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DTV Basics, What You Need to know

Much has been published or broadcast on the television industry’s transition to digital and the shutoff of analog broadcasts in February of 2009.  Here are the main points you need to know as it relates to Watertown, NY and the broadcasts of WWNY & WNYF.

 

• On 2/17/2009 all full-power analog broadcasts from stations in the United States will end.  Analog broadcasts from Canada and our low-powered stations WNYF-CA, Watertown & WNYF-LP, Massena will continue.  Eventually these stations will be converted to digital as well.

 

• If you are a cable subscriber, you will not be affected by the analog shutoff in February 2009.  The cable companies will convert WWNY’s & WNYF’s DTV signal for display on your older analog TV.  If you subscribe to Time Warner Cable systems and utilize an HDTV you can also receive WWNY & WNYF’s HDTV broadcasts.

 

• If you view our televisions stations via an antenna you will need a newer television with a built-in DTV tuner or a DTV converter box.  The converter box will convert our DTV broadcasts to an analog format for your older television set to display.  The newer set does not have to be an HDTV to receive the digital signals, including our HDTV broadcasts, but you must utilize an HDTV to enjoy the 16:9 widescreen full resolution of those HDTV broadcasts.

 

• If you subscribe to a satellite service, but utilize an antenna to receive the local stations for your Network programming, you will need a newer television with a built-in tuner or a DTV convert box.  Currently none of the satellite providers transmit Watertown local stations on their system.  (In some circumstances you may qualify for distant market Network feeds, and the satellite company will make the conversion for an older analog TV.)

 

• WWNY currently is broadcasting digitally (WWNY-DT) and provides the programming of WNYF FOX-28 on a secondary DTV channel.  This service will continue after 2/17/2009.  This “multi-cast” channel of WWNY-DT is in 4:3 standard definition, while WWNY-DT’s primary DTV channel of WWNY’s CBS programming is in 16:9 widescreen HDTV.  When widescreen HDTV programming is not available, “upconverted” 4:3 “pillarboxed” programming is broadcast.  Pillar-box is 4:3 programming with black or colored bars on the sides used to fill the full 16:9 screen.  

 

• Current DTV broadcasts are on the UHF frequency of channel 35.  After 2/17/2009 all of WWNY’s DTV broadcasts will be on VHF channel 7.  This move is being made to improve the reception for viewers in fringe areas and to reduce our energy consumption and costs. VHF signals are also less affected by the terrain & weather conditions. DTV sets currently display our channels as 7.1 WWNY-HD and 7.2 WNYF SD.  This branding will remain the same after 2/17/2009, only the physical transport is changing.. 

 

• Good signal reception is critical to DTV viewing.  An outdoor antenna, orientated towards the TV station is always the best choice for reception.  For assistance with the selection and orientation of the antenna you might visit www.antennaweb.org. 

 

• Sometime after 2/17/2009, our low-powered station WNYF-CA, Watertown will broadcast digitally as WNYF-DC.  These digital broadcasts will be in 16:9 HDTV.  While the service area is greater than WNYF-CA’s analog signal, they still are not as great as WWNY-DT’s.  WNYF-LP in Massena will be converted to DTV at a later date.

 

WWNY-TV-   analog broadcasts on VHF channel 7 (will cease on 2/17/2009).

 

WWNY-DT-   digital broadcasts, currently on UHF channel 35, will broadcast on VHF channel 7 after 2/17/2009. Channel 7.1 is WWNY (CBS) in 16:9 HDTV, channel 7.2 standard definition 4:3 broadcasts of WNYF (FOX).

 

WNYF-CA-    analog broadcasts on UHF channel 28 from Watertown, NY

 

WNYF-LP-     analog broadcasts on UHF channel 28 from Massena, NY

 

WNYF-CD-    digital broadcasts of WNYF (FOX) in 16:9 HDTV, sometime after 2/17/2009

 

 

For more information about WWNY/WNYF’s transition to DTV, and the DTV transition in general, visit the station DTV blog.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

DTV Update

On June 17, 2008 WWNY was granted a Construction Permit (CP) to build a VHF DTV Channel 7 facility that will begin broadcasting 2/17/2009. It is also a CP for a service area that replicates our analog service area (our original assignment did not, but now after waiting for Canadian coordination and approval it does.)

For most viewers the change will go unnoticed, DTV tuners currently say we are channels 7.1 WWNY-HD and 7.2 WNYF FOX-28, and they will continue to say that after 2/17/2009. The transport, if you will, will change not the channel identification or its programming. For others the change to a VHF frequency with improve their chances to receive our signal, especially in terrain challenged and fringe areas.

On Friday, 6/20/08, WWNY applied for an increase in power over what was approved on 6/17/08. This was done to expand and improve our signal in those same terrain challenged and fringe areas we had hoped to reach with the approval received Tuesday. It also might help compensate for the difference between DTV signals and analog signals, (the cliff effect.)

Sometime after 2/17/2009 we hope to begin DTV broadcasts on channel 35 for WNYF FOX-28 in HDTV. Whenever that occurs the branding will continue as FOX-28 even though the “transport” is on the frequency of channel 35.

