WENY-TV

WENY-TV

Elmira/Corning/ Ithaca, New York
City of license	Elmira
Branding	WENY-HD ABC WENY-HD News WENY-HD CBS (on DT2) Twin Tiers CW 2 (on DT3)
Slogan	Expect Everything
Channels	Digital: 36 (UHF) Virtual: 36 (PSIP)
Subchannels	36.1 ABC 36.2 CBS 36.3 The CW
Translators	6 (VHF) W06AR Hornell
Owner	Lilly Broadcasting, LLC
First air date	November 19, 1969
Call letters' meaning	Elmira, New York
Sister station(s)	WSEE-TV, WICU-TV
Former channel number(s)	36 (UHF analog, 1969-2009) 55 (UHF digital, 2000-2009)
Transmitter power	75 kW
Height	342 m
Class	DT
Facility ID	71508
Transmitter coordinates	42°8′31″N 77°4′40″W
Website	weny.com

WENY-TV is the ABC-affiliated television station for the Central and Western Twin Tiers of Southern Upstate New York and Northern Pennsylvania. Licensed to Elmira, New York, it broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 36 from a transmitter on Higman Hill in Corning. The station can also be seen on Time Warner Cable channel 4 and in high definition on digital channel 703. Owned by Lilly Broadcasting, WENY has studios on Old Ithaca Road in Horseheads. Syndicated programming on the station includes Entertainment Tonight, Judge Judy, Dr. Phil, and The Ellen DeGeneres Show among others. It can also be seen over-the-air through an analog repeater W06AR on VHF channel 6. This signal is licensed to Hornell and has a transmitter in South Hornell.

Digital channels

Channel	PSIP short name	Video	Aspect	Programming
36.1	WENY-AB	720p	16:9	Main WENY-TV programming / ABC
36.2	WENY-CB	480i		WENY-DT2 / CBS
36.3	WENY-CW			Twin Tiers CW 2

History

Logo used until December 2008.

The station signed-on November 19, 1969 after Howard Green, owner of WENY radio (1230 AM and 92.7 FM) and WCMC-AM-TV in Wildwood, New Jersey, was awarded analog UHF channel 36 by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). Another area broadcaster, Frank Saia, had surrendered the construction permit to build what would have been WEHH-TV on the same channel.

Green purchased the equipment of WNYP-TV, a defunct station in Jamestown, and hired Larry Taylor (that station’s Assistant Chief Engineer) to move and install the equipment into a space on the ground floor of the Mark Twain Hotel in Downtown Elmira (former restaurant). The station’s analog transmitter was side-mounted to the WSYE tower on Hawley Hill. An addition was constructed to the building that that housed NBC affiliate WSYE-TV (now WETM-TV). The station's DTV transmitter is relocated in Corning.

WENY began operations out of a mixed color/black-and-white facility. Its broadcasts of ABC network programming were in actuality retransmissions of either WABC-TV in New York City or WNYS-TV (now WSYR-TV) in Syracuse. The former was received via microwave while the latter was received via deep fringe hotel rooftop antenna. The station aired a small amount of locally produced programming including an Elmira edition of Claster Television's long-running children's program Romper Room and a late-Saturday night horror movie hosted by disc jockey Paul Leigh as the ghoulish "Undertaker".

The WENY-TV logo as used in 1990.

During the disastrous flooding caused by Hurricane Agnes in 1972, WENY was abandoned due to rising waters. Engineers were able to remove a limited amount of equipment to the Hawley Hill site where the station managed a limited broadcasting schedule of news and emergency announcements until the studios could be reoccupied. After this, Green obtained a building on Old Ithaca Road in Horseheads that had been previously used by the Army Corps of Engineers. In 1973, Taylor, along with engineer Gary Simon, moved the station from the hotel to the garage of the property where it remains to this day. In 2000, longtime owner Howard Green sold WENY to current owner Lilly Broadcasting (owned by Brian Lilly, son of SJL Broadcasting's George Lilly) thus separating the television station from its radio sisters which were sold to White Broadcasting.

Lilly Broadcasting was granted the local CW affiliation in Spring 2006. The network's programming, from The CW Plus, began to air on cable-only "WBE" (which Lilly owns as well) when the network launched on September 18. That station had been affiliated with the network's predecessor, The WB via The WB 100+. On October 20, 2008, CBS signed an affiliation agreement with WENY to air the network on a new second digital subchannnel with a proposed launch date of January 1, 2009. This would mark the first time that CBS has ever had an affiliate based in Elmira. The area had been served by longtime default affiliate WBNG-TV in Binghamton while Ithaca was served by WTVH from Syracuse. Canisteo and Hornell were covered by Buffalo's WIVB-TV.

According to the FCC, WENY had a request to flash-cut from analog to digital broadcasting after the old transition date of February 17, 2009. On that date, WENY-DT2 launched on Time Warner systems in Elmira, Corning, Hornell, and Ithaca. At the end of May, WENY performed a flash-cut and began broadcasting exclusively in digital. The new CBS station began its transmission over-the-air at this point. "WBE" eventually began to be offered on a new third digital subchannel of WENY and now uses the WENY-DT3 call sign in an official manner.

