WYTV
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| Youngstown, Ohio | |
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| Branding | 33 News My YTV (on DT2) |
| Slogan | We Believe in This Valley. |
| Channels | Digital: 36 (UHF) Virtual: 33 (PSIP) |
| Subchannels | 33.1 ABC 33.2 MyNetworkTV 33.3 local weather |
| Owner | PBC Broadcasting, LLC (operated through SSA by New Vision Television) (PBC Broadcasting of Youngstown License, LLC) |
| First air date | April 4, 1953 |
| Call letters' meaning | We're Youngstown TeleVision |
| Sister station(s) | WKBN-TV WYFX-LD |
| Former callsigns | WKST-TV (1953-1964) |
| Former channel number(s) | Analog: 45 (UHF, 1953-1964) 33 (UHF, 1964-2009) |
| Former affiliations | Fox (secondary, 1994-1998) |
| Transmitter power | 1,000 kW |
| Height | 177 m |
| Facility ID | 4693 |
| Transmitter coordinates | 41°3′43″N 80°38′7″W / 41.06194°N 80.63528°W |
| Website | wytv.com |
WYTV is the ABC-affiliated television station for the Mahoning Valley of Northeastern Ohio and Northwestern Pennsylvania that is licensed to Youngstown. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 36 from a transmitter on Shady Run Road in Boardman Township. Owned by PBC Broadcasting, the station is operated by New Vision Television though a shared services agreement (a.k.a. SSA). This makes it sister to CBS affiliate WKBN-TV and low-powered Fox affiliate WYFX-LD. All three stations share studios on Sunset Boulevard in Boardman Township (although its mailing address says Youngstown).
Syndicated programming on WYTV includes The Insider, Entertainment Tonight, Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?, and The Dr. Oz Show. It operates the area's MyNetworkTV affiliate on a second digital subchannel. Known on-air as MyYTV, this can also be seen on Armstrong Cable channel 13 and Time Warner Cable digital channel 373. Syndicated programming on WYTV-DT2 includes My Wife and Kids, Star Trek: The Next Generation, COPS, and The People's Court. Some of WYTV's syndicated programming later moved to WKBN.
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[edit] Digital programming
Its signal is multiplexed. It operates a 24-hour local weather channel called "My Valley Weather" on a third digital subchannel. At one point, it had also been offered on the digital tier of Time Warner Cable. Originally called "Weather on the 3s", the channel shows continuous weather updates through WYTV's relationship with WeatherBug.
It was redesigned on February 24, 2009 when WKBN and WYFX had their on-air look redesigned and "Weather on the 3s" was made to match those two station's on-air look. It was renamed "My Valley Weather" to coincide with the launch of the combined weather website for WYTV and WKBN. This station is currently the only commercial station in the area with three digital subchannels.
Along with sister station WKBN, WYTV will soon have two subchannels broadcasting in high-definition, with MyYTV broadcasting in HD. The future of the "My Valley Weather" subchannel is uncertain due to MyYTV broadcasting in HD. As of February 2011, My YTV is still in standard definition.[1]
| Virtual channel | Physical channel | Programming |
|---|---|---|
| 33.1 | 36.1 | main WYTV programming / ABC HD |
| 33.2 | 36.2 | MyYTV HD (MyNetworkTV) |
| 33.3 | 36.3 | MyValleyWeather.com (24-hour WeatherBug local weather channel) |
[edit] History
The station originated as WKST-TV with an analog signal on UHF channel 45. As the television partner to WKST radio, which still exists on AM 1200, it was licensed to New Castle, Pennsylvania and signed-on April 4, 1953. At that time, it was the only full-time ABC affiliate in Western Pennsylvania, as WTAE-TV in Pittsburgh did not sign-on until September 1958, nor did WJET-TV in Erie until 1966.
WKST-TV moved to UHF channel 33, was re-licensed to Youngstown, and became WYTV in 1964. After moving channels, WYTV was replaced on channel 45 by independent station WXTV which moved from channel 73 and remained on-the-air until late 1962. That station had scheduled programming from 6 to 11 pm and repeated the same programs multiple times within a given week. In 1973, channel 45 was re-allocated to nearby Alliance, Ohio as an educational channel and became WNEO.
WYTV also became known for its programming targeted to kids. This is an important footnote to the station's history, because daily children's programming was often aired by independent or public television stations. Since there was neither locally at the time, WYTV aired cartoons and other kid-themed programming between the "after school" hours of 4 and 6pm, a somewhat unusual move since the usual fare among its competitors was first-run sitcoms, syndicated talk shows, courtroom dramas, and the like. WYTV once aired a kids' show during the 1980s entitled 33 Powwww which consisted of a "voice-activated" video game powered by the Mattel Intellivision. Viewers would call in to play this game and win prizes. Cartoons were also aired during the show. The TV POWWW concept was a syndicated franchise seen on television stations throughout the United States such as WCLQ in Cleveland (now WQHS-TV). WYTV also has produced the local quiz show YSU Academic Challenge in which high school and middle school students from all over the area answer questions for prizes.
