WGMU-CA
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| WGMU-CA / WBVT-CA | |
|---|---|
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| Burlington, Vermont / Plattsburgh, New York |
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| Branding | My 39 |
| Channels | Analog: WGMU: 39 (UHF) WBVT: 30 (UHF) Digital: none |
| Translators | 17 W17CI Claremont, NH 19 W19BR Monkton 52 W52CD St. Albans 54 W54CV East Barre 61 W61CE Rutland |
| Affiliations | MyNetworkTV |
| Owner | Equity Media Holdings (Newmont Broadcasting Corporation) |
| Founded | 1994 |
| Call letters’ meaning | WGMU: We're Green Mountain UPN (refers to previous affiliation) WBVT: Burlington, VermonT |
| Former callsigns | WGMU: W39IN "WWIN" (1994-1999) WBVT (1999-2005) |
| Former affiliations | The WB (1995-1999) UPN (1999-2006) A1 (2003, secondary) |
| Transmitter Power | WGMU: 60.09 kW WBVT: 0.07 kW |
| Height | WGMU: 230.1 m WBVT: 218 m |
| Transmitter Coordinates | WGMU: WBVT: |
| Website | mytv-burlington.com |
WGMU-CA is a Class A television station licensed to Burlington. The station broadcasts an analog signal on UHF channel 39 with no digital signal. WGMU's transmitter is located in Charlotte.
WBVT-CA is another Class A television station that is also licensed to Burlington. This station broadcasts an analog signal on UHF channel 30 with no digital signal either. WBVT's transmitter is located in Nashville. There is an application with the FCC that calls for WBVT to increase its broadcasting power to 30 kW and move its transmitter to the W52CD tower (which is a repeater of WGMU) in St. Albans. This will most likely be denied because of interference from CFKS-TV in Sherbrooke, Quebec.
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[edit] Overview
Together, the two stations serve as the MyNetworkTV affiliates for the Burlington / Plattsburgh television market. WGMU is the main station that is simulcasted full-time on WBVT. WGMU is owned by Equity Media Holdings and is operated via satellite from Equity's headquarters in Little Rock, Arkansas. Its main studios are located on Pine Haven Shores Road in Shelburne. There are additional offices located on Dorr Drive in Rutland. WGMU is known on-air as My 39.
On cable, WGMU can be seen in Burlington on Comcast channel 7 and in Plattsburgh on Charter channel 18. However, the station is not seen on Videotron cable systems in Montreal. The nearest WGMU outlying translator to Montreal, W52CD in St. Albans, barely reaches the city.
In addition to MyNetworkTV prime time and overnight paid programming, syndicated shows on the station include Montel, Jerry Springer, Frasier, Still Standing, and South Park. The channel does not air any news or sports programs.
[edit] Repeaters
WGMU operates the largest network of repeaters of any Burlington / Plattsburgh station.
| Call letters | Channel | Licensed to | Transmitter location | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| W17CI | 17 | Claremont | Mount Ascutney | *part of Southern New Hampshire sub-market *shares tower with WNNE and WVTA |
| W19BR | 19 | Monkton | Charlotte | shares tower with WGMU |
| W52CD | 52 | St. Albans | St. Albans | has a construction permit to broadcast on channel 41 with the same call letters |
| W54CV | 54 | Burlington | East Barre | |
| W61CE | 61 | Rutland | East Hubbardton | has a construction permit to broadcast on channel 35 with the same call letters |
[edit] Transmitter failure hotline
With Equity operating the station from Little Rock and no one watching the transmitters back in Vermont, WGMU is very vulnerable to technical difficulties. As a result, Equity has a special hotline to report transmitter failures and other technical difficulties involving its equipment. If someone sees WGMU leave the air prematurely, they should call 1-866-823-8828.
[edit] History
WGMU originally signed on the air in 1994 as W39IN and identified themselves on-air as WWIN. On January 11, 1995, the station joined The WB. In 1999, WWIN changed its call letters to WBVT. In May of that year, WB programming moved to WFFF-TV and WBVT picked up UPN from WWBI-LP.
During a period in 2003, WBVT aired America One programing during the day while showing a "UPN 39" logo in the top-right corner of the screen. The station broadcasted UPN programming during primetime but would not air UPN's kid shows.
In 2004, WBVT's previous owners (NYN LLC) were experiencing financial problems which led them to cede control of the station to current owner Equity Media Holdings (then known as Equity Broadcasting). That company would buy it outright in February of 2005. During times of financial trouble and the transition to Equity ownership, there were plenty of technical problems on the station. There was a point where the station would be off-air for days at a time. During this dark period, some area cable systems (including Adelphia in Burlington) temporarily replaced WBVT with Boston's WSBK-TV.
In 2005, once the station was in Equity's hands and back in shape, it changed its call letters again to the current WGMU. This was done in order to distinguish itself as a UPN station and no longer a WB affiliate.
On January 24, 2006, The WB and UPN announced that they would end broadcasting and merge. The newly 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. Television unit of Time Warner. The merger took effect on-air on September 18, 2006. On that date, primary FOX affiliate WFFF-TV, replaced its secondary affiliation from The WB to The CW.
On February 22 News Corporation announced that they would start up another new network called MyNetworkTV. This service, which would be sister to FOX, would be operated by FOX Television Stations and its syndication division Twentieth Television. MyNetworkTV was created in order to give UPN and WB stations, not mentioned as becoming CW affiliates, another option besides becoming independent. It was also created to compete against The CW. Soon after that, WGMU was announced as becoming the Burlington / Plattsburgh MyNetworkTV affiliate. The network began broadcasting on September 5, 2006, and on that date the station's branding became My 39.
Before MyNetworkTV affiliation, WGMU did not have a website of its own. The station formerly had a website (as WBVT) through previous ownership. When it was bought by Equity and changed to WGMU, it got a web address located at "gmupn.com" that later disappeared. With the network switch, Equity created a site and MyNetworkTV logo for WGMU. The website has been in operation since late-August 2006. As of mid-December 2006, however, it is out of date.
[edit] Logos
 WWIN's WB logo used from 1995 until 1999. |
 WGMU's UPN logo used from mid-2005 until some point in 2005 / 2006. |
WGMU's MyNetworkTV logo used since August of 2006. |
[edit] External links
- WGMU & WBVT "My 39" (out-of-date)
- MyNetworkTV
- Query the FCC's TV station database for WGMU-CA
- Query the FCC's TV station database for WBVT-CA
- Query the FCC's TV station database for W17CI
- Query the FCC's TV station database for W19BR
- Query the FCC's TV station database for W52CD
- Query the FCC's TV station database for W54CV
- Query the FCC's TV station database for W61CE
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