WCCT-TV
kW | |
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HAAT | 517 m (1,696 ft) |
Transmitter coordinates | 41°42′13″N 72°49′55″W / 41.70361°N 72.83194°W |
Links | |
Public license information | |
Website | yourcwtv |
WCCT-TV (channel 20), branded on-air as CW 20, is a television station licensed to
Established in 1953 as WATR-TV, a television station for the Waterbury area, the station changed to a regional independent in 1982, becoming Connecticut's UPN affiliate in 1995 and switching to The WB in 2001. It has been managed by WTIC-TV since 1998.
History
WATR (1953–1966)
The station commenced operations on September 10, 1953, as WATR-TV on channel 53, the second
WATR-TV was originally a dual secondary affiliate of both DuMont[3] and ABC, sharing them with New Haven-based WNHC-TV (channel 8, now WTNH). DuMont ceased operations in 1956, and shortly afterward, WNHC-TV became an exclusive ABC affiliate, as did WATR-TV. Both stations carried ABC programming through Connecticut.
In 1962, the station relocated to UHF channel 20 and moved to a new studio and transmitter site in Prospect, south of Waterbury.[4] Channel 53 was later occupied by WEDN, Connecticut Public Television's outlet in Norwich.
NBC affiliate (1966–1982)
In August 1966, WATR-TV joined NBC.[5] At the time, the network's primary affiliate in Connecticut, WHNB-TV (channel 30) in New Britain, was hampered by a weak signal in New Haven and the southwestern portions of the state. In the 1970s, the station offered limited local news and instead aired older syndicated programs and religious shows such as The PTL Club when NBC programs were not offered. A notable local production was Journeys to the Mind, a half-hour talk show with host Joel Dobbin, which approached topics of the occult with a serious and sober tone. Journeys ran from 1976 to 1981.
WTXX: independent (1982–1995)
The new owners of channel 20 ultimately opted to drop NBC and convert the station into an independent outlet (though NBC was considering ending its affiliation in any event). NBC programming aired on channel 20 for the last time on April 10, 1982. On the next day (
In October 1992, Renaissance Broadcasting sold WTXX to Counterpoint Communications, a non-profit media firm with close ties to the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Hartford.[11] Renaissance had recently acquired several stations, including WTIC-TV, from Chase Broadcasting, and Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regulations of the time did not allow common ownership of two stations in the same market. However, Renaissance retained the rights to all the programming it bought for WTXX. WTIC-TV wanted to establish a full-time local marketing agreement (LMA) with WTXX, which basically amounted to channel 20 being programmed by its main competitor. Counterpoint balked, wanting only a part-time agreement. Renaissance then moved some of WTXX's stronger shows to WTIC-TV, leaving the station with a considerably weakened schedule.
Duopolies and new networks (1995–2006)
Renaissance's sale of WTXX to Counterpoint, and Renaissance's subsequent acquisition of WTIC-TV, became official in March 1993.
WTXX became Connecticut's UPN affiliate on April 3, 1995; for the 2½ months prior to that, Hartford viewers who wanted to watch UPN programming had to view it on cable, by way of WSBK-TV from Boston; viewers in Fairfield County were able to watch UPN programming over-the-air and on cable via WWOR-TV. This was due in part that Viacom, who operated the station through a LMA with WVIT, owned a minority interest in UPN. Initially, it continued to run Home Shopping Network in prime time on nights without UPN programming. By spring 1996, the station expanded its LMA with WVIT to cover the entire day, except for overnights and the hours when the Catholic Mass aired. By this point, WTXX upgraded its syndicated programming, and HSN was relegated to overnights before being dropped completely.
In 1998, WVIT was sold to NBC, and WTIC (now owned by Tribune Broadcasting) replaced WVIT as WTXX's LMA partner.[16] As part of the deal, some of the shows previously owned by WVIT were kept by WTXX and WTIC. The LMA change caused no impact on WTXX's daily broadcasts of the Catholic Mass, which continues to the present day. Around this time, the station changed its on-air name from "UPN 20" to "Connecticut's 20". It also picked up Boston Red Sox baseball games; the station's feed (with the "Connecticut's 20" bug) was carried during Red Sox highlights airing on ESPN for much of the late 1990s and early 2000s. In 1999, WTXX and WTIC consolidated their operations in a new facility at One Corporate Center on Church Street in Downtown Hartford.
