WPTA-DT2

WPTA-DT2
Fort Wayne, Indiana
Branding The CW Fort Wayne (general)
Indiana's NewsCenter (news)
Slogan The CW Television Network For
Northeast Indiana (general)
24/7 News Source (news)
Channels Digital: WPTA-DT 24.2 (UHF)
Affiliations The CW (via The CW Plus)
Owner Malara Broadcast Group
(operated through LMA
by Granite Broadcasting Corporation)
(Malara Broadcast Group of
Fort Wayne Licensee, LLC)
Founded late-1998
Former callsigns "WBFW" (1998-2006)
Former affiliations The WB (1998-2006,
via The WB 100+)
Transmitter power 335 kW (digital)
Height 224.4 m (digital)
Facility ID 73905 (digital)
Transmitter coordinates (digital)

WPTA-DT2 is the CW-affiliated television station for Northeaster Indiana. It is part of The CW Plus, a special CW feed that broadcasts on cable and/or over-the-air on a digital signal. The station is a second digital subchannel of ABC affiliate WPTA owned by the Malara Broadcast Group and operated through a local marketing agreement (LMA) by the Granite Broadcasting Corporation. Over-the-air, WPTA-DT2 broadcasts a standard definition digital signal on UHF channel 24.2 from a transmitter on Butler Road in Fort Wayne. It can also be seen on Verizon FiOS channel 7 and Comcast channel 19. Known on-air as Fort Wayne CW, WPTA-DT2's parent station has studios on Butler Road in Fort Wayne.

Contents

History

The station began in late-1998 alongside the launch of The WB 100+ and its cable-only affiliates. Since its was cable-exclusive, the channel used the "WBFW" calls in a fictional manner. It was managed and promoted by WPTA that was then wholly owned by the Granite Broadcasting Corporation. When that station was transferred to the Malara Broadcast Group in 2005, "WBFW" was as well.

On January 24, 2006, The WB and UPN announced the networks would end broadcasting and merge. The new combined service would be called The CW. The letters would represent the first initial of corporate parents CBS (the parent company of UPN) and the Warner Bros. unit of Time Warner. On February 22, News Corporation announced that it would start up another new network called MyNetworkTV as sister network to Fox. It 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.

CBS affiliate WANE-TV offered UPN on a second digital subchannel. An announcement in March said "WBFW" would affiliate with The CW via The CW Plus (a similar operation to The WB 100+). WPTA decided to create a new second digital subchannel to simulcast "WBFW" and offer access to CW programming for over-the-air viewers. Meanwhile on September 5, WISE-TV moved NBC Weather Plus from its second digital subchannel in order for it to become the area's affiliate of MyNetworkTV. Weather Plus then began airing on WISE-DT3. On September 18, The CW debuted on "WBFW" which officially began using the WPTA-DT2 calls.

Newscasts

Like all CW Plus affiliates in the Eastern Time Zone, WPTA-DT2 offers the nationally syndicated morning show The Daily Buzz on weekdays from 6 until 9. With the September 2006 change to MyNetworkTV on WISE-DT2 and the addition of The CW on this digital subchannel, the show (known as Indiana's NewsCenter Prime News) became part of the channel's schedules through a simulcast.

The Daily Buzz
(weekday mornings 6 to 9)

Indiana's NewsCenter Prime News at 10
(weeknights 10 to 10:30)

WPTA-DT2 features additional personnel from WPTA. See that article for a complete listing.

References

External links