WOLF-TV

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WOLF-TV
Wolf tv 2009.png

Wswb cwtv.PNG
Wqmy mntv.PNG
Hazleton/Scranton/
Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania
City of license Hazleton
Branding Fox 56 (general)
Fox 56 News
CW WSWB (on DT2)
MyNetworkTV WQMY
(on DT3)
Channels Digital: 45 (UHF)
Virtual: 56 (PSIP)
Subchannels 56.1 Fox
56.2 The CW
56.3 MyNetworkTV
Translators 47 Waymart
Owner New Age Media, LLC
(New Age Media of Pennsylvania License, LLC)
First air date June 3, 1985
Call letters' meaning WOLF (the animal)
Sister station(s) WQMY, WSWB
Former callsigns WWLF-TV (1985–1998)
Former channel number(s) Analog:
38 (UHF, 1985–1998)
56 (UHF, 1998–2009)
Former affiliations Independent (1985–1986)
Transmitter power 420 kW
Height 488 m
Facility ID 73375
Transmitter coordinates 41°10′58.2″N 75°52′11.5″W / 41.182833°N 75.869861°W / 41.182833; -75.869861
Website myfoxnepa.com

WOLF-TV is the Fox-affiliated television station for Northeastern Pennsylvania, New York's Eastern Southern Tier and parts of North Jersey that is licensed to Hazleton. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 45 from a transmitter at the Penobscot Knob antenna farm near Mountain Top. Owned by New Age Media, the station is sister to CW affiliate WSWB and MyNetworkTV affiliate WQMY. All three share studios on PA 315 in the Fox Hill section of Plains Township. Syndicated programming on WOLF-TV includes: The Big Bang Theory, Two and a Half Men, The Office, and Everybody Loves Raymond. The station airs a few original programs such as The Fox 56 High School Sports Show, The Great Outdoors, and The Pulse.

Contents

Translators [edit]

WOLF-TV serves one of the largest geographic markets in the country. This area is very mountainous making UHF reception difficult. However, the station is in a unique situation since Scranton and Wilkes-Barre is a "UHF Island". As a result, it operates an analog Class A translator to repeat its signal. W24DB on UHF channel 24 has a transmitter northwest of Scranton and I-476 in Lackawanna County. NextEra Energy Resources operates a digital replacement translator on UHF channel 47 in Waymart, PA. This channel exists because windmills run by NextEra Energy Resources at the Waymart Wind Farm interfere with the transmission of full-power television signals.

Call letters Channel City of license
W24DB 24 Clarks Summit
WOLF-TV 47 Waymart

History [edit]

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) granted an original construction permit for Hazleton's first full-service television station on September 30, 1982.[1] The new station, given the call letters WERF,[2] was owned by James Oyster and was to broadcast from a tower south of the city.[3] At that location, the station could serve its city of license but not the main cities in the market, Scranton and Wilkes-Barre. In April 1983, WERF applied to move its transmitter to the Penobscot Knob antenna farm near Mountaintop where WNEP-TV, WDAU-TV (now WYOU), WBRE-TV, and WVIA-TV also had their transmitters. The application was denied, however.[4]

Oyster changed the station's call letters to WWLF-TV on July 25, 1984[2] then sold the construction permit to Hazleton TV Associates on December 13.[5] Two months later on February 20, 1985, the station was sold again this time to Scranton TV Partners who completed construction of the station and brought it on-air on June 6. WWLF was a satellite of co-owned WOLF-TV in Scranton which was then on UHF channel 38 and was an independent station. That station had just began broadcasting itself on June 3. WWLF, as a satellite of WOLF-TV, was independent for a little more than a year. On October 9, 1986, it became a charter affiliate of Fox.[6] In 1988, WWLF moved to a new transmitter on Nescopeck Mountain near the junction of I-80 and PA 93[7] but remained a satellite of WOLF-TV.

