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57-506: WBRE-TV (channel 28) is a television station licensed to Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania , United States, serving Northeastern Pennsylvania as an affiliate of NBC . It is owned by Nexstar Media Group , which provides certain services to Scranton -licensed CBS affiliate WYOU (channel 22) under a shared services agreement (SSA) with Mission Broadcasting . The two stations share studios on South Franklin Street in downtown Wilkes-Barre, with

114-552: A barter in some cases. WOLF-TV [REDACTED] WOLF-TV (channel 56) is a television station licensed to Hazleton, Pennsylvania , United States, serving Northeastern Pennsylvania as an affiliate of the Fox network. It is the flagship property of locally based New Age Media, LLC , and is co-owned with Williamsport -licensed MyNetworkTV affiliate WQMY (channel 53); New Age also provides certain services to Scranton -licensed CW affiliate WSWB (channel 38) under

171-898: A local marketing agreement (LMA) with MPS Media. All three stations, in turn, are operated under a master service agreement by Sinclair Broadcast Group . The stations share studios on PA 315 in the Fox Hill section of Plains Township ; WOLF-TV's transmitter is located at the Penobscot Knob antenna farm near Mountain Top . However, newscasts have originated from the facilities of sister station and CBS affiliate WSBT-TV in South Bend, Indiana , since January 2017. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) granted an original construction permit for Hazleton's first full-service television station on September 30, 1982. The new station, given

228-467: A news bureau and sales office next to WYOU's former studios on Lackawanna Avenue in downtown Scranton. WBRE-TV's transmitter is located at the Penobscot Knob antenna farm near Mountain Top . WBRE-TV operates a digital replacement translator on UHF channel 28 that is licensed to Waymart with a transmitter in Forest City . It exists because wind turbines run by NextEra Energy Resources at

285-464: A handsome return on their original investment in WBRE radio in 1925. Current owner Nexstar Broadcasting Group acquired the station in 1997. Nexstar already owned WYOU but opted to keep WBRE and sold WYOU to Mission Broadcasting. However, Nexstar continues to control WYOU's operations through a joint sales agreement. On January 3, 2007, Nexstar named Louis J. Abitabilo as vice president and general manager for

342-415: A much shorter wavelength, and thus requires a shorter antenna, but also higher power. North American stations can go up to 5000 kW ERP for video and 500 kW audio, or 1000 kW digital. Low channels travel further than high ones at the same power, but UHF does not suffer from as much electromagnetic interference and background "noise" as VHF, making it much more desirable for TV. Despite this, in

399-430: A new news set, HD cameras and forecasting equipment. With the upgrade, the station began producing half-hour newscasts at noon and 7 p.m. on sister station WYOU, the first such newscasts on that station since WYOU's in-house news department folded in 2009; those newscasts are also broadcast in high definition; in addition, simulcasts of WBRE's weekday morning, and nightly 6 and 11 p.m. newscasts are also carried on WYOU. This

456-562: A news share agreement with ABC affiliate WNEP-TV (then owned by The New York Times Company ) in 1991. The outsourcing arrangement resulted in one of the nation's first prime time newscasts to debut known as Newswatch 16 at 10 on Fox 38 . The show originated from WNEP's facility on Montage Mountain Road in Moosic featuring the ABC outlet's on-air personnel. When channel 56 became the sole Fox outlet for

513-425: A variety of ways to generate revenue from television commercials . They may be an independent station or part of a broadcasting network , or some other structure. They can produce some or all of their programs or buy some broadcast syndication programming for or all of it from other stations or independent production companies. Many stations have some sort of television studio , which on major-network stations

570-410: A weeknight field anchor. Candice Kelly, who had been anchoring on WYOU, moved to the weeknight newscasts on WBRE back in mid-May and was joined by newcomer Drew Speier. In addition, WBRE and WYOU's midday shows switched anchors. Mark Hiller moved from WBRE to WYOU while Eva Mastromatteo switched over to this station. Hiller also debuted as anchor of WYOU News First at 4 on weeknights. That station became

627-538: Is multiplexed : WQMY cannot be received over-the-air in the Scranton and Wilkes-Barre areas due to its transmitter being in Williamsport, so it can be seen on WOLF-DT3. WOLF-TV shut down its analog signal, over UHF channel 56, on January 19, 2009. The station's digital signal remained on its pre-transition UHF channel 45, using virtual channel 56. WOLF-TV serves one of the largest geographic markets in

