WBRE-TV
Encyclopedia
WBRE-TV is the NBC
-affiliated television station
for Northeastern
Pennsylvania
that is licensed to Wilkes-Barre
. It broadcasts a high definition
digital signal on VHF channel 11 from a transmitter at the Penobscot Knob
antenna farm near Mountain Top. It can also be seen on Comcast
and Service Electric
channel 3. On digital cable, there is a high definition signal on Comcast channel 232 and Service Electric channel 503. Owned by the Nexstar Broadcasting Group
, the station operates CBS
affiliate WYOU
(that is owned by Mission Broadcasting
) through a joint sales agreement
(JSA) and the two share studios on South Franklin Street in downtown Wilkes-Barre. Syndicated
programming on WBRE includes: Wheel of Fortune
, Jeopardy!
, Dr. Oz
, and Oprah
.
is one of the largest (in square miles) east of the Mississippi River
and is very mountainous. In addition, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre was a "UHF island" before the digital transition because it is too close to Philadelphia and New York City
for VHF analog service. During March of 2010, in a cost-cutting move, all owned and operated translators were shut down after Nexstar determined that its VHF signal for WBRE is adequate enough to reach the Wilkes-Barre viewing market. According to nepahdtv.com, this move was met with some dismay from viewers in areas where reception of signals from Penobscot Knob is difficult if not impossible, leaving many people in rural areas without their signal. Despite this, no effort from Nexstar has been made to bring back any of the repeaters.
A digital channel 28 translator in Waymart
remains operating, as the facility is owned and operated by NextEra Energy Resources
. Windmills run by the company in the area surrounding Waymart interfere with the transmission of full-power television signals.
1953 becoming the first television station in the market. It was owned by the Baltimore family along with WBRE radio (1340 AM now WYCK
and 98.5 FM now WKRZ
). Although it appears that the call letters stand for Wilkes-BaRrE, they actually refer to Baltimore Radio Exchange, the Baltimore family's company. The radio stations were sold off in 1980. In 1972, disaster struck at WBRE when its offices were flooded by Hurricane Agnes
. Most of the station's equipment was moved above ground and survived but a film archive in the basement was destroyed. After numerous changes of ownership, the Nexstar Broadcasting Group acquired the station in January 1998. Nexstar already owned WYOU but opted to keep WBRE and sold WYOU to Mission Broadcasting. However, Nexstar continues to control WYOU's operations through a joint sales agreement. On January 3, 2007, Nexstar named Louis J. Abitabilo as Vice President and General Manager for the two stations. On February 17, 2009 as part of the optional transition to digital-only broadcasting, WBRE left UHF channel 28 and continued to operate its digital signal on VHF channel 11.
Due to an ongoing retransmission dispute involving WKTV
, this station was seen on Time Warner Cable
in Utica, NY from December 16, 2010 until January 8, 2011.
In September, 2011, the station was evacuated once again due to potential flooding by heavy rains from Hurricane Lee. For 48 hours, the station operated remotely out of the garage of the local FOX affiliate, WOLF-TV. They provided coverage for the entire duration of the evacuation period, nearly 63 hours. Luckily, the station and the majority of Wilkes-Barre were protected by the levee.
WBRE led the ratings for most of the 1950s until ABC
affiliate WNEP-TV
jumped ahead in 1959. During the 1950s and 1960s, mirroring the century-long rivalry between Scranton and Wilkes-Barre, WBRE ruled Wilkes-Barre while WDAU-TV (now WYOU) dominated Scranton. Channel 28 jumped back in the lead in the early-1960s and went back and forth for first place with WDAU until 1978 when WNEP took the lead. It fell to third for most of the 1980s. In the mid-1990s, the station briefly surpassed long-dominant WNEP, then fell again to second after the sale to Nexstar.
In 2002, WBRE and WYOU dropped their separate weekday morning and noon newscasts in favor of Pennsylvania Morning and Pennsylvania Midday which were jointly-produced and simulcasted on both stations. Since the two have both trailed WNEP in the news ratings by a wide margin for most of the last thirty years, a major shakeup in format occurred in Fall 2006. While WYOU went with a talk/debate format for its weeknight shows, WBRE News became more of the traditional news program. This set a more clear competition against WNEP. WYOU generally did a traditional newscast whenever WBRE had programming that bumped its broadcasts back by a significant amount of time. At the beginning of 2008, WYOU dropped the weekday shared productions and started airing the first hour of the nationally syndicated morning show The Daily Buzz
at 6 while debuting its own noon news.
