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.
58-637: WLWC (channel 28) is a television station licensed to New Bedford, Massachusetts , United States, serving the Providence, Rhode Island , area as an affiliate of Court TV . Owned by Inyo Broadcast Holdings, the station shares transmitter facilities with former sister WPXQ-TV (channel 69) on Champlin Hill in Ashaway, Rhode Island . WLWC is one of two major stations (along with ABC affiliate WLNE-TV , channel 6) that serve Providence despite being licensed to
116-574: A barter in some cases. Hearst Broadcasting Hearst Television, Inc. (formerly Hearst-Argyle Television ) is a broadcasting company in the United States owned by Hearst Communications , made up of a group of television and radio stations, and Hearst Media Production Group , a distributor of programming in broadcast syndication . Hearst-Argyle was formed in 1997 with the merger of Hearst Corporation's broadcasting division and stations owned by Argyle Television Holdings II , which
174-501: A duopoly . Ion also entered into a shared services agreement, retroactive to October 1, to operate WLWC. The sale closed in February 2018. On September 24, 2020, the E. W. Scripps Company agreed to buy Ion Media for $ 2.65 billion. To get FCC approval for the transaction, 23 Ion Television stations, including WLWC, were sold by Scripps to Inyo Broadcast Holdings . The transaction was closed on January 7, 2021. On February 28, 2021,
232-485: A December 2000 deal between the NBC-owned stations , Gannett , and Hearst-Argyle to develop programming. NBC Enterprises continued to produce some programming from a Hearst-Argyle facility near Boston until June 2003. On January 6, 2017, Hearst acquired majority control of Charleston, South Carolina -based syndicator Litton Entertainment, which has control of four of the five E/I -compliant Saturday morning blocks on
290-683: A Rhode Island station had to be sold after its owner merged with the owner of a Boston station. Due to these rules, WLWC's license was thus acquired by Straightline Communications, with WSBK operating the station through an LMA (earlier in 1997, Straightline acquired WTVX in West Palm Beach, Florida , on behalf of Paramount/Viacom's Miami – Fort Lauderdale station WBFS-TV ; the company later purchased and operated WVNY in Burlington, Vermont , separately from Viacom); in 2001, Viacom bought WLWC outright. After Viacom and CBS merged in 2000,
348-439: A channel sharing agreement with Ion Television owned-and-operated station WPXQ-TV on September 1, 2017; the station then announced that it would "cease broadcasting on October 2, 2017 at 12:30 p.m. and begin channel sharing operations with another station, but will still be found on virtual channel 28". Following the commencement of the channel sharing, channel 28.1 began carrying Ion Plus , also dropping its other subchannels in
406-415: 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
464-538: A new holding company for the stations, Four Points Media Group , who took over the operation of the stations through local marketing agreements in late-June 2007. On November 26, master control of WLWC moved from WBZ-TV to KUTV 's studios on Main Street in Downtown Salt Lake City. The entire group deal officially closed on January 10, 2008. Nexstar Broadcasting Group took over the operations of all of
522-523: A post-auction channel sharing agreement. It was one of the few successful spectrum sales for an OTA-owned station, and its only successful full-power sale. On August 7, 2017, Nexstar Media Group (which had re-entered the market earlier that year following its merger with Media General) announced that it would acquire WLWC's non-spectrum assets for $ 4.1 million; in a statement, Nexstar said that the station's CW affiliation would complement its existing ownership and operation of WPRI-TV and WNAC-TV. WLWC entered into
580-572: A price estimated to be $ 45–48 million. Hearst-Argyle announced its purchase of the nine television stations and two radio stations owned by Pulitzer Publishing Company in May 1998, in a deal worth $ 1.15 billion in stock. The acquisition was completed in March 1999. In terms of audience reach, Hearst is the third-largest group owner of ABC -affiliated stations, behind the E. W. Scripps Company and Sinclair Broadcast Group , and ahead of Tegna Inc. , and
