| Erie, Pennsylvania | |
|---|---|
| Branding | WICU 12 (general) WICU 12 News The CW Erie (on DT2) WSEE (on DT3) |
| Slogan | Coverage You Can Count On |
| Channels | Digital: 12 (VHF) Virtual: 12 (PSIP) |
| Subchannels | 12.1 NBC 12.2 The CW 12.3 CBS |
| Owner | SJL Broadcasting, Inc. (SJL of Pennsylvania License Subsidiary, LLC) |
| First air date | March 15, 1949 |
| Call letters' meaning | ICU (sounds like "I see you") |
| Sister station(s) | WSEE-TV |
| Former channel number(s) | Analog: 12 (VHF, 1949-2009) Digital: 52 (UHF, 1995-2009) |
| Former affiliations | All secondary: CBS (1949-1954) ABC(1949-1966) DuMont (1949-1955) |
| Transmitter power | 5.4 kW |
| Height | 306.7 m |
| Facility ID | 24970 |
| Transmitter coordinates | |
| Website | erietvnews.com |
WICU-TV, channel 12, is an NBC-affiliated television station located in Erie, Pennsylvania, USA. WICU-TV is owned by SJL Broadcasting, which also operates CBS affiliate WSEE-TV (channel 35) and its CW subchannel (owned by Lilly Broadcasting, LLC) through a local marketing agreement. The two stations both share studios on State Street in downtown Erie, and a transmitter located in Greene Township, Pennsylvania. [1][2]
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WICU-TV's second digital subchannel carries an affiliation with the CW Television Network. Known on-air as The CW Erie, this can also be seen on Time Warner channel 3 and WSEE's second digital subchannel. It gets all of its programming from The CW Plus.
| Channel | Video | Aspect | Programming |
|---|---|---|---|
| 12.1 | 1080i | 16:9 | Main WICU-TV programming / NBC |
| 12.2 | 480i | 4:3 | WSEE-DT2 "The CW Erie" |
| 12.3 | Simulcast of WSEE-TV |
WICU began broadcasting in Erie on March 15, 1949 [3] as an affiliate of all four networks of the time (NBC, CBS, ABC, and DuMont). It was one of the last stations to be granted a construction permit before the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) froze new applications. WICU-TV was founded by Edward Lamb, an attorney from Toledo, Ohio who also owned the now-defunct Erie Dispatch-Herald, and other broadcast properties including WTVN-TV (now WSYX) in Columbus, Ohio, which went on the air six months later. In 1952 Lamb purchased WIKK radio (1330 AM, later WICU and now WFNN), giving channel 12 a sister station on radio.
The station was a major beneficiary of a quirk in the FCC's plan for allocating stations.In the early days of broadcast television, there were twelve VHF channels available and 69 UHF channels (later reduced to 55 in 1983). The VHF bands were more desirable because they carried longer distances. Since there were only twelve VHF channels available, there were limitations as to how closely the stations could be spaced.
After the FCC's Sixth Report and Order ended the license freeze and opened the UHF band in 1952, it devised a plan for allocating VHF licenses. Under this plan, almost all of the country would be able to receive two commercial VHF channels plus one noncommercial channel. Most of the rest of the country ("1/2") would be able to receive a third VHF channel. Other areas would be designated as "UHF islands" since they were too close to larger cities for VHF service. The "2" networks became CBS and NBC, "+1" represented non-commercial educational stations, and "1/2" became ABC (which was the weakest network usually winding up with the UHF allocation where no VHF was available). However, Erie and Youngstown, Ohio were both sandwiched between Pittsburgh and Wheeling/Steubenville to the south, Cleveland to the west, Buffalo to the east, and London, Ontario to the north. This created a large "doughnut" in Northwestern Pennsylvania where there could only be one VHF license. WICU was fortunate to gain that license, and as a result has been the market leader in Erie for most of its history. Channel 12 held a monopoly on Erie television until WSEE-TV signed-on in 1954 as a CBS affiliate. The then-two separately owned stations aired ABC programs until WJET-TV (channel 24) signed-on in 1966.