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684-496: Is non-commercial educational (NCE) and considered public broadcasting . To avoid concentration of media ownership of television stations, government regulations in most countries generally limit the ownership of television stations by television networks or other media operators, but these regulations vary considerably. Some countries have set up nationwide television networks, in which individual television stations act as mere repeaters of nationwide programs . In those countries,

741-600: Is a similar operation to existing joint news operations formed by Nexstar/Mission stations the year prior, between WUTR and WFXV in Utica, New York , and WTVW and WEHT in Evansville, Indiana . The station's signal is multiplexed : On June 15, 2016, Nexstar announced that it has entered into an affiliation agreement with Katz Broadcasting for the Escape , Laff , Grit , and Bounce TV networks (the last one of which

798-470: Is broadcast via terrestrial radio waves. A group of television stations with common ownership or affiliation are known as a TV network and an individual station within the network is referred to as O&O or affiliate , respectively. Because television station signals use the electromagnetic spectrum, which in the past has been a common, scarce resource, governments often claim authority to regulate them. Broadcast television systems standards vary around

855-645: Is carried on Charter Spectrum in Monticello in Sullivan County , which is part of the New York City market. Television station The Fernsehsender Paul Nipkow ( TV Station Paul Nipkow ) in Berlin , Germany , was the first regular television service in the world. It was on the air from 22 March 1935, until it was shut down in 1944. The station was named after Paul Gottlieb Nipkow ,

912-792: Is often used for newscasts or other local programming . There is usually a news department , where journalists gather information. There is also a section where electronic news-gathering (ENG) operations are based, receiving remote broadcasts via remote pickup unit or satellite TV . Outside broadcasting vans, production trucks , or SUVs with electronic field production (EFP) equipment are sent out with reporters , who may also bring back news stories on video tape rather than sending them back live . To keep pace with technology United States television stations have been replacing operators with broadcast automation systems to increase profits in recent years. Some stations (known as repeaters or translators ) only simulcast another, usually

969-516: Is owned by Bounce Media LLC, whose COO Jonathan Katz is president/CEO of Katz Broadcasting), bringing the four networks to 81 stations owned and/or operated by Nexstar, including WBRE-TV and WYOU. WBRE-TV shut down its analog signal, over UHF channel 28, 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

1026-727: The Nexstar Broadcasting Group ) entered into a new outsourcing agreement. After 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 . The program later originated from a secondary set at the NBC affiliate's studios on South Franklin Street in Downtown Wilkes-Barre. The space had previously been used to produce separate newscasts on CBS affiliate WYOU. On April 2, 2012, WBRE became

1083-527: The Waymart Wind Farm interfere with the transmission of full-power television signals. WBRE signed on New Year's Day 1953 becoming the first television station in the market. It was owned by the Baltimore family along with WBRE radio (1340 AM, now WYCK , and 98.5 FM, now WKRZ ). Although it appears that the call letters stand for Wilkes-Barre, they actually refer to Baltimore Radio Exchange,

1140-405: The broadcast range , or geographic area, that the station is limited to, allocates the broadcast frequency of the radio spectrum for that station's transmissions, sets limits on what types of television programs can be programmed for broadcast and requires a station to broadcast a minimum amount of certain programs types, such as public affairs messages . Another form of television station

1197-534: The electricity bill and emergency backup generators . In North America , full-power stations on band I (channels 2 to 6) are generally limited to 100 kW analog video ( VSB ) and 10 kW analog audio ( FM ), or 45 kW digital ( 8VSB ) ERP. Stations on band III (channels 7 to 13) can go up by 5 dB to 316 kW video, 31.6 kW audio, or 160 kW digital. Low-VHF stations are often subject to long-distance reception just as with FM. There are no stations on Channel 1 . UHF , by comparison, has

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1254-440: The 1990s until fiber optics made microwave transmission obsolete. In 1972, disaster struck at WBRE when its offices were flooded by Hurricane Agnes . Most of the station's equipment was moved above ground and survived but a film archive in the basement was destroyed. The Baltimore family sold the radio stations in 1980, but held onto channel 28 until selling it to New York –based Northeastern Television Investors in 1984, earning

1311-604: The Baltimore family's company. The radio stations were sold off in 1980. For much of its early history, channel 28 was unable to get a direct feed from NBC because AT&T microwave and wireline operations weren't available in northeast Pennsylvania. Station engineers were thus forced to switch to and from the signals of network flagship WNBT in New York City (now WNBC ) and WPTZ in Philadelphia (now CBS owned-and-operated station KYW-TV ) when NBC programming