638-468: A producer and distributor of syndicated programming. As part of Hearst-Argyle's acquisition of KCRA-TV in Sacramento, the company also acquired Kelly News & Entertainment, which was merged into Hearst-Argyle Television Productions. In January 2001, NBC Enterprises and Hearst-Argyle agreed to merge their production and distribution operations into a joint venture majority-owned by NBC; this followed
SECTION 10
#1732779596420696-478: A request with the FCC to exempt Fall River from significantly viewed status. On August 2, 2010, the station added LATV on a new second digital subchannel . This is also seen on Comcast digital channels 299 and 702, Verizon FiOS digital channel 469, and Cox digital channel 809. On September 8, 2011, Four Points Media announced the sale of its television group, including WLWC, to Sinclair Broadcast Group . Sinclair
754-620: A secondary affiliation with the network. The station launched with various syndicated shows as well as a WJAR-produced 10 p.m. newscast, known as TV 28 News at 10 , which began airing a few months after the WPRI-TV (channel 12)-produced effort on Fox affiliate WNAC-TV (channel 64). Fant had signed an LMA with WJAR's previous owner, Outlet Communications , on December 14, 1994, prior to Outlet's 1996 merger with NBC. Earlier in 1994, on March 18, Fant's station in Columbus, Ohio , WWHO , became
812-581: A secondary affiliation with the network. WLWC's master control and some internal operations were thus relocated from WJAR's studios in Cranston to WSBK's studios in Boston, with sales and public affairs offices remaining in Providence. In addition, TV 28 News at 10 was canceled by September 1997. Channel 28 became more or less a UPN O&O in May 2000, as UPN became its primary affiliation; in addition,
870-811: A subchannel of an NBC affiliate, and one which acts as a two-station simulcast), two CBS affiliates, six CW affiliates (two traditional, two subchannel (which are part of a two-station simulcast), and two channel shares), one MyNetworkTV affiliate, and one independent station . Most of the company's subchannel stations broadcast either Weigel Broadcasting 's MeTV or NBC's Cozi TV through national affiliation deals, along with being charter carriers of Weigel's two newest concepts, Heroes & Icons , and Story Television . Since December 1, 2014, Des Moines CBS affiliate KCCI has used its third subchannel as an H&I affiliate carrying MyNetworkTV programming in primetime. Hearst also owns two radio stations in Baltimore ,
928-621: A three-way swap in which Fant exchanged WLWC and WWHO to Viacom 's Paramount Stations Group subsidiary, while Paramount/Viacom-owned NBC affiliate WVIT in Hartford, Connecticut , became an NBC O&O. With the ownership change, WLWC added a secondary affiliation with UPN , and became a sister station to Boston's UPN affiliate, WSBK-TV , which until then had doubled as the UPN affiliate for Providence–New Bedford and (as with WLVI) had long been carried on Rhode Island cable systems, while WNAC-TV had
986-425: 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
1044-496: 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,
1102-470: 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
1160-792: 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
1218-488: Is partially related to the company of the same name who (in 1994) sold its stations to New World Communications , stations that eventually became Fox -owned stations (Hearst itself, unusual for any American broadcast group, has never held a Fox affiliation on any of its stations). Hearst's involvement in broadcasting dates to the 1920s. In 1980, Hearst Broadcasting purchased WDTN in Dayton, Ohio , from Grinnell College for
SECTION 20
#17327795964201276-692: The Baltimore Ravens radio and television networks, and as the flagship/operations base for the Baltimore Orioles Radio Network . On August 20, 2014, it was announced that Hearst Television would acquire WVTM in Birmingham, Alabama, and WJCL in Savannah, Georgia, from Media General , which divested those stations under FCC advisement as part of its acquisition of LIN Media . In 2021, Hearst began to carry
1334-405: 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
1392-534: 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