The station was Youngstown's first Fox network affiliate from 1994 to 1998. WYTV pre-empted ABC programming whenever Fox programming aired. Youngstown did not have a full time Fox affiliate so WYTV joined the network as a secondary affiliate in part due to the network's acquisition of the rights to NFL football. In 1998, Youngstown got its own full-time affiliate when WKBN launched low-powered sister station WYFX-LP.
WYTV was owned by Benedek Broadcasting since the 1990s until the company's bankruptcy filing in 2002. Instead of being purchased by Gray Television, WYTV was bought by Chelsey Television, LLC and was managed by Barrington Broadcasting.[2] The station has applied to increase its digital signal to one megawatt at the end of the transition.[3]
On February 6, 2007, Chelsey Television filed an application with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to sell WYTV to Parkin Broadcasting of California, which then leased out the station to WKBN/WYFX owner New Vision Television under a shared services agreement--essentially a local marketing agreement under different legal terms. At the time, some critics wondered if the shared services agreement was legal, since the Youngstown market only has four full-powered television stations (WFMJ-TV, WKBN, WYTV, and PBS station WNEO)--not enough to legally permit a duopoly under FCC rules. New Vision and Parkin share an office building in Los Angeles and have a "cozy relationship," leading to speculation that Parkin is simply a shell corporation that enables New Vision to circumvent FCC ownership rules. This is not unlike what Sinclair Broadcast Group does with Cunningham Broadcasting, which is a shell corporation of Sinclair.
Nonetheless, the FCC approved the shared services agreement on July 30, 2007.[4] WYTV then moved from its Shady Run Road studios over to the WKBN/WYFX facilities in Boardman Township. Since the agreement, both WYTV and WKBN have launched two combined web sites for area sports and weather and have gradually had their on-air looks mirror each other while their web sites are now identical.
[edit] News operation
Unlike WKBN and WFMJ, WYTV tends to focus more on Warren area-related topics in the news which has become more evident under WKBN control. Due to the duopoly, WYTV has a smaller news department than WKBN and some personnel from the latter are seen on this station. Part of the shared services agreement called for a consolidation of news departments between WYTV and WKBN. This occurred on December 6, 2007 and over forty people at WYTV and six at WKBN were fired.[5] All newscasts on this station now originate from a secondary set at WKBN's studios.
Since being taken over by that station, WYTV has not aired a weekday noon newscast, unlike most ABC affiliates, opting instead to air reruns of Law & Order: Criminal Intent. There is also no weeknight show at 5:00, but a 5:30 broadcast is aired while WKBN runs Deal or No Deal. Since WFMJ airs The Oprah Winfrey Show during this time, this makes WYTV the only station in the area to air news weeknights at 5:30. It had announced plans to build satellite streetside news studios in Downtown Youngstown which are no longer used with the move to WKBN.
Before the merge with WKBN, WYTV operated its own weather radar at its old studios. The station has news and weather partnerships with WNCD-FM 93.3, WAKZ-FM 95.9, WMXY-FM 98.9, WBBG-FM 106.1, WKBN-AM 570, and WNIO-AM 1390. WYTV-DT2 re-airs the weekday morning show.
On Thursday, May 6, 2010, WYTV (along with sister stations Fox Youngstown and WKBN) made the switch to HD broadcasts. WYTV also got new news graphics and logos to go along with its new set and HD upgrade. The new logo matches that of WKBN, WYFX, and the "MyValley" websites the two stations operate together. MyYTV is still using its original logo.
[edit] News team[6]
[edit] Anchors
- Stan Boney: 5:30, 6, and 11 pm
- Len Rome: 5-7 am co-anchor
[edit] References
- ^ http://pbrtv.com/blog/entry_1272.php#comm
- ^ http://www.rbrepaper.com/tvepaper/pages/may03/03-89_news1.html
- ^ Service Area Map - FCC
- ^ http://www4.vindy.com/content/local_regional/312083871565378.php
- ^ http://www.vindy.com/content/local_regional/320616134541923.php
- ^ "WYTV Staff". WYTV. http://www.wytv.com/content/about/staff/default.aspx.
[edit] Notable Alumni
- Mark Dailey (1953-2010) - known anchorman and announcer for CITY-TV in Toronto
[edit] External links
- WYTV website
- WYTV mobile
- WKBN-TV website
- WYFX-LP "Fox Youngstown"
- Query the FCC's TV station database for WYTV
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