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WICZ-TV

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WICZ-TV is the Fox-affiliated television station for the Eastern Twin Tiers of Southern Upstate New York and Northern Pennsylvania. Licensed to Binghamton, it broadcasts a high definition digital signal on VHF channel 8 (or virtual channel 40.1 via PSIP) from a transmitter on Ingraham Hill southwest of downtown. The station can also be seen on Time Warner Cable channel 3 and in HD on digital channel 1206. Owned by the Stainless Broadcasting Company subsidiary of Northwest Broadcasting, WICZ is sister to low-powered MyNetworkTV affiliate WBPN-LP and the two outlets share studios on Vestal Parkway East (NY 434) in Vestal.

History

The station signed on November 1, 1957 as WINR-TV, the area's second television station, and aired an analog signal on UHF channel 40. The station was originally owned by the Gannett Company (which purchased the station just before its launch) along with WINR radio (680 AM) and the Binghamton Press. WINR-TV was primarily an NBC affiliate, though it also carried some ABC programming before WBJA-TV (channel 34, now WIVT) went on the air in 1962.[1] Broadcast tower manufacturer Stainless, Inc. acquired WINR-TV in 1971[2] and changed its call letters to WICZ-TV[3] (named for company owner Henry Guzewicz).[4] That fall, the station moved to an 870-foot (270 m) tower on Ingraham Hill;[5] it had previously shared a transmitter location with WINR radio.[4]

In November 1995, WICZ-TV announced it would be dropping its NBC affiliation and switching to Fox; the station stated that the switch would allow it to expand its news programming.[6] WICZ already had a secondary affiliation with Fox to carry Fox Kids,[6] which resulted in the station beginning to preempt much of NBC's programming (especially its daytime soap operas). Other Fox programming was only available on cable via either Foxnet or out-of-market stations such as WNYW from New York City.[6] The affiliation change took place April 4, 1996, after WICZ's contract with NBC expired.[6] NBC programming was then seen on cable via a localized version of Elmira's WETM-TV;[7] the network regained an over-the-air affiliate in Binghamton a year later when WETM's owners, Smith Broadcasting, purchased WBGH-LP (channel 8, now WBGH-CD channel 20) and made it a semi-satellite of WETM.[8]

Stainless, whose holdings by this point included its tower manufacturing business, WICZ-TV, and KTVZ in Bend, Oregon, was sold to Northwest Broadcasting for $17 million in 1997.[9][10] Though Northwest would sell the Stainless tower company to SpectraSite Holdings in 1999,[11] it still owns WICZ under the Stainless Broadcasting name to this day. During the late 1990s, WICZ added a secondary affiliation with UPN;[12] in 2000, Northwest bought W10CO (channel 10), changed its call letters to WBPN-LP, and moved UPN programming there.[13]

On September 16, 2013, it was announced that Mission Broadcasting would acquire WICZ-TV and WBPN-LP from Stainless Broadcasting. Upon the deal's completion, the stations' operations would have been taken over by Nexstar Broadcasting Group, making them sister stations to WIVT and WBGH-CA.[14] Stainless withdrew the license assignment application on March 18, 2015, following the deal's cancellation.[15]

Digital television

Digital channels

The station's digital channel is multiplexed:

Channel Video Aspect PSIP Short Name Programming[16]
40.1 720p 16:9 WICZ-HD Main WICZ-TV programming / Fox
40.2 WBPN-DT Simulcast of WBPN

Analog-to-digital conversion

WICZ-TV shut down its analog signal, over UHF channel 40, on April 16, 2009. The station's digital signal remained on its pre-transition VHF channel 8.[17] Through the use of PSIP, digital television receivers display the station's virtual channel as its former UHF analog channel 40.

Programming

Syndicated programming on this station includes The Big Bang Theory, Two and a Half Men, and The People's Court among others.

News operation

News logo.

Since switching networks, WICZ has consistently maintained lower viewership than rival CBS outlet WBNG-TV and remains ranked at a distant but steady second place. The big three affiliate has always been a ratings powerhouse in Binghamton. For the most part, WIVT has always been a non-factor in the local newscast race. The ABC outlet has spent most of its history as the third station in what was originally a two-station market (since WIVT did not sign-on until November 1962) and virtually gained no benefit when WICZ joined Fox.

