WSBK-TV
This article needs additional citations for verification. (December 2012) |
FCC | |
Facility ID | 73982 |
---|---|
ERP | 163 kW |
HAAT | 388.3 m (1,274 ft) |
Transmitter coordinates | 42°18′37″N 71°14′12″W / 42.31028°N 71.23667°W |
Links | |
Public license information | |
Website | www |
WSBK-TV (channel 38) is an
WSBK is also available via satellite throughout the United States on Dish Network as part of its superstation package (which since September 2013, is available only to existing subscribers of the tier).[3] Otherwise, it enjoys cable coverage throughout much of the New England region, though this has been limited compared to the past when it was more widely distributed.
History
Origins (1955–1966)
The first
The current station signed on the air on October 12, 1964. It was first licensed to the
The station also made an initial foray into sports, carrying ten regular season away games and all playoff road games from the
WSBK-TV (1966–present)
The station was purchased by Storer Broadcasting in 1966. A few months after the purchase, the station's call letters were changed to the present WSBK-TV, named after the company's ticker symbol on the New York Stock Exchange, "SBK". Storer scored its biggest coup in 1967, when it secured broadcast rights to the Boston Bruins from WKBG-TV (channel 56, now WLVI), and eventually owned the team for a three-year period from 1972 to 1975. During the next few years, as the Bruins became a contender for the National Hockey League's Stanley Cup championship (led by young superstar Bobby Orr), the popularity of these games led to a spike in UHF antenna purchases, and helped make channel 38 one of the leading independent stations in the country. For much of the time between 1970 and 1984, WSBK would televise between 70 and 72 of the Bruins' 80 regular season games, as well as all playoff games not shown on network television.
In 1975, WSBK acquired television rights to the
In addition to an increasingly stronger lineup of syndicated programs—which during the late 1960s through (to a lesser extent) the 1990s included
Becoming a superstation
WSBK's popularity was such that by the mid-1970s, it was available on nearly every
When the FCC's syndication exclusivity rules (or "Syndex") were strengthened in the early 1990s, distribution of all out-of-market station signals were hampered. The rule protected stations in local markets from out-of-market competition by superstations that aired identical syndicated programming. Any station could file with cable providers for "protection" and the provider would have to black out the offending station for periods of time. The management of this "blocking" would prove so cumbersome that many cable providers began dropping distant signals such as WSBK and effectively stopped most superstation distribution. Distributors such as Eastern Microwave attempted to make it easier for cable providers by substituting shows that could not be blocked, but the damage had already been done by then.
WSBK began operating on a 24-hour schedule in the late 1970s, only to revert to late-night signoffs by the early 1980s. Besides its status as a sports powerhouse, WSBK made a name for itself when it created The Movie Loft, one of the first "hosted movie" franchises on television, long before it became a staple on cable. The program aired syndicated movies with interstitial program elements hosted by Dana Hersey. Part of the program's marketing was that it aired only "unedited" movies. The Movie Loft tested that on several occasions airing movies such as The Deer Hunter, The Boys in the Band and 48 Hrs. without editing for inappropriate content or length. In the mid-1980s, WSBK dropped the midday movie to make room for more sitcoms. For a few years, WSBK signed off at 1 a.m. or 2 am, but began operating 24 hours a day (except on early Monday mornings) by the end of the decade. Although it was one of the strongest independent stations in the nation, WSBK turned down an offer to affiliate with the upstart Fox network in 1986. This may have been because most of the markets in channel 38's cable footprint had enough stations to provide Fox affiliates at the outset, making the prospect of WSBK as a multistate Fox affiliate unattractive to Storer/KKR. The Fox affiliation for the market went to WFXT in 1987 after News Corp acquired the station from CBN.
