WAMY-TV
Encyclopedia
"WAMY-TV" is the MyNetworkTV
-affiliated television station
for the Tennessee Valley
area of Northeastern Alabama
. In most areas, the station broadcasts on Comcast
and Charter
cable channel 8. As a result, its logo refers to this although it is known on-air as My WAMY. There some locations, including Decatur
, where the station is located on other cable systems and channels. Owned by Grant Broadcasting System II
, WAMY is sister to Fox affiliate WZDX
and the two share studios on North Memorial Parkway (U.S. 231
/U.S. 431
/and U.S. 72
) in Huntsville
.
WAMY can also be seen on WZDX's second digital subchannel. This airs on UHF channel 41.2 from a transmitter in Monte Sano Mountain in the Mountain Heights section of the city. Syndicated
programing on the station includes: Everybody Loves Raymond
, Seinfeld
, Maury
, and The Wendy Williams Show
. Many MyNetworkTV affiliates are housed on digital subchannels of other stations and use their call signs but WAMY and cable-only "WNFM-TV" in Southwest Florida
are the only network affiliates that have fictional calls.
The station first began broadcasting in 1998. It was only offered on cable and was affiliated with the new WB network via The WB 100+
, a group of cable-only WB stations that shared programming outside of primetime. It had the call letters WAWB-TV and used them in a fictional manner. Those calls should not be confused with WUPV
in Richmond, Virginia
which used the calls officially from 1995 until 1997. As a WB affiliate, WAWB was known on-air as "The Valley's WB". It was unusual that when the station signed-on it was a cable-only WB affiliate. That arrangement was common for television markets
numerically ranked at 100 or above. In those areas, The WB was offered on cable as part of The WB 100+. The Huntsville/Decatur/Florence market is ranked at 84 well below the cut off at 100.
In 2002, when WZDX launched the second digital signal of the market on UHF channel 41, WAWB began to be seen on that station's new second digital subchannel. This move was made in order to offer non-cable viewers access to WB programming. On January 24, 2006, The WB and UPN
announced that they would end broadcasting and merge. The new network would be called The CW. The letters would represent the first initial of its corporate parents: CBS
(the parent company of UPN) and the Warner Bros.
unit of Time Warner
. On February 22, News Corporation
announced that it would start up another new broadcast network called MyNetworkTV. This new network, which would be sister to Fox, would be operated by Fox Television Stations and its syndication division Twentieth Television.
MyNetworkTV was created to give UPN and WB stations, not mentioned as becoming CW affiliates, another option besides becoming independent
. It was also created to compete against The CW. On April 4, UPN affiliate WHDF
was announced as becoming the market's CW affiliate. On April 18, it was made public that WAWB was to become the area's MyNetworkTV affiliate. The staton began showing the new MyNetworkTV network logo in the corner of the screen on June 1 during promotions of the coming switch. WAWB changed its fictional call letters to "WAMY-TV" when MyNetworkTV began broadcasting on September 5. WHDF began broadcasting The CW on September 18.
MyNetworkTV
MyNetworkTV is a television broadcast syndication service in the United States, owned by the Fox Entertainment Group, a division of News Corporation...
-affiliated television station
Television station
A television station is a business, organisation or other such as an amateur television operator that transmits content over terrestrial television. A television transmission can be by analog television signals or, more recently, by digital television. Broadcast television systems standards are...
for the Tennessee Valley
Tennessee Valley
The Tennessee Valley is the drainage basin of the Tennessee River and is largely within the U.S. state of Tennessee. It stretches from southwest Kentucky to northwest Georgia and from northeast Mississippi to the mountains of Virginia and North Carolina...
area of Northeastern Alabama
North Alabama
North Alabama is a region of the U.S. state of Alabama, generally considered to include 12 counties: Cherokee, Colbert, DeKalb, Franklin, Jackson, Lauderdale, Lawrence, Limestone, Madison, Marshall, Morgan, and Winston, with a combined population of 958,247, or 20.84% of the state's population as...
