WSWB

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For the Orlando, Florida television station that held the call sign WSWB from 1974 to 1977, see WOFL.
Not to be confused with KSWB-TV.

WSWB
kW
HAAT357.7 m (1,174 ft)
Transmitter coordinates41°26′9.1″N 75°43′42.3″W / 41.435861°N 75.728417°W / 41.435861; -75.728417
Translator(s)
Links
Public license information
Websitethecw38.com

WSWB (channel 38) is a

I-476. However, newscasts have originated from the facilities of sister station and CBS affiliate WSBT-TV in South Bend, Indiana
, since January 2017.

Although WSWB transmits a signal of its own, reception is spotty in much of the southern portion of the market since its transmitter is located farther north than the market's other stations. Therefore, the station is

Waymart with a transmitter in Forest City. It exists because wind turbines run by NextEra Energy Resources at the Waymart Wind Farm
interfere with the transmission of full-power television signals.

In addition to its own signal, WSWB is simulcast in standard definition on WQMY's third subchannel (53.3) from a transmitter on Bald Eagle Mountain.

History

Early history

The station first signed-on June 3, 1985, with the calls WOLF-TV, locally owned by Scranton TV Partners. It was the first

mid-1997
, respectively).

In 1993, Scranton TV Partners merged with Pegasus Communications. The latter immediately sought permission to move either the analog UHF channel 38 or channel 56 transmitters to the Northeastern Pennsylvania tower farm on Penobscot Knob. Ultimately, Pegasus was allowed to move the WWLF transmitter. On November 1, 1998, Pegasus activated the new analog channel 56 transmitter and moved the WOLF-TV call letters there. Meanwhile, channel 38 became a

WYLN-LP
as the network's over the air affiliate in the area. This call sign was chosen because they could have meant "Scranton's WB" for its affiliation, or the area it serves, Scranton–Wilkes-Barre. Originally, channel 38 was given the WSWB calls in 1981, but they were changed to WOLF-TV before the station went on-the-air in 1985. WILF in Williamsport remained as a full-time satellite.

At the time of the switch, WSWB also picked up a secondary affiliation with

Harrisburg
.

As a CW affiliate

On January 24, 2006, the respective parent companies of UPN and The WB,

Twentieth Television that was created to primarily to provide network programming to UPN and WB stations that The CW decided against affiliating based on their local viewership standing in comparison to the outlet that The CW ultimately chose as its charter outlets, giving these stations another option besides converting to a general entertainment independent format.[4][5]

On May 1, 2006, in an announcement by the network, WSWB was named as The CW's Scranton–

Wilkes-Barre
affiliate; it was the obvious choice since it already carried both WB and UPN programming. At the same time, it was announced that WILF would sever the electronic umbilical cord with WSWB and become the area's charter MyNetworkTV affiliate. Since WILF's signal was more or less unviewable in the Scranton–Wilkes-Barre area, it was also announced that it would be added to a new third subchannel of WOLF-TV. WILF changed its call letters to the current WQMY on July 7 to reflect the upcoming affiliation change. WQMY became a charter affiliate of MyNetworkTV when that network launched on September 5, at which time, the station ceased operating as a full-time WSWB satellite and introduced a separate programming lineup and branding. WSWB became a CW charter affiliate when that network launched two weeks later on September 18.

On September 25, 2013, New Age Media announced that it would sell most of its stations, including WOLF-TV and WQMY, to the Sinclair Broadcast Group. Concurrently, MPS Media planned to sell WSWB to Cunningham Broadcasting; the station would continue to be operated by WOLF-TV.[6][7] On October 31, 2014, MPS Media requested the dismissal of its application to sell WSWB;[8] the next day, Sinclair purchased the non-license assets of the stations it planned to buy from New Age Media and began operating them through a master service agreement.[9][10]

On May 8, 2017, Sinclair entered into an agreement to acquire Tribune Media, which had operated ABC affiliate WNEP-TV (channel 16) through a services agreement since 2014.[11] It intended to keep WNEP, selling WOLF/WQMY/WSWB and eight other stations to Standard Media Group.[12] The transaction was designated in July 2018 for hearing by an FCC administrative law judge, and Tribune moved to terminate the deal the next month.[13]

On July 28, 2021, the FCC issued a Forfeiture Order stemming from a lawsuit against MPS Media. The lawsuit, filed by AT&T, alleged that MPS Media failed to negotiate for retransmission consent in good faith for the stations. Owners of other Sinclair-managed stations, such as Deerfield Media, were also named in the lawsuit. MPS was ordered to pay a fine of $512,288.[14]

Newscasts

Fox required most of its affiliates to begin offering local news in 1990 in order to help the fledgling network. To satisfy this, what was then WOLF-TV entered into a news share agreement with WNEP-TV in 1991. This resulted in a nightly prime time newscast known as Newswatch 16 at 10 on Fox 38. It originated from WNEP's facilities on Montage Mountain Road in

Retro Television Network
(RTV) affiliation.