On April 27, 1993, WWLF was sold to Pegasus Television[8] and the new owners were able to accomplish something that the station's original owner could not: get permission to move the transmitter to the antenna farm at Penobscot Knob.[9] The completion of the new transmitter ushered in a new era for WWLF. On November 1, 1998, Pegasus moved the WOLF-TV call letters and the Fox affiliation to channel 56.[2] It changed the call letters of channel 38 to WSWB and made that station an affiliate of The WB.[6][10] That station's owners had sought for many years to move either the channel 38 or channel 56 transmitters to Penobscot Knob. On January 4, 2007, WOLF-TV along with most of the Pegasus stations, was sold to investment group CP Media, LLC[11] with the sale consummated on March 31.[12]

The Grey Wolf, on which the station got its call letters from.

For the first time in its history, the station was no longer co-owned with WSWB. However, the new owners of that station signed a local marketing agreement (LMA) with CP Media meaning that the stations continue to be commonly operated.[13] Eventually, CP Media formed a new broadcasting group, New Age Media. More recently, WOLF-TV launched a new website using the Fox Owned-and-operated station platform licensed from Fox Television Stations' interactive division; this lasted until some time in 2010 or 2011 when WorldNow took over the operation of the WOLF-TV web site. On January 19, 2009, it ceased analog operation on channel 56.[14] On December 4, 2011 the station's transmitter was damaged and for the next month WOLF-TV was carried on WBRE's channel 28.2 subchannel.[15][16]

Digital Television [edit]

Channel Name Video Aspect Programming
56.1 WOLF DT 720p 16:9 Main WOLF-TV programming / FOX
56.2 WSWB DT 480i 4:3 SD Simlucast of WSWB
56.3 WQMY DT Simulcast of WQMY

The station's signal is multiplexed. WQMY cannot be received over-the-air in the Scranton and Wilkes-Barre areas due to its transmitter being in Williamsport so it can be seen on WOLF-DT3.

Newscasts [edit]

News open.

Fox required most of its affiliates to begin offering local news in 1990 in order to help the fledgling network. To satisfy this and not face disaffiliation, what is now WSWB entered into a news share agreement with ABC affiliate WNEP-TV (then owned by The New York Times Company) in 1991. The outsourcing arrangement resulted in one of the nation's first prime time newscast to debut known as Newswatch 16 at 10 on Fox 38. The show originated from WNEP's facility on Montage Mountain Road in Moosic featuring the ABC outlet's on-air personnel. When the Fox affiliation moved to this station in 1998, the newscasts did as well.

The broadcasts then became known as Fox 56 News at 10 with a secondary title of Newswatch 16 at 10 on Fox 56. In November 2009, it was announced WNEP would move its production of the news at 10 to a second digital subchannel called "WNEP 2" which had recently gained Retro Television Network (RTV) affiliation. That happened December 31 of that year after which WOLF-TV and NBC affiliate WBRE-TV (owned by the Nexstar Broadcasting Group) entered into a new outsourcing agreement. After taking over production of nightly prime time newscasts on WOLF-TV starting New Year's Day 2010, WBRE expanded the show to an hour each night and changed the title to Fox 56 News First at 10.

The program now originates from a secondary set at the NBC affiliate's studios on South Franklin Street in Downtown Wilkes-Barre. The space had previously been used to produce separate newscasts on CBS affiliate WYOU. It has been announced that WBRE will become the market's second television station to upgrade local news to high definition level. The change will occur April 2, 2012 and the WOLF-TV shows will be included in the upgrade complete with an updated secondary set at WBRE's studios. As was the case with the WNEP-produced broadcasts, if there are network obligations or overruns of Fox programming that prevent WOLF-TV from showing the WBRE program, it is aired on WSWB instead. Its website posts video of the first segment of Fox 56 News First at 10 and the weather forecast segment.