Sale to Paramount and affiliation with UPN (1995–2006)
In 1994, New World
Originally, WSBK continued to essentially program under the conventions of an independent station as UPN would not run five nights a week of programming until 1998. While the affiliation did not result in immediate changes to the rest of its lineup outside of prime time, WSBK began incorporating more talk and reality shows by 1997, with older shows being gradually phased out. The Movie Loft was discontinued as a result of host Dana Hersey's retirement, as well as declining ratings for the program as the movie packages that the station acquired were of a lesser quality than in previous years. WSBK later revived the genre with The UPN 38 Movie House, hosted by actor and comedian Brian Frates and Movie Night (co-hosted by Dan and Dave Andelman); in the early 2000s, it also attempted a revival of The Movie Loft hosted by
In 2000, after Viacom merged with
First return to independent status (2006–2011)
On January 24, 2006, CBS Corporation (which spun off from Viacom two months earlier) and the Warner Bros. unit of Time Warner announced that the two companies would shut down The WB and UPN and combine the networks' respective programming to create a new "fifth" network called The CW.[10][11] Even though WSBK is owned by The CW's part-owner CBS, then-WB affiliate WLVI—owned at the time by Tribune Broadcasting (which sold that station to WHDH owner Sunbeam Television that September)—was announced as The CW's Boston outlet through an affiliation agreement that signed 16 of Tribune's 19 WB stations as charter affiliates. It would not have been an upset if WSBK had been chosen as Boston's CW affiliate, as representatives for The CW had been on record as preferring the "strongest" WB and UPN affiliates, and Boston was one of the few markets where the WB and UPN affiliates both had relatively strong viewership.
On February 22, 2006,
WSBK-TV officially reverted to the "TV 38" branding on September 6, 2006, and also revived its former Entertaining Boston slogan; the station continued to carry UPN programming until the network shut down on September 15. After the station reverted to independent status, WSBK's prime time lineup was filled by first-run syndicated programs (initially a second run of Dr. Phil at 8 p.m. and a second run of Jeopardy! at 9 pm), and a WBZ-produced 9:30 p.m. newscast.[14] The station adopted a new ad campaign entitled Hello in September 2009, where the majority of station promotion is centered around the word "hello"; this new campaign also brought forth a mascot called the TV 38 Blockhead.[15]
Switch to MyNetworkTV (2011–2022)
On June 15, 2011, WBIN-TV (the former WZMY-TV) announced that it would end its affiliation with MyNetworkTV that September to become an independent station.[16] CBS Television Stations subsequently signed an affiliation agreement with the programming service five days later, on June 20, 2011, to move its Boston area affiliation to WSBK.[17] It is believed that CBS' initial decision to deny its larger UPN stations affiliation agreements with MyNetworkTV was in retaliation against Fox for refusing to affiliate any of its UPN affiliates in markets where CBS Corporation or Tribune did not already sign deals to carry The CW with that network. WSBK affiliated with MyNetworkTV on September 19, 2011 (joining Miami sister station WBFS-TV as one of two CBS-owned stations to maintain an affiliation with the service). The station's branding was amended to "myTV38", in accordance to the new affiliation.
Second return to independent status (2022–present)
On September 19, 2022, WSBK-TV reverted to being an independent station, ending its affiliation with MyNetworkTV and leaving the programming service without an outlet in the Boston market. In preparation for the move, earlier in the month, the station returned its TV38 moniker for the third time, along with its post-UPN "circle 38" logo. Also, in September 2022, the 50-year contract to air the Three Stooges' film shorts expired; WSBK wanted to renew the contract or sign a new one, but Sony Pictures (owner of the Stooges' shorts) refused; there has not been New Year's Eve Three Stooges marathons since December 31, 2021.[citation needed]
Programming
WSBK-TV occasionally takes on the responsibility of airing CBS network programming whenever WBZ-TV runs extended breaking news coverage or special programming. Examples of this practice include during the Boston Marathon, and more recently in 2009, during New England Patriots pre-season games as well as the passing of Senator Ted Kennedy and his sister Eunice Kennedy Shriver.
