WBNG-TV
Encyclopedia
WBNG-TV is the 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...

-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 Upstate
Upstate New York
Upstate New York is the region of the U.S. state of New York that is located north of the core of the New York metropolitan area.-Definition:There is no clear or official boundary between Upstate New York and Downstate New York...

 New York's Eastern Southern Tier
Southern Tier
The Southern Tier is a geographical term that refers to the counties of New York State west of the Catskill Mountains along the northern border of Pennsylvania. It is a loosely defined term that generally includes the counties that border Pennsylvania west of Delaware County inclusive...

 licensed to Binghamton
Binghamton, New York
Binghamton is a city in the Southern Tier of New York in the United States. It is near the Pennsylvania border, in a bowl-shaped valley at the confluence of the Susquehanna and Chenango Rivers...

. 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 VHF channel 7 (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....

 12.1 via PSIP) from a transmitter on Ingraham Hill Road
Ingraham Hill
Ingraham Hill is a hill in Binghamton, New York which contains the television and radio broadcast towers for the surrounding metropolitan area. The summit rises to an elevation of . These towers include TV stations WBNG, WICZ, WIVT, WSKG-TV and radio stations WNBF, WAAL, WWYL and many more. The...

 southwest of downtown. The station can also be seen on Time Warner Cable
Time Warner Cable
Time Warner Cable is an American cable television company that operates in 28 states and has 31 operating divisions...

 channel 2 and in high definition on digital channel 701. Owned by the Granite Broadcasting Corporation
Granite Broadcasting Corporation
Granite Broadcasting Corporation, founded by W. Don Cornwell and Stuart Beck in 1988 , is a broadcasting holding company which owns or operates 14 television stations in the United States, largely centered in the midwest with a cluster in New York state...

, WBNG has studios on Columbia Drive in Johnson City
Johnson City, New York
Johnson City is a village in Broome County, New York, United States. The population was 15,535 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Binghamton Metropolitan Statistical Area....

. 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 the station includes Entertainment Tonight
Entertainment Tonight
Entertainment Tonight is a daily tabloid television entertainment television news show that is syndicated by CBS Television Distribution throughout the United States, Canada and in many countries around the world. Linda Bell Blue is currently the program's executive producer...

, Inside Edition
Inside Edition
Inside Edition is a thirty-minute American television syndicated news program, first aired on CBS on October 9, 1988. It was originally similar to the programs Hard Copy and A Current Affair, but now more closely resembles a condensed version of breakfast television, exclusively with pre-recorded...

, Dr. Phil
Dr. Phil (TV series)
Dr. Phil is a reality/talk television show hosted by Phil McGraw. After McGraw's success with his segments on The Oprah Winfrey Show, Dr. Phil debuted on September 16, 2002...

, and Rachael Ray among others. It serves as the default CBS affiliate for most of Otsego County
Otsego County, New York
Otsego County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. The 2010 population was 62,259. The county seat is Cooperstown. The name Otsego is from a Mohawk word meaning "place of the rock."-History:...

 in the Utica
Utica, New York
Utica is a city in and the county seat of Oneida County, New York, United States. The population was 62,235 at the 2010 census, an increase of 2.6% from the 2000 census....

 market
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...

.

Digital programming

WBNG operates the area's CW affiliate on a second digital subchannel
Digital subchannel
In broadcasting, digital subchannels are a means to transmit more than one independent program at the same time from the same digital radio or digital television station on the same radio frequency channel. This is done by using data compression techniques to reduce the size of each individual...

. This can also be seen on 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...

 Cable channel 11 (hence the on-air branding Binghamton CW 11). WBNG-DT2 receives all programming through The CW Plus
The CW Plus
The CW Plus is a group of primarily digital sub-channels, analog, and non-broadcast cable television outlets for the CW Television Network, for markets below the top 99 television media markets in the United States....

.
Channels (physical/virtual) Video
Display resolution
The display resolution of a digital television or display device is the number of distinct pixels in each dimension that can be displayed. It can be an ambiguous term especially as the displayed resolution is controlled by all different factors in cathode ray tube , flat panel or projection...

Aspect
Aspect ratio
The aspect ratio of a shape is the ratio of its longer dimension to its shorter dimension. It may be applied to two characteristic dimensions of a three-dimensional shape, such as the ratio of the longest and shortest axis, or for symmetrical objects that are described by just two measurements,...

