unknown what would happen to WBQT. Some WB 100+ stations in the United States were being shut down as a result of over-the-air stations adding the new CW network as a secondary affiliation or on a new digital subchannel. There was no over-the-air UPN affiliate in the Springfield / Holyoke market that would have most likely taken the CW affiliation as a result of WBQT being cable exclusive.
Another factor in deciding WBQT's future was the early-2006 sign-on of W28CT broadcasting from Mount Tom in Holyoke. After a short period of time, the station's call letters were changed to WXCW-CA with talk that it would be an affiliate of the new CW network when channel 28 launched in 2007. If that were to happen, it would have ended WBQT's future as a broadcasting channel. However in August of 2006, channel 28's call letters changed again to WFXQ-CA matching speculation that it would be a FOX affiliate instead. WFXQ-CA is currently a full-time repeater of NBC affiliate WWLP.
In late-Summer of 2006, it was announced that WBQT would become Springfield's CW affiliate. It was to be a part of The CW Plus, a similar operation to The WB 100+. The station began airing promotions of the new network with WBQT's branding becoming Pioneer Valley's CW. There was also a new CW logo given to WBQT.
The official merge of The WB and UPN occurred on September 18, 2006. At that point, the new CW logo was airing on all on-air promos on the station. WBQT also started using it new CW branding.
One change that occurred as a result of The CW was a new web address being created for WBQT. As a WB affiliate, it did not have a website. The new web address points to a generic website for CW Plus stations that features a programming grid with WBQT's CW logo.
[edit] External links
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