WSWB

For the current television station in Orlando, Florida,, see WOFL.
WSWB
Williamsport/Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania
United States
City Scranton, Pennsylvania
Branding CW 38
Channels Digital: 31 (UHF) &
WOLF-TV 45.2 (UHF)
Virtual: 38 (PSIP)
Subchannels 38.1 The CW
38.2 MeTV
38.3 Comet TV
38.4 ASN
Affiliations The CW (2006–present)
Owner MPS Media, LLC
(MPS Media of Scranton License, LLC)
Operator Sinclair Broadcast Group
First air date June 3, 1985 (1985-06-03)
Call letters' meaning We're Scranton/
Wilkes-Barre
OR
Scranton's WB (former primary affiliation)
OR
Williamsport/
Scranton/
Wilkes-Barre
Sister station(s) WOLF-TV, WQMY
Former callsigns WOLF-TV (1985–1998)
Former channel number(s) 38 (UHF analog, 1985–2008)
Former affiliations Independent (1985–1986)
Fox (1986–1998)
The WB / UPN (1998–2006)
Transmitter power 100 kW
Height 352 m
Facility ID 73374
Transmitter coordinates 41°26′9″N 75°43′42.2″W / 41.43583°N 75.728389°W / 41.43583; -75.728389
Licensing authority FCC
Public license information: Profile
CDBS
Website http://thecwwswb.com/

WSWB is the CW-affiliated television station for Northeastern Pennsylvania, New York's Eastern Southern Tier and parts of Northern New Jersey licensed to Scranton. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 31 from a transmitter northwest of Scranton and I-476.

Owned by MPS Media, it is operated though a local marketing agreement (LMA) by New Age Media. This makes it sister to Fox affiliate WOLF-TV and MyNetworkTV affiliate WQMY; all three stations are in turn operated by Sinclair Broadcast Group through a master service agreement. All three share studios on PA 315 in the Fox Hill section of Plains Township.

Overview

Although WSWB operates its own over-the-air signal, reception is spotty in much of the southern portion of the market since its transmitter is located further north than the market's other stations. Therefore, the station can also be seen on WOLF-TV's second digital subchannel. This broadcasts on UHF channel 45.2 (channel 56.2 PSIP) from a transmitter on Penobscot Knob near Mountain Top. NextEra Energy Resources operates a digital replacement translator on UHF channel 36 that is licensed to Waymart with a transmitter in Forest City. It exists because windmills run by NextEra at the Waymart Wind Farm interfere with the transmission of full-power television signals.

History

The station first signed-on June 3, 1985 with the calls WOLF-TV, locally owned by Scranton TV Partners. It was the first independent outlet in Northeastern Pennsylvania, and the market's first new commercial station in 32 years. A few days later, it added WWLF-TV in Hazleton as a full-time satellite for the southern portion of the market. After a little more than a year as an Independent, WOLF-TV became a charter affiliate of Fox on October 6, 1986. Two years later, WILF-TV in Williamsport was launched as a second full-time satellite to improve coverage in the western and northern parts of the market.

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 WB affiliate under new calls WSWB. 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 UPN. It showed select programming from the network on Saturday nights (since there were no shows from The WB) without the branding. At 8 the station would air America's Next Top Model and at 9 would be WWE Friday Night SmackDown. Whenever America's Next Top Model was in repeats, WSWB would air Veronica Mars instead. All UPN programming in pattern was also available on cable in the area via WWOR-TV from New York City, WPSG from Philadelphia, and WLYH-TV from Harrisburg.

On January 24, 2006, Warner Bros. Television and CBS announced that the WB and UPN networks would cease broadcasting and combine to form a new network called The CW Television Network. On February 22, News Corporation announced that it would start up another new network called MyNetworkTV. This service, which would be sister to Fox, would be operated by Fox Television Stations and its syndication division Twentieth Television. MyNetworkTV was created in order to give UPN and WB stations, not mentioned as becoming CW affiliates, another option besides becoming Independent. It was also created to compete against The CW.

On May 1, 2006, it was made public that WSWB would affiliate with The CW; 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 digital subchannel of WOLF-TV. WILF changed its call sign to the current WQMY on July 7 to reflect the upcoming affiliation change. MyNetworkTV launched September 5 and that station introduced its first logo. As a WSWB full-time satellite, it did not have one. WSWB began airing The CW 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.[1][2] On October 31, 2014, MPS Media requested the dismissal of its application to sell WSWB;[3] 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.[4][5]

Digital television

Digital channels

The station's digital signal is multiplexed:

Channel Video Aspect PSIP Short Name Programming[6]
38.1 1080i 16:9 WSWB-DT Main WSWB programming / The CW
38.2 480i 4:3 Me TV MeTV
38.3 Comet Comet
38.4 ASN ASN Channel

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.

Analog-to-digital conversion

WSWB shut down its analog signal, over UHF channel 38, on February 17, 2009, the original target date in 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.[7] Through the use of PSIP, digital television receivers display the station's virtual channel as its former UHF analog channel 38.

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 ABC affiliate 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 Moosic. When the Fox affiliation moved to the new WOLF-TV (previously WWLF), the newscasts did as well. The show then became known as Fox 56 News at 10 with a secondary title of Newswatch 16 at 10 on Fox 56. In November 2009, it was announced that WNEP would move its production of the news at 10 to a second digital subchannel called "WNEP 2" that recently gained 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.

References

  1. ↑ 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.
  2. ↑ "Sinclair To Buy 8 New Age Stations for $90M". TVNewsCheck. September 25, 2013. Retrieved September 25, 2013.
  3. ↑ Kirkpatrick, Daniel A. (October 31, 2014). "Re: MPS Media of Scranton License, LLC…" (PDF). CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved November 15, 2014.
  4. ↑ "Sinclair Reports Third Quarter 2014 Financial Results" (PDF) (Press release). Baltimore: Sinclair Broadcast Group. November 5, 2014. Retrieved November 15, 2014.
  5. ↑ "Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc. Form 10-Q". sbgi.edgarpro.com. November 10, 2014. Retrieved November 15, 2014.
  6. ↑ RabbitEars TV Query for WSWB
  7. ↑ "DTV Tentative Channel Designations for the First and the Second Rounds" (PDF). Retrieved 2012-03-24.
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