WTEN
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (December 2012) |
kW | |
| HAAT | 427.2 m (1,402 ft) |
|---|---|
| Transmitter coordinates | 42°37′31.3″N 74°0′36.7″W / 42.625361°N 74.010194°W |
| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Website | www |
WTEN (channel 10) is a
WTEN formerly operated full-time
History
WTEN began broadcasting on October 14, 1953, as WROW-TV on UHF channel 41.
Within their first year, the station was losing money, and on the verge of
That same year, the call letters were changed again to the current WTEN when the station moved to
Upon moving to the VHF band, the station's transmitter was moved to
In 1966, WTEN and WROW moved to new facilities to Albany's northside on Northern Boulevard, where WTEN remains to this day (the WROW radio stations moved out in 1993, ten years after they were sold by Capital Cities). In 1966, the old studio in North Greenbush was burned down by a fire caused by arson, but the station's owner donated its old transmitter to WRPI radio.
On April 27, 1971, Capital Cities sold WTEN to Poole Broadcasting. Following its purchase of several broadcast properties from
WTEN signed-on its digital signal on UHF channel 26 in 2004 and began offering high definition service right from the start. On October 1, 2007, Young Broadcasting launched the Retro Television Network on a new third digital subchannel of WTEN. This was part of a test of the network with sister stations WBAY-TV in Green Bay and KRON-TV in San Francisco.
In an effort to cut costs, the company eliminated ten positions from WTEN on January 31, 2008, fueling speculations that the company might sell the station in order to pay down its financial debt. In January 2009, after failing to meet the minimum standards for being listed on
On July 27, 2012, it was announced that the Capital District's Fox affiliate, WXXA-TV, owned by
On June 6, 2013, Young Broadcasting announced that it would merge with
WCDB
In the spring of 1956, satellite station WCDB on UHF channel 29 in Hagaman was launched to reach areas in the northern portion of the market where the main WCDA signal could not reach.
WCDC-TV
| Defunct; served as satellite of WTEN | |
|---|---|
| City | Adams, Massachusetts |
| Channels | |
| History | |
First air date | February 5, 1954 |
Last air date |
|
Former call signs | WMGT (1954–1957) |
Former channel number(s) |
|
| |
Call sign meaning | Capital District-Albany, Station C (for WTEN's original WCDA calls) |
| Technical information[22] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 74419 |
| ERP | 27.5 kW |
| HAAT | 631 m (2,070 ft) |
| Transmitter coordinates | 42°38′14″N 73°10′6″W / 42.63722°N 73.16833°W |
| Links | |
Public license information | |
WCDC began broadcasting on February 5, 1954, as WMGT ("Mount Greylock Television") on UHF channel 74, the highest channel to ever be used by a full-power television station in U.S. history. WMGT began as a separate station affiliated with the
WCDC's digital signal on UHF channel 36 signed on nearly eighteen months before WTEN's did in 2002. However, it did not upgrade to high definition until WTEN-DT signed-on. WCDC shut down its analog signal on channel 19 on June 12, 2009, following WTEN's lead.
Citing declining over-the-air viewership, Nexstar Broadcasting, through the FCC's spectrum incentive auction in April 2017, was awarded $34,558,086 to agree to take WCDC-TV off the air; at the time, it indicated that WCDC would enter a channel sharing agreement (CSA) to continue providing service to viewers.[26] Nexstar subsequently announced that WCDC would instead go dark December 1, 2017;[27] however, damage to the station's transmission line in a storm would take WCDC off the air on November 19, almost two weeks earlier than scheduled. Nexstar informed the FCC that, due to insufficient time and a lack of available tower crews, the line would not be repaired before the planned shutdown date.[2] Nexstar surrendered the WCDC-TV license for cancellation on February 12, 2018.[28]
On December 22, 2017, WAMC entered into an agreement to purchase the Mount Greylock transmitter and tower from Nexstar for just above $1 million. Due to it sitting on
News operation
For most of its history, WTEN was a solid runner-up to WRGB, especially after moving its transmitter to Voorheesville. WNYT overtook WTEN for the runner-up spot by the late 1980s, and in 1992, scored its first late news victory. WTEN has generally remained at a stable second place since then, although for a period in the early 2000s, it fell back to third. At times during the 1990s and 2000s, this station has occasionally finished ahead of WRGB or, more recently, WNYT. In terms of
In November 2009, WNYT's newscasts slipped back to third place largely resulting from its owner Hubbard Broadcasting deciding to terminate many of its popular news team members. One notable personality let go from the NBC affiliate was Lydia Kulbida who was hired by WTEN in time to help launch the market's only over-the-air weekday local news show at 4 (which occurred on September 21, 2009).[30] On October 26, 2011, WTEN became the second station in Albany to upgrade its newscasts to high definition level.[31]
As a full-time satellite of WTEN, WCDC simulcast all newscasts from its parent outlet. Although there were no separate title openings or local cut-ins provided during the broadcasts, there was coverage of Western Massachusetts and Southwestern Vermont. Since 2001, rival WNYT has been the only Capital District-based television station to operate a bureau in Western Massachusetts (located in
Notable former on-air staff
- Ted Knight – "Windy Knight" and host of The Early Show (1955-1957; deceased)
- Tim Lake – News anchor (2016–2022)
Technical information
Subchannels
The station's signal is
| Channel | Res. | Aspect | Short name | Programming |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10.1 | 720p | 16:9 |
WTEN-HD | ABC |
| 10.2 | 480i | 4:3 |
Cozi | Cozi TV |
| 10.3 | 16:9 | Antenna | Antenna TV | |
| 10.4 | Court TV | Ion Mystery | ||
| 45.1 | 1080i | 16:9 | CW | The CW (WCWN) |
WCDC carried WTEN's two subchannels as 19.2 and 19.3 respectively, and they were carried locally in Massachusetts on the digital tier of Time Warner Cable, and later its successor, Charter Communications.