Programming
7.1/12.1 1080i
1080i
1080i is the shorthand name for a high-definition television mode. The i means interlaced video; 1080i differs from 1080p, in which the p stands for progressive scan. The term 1080i assumes a widescreen aspect ratio of 16:9, implying a frame size of 1920×1080 pixels...

 
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 WBMG-TV programming/CBS (HD)
7.2/12.2 480i
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  WBNG-DT2 "Binghamton CW 11" (SD)

History

The station launched on December 1, 1949 as WNBF-TV and was affiliated with all four American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 television networks at the time (CBS, DuMont
DuMont Television Network
The DuMont Television Network, also known as the DuMont Network, DuMont, Du Mont, or Dumont was one of the world's pioneer commercial television networks, rivalling NBC for the distinction of being first overall. It began operation in the United States in 1946. It was owned by DuMont...

, 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...

, and ABC
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...

). It aired an analog signal on VHF channel 12 and was originally owned by Clark Associates Inc. along with WNBF radio (AM 1290 and FM 98.1 now WHWK
WHWK
WHWK, known on-air as "The Hawk", is a radio station licenced to Binghamton, New York with a country music format. Located at 98.1 FM, the station is owned by Cumulus Media.Current staff include Glenn Pitcher, Pam Scott, John Davisonand Rich Birdsall....

). It subsequently lost its affiliations with DuMont in 1955 after the network's collapse, NBC in 1957 (to WINR-TV, owned by the Binghamton Press and now WICZ-TV
WICZ-TV
WICZ-TV is the Fox-affiliated television station for Upstate New York's Eastern Southern Tier. Licensed to Binghamton, it broadcasts a high definition digital signal on VHF channel 8 from a transmitter. The station can also be seen on Time Warner Cable channel 3 and in high definition on digital...

, currently a Fox
Fox Broadcasting Company
Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...

 affiliate), and ABC in 1962 (to WBJA-TV later WMGC and now WIVT
WIVT
WIVT is the ABC-affiliated television station for Upstate new York's Eastern Southern Tier licensed to Binghamton. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 34 from a transmitter at its studios on Ingraham Hill Road southwest of Downtown Binghamton. The station can also be seen...

.) Triangle Publications
Triangle Publications
Triangle Publications, Inc. was an American media group first based at 400 North Broad Street , Philadelphia, and later at its TV Guide headquarters in Radnor, Pennsylvania. Triangle Publications was a privately-held corporation with the majority of stock owned by Walter Annenberg and his sisters...

, owner of various broadcasting and newspaper properties such as WFIL-TV (now WPVI-TV
WPVI-TV
WPVI-TV, channel 6, is an owned-and-operated television station of the Walt Disney Company-owned American Broadcasting Company, located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. WPVI has its studios located on the border between Philadelphia and Bala Cynwyd, and its transmitter is located in the...

) in Philadelphia, bought WNBF in 1955. The station adopted its current call-sign, WBNG-TV, in 1973 when Triangle sold the station to Gateway Communications.

In 2000, Gateway was purchased by SJL Broadcasting which reduced staff from 100 to 58 over five years to fit the aggressive SJL automation model. In 2002, WBNG's digital signal on VHF channel 7 signed-on. In April 2006, it was announced the Granite Broadcast Corporation made a deal to acquire the station from Television Station Group License Subsidiary, LLC (successor to SJL and a subsidiary of Alta Communications
Alta Communications
Alta Communications is a Boston-based private equity firm specializing in equity investments in media and telecommunications companies.Their equity funds are invested in about 100 companies with total market capitalization approximately $1.5 billion....

) for $
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....

45 million. The required money was funded by a new senior credit facility created after the previously announced sales of Detroit
Detroit, Michigan
Detroit is the major city among the primary cultural, financial, and transportation centers in the Metro Detroit area, a region of 5.2 million people. As the seat of Wayne County, the city of Detroit is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan and serves as a major port on the Detroit River...

's WMYD
WMYD
WMYD is the MyNetworkTV-affiliated television station for Southeast Michigan licensed to Detroit. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 21 from a transmitter on Eight Mile Road in Oak Park along the Oakland and Wayne County line. The station can also be seen on Comcast...

 and San Francisco
San Francisco, California
San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...

's KBWB fell apart. Granite closed on its purchase of WBNG on July 26, 2006.

