A television station is a set of equipment managed by a business, organisation or other entity such as an amateur television (ATV) operator, that transmits video content and audio content via radio waves directly from a transmitter on the earth's surface to any number of tuned receivers simultaneously.
126-582: WCAX-TV (channel 3) is a television station licensed to Burlington, Vermont , United States, serving as the CBS affiliate for the Burlington, Vermont– Plattsburgh, New York market . It is owned by Gray Television alongside Saranac Lake, New York –licensed MyNetworkTV affiliate WYCI (channel 40). The two stations share studios on Joy Drive in South Burlington, Vermont ; WCAX-TV's transmitter
252-400: A barter in some cases. Local marketing agreement In North American broadcasting , a local marketing agreement ( LMA ), or local management agreement , is a contract in which one company agrees to operate a radio or television station owned by another party. In essence, it is a sort of lease or time-buy . Under Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regulations,
378-513: A "local marketing agreement" may refer to the sharing or contracting of only certain functions, in particular advertising sales. This may also be referred to as a time brokerage agreement ( TBA ), local sales agreement ( LSA ), management services agreement ( MSA ), or most commonly, a joint sales agreement ( JSA ) or shared services agreement ( SSA ). JSAs are counted toward ownership caps for television and radio stations. In Canada, local marketing agreements between domestic stations require
504-539: A 47% stake in WLYK's licensee, Border International Broadcasting. In 2022, the principal owners of My Broadcasting Corporation acquired Border International Broadcasting via 1234567 Corporation, and assumed operations in February 2023. Similarly, Entravision Communications Corporation controls XHDTV-TDT , a Tijuana , Mexico-based station owned by Televisora Alco, which operated as an English-language station serving
630-469: A JSA with Citadel Communications to handle advertising sales for the station under a revenue sharing agreement, integrating it with its cluster in nearby Buffalo, New York . In an associated agreement, the station also contracted Citadel employees to produce some of its programming. Due to the structure of this JSA, and because the aforementioned programming was overseen by local producers, the CRTC deemed that
756-556: A digital subchannel of WABM (although the WBMA-LD simulcast was placed on WABM's subchannel instead while MyNetworkTV programming was retained on its main channel). Similarly, in Charleston, Sinclair planned to surrender WCIV's license and move its ABC affiliation and programming to WMMP. In both cases, Sinclair believed that its own stations had superior technical facilities than those of the stations it intends to surrender. Sinclair
882-463: A full two-hour broadcast. Overnight, it has been carrying CBS News ' Up to the Minute since October 2005 following thirteen years of not airing it. In August 2006, it launched the first website designed for mobile phone browsers. Starting July 16, 2007, WCAX-TV began to produce a weeknight 10 o'clock broadcast on "WCAXtra" known as Channel 3 News at 10 . Although it was the first prime time show in
1008-496: A full-time news reporter for the re-opening of its bureau in Rutland. During Summer 2010, WCAX-TV announced that it will be starting a weeknight 5 p.m. newscast beginning September 13. Weeknights at 5:30, a talk show was introduced, called The :30 (it has since been converted into a traditional newscast, Channel 3 News at 5:30 ). WCAX-TV also reopened its Plattsburgh bureau full-time. Although it had previously not aired newscasts in
1134-554: A joint sales agreement pertaining to CHNO-FM in Sudbury , Ontario, but community interests and the lobby group Friends of Canadian Broadcasting presented substantial evidence to the CRTC that in practice, the agreement was a de facto LMA, going significantly beyond advertising sales into program production and news-gathering. In early 2005, the CRTC ordered the agreement to cease. For a time, CKEY-FM in Fort Erie, Ontario had
1260-580: A legal duopoly, Gray proposed the sale of WAGT's broadcast spectrum during the incentive auction, and for WAGT to go silent upon completion of the deal so the company would not be running more than one of the top four stations in the market. Gray also requested special temporary authority for WAGT's signal to be replaced on its existing technical facilities and UHF channel 30 by the co-owned low-power station, WRDW-CD ; low-power stations are not subject to ownership caps and restrictions on duopolies. The FCC, however, required that Gray continue to operate WAGT as
1386-541: A live studio audience and showcase their work. It also featured local celebrities such as Rusty DeWees and national celebrities such as Luis Guzman. It ended after three seasons. WCAX-TV grew out of a newspaper and has long been committed to local coverage. It has more of a Vermont focus compared with WPTZ which is based across Lake Champlain in Plattsburgh, New York. In 1997, WCAX-TV launched its weekday morning show that originally ran for one hour. It later expanded to
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#17328021367371512-427: A local marketing agreement must give the company operating the station (the "senior" partner) under the agreement control over the entire facilities of the station, including the finances, personnel and programming of the station. Its original licensee (the "junior" partner) still remains legally responsible for the station and its operations, such as compliance with relevant regulations regarding content. Occasionally,
1638-558: A majority ownership in that station's network affiliation, The CW . In March 2024, the FCC fined Nexstar and Mission $ 1.2 million and $ 612,395 respectively, and ordered Mission to sell WPIX within twelve months; the FCC found that Mission's agreements with Nexstar to operate WPIX amounted to an "unauthorized transfer of control" of the station, thus exceeding the FCC's 39% market share limit for broadcasters. Nexstar must either divest other stations so it can legally own WPIX, or Mission must sell
1764-415: 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
1890-457: A purchase option that "may counter any incentive the licensee has to increase the value of the station, since the licensee may be unlikely to realize that increased value." Under the new provisions, broadcasters must demonstrate in their transaction applications as to how such deals would serve the public interest. The National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) – which, along with station groups such as Sinclair Broadcast Group, have disapproved of
