WETM-TV
Encyclopedia
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 high definition on digital channel 700. Owned by Newport Television
, WETM has studios on East Water Street in Downtown Elmira. However, master control
and some internal operations are based at centralcasting
facilities within WSYR-TV
's studios on Bridge Street in East Syracuse
. Syndicated
programming on this station includes Wheel of Fortune, Jeopardy!
, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire
, and The Dr. Oz Show
among others.
and Time Warner
Cable channel 11 is an Independent station. Syndicated programming on this outlet includes Two and a Half Men
, How I Met Your Mother
, Judge Joe Brown, and Judge Karen
along with others.
as WSYE. It was owned by Newhouse Communications as a semi-satellite of NBC affiliate WSYR-TV (now WSTM-TV
) in Syracuse
. It is Elmira's oldest surviving station behind WTVE
which launched a few years earlier but went dark
after Hurricane Hazel
blew through the Elmira area in 1954 and took out its tower. Originating early on from WSYE's original studios on Hawley Hill was a ladies informational program called The Dana Near Show. In 1980, WSYE and WSYR owner Newhouse Communications sold the stations to the Times Mirror Company which changed the call letters to WSTM-TV and WETM-TV respectively.
Over the next several years, Times Mirror cut the last ties between the two and later sold this station to Smith Broadcasting
in 1986. Under Smith's ownership, a reversal of the station's origins took place with the 1996 launch of a Class A
semi-satellite in Binghamton
, WBGH-CA
. Set up in the wake of established NBC affiliate WICZ-TV
defecting to Fox
, WBGH eventually split-off except for simulcasting WETM's newscasts. This station became the first outlet in the market
with an internet presence starting in 1998. In 2000, Smith Broadcasting entered into a management agreement with The Ackerley Group to operate WETM.
Clear Channel Communications
inherited the management agreement when it purchased the assets of Ackerley in late-2001. In 2004, Smith Broadcasting sold WETM outright to Clear Channel after the death of Smith Broadcasting founder Robert Smith. On April 20, 2007, Clear Channel entered into an agreement to sell its entire television stations group to Providence Equity Partners
. It became the first station in Elmira to broadcast a high definition feed in 2005 with the launch of a digital signal on VHF channel 2. WETM flash-cut
its analog signal on UHF channel 18 to digital at 12:01 in the morning on June 12, 2009. This was preceded by the sign-off of its previous VHF digital signal.
WSKG-TV
in Binghamton. That station closed down the translator in 2003 after concluding the expenses required to operate W30AA were not justified by its limited viewership base. WSKG subsequently sold the W30AA license to Clear Channel Communications (then-owner of WETM) which brought it back on-air in September 2004 as UPN
affiliate WTTX-LP identified on-air as "UPN 30". With the September 2006 merger of UPN and The WB
to form The CW
, WTTX competed to become the area's affiliate. Ultimately, this went to cable-only WB 100+
station "WBE" which was operated by ABC
affiliate WENY-TV
.
WTTX was dealt another blow when WSKG launched full-time satellite WSKA on the channel 30 allotment forcing Clear Channel to shut down the low-powered station. WTTX's programming was moved to WETM-DT2 which became an Independent after The CW launched on September 18, 2006. WETM-DT2 won a New York State Broadcasters Association Award for its coverage of high school sports in 2006 and 2008. The station airs local sports such as Elmira Jackals
hockey and New York Yankees
baseball.
WETM has traditionally been a ratings
stronghold in the Central Twin Tiers area. This is because the news department at rival WENY is quite small compared with this station and most other big three
affiliates. In addition, WENY does not provide any newscasts on weekends despite operating three major programming services (ABC, CBS, and The CW) so WETM is currently the only outlet that airs broadcasts for Elmira and Corning seven days a week. While serving as a semi-satellite of WSTM, WETM produced separate local newscasts weeknights at 6 and 11 from its Hawley Hill studios. There were also weekday morning news and weather cut-ins (at :25 and :55 past the hour) during Today from 7 until 9.
The 2004 launch of WETM-DT2/WTTX-LP introduced the area's first prime time broadcast at 10 which can be seen for thirty minutes on weeknights. According to one television listing website, WETM 18 News at 10 competes with a ten minute update seen on Fox affiliate WYDC
. However, that station's programming listings on its own website does not mention the update. In addition, WETM-DT2 simulcasts the entire weekday morning show as well as weeknight newscasts at 5 and 6. In 2007, WETM became one of four stations in Upstate New York to stream its weekday noon show live online (the others are WKBW-TV
in Buffalo
as well as sister outlets WHAM-TV
in Rochester
and WSYR in Syracuse).