Sports
In terms of sports, WSBK was the longtime television home of the Boston Red Sox and Boston Bruins. WSBK became the Red Sox's over-air flagship station in 1975 and remained so for 20 years until it lost the broadcast rights to WABU (channel 68, now
WSBK was also the over-the-air flagship of the Boston Bruins for more than 30 years. Its broadcasts were considered important enough to the station, especially in the 1970s when the Bruins were one of the perennially elite teams in the National Hockey League and enormously popular in Boston, that WSBK's then-owners Storer Broadcasting purchased and owned the Bruins for several years. The announcers for most of the Bruins games were hall-of-famer
In addition, WSBK became the over-the-air home of the Boston Celtics in 1993, replacing WFXT (which the team had owned at that time).[21] It lost the broadcast rights in 1998 to WABU.[22] All Celtics games not on national television are now broadcast on NBC Sports Boston. From 2005 until 2019, WSBK carried Atlantic Coast Conference college football and basketball games produced and syndicated by Raycom Sports (through its ACC Network package), after Boston College's move to the conference created regional interest for the ACC; the package ended as a result of ESPN launching an ACC Network cable channel.
In 2007, Major League Soccer announced that WSBK would become the exclusive carrier of the New England Revolution, replacing WLVI and FSN New England. After three seasons, the Revolution moved their non-nationally televised games to Comcast SportsNet New England (the former FSN New England and current NBC Sports Boston) in 2010;[23] in 2021, the club moved its telecasts back to WSBK as part of a partnership with sister station WBZ-TV.[24] WSBK and WBZ lost their local rights to Revolution games in 2023, when all MLS broadcasts shifted over to MLS Season Pass, a new subscription service hosted on Apple TV.
In December 2007, WSBK produced the first ever over-the-air television broadcasts of the Eastern Massachusetts High-School Football Super Bowl games, broadcasting three of the seven divisional championship contests (the other four aired on Comcast SportsNet New England). This arrangement continued through 2012; as of 2013[update], the six statewide state championship games air on Comcast SportsNet New England.[25] Starting in 2009, audio-only simulcasts of these games began airing on then-sister radio station WBZ-FM (98.5 MHz). The station previously aired sports replay programs called Red Sox This Week and Patriots This Week during their respective seasons; the latter program has since moved to Comcast SportsNet New England. The station broadcasts the "Fifth Quarter" postgame shows after 4:25 p.m. ET Patriots' games (due partly to WBZ's network commitments with CBS to broadcast 60 Minutes), as well as 1 p.m. Patriots games on weeks in which CBS is airing a doubleheader.
Local programming
One of WSBK's most remembered past programs was the informative and often amusing series Ask the Manager, created by then-general manager William J. Flynn in the mid-1970s. Each week Flynn, and later his successors Joseph C. Dimino, Daniel J. Berkery and Stuart Tauber would answer viewer questions on-air. The letters were read each week for many years by the station's announcer and host Dana Hersey. Other letter-readers included Sean McDonough and Carla Nolan. Meg LaVigne and Leslie Savage occasionally substituted in the manager's chair. The program's producer, Cliff Allen, was often referred to when off-camera, but did substitute as letter reader on many occasions. Allen died just weeks before Ask the Manager broadcast its final show in January 1999; the series finale was dedicated to his memory. Though it was long hampered by poor viewership, the show became a cult favorite. There were other attempts at local programs on WSBK through the years with shows such as We Don't Knock, A.M. Boston, and Hersey's Hollywood.
From May 2001 to August 2004, WSBK had rights to Lottery Live, the nightly broadcasts of the Massachusetts State Lottery games. After the station moved into WBZ's studios, WSBK continued to broadcast the drawings. This was because WBZ had the games to itself for three years prior to the move. When WSBK's contract expired, the lottery drawings were moved to WCVB-TV (channel 5).
WSBK broadcasts
Newscasts
As WIHS-TV, the station had a small news operation, featuring former WBZ-TV anchor Victor Best.[26] After becoming WSBK-TV, the station considered producing a local, in-house 10 p.m. newscast in the 1970s. However, Storer received indications that such a venture would get low ratings and lose money, leading it to conclude that there was no market for a local 10 p.m. newscast in Boston. As a result, unlike most top-rated independents in markets of its size, channel 38 never had a news department in its incarnation as WSBK.