2016-522: A request for comment on policies to address other agreements, such as shared services agreements. The prohibition on television JSAs had been proposed as early as 2004, a year after the FCC voted to treat JSAs between radio stations as duopolies. Despite this fact, broadcasting companies criticized the ban, accusing the Commission of using it as a move to encourage participation in a spectrum incentive auction then set to occur in 2015, and stating that
2142-493: A result of the FCC's scrutiny on any new station sharing agreements, on October 23, 2014, Meredith would backtrack on this plan and instead sell KASW to the Nexstar Broadcasting Group, which would operate the station independently of KTVK and KPHO. Following Gannett's split into independent broadcasting and publishing companies, Tegna, Inc. —the owner of Gannett's stations following the split, bought back
2268-712: A secondary Fox affiliation from 1994 through 1997, carrying that network's sports and children's programming . Through this arrangement, WCAX-TV was able to carry Fox's NFL coverage , which consisted of the rights to NFC games that had been held by CBS (and thus aired on WCAX-TV) until 1994. The secondary Fox affiliation ended when WFFF-TV (channel 44) signed on in 1997. On October 25, 2006, WCAX-TV upgraded its digital signal to broadcast CBS programming in high definition. On May 4, 2017, Atlanta -based Gray Television announced its intent to acquire WCAX-TV for $ 29 million–a handsome return on Charles Hasbrook's purchase of WCAX radio in 1939. Gray assumed operational control of
2394-406: A seemingly separate newscast on the brokered station in the duopoly may ultimately consist of repackaged news content from the other station. Alternatively, the stations may consolidate their news programming under a single joint brand. Redundant staff members are often laid off as part of the consolidation process, and the sharing of news content reduces the number of unique editorial voices in
2520-449: A separate station through the end of the auction, and not enter into any joint sales agreements. Upon the closure of the sale, Gray unwound the shared services and joint sales agreements that Schurz had established with WJBF-TV and Media General , and replaced its previous news programs with simulcasts from WRDW. Gray also accused WJBF of "[refusing] to agree to a smooth transition of personnel [from WAGT]", as WAGT's employees fall under
2646-471: A shared services agreement established under Belo ownership, but Gannett would still handle advertising sales for the stations. In December 2013, the U.S. Department of Justice blocked Gannett from using an agreement with Sander Media to operate CBS affiliate KMOV in St. Louis alongside its own NBC station KSDK , and ordered Gannett to sell KMOV. Even though Gannett planned to operate KMOV separately from KSDK,
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#17328021367372772-804: A significant portion of its advertising sales across the border. However, Canadian advertising business has nearly dried up mostly due to the arrival of English-language station CKMI-DT-1 , coupled with the Canadian simultaneous substitution regulations and the carriage of network affiliates from other United States markets (such as Boston and Detroit) on Canadian satellite and cable systems. Canada also discourages Canadian-based businesses from advertising on U.S.-based stations by not allowing tax deductions for commercials placed on stations outside of Canada. Television station The Fernsehsender Paul Nipkow ( TV Station Paul Nipkow ) in Berlin , Germany ,
2898-401: A single company to own more than one full-powered television station in a given market if there are at least eight distinct station owners, and also prohibits the ownership of two or more of the four highest-rated stations (based on total day viewership) in a market. An LMA or similar agreement does not affect the ownership of the station's license, meaning that they do not require the approval of
3024-462: A single company to own two television stations in the same market in August 1999, Sinclair restructured the deal to acquire KOKH outright. In 2001, the FCC issued a $ 40,000 fine against Sinclair for illegally controlling Glencairn. In 1999, the FCC modified its media ownership rules to count LMAs formed after November 5, 1996 that cover more than 15% of the broadcast day toward the ownership limits for
3150-528: A subchannel of WISE-TV due to a reverse compensation dispute, Nexstar (ironically, given its use of similar practices in other markets) filed an antitrust lawsuit against the station's managing partner, Granite Broadcasting, arguing that it had built a monopoly on local advertising sales by having effective control of the outlets for four major networks ( ABC and MyNetworkTV on WPTA , and NBC , Fox, and The CW on WISE-TV ; owned by Malara Broadcast Group and operated under agreements by Granite). The lawsuit
3276-454: A subchannel of WSBT-TV ), in exchange for WHOI's ABC and CW affiliations, which moved to subchannels of WEEK-TV . In 2018, Quincy re-purchased WISE and KDLH, under an assertion that both stations were not within the top 4 of their respective markets. In February 2016, Gray Television acquired Schurz Communications ' stations, including Augusta, Georgia 's WAGT . As Gray could not own both WAGT and its existing CBS affiliate WRDW-TV as
3402-416: A television station's facilities and assets, but sells the license to an affiliated third-party "shell" corporation, who then enters into agreements with the owner of the facilities to operate the station on their behalf. Activists have argued that broadcasters were using these agreements as a loophole for the FCC's ownership regulations, that they reduce the number of local media outlets in a market through
3528-455: A thirty-minute weekly public affairs show called You Can Quote Me . In September 2006, WCAX-TV introduced its third local program called Late Night Saturday . It was produced in conjunction with Champlain College for its Media Arts Department. The program was hosted by Tim Kavanagh and aired weekly on Saturday nights. It offered local musicians and artists a chance to perform in front of
3654-425: 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
3780-714: A wave of mass consolidation in the radio industry. However, broadcasters still used local marketing agreements to help transition acquired stations to their new owners. The first local marketing agreement in North American television was formed in 1991, when the Sinclair Broadcast Group purchased Fox affiliate WPGH-TV in Pittsburgh , Pennsylvania. As Sinclair had already owned independent station WPTT (now MyNetworkTV affiliate WPNT ) in that market, which would have violated FCC rules which at