On June 5, 2009, Newport Television announced there would be a consolidation of local news operations between WIVT and WBGH with WETM in Elmira. It was initially made public the company would shut down the Binghamton operation completely with WBNG-TV
reporting all but two personnel and all production staff for the WIVT and WBGH news department were to be terminated. The Press & Sun-Bulletin
in Binghamton later identified the two people remaining as news anchor Peter Quinn and News Director
Jim Ehmke but also mentioned fifteen other members of the original 28 person staff, including non-news personnel, that would ultimately remain with the two stations. WIVT and WBGH continue to be locally operated from studios on Ingraham Hill
Road south of Binghamton.
On June 28, WIVT and WBGH brought back a separate broadcast weeknights at 6 focusing on the Eastern Southern Tier. WETM produces this broadcast from a secondary set with photographers based at the Binghamton studios providing video for newscasts produced at WETM's facility. It replaced a simulcast of WETM's show at 6 seen on the Binghamton stations. Currently, WIVT simulcasts the second hour of this station's weekday morning show and its midday newscast at noon. WIVT and WBGH simulcast WETM's nightly newscast at 11 while the latter also simulcasts its early evening news on Sundays.
WETM 18 Storm Team Meteorologists
Sports
Reporters
Notable former staff
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 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 Central 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 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...
. 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 18 from a transmitter on Hawley Hill in West Elmira
West Elmira, New York
West Elmira is a suburban census-designated place in Chemung County, New York, United States. The population was 5,136 at the 2000 census. The name arises from its location....
. 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 3 and in high definition on digital channel 700. Owned by Newport Television
Newport Television
Newport Television, LLC is a television station holding company founded by Providence Equity Partners and Sandy DiPasquale in 2007 to acquire the television stations owned by Clear Channel Communications. In September 2007, Newport agreed to sell KFTY and KVOS-TV to LK Station Group LLC for $26.6...
, WETM has studios on East Water Street in Downtown Elmira. However, master control
Master control
Master control is the technical hub of a broadcast operation common among most over-the-air television stations and television networks. It is distinct from a production control room in television studios where the activities such as switching from camera to camera are coordinated...
and some internal operations are based at centralcasting
Centralcasting
In terrestrial radio and television broadcasting, centralcasting refers to the use of systems automation by which customised signals for broadcast by multiple individual stations may be created at one central facility.- :...
facilities within WSYR-TV
WSYR-TV
WSYR-TV is the ABC-affiliated television station for Central New York State that is licensed to Syracuse. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 17 from a transmitter on Sevier Road in Pompey. The station can also be seen on Time Warner channel 9 and in high definition on...
's studios on Bridge Street in East Syracuse
East Syracuse, New York
East Syracuse is an incorporated village and a suburb of the City of Syracuse in eastern Onondaga County, New York. United States. As of the 2000 U.S. Census, the village had a population of 3,178....
. 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 this station includes Wheel of Fortune, 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...
, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire (US game show)
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire is an American television quiz show which offers a maximum prize of $1,000,000 for correctly answering 14 consecutive multiple-choice questions of random difficulty. Until 2010, the format required contestants to correctly answer 15 consecutive questions of increasing...
, 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....
among others.
Digital programming
On WETM-DT2WETM-DT2
WETM-DT2 is an Independent television station for New York's Central Southern Tier. It is a second digital subchannel of NBC affiliate WETM-TV owned by Newport Television. Over-the-air, the station airs a standard definition digital signal on UHF channel 18.2 from a transmitter on Hawley Hill in...
and 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 is an Independent station. Syndicated programming on this outlet includes Two and a Half Men
Two and a Half Men
Two and a Half Men is an American television sitcom that premiered on CBS on September 22, 2003. Starring Charlie Sheen, Jon Cryer, and Angus T. Jones, the show was originally about a hedonistic jingle writer, Charlie Harper; his uptight brother, Alan; and Alan's growing son, Jake...
, How I Met Your Mother
How I Met Your Mother
How I Met Your Mother is an American sitcom that premiered on CBS on September 19, 2005, created by Craig Thomas and Carter Bays.As a framing device, the main character, Ted Mosby with narration by Bob Saget, in the year 2030 recounts to his son and daughter the events that led to his meeting...