In 1980, WSBK did begin running a nationally syndicated newscast for independent stations, Independent Network News, which was produced by New York City's WPIX and distributed by its owner Tribune Broadcasting. INN did not do well in Boston; part of the reason for the low ratings was that the newscast sometimes aired late due to Red Sox or Bruins games, putting it in direct competition with the 11 p.m. newscasts on WBZ-TV, WCVB-TV, and WNAC-TV/WNEV-TV. After 1984, it also faced competition from a local 10 p.m. newscast on WLVI-TV. In January 1986, the weeknight INN broadcasts moved to WLVI, airing after that station's 10 p.m. news—before INN was dropped by the station after one year (it was not acquired by another station in the Boston market).
WSBK finally launched a 10 p.m. local newscast on October 25, 1993, by way of the WBZ-produced WBZ News 4 on TV 38, competing against both WLVI and a
After Viacom merged with CBS, putting WSBK and WBZ-TV under the same ownership, WBZ once again began producing a newscast for the station starting in 2001. On September 3, WSBK debuted a 7 p.m. newscast;[30] initially called THE 7 O'Clock News on UPN 38 (always emphasizing "the"), it was later rebranded as WBZ 4 News at 7 O'Clock. This newscast was replaced on March 29, 2002, by a new 10 p.m. newscast, titled Nightcast at 10 on UPN 38, which launched on April 1.[31] On September 16, 2002, an hour-long extension of WBZ-TV's weekday morning newscast was added at 7 am, known as The Morning News on UPN 38.[30]
WSBK dropped Nightcast on January 16, 2005[32] and turned its attention to the morning newscast, which was relaunched as The Morning Show on April 4. On September 12, the program began airing 8 to 9 a.m. to make room for the first two hours of the nationally syndicated morning show, The Daily Buzz. The Morning Show aired its last broadcast on June 30, 2006, The Daily Buzz was dropped at the same time (it would return to the market in January 2011 on WLVI, and later moved to WBIN-TV).
When WSBK became an independent station for the second time, WBZ-TV began to produce a weeknight newscast called TV 38 News at 9:30, the newscast was then moved up a half-hour to 9 p.m. on April 23, 2007, retitled as TV 38 News at 9, and switching time slots with a second run of Jeopardy! On August 25, 2008, the newscast became known as WBZ News on TV 38 (on occasion, it is also referred to as WBZ News at 9); it now mirrors the news programs that air on WBZ-TV, as had been the case with 10 p.m. broadcast that WBZ produced in the mid-1990s and the former 7 p.m. newscast. On December 12, 2008, the newscast began to be broadcast in
News team
- Steve Burton – sports director
- Levan Reid – fill-in sports anchor
Technical information
Subchannels
The station's signal is
Channel | Res. | Aspect | Short name | Programming |
---|---|---|---|---|
38.1 | 1080i | 16:9 |
WSBK-TV | Main WSBK-TV programming |
38.2 | 480i | WSBK.2 | Heroes & Icons | |
38.3 | WSBK.3 | QVC | ||
38.4 | WSBK.4 | QVC2
| ||
38.5 | Start | Movies! | ||
66.4 | 480i | 16:9 | CourtTV | Court TV (WUNI-DT4) |
Analog-to-digital conversion
WSBK-TV shut down its analog signal, over
See also
- Channel 38 virtual TV stations in the United States
- Channel 21 digital TV stations in the United States
- List of television stations in Massachusetts
- List of United States stations available in Canada
References
- ^ "FCC History Cards for WSBK-TV".
- ^ "Facility Technical Data for WSBK-TV". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
- ^ "Dish Network FAQ". dishnetwork.com. Archived from the original on January 29, 2009.
- ^ "News, sports, and weather". Boston, MA. February 15, 1965. 00:00 minutes in. Archived from the original on May 8, 2020. Retrieved March 13, 2019 – via YouTube.
- ^ "WSBK-TV 38, Boston MA - Sign-off recorded 31 December 1986".
- ^ Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: "WSBK TV-38 Boston - Sign-On - 1987" – via YouTube.
- ^ Fybush, Scott D (June 29, 1995). "New England Radio Watcher: WPLM goes smooth". rec.radio.broadcasting. Google Groups. Retrieved February 13, 2011.