On June 9, 2008, there were several more changes made on the two stations. WBRE re-launched its news operation as WBRE Eyewitness News
. It had previously used the Eyewitness News moniker from the mid-1980s until 2001. This coincided with news set, music package, graphics, and weather system upgrades. There were also some on-air personnel changes. Anchor Andy Mehalshick became a weeknight field anchor. Candice Kelly, who had been anchoring on WYOU, moved to the weeknight newscasts on WBRE back in mid-May and was joined by newcomer Drew Speier. In addition, WBRE and WYOU’s midday shows switched anchors. Mark Hiller moved from WBRE to WYOU while Eva Mastromatteo switched over to this station. Hiller also debuted as anchor of WYOU News First at 4 on weeknights. That station became the first in the area to broadcast local news at that time. This was followed at 4:30 by The Insider
which moved from its 7 o'clock slot. WYOU then dropped its 5 p.m. newscast and aired two episodes of Judge Judy
. Finally weeknights at 6 o'clock, Lyndall Stout (who anchored on WBRE) joined Eric Scheiner for the half-hour WYOU Inter@ctive. That station also launched a new weeknight newscast, WYOU News at 7. WNEP already aired local news at that time on weeknights. All of the preceding changes were an attempt to better compete against WNEP and get more ratings.
On April 4, 2009, WYOU shut down its news operation resulting in the lay off of fourteen personnel while others were integrated with WBRE. Syndicated programming now airs in place of the newscasts. The station saves nearly $1 million a year as a result of closing down its news department. WOLF-TV Fox affiliate was dropped by WNEP (as they moved their efforts to WNEP2.) Fox then went to WBRE to take over starting January 1, 2010. WBRE then took over production of nightly prime time broadcasts on WOLF-TV which expanded to an hour and were re-branded as Fox 56 First News at 10. WBRE also plans to launch a new 4PM show called "PA Live" in the fall of 2011. Along with its main studios, WBRE operates four news bureaus.: Scranton (on Lackawanna Avenue), Stroudsburg (Main Street), Williamsport (on Pine Street), and Hazelton
(East 10th Street).
WBRE Eyewitness News AccuWeather
or Your Weather Authority Meteorologists
Sports
Reporters
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...
-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 Northeastern
Northeastern Pennsylvania
Northeastern Pennsylvania is a geographic region of Pennsylvania that includes the Pocono Mountains, the Endless Mountains and the industrial cities of Scranton, Wilkes-Barre, Pittston, Hazleton and Carbondale....
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 Wilkes-Barre
Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania
Wilkes-Barre is a city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania, the county seat of Luzerne County. It is at the center of the Wyoming Valley area and is one of the principal cities in the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre metropolitan area, which had a population of 563,631 as of the 2010 Census...
. 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 11 from a transmitter at the Penobscot Knob
Penobscot Knob
Penobscot Knob, also Penobscot Mountain, is a hill located near Mountain Top, Pennsylvania and Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, that is best known as the site of many local television and radio station transmitters...
antenna farm near Mountain Top. It can also be seen 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 Service Electric
Service Electric
Service Electric Cable TV, Inc. is a cable television company serving eastern Pennsylvania and western New Jersey. Through three affiliates, the company operates systems in the Lehigh Valley and Wilkes-Barre , Kutztown, Hazleton, Sunbury, Mahanoy City and Bloomsburg , and Sparta, New Jersey...
channel 3. On digital cable, there is a high definition signal on Comcast channel 232 and Service Electric channel 503. Owned by the Nexstar Broadcasting Group
Nexstar Broadcasting Group
Nexstar Broadcasting Group, Inc., is an entity of broadcast television stations headquartered in Irving, Texas. The company consists of 50 television stations across the U.S., ranging from market sizes 9 to 201 . 43 of the stations are broadcasting at full power, with the other 4 broadcasting at...
