WZME

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WZME
WZME43.png
Bridgeport, Connecticut/New York City, New York
Branding Me-TV New York
Channels Digital: 42 (UHF)
Subchannels 43.1 Me-TV, Independent
43.2 RTV
Affiliations Me-TV
Owner NRJ TV, LLC (operated by Titan Broadcasting Group)
(NRJ TV NY License Co., LLC)
Founded November 20, 1980
First air date September 28, 1987
Call letters' meaning Memorable Entertainment (slogan of Me-TV) or Me
Former callsigns WICC-TV (1953–1960)
WBCT-TV (1987–1988)
WHAI-TV (1988–1998)
WIPX (1998)
WBPT (1998–1999)
WSAH (1999–2012)
Former channel number(s) Analog:
43 (UHF, 1987–2008)
Former affiliations Independent (1987–1999; 2008–2009; 2009–2010)
Shop at Home (1999–2007)
Jewelry Television (secondary, 2006–2007)
Gems TV (2007–2008)
RTV (2009; 2011–2012)
Transmitter power 780 kW
Height 168.5 m
Facility ID 70493
Transmitter coordinates 41°21′43″N 73°6′48″W / 41.36194°N 73.11333°W / 41.36194; -73.11333
Website www.wzmetv.com

WZME is an American television station licensed to Bridgeport, Connecticut, in the New York City, New York, television market, operating a digital signal on UHF channel 42. It is owned by NRJ TV, LLC. WZME is affiliated with Me-TV and the Retro Television Network.

Contents

History [edit]

Channel 43 first appeared in March 1953, when WICC-TV (meaning "Industrial Center of Connecticut", referring to Bridgeport[1]) signed on with programming from ABC and DuMont, a month after Connecticut's first UHF station, WKNB-TV, signed on. The station was named after WICC radio (600 AM). Considering that UHF was rather new at the time and required an expensive converter, the station was not seen by many. In addition, ABC and DuMont network programming was easily seen in much of WICC's viewing area via WABC-TV and WABD, respectively, from New York City.

One attempt at locally generated programming on the station was Newsvision, created by station owner Ken Cooper, in which a station camera was pointed at a teletype machine, with music being played on the audio channel. The FCC disallowed this because they ruled the video and audio channels must work in sync, rather than be separate sources.

None of WICC's attempts to gain viewers succeeded; one of these included a stunt where Bob Crane (who would later become the star of the situation-comedy television series Hogan's Heroes (1965–1971) offered $100 to the first caller who reached the station. No one called, leading the station to announce in January 1960 that WICC was the "only station in the U.S. without any viewers".[2] That December, WICC-TV went off the air. Most of the station's programming inventory was destroyed by fire a few months later.

A group of women, under the name of Bridgeways Communications Corporation,[3] received a construction permit for a new channel 43 on November 20, 1980,[4] and on September 28, 1987, the station signed on as WBCT-TV, airing home-shopping programming.[3] Initially, the station planned to become a locally focused independent station, with WBCT's management concerned that Bridgeport was only being served by New York City stations;[3] a year later, however, the station had changed its plans and planned to implement cultural programming aimed at the Jewish community in the New York City market as a whole.[5] Shortly afterward, the station changed its call letters to WHAI-TV, in reference to chai, the Hebrew word for living. However, the station was sold in 1994 to ValueVision,[6] which in turn sold WHAI to Paxson Communications in 1996.[7] By then, the station had also added infomercials to the schedule.