That happened December 31, 2009, after which WOLF-TV and NBC affiliate WBRE-TV entered into an agreement. Taking over production of nightly prime time newscasts on WOLF-TV starting New Year's Day 2010, WBRE expanded the show to an hour each night and changed the title to Fox 56 News First at 10. It now originates from a secondary set at WBRE's studios on South Franklin Street in Downtown Wilkes-Barre. As was the case with the WNEP-produced broadcasts, if there are network obligations or overruns of Fox programming that prevent WOLF-TV from showing the current program, it is aired on WSWB.

Technical information

Subchannels

The station's signal is

multiplexed
:

Subchannels of WSWB[15]
Channel Res. Aspect Short name Programming
38.1 1080i
16:9
 WSWB-DT Main WSWB programming / The CW
38.2 480i
4:3
 MeTV MeTV
38.3 16:9 Comet Comet
38.4 Stadium The Nest

WSWB launched the MeTV network on May 3, 2011, on sub channel 38.2.

WSWB was among the launch group of Comet affiliates. The network launched October 31, 2015.

Translator

Analog-to-digital conversion

WSWB shut down its analog signal, over

UHF channel 38, 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 remained on its pre-transition UHF channel 31,[16] using virtual channel
38.

References

  1. ^ "Facility Technical Data for WSWB". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
  2. CNNMoney.com
    .
  3. ^ Carter, Bill (January 24, 2006). "UPN and WB to Combine, Forming New TV Network". The New York Times. Retrieved August 4, 2017.
  4. ^ "News Corp. to launch new mini-network for UPN stations". USA Today. February 22, 2006. Retrieved August 4, 2017.
  5. ^ Eggerton, John (February 22, 2006). "News Corp. Unveils MyNetworkTV". Broadcasting & Cable. Retrieved August 4, 2017.
  6. ^ Haber, Gary (September 25, 2013). "Sinclair Broadcast Group to pay $90M for eight New Age Media TV stations". Baltimore Business Journal. Retrieved September 25, 2013.
  7. ^ "Sinclair To Buy 8 New Age Stations for $90M". TVNewsCheck. September 25, 2013. Retrieved September 25, 2013.
  8. ^ Kirkpatrick, Daniel A. (October 31, 2014). "Re: MPS Media of Scranton License, LLC…" (PDF). CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved November 15, 2014.
  9. ^ "Sinclair Reports Third Quarter 2014 Financial Results" (PDF) (Press release). Baltimore: Sinclair Broadcast Group. November 5, 2014. Archived from the original (PDF) on November 29, 2014. Retrieved November 15, 2014.
  10. ^ "Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc. Form 10-Q". sbgi.edgarpro.com. November 10, 2014. Archived from the original on January 7, 2016. Retrieved November 15, 2014.
  11. ^ Littleton, Cynthia (May 8, 2017). "Sinclair Broadcast Group Sets $3.9 Billion Deal to Acquire Tribune Media". Variety. Archived from the original on June 5, 2017. Retrieved June 6, 2017.
  12. ^ Jessell, Harry A. (April 24, 2018). "Sinclair Spins Off 23 TVs To Grease Trib Deal". TVNewsCheck. Archived from the original on April 25, 2018. Retrieved April 25, 2018.
  13. News Corp. Archived
    from the original on April 5, 2019. Retrieved August 9, 2018.
  14. ^ "Forfeiture Order" (PDF). Federal Communications Commission. July 28, 2021. Retrieved October 4, 2021.
  15. ^ "RabbitEars.Info". www.rabbitears.info.
  16. ^ "DTV Tentative Channel Designations for the First and the Second Rounds" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on August 29, 2013. Retrieved March 24, 2012.

External links

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