, the station operates 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...
affiliate WYOU
WYOU
WYOU is the CBS-affiliated television station for Northeastern Pennsylvania that is licensed to Scranton. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on VHF channel 13 from a transmitter at the Penobscot Knob tower farm near Mountain Top...
(that is owned by Mission Broadcasting
Mission Broadcasting
Mission Broadcasting, Inc. is a television station group that owns 15 television stations operated by Nexstar Broadcasting. The group's president is David S. Smith, who founded the company in 1998. In most areas where Mission owns a station, its arrangements allow Nexstar to control two of the top...
) through a joint sales 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...
(JSA) and the two share studios on South Franklin Street in downtown Wilkes-Barre. 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 WBRE 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...
, Dr. Oz
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....
, and Oprah
The Oprah Winfrey Show
The Oprah Winfrey Show is an American syndicated talk show hosted and produced by its namesake Oprah Winfrey. It ran nationally for 25 seasons beginning in 1986, before concluding in 2011. It is the highest-rated talk show in American television history....
.
Digital programming
| Virtual channel | Physical channel | Programming |
|---|---|---|
| 28.1 | 11.1 | main WBRE-TV programming / NBC HD |
Repeaters
Like other stations in the area, WBRE must rely on repeaters to serve its coverage area. The marketMedia 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...
is one of the largest (in square miles) east of the Mississippi River
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...
and is very mountainous. In addition, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre was a "UHF island" before the digital transition because it is too close to Philadelphia and New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
for VHF analog service. During March of 2010, in a cost-cutting move, all owned and operated translators were shut down after Nexstar determined that its VHF signal for WBRE is adequate enough to reach the Wilkes-Barre viewing market. According to nepahdtv.com, this move was met with some dismay from viewers in areas where reception of signals from Penobscot Knob is difficult if not impossible, leaving many people in rural areas without their signal. Despite this, no effort from Nexstar has been made to bring back any of the repeaters.
A digital channel 28 translator in Waymart
Waymart, Pennsylvania
Waymart is a borough in Wayne County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 1,341 at the 2010 census.-Geography:Waymart is located at ....
remains operating, as the facility is owned and operated by NextEra Energy Resources
NextEra Energy Resources
NextEra Energy Resources is an wholesale electricity supplier based in Juno Beach, Florida. It is a subsidiary of NextEra Energy, Inc. , a Fortune 200 company. Prior to 2009, NextEra Energy Resources was known as FPL Energy....
. Windmills run by the company in the area surrounding Waymart interfere with the transmission of full-power television signals.
History
It signed-on New Year's DayNew Year's Day
New Year's Day is observed on January 1, the first day of the year on the modern Gregorian calendar as well as the Julian calendar used in ancient Rome...
1953 becoming the first television station in the market. It was owned by the Baltimore family along with WBRE radio (1340 AM now WYCK
WYCK
For the National Historic Landmark museum mansion in Philadelphia, see Wyck House.WYCK is an AM broadcasting radio station licensed to the city of Plains Township, Pennsylvania and serves the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton radio market. The station broadcasts at a frequency of 1340 kHz with 810 Watts with a...
and 98.5 FM now WKRZ
WKRZ
WKRZ, "98.5 KRZ", is a radio station licensed to Freeland, Pennsylvania serving the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre/Hazleton radio market at 98.5 MHz FM. The station radio format is Top 40 which it has broadcast in the market since 1980. The station has always used some branding of "KRZ", a shortened form...
). Although it appears that the call letters stand for Wilkes-BaRrE, they actually refer to Baltimore Radio Exchange, the Baltimore family's company. The radio stations were sold off in 1980. In 1972, disaster struck at WBRE when its offices were flooded by Hurricane Agnes
Hurricane Agnes
Hurricane Agnes was the first tropical storm and first hurricane of the 1972 Atlantic hurricane season. A rare June hurricane, it made landfall on the Florida Panhandle before moving northeastward and ravaging the Mid-Atlantic region as a tropical storm...