, Judge Joe Brown, and Judge Karen
Judge Karen
Judge Karen is a nationally-syndicated American courtroom television show that debuted on September 8, 2008 in 48 of the top 50 U.S. markets. As with other court shows, such as The People's Court and Judge Judy, a real-life judge presides over small claims court cases...
along with others.
| Channel | Name | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 18.1 | WETM-HD | 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 WETM programming/NBC (HD) |
| 18.2 | WETM-DT2 | 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 | "WETM 2" (SD) |
History
The station signed-on September 10, 19561956 in television
The year 1956 in television involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 1956.-Events:*January 28 – Elvis Presley makes his national television debut on CBS on Stage Show, the first of six appearances on the series....
as WSYE. It was owned by Newhouse Communications as a semi-satellite of NBC affiliate WSYR-TV (now WSTM-TV
WSTM-TV
WSTM-TV is the NBC-affiliated television station for Central New York State licensed to Syracuse. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 24 from a transmitter on Sentinel Heights Road in LaFayette. The station can also be seen on Verizon FiOS channel 3 and Time Warner channel 4...
) 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...
. It is Elmira's oldest surviving station behind WTVE
WTVE (Elmira, NY)
WTVE was the first television station to go on the air in the Elmira-Corning, New York market.It was a DuMont Television Network station broadcasting from studios on Market Street in Elmira in 1953. It broadcast on UHF channel 24....
which launched a few years earlier but went 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...
after Hurricane Hazel
Hurricane Hazel
Hurricane Hazel was the deadliest and costliest hurricane of the 1954 Atlantic hurricane season. The storm killed as many as 1,000 people in Haiti before striking the United States near the border between North and South Carolina, as a Category 4 hurricane...
blew through the Elmira area in 1954 and took out its tower. Originating early on from WSYE's original studios on Hawley Hill was a ladies informational program called The Dana Near Show. In 1980, WSYE and WSYR owner Newhouse Communications sold the stations to the Times Mirror Company which changed the call letters to WSTM-TV and WETM-TV respectively.
Over the next several years, Times Mirror cut the last ties between the two and later sold this station to Smith Broadcasting
Smith Media, LLC
Smith Media, LLC, successor to Smith Television, is a broadcasting group co-based in Los Angeles, California and St. Petersburg, Florida, that owns and operates seven television stations across the United States....
in 1986. Under Smith's ownership, a reversal of the station's origins took place with the 1996 launch of a Class A
Class A television service
The class A television service is a system for regulating some low-power television stations in the United States. Class A stations are denoted by the broadcast callsign suffix "-CA" or "-CD" , although very many analog -CA stations have a digital companion channel that was assigned the -LD...
semi-satellite in 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...
, 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...
. Set up in the wake of established NBC affiliate 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...
defecting to 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...
, WBGH eventually split-off except for simulcasting WETM's newscasts. This station became the first outlet 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...
with an internet presence starting in 1998. In 2000, Smith Broadcasting entered into a management agreement with The Ackerley Group to operate WETM.
Clear Channel Communications
Clear Channel Communications
Clear Channel Communications, Inc. is an American media conglomerate company headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. It was founded in 1972 by Lowry Mays and Red McCombs, and was taken private by Bain Capital LLC and Thomas H. Lee Partners LP in a leveraged buyout in 2008...
inherited the management agreement when it purchased the assets of Ackerley in late-2001. In 2004, Smith Broadcasting sold WETM outright to Clear Channel after the death of Smith Broadcasting founder Robert Smith. On April 20, 2007, Clear Channel entered into an agreement to sell its entire television stations group to Providence Equity Partners
Providence Equity Partners
Providence Equity Partners is a global private equity investment firm focused on media, entertainment, communications and information investments...
. It became the first station in Elmira to broadcast a high definition feed in 2005 with the launch of a digital signal on VHF channel 2. WETM flash-cut
Flash-cut
A flash-cut, also called flash-cutover, is an immediate change in a complex system, with no phase-in period.Some telephone area codes were split immediately, rather than being phased in with a permissive dialing period. An example is telephone area code 213, which was split into 213 and 714 all at...
its analog signal on UHF channel 18 to digital at 12:01 in the morning on June 12, 2009. This was preceded by the sign-off of its previous VHF digital signal.
WETM-DT2 "WETM 2"
The station's secondary feed has its roots in W30AA, a translator of PBSPublic Broadcasting Service
The Public Broadcasting Service is an American non-profit public broadcasting television network with 354 member TV stations in the United States which hold collective ownership. Its headquarters is in Arlington, Virginia....
