WATM-TV
Encyclopedia
WATM-TV is the ABC
-affiliated television station
for the Allegheny
area of Pennsylvania
that is licensed to Altoona
. It broadcasts a high definition
digital signal on UHF channel 24 from a transmitter on Wopsy Mountain east of Dysart
. Owned by Palm Television, the station is operated by Peak Media through a local marketing agreement
(LMA). This makes it sister to Fox affiliate WWCP-TV
and the two share studios on Scalp Avenue (PA 56
) in Johnstown
. Syndicated
programming on WATM includes: Wheel of Fortune
, Jeopardy!
, Everybody Loves Raymond
, and The Dr. Oz Show
. The station can also be seen on WWCP's second digital subchannel (VHF channel 8.2) from a transmitter on Laurel Mountain
along U.S. 30
. In addition to the main studios, WATM operates sales offices in State College
(on West Beaver Avenue) and Altoona (on East Walton Avenue).
and Johnstown were separate markets
. The station was unable to afford a network feed. For most of its history, engineers simply switched to and from the signal of WTPA-TV (now WHTM-TV
) in Harrisburg
. It did not help matters that Scranton's WNEP-TV
had long operated two outlying translators (one presently) in State College, the second-biggest city in the area.
Already struggling for viewership, WOPC was dealt a fatal blow in 1982 when Johnstown and Altoona/State College were collapsed into a single market. The station's signal was all but unviewable in the western portion of the enlarged market. As a result, it went dark shortly afterward. For the next few years, the ABC affiliation in this vast market was split between three stations in neighboring markets. WHTM was the de facto ABC affiliate for Altoona, WNEP served State College, and WTAE-TV
in Pittsburgh served Johnstown.
In 1986, the area's soon-to-be Fox affiliate, WWCP, faced a problem. It had originally been slated to be a Pittsburgh station, but its owners petitioned the Federal Communications Commission
(FCC) to move the license to Johnstown. In their petition, WWCP's owners cited lower programming costs in the Johnstown/Altoona/State College market. They also cited possible interference with WJW in Cleveland. The FCC granted the request on condition that WWCP build its transmitter in a location that would allow Pittsburgh to get a Grade B signal from the station. However, this meant channel 8 would be virtually unviewable in the eastern portion of the area. WWCP's owners solved this problem by buying the dormant channel 38 license and moving it to channel 23. As a result, the old WOPC returned to the air on October 13, 1986 as WWPC-TV, a satellite of WWCP.
At the time, WHTM and WTAE both preempted moderate amounts of ABC programming and it soon became obvious that Johnstown/Altoona/State College needed its own affiliate. As a result, WWPC split from WWCP and became an ABC affiliate on August 27, 1988 under new calls, WATM-TV. The station was later sold to Palm Television in order to comply with FCC ownership regulations regarding network affiliates. However, WATM is still managed by WWCP under a local marketing agreement as Peak Media feared that if allowed to operate separately both stations would be put in jeopardy of going dark
. On February 17, 2009, the original date for the analog television shutdown and digital conversion, WATM remained on its pre-transition channel number, 24. The station shut down analog transmissions and began broadcasting exclusively in digital. However, through the use of PSIP
, digital television receivers display its virtual channel
as 23.
The digital conversion significantly improved WATM's coverage in the market. Previously, it had been plagued for most of its history by its weak 708,000 watt
analog signal. The station's signal was marginal at best even in Altoona, five miles from the transmitter. It only provided Grade B coverage of Johnstown and State College, and most viewers in this vast market could only watch it on cable. However, with the station's digital transmitter licensed for a full one million watts(the equivalent to five million watts for an analog UHF transmitter) WATM gained a coverage area comparable to the other major stations in the market. Additionally, the station was picked up on WWCP's digital subcarrier, and carries an HD simulcast of WWCP on one of its subchannels. In November 2010 it was announced that Horseshoe Curve Communications would acquire Peak Media's assets including WWCP and its 14 year old agreement to operate WATM. In February 2011 WATM added a third channel to their lineup in the form of an SD feed of ThisTV.
and WTAJ-TV
who had market wide coverage. Due in part to continued ratings struggles, WATM's separate news department was shut down in December 2002 and merged with WWCP in Johnstown.
