WCAX-TV
This article needs additional citations for verification. (February 2013) |
kW | |
HAAT | 845 m (2,772 ft) |
---|---|
Transmitter coordinates | 44°31′32.6″N 72°48′56.1″W / 44.525722°N 72.815583°W |
Translator(s) | 23 W23EU-D Rutland |
Links | |
Public license information | |
Website | www |
WCAX-TV (channel 3) is a television station licensed to Burlington, Vermont, United States, serving as the CBS affiliate for the Burlington, Vermont–Plattsburgh, New York market. It is owned by Gray Television alongside Saranac Lake, New York–licensed MyNetworkTV affiliate WYCI (channel 40). The two stations share studios on Joy Drive in South Burlington, Vermont; WCAX-TV's transmitter is located on Vermont's highest peak, Mount Mansfield.[2] WCAX was the first television station in Vermont.
Like other network stations serving Burlington and Plattsburgh, WCAX-TV has a large audience in southern Quebec, Canada. This includes the Montreal area, which is 10 times more populous than the station's entire U.S. viewing area. Most Vidéotron cable systems in southern Quebec carry WCAX-TV as their CBS affiliate. The station is also available on every cable system in Vermont, and statewide on DirecTV and Dish Network.
History
Channel 3 traces its roots to WCAX radio, Vermont's oldest radio station, which signed on as an experimental station run by students at the University of Vermont on May 20, 1922[3][4] and began full-time operations on October 10, 1924.[5]
By 1931, UVM realized it was in over its head operating a radio station, so it sold WCAX to the Burlington Daily News, who relaunched it that November as a commercial radio station.[4][6] Charles P. Hasbrook bought the Daily News in 1939.[7] He sold the Daily News in 1941 (the paper is now defunct), but kept WCAX.[8]
On September 26, 1954, Hasbrook signed on Vermont's first television station, WMVT, originally licensed to the state's capital city of Montpelier. In December 1954, the stations' parent company, WCAX Broadcasting Corporation, was renamed Mount Mansfield Television, after the location of channel 3's transmitter and tower.[9]
In May 1955, WMVT moved its
Red Martin sold off WCAX radio in 1963; it is now WVMT.[13] He continued to own channel 3 until his death in 2005, and was succeeded by his oldest son, Peter R. Martin.
In September 1965, WCAX-TV became the third station in its market (after
WCAX radio had been a
On May 4, 2017, Atlanta-based Gray Television announced its intent to acquire WCAX-TV for $29 million–a handsome return on Charles Hasbrook's purchase of WCAX radio in 1939. Gray assumed operational control of the station on June 1, 2017, under a local marketing agreement.[15][16] The sale was completed on August 1, ending the Hasbrook/Martin family's 62-year-long stewardship of the station.[17]
2019 antenna fire
On November 19, 2019, WCAX-TV,
WCAX-DT2
In 2007, WCAX-TV began to operate a 24-hour local weather and news channel on a new digital subchannel. Originally called "Weather 3.2", and later "WCAXtra", it featured news updates and live local weather along with the FCC-required three hours of
Programming
WCAX-TV clears the entire CBS network schedule, albeit with some network programs airing out of pattern. The
Local programming
WCAX's longest-running local programs (both dating to the founding of the station) are a daily twenty-minute agricultural information program entitled Across the Fence, produced in association with the University of Vermont Extension Service, and a thirty-minute weekly
News operation
WCAX-TV grew out of a newspaper and has long been committed to local coverage. It has more of a Vermont focus compared with WPTZ which is based across
Starting July 16, 2007, WCAX-TV began to produce a weeknight 10 o'clock broadcast on "WCAXtra" known as Channel 3 News at 10. Although it was the first prime time show in the area, Fox affiliate WFFF-TV started a 10 p.m. newscast in 2008. In 2010, WCAX-TV put the 10PM newscasts on a hiatus, due to the majority of viewers not receiving WCAXtra Digital Channel 3.2 through their cable companies. On November 14[
On December 2, 2008, the station
On January 19, 2009, WCAX-TV announced that it had laid off several more employees. It specifically mentioned declining automotive commercial revenue, which is a major source of advertising for the station, as the cause of the second round of layoffs.