1368-647: The U.S., the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is taking another large portion of this band (channels 52 to 69) away, in contrast to the rest of the world, which has been taking VHF instead. This means that some stations left on VHF are harder to receive after the analog shutdown . Since at least 1974, there are no stations on channel 37 in North America for radio astronomy purposes. Most television stations are commercial broadcasting enterprises which are structured in

1425-449: The area in 1998, the newscasts stayed here as well under the title of Fox 56 News at 10, with a secondary title of Newswatch 16 at 10 on Fox 56. In November 2009, it was announced WNEP would move its production of the news at 10 to a second digital subchannel called "WNEP 2" which had recently gained Retro Television Network (RTV) affiliation. That happened December 31 of that year after which WOLF-TV and NBC affiliate WBRE-TV (owned by

1482-567: The call letters WERF, was owned by James Oyster and was to broadcast from a tower south of the city. At that location, the station could serve its city of license but not the main cities in the market, Scranton and Wilkes-Barre . In April 1983, WERF applied to move its transmitter to the Penobscot Knob antenna farm near Mountain Top where WNEP-TV (channel 16), WDAU-TV (channel 22, now WYOU ), WBRE-TV (channel 28), and WVIA-TV (channel 44) also housed their transmitters. The application

1539-458: The call letters of channel 38 to WSWB and made that station an affiliate of The WB . That station's owners had sought for many years to move either the channel 38 or channel 56 transmitters to Penobscot Knob. On January 4, 2007, WOLF-TV, along with most of the Pegasus stations, was sold to investment group CP Media, LLC with the sale consummated on March 31. For the first time in its history,

1596-634: The country. This area is very mountainous making UHF reception difficult. However, the station is in unique situation since Scranton and Wilkes-Barre is a " UHF Island ". As a result, it operates a digital translator to repeat its signal. W24DB-D on UHF channel 24 has a transmitter northwest of Scranton and I-476 in Lackawanna County . WOLF-TV also operates a digital replacement translator on UHF channel 27 in Waymart . This channel exists because wind turbines run by NextEra Energy Resources at

1653-492: The dismissal of its application to sell WOLF-TV; 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. On May 8, 2017, Sinclair entered into an agreement to acquire Tribune Media , which had operated WNEP-TV through a services agreement since 2014. It intended to keep WNEP, selling WOLF/WQMY/WSWB and eight other stations to Standard Media Group . The transaction

1710-719: The end of 2009. WOLF then went to WBRE to take over starting January 1, 2010. WBRE then took over production of nightly prime time broadcasts on WOLF-TV which expanded to an hour and were re-branded as Fox 56 News First at 10 . WBRE launched a new 4 p.m. show called PA Live! in the fall of 2011. It focuses on lifestyles news covering the greater Wilkes-Barre and Scranton area. Along with its main studios, WBRE operates four news bureaus: Scranton (on Lackawanna Avenue), Stroudsburg (Main Street), Williamsport (on Pine Street), and Hazleton (East 10th Street). On April 2, 2012, WBRE began broadcasting its local newscasts in high definition, with

1767-565: The first hour of the nationally syndicated morning show The Daily Buzz at 6 while debuting its own noon news. On June 9, 2008, there were several more changes made on the two stations. WBRE re-launched its news operation as WBRE Eyewitness News . It had previously used the Eyewitness News moniker from the mid-1980s until 2001. This coincided with news set, music package, graphics, and weather system upgrades. There were also some on-air personnel changes. Anchor Andy Mehalshick became

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1824-486: The first in the area to broadcast local news at that time. This was followed at 4:30 by The Insider which moved from its 7 o'clock slot. WYOU then dropped its 5 p.m. newscast and aired two episodes of Judge Judy . Finally weeknights at 6 o'clock, Lyndall Stout (who anchored on WBRE) joined Eric Scheiner for the half-hour WYOU Inter@ctive . That station also launched a new weeknight newscast, WYOU News at 7 . WNEP already aired local news at that time on weeknights. All of

1881-483: The first segment of Fox 56 News First at 10 and the weather forecast segment. Along with its main studios, WBRE operates news bureaus in Scranton (on Lackawanna Avenue), Stroudsburg (Main Street), Williamsport (on Pine Street), and Hazleton (East 10th Street). On October 5, 2016, the Hazleton Standard-Speaker reported that WOLF-TV would end its outsourcing agreement with WBRE on December 31, and