Original plans called for the station to pick up the Pax TV network[8][9] (as WIPX[9][10]) when it launched in 1998, but those plans were scrapped (mainly due to duopoly concerns resulting from Paxson's acquisition of WPXN-TV, as both stations' signals overlap[11] and are considered part of the New York City DMA; at that time the FCC did not allow common ownership of such stations) and the call letters were again changed, this time to WBPT.[12] After an attempt to sell the station to Cuchifritos Communications (which planned to make the station the flagship of a Spanish-language home-shopping service[11][13]) fell through,[14] the station was sold in 1999 to the Shop at Home Network[14] which installed its programming and the WSAH call letters.[15]

Azteca América nearly bought the station late in 2000 to serve as its New York City affiliate.[16] The deal quickly collapsed,[17] with Azteca América citing concerns over WSAH's coverage of the market;[18] the network ultimately affiliated with WNYN-LP. The station continued to run Shop at Home, with a brief interruption in 2006 when the network temporarily closed.

On September 26, 2006, The E. W. Scripps Company (the then-owner of the former Shop at Home owned-and-operated stations) announced that it was selling WSAH along with four other stations (KCNS in San Francisco, California; WMFP in Boston, Massachusetts; WOAC (now WRLM) in Canton, Ohio; and WRAY-TV in Wilson–Raleigh, North Carolina, to Multicultural Television for $170 million.[19] Multicultural assumed control of KCNS, WOAC and WRAY on December 20, 2006 and flipped their format to an all-infomercial format; it did not take control of WSAH and WMFP immediately due the stations' pending license renewal. The licenses were renewed in early April 2007, and on April 24, 2007, Multicultural took control of these stations.

WSAH signed on its digital signal on channel 42 on December 16, 2006.

In May 2007, WSAH changed shopping networks, from Shop at Home to Gems TV, a shopping network that specializes in jewelry. In addition, infomercials once again became a part of the schedule. The Gems TV affiliation has since been discontinued.

On July 4, 2008, WSAH's analog channel 43 signal was taken off the air, following a lightning strike at the transmitter. Since the cost of repairing the transmitter would be uneconomical, due to the coming analog shutdown, the station's owners sought permission from the FCC to keep the analog transmitter silent. This did not affect WSAH's availability on cable and digital broadcast.[20]

On July 1, 2009, WSAH affiliated with the Retro Television Network (RTV), becoming one of only a few affiliates to carry RTV on its main channel.[21] Initially, RTV programming was seen from 6 p.m. to midnight, with infomercials continuing during the remainder of the broadcast day.

WSAH's logo before joining Me-TV

In September 2009, WSAH cut RTV programming back to end at 11 p.m. on weekdays, and 10 p.m. on weekends. Shortly afterwards, the station announced that it would drop RTV completely at the end of the month.[22] The next month, WSAH added a subchannel, airing Chinese-language programming from sister station KCNS.[23] On June 6, 2011, the station rejoined RTV, running its programming from 12 p.m. to 12 a.m.

After Multicultural ran into financial problems and defaulted on its loans, WSAH was placed into a trust; the station was then placed for sale.[24] On October 6, 2011, it was announced that WSAH would be auctioned off in bankruptcy court by the end of 2011.[25] In the auction, held on November 15, the station was acquired by NRJ TV, LLC, which had earlier acquired KCNS and WMFP; the deal is subject to bankruptcy court approval, though the auction has been challenged by Arthur Liu, who owned Multicultural and is associated with failed bidder NYVV.[26] The FCC approved the sale on March 20, 2012, and it was consummated eight days later.[27]

In December 2011, Me-TV announced on its website that WSAH would be their New York City affiliate. On January 4, 2012, WSAH switched from Retro Television Network to Me-TV on its primary channel, carrying Me-TV's programming from 2 a.m. to 6 a.m. and 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. on weekdays and 2 p.m. to 10 p.m. on weekends. Infomercials are running in the hours that Me-TV programming is not shown. RTV moved to WSAH's second subchannel, replacing the Chinese-language programming. On July 29, 2012, the station's call letters became WZME to reflect its affiliation with Me-TV.