On Memorial Day in 2009, in an attempt to increase its presence against WBNG, WICZ added a thirty-minute newscast weeknights at 6 joining their flagship nightly prime time broadcast at 10. WBNG already established a weeknight newscast in the prime time slot airing on its CW second digital subchannel. The prime time newscast on WBNG-DT2 would eventually be expanded to weekends at some point in time.

On June 5, 2009, there was an increase in viewership on WICZ (and to a larger extent on WBNG) when WIVT announced its plans to consolidate news operations with WETM-TV in Elmira. WIVT eventually began simulcasting some of WETM's newscasts featuring regional weather coverage but not a full news focus of the Eastern Twin Tiers region. A separate, taped newscast specifically covering the Binghamton area was subsequently brought back to WIVT on June 28. On August 19, 2012, WICZ became the market's first television station to upgrade local news production to high definition level. The transition included a new on-air look with state-of-the-art graphics and updated set design.

References

  1. ^ "WINR-TV Goes on Air Friday" (PDF). Broadcasting. November 4, 1957. p. 82. Retrieved December 20, 2015.
  2. ^ "Changing Hands" (PDF). Broadcasting. March 8, 1971. p. 37. Retrieved December 20, 2015.
  3. ^ "For the Record" (PDF). Broadcasting. January 11, 1971. p. 60. Retrieved December 20, 2015.
  4. ^ a b Fybush, Scott (December 3, 2004). "Binghamton's Ingraham Hill Revisited". Tower Site of the Week. Retrieved December 20, 2015.
  5. ^ "More muscle for WICZ-TV" (PDF). Broadcasting. October 11, 1971. p. 54. Retrieved December 20, 2015.
  6. ^ a b c d Flint, Joe (November 26, 1995). "Fox Lures WICZ From Peacock Nest". Variety. Retrieved December 20, 2015.
  7. ^ Ross, Chuck (April 22, 1996). "TV STATION HOOKS UP WITH CABLE OUTLET; NEW YORK'S WETM CRAFTS LOCAL MARKETING AGREEMENT". Advertising Age. Retrieved December 20, 2015.
  8. ^ Fybush, Scott (September 11, 1997). "Fire at WVIP". North East RadioWatch. Retrieved December 20, 2015.
  9. ^ Kanaley, Reid (May 18, 1997). "Digital TV: It's A High-Tower Act". Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved December 4, 2015. …Stainless, which owns UHF stations in Binghamton, N.Y., and Bend, Ore., is being sold to a Detroit-based partnership, Northwest Broadcasting, said Stainless counsel James J. Heffernan of Plymouth Meeting. He said the deal is worth $17 million.
  10. ^ "Changing Hands" (PDF). Broadcasting & Cable. May 19, 1997. p. 38. Retrieved December 4, 2015.
  11. ^ "SpectraSite Holdings, Inc. Form 8-K" (TXT). Securities and Exchange Commission. January 21, 2000. Retrieved December 4, 2015.
  12. ^ "UPN Affiliate Stations (New York)". UPN.com. Archived from the original on May 8, 1999. Retrieved December 20, 2015.
  13. ^ Kucinski, Carla (August 17, 2000). "New Tier TV station bulks up with pro wrestling". Press & Sun-Bulletin. p. B8. Retrieved December 20, 2015. (preview of subscription content)
  14. ^ Malone, Michael (September 16, 2013). "Nexstar to Acquire Citadel's Iowa Stations for $88 Million". Broadcasting & Cable. Retrieved September 16, 2013.
  15. ^ Corbett, Dennis P. (March 18, 2015). "Re: Withdrawal of File Nos. BALCDT-20130927A11G, BALTVL-20130927AHH, and BAPDTL-20130927AH1" (PDF). CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved March 24, 2015.
  16. ^ RabbitEars TV Query for WICZ
  17. ^ "DTV Tentative Channel Designations for the First and the Second Rounds" (PDF). Retrieved 2012-03-24.

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