WCWN

WCWN

Schenectady/Albany/ Troy, New York
City of license	Schenectady
Branding	The CW 15 (general) The CW 15 News
Slogan	TV to Talk About
Channels	Digital: 43 (UHF) Virtual: 45 (PSIP)
Subchannels	45.1 The CW
Owner	Freedom Communications (sale to Sinclair Broadcast Group pending) (Freedom Broadcasting of New York Licensee, LLC)
First air date	December 3, 1984
Call letters' meaning	The CW Network OR The CW New York State
Former callsigns	WUSV (1984-1987) WMHX (1987-1993) WMHQ (1993-1999) WEWB-TV (1999-2006)
Former channel number(s)	45 (UHF analog, 1984-2009)
Former affiliations	Independent (1984-1987) PBS (1987-1991 and 1993-1999) silent (1991-1993) WB (1999-2006)
Transmitter power	600 kW
Height	426 m
Facility ID	73264
Transmitter coordinates	42°37′31.3″N 74°0′36.3″W
Website	cwalbany.com

WCWN is the CW-affiliated television station for New York State's Capital District and Western New England. Licensed to Schenectady, New York, it broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 43 (PSIP virtual channel 45) from a transmitter southwest of New Scotland's Voorheesville section. The station can also be seen on Time Warner Cable channel 15 (hence The CW 15 branding) and in high definition on digital channel 1815. Owned by Freedom Communications, WCWN is sister to CBS affiliate WRGB and the two stations share studios on Balltown Road in Niskayuna. Syndicated programming on this station includes: Seinfeld, How I Met Your Mother, The Office, Cash Cab, and The New Adventures of Old Christine.

Since WCWN operates as part of the WRGB twinstick, the station can air any CBS programming if the other station preempts the network for weather/emergency updates or local specials. In the past, it has been known to air coverage of the U.S. Open Tennis Championship. During the yearly Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon, WCWN is responsible for airing WRGB's local, syndicated, and network lineup. The station also airs some New York Mets baseball games produced by WPIX in New York City (owned by the Tribune Company). Games are shown on Fridays nights, Saturdays, and Sundays. The arrangement is in place because WCWN and WPIX were sisters at one point in time. Although this station is now owned by Freedom, the arrangement continues.

Digital programming

Channels	Video	Aspect	Programming
45.1	1080i	16:9	Main WCWN programming / The CW

History

WCWN originated as an independent station on December 3, 1984 under the call letters WUSV (Union Street Video). As with most independent stations during that period, it had difficulties from the outset in terms of getting programming with only afternoon cartoons and some reruns getting respectable ratings. As a result, the station went through financial difficulties. In 1987, Union Street Video sold the station in a fire sale to WMHT Educational Telecommunications which made it a secondary PBS station with the calls WMHX.

This arrangement lasted until 1991 when, due to financial difficulties, WMHX was taken off-the-air. Two years later, the station returned to the air with the new calls WMHQ carrying a large amount of instructional programming alongside repeats and double runs from WMHT. Further financial difficulties at WMHT led to a sale of WMHQ in the late 1990s.

After a sale to the Sinclair Broadcast Group (to make the station a dual UPN/WB affiliate) fell through, Tribune Broadcasting bought the station in 1999 for $18.5 million. WMHQ's final day of programming as a secondary PBS member station was Sunday September 5, 1999 with the final sign-on at 7:00 a.m. and signed off the air for the final time just after midnight that night, marking an end to six years of programs on WMHQ. Then at 6:00 a.m. on September 6, 1999, WMHQ joined The WB and received the call sign WEWB-TV as well as the on-air branding of "WB 45". The station became the first and so far only network-owned station in the Capital District since Tribune had a minority stake in The WB. WPIX from New York City, was the default WB affiliate for Albany from its inception in 1995 to early September 1999, was blacked out for cable viewers in the area until 2002, leaving WPIX as an Independent station with some additional shows blacked out and showed exclusively on another Albany station, (most notably, channel 45, FOX affiliate WXXA-TV, CBS affiliate and now sister station WRGB-TV and NBC affiliate WNYT-TV.)

From the station's relaunch as WEWB until December 2006, master control of the channel was located at sister station WB affiliate WLVI-TV in Boston. However, local offices were at Corporate Woods in Albany. WLVI's meteorologists maintained WCWN's weather page. In 2004, WEWB's digital signal signed on-the-air and began broadcasting on UHF channel 43. In 2005, the "WB 45" name was succeeded by "Capital Region's WB" at the tail end of a period in which most of Tribune's WB affiliates (minus its VHF and "heritage" stations) were re-branded in the same format.