. Most of the station's equipment was moved above ground and survived but a film archive in the basement was destroyed. After numerous changes of ownership, the Nexstar Broadcasting Group acquired the station in January 1998. Nexstar already owned WYOU but opted to keep WBRE and sold WYOU to Mission Broadcasting. However, Nexstar continues to control WYOU's operations through a joint sales agreement. On January 3, 2007, Nexstar named Louis J. Abitabilo as Vice President and General Manager for the two stations. On February 17, 2009 as part of the optional transition to digital-only broadcasting, WBRE left UHF channel 28 and continued to operate its digital signal on VHF channel 11.
Due to an ongoing retransmission dispute involving WKTV
WKTV
WKTV is the NBC-affiliated television station for Central Upstate New York's Mohawk Valley licensed to Utica. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 29 from a transmitter in the Eatonville section of Fairfield and Herkimer. The station can also be seen on Time Warner Cable...
, this station was 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...
in Utica, NY from December 16, 2010 until January 8, 2011.
In September, 2011, the station was evacuated once again due to potential flooding by heavy rains from Hurricane Lee. For 48 hours, the station operated remotely out of the garage of the local FOX affiliate, WOLF-TV. They provided coverage for the entire duration of the evacuation period, nearly 63 hours. Luckily, the station and the majority of Wilkes-Barre were protected by the levee.
News operation
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...
affiliate 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...
jumped ahead in 1959. During the 1950s and 1960s, mirroring the century-long rivalry between Scranton and Wilkes-Barre, WBRE ruled Wilkes-Barre while WDAU-TV (now WYOU) dominated Scranton. Channel 28 jumped back in the lead in the early-1960s and went back and forth for first place with WDAU until 1978 when WNEP took the lead. It fell to third for most of the 1980s. In the mid-1990s, the station briefly surpassed long-dominant WNEP, then fell again to second after the sale to Nexstar.
In 2002, WBRE and WYOU dropped their separate weekday morning and noon newscasts in favor of Pennsylvania Morning and Pennsylvania Midday which were jointly-produced and simulcasted on both stations. Since the two have both trailed WNEP in the news ratings by a wide margin for most of the last thirty years, a major shakeup in format occurred in Fall 2006. While WYOU went with a talk/debate format for its weeknight shows, WBRE News became more of the traditional news program. This set a more clear competition against WNEP. WYOU generally did a traditional newscast whenever WBRE had programming that bumped its broadcasts back by a significant amount of time. At the beginning of 2008, WYOU dropped the weekday shared productions and started airing the first hour of 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...
at 6 while debuting its own noon news.
On June 9, 2008, there were several more changes made on the two stations. WBRE re-launched its news operation as WBRE Eyewitness News
Eyewitness News
Eyewitness News is a style of news broadcasting used by local television stations in different markets across the United States. It refers to a particular style of television newscast with an emphasis on visual elements and action video...
. It had previously used the Eyewitness News moniker from the mid-1980s until 2001. This coincided with news set, music package, graphics, and weather system upgrades. There were also some on-air personnel changes. Anchor Andy Mehalshick became a weeknight field anchor. Candice Kelly, who had been anchoring on WYOU, moved to the weeknight newscasts on WBRE back in mid-May and was joined by newcomer Drew Speier. In addition, WBRE and WYOU’s midday shows switched anchors. Mark Hiller moved from WBRE to WYOU while Eva Mastromatteo switched over to this station. Hiller also debuted as anchor of WYOU News First at 4 on weeknights. That station became the first in the area to broadcast local news at that time. This was followed at 4:30 by The Insider
The Insider (TV series)
The Insider is an American tabloid television news program covering events and celebrities. It debuted on September 13, 2004 as a spinoff of Entertainment Tonight and started as a popular segment that took viewers "behind closed doors" and gave them "inside" information...
which moved from its 7 o'clock slot. WYOU then dropped its 5 p.m. newscast and aired two episodes of Judge Judy
Judge Judy
Judge Judy is an American court show featuring former family court judge Judith Sheindlin arbitrating over small claims cases in small claims court...
. Finally weeknights at 6 o'clock, Lyndall Stout (who anchored on WBRE) joined Eric Scheiner for the half-hour WYOU Inter@ctive. That station also launched a new weeknight newscast, WYOU News at 7. WNEP already aired local news at that time on weeknights. All of the preceding changes were an attempt to better compete against WNEP and get more ratings.