See also [edit]

Portal icon Connecticut portal
Portal icon Television in the United States portal

References [edit]

  1. ^ Mishkind, Barry (2005). "Call Letter Origins: The List". oldradio.com. Retrieved March 21, 2008. 
  2. ^ "WICC-TV: Not One Viewer" (PDF format; requires Adobe Reader). americanradiohistory.com. January 18, 1960. Retrieved November 14, 2011. 
  3. ^ a b c Cavanaugh, Jack (November 15, 1987). "Station Makes a Quiet Debut". The New York Times. Retrieved September 28, 2009. 
  4. ^ "Application Search Details". CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved March 21, 2008. 
  5. ^ "Group Plans TV Station for Jewish Audience". Associated Press (via The New York Times). September 6, 1988. Retrieved September 28, 2009. 
  6. ^ "Application Search Details". CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved March 21, 2008. 
  7. ^ "Application Search Details". CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved March 21, 2008. 
  8. ^ Fybush, Scott (November 26, 1997). "WILD – Still Waiting". North East RadioWatch. Retrieved March 22, 2008. 
  9. ^ a b Fybush, Scott (August 26, 1998). "Mergers and Spinoffs". North East RadioWatch. Retrieved March 22, 2008. 
  10. ^ Fybush, Scott (January 15, 1998). "Ice Storm Damage Continues". North East RadioWatch. Retrieved March 22, 2008. 
  11. ^ a b Dempsy, John (December 9, 1998). "Paxson Seeks To Sell Station". Variety. Retrieved March 21, 2008. 
  12. ^ Fybush, Scott (September 4, 1998). "One Shoe Drops in Maine...". North East RadioWatch. Retrieved March 22, 2008. 
  13. ^ Fybush, Scott (December 11, 1998). "Big Apple's Big Changes, and, We Visit the Midwest". North East RadioWatch. Retrieved March 21, 2008. 
  14. ^ a b Fybush, Scott (March 5, 1999). "We Will Never Make Fun of Boston Weather Again...". North East RadioWatch. Retrieved March 21, 2008. 
  15. ^ Fybush, Scott (June 18, 1999). "CBL: The Final Countdown". North East RadioWatch. Retrieved March 21, 2008. 
  16. ^ Fybush, Scott (October 2, 2000). "Spinning the Dial in Connecticut". North East RadioWatch. Retrieved March 22, 2008. 
  17. ^ Fybush, Scott (December 11, 2000). "Adios, WHUB!". North East RadioWatch. Retrieved March 22, 2008. 
  18. ^ Trigoboff, Dan (July 1, 2001). "Not So Fast, Pappas". Broadcasting & Cable. Retrieved December 13, 2009. 
  19. ^ "Scripps Sells Shop At Home TV Stations" (Press release). The E. W. Scripps Company. September 26, 2006. Retrieved March 22, 2008. 
  20. ^ "WSAH Analog Off Air". radio-info.com.
  21. ^ "Retro TV Finds a Home in New York". Retrieved June 5, 2009. 
  22. ^ Fybush, Scott (September 21, 2009). "Remembering Fred Cusick". NorthEast Radio Watch. Retrieved September 28, 2009. 
  23. ^ Fybush, Scott (November 2, 2009). "Pulse Fades Out – Now It's a Party". NorthEast Radio Watch. Retrieved November 2, 2009. 
  24. ^ Jessell, Harry A. (December 28, 2010). "Multicultural Handing Over WSAH to Trustee". TVNewsCheck. Retrieved December 28, 2010. 
  25. ^ "WSAH Bridgeport To Be Auctioned". Broadcasting & Cable.
  26. ^ Jessell, Harry J. (November 29, 2011). "NRJ Wins Bidding for WSAH New York, But…". TVNewsCheck. Retrieved November 29, 2011. 
  27. ^ [1] (PDF format; requires Adobe Reader). Federal Communications Commission.
  • "RadioDXer.com". WICC-TV, Channel 43, Bridgeport, CT. Retrieved October 18, 2005. 

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1 Owned by Waitt Broadcasting, operated by Titan under an LMA. 2 Owned by NRJ, operated by Titan; Titan owns 1/3 of NRJ. 3 Owned by Ellis Communications, operated by Titan.
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