Edward Lamb nearly lost WIKK (renamed WICU [AM] in 1957) and WICU-TV in 1954 due to allegations that he associated with Communists but was exonerated in 1957. A decade later in August 1967 Lamb reorganized his business interests, selling off all non-broadcast holdings as well as WICU radio. Lamb's company, later renamed Great Lakes Communications Inc., continued to hold channel 12; ownership passed on to Edward Lamb's family following his death in 1987. WICU-TV's family ownership era ended in 1996 when it was sold to SJL Communications, a subsidiary of SJL Broadcast Management and Alta Management. SJL purchased Alta's interest in 2005.[4][5][6][7] A Consummation Notice was filed with the FCC in February 2007 to voluntarily transfer control of the station from SJL Communications to SJL Broadcast Management Corporation.[8][9] This transaction was then authorized by the FCC.[10]
In 2002, the station became the senior partner in a local marketing agreement with WSEE.[11][12] From that point until June 1, 2009, WSEE continued to operate from its own studios on Peach Street (U.S. 19) in Downtown Erie. On that date, that station along with its CW subchannel merged into WICU's facilities. On June 12, WICU returned to channel 12 when the analog to digital conversion was completed. It turned off its analog signal at noon on June 8 to prepare for the change. It was the last analog station serving the Erie region to make the switch.[13]
Its broadcast signal reaches the city of Erie, surrounding communities, and across Lake Erie in parts of Ontario, Canada. It is available on all cable systems in Erie, Warren and Crawford counties in Pennsylvania and in selected cable networks in Venango County, Pennsylvania, Southwestern New York State, and Northeastern Ohio which are part of the Pittsburgh, Buffalo, and Youngstown markets respectively.[14] As recently as the 1990s, it was available on cable as far east as Olean, New York well out of WICU's broadcast range and in competition with Buffalo NBC affiliate WGRZ-TV. The station was the subject of a television special entitled WICU: The First 40 Years that was aired on March 15, 1989.[15]
On May 28, 2009, WSEE aired its final newscast from its Peach Street studios. After moving into WICU's facilities and going without local broadcasts for nearly four days, news returned to the air. WSEE's weeknight 11 o'clock broadcast moved to 10 on WSEE-DT2 so it would no longer compete with this channel. It is then re-aired on WSEE at 11. WSEE-DT2 simulcasts the first hour of WICU's weekday morning show, airs the nationally syndicated morning broadcast The Daily Buzz from 6 to 9, simulcasts WICU's 12:30 newscast, and re-airs for a third time the 10 p.m. broadcast early the next morning.
The WICU and WSEE facilities are currently unable to air two live broadcasts at the same time because there is only one control center. When WSEE moved into the state street building, the WICU studio was split in two and it was anticipated that a similar (one man) control center operation would be built for WSEE to allow live separate newscast to exist. Since the move, the WSEE "Morning's Live" show airs for an hour weekday mornings at 6 by pre-recording the newscast at 4am. The branding continues to be used despite not being live because the history that WSEE used to pre-tape the shows during the 11 o'clock broadcast and re-air it the following morning. The WSEE 6 o'clock broadcast is usually recorded during the mid-afternoon but on occasion is aired live with WICU pre-taping part of the 90 minute newscast they present. WICU's midday newscast airs at 12:30 p.m. as opposed to the traditional noon to accommodate WSEE's live noon newscast but weather segments on both stations are usually pre-taped earlier in the morning. During times of breaking news, weather or election night coverage both WICU and WSEE simulcast the newscasts and occasionally even include the CW channel as well.
Frequently the WSEE weather person does fill in when the WICU weather person is on vacation for the morning shows. The evening newscasts on WICU, WSEE and CW always uses the same weather person for newscasts since the semi-retirement of Joey Stevens.
The two stations share weekend broadcasts which can be delayed on one station due to network programming. WICU and WSEE continue to consolidate news operations by sharing reporting, sports and weather staff. New personnel continue to be hired to replace those who leave contrary to early indications that once a personality left a position he or she would not be replaced and the newscasts would instead be merged.
WICU and WSEE merged their Web sites in June 2011.
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