On January 1, 2001, WTXX and WBNE (channel 59, now WCTX) swapped affiliations, with WTXX joining The WB and rebranding as "Connecticut's WB". This was due to in fact that the Tribune Company had a minority interest in The WB. Later that year, Tribune purchased WTXX outright, creating a duopoly with WTIC. Tribune, having already received a temporary waiver from FCC rules barring common ownership of a newspaper and a television station in the same area when it purchased the Hartford Courant a year earlier, received an additional waiver for its purchase of WTXX. Tribune had been seeking a waiver in anticipation of the FCC relaxing its rules to allow such media combinations to exist with the agency's blessing, which would include television duopolies. In March 2005, the FCC requested that Tribune sell WTXX to a new owner, but did not raise any additional pressure outside the request to force a sale or threaten a license forfeiture. In late 2007, the FCC loosened its restrictions on newspaper-broadcast cross-ownership perhaps creating an opening for Tribune (which was purchased by investor Sam Zell in December 2007) to retain WTXX without a waiver.
CW affiliate (2006–present)
On January 24, 2006,
In August 2008, the station changed its branding from "CW 20" to "txx" in a corporate effort by Tribune to strengthen its CW affiliates' local identities and reduce the dependence on the use of network branding. In June 2009, after 56 years of transmitting from various locations in
In July 2010, the station changed its branding again to "The CT" with "The CT is the place 2B" slogan;[20] to go along with this branding, the station changed its call letters to WCCT-TV on June 18.[21] In March 2012, the station changed its logo and began to use its calls, WCCT-TV, as its branding, though the station remains a CW affiliate. In August 2018, WCCT-TV returned to the "CW 20" branding.
Tribune announced plans on July 10, 2013, to spin off its publishing division into a separate company, with the split finalized in 2014. WTIC-TV and WCCT-TV remained with the Tribune Company (which also retained all non-publishing assets, including the broadcasting, digital media and
Sinclair Broadcast Group announced it had agreed to purchase Tribune Media on May 8, 2017, for $3.9 billion.[24][25] Tribune Media terminated the Sinclair deal on August 9, 2018, and filed a breach of contract lawsuit, nullifying the transaction;[26] this followed a vote by the FCC to put the transactions up for a formal hearing[27] and a public rejection of the merger by commission chairman Ajit Pai.[28]
Tegna ownership
After the collapse of the Sinclair deal, Tribune agreed to sell itself to
Programming
Newscasts
In July 1993, WTXX debuted a nightly 10 p.m. newscast produced by NBC station WVIT, called Connecticut News Live at 10. The news team consisted of WVIT's evening news team (anchors Gerry Brooks and Joanne Nesti, weather from Brad Field, Beasley Reece with sports), along with reporters from WVIT.[36] In 1998, when WTIC replaced WVIT as WTXX's LMA partner, the WVIT-produced broadcasts were replaced with a simulcast of the first half-hour of WTIC's nightly 10 p.m. newscast;[37] on April 24, 2006, the station began simulcasting the entire newscast; if Fox sports programming kept the newscast from starting on time on channel 61, it was aired on WTXX under the title News at Ten.
On December 12, 2009, WTIC, WCCT (then WTXX), and the Hartford Courant moved into new combined newsroom facilities in downtown Hartford,[38] and WTIC rebranded from Fox 61 to Fox CT (a transition completed in July 2010); in addition, WTIC became the second station in the market to begin broadcasting its local newscasts in high definition. The news simulcasts on WCCT were included in the transition.
In June 2010, the station ended the simulcast of WTIC's 10 p.m. newscast. It now airs a rebroadcast of WTIC's 11 p.m. newscast at 1 am, while the 10 p.m. newscast is re-aired on weekends; these rebroadcasts include a sports highlight program called Xfinity Sports Desk at 1:45 a.m. on early Sunday and Monday mornings. Originally, this was not simulcast on WTXX but has since been added (the 10 p.m. newscast continues to be shown live on WCCT, if it is preempted on WTIC due to sports programming overruns). The station also carries the 8 a.m. hour of WTIC's morning newscast (a previous simulcast of Fox 61 Morning News had aired at one point[when?], but was later dropped). WTIC also produces a weekly public affairs show called The Real Story, which airs Sunday mornings at 8:30 a.m. with a repeat on WCCT at 11 a.m.