. In most areas, the station broadcasts on Comcast
Comcast
Comcast Corporation is the largest cable operator, home Internet service provider, and fourth largest home telephone service provider in the United States, providing cable television, broadband Internet, and telephone service to both residential and commercial customers in 39 states and the...
and Charter
Charter Communications
Charter Communications is an American company providing cable television, high-speed Internet, and telephone services to more than 4.7 million customers in 25 states. By revenues, it is the fourth-largest cable operator in the United States, behind Comcast, Time Warner Cable, and Cox Communications...
cable channel 8. As a result, its logo refers to this although it is known on-air as My WAMY. There some locations, including Decatur
Decatur, Alabama
Decatur is a city in Limestone and Morgan Counties in the U.S. state of Alabama. The city, affectionately known as "The River City", is located in Northern Alabama on the banks of Wheeler Lake, along the Tennessee River. It is the largest city and county seat of Morgan County...
, where the station is located on other cable systems and channels. Owned by Grant Broadcasting System II
Grant Broadcasting System II
Based in Roanoke, Virginia, Grant Broadcasting System II is an owner of various television stations in the United States....
, WAMY is sister to Fox affiliate WZDX
WZDX
WZDX is the Fox-affiliated television station for North Alabama's Tennessee Valley. Licensed to Huntsville, it broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 41 from a transmitter on Monte Sano Boulevard Southeast in Madison County . The station can also be seen on Knology channel 4 as...
and the two share studios on North Memorial Parkway (U.S. 231
U.S. Route 231
U.S. Route 231 is a parallel route of U.S. Route 31. It currently runs for 912 miles from St. John, Indiana, at U.S. Route 41 to south of U.S. Route 98 in Downtown Panama City, Florida.One of its most notable landmarks is the William H...
/U.S. 431
U.S. Route 431
U.S. Route 431 is a spur of U.S. Route 31. It currently runs for 556 miles from Owensboro, Kentucky at U.S. Route 60 to Dothan, Alabama, at U.S. Route 231 and U.S. Route 84. Through many parts of US 431 it is a two lane with not many places of it being a four lane highway.-Alabama:U.S. 431 is...
/and U.S. 72
U.S. Route 72
U.S. Route 72 is an east–west United States highway that runs for 337 miles from southeast Tennessee through northern Alabama and northern Mississippi to southwest Tennessee. The highway's eastern terminus is Chattanooga, Tennessee. Its western terminus is Memphis, Tennessee...
) in Huntsville
Huntsville, Alabama
Huntsville is a city located primarily in Madison County in the central part of the far northern region of the U.S. state of Alabama. Huntsville is the county seat of Madison County. The city extends west into neighboring Limestone County. Huntsville's population was 180,105 as of the 2010 Census....
.
WAMY can also be seen on WZDX's second digital subchannel. This airs on UHF channel 41.2 from a transmitter in Monte Sano Mountain in the Mountain Heights section of the city. Syndicated
Television syndication
In broadcasting, syndication is the sale of the right to broadcast radio shows and television shows by multiple radio stations and television stations, without going through a broadcast network, though the process of syndication may conjure up structures like those of a network itself, by its very...
programing on the station includes: Everybody Loves Raymond
Everybody Loves Raymond
Everybody Loves Raymond is an American television sitcom that originally ran on CBS from September 13, 1996, to May 16, 2005. Many of the situations from the show are based on the real-life experiences of lead actor Ray Romano, creator/producer Phil Rosenthal and the show's writing staff...
, Seinfeld
Seinfeld
Seinfeld is an American television sitcom that originally aired on NBC from July 5, 1989, to May 14, 1998, lasting nine seasons, and is now in syndication. It was created by Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld, the latter starring as a fictionalized version of himself...
, Maury
Maury (TV series)
Maury is a syndicated American tabloid talk show hosted by Maury Povich.When the series first aired in 1991, the show was called The Maury Povich Show and was produced by MoPo Productions in association with Paramount Domestic Television...
, and The Wendy Williams Show
The Wendy Williams Show
The Wendy Williams Show is a syndicated talk show hosted by Wendy Williams that premiered on July 14, 2008, as six-week sneak peek, in Detroit, Dallas, Los Angeles, and New York City. The test run was picked up for a full season that began its run on July 13, 2009 in over 70% of the country in...