3906-427: A way to expand their reach, and smaller broadcasters a means of obtaining a stable stream of revenue. In 1992, the FCC began allowing broadcasting companies to own multiple radio stations in a single market. Following these changes, local marketing agreements largely fell out of favor for radio, as it was now possible for broadcasters to simply buy another station outright rather than lease it – consequentially triggering
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4032-496: 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,
4158-539: Is also available on every cable system in Vermont, and statewide on DirecTV and Dish Network . Channel 3 traces its roots to WCAX radio, Vermont's oldest radio station, which signed on as an experimental station run by students at the University of Vermont on May 20, 1922 and began full-time operations on October 10, 1924. By 1931, UVM realized it was in over its head operating a radio station, so it sold WCAX to
4284-470: 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
4410-500: Is located on Vermont's highest peak, Mount Mansfield . WCAX was the first television station in Vermont. Like other network stations serving Burlington and Plattsburgh, WCAX-TV has a large audience in southern Quebec , Canada. This includes the Montreal area, which is 10 times more populous than the station's entire U.S. viewing area. Most Vidéotron cable systems in southern Quebec carry WCAX-TV as their CBS affiliate. The station
4536-792: 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
4662-462: Is to create a "virtual duopoly", where the stations operated under the agreement are consolidated into a single entity. The operations of the stations can be streamlined for cost-effectiveness through the sharing of resources, such as facilities, advertising sales, personnel and programming. Many broadcasters that engage in the practice believe that such agreements are beneficial to the survival of television stations – especially in smaller markets, where
4788-689: The CBS Evening News at 7 p.m. because of the longtime hour-long 6 p.m. newscast; most CBS stations in the Eastern Time Zone air the network's newscast at 6:30 p.m. WCAX's longest-running local programs (both dating to the founding of the station) are a daily twenty-minute agricultural information program entitled Across the Fence , produced in association with the University of Vermont Extension Service. It also airs
4914-582: The Burlington Daily News , which relaunched it that November as a commercial radio station. Charles P. Hasbrook bought the Daily News in 1939. He sold the Daily News in 1941 (the paper is now defunct), but kept WCAX. On September 26, 1954, Hasbrook signed on Vermont's first television station, WMVT, originally licensed to the state's capital city of Montpelier . In December 1954, the stations' parent company, WCAX Broadcasting Corporation,
5040-545: The E. W. Scripps Company , Tegna Inc. , and Circle City Broadcasting. The divested stations included Tribune's New York City flagship WPIX ; the station was sold to Scripps, but with a $ 75 million option for Nexstar to buy it back between March 31, 2020 and December 31, 2021. Nexstar transferred this option to Mission Broadcasting, who subsequently exercised it in August 2020 (the following month, Scripps announced its intent to acquire Ion Media , including its New York station WPXN-TV ). In October 2022, Nexstar would acquire
5166-580: The Movies! network. WCAX-TV clears the entire CBS network schedule, albeit with some network programs airing out of pattern. The CBS Dream Team block airs an hour later than on most CBS affiliates in the Eastern Time Zone, and also airs over two days (the first two hours of the block air on Saturdays and the remaining hour airs on Sunday mornings, one program airing each at different times, respectively). The station airs an alternate live feed of
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5292-405: 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
5418-549: The economic crisis caused the layoffs. Those were the first job cuts seen in the station's history. On January 19, 2009, WCAX-TV announced that it had laid off several more employees. It specifically mentioned declining automotive commercial revenue, which is a major source of advertising for the station, as the cause of the second round of layoffs. On May 12, 2009, at the end of the weeknight 6 p.m. broadcast, Marselis Parsons announced that he would be retiring as weeknight anchor and News Director. He stepped down as News Director at
5544-534: 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
5670-570: The "major" networks, allow the broadcaster to charge higher fees for retransmission consent to television providers for carrying the stations, which could result in smaller cable companies not being able to afford the higher fees imposed. Cable television providers advocated barring sharing agreements between television stations for this particular reason. In the United States, the FCC no longer allows broadcasters to collude with one another in negotiating retransmission consent fees. Although
5796-460: The 1984 Rush album Grace Under Pressure . The station's signal is multiplexed : WCAX-TV shut down its analog signal, over VHF channel 3, on February 17, 2009, the original 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 moved its digital signal from its pre-transition UHF channel 53, which
5922-546: The Department ruled the agreement to be a violation of antitrust law , as it would reduce competition for advertising sales. Following the closure of the Belo purchase, Meredith Corporation announced a deal to purchase KMOV, along with KTVK and KASW. As Meredith would have a duopoly between KTVK and its Phoenix CBS affiliate KPHO-TV , KASW was to be sold to SagamoreHill Broadcasting and operated by Meredith under an LMA. As
6048-494: The FCC began to increase its scrutiny regarding the use of such agreements—particularly joint sales—to evade its policies. On March 31, 2014, the commission voted to make joint sales agreements count as ownership if the senior partner sells 15% or more of advertising time for its partner, and to ban coordinated retransmission consent negotiations between two of the top four stations in a market. Wheeler indicated that he planned to address local marketing and shared services agreements in