Analog-to-digital conversion
WTEN shut down its analog signal, over VHF channel 10, on June 12, 2009, the official date on which full-power television stations in the United States
See also
References
- ^ "Facility Technical Data for WTEN". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
- ^ a b c "Suspension of Operations and Silent Authority of a DTV Station Application". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission. November 22, 2017. Retrieved December 4, 2017.
- ^ FCC History Cards for WTEN. Federal Communications Commission.
- ^ Capital Cities/ABC The Early Years: How The Minnow Swallow The Whale, Chilton Books, 1993, page 11
- ^ Capital Cities/ABC The Early Years: How The Minnow Swallow The Whale, Chilton Books, 1993, page 15
- ^ "Radio Station Call Letter Origins Release Number 90". February 20, 2000. Retrieved December 26, 2017.
- ^ a b Albany Times-Union, April 22, 1956, page H-4
- ^ "WUNR/WKOX/WRCA construction" (TXT). Retrieved September 11, 2023.
- ^ "Young Broadcasting Inc. Receives NASDAQ Delisting Notice". Businesswire.com. January 27, 2009. Retrieved April 22, 2013.
- ^ "Young Broadcasting declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy one month after dropout from the exchange". Retrieved July 21, 2009.[dead link]
- ^ "Young Broadcasting Calls Off Auction", from broadcastingcable.com July 14, 2009
- ^ "Young Broadcasting Stations Look to Live Well - 2012-01-24 21:58:50 | Broadcasting & Cable". Broadcastingcable.com. Retrieved April 22, 2013.
- ^ Shield Buying Newport's WXXA For $19.4M, TVNewsCheck, July 27, 2012.
- ^ "The master control of the Fox outlet will likely move as the result of WTEN operating WXXA" (PDF). Retrieved December 6, 2012.[dead link]
- ^ Nearing, Brian (July 27, 2012). "Fox affiliate sold, new role with WTEN". Times Union. Retrieved April 22, 2013.
- ^ Anderson, Eric (March 22, 2013). "Stormy weather: WXXA cuts jobs". Times Union. Retrieved April 22, 2013.
- ^ Media General, Young Broadcasting To Merge, TVNewsCheck, June 6, 2013.
- ^ FCC Approves Media General-Young Merger Broadcasting & Cable, Retrieved November 8, 2013
- ^ "Media General, Young Now Officially One". TVNewsCheck. November 12, 2013. Retrieved November 12, 2013.
- ^ Shareholders of Both Companies to Realize Immediate and Long-Term Value Archived January 30, 2016, at the Wayback Machine © 2016 Media General. All rights reserved.
- ^ w9wi.com END OF ANALOG SNAPSHOT
- ^ "Facility Technical Data for WCDC-TV". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
- ^ Albany Times Union, April 22, 1956, Page H-4
- ^ UPI (March 12, 1983). "Storms bring snowfall, cold". Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on March 12, 1983. Retrieved April 20, 2017.
- ^ Mulherin, N.D. (June 3–6, 1996). "Atmospheric Icing and Tower Collapse in the United States" (PDF). Presented at the 7th International Workshop on Atmospheric Icing of Structures (IWAIS'96).
- ^ "FCC Broadcast Television Spectrum Incentive Auction" (PDF). www.fcc.gov. April 4, 2017. Retrieved April 20, 2017.
- ^ Fanto, Clarence (November 10, 2017). "Amid dwindling viewer numbers, WCDC Channel 19 going dark Dec. 1". The Berkshire Eagle. Retrieved November 21, 2017.
- ^ "Cancellation Application". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved February 12, 2018.
- Berkshire Eagle. Retrieved December 25, 2017.
- ^ Rulison, Larry (September 1, 2009). "Kulbida joins WTEN for 4 p.m. newscast". Times Union. Retrieved April 22, 2013.
- ^ "Albany's WTEN Debuts New Set, HD Newscasts - TVSpy". Mediabistro.com. October 26, 2011. Retrieved April 22, 2013.
- Schenectady Gazette. Retrieved December 26, 2012.
- ^ RabbitEars TV Query for WTEN
- ^ "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.
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