. Many MyNetworkTV affiliates are housed on digital subchannels of other stations and use their call signs but WAMY and cable-only "WNFM-TV" in Southwest Florida
Southwest Florida
Southwest Florida is a region of Florida , United States located along its gulf coast, south of the Tampa Bay area, west of Lake Okeechobee and mostly north of the Everglades...
are the only network affiliates that have fictional calls.
History
The WB 100+ Station Group
The WB 100+ Station Group was a group of primarily non-broadcast local cable television outlets for The WB Television Network, for markets below the top 100 television media markets in the United States. Dayparts with no WB programming were programmed by the network...
, a group of cable-only WB stations that shared programming outside of primetime. It had the call letters WAWB-TV and used them in a fictional manner. Those calls should not be confused with WUPV
WUPV
WUPV is the CW-affiliated television station for Richmond, Virginia that is licensed to Ashland. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 47 from a transmitter northeast of the city in King William County along the Hanover County line...
in Richmond, Virginia
Richmond, Virginia
Richmond is the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia, in the United States. It is an independent city and not part of any county. Richmond is the center of the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Greater Richmond area...
which used the calls officially from 1995 until 1997. As a WB affiliate, WAWB was known on-air as "The Valley's WB". It was unusual that when the station signed-on it was a cable-only WB affiliate. That arrangement was common for television markets
Media market
A media market, broadcast market, media region, designated market area , Television Market Area , or simply market is a region where the population can receive the same television and radio station offerings, and may also include other types of media including newspapers and Internet content...
numerically ranked at 100 or above. In those areas, The WB was offered on cable as part of The WB 100+. The Huntsville/Decatur/Florence market is ranked at 84 well below the cut off at 100.
In 2002, when WZDX launched the second digital signal of the market on UHF channel 41, WAWB began to be seen on that station's new second digital subchannel. This move was made in order to offer non-cable viewers access to WB programming. On January 24, 2006, The WB and UPN
UPN
United Paramount Network was a television network that was broadcast in over 200 markets in the United States from 1995 to 2006. UPN was originally owned by Viacom/Paramount and Chris-Craft Industries, the former of which, through the Paramount Television Group, produced most of the network's...
announced that they would end broadcasting and merge. The new network would be called The CW. The letters would represent the first initial of its corporate parents: CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
(the parent company of UPN) and the Warner Bros.
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...
unit of Time Warner
Time Warner
Time Warner is one of the world's largest media companies, headquartered in the Time Warner Center in New York City. Formerly two separate companies, Warner Communications, Inc...
. On February 22, News Corporation
News Corporation
News Corporation or News Corp. is an American multinational media conglomerate. It is the world's second-largest media conglomerate as of 2011 in terms of revenue, and the world's third largest in entertainment as of 2009, although the BBC remains the world's largest broadcaster...
announced that it would start up another new broadcast network called MyNetworkTV. This new network, which would be sister to Fox, would be operated by Fox Television Stations and its syndication division Twentieth Television.
MyNetworkTV was created to give UPN and WB stations, not mentioned as becoming CW affiliates, another option besides becoming independent
Independent station
An independent station is in the category of television terminology used to describe a television station broadcasting in the United States or Canada that is not affiliated with any television network....
. It was also created to compete against The CW. On April 4, UPN affiliate WHDF
WHDF
WHDF is The CW affiliate in northern Alabama, airing on channel 15. WHDF is under the ownership of Lockwood Broadcasting.WHDF's studios are located in Florence, and the station maintains a Huntsville sales office on Andrew Jackson Way, in the Five Points neighborhood...
was announced as becoming the market's CW affiliate. On April 18, it was made public that WAWB was to become the area's MyNetworkTV affiliate. The staton began showing the new MyNetworkTV network logo in the corner of the screen on June 1 during promotions of the coming switch. WAWB changed its fictional call letters to "WAMY-TV" when MyNetworkTV began broadcasting on September 5. WHDF began broadcasting The CW on September 18.