Other than simulcasts and default carriage of WTIC's newscasts in the event of Fox Sports programming delays, WCCT does not carry traditional local newscasts produced specifically for the station.
Sports programming
WCCT holds the local broadcast television rights to the
Technical information
Subchannels
WCCT-TV provides four subchannels, which are carried on the
Channel | Res. | Aspect | Short name | Programming | ATSC 1.0 host |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
20.1 | 1080i | 16:9 |
WCCT-DT | The CW | WTIC-TV |
20.2 | 480i | Grit | Grit | WFSB | |
20.3 | Comet | Comet | |||
20.4 | QUEST | Quest | WTNH |
ATSC 3.0 lighthouse service
In 2021, WCCT-TV began serving as the ATSC 3.0 (Next Gen TV) lighthouse for Connecticut broadcasters with all subchannels on UHF 33.[40]
Channel | Res. | Aspect | Short name | Programming |
---|---|---|---|---|
3.1 | 1080p | 16:9 |
WFSB-HD | CBS (WFSB) ![]() |
8.1 | WTNH-DT | ABC (WTNH) | ||
20.1 | WCCT-DT | The CW | ||
30.1 | WVIT-DT | NBC (WVIT) ![]() | ||
61.1 | WTIC-DT | Fox (WTIC-TV) |
Analog-to-digital conversion
WCCT-TV (as WTXX) shut down its analog signal, over UHF channel 20, on June 12, 2009, as part of the
References
- ^ "Facility Technical Data for WCCT-TV". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
- Broadcasting - Telecasting, September 21, 1953, pg. 66.
- ^ "OLD TV NEWSCAST TITLES". Retrieved May 4, 2008.
- ^ "For the record."[permanent dead link] Broadcasting, May 8, 1961, pg. 162: "By supplemental report and order, the commission amended tv table of assignments to substitute ch. 20 for ch. 53 in Waterbury, Conn., and, at same time, modified authorization of WATR Inc.'s station WATR-TV in that city to specify operation on ch. 20 instead of ch. 53."
- ^ "WATR-TV joining NBC-TV" (PDF). Broadcasting. July 25, 1966. p. 66. Retrieved January 12, 2019.
- ^ "Viacom gets into station ownership" (PDF). Broadcasting. June 20, 1977. p. 28. Retrieved January 12, 2019.
- ^ "For the Record–Call letters–Grants–Existing TVs" (PDF). Broadcasting. August 7, 1978. p. 67. Retrieved January 12, 2019.
- ^ "Changing Hands" (PDF). Broadcasting. May 11, 1981. p. 66. Retrieved January 12, 2019.
- ^ "Changing hands." Broadcasting, December 7, 1981, pp. 69-70. Retrieved January 12, 2019. [1] [2]
- ^ "WATR-TV decides to go it alone" (PDF). Broadcasting. February 22, 1982. p. 72. Retrieved January 12, 2019.
- ^ Lender, Jon, and Stephen M. Williams. "Nonprofit group to purchase Waterbury television station." The Hartford Courant. October 23, 1992. [3]
- ^ Lender, Jon. "Sale of TV stations completed." The Hartford Courant. March 19, 1993. [4]
- ^ Lender, Jon. "Channel 20 programming to mix religion, shopping." The Hartford Courant. March 23, 1993. [5]
- ^ "Judge won't block WTXX time lease". Hartford Courant. Hartford, Connecticut. July 9, 1993. p. 39. Retrieved April 6, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Lender, Jon (June 11, 1993). "WVIT Leases Time on WTXX as WTIC Protests". Hartford Courant. Retrieved October 27, 2021.
- ^ "Owner Of WTIC To Manage WTXX". Hartford Courant. Hartford, Connecticut. January 8, 1998. p. 6. Retrieved April 6, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
- CNNMoney.com, January 24, 2006.
- ^ UPN and WB to Combine, Forming New TV Network, The New York Times, January 24, 2006.