On January 24, 2006, UPN and The WB announced that they would cease broadcasting and merge to form The CW. WEWB was one of the Tribune WB affiliates named in the announcement of a new ten year affiliation deal with the new network. In preparation, the station's call letters changed to the current WCWN on May 10. In July 2006, commercials for The CW as well as syndicated fall programming had the station taking the "The Capital Region's CW" branding effective with the network's launch on September 18. On June 19, 2006, Tribune announced it would sell WCWN to Freedom Communications, owner of CBS affiliate WRGB, for $17 million dollars. The purchase, which faced review from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for much of 2006, was approved on November 22 (when the FCC granted Freedom a "failed station" waiver for the station's purchase), with Freedom closing on the station on December 6.

At that point, master control of WCWN moved from WLVI to WRGB's facilities in Niskayuna, the station's administrative offices were closed, and Freedom began to maintain WCWN's website. The purchase gave the Capital Region market its first television duopoly. For a short period of time, this essentially gave WRGB control of three stations as it continued its pre-existing joint sales agreement (JSA) with MyNetworkTV affiliate WNYA until February 2007. From its launch in 2006 until October 1, 2007, WCWN offered The Tube (a 24-hour digital music video channel) on its second digital subchannel and Time Warner digital cable. On November 1, 2008, WCWN-DT2 relaunched as an affiliate of This TV, then shortly thereafter swapped subchannels with WRGB and took Universal Sports. The station ended transmission on analog channel 45 on June 12, 2009.

Freedom announced on November 2, 2011 that it would bow out of television and sell its stations, including WCWN, to Sinclair Broadcast Group, marking the company's second attempt at acquiring channel 45. Since Freedom had acquired WCWN through a "failing station waiver", Sinclair is expected to seek a similar waiver for the purchase.

News operation

Weeknight news open.

As WMHQ, it partnered with NBC affiliate WNYT to launch the market's first prime time newscast at 10 which ran from 1996 until 1998. The broadcast was canceled due to a lack of support. At the outset of the station's relaunch as WEWB, there was a chance Tribune would launch a news department possibly with some support from another station in the area. These plans were indefinitely put on hold after Tribune put a news freeze in place and did not consider such a launch to be a priority.

Newscasts would not return to the station until the start of 2007 when Freedom moved an hour long extension of WRGB's weekday morning show at 7 from WNYA to this channel (currently known as The CW 15 Morning News). This happened because, at the time, WCWN had higher ratings than WNYA. Rumors soon circulated about WRGB launching a prime time show at 10 on this station to compete with Fox affiliate WXXA-TV. However, the moving of a second run of Dr. Phil to the time slot put those plans on hold. On January 14, 2008, the morning news on WCWN began to be produced in high definition. A day earlier, WRGB became the first station in the market to make the upgrade.

On September 24, 2008, WRGB started airing a weeknight prime time newscast in high definition on WCWN. Originally known as The CBS 6 News 10 at 10 and airing for ten minutes, it featured the top stories of the day along with an updated weather forecast. On October 18, 2010, this was expanded to thirty minutes and renamed The CW 15 News at 10. The format on WCWN became unique to the market and is different compared with newscasts seen on WRGB. There is more fast-paced reporting along with original stories and various features. The weekday morning and prime time newscasts are streamed live on WRGB's website. In the past, WCWN has also occasionally aired that channel's 11 o'clock news during CBS's coverage of the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship.

News team

Anchors

• Ed O'Brien - weekday morning news
• Theresa Priolo - weekday morning news and weeknight reporter (also "Crime Tracker" segment producer)
• Jerry Gretzinger - weeknight news and reporter
• Dori Marlin - weeknight news
• Steve LaPointe (CMB Seal of Approval) - Chief Meteorologist seen weeknights
• Neal Estano - weekday morning meteorologist
• Erik Thorgersen - fill-in meteorologist

Reporters

• Alexandra Field - State Capitol Correspondent
• Art Ginsburg - "Mr. Food" segment producer
• Jennifer Lewke - investigative
• Kassata Edwards
• Marci Natale
• Craig Smith
• Greg Floyd

External links

• WCWN "The CW 15"
• WRGB "CBS 6"
• Query the FCC's TV station database for WCWN