As part of the transaction, Les Vann (formerly President
President
A president is a leader of an organization, company, trade union, university, or country.Etymologically, a president is one who presides, who sits in leadership...

 and General Manager
General manager
General manager is a descriptive term for certain executives in a business operation. It is also a formal title held by some business executives, most commonly in the hospitality industry.-Generic usage:...

 of CBS affiliate WTVH
WTVH
WTVH is the CBS-affiliated television station for Central New York State licensed to Syracuse. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 47 from a transmitter in LaFayette. The station can also be seen on Time Warner and Verizon FiOS channel 5. There is a high definition feed...

 in Syracuse
Syracuse, New York
Syracuse is a city in and the county seat of Onondaga County, New York, United States, the largest U.S. city with the name "Syracuse", and the fifth most populous city in the state. At the 2010 census, the city population was 145,170, and its metropolitan area had a population of 742,603...

) was promoted to Executive Vice President of the company's Central
Central New York
Central New York is a term used to broadly describe the central region of New York State, roughly including the following counties and cities:...

 and Southern New York operations. His duties were regional in nature with responsibilities at both WBNG and WTVH. This station's digital signal began broadcasting network programming in high definition in late-January 2007. Beginning in September 2007, CW affiliate "WBXI" began to be simulcasted on a new second digital subchannel of WBNG and began using the WBNG-DT2 call letters in an official manner.

In December 2008, it was announced a deal was reached between Granite and Time Warner Cable to carry WBNG's high definition feed throughout the Binghamton region. This was the first time HD programming from CBS was available to customers in the Southern Tier of New York State without using an antenna. On January 19, 2009, the station went off-the-air for about thirty minutes around 11 p.m. due to a power failure. Although the digital transition date was switched from February 19 to June 12, the station still ceased analog transmission and became digital-exclusive on the original date. On June 12, it left channel 12 and moved to channel 7 when the actual conversion was completed. Until April 25, 2009, WBNG served as the default CBS affiliate for the Elmira
Elmira, New York
Elmira is a city in Chemung County, New York, USA. It is the principal city of the 'Elmira, New York Metropolitan Statistical Area' which encompasses Chemung County, New York. The population was 29,200 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Chemung County.The City of Elmira is located in...

 area. On that date, ABC affiliate WENY-TV
WENY-TV
WENY-TV is the ABC-affiliated television station for the Central and Western Southern Tier of New York State and Northern Pennsylvania licensed to Elmira. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 36 from a transmitter on Higman Hill in Corning. The station can also be seen on...

 signed-on a second
WENY-DT2
WENY-DT2 is the CBS-affiliated television station for the Central and Western Southern Tier of New York State and Northern Pennsylvania. The station is a second digital subchannel of ABC affiliate WENY-TV that is owned by Lilly Broadcasting. Over-the-air, it broadcasts a digital signal on UHF...

 digital subchannel offer access to CBS for the first time ever in the market
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...

.

News operation

For its entire existence, WBNG has held the number one spot in Nielsen ratings
Nielsen Ratings
Nielsen ratings are the audience measurement systems developed by Nielsen Media Research, in an effort to determine the audience size and composition of television programming in the United States...

 by a wide margin. More or less, WIVT has been a non-factor in the local news race in Binghamton for almost forty years. It has spent most of its history as the third station in what was at one point essentially a two-station market. WIVT reaped virtually no benefit when the area's long-time NBC affiliate WICZ switched to Fox in 1996. Since then, that station has consistently had lower ratings and is currently a distant second place behind WBNG. On Memorial Day
Memorial Day
Memorial Day is a United States federal holiday observed on the last Monday of May. Formerly known as Decoration Day, it originated after the American Civil War to commemorate the fallen Union soldiers of the Civil War...

 in 2009 in order to increase its presence against this station, WICZ added a thirty minute newscast weeknights at 6 in addition to airing a nightly prime time show at 10.

On June 5, 2009, there was a noticeable increase in viewership on WBNG after WIVT and WBGH-CA
WBGH-CA
WBGH-CA is the Class A NBC-affiliated television station for New York's Eastern Southern Tier licensed to Binghamton. It broadcasts a low-powered analog signal on UHF channel 20 from a transmitter at its studios on Ingraham Hill Road. The station can also be seen on Time Warner Cable channel 5 and...

 consolidated their news operation with sister station WETM-TV
WETM-TV
WETM-TV is the NBC-affiliated television station for Upstate New York's Central Southern Tier licensed to Elmira. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 18 from a transmitter on Hawley Hill in West Elmira. The station can also be seen on Time Warner Cable channel 3 and in...

 in Elmira. This left Binghgamton with two outlets for local news and a locally-focused show would not return to WIVT and WBGH until June 28 with the addition of a taped broadcast weeknights at 6. However, this broadcast is produced from WETM's studios using Binghamton-based photojournalists. Like all CW Plus stations in the Eastern Time Zone
Eastern Time Zone
The Eastern Time Zone of the United States and Canada is a time zone that falls mostly along the east coast of North America. Its UTC time offset is −5 hrs during standard time and −4 hrs during daylight saving time...