1450-449: The "Commitment (Year)" banner for all political news coverage leading up to the local, national, and statewide elections in lieu of a localized version of their associated network's political branding. This started in 2000. Hearst also maintains a Washington, D.C. bureau to assist its stations in coverage of national politics, including on-air reporters and facilities and equipment assistance for local stations. Many Hearst stations license
1508-603: The "Operation High School" branding for coverage of local high school sports . In 2007, Hearst-Argyle became one of the first television broadcasting groups to post its news stories on YouTube . WCVB-TV , KCRA-TV , WTAE-TV , WBAL-TV and WMUR-TV were the first stations in Hearst-Argyle's station group to do this. Until 2009, three of Hearst's television stations ( KCWE , WMOR-TV , and WPBF ) and its two radio stations ( WBAL radio and WIYY ) were owned by Hearst Broadcasting, Inc., an indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of
1566-429: The FCC's then-upcoming spectrum reallocation incentive auction , and had no interest in the long run in running their stations, including WLWC, as going concerns. The station's physical spectrum was considered valuable in the crowded New England region, and OTA sought to sell it off. In the FCC's incentive auction, WLWC's spectrum was sold by OTA Broadcasting for $ 125,932,367, which then indicated that it would enter into
1624-788: The Four Points stations in March 2009. At one point, the station had studios on State Street in Downtown Providence. On June 30, 2010, WLWC invoked the FCC's network non-duplication rule. This resulted in Comcast blacking out prime time CW programming on WLVI-TV in Fall River, Massachusetts . This did not impact the rest of the communities in Bristol County , due to the fact that WLVI-TV still has "significantly viewed" status across Bristol County. However, WLWC filed
1682-672: The Hearst Corporation announced that it would purchase substantially all of the stock not held by Hearst. Hearst-Argyle Television then dropped "Argyle" from its name and became a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Hearst Corporation. In February 2009, Hearst-Argyle announced that its stations (except for KITV and its satellites in Hawaii , which had already completed their transition to digital, and WPTZ in Plattsburgh, New York , and WNNE in Hartford, Vermont , which followed
1740-477: The Hearst Corporation through which Hearst ultimately controlled Hearst-Argyle Television, as opposed to Hearst-Argyle itself; Hearst-Argyle still operated these stations under a management services agreement. These stations were transferred to Hearst Television shortly after its privatization. Hearst's television and radio cluster in Baltimore additionally serves as the flagship stations and operation bases for
1798-614: The Hearst stations and A&E , the show is distributed in national broadcast syndication by Sony Pictures Television . In 2019, former Today consumer affairs reporter Jeff Rossen joined Hearst as a multi-platform consumer affairs reporter, whose reports (which as of April 2020, include COVID-19 pandemic consumer issue Q&A segments) are syndicated throughout the chain, in addition to full-scale semi-annual consumer specials that are also carried by Hearst Television stations. Hearst once owned Hearst-Argyle Television Productions,
WLWC - Misplaced Pages Continue
1856-670: The Massachusetts side of the market. WLWC began broadcasting April 14, 1997, as an affiliate of The WB . It was owned by Fant Broadcasting and operated by NBC - owned WJAR (channel 10) under a local marketing agreement (LMA). For the first 27 months of The WB's existence, residents in the Providence–New Bedford market received programming from the network primarily via Boston 's WLVI-TV , which had been carried on cable in Rhode Island for decades, while WJAR had
1914-647: 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
1972-715: The Viacom split in December 2005) to form The CW Television Network . At the same time, the new network signed a 10-year affiliation agreement with 11 of CBS' UPN stations, including WLWC. However, it was a near-certainty that WLWC would become an affiliate of The CW in any event, given that it was a dual UPN/WB affiliate. On February 7, 2007, CBS announced it was selling WLWC and seven other stations in Austin, Texas , Salt Lake City, Utah , and West Palm Beach, Florida, to Cerberus Capital Management for $ 185 million. Cerberus then formed