6174-963: The FCC cannot manipulate its ownership rules without "[in] the previous four years, [fulfilling] its obligation to review [the] rule and determine whether it is in the public interest". On November 16, 2017, under the Trump administration , the FCC voted in favor of no longer having JSAs attributable to ownership. The increased scrutiny being imposed by the FCC regarding local marketing, shared services, and joint sales agreements have led to more drastic measures by broadcasting companies attempting to use them in acquisitions; in 2014, two broadcasting companies declared intents to shut acquired stations down entirely and consolidate their programming onto existing stations through multicasting, rather than attempting to use sidecars and sharing agreements or selling them to other parties that would assume full responsibility of their day-to-day operations. In May 2014, Sinclair informed
6300-537: The FCC that it was unable to find buyers for WABM or WMMP – the company's MyNetworkTV stations in Birmingham, Alabama, and Charleston, South Carolina, that it planned to sell in its purchase of Allbritton Communications. In Birmingham, the company proposed surrendering the licenses of WCFT-TV and WJSU-TV – the two full-powered satellites of ABC affiliate WBMA-LD, converting WABM into a full-powered satellite of WBMA-LD – and moving its existing MyNetworkTV programming to
6426-488: The FCC to establish, and the two stations are still legally considered separate operations from a licensing standpoint. Both Tribune Media and the Gannett Company were required to use shared services agreements as a similar loophole to take control of certain stations in their respective 2013 purchases of Local TV and Belo , as they did not have exemptions to the FCC's newspaper cross-ownership restrictions in
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#17328021367376552-475: The FCC-required three hours of E/I -compliant children programming per week. On weekends, if sports events ran long, the news could be found on the secondary channel, though that practice ended a few years later. A 10 p.m. newscast was seen for a while exclusively on 3.2. After it was canceled, the 5:30 program The :30 was run as a repeat in that timeslot. On April 30, 2015, the channel was replaced with
6678-489: The Media Council of Hawaii complained to the FCC about Raycom's Hawaii News Now operation, stating that it would "directly reduce the diversity of local voices in a community by replacing independent newscasts on the brokered station with those of the brokering station." In response, the FCC stated it would begin to investigate into the matter. In 2011, after temporarily losing its Fox affiliation for WFFT-TV to
6804-464: The Minority Media and Telecommunications Council – under the condition that they would operate them independently from other stations in the market, and without the use of any sharing agreements. All six of the stations were owned by companies other than Gray, but their non-license assets are either owned by Gray, or were operated by stations now owned by Gray under agreements. Gray would operate
6930-647: 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
7056-495: The affected markets. Both companies have since spun out their publishing arms as independent companies; the Tribune Publishing Company and Gannett Company. Tegna , who holds the former Gannett's broadcasting and digital media properties, re-acquired the licenses for most of the affected stations following the split. On November 16, 2017, under the Trump administration , the FCC voted in favor of removing
7182-480: The affected stations under LMAs until the sales and consolidation are complete. Aside from one, most of the stations involved in these changes were related to Gray's acquisition of stations from Hoak Media . Three of these stations were immediately shut down the same day, while the remainder remained operated by Gray until the sales were completed. Gray announced buyers for the stations on August 27, 2014. The six stations affected by Gray's move included: Following
7308-487: The aggregation or outright consolidation of news programming, and allow station owners to have increased leverage in the negotiation of retransmission consent with local subscription television providers . Station owners have contended that these sharing agreements allow streamlined, cost-effective operations that may be beneficial to the continued operation of lower-rated and/or financially weaker stations, especially in smaller markets. In 2014 under chairman Tom Wheeler ,
7434-472: The approval of Sinclair's purchase of Allbritton, commissioner Ajit Pai further criticized the FCC's new policies and its endorsement of Sinclair's proposal to shut down stations to comply with them. Describing the three Allbritton stations as being "victims" of the "crackdown" against joint sales agreements, he stated regarding WCIV that "apparently the Commission believes that it is better for that station to go out of business than for Howard Stirk Holdings to own
7560-523: The area, Fox affiliate WFFF-TV started a 10 p.m. newscast in 2008. In 2010, WCAX-TV put the 10 p.m. newscast on hiatus, due to the majority of viewers not receiving WCAXtra via cable. On November 14, WCAX-TV relaunched its newscasts with a new look and became the first broadcaster in the area to air local news in 16:9 widescreen enhanced standard definition . However, this was not true high definition unlike WFFF-TV which has been airing its broadcasts in full 1080i resolution. In addition to its main studios,
7686-667: The arrangements were legal, Free Press president Craig Aaron stated that "the FCC shouldn't let Gannett break the rules. Media consolidation results in fewer journalists in the newsroom and fewer opinions on the airwaves. Concentrating media outlets in the hands of just a few companies benefits only the companies themselves." The deal would have given Gannett a virtual triopoly in Phoenix, consisting of its NBC station KPNX , independent station KTVK and CW affiliate KASW . In Tucson, Fox affiliate KMSB and MyNetworkTV affiliate KTTU were already operated by Raycom Media's CBS affiliate KOLD-TV under
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#17328021367377812-540: The ban would place them at a disadvantage during retransmission consent negotiations with pay television providers. On December 19, 2015, as a rider to the federal budget, the grace period for unwinding or modifying existing JSAs was extended to 10 years. On May 25, 2016, the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit struck down the restrictions on joint sales agreements, ruling that
7938-522: The border market of San Diego . Public interest organizations have disapproved of the use of LMAs for virtual duopolies that circumvent the FCC's rules due to their effects on the broadcasting industry, particularly the results of consolidation through the irregular use of LMAs. In markets where duopolies are not legally possible, a company may elect to form one by purchasing a station's "non-license" assets (such as their physical facilities, programming rights, and other intellectual property ), and selling