1938-420: The highest point available in the transmission area, such as on a summit , the top of a high skyscraper , or on a tall radio tower . To get a signal from the master control room to the transmitter, a studio/transmitter link (STL) is used. The link can be either by radio or T1 / E1 . A transmitter/studio link (TSL) may also send telemetry back to the station, but this may be embedded in subcarriers of

1995-499: The inventor of the Nipkow disk . Most often the term "television station" refers to a station which broadcasts structured content to an audience or it refers to the organization that operates the station. A terrestrial television transmission can occur via analog television signals or, more recently, via digital television signals. Television stations are differentiated from cable television or other video providers as their content

2052-530: The lead in the early-1960s and went back and forth for first place with WDAU until 1978 when WNEP took the lead. It fell to third for most of the 1980s, even with NBC's powerhouse prime time lineup. In the mid-1990s, the station briefly surpassed long-dominant WNEP, then fell again to second after the sale to Nexstar. In 2002, WBRE and WYOU dropped their separate weekday morning and noon newscasts in favor of Pennsylvania Morning and Pennsylvania Midday which were jointly-produced and simulcast on both stations. Since

2109-400: The local television station has no station identification and, from a consumer's point of view, there is no practical distinction between a network and a station, with only small regional changes in programming, such as local television news . To broadcast its programs, a television station requires operators to operate equipment, a transmitter or radio antenna , which is often located at

2166-419: The main broadcast. Stations which retransmit or simulcast another may simply pick-up that station over-the-air , or via STL or satellite. The license usually specifies which other station it is allowed to carry. VHF stations often have very tall antennas due to their long wavelength , but require much less effective radiated power (ERP), and therefore use much less transmitter power output , also saving on

2223-479: The market's second television station to upgrade local news to high definition level. The WOLF-TV shows were included in the upgrade complete with an updated secondary set at WBRE's studios. As was the case with the WNEP-produced broadcasts, if there were network obligations or overruns of Fox programming that prevent WOLF-TV from showing the WBRE program, it was aired on WSWB instead. Its website posts video of

2280-644: The operation of the WOLF-TV web site. On December 4, 2011, the station's transmitter was damaged and for the next month WOLF-TV was carried on WBRE's channel 28.2 subchannel. 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, sister station WSWB was to be sold by MPS Media to Cunningham Broadcasting , while continuing to be operated by WOLF-TV. On October 31, 2014, New Age Media requested

2337-472: The operator of ABC affiliate WNEP-TV through a services agreement since 2014. Nexstar elected to retain WBRE, as well as its agreement to operate WYOU, and sold WNEP-TV to Tegna Inc. in 2019. WBRE led the ratings for most of the 1950s until WNEP-TV jumped ahead in 1959. During the 1950s and 1960s, mirroring the century-long rivalry between Scranton and Wilkes-Barre, WBRE ruled Wilkes-Barre while WDAU-TV (now WYOU) dominated Scranton. Channel 28 jumped back in

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2394-465: The preceding changes were an attempt to better compete against WNEP and get more ratings. On April 4, 2009, WYOU shut down its news operation resulting in the layoff of fourteen personnel while others were integrated with WBRE. Syndicated programming began airing in place of the newscasts. The station saved nearly $ 1 million a year as a result of closing down its news department. Fox affiliate WOLF-TV (channel 56) dropped WNEP as their news supplier at

2451-476: The programmes seen on its owner's flagship station, and have no television studio or production facilities of their own. This is common in developing countries . Low-power stations typically also fall into this category worldwide. Most stations which are not simulcast produce their own station identifications . TV stations may also advertise on or provide weather (or news) services to local radio stations , particularly co-owned sister stations . This may be

2508-572: The station operated remotely out of the garage of the local Fox affiliate, WOLF-TV . They provided coverage for the entire duration of the evacuation period, nearly 63 hours. Luckily, the station and the majority of the city of Wilkes-Barre were protected by the levee system. On January 19, 2012, Nexstar named Robert G. Bee as vice president and general manager of WBRE, with management responsibilities for WYOU. The station went full HD including news and production on April 2, 2012. In 2018, Nexstar announced it would acquire Tribune Media . Tribune had been

2565-552: The station was no longer co-owned with WSWB. However, the new owners of that station signed a local marketing agreement (LMA) with CP Media meaning that the stations continue to be commonly operated. Eventually, CP Media formed a new broadcasting group, New Age Media. More recently, WOLF-TV launched a new website using the Fox owned-and-operated station platform licensed from Fox Television Stations ' interactive division; this lasted until some time in 2010 or 2011 when WorldNow took over