2030-509: The company began the process of purchasing NBC affiliate WBBH-TV in Fort Myers, Florida , which would be acquired from Waterman Broadcasting for $ 220 million. The transaction included the local marketing agreement (LMA) for ABC affiliate WZVN-TV with Montclair Communications. The sale was completed on June 30, 2023. Hearst Television also produces the weekly public-affairs program Matter of Fact with Soledad O'Brien . Outside of
2088-463: The conference created regional interest for the ACC. Until May 2007, two of WBZ's weekday morning personalities were shown on WLWC's broadcast of The Daily Buzz as the station itself had none. During the program's weather reports, meteorologist Barry Burbank did a thirty-second local weather cut-in. During commercial breaks, traffic reporter Rich Kirkland would give a quick traffic update. After CBS sold
2146-420: 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
2204-564: The home shopping network Shop LC on several its stations under a revenue-sharing agreement with that network's owners. In most markets, Hearst did not pursue cable or satellite carriage for Shop LC, as the network already pays providers nationwide to carry its network on several channel slots per system. On September 20, 2021, Hearst launched Very Local , an over-the-top media service which consists of news programming from its television stations as well as nationally produced content such as Chronicle and Matter of Fact . On April 5, 2023,
2262-498: The junior partner in an LMA with Outlet-owned NBC affiliate WCMH-TV . The LMA arrangement allowed channel 28 to come to the air; the station's original construction permit was granted to Metrovision Inc., a company controlled by Franklin D. Graham, on November 8, 1982. Although a site was selected in East Freetown, Massachusetts , and construction begun on a studio and transmitter, financial problems prevented channel 28 (which
2320-491: The last remaining from the company divesting most of their radio assets after the Telecommunications Act of 1996 went into effect. As already mentioned above, none of Hearst's stations have ever held a Fox affiliation, with the exception of two WMUR translators in the northern part of New Hampshire dis-affiliating with the network upon Hearst's assumption of ownership of WMUR. Some Hearst-owned stations use
2378-400: 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
WLWC - Misplaced Pages Continue
2436-419: 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
2494-560: The morning newscast; in its place, on September 13, the station, along with seven other Viacom-owned UPN stations, began airing the nationally syndicated morning program The Daily Buzz . Sports Final and Red Sox This Week were retained (though Sports Final now aired on a half-hour tape delay from its WBZ-TV broadcast), and WLWC also added Phantom Gourmet from WSBK. Beginning with the 2005 season, WLWC (along with WSBK) began airing syndicated broadcasts of ACC college football and men's basketball games as Boston College 's move to
2552-487: The operations of WLWC and WSBK were integrated with those of WBZ-TV at WBZ's facility on Soldiers Field Road in the Brighton section of Boston. When Viacom split into two companies in 2005, WLWC, along with the rest of Viacom's television stations , became part of CBS Corporation. On January 24, 2006, Time Warner announced that the company would merge The WB with CBS Corporation's UPN (which CBS took ownership of after
2610-481: The other Champlain Valley stations in transitioning on February 17, 2009) would comply with the new DTV transition date of June 12, 2009. Currently, Hearst owns a total of 34 overall television stations but considers two groups of four stations and an NBC station with an ABC digital subchannel joint operations, bringing its count down to 31 under that consideration: eleven NBC affiliates, fifteen ABC affiliates (one as
2668-464: The process; CW programming relocated to WNAC's second digital subchannel, sending MyNetworkTV to WPRI's second digital subchannel. On December 5, 2017, Ion exercised an option to buy the WLWC license for $ 150,000; the deal was made possible by the new Trump administration and an FCC which removed ownership rules that required "eight voices" (or separate station owners) in a market following the formation of
2726-476: 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