WSKG-TV
WSKG-TV
WSKG-TV is a public television station in Binghamton, New York, broadcasting locally on channel 46 as a Public Broadcasting Service member station. It is owned and operated by the WSKG Public Telecommunications Council, Inc....
in Binghamton. That station closed down the translator in 2003 after concluding the expenses required to operate W30AA were not justified by its limited viewership base. WSKG subsequently sold the W30AA license to Clear Channel Communications (then-owner of WETM) which brought it back on-air in September 2004 as 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...
affiliate WTTX-LP identified on-air as "UPN 30". With the September 2006 merger of UPN and The WB
The WB Television Network
The WB Television Network is a former television network in the United States that was launched on January 11, 1995 as a joint venture between Warner Bros. and Tribune Broadcasting. On January 24, 2006, CBS Corporation and Warner Bros...
to form The CW
The CW Television Network
The CW Television Network is a television network in the United States launched at the beginning of the 2006–2007 television season. It is a joint venture between CBS Corporation, the former owners of United Paramount Network , and Time Warner's Warner Bros., former majority owner of The WB...
, WTTX competed to become the area's affiliate. Ultimately, this went to cable-only WB 100+
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...
station "WBE" which was operated by 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...
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...
.
WTTX was dealt another blow when WSKG launched full-time satellite WSKA on the channel 30 allotment forcing Clear Channel to shut down the low-powered station. WTTX's programming was moved to WETM-DT2 which became an Independent after The CW launched on September 18, 2006. WETM-DT2 won a New York State Broadcasters Association Award for its coverage of high school sports in 2006 and 2008. The station airs local sports such as Elmira Jackals
Elmira Jackals
The Elmira Jackals are an ice hockey team that play in the ECHL. Their home games are played in First Arena in Elmira, New York and they refer to themselves as "the beasts of the east"...
hockey and New York Yankees
New York Yankees
The New York Yankees are a professional baseball team based in the The Bronx, New York. They compete in Major League Baseball in the American League's East Division...
baseball.
News operation
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...
stronghold in the Central Twin Tiers area. This is because the news department at rival WENY is quite small compared with this station and most other big three
Big Three Television Networks
The Big Three Television Networks are the three traditional commercial broadcast television networks in the United States: ABC, CBS and NBC...
affiliates. In addition, WENY does not provide any newscasts on weekends despite operating three major programming services (ABC, CBS, and The CW) so WETM is currently the only outlet that airs broadcasts for Elmira and Corning seven days a week. While serving as a semi-satellite of WSTM, WETM produced separate local newscasts weeknights at 6 and 11 from its Hawley Hill studios. There were also weekday morning news and weather cut-ins (at :25 and :55 past the hour) during Today from 7 until 9.
The 2004 launch of WETM-DT2/WTTX-LP introduced the area's first prime time broadcast at 10 which can be seen for thirty minutes on weeknights. According to one television listing website, WETM 18 News at 10 competes with a ten minute update seen on Fox affiliate WYDC
WYDC
WYDC is the Fox-affiliated television station for New York State's Central Southern Tier licensed to Corning. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 48 from a transmitter on Higman Hill in Corning. The station can also be seen on Time Warner Cable channel 13 and in high...
. However, that station's programming listings on its own website does not mention the update. In addition, WETM-DT2 simulcasts the entire weekday morning show as well as weeknight newscasts at 5 and 6. In 2007, WETM became one of four stations in Upstate New York to stream its weekday noon show live online (the others are WKBW-TV
WKBW-TV
WKBW-TV, channel 7, is the ABC affiliate for the Buffalo, New York television market, and is one of many local Buffalo TV stations seen over-the-air and on cable in Canada. Its transmitter is located at 8909 Center Street in Colden. The station is owned by the Granite Broadcasting Corporation, who...
in Buffalo
Buffalo, New York
Buffalo is the second most populous city in the state of New York, after New York City. Located in Western New York on the eastern shores of Lake Erie and at the head of the Niagara River across from Fort Erie, Ontario, Buffalo is the seat of Erie County and the principal city of the...
as well as sister outlets WHAM-TV
WHAM-TV
WHAM-TV is the ABC-affiliated television station for Rochester, New York. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on VHF channel 13 from a transmitter on Pinnacle Hill on the border between Rochester and Brighton. The station can also be seen on Time Warner channel 13 and in high definition...
in Rochester
Rochester, New York
Rochester is a city in Monroe County, New York, south of Lake Ontario in the United States. Known as The World's Image Centre, it was also once known as The Flour City, and more recently as The Flower City...
and WSYR in Syracuse).