- ^ Trigoboff, Dan (May 6, 2001). "Station Break". Broadcasting & Cable. Archived from the original on September 30, 2012. Retrieved November 15, 2009.
- ^ Albiniak, Paige (October 5, 2009). "CBS' Boston Duop Swaps Shows". Broadcasting & Cable. NewBay Media. Retrieved November 16, 2009.
- CNNMoney.com, January 24, 2006.
- ^ UPN and WB to Combine, Forming New TV Network, The New York Times, January 24, 2006.
- ^ "News Corp. to launch new mini-network for UPN stations". USA Today. February 22, 2006. Retrieved January 21, 2013.
- ^ News Corp. Unveils MyNetworkTV, Broadcasting & Cable, February 22, 2006.
- ^ a b "3 Orphans To Go Independent". Broadcasting & Cable. May 6, 2006. Retrieved February 13, 2011.
- YouTube
- ^ Boston-Area MyNet WBIN Going Independent, Broadcasting & Cable, June 15, 2011.
- ^ WSBK Boston Partners With MyNet, Broadcasting & Cable, June 20, 2011.
- ^ Fybush, Scott (April 3, 1996). "New England RadioWatch". Retrieved February 13, 2011.
- ^ Fybush, Scott (August 19, 2002). "WLAN Makes Sports Flip, WBBF becomes WROC". North East RadioWatch. Retrieved February 13, 2011.
- ^ Fybush, Scott (July 15, 2002). "Clear Channel Faces Hearings on Augusta Purchase". North East RadioWatch. Retrieved February 13, 2011.
- ^ Neff, Andrew (November 5, 1993). "Channel 38 to televise Celts' home games". Bangor Daily News. Bangor Publishing Company. Retrieved February 13, 2011 – via Google News.
- ^ Fybush, Scott (August 20, 1998). "Non-Compete -- The Battle Continues". North East RadioWatch. Retrieved February 13, 2011.
- NECN.com. March 15, 2010. Archived from the originalon January 29, 2013. Retrieved March 15, 2010.
- ^ "CBS Boston Is Now Your Home For New England Revolution Soccer – CBS Boston". April 8, 2021.
- MassLive. Advance Publications. November 26, 2013. Retrieved December 7, 2013.
All games will be televised on Comcast SportsNet and will be aired on the radio at 98.5 The Sports Hub.
- ^ Fybush, Scott (April 30, 1998). "Carl DeSuze Dies..." North East RadioWatch. Retrieved February 13, 2011.
- ^ Bickelhaupt, Susan (October 27, 1993). "Good ratings for WSBK news debut". The Boston Globe. Archived from the original on November 5, 2012. Retrieved February 13, 2011 – via HighBeam Research.
- ^ a b Fybush, Scott D. "New England Radio Watcher: All Over The Place". rec.radio.broadcasting. Google Groups. Retrieved September 2, 2018.
- ^ Fybush, Scott (October 1, 1998). "WNNZ Sold to Clear Channel". North East RadioWatch. Retrieved February 13, 2011.
- ^ a b Greppi, Michelle (September 2002). "Duopoly kin compete for morning wins". TelevisionWeek. Retrieved February 13, 2011.
- ^ "Nightcast At 10 On UPN38". WSBK-TV. Archived from the original on June 3, 2002. Retrieved February 13, 2011.
- ^ Fybush, Scott (January 10, 2005). "No "Love" for Albany". NorthEast Radio Watch. Retrieved February 13, 2011.
- ^ Diaz, Johnny (July 27, 2011). "Channel 38 joins 10 p.m. news race". The Boston Globe. Retrieved July 27, 2011.
- ^ Just like all other Boston stations and WBIN, WBZ's 10 p.m. newscast on WSBK was now an hour-long. The Changing Newscasts Blog, October 7, 2014.
- ^ Eggerton, John (September 24, 2019). "CBS Expands News Access to Boston". Broadcasting & Cable. Retrieved September 25, 2019.
- ^ Malone, Michael (July 21, 2022). "CBS-Owned Stations Debut Primetime News in Ten Markets". Broadcasting & Cable. Retrieved July 21, 2022.
- ^ "RabbitEars TV Query for WSBK". 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.