WNDU-TV
kW | |
HAAT | 310.4 m (1,018 ft) |
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Transmitter coordinates | 41°36′20″N 86°12′46″W / 41.60556°N 86.21278°W |
Links | |
Public license information | |
Website | www |
WNDU-TV (channel 16) is a television station in South Bend, Indiana, United States, affiliated with NBC. It is owned by Gray Television alongside Elkhart-licensed Heroes & Icons affiliate WSJV (channel 28). The two stations share studios on the campus of WNDU-TV's founding owner the University of Notre Dame along State Road 933 on South Bend's north side; WNDU-TV's transmitter is located southeast of the St. Joseph County Fairgrounds on the city's south side.
The station's studios also house production facilities for the syndicated agricultural news programs AgDay and U.S. Farm Report, the former of which is broadcast locally by WNDU-TV; WNDU-TV's weather department provides the forecasts seen on those shows.
History
This section needs expansion with: Further information on the history of WNDU-TV. You can help by adding to it. (November 2012) |
The station first signed on the air on July 15, 1955, originally broadcasting on UHF channel 46. WNDU-TV was owned by the Michiana Television Corporation, a subsidiary of the
The station immediately took the NBC affiliation from
The studio at State Road 933 and Dorr Road opened in 1982.[3]
On October 18, 1995, as a result of the affiliation changes in the South Bend market, WSJV switched to
On November 24, 2005, the University of Notre Dame entered into an agreement to sell the station to Gray Television for $85 million in an all-cash deal, with the university placing the money received from the sale in an endowment.[4] The sale closed on March 5, 2006, after which the Federal Communications Commission granted Gray a cross-ownership waiver for WNDU and Goshen-based newspaper The Goshen News. This was necessary because the FCC prohibits the common ownership of a newspaper and a television station in the same market (Gray eventually spun off the Times and four other newspapers the following year into a new company called Triple Crown Media, which was subsequently merged with Host Communications).[5] WNDU-TV was named station of the year by the Indiana Broadcasters Association for 2015 and 2016.[6][7]
In September 2015, Gray Television announced that it would purchase Schurz Communications for $442.5 million; Schurz had owned WSBT-TV since it began broadcasting in December 1952. Despite WSBT-TV's higher ratings, Gray kept WNDU and sold WSBT-TV to expedite approval of the deal;[8][9] on October 1, 2015, Gray announced that WSBT-TV would be swapped to Sinclair Broadcast Group for WLUC-TV in Marquette, Michigan.[10][8][9][11] The FCC approved the sale on February 12, 2016;[12] the transaction would be completed four days later.[13]
On February 1, 2021, Gray Television announced its intent to purchase Quincy Media, owner of Heroes & Icons affiliate WSJV, for $925 million in a cash transaction.[14] As WSJV is lower ranked than the top four stations in ratings in the South Bend market, Gray sought a failing station waiver to permit common ownership of both WSJV and WNDU-TV. The sale was completed on August 2.[15]
Programming
As an NBC affiliate, WNDU-TV is the home station for the network's broadcast of Notre Dame football home games. It produces and airs its own pregame show, Countdown to Kickoff, which airs prior to every Notre Dame football home game broadcast on NBC. The station also airs reruns of Inside Notre Dame Football and Inside Notre Dame Basketball, a review show of Notre Dame athletic teams that is produced by Fighting Irish Media at the University of Notre Dame.[16]
Due to an increased focus on news programming, WNDU-TV made room for a three-hour Saturday morning newscast in 1994,
Programming controversies
Under Notre Dame's ownership, WNDU opted not to air certain NBC programs out of concerns over inappropriate content. Such shows included the animated series
News operation
WNDU-TV broadcasts a total of 38+1⁄2 hours of local newscasts each week (with 6+1⁄2 hours each weekday, four hours on Saturdays and two hours on Sundays). WNDU-TV used a helicopter for its news-gathering purposes from the 1980s through 2006.[citation needed]