On June 5, 2009, Newport Television announced there would be a consolidation of local news operations between WIVT and WBGH with WETM in Elmira. It was initially made public the company would shut down the Binghamton operation completely with WBNG-TV
WBNG-TV
WBNG-TV is the CBS-affiliated television station for Upstate New York's Eastern Southern Tier licensed to Binghamton. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on VHF channel 7 from a transmitter on Ingraham Hill Road southwest of downtown. The station can also be seen on Time Warner Cable...
reporting all but two personnel and all production staff for the WIVT and WBGH news department were to be terminated. The Press & Sun-Bulletin
Press & Sun-Bulletin
The Press & Sun-Bulletin is a daily newspaper serving the area around Binghamton, New York. It was formed by the 1985 merger of The Evening Press and The Sun-Bulletin. It is owned by the Gannett Company, who purchased The Binghamton Press in 1943 and The Sun-Bulletin in 1971.-External links:**...
in Binghamton later identified the two people remaining as news anchor Peter Quinn and 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,...
Jim Ehmke but also mentioned fifteen other members of the original 28 person staff, including non-news personnel, that would ultimately remain with the two stations. WIVT and WBGH continue to be locally operated from studios on Ingraham Hill
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...
Road south of Binghamton.
On June 28, WIVT and WBGH brought back a separate broadcast weeknights at 6 focusing on the Eastern Southern Tier. WETM produces this broadcast from a secondary set with photographers based at the Binghamton studios providing video for newscasts produced at WETM's facility. It replaced a simulcast of WETM's show at 6 seen on the Binghamton stations. Currently, WIVT simulcasts the second hour of this station's weekday morning show and its midday newscast at noon. WIVT and WBGH simulcast WETM's nightly newscast at 11 while the latter also simulcasts its early evening news on Sundays.
Newscast titles
- Channel 18 News (1980s-2000)
- 18 News (2000-2005)
- WETM 18 News (2005-present)
News music packages
- "WNDUWNDU-TVWNDU-TV is a television station in South Bend, Indiana. The station is an affiliate of the NBC television network. Its transmitter is located in South Bend. WNDU-TV broadcasts in HDTV on Channel 42, additionally simulcasting a local Doppler radar image...
1986 News Theme" - "News Station"
- "News Source"
- "The NBC Collection"
News team
Anchors- Zach Wheeler - weekday mornings
- Brittni Smallwood - weekday mornings and reporter
- Jenelle Tortorella - weekdays at noon also reporter weeknights at 5 and 6
- Jeff Stone - Chief Managing EditorManaging editorA managing editor is a senior member of a publication's management team.In the United States, a managing editor oversees and coordinates the publication's editorial activities...
seen weeknights at 5, 6, and 11 (also Twin Tiers Weekly host) - Rebecca Solomon - weeknights at 6, 10, and 11
- Sara Sultanik - weekends and producer
- Henry Dormann - Friends & Neighbors host
- Stephen Coleman - Coleman and Company host
WETM 18 Storm Team Meteorologists
- Joe Pasquarelli (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...
Seal of Approval) - Chief seen weekday mornings and noon (also "Joe's Garden" segment producer) - Thomas Esterguard - weeknights
- Nick Borelli - weekends
Sports
- Steve Vesey - DirectorSports DirectorA 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 - Mario Sacco - weekends
- Chuck Brame - WETM 18 Sports Blitz host
Reporters
- George Kastenhuber - "Twin Tiers Most Wanted" segment producer
- Fred Ball - "Cooking with Chef Fred" segment producer
- Jim Reed - "Law Talk" segment producer
- Bobby Brooks
- Sam Smink
- Chris Hush
Notable former staff
- Catherine BosleyCatherine BosleyCatherine Bosley is an television news anchorwoman.Bosley was born in Lake County, Ohio, and graduated from Harbor High School, near Painesville, in 1985. She began working at age 17 at the local Hills Department Store as a cashier, staying there through her first year of college at Kent State...
- now at WOIO-TV - Ken RosatoKen RosatoKen Rosato is an American journalist. He attended Regis High School in New York City and then went on to get a bachelor's degree of TV and communication at New York University. Following his undergraduate studies, he received a master's degree in the foreign languages of Spanish and Italian...
- now at WABC-TVWABC-TVWABC-TV, channel 7, is the flagship station of the Disney-owned American Broadcasting Company located in New York City. The station's studios and offices are located on the Upper West Side section of Manhattan, adjacent to ABC's corporate headquarters, and its transmitter is atop the Empire State... - Rod DensonRod DensonRod Denson was a former radio and television personality in the Elmira-Corning television market from 1959 to 1989.- The Radio Years :Known as "Rockin' Rod", Rod was a disk jockey for radio station WEHH from 1959 to 1963....