WUTV
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- For the Washington University student television station in St. Louis, Missouri, see WUTV 22.
| WUTV | |
|---|---|
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| Buffalo, New York | |
| Branding | Fox 29 |
| Channels | Analog: 29 (UHF) |
| Affiliations | Fox |
| Owner | Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc. (WUTV Licensee, LLC) |
| First air date | December 21, 1970 |
| Call letters’ meaning | UlTraVision (former owner) |
| Sister station(s) | WNYO-TV |
| Former affiliations | independent (1970-1990) UPN secondary (1995-1997) |
| Transmitter Power | 3980 kW (analog) 1000 kW (digital) |
| Height | 329 m (analog) 299.5 m (digital) |
| Facility ID | 415 |
| Transmitter Coordinates | |
| Website | www.wutv.com |
WUTV is a broadcast television station in Buffalo, New York, affiliated with the Fox network. It broadcasts on channel 29. WUTV is owned by the Sinclair Broadcast Group, which also owns WNYO-TV, the MyNetworkTV affiliate in the Buffalo market. WUTV's transmitter is located on Grand Island, New York at 951 Whitehaven Road.
WUTV does not currently air a newscast (and has not done so for many years), making Buffalo the largest television market in the US whose Fox affiliate does not offer news (though it will preempt programs through Fox News whenever necessary). Rather, they advertise the WGRZ-produced newscast of WNYO on their station. WUTV heavily targets its Canadian audience in Toronto and Southern Ontario, whom the station assumes would rather watch syndicated entertainment programming, such as sitcom reruns, than Buffalo news.
Unlike the other Buffalo channels, WUTV is not seen on Star Choice, opting instead for Rochester sister station WUHF in Standard Definition, and Detroit, Michigan's WJBK-TV in High Definition. However, Star Choice would use WUTV as a temporary replacement if technical difficulties occur with either channel.
[edit] History
WUTV began operation on December 21, 1970 as a general entertainment independent station, airing cartoons, sitcoms, old movies, and drama shows. The station was owned by Ultravision Broadcasting Company from which the UTV in the WUTV callsign originate. Ultravision head and WUTV founder Stan Jasinski had first filed an application for the station's licence in 1963. WUTV was the only independent station in Buffalo for many years. The station was owned by Citadel Broadcasting by the early 1980s.
In 1989, Act III Broadcasting (which owned WNYB/49, now WNYO) offered to buy WUTV, and Citadel accepted. Act III then integrated WNYB's programming into WUTV's lineup, and sold WNYB to Tri-State Christian Television (Act III was known for such acquisition practices).
The sale was finalized in June 1990, and WUTV replaced WNYB as the market's Fox affiliate. Abry became the owner of WUTV in 1994 following its purchase of the Act III group, and WUTV began to carry a secondary UPN affiliation in 1995. (The UPN affiliation subsequently moved to WNGS in 1997, then WNLO in 2003.)
Sinclair became the owner of WUTV in 1997 following its purchase of Abry, and bought WNYO in 2001, making WUTV and WNYO sister stations under more relaxed station ownership rules.
Up until 2003 WUTV was carried on Rogers Cable in the Ottawa and London Regions. WJBK-TV Detroit replaced WUTV in these regions. The decision to discontinue WUTV in the Ottawa Region was because they had to change to Detroit feeds for CBS, NBC and ABC and it was more efficient to source all the feeds from the same city. Rogers London discontinued WUTV because they made a decision to make Detroit their primary provider of US networks because the reception from Erie stations was not reliable. Like with the Ottawa Region, Rogers felt it was more efficient to source all the feeds from the same city.
After Sinclair came to a compensation agreement in February 2007 nationally with Time Warner Cable, WUTV and WNYO's HDTV signals are now carried by that cable provider locally.
Sinclair and Fox recently finalized a six-year affiliation contract extension for Sinclair's 19 Fox affiliates, including WUTV. WUTV's affiliation contract now expires in March 2012. [1]
Interestingly, as of February 2008, WUTV is also the Fox TV feed received on the Cayman Islands.
[edit] Historic slogans
- Get to know us (1970 - 1985)
- The Great Entertainer (1985 - 1990)
- Gimme Fox (1995 - 1996)
- Only One Buffalo... Only One FOX... FOX 29 (1998 - 2000)
- Just One Buffalo... Just One Fox
- You are watching Fox 29, WUTV Buffalo, Serving Western New York and Southern Ontario
[edit] External links
- WUTV Fox 29 Homepage
- Query the FCC's TV station database for WUTV
- BIAfn's Media Web Database -- Information on WUTV-TV
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