News team [edit]

Anchors

  • Candice Kelly – weeknights at 10:00 p.m.
  • Mark Hiller – weekends at 10:00 p.m.
  • Josh Hodell (AMS and NWA Seals of Approval) – Chief Meteorologist seen weeknights at 10:00 p.m.
  • Kyle Brandt – weekend meteorologist at 10:00 p.m.
  • Phil Schoener – Sports Director seen weeknights at 10:00 p.m.
  • Colin Riccobon – weekend sports at 10:00 p.m.; also sports reporter

Reporters

  • Laurie Monteforte – Stroudsburg bureau
  • Andy Mehalshick – Lead investigative
  • Eric Deabill – Scranton newsroom
  • Joe Garrison – Central Pennsylvania
  • Shannon Murphy
  • Monica Madeja

References [edit]

  1. ^ "Original construction permit". Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved 2007-03-15. 
  2. ^ a b c "Channel 56 call sign changes". Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved March 15, 2007. 
  3. ^ "WERF tower location". topozone.com. Retrieved March 15, 2007. 
  4. ^ "Denied transmitter move application". Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved March 15, 2007. 
  5. ^ "1984 assignment of permit". Retrieved March 15, 2007. 
  6. ^ a b "WOLF/WSWB/WQMY Timeline". NEPA Today. Archived from the original on November 16, 2006. Retrieved 2007-03-16. 
  7. ^ "1988 transmitter site". Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved March 16, 2007. 
  8. ^ "Sale to Pegasus". Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved March 16, 2007. 
  9. ^ "1997 transmitter site". Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved March 16, 2007. 
  10. ^ "Channel 38 call sign changes". Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved March 16, 2007. 
  11. ^ "Sale to CP Media". Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved March 16, 2007. 
  12. ^ "Sale consummation – CP Media". Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved 2007-04-03. 
  13. ^ "Revised Joint Sales and Shared Services Agreement". Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved March 16, 2007. 
  14. ^ Local TV stations already switched, JIM DINO, Scranton Times-Tribune, January 18, 2009
  15. ^ "WOLF-TV and WQMY-TV Signals Back On the Air". WorldNow and WOLF. Retrieved December 10, 2011. [dead link]
  16. ^ "Transmission – HD returned to over the air users!". WOLF. Retrieved January 12, 2012. [dead link]

External links [edit]
Reception may vary by location and some stations may only be viewable with cable television
Stations
W07BV 7 (EWTN)
WNEP (16.1 ABC, 16.2 ATV)
WYOU (22.1 CBS)
WBRE (28.1 NBC)
WYLN-LP 35 (A1)
W16CO-D (35.1 COR)
WSWB (38.1 The CW, 38.2 Me-TV)
W39BT 39 (TBN)
W43CO-D (43.1 Daystar, 43.2 COR, 43.3 CTN)
WVIA (44.1 PBS, 44.2 PBS West/Local, 44.3 Create)
WQMY (53.1 MNTV, 53.2 Fox, 53.3 The CW)
WOLF (56.1 Fox, 56.2 The CW, 56.3 MNTV)
WQPX-TV (64.1 Ion, 64.2 qubo, 64.3 Life)
Adjacent locals
Johnstown, PA
WJAC (6.1 NBC)
WTAJ (10.1 CBS)
Philadelphia, PA
KYW (3.1 CBS)
WPVI (6.1 ABC)
WCAU (10.1 NBC)
Defunct stations
Fox Network Affiliates in the State of Pennsylvania
New Age Media, LLC
CBS Affiliate
WGFL
NBC Affiliate
WNBW-DT1
Fox Affiliates2
WDSI-TV
WOLF-TV
WTLH
The CW Affiliates
WFLI-TV1
WSWB1
WTLF1
MyNetworkTV Affiliates
WDSI-DT2
WMYG-LP
WQMY

1 Owned by MPS Media, LLC; operated by New Age Media through local marketing agreement (LMA). 2 Fox stations air outsourced local newscasts in prime time.
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