8064-459: The brokered station may vary, for example: In February 2001, Clear Channel Communications subsidiary Citicasters was fined $ 25,000 for its use of time brokerage agreements and litigation for unlawfully controlling Youngstown , Ohio area radio station WBTJ (101.9 FM, now WYLR ); the company had also been the target of complaints for using KFJO (FM) to rebroadcast KSJO after it had nominally sold KFJO to minority-owned interests. In 2009,
8190-644: The brokering station's owner. Even still, the related joint sales and shared services agreement structures became increasingly common during the 2000s; these outsourcing agreements proliferated between 2011 and 2013, when station owners such as Sinclair and the Nexstar Broadcasting Group began expanding their portfolios by acquiring additional stations in an effort to drive scale as well as to gain leverage in retransmission consent negotiations with cable and satellite television providers. The most common use of an LMA in television broadcasting
8316-691: The case of former virtual duopolies in Harrisburg , Pennsylvania between Sinclair-owned CBS affiliate WHP-TV and Nexstar-owned CW affiliate WLYH-TV (which ended in 2015 amid Sinclair's acquisition of Allbritton Communications , which saw WHTM-TV sold to Media General to avoid conflicts with WHP, and WYLH's license sold to Howard Stirk Holdings ), and Rochester, New York between Nexstar-owned CBS affiliate WROC-TV and Sinclair-owned Fox affiliate WUHF (which ended in January 2014 after Deerfield Media acquired ABC affiliate WHAM-TV ). While not to
8442-468: The companies "effectively relinquished decision-making authority to Nexstar, which has served as the ringleader of a conspiracy to harm competition and violate the antitrust laws." Local marketing agreements are effectively prohibited under the regulations of the CRTC , which require that all broadcast undertakings be "operated in fact by the licensee itself". Rogers Media and Newcap Broadcasting maintained
8568-477: The consent of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), although Rogers Media has used a similar arrangement to control a U.S.-based radio station in a border market . The increased use of sharing agreements by media companies to form consolidated , "virtual" duopolies became controversial between 2009 and 2014, especially arrangements where a company buys
8694-703: The deal in March 2014, choosing to sell WHP-TV, WMMP and WABM, and terminate an SSA with the Cunningham-owned Fox affiliate WTAT in Charleston to acquire the Allbritton-owned stations in those markets ( WCIV , WHTM-TV and WBMA-LD , while also creating a new duopoly between the ABC and CW affiliates in Birmingham), as well as foregoing any operational or financial agreements with the buyers of
8820-565: The employment of Media General due to the SSA. On February 26, 2016, Media General obtained a preliminary injunction against Gray for violating the SSA and JSA, which required that Gray return control of WAGT to Media General, and forbade Gray from selling WAGT in the spectrum incentive auction. The company accused Gray of using the spectrum auction and sale of the station to exit the agreements illegitimately, as they were to last through 2020, and apply to any future owner of WAGT. Gray attempted to block
8946-556: The end of May 2009 and Senior Reporter Darren Perron began anchoring the broadcast when Parsons vacated the position. On June 23, 2009, WCAX-TV upgraded its local news to high definition . The station switched its studio cameras to high definition (field cameras made the transition to HD later in the Fall). New graphics, flags, and intros were also put in place. The previous graphics had been used in all of its newscasts since 2000. On September 16, 2009, WCAX-TV announced that it would be hiring
9072-627: The end of May but continued anchoring the 6 p.m. newscast throughout the summer. Parsons was with WCAX-TV since 1967 and was News Director and weeknight anchor from 1984 until 2009. The station had won dozens of awards under his direction including the Radio-Television News Directors Association 's "Best Television Newscast in the United States" in 2003. Parsons continued with the station as a part-time features reporter until his death in 2015. Former WCAX-TV news reporter Anson Tebbetts took over as News Director at
9198-432: The family of Sinclair Broadcast Group founder Julian Smith controlled 97% of Glencairn's stock assets (which remains the case under its Cunningham structure) and the company was to be paid with Sinclair stock in turn for the purchases, KOKH and Sinclair-owned WB affiliate KOCB would effectively constitute a duopoly in violation of FCC rules. The Rainbow/PUSH coalition (headed by Jesse Jackson ) filed challenges against
9324-452: The financial aspects of its "sidecar" operations, and warned that in the three aforementioned markets, "the proposed transactions would result in the elimination of the grandfathered status of certain local marketing agreements and thus cause the transactions to violate our local TV ownership rules." It was asserted that the deal might only be legal if the affected stations were operated under shared services agreements. Sinclair restructured
9450-445: The first in Vermont, to broadcast in color. WCAX radio had been a CBS Radio affiliate since 1940, so channel 3 became a CBS television affiliate. It has been with the network ever since. As such, until 2017, WCAX-TV was one of the few stations in the United States (not counting network owned-and-operated stations ) that has had the same owner, channel number, and primary network affiliation throughout its history. The station did hold
9576-537: The former company's Fox affiliate in New Orleans , Louisiana , WVUE-DT ; while Louisiana Media Company retained the station's ownership and license, other assets were assumed by Raycom, which owns stations in markets adjacent to New Orleans (including Baton Rouge , Jackson , Biloxi , Lake Charles and Shreveport ) but not within New Orleans itself. Benson had received offers from Raycom and others to buy
9702-581: The four highest-rated stations in a single market would also be barred under the proposal. Wheeler also proposed an expedited process to review joint sales agreements on a case-by-case basis, granting a waiver of the rules if a broadcaster can prove a particular joint sales agreement arrangement serves the public interest. On March 12, 2014, the FCC Media Bureau released a notice that it would further analyze television station transactions that include sharing agreements, particularly those that include