For more information about WWNY/WNYF’s transition to DTV, and the DTV transition in general, visit the station DTV blog.

Digital Television

Full powered broadcasters are transitioning from analog broadcasts to all digital ones. The reason: It’s mandated by the Federal Government. It also provides clearer pictures and sound, more programming choices, and some programs in HDTV.

This transition is nearing its completion date, February 17, 2009. That’s the date full-powered analog broadcasts end. Viewers who utilize antennas for reception must take steps to ensure they will continue to be served by broadcasters signals.

Click here for more info from the station’s blog on the DTV transition.

Station History

WWNY TV began broadcasting at 8 pm, on the evening of October 22, 1954. The Johnson family - owners of the Watertown Daily Times - created WWNY. Back then it was called WCNY, the ‘C’ standing for Carthage, our primary community of license. The call letters were later changed to WWNY.

From the start, WWNY stressed its local identity. In his remarks opening the station, John Johnson Sr. said “We are locally owned, managed, engineered and announced,” conditions that are still largely true today. And from the start, the station was affiliated with CBS.

The Johnson’s decided to build new premises for the station in downtown Watertown, on Arcade Street, where the newspaper offices had been for a hundred years. Ground was broken on October 16, 1968, and the TV station was operating from Arcade Street in mid-February, 1970. By the time the station’s 20th anniversary rolled around in 1974, it was difficult to imagine things getting much better for WWNY. The Johnson’s threw a party in the station’s studio with 200 guests, including the president of CBS television in that era, Robert Wood. Yet the celebration was short-lived. In 1975, the Federal Communications Commission ordered the Johnson’s to sell WWNY within five years. The theory was - the owner of the only local newspaper shouldn’t own the only local commercial TV station. This was ironic since it was the federal government who originally encouraged the Johnson’s and other newspaper owners to go into the TV business because “these were the people who knew news and knew community service”.

The Johnson’s sold WWNY to United Communications Corp. of Kenosha, Wisconsin for $8.2 million. In doing so, the Johnson’s turned over the station to people whose values were very consistent with theirs - Howard Brown, the principal owner of UCC, believed (and believes) in small, locally run newspapers and TV stations of high quality.

What changed for WWNY after its sale to UCC was everything - and nothing. We remain the dominant presence in local television - our newscasts are regularly ranked among the top rated in the country, as is the station as a whole. We remain an oasis of family-owned and community-oriented broadcasting in an increasingly ‘corporatized’ world. People still come here to work, and stay for many years

The single most significant change within WWNY came in 2001, when United Communications Corp. entered into an agreement with Smith Broadcasting to operate a Fox network affiliate with low power transmitters in Watertown and Massena. With the Fox affiliation came a 10 pm newscast; it debuted on April 11, 2001, and was at first seen by only the handful of viewers that could receive the low power signal ‘off air.’ An agreement with Time-Warner Cable in the fall of 2001 placed the station (WNYF Fox 28) on cable channel 2. The 10 pm news debuted for most of the North Country on October 4, 2001. After a year of joint operation, UCC took complete ownership of WNYF.

In 2003 WWNY started a new era of broadcasting with digital broadcasts on UHF frequency channel 35. WWNY-DT offers HD programming from CBS on its primary channel 7-1, and standard definition broadcasts of WNYF FOX-28 on a secondary (multicast) channel 7-2. WWNY/WNYF also provide HDTV programming to Time Warner cable subscribers on channel 875 (WWNY) and 878 (WNYF).

[Watertown is located in the northwest section of New York, near the juncture of the St. Lawrence River and Lake Ontario. The area's natural beauty is a perfect backdrop for four seasons of recreation. From world class fishing and boating in the 1000 Island Seaway region, to camping or skiing in the near-by Adirondack mountains.]

Children’s Programming on WWNY-7News and WNYF Fox-28

Congress enacted the Children’s Television Act in 1990 to enhance television’s potential to teach the nation’s children valuable information and skills. The Act requires each television station in the U.S. to serve the educational and informational needs of children through its overall programming, including programming specifically designed to serve these needs (or “core” educational programming). In August 1996, the FCC adopted new rules to strengthen the enforcement of this statutory mandate.

Information about WWNY & WNYF’s compliance with these rules are part of it’s Public File, which can be inspected at 120 Arcade Street, Watertown, NY 13601 during normal business hours.

Copies of the filed FCC 398 reports on compliance are also available below.

Search Reports

Employment Opportunities

WWNY-TV is an Equal Opportunity Employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, or sex.

WWNY 7News & WNYF Fox-28 are looking for organizations that regularly distribute information about employment opportunities to job applicants to refer. If your organization would like to receive notification of job vacancies at our station, please notify:
Robin Davis
WWNY-TV
120 Arcade Street
Watertown, NY 13601

WWNY/WNYF is an Equal Opportunity Employer and encourages minorities and females to apply.

View our EEO employment reports:
2004 Employment Report
2005 Employment Report
2006 Employment Report
2007 Employment Report

DTV Education Report

WWNY DTV Education Report 6/08

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