On November 28, 2007, The Tribune Democrat reported that the shared news department of WATM and WWCP was going to shut down. According to a written statement, the two stations had been operating at a loss for years and the move was needed. The closure resulted in all reporters being released from their contracts. NBC
affiliate WJAC had on-air positions open but no personalities from those two stations were hired. Effective January 14, 2008, WJAC assumed production responsibility of the prime time show (still known as Fox 8 News at 10) which was reduced to 35 minutes on weeknights and thirty minutes on weekends. The WJAC-produced news uses the same music package and some voice-overs seen during segment opens as the former operation did. A new graphics package slightly different from WJAC and new logos similar to the WWCP promo logo introduced in 2007 were created specifically for the 10 o'clock program.
Since WJAC has prior commitments with news and weather cut-ins during Today, WATM still produces its own Good Morning America
news and weather cut-ins that are seen Tuesday through Saturday mornings. Former WWCP co-anchor Sherry Stalley, who was still under contract when the news department shut down, anchored the updates. The cut-ins use news video from the previous day's WJAC-produced WWCP broadcast and the same graphics package. On Sunday and Monday, the cut-ins are filled by WATM promos. In October 2010, Stalley was hired by WJAC to return as the anchor for Fox 8 News but on Monday March 14, 2011, Stalley's picture was removed from the Fox 8 Website and is no longer with the station. While a replacement for Stalley was sought, WJAC anchor Marty Radovanic served as anchor for the station's 10:00p.m. newscast, and the Good Morning America
news and weather cut-ins still produced by WATM were filled by former WWCP/WATM Executive Producer, Josh Bandish. On March 22, 2011 former WWCP/WATM reporter Christine Strugala, returned to the station to take on anchoring duties for the Fox 8 News at 10 along with Good Morning America news and weather cut-ins on abc 23.
WJAC's nightly 11 o'clock newscast was simulcasted on WATM and branded as ABC 23 News from January 2007 until March 2011 when it was replaced by syndicated episodes of Seinfeld
.
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
-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 Allegheny
Allegheny Mountains
The Allegheny Mountain Range , also spelled Alleghany, Allegany and, informally, the Alleghenies, is part of the vast Appalachian Mountain Range of the eastern United States and Canada...
area of Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
that is licensed to Altoona
Altoona, Pennsylvania
-History:A major railroad town, Altoona was founded by the Pennsylvania Railroad in 1849 as the site for a shop complex. Altoona was incorporated as a borough on February 6, 1854, and as a city under legislation approved on April 3, 1867, and February 8, 1868...
. It broadcasts a high definition
High-definition television
High-definition television is video that has resolution substantially higher than that of traditional television systems . HDTV has one or two million pixels per frame, roughly five times that of SD...
digital signal on UHF channel 24 from a transmitter on Wopsy Mountain east of Dysart
Dysart, Pennsylvania
Dysart is a small town located in Dean Township, Cambria County, Pennsylvania. It lies along the railroad that runs parallel to the Clearfield Creek between Ashville and Frugality. The town grew up around the extraction of timber and when that was exhausted, bituminous coal...
. Owned by Palm Television, the station is operated by Peak Media through a local marketing agreement
Local marketing agreement
In U.S. and Canadian broadcasting, a local marketing agreement is an agreement in which one company agrees to operate a radio or television station owned by another licensee...
(LMA). This makes it sister to Fox affiliate WWCP-TV
WWCP-TV
WWCP-TV is the Fox-affiliated television station for the Allegheny area of Pennsylvania that is licensed to Johnstown. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on VHF channel 8 from a transmitter on Laurel Mountain along U.S. 30...
and the two share studios on Scalp Avenue (PA 56
Pennsylvania Route 56
Pennsylvania Route 56 is a major long state highway located in central Pennsylvania. Its western terminus is at the eastern approach to the C.L. Schmitt Bridge in New Kensington. Its eastern terminus is U.S. Route 30 west of Bedford.- Route description :...
) in Johnstown
Johnstown, Pennsylvania
Johnstown is a city in Cambria County, Pennsylvania, United States, west-southwest of Altoona, Pennsylvania and east of Pittsburgh. The population was 20,978 at the 2010 census. It is the principal city of the Johnstown, Pennsylvania, Metropolitan Statistical Area, which includes Cambria County...