On May 12, 2009, at the end of the weeknight 6 o'clock broadcast, Marselis Parsons announced that he would be retiring as weeknight anchor and News Director. He stepped down as News Director at the end of May but continued anchoring the 6 p.m. newscast throughout the summer. Parsons was with WCAX-TV since 1967 and was News Director and weeknight anchor from 1984 until 2009. The station had won dozens[
On June 23, 2009, WCAX-TV upgraded its local news to high definition. The station switched its studio cameras to high definition (field cameras made the transition to HD later in the Fall). New graphics, flags, and intros were also put in place. The previous graphics had been used in all of its newscasts since 2000. On September 16, 2009, WCAX-TV announced that it would be hiring a full-time news reporter for the re-opening of its bureau in Rutland. During Summer 2010, WCAX-TV announced that it will be starting a weeknight 5 o'clock newscast beginning September 13. Weeknights at 5:30, a talk show was introduced, called The :30 (it has since been converted into a traditional newscast, Channel 3 News at 5:30). WCAX-TV also re-opened its Plattsburgh Bureau full-time. Although it had previously not aired newscasts in the weeknight 5 p.m. hour, WCAX-TV delays the CBS Evening News until 7 because it still airs an hour-long show weeknights at 6.[citation needed]
On September 7, 2013, WCAX-TV launched the area's second weekend morning newscast. The newscast airs on Saturday from 6 to 8 a.m. and Sunday from 8 to 9 a.m.[23]
In popular culture
Longtime WCAX meteorologist and on-air personality Stuart Hall (1921–2011) was mentioned in the acknowledgements of the 1984 Rush album Grace Under Pressure.[24]
Technical information
Subchannels
The station's signal is
Channel | Res. | Aspect | Short name | Programming |
---|---|---|---|---|
3.1 | 1080i | 16:9 |
WCAX-HD | Main WCAX-TV programming / CBS |
3.2 | 480i | Movies | Movies! | |
3.3 | Circle | Heroes & Icons | ||
3.4 | StartTV | Start TV | ||
3.5 | ION TV | Ion Television | ||
3.6 | 3NN | 3 News Now (local news and weather; livestream) | ||
3.7 | ThisTV | ThisTV
|
Translator
Analog-to-digital conversion
WCAX-TV shut down its analog signal, over
As a part of the repacking process following the 2016 United States wireless spectrum auction, WCAX-TV was relocated to UHF channel 20 on October 24, 2019.[27]
Viewership in Canada
The station has long had significant viewership in Montreal, which is more than ten times as large as its American coverage area. In the past, it has identified itself as serving "Burlington–Plattsburgh–Montreal" to acknowledge its Canadian viewership, though this practice largely ended in the 1990s.
Like other
References
- ^ "Facility Technical Data for WCAX-TV". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
- ^ "TV Station WCAX-TV - FCC Public Inspection File".
- ^ Broadcasting/Cable Yearbook 1989 (PDF). 1989. p. B-214. Retrieved November 1, 2010.
- ^ ISBN 0-405-03573-X. Retrieved September 16, 2011.
- ^ "History". HistoricVermont.org. Archived from the original on September 11, 2011. Retrieved December 17, 2011.
- ^ "A Chronology of AM Radio Broadcasting 1900-1960". History of American Broadcasting. Retrieved November 8, 2010.
- ISBN 1-58465-086-9. Retrieved November 8, 2010.
- ^ Dispirito Wales, Mary Ann (February 25, 2008). "Vermont's Early Pioneers Of Radio, Television Broadcasting Centered Around Burlington". Champlain Business Journal. Retrieved November 8, 2010.
- ^ "For the record: Actions of the FCC–Routine roundup–Broadcast actions–Actions of Dec. 15–Modification of CP." Broadcasting - Telecasting, December 27, 1954, pg. 90.
- ^ "For the record: Actions of the FCC–Hearing cases–Other actions." Broadcasting - Telecasting, May 16, 1955, pg. 144.
- ^ "For the record: Actions of the FCC–Existing TV stations–Call letters assigned." Broadcasting - Telecasting, June 27, 1955, pg. 114.
- ^ "Martin named Gen. Mgr. for WMVT (TV), WCAX." Broadcasting - Telecasting, October 30, 1954, pg. 72.
- ^ "Changing hands: Approved." Broadcasting, January 21, 1963, pg. 73.
- ^ "New Business: 1997". Business People—Vermont. Retrieved August 20, 2012.
- ^ "Gray Buying CBS Affil WCAX Burlington, Vt". TVNewsCheck. May 4, 2017. Retrieved May 4, 2017.
- ^ "WCAX sold to Gray Television". WCAX.com. Archived from the original on May 8, 2017. Retrieved May 4, 2017.
- ^ Consummation Notice, CDBS Public Access, Federal Communications Commission, Retrieved August 3, 2017.
- Gannett Company. Retrieved November 23, 2019.
- ^ Balderston, Michael (November 22, 2019). "Tower Fire Keeping Vermont's WCAX, WPTZ Off The Air". TV Technology. Retrieved November 23, 2019.
- ^ Faguy, Steve (November 23, 2019). "Media News Digest: GCM heads toward coop, WCAX catches fire, CBC North backtracks on merging newscasts". Fagstein. Retrieved November 23, 2019.
- ^ "Jack Cuzzi on Twitter". Twitter. Retrieved March 29, 2018.
- ^ Totten, Shay (October 16, 2006). "Up late: New local TV program puts best of Vermont on stage". Vermont Guardian. Archived from the original on October 16, 2006.
- ^ Media Note: WCAX Expanding News Programming to Weekend Mornings Seven Days, July 10, 2013.
- ^ "'Grace Under Pressure' linernotes and lyrics". Power Windows. February 1, 1998. Archived from the original on November 21, 2009. Retrieved December 19, 2016.
- ^ RabbitEars TV Query for WCAX
- ^ "DTV Tentative Channel Designations for the First and the Second Rounds" (PDF). Retrieved March 24, 2012.
- ^ "Searchable Clearinghouse". www.nab.org. National Association of Broadcasters. Retrieved March 29, 2018.