2784-456: The sale on March 19. The deal was completed on April 2. Sinclair would later re-enter the Providence market with its purchase of WJAR on August 24, 2014, as part of the merger of Media General (WJAR's owner) and LIN Media (WPRI's owner), which required Media General to spin off either WJAR or WPRI (the latter included the LMA with WNAC). OTA Broadcasting was created specifically to take advantage of
2842-671: The second-largest group owner of NBC affiliates, behind Tegna. Hearst-owned ABC affiliates in National Football League markets simulcast Monday Night Football games from ESPN that involve these teams - ESPN is 20% owned by Hearst, the rest being owned by ABC's parent, The Walt Disney Company . Other Hearst-owned stations also carry ESPN-aired NFL games, even though they are affiliated with other networks (like WBAL-TV , Baltimore's NBC affiliate). Hearst also holds some joint ventures for syndicated programming with NBCUniversal Syndication Studios . On June 3, 2009,
2900-455: The station became an affiliate of Court TV after Ion Plus was shut down. As a primary WB affiliate, WLWC aired Kids' WB programming; after the station became a primary UPN affiliate, the block was dropped, as UPN also carried a children's programming block ( Disney's One Too ). Kids' WB was not picked up again after UPN canceled its own children's block in 2003. The block, which was replaced with The CW4Kids in 2008, returned to WLWC when
2958-443: The station began airing CW programming. ( The CW4Kids was renamed Toonzai in 2010 and then Vortexx in 2012; the block ended in 2014.) On April 1, 2002, WBZ-TV added its weekday morning newscast and Sports Final to WLWC's lineup; a year later, WSBK-TV's Red Sox This Week was also added to the schedule. This was done to serve viewers inconvenienced by Cox's removal of WBZ from its Rhode Island systems. In 2004, WLWC dropped
SECTION 50
#17327795964203016-496: The station signed a deal with The WB to retain its programming on a secondary basis through what a Paramount Stations Group executive described as a "program license agreement". For most of the television era, the FCC had not allowed common ownership of stations with overlapping city-grade signals. Just months earlier, WNAC-TV had to be sold because its previous owner, Argyle Television, had merged with Hearst Broadcasting , owner of Boston's WCVB-TV —the second time in three years that
3074-743: The station to Four Points, Sports Final and Red Sox This Week were dropped and the WBZ morning personalities were removed from The Daily Buzz . The station also aired two local public affairs shows on Sunday mornings, The Jim Vincent Show and a rebroadcast of WSBE-TV 's A Lively Experiment . WLWC discontinued regular programming on its analog signal, over UHF channel 28, at midnight on December 9, 2008. The station's digital signal remained on its pre-transition UHF channel 22, using virtual channel 28. Television station The Fernsehsender Paul Nipkow ( TV Station Paul Nipkow ) in Berlin , Germany ,
3132-462: 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
3190-513: Was assigned the call letters WFDG, referring to Graham, on December 22, 1982; it became WLWC on August 1, 1995) from signing on. After several ownership changes, Fant purchased the permit on January 3, 1995. Although both of Fant's LMAs with Outlet were intended to expire after ten years, by the time channel 28 signed on, NBC had let it be known that it did not want to run stations outside its core owned-and-operated (O&O) group, and pushed Fant to sell WLWC and WWHO. On July 31, 1997, NBC announced
3248-526: Was completed on January 3, 2012. However, just over a year later on January 11, 2013, Sinclair announced that it would sell WLWC to Fairfax, Virginia –based OTA Broadcasting , LLC (a company controlled by Michael Dell 's MSD Capital ), for $ 13.75 million. This was Sinclair's second divestiture after the announcement of the sale of WLAJ in Lansing, Michigan , in October 2012. The FCC granted its approval of
3306-490: Was expected to begin operating the stations via a local marketing agreement following antitrust approval and prior to the closing expected in the first quarter of 2012. At the time of the sale, Sinclair owned only one other television station in New England: Portland, Maine 's CBS affiliate WGME-TV . However, Sinclair was also a former owner of Springfield, Massachusetts ' ABC affiliate WGGB-TV . The deal
3364-678: 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
#419580