. 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...
programming on WATM includes: Wheel of Fortune
Wheel of Fortune (U.S. game show)
Wheel of Fortune is an American television game show created by Merv Griffin, which premiered in 1975. Contestants compete to solve word puzzles, similar to those used in Hangman, to win cash and prizes determined by spinning a large wheel. The title refers to the show's giant carnival wheel that...
, Jeopardy!
Jeopardy!
Griffin's first conception of the game used a board comprising ten categories with ten clues each, but after finding that this board could not be shown on camera easily, he reduced it to two rounds of thirty clues each, with five clues in each of six categories...
, 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...
, and The Dr. Oz Show
The Dr. Oz Show
The Dr. Oz Show is an American syndicated television talk show, hosted by Dr. Mehmet Oz, a cardiothoracic surgeon and teaching professor at Columbia University who became famous for his appearances on The Oprah Winfrey Show from 2004 until 2009....
. The station can also be seen on WWCP's second digital subchannel (VHF channel 8.2) from a transmitter on Laurel Mountain
Laurel Mountain, Pennsylvania
Laurel Mountain is a borough in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, United States. The borough is located at the foot ofLaurel Mountain and is convenient to skiing, hiking and other outdoor activities...
along U.S. 30
U.S. Route 30 in Pennsylvania
In the U.S. state of Pennsylvania, U.S. Route 30 runs east–west across the southern part of the state, passing through Pittsburgh and Philadelphia on its way from the West Virginia state line east to the Benjamin Franklin Bridge over the Delaware River into New Jersey...
. In addition to the main studios, WATM operates sales offices in State College
State College, Pennsylvania
State College is the largest borough in Centre County in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. It is the principal city of the State College, Pennsylvania Metropolitan Statistical Area which encompasses all of Centre County. As of the 2010 census, the borough population was 42,034, and roughly double...
(on West Beaver Avenue) and Altoona (on East Walton Avenue).
Digital programming
WATM-TV's signal is multiplexed, carrying local FOX affiliate WWCP in HD on 23.2.| Virtual channel | Digital channel | Resolution | Aspect Aspect ratio (image) The aspect ratio of an image is the ratio of the width of the image to its height, expressed as two numbers separated by a colon. That is, for an x:y aspect ratio, no matter how big or small the image is, if the width is divided into x units of equal length and the height is measured using this... |
Programming |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 23.1 | 24.1 | 1280x720p 720p 720p is the shorthand name for 1280x720, a category of High-definition television video modes having a resolution of 1080 or 720p and a progressive scan... |
16:9 16:9 16:9 is an aspect ratio with a width of 16 units and height of 9. Since 2009, it has become the most common aspect ratio for sold televisions and computer monitors and is also the international standard format of HDTV, Full HD, non-HD digital television and analog widescreen television ... |
main WATM-TV programming / ABC HD |
| 23.2 | 24.2 | 1280x720p 720p 720p is the shorthand name for 1280x720, a category of High-definition television video modes having a resolution of 1080 or 720p and a progressive scan... |
16:9 16:9 16:9 is an aspect ratio with a width of 16 units and height of 9. Since 2009, it has become the most common aspect ratio for sold televisions and computer monitors and is also the international standard format of HDTV, Full HD, non-HD digital television and analog widescreen television ... |
WWCP-TV programming / FOX HD |
| 23.3 | 24.3 | 704x480i 480i 480i is the shorthand name for a video mode, namely the US NTSC television system or digital television systems with the same characteristics. The i, which is sometimes uppercase, stands for interlaced, the 480 for a vertical frame resolution of 480 lines containing picture information; while NTSC... |
4:3 | ThisTV programming / ThisTV SD |
History
This station originally signed-on November 28, 1974 as WOPC-TV and was an ABC affiliate broadcasting in analog on UHF channel 38. At the time, Altoona/State CollegeState College, Pennsylvania
State College is the largest borough in Centre County in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. It is the principal city of the State College, Pennsylvania Metropolitan Statistical Area which encompasses all of Centre County. As of the 2010 census, the borough population was 42,034, and roughly double...
and Johnstown were separate 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...