9828-434: The future. The change in stance also prompted changes to then-proposed acquisitions by Nexstar Media Group and Sinclair Broadcast Group , who, rather than use sharing agreements to control them, moved their existing programming and network affiliations to digital subchannels of existing company-owned stations in the market, or a low-power station (which are not subject to ownership caps), and then relinquished control over
9954-420: 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
10080-550: The injunction by arguing that its actions were required in order to comply with the FCC's prohibition of joint sales agreements, but was denied. Media General took back control of WAGT on March 7, 2016. On March 10, 2016, FCC Deputy General Counsel David Gossett announced that the Commission would investigate Media General's actions as possibly being in violation of Section 310(d) of the Communications Act . Gossett argued that by legally blocking Gray's participation in
10206-424: The laid-off employees, station officials stated that they were both on-air and off-air personnel. Shawna Lidsky (weekday morning sports anchor and sports reporter) and Rachael Morrow (weekday morning news producer and reporter) were two on-air personnel that were laid off. Videographer Steve Longchamp, who had worked for WCAX since 1983, was also let go. Owner Peter Martin said that declining advertising revenues due to
10332-429: The license itself to a third-party "sidecar" company (which is often affiliated with the purchaser), which in turn, enters into an LMA or a similar agreement with the senior partner. The FCC only recognizes ownership of television stations by the ownership of their license and facility ID , and not by the ownership of these "non-license" assets; this means that the senior partner becomes the de facto owner and operator of
10458-477: The licenses for WCIV and the full-powered repeaters of WBMA-LD (WJSU and WCFT), and moving their ABC programming to Sinclair's existing stations WMMP and WABM respectively – which would shift their existing MyNetworkTV programming to digital subchannels. After nearly a year of delays, Sinclair's deal to acquire Allbritton was approved by the FCC on July 24, 2014. Nexstar Media Group acquired Tribune Media in 2019; to meet ownership limits, it divested 21 stations to
10584-660: The licenses to the Sander Media stations, placing them back under its full control. As part of its planned acquisition of Allbritton Communications , Sinclair originally planned to sell its existing stations in three markets – Charleston, South Carolina , Birmingham, Alabama and Harrisburg, Pennsylvania – where Allbritton already owned stations, but continue to operate them under local marketing agreements. WABM and WTTO in Birmingham and WHP-TV in Harrisburg were to be sold to Deerfield Media , and WMMP in Charleston
10710-400: 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
10836-419: 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
10962-573: The majority of LMAs involve the outsourcing of one television station's operations to another, occasionally, a company may operate a station under an LMA, JSA or SSA even if it does not already own a station in that market. One example occurred in December 2013, when the Louisiana Media Company (owned by New Orleans Saints and New Orleans Hornets owner Tom Benson ) entered into a shared services agreement with Raycom Media to run
11088-423: The market. This in particular is one of the caveats of pushes to ban outsourcing agreements by media consolidation critics, who also suggest that LMAs result in a decreased amount of local news coverage on the brokered station. Depending on how the outsourcing agreement is structured, as well as how the brokered station is programmed, how the stations are consolidated and the amount of news programming featured on
11214-423: The network while the acquisition pended; independent station WMYD would carry the network for the remainder of the television season, before ultimately returning to WKBD. In response to criticism of the virtual duopolies and sharing agreements, the FCC began to consider potential changes to address these loopholes. In March 2013, the Commission first tabled a proposal that would make joint sales agreements count
11340-425: The new rules on joint sales agreements, believing that they would discourage the ownership of television stations by minority-owned companies . Tom Wheeler, however, proposed the restrictions in the hopes of encouraging more women and minorities to own stations, due to the ongoing consolidation in the television industry through company mergers and sharing agreements. On March 31, 2014, the FCC voted 3–2 to approve
11466-445: The original stations by selling their licenses to third-parties, such as minority-owned broadcasters. Due to the FCC's limits on station ownership at the time (which prevented the common ownership of multiple radio stations), local marketing agreements in radio, in which a smaller station would sell its entire airtime to a third-party in time-buy, were widespread between the 1970s and early 1990s. These alliances gave larger broadcasters
11592-463: The overall audience reach is considerably less than that of markets that are centered upon densely populated metropolitan areas , and the cost savings achieved through the consolidation of resources and staff may be necessary to fund a station's continued operation. Sharing agreements may also be used as a loophole to control television stations in situations where it is legally impossible to own them outright. For instance, FCC regulations only allowed
11718-476: 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
11844-453: The proposal to ban JSAs – presented a compromise proposal, in which the brokered licensee in a sharing agreement would retain control over at least 85 percent of the station's programming, maintain at least 70 percent of ad sales revenue and "maintain at least 20 percent of station value in the license itself". FCC commissioner Ajit Pai , and Gordon Smith, president of the NAB, were also opposed to
11970-452: The proposed ban on joint sales agreements and voted 5–0 to approve the proposed ban on coordinated retransmission consent negotiations between two of the four highest-rated stations within a given market; the JSA ban went into effect on June 19, 2014. Under the restrictions, the FCC would rule on waivers to maintain select existing JSAs within 90 days of the application's filing. The FCC also began
