WSBT-TV
kW | |
HAAT | 332.6 m (1,091 ft) |
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Transmitter coordinates | 41°37′0″N 86°13′1″W / 41.61667°N 86.21694°W |
Links | |
Public license information | |
Website | wsbt |
WSBT-TV (channel 22) is a
History
Early years
The station first signed on the air on December 21, 1952, and was owned by the
WSBT was the first station on UHF to telecast a
When the
In April 1995, Fox signed an affiliation agreement with then-ABC affiliate WSJV, with the switch taking effect on October 18 of that year.
2008–present
The station unveiled its new all-digital facility in Mishawaka on November 16, 2008, beginning with the station's 10 p.m. newscast (which airs on its second digital subchannel). The new facility was built from the ground up for digital broadcasting, and channel 22 became the first Michiana station to broadcast its local newscasts in high definition. The radio stations began broadcasting from the new facility a few weeks earlier.[9] The former WSBT studio building is now home to the area's PBS member station WNIT (channel 34).[10]
On August 4, 2008, WSBT announced plans to purchase
Schurz announced on September 14, 2015, that it would exit broadcasting and sell its television and radio stations to Gray Television for $442.5 million. Gray already owned WNDU-TV (channel 16) in South Bend. Despite WSBT-TV's higher ratings, Gray kept WNDU and sold WSBT-TV to expedite approval of the deal;[12][13] on October 1, 2015, Gray announced that the station would be swapped to Sinclair Broadcast Group for WLUC-TV in Marquette, Michigan.[14] The sale separated channel 22 from both the South Bend Tribune, which Schurz would keep, and the WSBT Radio Group, which was sold to Mid-West Family Broadcasting.[12][13][15] The FCC approved the sale on February 12, 2016,[16] and the sale would be completed on February 16.[17] Sinclair's purchase of WSBT also marked a re-entry into Indiana as the company had owned WTTV/WTTK in Indianapolis from 1996 before that station was sold to Tribune Broadcasting in 2002. As a result of the sale, fellow CBS affiliate WWMT to the north in Kalamazoo, Michigan, which serves the Grand Rapids market, became a sister station to WSBT.
On July 25, 2016, Sinclair announced that WSBT-DT2 would affiliate with Fox beginning on August 1, 2016. Quincy Media had reached an agreement to transfer the affiliation from WSJV in exchange for the ABC and CW affiliations in Peoria, Illinois from Sinclair-owned WHOI.[18] A few of WSJV's employees were transferred to WSBT.[19][20] For a sixty-day period, WSBT-DT2 was simulcast on WSJV-DT1 to allow viewers to transition to the new signal, along with pay television providers. SBT2's broadcasts of South Bend Cubs baseball games also ended for the season; Sinclair intended to begin a new broadcasting relationship with the team for the 2017 season.[21]
News operation
WSBT-TV presently[when?] broadcasts 49+1⁄2 hours of locally produced newscasts each week (with 8+1⁄2 hours each weekday, four hours on Saturdays and three hours on Sundays); in addition to the newscasts seen on WSBT's primary channel, the station broadcasts 16 hours of newscasts a week for its Fox subchannel (with three hours each weekday and a half-hour each on Saturdays and Sundays). The station maintains a news and weather content agreement with their former sister radio stations (now owned by Mid-West Family Broadcasting) WSBT, WNSN, WQLQ and WZOC, with six Michigan Mid-West Family stations (WSJM-FM, WSJM, WIRX, WCXT, WYTZ and WCSY-FM) also adding content sharing services in early 2019. Sinclair also continues to partner with former sister publication the South Bend Tribune, with news stories seen in the Tribune and the station providing the paper's observations for their weather page.
On September 5, 2006, the station began producing a half-hour weeknight 10 p.m. newscast on its second digital subchannel (currently branded as WSBT 22 News at 10 on Fox Michiana), after WSBT-DT2 lost its UPN affiliation. On November 16, 2008, WSBT became the first television station in the South Bend market to being broadcasting its local newscasts in high definition.