. The station was unable to afford a network feed. For most of its history, engineers simply switched to and from the signal of WTPA-TV (now WHTM-TV
WHTM-TV
WHTM-TV "ABC 27" is the ABC-affiliated television station for South Central Pennsylvania that's licensed to Harrisburg. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on VHF channel 10 from a transmitter on the ridge north of I-81 along the Cumberland and Perry County line...
) in Harrisburg
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
Harrisburg is the capital of Pennsylvania. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 49,528, making it the ninth largest city in Pennsylvania...
. It did not help matters that Scranton's WNEP-TV
WNEP-TV
WNEP-TV is the ABC-affiliated television station for northeastern Pennsylvania licensed to Scranton. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 50 from a transmitter on Penobscot Knob in Mountain Top...
had long operated two outlying translators (one presently) in State College, the second-biggest city in the area.
Already struggling for viewership, WOPC was dealt a fatal blow in 1982 when Johnstown and Altoona/State College were collapsed into a single market. The station's signal was all but unviewable in the western portion of the enlarged market. As a result, it went dark shortly afterward. For the next few years, the ABC affiliation in this vast market was split between three stations in neighboring markets. WHTM was the de facto ABC affiliate for Altoona, WNEP served State College, and WTAE-TV
WTAE-TV
WTAE-TV is the ABC affiliated television station for Western Pennsylvania that is licensed to Pittsburgh, broadcasting on UHF channel 51 and identifying via PSIP as channel 4 . It also serves as an ABC affiliate for the Wheeling/Steubenville and Clarksburg/Weston, West Virginia market areas...
in Pittsburgh served Johnstown.
In 1986, the area's soon-to-be Fox affiliate, WWCP, faced a problem. It had originally been slated to be a Pittsburgh station, but its owners petitioned the Federal Communications Commission
Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, created, Congressional statute , and with the majority of its commissioners appointed by the current President. The FCC works towards six goals in the areas of broadband, competition, the spectrum, the...
(FCC) to move the license to Johnstown. In their petition, WWCP's owners cited lower programming costs in the Johnstown/Altoona/State College market. They also cited possible interference with WJW in Cleveland. The FCC granted the request on condition that WWCP build its transmitter in a location that would allow Pittsburgh to get a Grade B signal from the station. However, this meant channel 8 would be virtually unviewable in the eastern portion of the area. WWCP's owners solved this problem by buying the dormant channel 38 license and moving it to channel 23. As a result, the old WOPC returned to the air on October 13, 1986 as WWPC-TV, a satellite of WWCP.
At the time, WHTM and WTAE both preempted moderate amounts of ABC programming and it soon became obvious that Johnstown/Altoona/State College needed its own affiliate. As a result, WWPC split from WWCP and became an ABC affiliate on August 27, 1988 under new calls, WATM-TV. The station was later sold to Palm Television in order to comply with FCC ownership regulations regarding network affiliates. However, WATM is still managed by WWCP under a local marketing agreement as Peak Media feared that if allowed to operate separately both stations would be put in jeopardy of going dark
Dark (broadcasting)
In the broadcasting industry, dark is a term used to describe a radio station or television station that has gone off-the-air for an indefinite period of time, or as defined by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission , a "silent" station...
. On February 17, 2009, the original date for the analog television shutdown and digital conversion, WATM remained on its pre-transition channel number, 24. The station shut down analog transmissions and began broadcasting exclusively in digital. However, through the use of PSIP
Program and System Information Protocol
The Program and System Information Protocol is the protocol used in the ATSC digital television system for carrying metadata about each channel in the broadcast MPEG transport stream of a TV station and for publishing information about television programs so that viewers can select what to watch...
, digital television receivers display its virtual channel
Virtual channel
In telecommunications, a logical channel number , also known as virtual channel, is a channel designation which differs from that of the actual radio channel on which the signal travels....
as 23.