, WBNG-DT2 offers the nationally syndicated morning show The Daily Buzz
The Daily Buzz
The Daily Buzz is a nationally syndicated breakfast television news and infotainment program. The show is produced by Fisher Communications and is owned and distributed by ACME Communications; it is broadcast every weekday morning from studios at Full Sail University in Winter Park, Florida...

on weekdays from 6 until 9. There is also a weeknight prime time newscast seen on that station known as Action News
Action News
Action News is a local television newscast format in the United States. It was conceived in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, at WFIL-TV by then-news director Mel Kampmann in 1970 as a response to the "Eyewitness News" format used on rival station KYW-TV...

 at 10 on Binghamton CW 11
which competes with WICZ's news.

Newscast titles

  • Your Esso Reporter (1949-1953)
  • WNBF-TV News (1953-1957)
  • Communications Centre 12 (1957-late 1960s)
  • Action News
    Action News
    Action News is a local television newscast format in the United States. It was conceived in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, at WFIL-TV by then-news director Mel Kampmann in 1970 as a response to the "Eyewitness News" format used on rival station KYW-TV...

    (late 1960s-present)

News team

Anchors
  • Cristina Frank - weekday mornings and noon
  • Candace Chapman - News Director
    News Director
    A news director is an individual at a broadcast station or network or a newspaper who is in charge of the news department. In local news, the news director is typically in charge of the entire news staff, including journalists, news presenters, photographers, copy writers, television producers,...

     seen weeknights at 5, 5:30, and 6
  • Jenna Hanchard - weeknights at 10 and 11 (also multimedia journalist)
  • Dave Greber - weekends and multimedia journalist


Action News Storm Tracker Meteorologists
  • Doug Peters (CBM
    Certified Broadcast Meteorologist
    Certified Broadcast Meteorologist is a rating for meteorologists given by the American Meteorological Society.The Certified Broadcast Meteorologist program was established to raise the professional standard in broadcast meteorology and encourage a broader range of scientific understanding,...

     and NWA
    National Weather Association
    The National Weather Association is an American professional association with a mission to support and promote excellence in operational meteorology and related activities...

     Seals of Approval) - weeknights
  • Howard Manges - weekday mornings and noon
  • Andrea Michalenicz - weekends and multimedia journalist


Sports
  • Brendan O'Reilly - Director
    Sports Director
    A sports director is an individual at a television or radio station who is in charge of the sports department. In local news, the sports director is typically the station's primary sportscaster, and often anchors the primetime newscasts on weekdays. They are in charge of sports programming and...

     seen weeknights at 6, 10, and 11
  • Gabe Osterhout - weekends also "Academic All Star" and "Action Sports Spotlight" segments producer


Multimedia journalists
  • Lindsay Nielsen
  • Brennan Smith
  • Matt Markham
  • Haley Burton
  • Leigh Dana


Contributors
  • Stacy Johnson
    Stacy Johnson
    Stacy Johnson is an author and creator and host of Money Talks, a nationally syndicated consumer/personal finance news series.-Early life and education:...

     - Money Talks News
    Money Talks News
    Money Talks News is a nationally syndicated consumer/personal finance news series offering tips and advice on saving money and avoiding rip offs in the United States market. It is hosted by Stacy Johnson. News segments are approximately 1.5 minutes in length and air as part of local news programs...

  • Denise Edmister - Pet of the Week
  • Glen Wood - Friday Financial Tip
  • Casey Krause - Home Gardener
  • Jim Hoteling - Home Gardener
  • Kim Shapira - Nutrition Minute
  • Art Ginsburg - Mr. Food
    Mr. Food
    Art Ginsburg, commonly known as Mr. Food, is a television chef and best selling author of cookbooks who emphasizes simple recipes. He is the originator of "quick & easy cooking" who, for the past 30+ years, has paved the way for TV food personalities who have followed. With his enthusiastic style,...


Out of Market Coverage

In New York, it is carried in Highland Lake and Liberty in Sullivan County. It is part of the New York City DMA.

In Pennsylvania, it is carried in Forest City, Montrose and New Milford in Susquehanna County. In Bradford County, it is carried in Sayre. Susquehanna and Bradford counties are part of the Scranton-Wilkes Barre DMA.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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