2622-412: The two have both trailed WNEP in the news ratings by a wide margin for most of the last thirty years, a major shakeup in format occurred in fall 2006. While WYOU went with a talk/debate format for its weeknight shows, WBRE News became more of the traditional news program. This set a more clear competition against WNEP. At the beginning of 2008, WYOU dropped the weekday shared productions and started airing

2679-413: The two stations. The station's news operation made a fictional appearance within the NBC comedy series The Office , set in Scranton, in the 6th-season episodes " The Chump " and " Whistleblower ", interviewing Michael Scott about reports of malfunctioning printers. In September 2011, the station was evacuated once again due to potential flooding by heavy rains from Tropical Storm Lee . For 48 hours,

2736-399: The world. Television stations broadcasting over an analog system were typically limited to one television channel , but digital television enables broadcasting via subchannels as well. Television stations usually require a broadcast license from a government agency which sets the requirements and limitations on the station. In the United States, for example, a television license defines

2793-433: Was a " UHF island" before the digital transition because it is too close to Philadelphia and New York City for VHF analog service. During March 2010, in a cost-cutting move, all owned and operated translators were shut down after Nexstar determined that its VHF signal for WBRE is adequate enough to reach most of the market. VHF signals "bend" over rugged terrain more easily than UHF signals. According to nepahdtv.com, this move

2850-459: Was airing. WPTZ was used as a backup. In efforts to improve the quality and reliability of the received signals, WBRE built its own relay site on Pimple Hill on the west side of Route 115 , just south of Pocono Raceway . Reception of the New York stations is very clear and reliable from that site; indeed, it served as a microwave retransmission site for many of the area's cable systems well into

2907-459: Was beginning to hire staff for a new in-house news department. The newscast began on January 1, 2017, using local reporting staff, with anchors originating from a secondary set at Sinclair's CBS affiliate WSBT-TV in South Bend, Indiana . Until May 2023, the anchors for WOLF's 10 p.m. show also hosted the 6 and 11 p.m. newscasts for NBC affiliate WNWO-TV in Toledo, Ohio . The station's signal

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2964-409: Was denied, however. Oyster changed the station's call letters to WWLF-TV on July 25, 1984, then sold the construction permit to Hazleton TV Associates on December 13. Two months later on February 20, 1985, the station was sold again, this time to Scranton TV Partners who completed construction of the station and brought it on-air on June 6. WWLF was a satellite of co-owned WOLF-TV in Scranton which

3021-454: Was designated in July 2018 for hearing by an FCC administrative law judge , and Tribune moved to terminate the deal the next month. Fox required most of its affiliates to begin offering local news in 1990 to help the fledgling network. However, WOLF's facilities have never been large enough to accommodate an in-house news department. Rather than risk disaffiliation, what is now WSWB entered into

3078-479: Was later pushed back to June 12, 2009). The station's digital signal remained on its pre-transition VHF channel 11, using virtual channel 28. Like other stations in the area, WBRE was forced to rely on repeaters to serve its coverage area for most of its history. The market is one of the largest (in land area) east of the Mississippi River and is very mountainous. In addition, Scranton–Wilkes-Barre

3135-408: Was met with some dismay from viewers in areas where reception of signals from Penobscot Knob is difficult if not impossible, leaving many people in rural areas unable to watch the station. Many of these areas are among the few in the country where cable and satellite are not readily available. Despite this, no effort from Nexstar has been made to bring back any of the repeaters. In New York State, WBRE

3192-510: Was sold to Pegasus Television and the new owners were able to accomplish something that the station's original owner could not: get permission to move the transmitter to the antenna farm at Penobscot Knob. The completion of the new transmitter ushered in a new era for WWLF. On November 1, 1998, Pegasus moved the WOLF-TV call sign to channel 56 and made it the sole outlet for Fox programming in Northeast Pennsylvania. It changed

3249-425: Was then on UHF channel 38 and was an independent station . That station had just begun broadcasting itself on June 3. WWLF, as a satellite of WOLF-TV, was independent for a little more than a year. On October 9, 1986, it became a charter affiliate of Fox. In 1988, WWLF moved to a new transmitter on Nescopeck Mountain near the junction of I-80 and PA 93 but remained a satellite of WOLF-TV. On April 27, 1993, WWLF

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