12096-511: The requirement for a market to still have eight distinct station owners in order to allow duopolies, but the prohibition of owning two of the top four stations in a market remains. Broadcasters could also collect carriage fees for the stations they operate under sharing agreements on behalf of their owner, often bundling its carriage agreements with those of stations they own outright. This could, especially in LMAs between two stations affiliated with
12222-425: The sale with the FCC, citing concerns over a single company holding two broadcast licenses in a single market and argued that Glencairn was masquerading as a separate minority-owned company (Edwards, who served as Glencairn's president, is African American ) when it was really an arm of Sinclair that the company used to gain control of the stations through LMAs. After the FCC updated its media ownership rules to allow
12348-414: The same as ownership. In January 2014 town hall meeting, FCC chairman Tom Wheeler disclosed that he planned to place more scrutiny on the use of LMA-style agreements and shell companies, stating that "there were a couple of references in a couple of recent decisions in which we've said that we're going to do things differently going forward on what were called these shell corporations." Later that month, it
12474-526: The same market, creating a legal duopoly). Sinclair's use of local marketing agreements would lead to legal issues in 1999, when Glencairn, Ltd. (since restructured as Cunningham Broadcasting ) announced that it would acquire Fox affiliate KOKH-TV in Oklahoma City , Oklahoma from Sullivan Broadcasting; Glencairn subsequently announced plans to sell five of its 11 existing stations that were operated by Sinclair under LMAs to that company outright. As
12600-528: The same, wide extent as Sinclair and Nexstar, some broadcasters have similar business relationships with specific sidecar companies as partners for these agreements: The stations partnered through a sharing agreement may also consolidate their programming operations: local newscasts on the junior partner in the LMA, if it operated a separate news department before the LMA's formation, may be rescheduled or scaled back to prevent direct competition with newscasts airing on
12726-429: The senior partner sells 15% or more of advertising time of a competing junior partner station in the JSA; the ban applies to both existing sharing agreements under such a structure as well as pending station transactions that include a JSA. Station owners would be given a two-year grace period to unwind or modify joint sales agreements in violation of the policy; coordinated retransmission consent negotiations between two of
12852-585: The spectrum auction, Media General had "[sought] injunctive relief that interferes with a licensee's ultimate control of a station". He also stated that the FCC could consider a license revocation hearing against Media General under Section 312 of the Communications Act. On March 23, 2016, the Supreme Court of Georgia struck down the injunction without addressing the litigation, and Gray took back control of WAGT. On July 13, 2016, Media General
12978-404: The station acting as the senior partner (the latter aspect is less common with LMAs involving only stations affiliated with one of the four largest broadcast television networks ). The stations may share news-gathering resources, but maintain separate news telecasts that are differentiated by their on-air presentation, anchors, and overall format, with varying degrees of autonomy; in these cases,
13104-516: The station and participate in a joint sales agreement with Sinclair. I strongly disagree. And so too, I'll bet, would consumers in Charleston." In September 2014, Sinclair backtracked on its original plans, and reached deals to sell WCIV, WCFT and WJSU's license assets to Howard Stirk Holdings for $ 50,000 each and lease them studio space, pending FCC approval. Unlike Howard Stirk Holdings' other stations, they are operated and programmed independently, and Sinclair did not enter into any agreements to operate
13230-464: The station on June 1, 2017, under a local marketing agreement (LMA). The sale was completed on August 1. That ended the Hasbrook/Martin family's 62-year-long stewardship of the station. On November 19, 2019, WCAX-TV, NBC affiliate WPTZ (channel 5) and CW+ affiliate WNNE (channel 31) were knocked off the air by a fire at their shared antenna on Mount Mansfield. The cause of the fire
13356-632: The station operates four news bureaus. An outpost in Montpelier was established in 1964 and is located on State Street (US 2) in Vermont's state capital. That was followed by bureaus located in Rutland, Vermont (on North Main Street opened in 1967), Plattsburgh (opened in 1973) and West Lebanon, New Hampshire (launched in 2002). On December 2, 2008, the station laid off three of its employees and cut two vacant jobs. Although it declined to identify
13482-513: The station to a third-party. Mission Broadcasting also scrapped its planned acquisition of Detroit's MyNetworkTV station WADL (which briefly became Detroit's new CW affiliate in September 2023 after CBS News and Stations dropped long-time affiliate WKBD ) after the FCC imposed conditions on Nexstar's involvement in the station. WADL had dropped The CW in late-October following demands that it be compensated for its "transitional" carriage of
13608-686: The station, but the sidecar is still the legal owner. Although the FCC determines a sidecar firm to be an independent entity from the company using it to outsource station operations for licensing purposes, the Securities and Exchange Commission does not make such a designation, requiring reports on sidecars to be included in a broadcaster's financial statements. Both Sinclair and Nexstar became infamous for their frequent use of sidecars as part of their expansion and consolidation tactics, partnering with companies like Cunningham Broadcasting, Deerfield Media , Mission Broadcasting , and even each other in
13734-480: The station, but was not prepared to sell WVUE outright. On April 4, 2017, Raycom acquired the station for $ 51.8 million. LMAs can also allow companies to control foreign stations from outside of their respective country; Canadian media company Rogers Media used a joint sales agreement to operate Cape Vincent , New York radio station WLYK as a station targeting the nearby Canadian market of Kingston , Ontario , where it owns CKXC-FM and CIKR-FM . Rogers owned
13860-580: The stations being sold to other parties. In May 2014, Sinclair disclosed in an FCC filling that it was unable to find buyers for the three affected stations, requiring changes to its transaction. In Harrisburg, Sinclair chose to retain WHP-TV, and divest WHTM to Media General. However, in Charleston and Birmingham, the company proposed to shut down stations entirely (rather than selling them to other buyers that would also handle their operational responsibilities) so it could maintain legal duopolies; surrendering