According to the FCC, it had an application to air a digital signal on UHF channel 55. However, the station opted to perform a flash-cut instead. Qualcomm holds licenses for the channel 55 spectrum. Approval of WENY's request to flash-cut allowed that company's wholly owned subsidiary, MediaFLO USA, to expand its "mediacast" service coverage in New York State without loss of broadcast service to the public. WENY-DT2's coverage area includes Steuben and Chemung Counties in New York which borders the Erie market and sister station CBS affiliate WSEE-TV. It is unknown if there is any coordination of the two CBS stations that come within one county of each other in coverage and serve an area reaching between Cleveland, Ohio and Binghamton (not inclusive).

News operation

News open formerly seen weeknights at 11. This graphic ended in April 2013 when this newscast was renamed to WENY-HD News at 11.

At first, the station's only local programming were newscasts seen weeknights at 6 and 11. The original anchor team featured News Director Bill Miller, long-time WENY disc jockey Steve Christy with weather, and sports from Dick Ireland. Christy, the last of the three to retire, remained with the station until early-2009 at which point he retired due to health problems. Also known as "Mr. WENY" in reference to his long tenure at the station, he died in July 2010. In 1975, WENY became the first television outlet in the market to switch from sixteen mm black-and-white reversal news footage to color electronic news gathering using the Sony U-Matic system. In 1977, it became the first in Elmira to use an electronic character generator during newscasts.

Rival WETM has traditionally been a ratings stronghold in the Twin Tiers area. This is because the news department at WENY is quite small compared with that station and most other big three affiliates. In addition, WENY does not provide any newscasts on weekends despite operating three major programming services (ABC, CBS, and The CW) so WETM is currently the only outlet that airs broadcasts for Elmira and Corning seven days a week. Unlike most ABC affiliates, this station does not air a full two-hour weekday morning show or midday newscast during the week. Its morning program, Good Morning Twin Tiers, can be seen for sixty minutes starting at 6 and is simulcast on WENY-DT2. From 7 until 9, there are also simulcasted local news and weather cut-ins at :25 and :55 past the hour during Good Morning America and CBS This Morning.

Weeknight newscasts can be seen at 5:30, 6, and 11 with the earlier offering of WENY-HD News at 5:30 and 6 being seen exclusively on WENY-DT2 while the next half-hour is only aired on the main ABC station. There is no broadcast weeknights at 5 unlike most other big three television outlets. WENY-HD News at 11 at 11 is simulcasted on the ABC and CBS channels although there can sometimes be a delay or preemption on one service due to network obligations. WENY shares resources with sister stations WSEE and WICU in Erie in order to cover the Western Twin Tiers region.

On April 23, 2012, WENY-TV became the first local television station in the Twin Tiers to broadcast local news in high definition.

Newscast titles

• Eyewitness News (1970s-1990s)
• NewsCenter 36
• NewsChannel 36 (1996–2008)
• WENY-TV News (2008–2013)
• WENY-HD News (2013–present)

Station slogans

• "Local. Accurate. Complete." (2003–2008)
• "Expect Everything" (2008–present)

News team

Anchors

• Scott Cook - News Director seen weeknights at 5:30 and 6 on "WENY-HD News at 5:30" and "WENY-HD News at 6"
• Renata Stiehl - Assistant News Director seen weeknights at 5:30 and 6 on "WENY-HD News at 5:30" and "WENY-HD News at 6"
• Jennifer Sheahen - Anchor and Producer of "WENY-HD News at 11"
• Laura Caso - Co-Anchor and Producer of "Good Morning Twin Tiers"
• Joe Melillo - Co-Anchor of "Good Morning Twin Tiers"
• Joe Veres (NWA Seal of Approval) - Chief Meteorologist seen weeknights on "WENY-HD News at 5:30", "WENY-HD News at 6" & "WENY-HD News at 11"
• John Hickey - weekday morning meteorologist and weekday morning news reporter seen on "Good Morning Twin Tiers"
• Andy Malnoske - weeknight sports at 5:30 and 6 on "Twin Tiers Tonight"
• Josh Getzoff - weeknight sports at 11 and sports reporter on "Twin Tiers Tonight: Late Edition" & "Good Morning Twin Tiers"

Reporters

• Tanja Rekhi
• Candice Cole
• Kellie Meyer
• Jacqueline Policastro - WENY-TV Washington D.C. Correspondent
• Ted Fioraliso - WENY-TV Washington D.C. Correspondent
• Susan Arbetter - WCNY-TV Capitol Correspondent
• Melinda Myers - Melinda's Garden Moment
• Stacy Johnson - Money Talks News

External links

• Official website
• Official website
• Query the FCC's TV station database for WENY-TV
• Query the FCC's TV station database for W06AR
• BIAfn's Media Web Database -- Information on WENY-TV