- ^ Tribune TV Stations to Lead Affiliate Group of New Network Archived December 16, 2012, at archive.today, Tribune Company corporate website, January 24, 2006.
- ^ Bachman, Katy (September 12, 2010). "Tribune Goes for Gritty With Joetv". Ad Week. Retrieved March 10, 2016.
- ^ "Call Sign History". CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved June 22, 2010.
- ^ Haughney, Christine; Carr, David (July 10, 2013). "Tribune Co. to Split in Two". The New York Times. Retrieved July 10, 2013.
- ^ "Courant, CT Fox affiliate part of Tribune split". Hartford Business Journal. July 10, 2013. Retrieved August 4, 2013.
- ^ Battaglio, Stephen (May 8, 2017). "Sinclair Broadcast Group to buy Tribune Media for $3.9 billion plus debt". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on June 6, 2017. Retrieved June 6, 2017.
- ^ Baker, Liana; Toonkel, Jessica (May 7, 2017). "Sinclair Broadcast nears deal for Tribune Media". Reuters. Archived from the original on June 6, 2017. Retrieved June 6, 2017.
- ^ Miller, Mark K. (August 9, 2018). "Tribune Kills Sinclair Merger, Files Suit". TVNewsCheck. NewsCheck Media. Archived from the original on March 29, 2022. Retrieved August 9, 2018.
- ^ Mirabella, Lorraine (July 18, 2018). "FCC orders hearing even as Sinclair changes plans to sell TV stations to address concerns about Tribune deal". The Baltimore Sun. Tronc. Archived from the original on August 11, 2018. Retrieved August 9, 2018.
- ^ Hart, Benjamin (July 16, 2018). "FCC Throws Wrench Into Sinclair Media Megadeal". New York. New York Media, LLC. Archived from the original on July 17, 2018. Retrieved August 9, 2018.
- ^ Miller, Mark K. (December 3, 2018). "Nexstar Buying Tribune Media For $6.4 Billion". TVNewsCheck. NewsCheck Media. Archived from the original on December 4, 2018. Retrieved August 21, 2022.
- ^ Jacobson, Adam (December 3, 2018). "It's Official: Nexstar Takes Tribune In Billion-Dollar Stock Deal". Radio-Television Business Report. Streamline-RBR, Inc. Archived from the original on December 4, 2018. Retrieved August 21, 2022.
- ^ Smith, Gerry; Ahmed, Nabila; Newcomer, Eric (December 3, 2018). "Nexstar to buy WGN owner Tribune Media for $4.1 billion". Chicago Tribune. Tribune Publishing. Bloomberg News. Archived from the original on April 5, 2019. Retrieved August 21, 2022.
- ^ Jessell, Harry A.; Miller, Mark K. (December 3, 2018). "Nexstar To Spin Off $1B In Stations". TVNewsCheck. NewsCheck Media. Archived from the original on December 4, 2018. Retrieved August 21, 2022.
- ^ "Nexstar Selling 19 TVs In 15 Markets For $1.32B". TVNewsCheck. NewsCheckMedia. March 20, 2019. Archived from the original on March 20, 2019. Retrieved March 20, 2019.
- Bloomberg, L.P. Archivedfrom the original on April 13, 2019. Retrieved August 21, 2022.
- ^ Cooper, Joe (September 23, 2019). "FOX61, other stations acquired for $740M". Hartford Business Journal. Archived from the original on August 23, 2022. Retrieved August 23, 2022.
- ^ "Channel 30 news on Channel 20". Hartford Courant. Hartford, Connecticut. July 19, 1993. p. 5. Retrieved April 6, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Weiss, Tara (April 10, 1999). "Channel 61's 'News At 10' Turns 10". Hartford Courant. Hartford, Connecticut. p. F1, F7. Retrieved April 6, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "News Operations To Combine". Hartford Courant. March 31, 2009.
- ^ a b "RabbitEars TV Query for WCCT". rabbitears.info. Retrieved April 6, 2022.
- ^ "Next Generation Television (ATSC 3.0) Station Transition Guide; Chapter 4: Channel Sharing in Depth" (PDF). Retrieved April 5, 2022.
- ^ "List of Digital Full-Power Stations" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on August 29, 2013. Retrieved August 11, 2013.