The digital conversion significantly improved WATM's coverage in the market. Previously, it had been plagued for most of its history by its weak 708,000 watt
Watt
The watt is a derived unit of power in the International System of Units , named after the Scottish engineer James Watt . The unit, defined as one joule per second, measures the rate of energy conversion.-Definition:...
analog signal. The station's signal was marginal at best even in Altoona, five miles from the transmitter. It only provided Grade B coverage of Johnstown and State College, and most viewers in this vast market could only watch it on cable. However, with the station's digital transmitter licensed for a full one million watts(the equivalent to five million watts for an analog UHF transmitter) WATM gained a coverage area comparable to the other major stations in the market. Additionally, the station was picked up on WWCP's digital subcarrier, and carries an HD simulcast of WWCP on one of its subchannels. In November 2010 it was announced that Horseshoe Curve Communications would acquire Peak Media's assets including WWCP and its 14 year old agreement to operate WATM. In February 2011 WATM added a third channel to their lineup in the form of an SD feed of ThisTV.
Newscasts
WATM and WWCP began airing local newscasts in 1992. That channel produced an hour-long broadcast at 10 pm from Johnstown while this station aired a nightly program at 11 pm from State College. As a result, these newscasts focused on their respected areas and barely registered as a blip in the ratings against longer-established WJAC-TVWJAC-TV
WJAC-TV is the NBC-affiliated television station for the Allegheny area of Pennsylvania that is licensed to Johnstown. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 34 from a transmitter northwest of the city in Laurel Ridge State Park along the Cambria and Westmoreland County line....
and WTAJ-TV
WTAJ-TV
WTAJ-TV is the CBS-affiliated television station for the Allegheny area of Pennsylvania that is licensed to Altoona, Pennsylvania. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 32. It is owned by Nexstar Broadcasting Group...
who had market wide coverage. Due in part to continued ratings struggles, WATM's separate news department was shut down in December 2002 and merged with WWCP in Johnstown.
On November 28, 2007, The Tribune Democrat reported that the shared news department of WATM and WWCP was going to shut down. According to a written statement, the two stations had been operating at a loss for years and the move was needed. The closure resulted in all reporters being released from their contracts. NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
affiliate WJAC had on-air positions open but no personalities from those two stations were hired. Effective January 14, 2008, WJAC assumed production responsibility of the prime time show (still known as Fox 8 News at 10) which was reduced to 35 minutes on weeknights and thirty minutes on weekends. The WJAC-produced news uses the same music package and some voice-overs seen during segment opens as the former operation did. A new graphics package slightly different from WJAC and new logos similar to the WWCP promo logo introduced in 2007 were created specifically for the 10 o'clock program.
Since WJAC has prior commitments with news and weather cut-ins during Today, WATM still produces its own Good Morning America
Good Morning America
Good Morning America is an American morning news and talk show that is broadcast on the ABC television network; it debuted on November 3, 1975. The weekday program airs for two hours; a third hour aired between 2007 and 2008 exclusively on ABC News Now...
news and weather cut-ins that are seen Tuesday through Saturday mornings. Former WWCP co-anchor Sherry Stalley, who was still under contract when the news department shut down, anchored the updates. The cut-ins use news video from the previous day's WJAC-produced WWCP broadcast and the same graphics package. On Sunday and Monday, the cut-ins are filled by WATM promos. In October 2010, Stalley was hired by WJAC to return as the anchor for Fox 8 News but on Monday March 14, 2011, Stalley's picture was removed from the Fox 8 Website and is no longer with the station. While a replacement for Stalley was sought, WJAC anchor Marty Radovanic served as anchor for the station's 10:00p.m. newscast, and the Good Morning America
Good Morning America
Good Morning America is an American morning news and talk show that is broadcast on the ABC television network; it debuted on November 3, 1975. The weekday program airs for two hours; a third hour aired between 2007 and 2008 exclusively on ABC News Now...
news and weather cut-ins still produced by WATM were filled by former WWCP/WATM Executive Producer, Josh Bandish. On March 22, 2011 former WWCP/WATM reporter Christine Strugala, returned to the station to take on anchoring duties for the Fox 8 News at 10 along with Good Morning America news and weather cut-ins on abc 23.
WJAC's nightly 11 o'clock newscast was simulcasted on WATM and branded as ABC 23 News from January 2007 until March 2011 when it was replaced by syndicated episodes of 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...
.