On September 8, 2014, WSBT added the area's first-ever 4 p.m. newscast with the half-hour newscast called WSBT 22 News, First at 4:00.[22] On August 15, 2016, it expanded to an hour, replacing a second airing of Jeopardy! in the 4:30 timeslot.[23]
On September 20, 2015, WSBT added a newscast on Sunday mornings from 6:30 to 8 a.m.[24]
In August 2016, with WSBT-DT2 getting the Fox affiliation from WSJV, it added two additional hours of WSBT's morning newscast from 7 to 9 a.m. and expanded its 10 p.m. newscast on weeknights to an hour.[25]
As of 2017, WSBT produces newscasts for Sinclair sister stations WNWO-TV in Toledo, Ohio, and WOLF-TV in Hazleton, Pennsylvania. Both feature a centralized studio and footage from local reporters.[26][27]
Notable former on-air staff
- Sage Steele – reporter (1995–1997; later at ESPN)[28]
- Kate Sullivan – reporter (recently left WBBM-TV in Chicago)
- Jackie Walorski – reporter (1985–1989; later represented Indiana's 2nd Congressional District from 2013 until her death on August 3, 2022)[29]
Technical information
Subchannels
The station's signal is
Channel | Res. | Aspect | Short name | Programming |
---|---|---|---|---|
22.1 | 1080i | 16:9 |
CBS | CBS |
22.2 | 720p | FOX | Fox | |
22.3 | 480i | Charge! | Charge! | |
28.1 | 480i | 16:9 | H&I | Heroes & Icons (WSJV) |
28.6 | Bounce | Bounce TV (WSJV-DT6) |
In 2003, WSBT launched a UPN-affiliated digital subchannel (branded as "UPN Michiana") on digital channel 22.2. WSBT-DT2 became an independent station in September 2006, when UPN shut down and its programming was merged with that of The WB to form The CW. At that point, UPN Michiana was rebranded as SBT2. On August 1, 2016, SBT2 became Fox Michiana. The weather radar channel was discontinued at that time.[20]
Analog-to-digital conversion
WSBT-TV shut down its analog signal, over UHF channel 22, on February 17, 2009, the original target date on which full-power television stations in the United States were to transition from analog to digital broadcasts under federal mandate (which was later pushed back to June 12, 2009). The station's digital signal relocated from its pre-transition UHF channel 30 to channel 22 for post-transition operations.[31]
References
- ^ a b c 1954 Telecasting Yearbook–Marketbook. Broadcasting – Telecasting. 1954. p. 119. Retrieved June 13, 2019.
- ^ "Facility Technical Data for WSBT-TV". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
- ^ a b c d History Cards for WSBT-TV, fcc.gov. Retrieved June 13, 2019.
- ^ "Fort Wayne: Search Results". nl.newsbank.com. Retrieved January 29, 2018.
- ^ "Times-Union - Google News Archive Search". news.google.com. Retrieved January 29, 2018.
- ^ "Broadcasting Magazine" (PDF). March 28, 1994. Retrieved March 22, 2018.
- ^ "Times-Union - Google News Archive Search". news.google.com. Retrieved January 29, 2018.
- ^ "Broadcasting Magazine" (PDF). March 28, 1994. Retrieved May 27, 2018.
- ^ "WSBT Radio begins broadcasting from Mishawaka". Archived from the original on October 25, 2008.
- ^ "A Look Back: Beginnings of local TV viewed nostalgically", South Bend Tribune. August 1, 2016. Retrieved June 13, 2019.
- Reed Business Information. Retrieved August 25, 2009.
- ^ 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.
- ^ Eck, Kevin (July 26, 2016). "Sinclair and Quincy Make Affiliation Deal, WSJV Employees Wonder What's Next". TVSpy. Adweek Blog Network. Retrieved August 1, 2016.
- ^ "WSBT to take over Fox affiliate on Aug. 1". South Bend Tribune. Schurz Communications. Retrieved July 25, 2016.
- ^ a b "SBT-2 to become FOX affiliate Monday, Aug. 1". WSBT. Sinclair Broadcast Group. Retrieved July 26, 2016.
- Elkhart Truth. Retrieved July 28, 2016.
- ^ "WSBT is gonna be… "First at 4:00" in Michiana". The Changing Newscasts Blog. August 13, 2014. Retrieved November 9, 2017.
- ^ "WSBT is gonna be… "First at 4:30" in Michiana". The Changing Newscasts Blog. August 8, 2016. Retrieved November 9, 2017.
- ^ "WSBT is adding a Sunday morning newscast for the first time in the station's 63-year history". The Changing Newscasts Blog. September 17, 2015. Retrieved November 9, 2017.
- ^ "Changes in "Michiana" TV news involving WSBT and WSJV…". The Changing Newscasts Blog. July 26, 2016. Retrieved November 9, 2017.
- ^ "TV station in Toledo outsources most work". Toledo Blade. Retrieved December 12, 2016.
- Toledo Blade. Retrieved March 9, 2017.
- ^ "Steele Sage bio". ESPN. Retrieved March 12, 2013.
- ^ "U.S. Rep. Jackie Walorski, three others killed in crash". WBND-LD. Retrieved August 3, 2022.
- ^ RabbitEars TV Query for WSBT
- ^ "DTV Tentative Channel Designations for the First and Second Rounds" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on August 29, 2013. Retrieved March 24, 2012.