On April 4, 2009, WYOU shut down its news operation resulting in the lay off of fourteen personnel while others were integrated with WBRE. Syndicated programming now airs in place of the newscasts. The station saves nearly $1 million a year as a result of closing down its news department. WOLF-TV Fox affiliate was dropped by WNEP (as they moved their efforts to WNEP2.) Fox then went to WBRE to take over starting January 1, 2010. WBRE then took over production of nightly prime time broadcasts on WOLF-TV which expanded to an hour and were re-branded as Fox 56 First News at 10. WBRE also plans to launch a new 4PM show called "PA Live" in the fall of 2011. Along with its main studios, WBRE operates four news bureaus.: Scranton (on Lackawanna Avenue), Stroudsburg (Main Street), Williamsport (on Pine Street), and Hazelton
Hazleton, Pennsylvania
Hazleton is a city in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 25,340 at the 2010 census, an increase of 8.6% from the 2000 census count .-Greater Hazleton:...
(East 10th Street).
Out of market coverage
In New York, it is carried in Highland Lake and Monticello in Sullivan County (New York City DMA).Newscast titles
- 28 Eyewitness NewsEyewitness NewsEyewitness News is a style of news broadcasting used by local television stations in different markets across the United States. It refers to a particular style of television newscast with an emphasis on visual elements and action video...
(1980s-2001) - 28 News (2001-2004)
- WBRE News (2004-2008)
- WBRE Eyewitness NewsEyewitness NewsEyewitness News is a style of news broadcasting used by local television stations in different markets across the United States. It refers to a particular style of television newscast with an emphasis on visual elements and action video...
(2008-present) - "PA Live" (2011-present)
Station slogans
- "28, Let's All Be There!" (1984-1986; localized version of NBC ad campaign)
- "Come Home to 28" (1986-1987; localized version of NBC ad campaign)
- "Your Hometown Station" (early 1990s)
- "The Station That's Taking the Lead" (mid 1990s-1998)
- "On Your Side" (2001-2008)
- "Eyewitness NewsEyewitness NewsEyewitness News is a style of news broadcasting used by local television stations in different markets across the United States. It refers to a particular style of television newscast with an emphasis on visual elements and action video...
" (2008-Current) - "Everywhere You Are" (2011-Current)
- "WBRE, More Colorful" (2011-Current; localized version of NBC ad campaign)
News team
Anchors- Kyla Campbell - weekday mornings and 11 a.m.
- Candice Kelly - weeknights WBRE and FOX 56 at 10 p.m.
- Drew Speier - weeknights at 5, 5:30, 6, and 11
- Mark Hiller - weekend anchor and weekday reporter
- Monica Madeja - weekend morning anchor and weekday reporter/ PA Live co-host
WBRE Eyewitness News AccuWeather
AccuWeather
AccuWeather is an American media company that provides for-profit weather forecasting services worldwide.AccuWeather was founded in 1962 by Joel N. Myers, then a Penn State graduate student working on degrees in meteorology. His first customer was a gas company in Pennsylvania. While running the...
or Your Weather Authority Meteorologists
- Josh Hodell (AMSAmerican Meteorological SocietyThe American Meteorological Society promotes the development and dissemination of information and education on the atmospheric and related oceanic and hydrologic sciences and the advancement of their professional applications. Founded in 1919, the American Meteorological Society has a membership...
and NWANational Weather AssociationThe National Weather Association is an American professional association with a mission to support and promote excellence in operational meteorology and related activities...
Seals of Approvals) - chief seen weeknights - Kevin Derk - Meteorologist Seen Weekend mornings
- Dave Skutnik - Meteorologist Seen Weekday mornings
- Dave Kuharchik - meteorologist and host of PA Live
- Kyle Brandt - Meteorologist Seen Weekend Evenings
Sports
- Phil Schoener - weeknights at 6, 10, and 11
- Colin Riccobon - weekend evenings and sports reporter
Reporters
- Andy Mehalshick - Chief Investigative Reporter
- Joe Holden - reporter
- Jeremy Deebel - reporter
- Eric Deabill - Scranton Bureau reporter
- Monica Madeja - reporter and host of PA Live
- Stef Davis - reporter
- Shannon Murphy - reporter
- Joe Garrison - Williamsport Bureau