On April 21, 2010, starting with its noon newscast, WNDU became the second television station in the South Bend market (behind WSBT-TV) to begin broadcasting its local newscasts in high definition.[18]
On September 4, 2018, WNDU debuted a 4 p.m. newscast.[19]
As of 2024[update], there were twelve people on the news team and five on the weather team, in addition to there being a sports journalist team.[20]
Notable former on-air staff
- Tom Rinaldi – reporter (1993–1996; now with Fox Sports)
- Hannah Storm – early 1980s while at Notre Dame until about 1984; also, last anchor of The Early Show on CBS, now with ESPN's SportsCenter
- Anne Thompson – 1979–1983 (Now with NBC News as chief environmental affairs correspondent; Catholic Church and environmental and economic issues)
Technical information
Subchannels
The station's signal is
Channel | Res. | Aspect | Short name | Programming |
---|---|---|---|---|
16.1 | 1080i | 16:9 |
WNDU-HD | NBC |
16.2 | 480i | Antenna | Antenna TV | |
16.3 | THE365 | The365
| ||
16.4 | Outlaw | Outlaw
| ||
16.5 | Defy | Defy TV | ||
16.6 | Oxygen | Oxygen | ||
16.7 | GetTV | getTV
| ||
16.8 | TheGrio | TheGrio TV |
WNDU's second digital subchannel formerly carried a
Analog-to-digital conversion
WNDU-TV discontinued regular programming on its analog signal, over
As part of the
References
- ^ "Facility Technical Data for WNDU-TV". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
- ^ TV Guide: "One Vice President Resigned Because He Was Failing Algebra", June 9–15, 1973.
- ^ "New News Center". South Bend Tribune. June 27, 1982.
- ^ WNDU to be sold to Gray Television, South Bend Tribune, November 24, 2005.
- ^ Gray Closes on WNDU Sale, Broadcasting & Cable, March 6, 2006.
- ^ "WNDU earns Station of the Year award". Archived from the original on March 30, 2019. Retrieved February 23, 2017.
- ^ "2016 Awards – Indiana Broadcasters Association". Archived from the original on February 24, 2017. Retrieved February 23, 2017.
- ^ a b "Schurz Communications to sell WSBT and other TV, radio stations". South Bend Tribune. Schurz Communications. September 14, 2015. Retrieved September 14, 2015.
- ^ a b Kuperberg, Jonathan (September 14, 2015). "Gray Acquiring TV, Radio Stations from Schurz for $442.5 Million". Broadcasting & Cable. NewBay Media. Retrieved September 14, 2015.
- ^ "Gray Television Sells Some, Buys Some". TVNewsCheck. NewsCheck Media. October 1, 2015. Retrieved October 1, 2015.
- ^ Allen, Kevin (November 2, 2015). "WSBT Radio Group will have a new owner, again". South Bend Tribune. Schurz Communications. Retrieved January 9, 2016.
- ^ FCC Approves Gray-Schurz TV Station Deal. Broadcasting & Cable, February 12, 2016, Retrieved February 13, 2016.
- ^ Gray Closes Schurz Acquisition, Related Transactions, And Incremental Term Loan Facility Press Release, Gray Television, Retrieved February 16, 2016.
- ^ Goldsmith, Jill (February 1, 2021). "Gray Television Acquires Quincy Media For $925 Million In Cash". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved February 21, 2021.
- Globe Newswire. Retrieved August 2, 2021.
- ^ "Notre Dame Athletics | The Fighting Irish". Notre Dame Fighting Irish - Official Athletics Website.
- ^ "Times-Union - Google News Archive Search". news.google.com. Retrieved November 11, 2017.
- ^ "NewsCenter 16 now broadcasting in HD".
- ^ Ortega, Roly (August 24, 2018). "Small minor newscast changes… #223". The Changing Newscasts Blog. Retrieved October 7, 2018.
- ^ "Meet the Team". WNDU-TV. Retrieved March 2, 2024.
- ^ "RabbitEars TV Query for WNDU". rabbitears.info.
- ^ "DTV Tentative Channel Designations for the First and Second Rounds" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on August 29, 2013. Retrieved March 24, 2012.
- ^ "CDBS Print". licensing.fcc.gov.
- ^ "UPDATED List of Participants in the Analog Nightlight Program" (PDF). Federal Communications Commission. June 12, 2009. Retrieved June 4, 2012.
External links
- Official website
- "WNDU-TV 50th Anniversary (1955-2005)" on YouTube(channel NewsActive3, upload date December 14, 2021)