13986-455: The stations on Stirk's behalf. In Quincy Newspapers' acquisition of Granite Broadcasting's remaining stations, the acquisition was briefly re-structured to have Malara Broadcast Group —which served as a virtual duopoly partner for Granite with WISE-TV (NBC) Fort Wayne and KDLH-TV Duluth (CBS), retain the stations and their current agreements with WPTA and KBJR-TV in lieu of having them sold to SagamoreHill Broadcasting. The acquisition
14112-491: The time had prohibited television station duopolies, Sinclair decided to sell the lower-rated WPTT to the station's manager Eddie Edwards, but continued to operate the station through an LMA (Sinclair eventually repurchased the station – then assigned the call letters WCWB – outright in 2000, after the Federal Communications Commission began permitting common ownership of two television stations in
14238-483: The weeknight 5 p.m. hour, WCAX-TV delays the CBS Evening News until 7 because it still airs an hour-long show weeknights at 6. On September 7, 2013, WCAX-TV launched the area's second weekend morning newscast. The newscast airs on Saturday from 6 to 8 a.m. and Sunday from 8 to 9 a.m. Longtime WCAX meteorologist and on-air personality Stuart Hall (1921–2011) was mentioned in the acknowledgements of
14364-399: 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
14490-446: Was able to retain WBMA-LD in any event as the FCC does not impose any ownership limits on low-power stations. On June 13, 2014, Gray Television announced that it would shutter six stations and consolidate existing programming onto subchannels of Gray-owned stations in their respective market. Unlike Sinclair, however, Gray stated that it would sell the licenses of the shuttered stations to minority-owned broadcasters in collaboration with
14616-445: Was among the high band UHF channels (52-69) that were removed from broadcasting use as a result of the transition, to UHF channel 22 (formerly the analog channel position for ABC affiliate WVNY which now broadcasts on channel 13). Digital television receivers display WCAX-TV's virtual channel as its former VHF analog channel 3. As a part of the repacking process following the 2016 United States wireless spectrum auction , WCAX-TV
14742-452: Was an engineer by trade who assisted his stepfather in building the station from the ground up. He had already been serving as general manager since the station signed on. Red Martin sold off WCAX radio in 1963; it is now WVMT . Martin continued to own channel 3 until his death in 2005, and was succeeded by his oldest son, Peter R. Martin. In September 1965, WCAX-TV became the third station in its market (after WPTZ-TV and WMTW-TV ), and
14868-407: Was issued a $ 700,000 fine by the FCC. WAGT's spectrum sold for $ 40,763,036. In March 2023, DirecTV sued Nexstar Media Group, alleging that it was conspiring with the sidecar companies Mission Broadcasting and White Knight Broadcasting to manipulate retransmission fees for its stations. The company, which had been in a carriage dispute with Mission and White Knight since October 2022, stated that
14994-525: Was relocated to UHF channel 20 on October 24, 2019. The station has long had significant viewership in Montreal, which is more than ten times as large as its American coverage area. In the past, it has identified itself as serving "Burlington–Plattsburgh–Montreal" to acknowledge its Canadian viewership, though this practice largely ended in the 1990s. Like other Champlain Valley stations, WCAX-TV once made
15120-522: Was renamed Mount Mansfield Television, after the location of channel 3's transmitter and tower. In May 1955, WMVT moved its community of license from Montpelier to Burlington, the state's largest city. Burlington is just a few miles from Mount Mansfield. One month later, the station's call letters were changed to WCAX-TV to match its radio sister station . In 1958, Hasbrook turned over the station's ownership to his stepson, Dr. Stuart T. "Red" Martin Jr. Martin
15246-478: Was reported that the FCC had placed all pending acquisitions involving the use of shell companies on hold, so the Commission could discuss changes to its policies. Among the deals affected by this decision included the aforementioned Sinclair/Allbritton purchase. On March 6, 2014, the FCC announced that it would hold a vote on March 31 on a proposal to ban joint sales agreements involving television stations outright, making them attributable to FCC ownership limits if
15372-619: Was restructured in July 2015 to, again, have SagamoreHill Broadcasting acquire the two stations, but have their current SSAs wound down within nine months. Following the end of the SSA, the two stations retained The CW as independently run stations, with their remaining affiliations moved to subchannels of KBJR and WPTA. Quincy similarly wound down an SSA in Peoria, Illinois with Sinclair-owned WHOI by trading its South Bend Fox affiliation (previously held by WSJV-TV ) to Sinclair (where it moved to
15498-743: Was settled in February 2013 via mutual agreement, after which the Fox affiliation was given back to WFFT. Gannett Company's 2013 acquisition of Belo was opposed by organizations such as the American Cable Association and Free Press , due to Gannett's plans to use LMAs and two shell companies owned by former Belo and Fisher Communications executives (respectively, Sander Media and Tucker Operating Co.) to dodge FCC newspaper cross-ownership restrictions in Louisville , Phoenix , Portland, Oregon and Tucson . Although Gannett contended that
15624-678: 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 , 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
15750-471: Was to be sold to Howard Stirk Holdings–a broadcasting company owned by conservative pundit Armstrong Williams . Howard Stirk Holdings was first established in 2013 with its acquisition of two conflicting stations in Sinclair's earlier acquisition of Barrington Broadcasting . In December 2013, FCC Video Division Chief Barbara Kreisman sent a letter demanding information from the Sinclair Broadcast Group on
15876-571: Was unknown. The outage affected over-the-air and satellite viewers. Cable subscribers in Vermont and New York continued to receive the three stations via direct fiber feeds. Vidéotron. a cable company in Quebec, temporarily replaced WCAX with Detroit CBS owned-and-operated station WWJ-TV . In 2007, WCAX-TV began to operate a 24-hour local weather and news channel on a new digital subchannel . Originally called "Weather 3.2", and later "WCAXtra", it featured news updates and live local weather along with
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