WUTR
Encyclopedia
WUTR is the ABC
-affiliated television station
for Central
Upstate
New York
's Mohawk Valley
. Licensed to Utica
, it broadcasts a high definition
digital signal on UHF channel 30 (virtual channel
20.1 via PSIP) from a transmitter at its studios on Smith Hill
Road in Deerfield
(official address is Utica). The station can also be seen on Time Warner Cable
channel 7 and in high definition on digital channel 889. Owned by Mission Broadcasting
, WUTR is operated through local marketing
and joint sales agreements by the Nexstar Broadcasting Group
. This makes it sister to Fox affiliate WFXV
and low-powered MyNetworkTV
affiliate WPNY-LP
(all three share facilities together on Smith Hill Road). Syndicated
programming on WUTR includes How I Met Your Mother
, The Insider
, Entertainment Tonight
, and Inside Edition
among others.
of WUTR.
. Owned by Roy H. Park Communications at the outset, the station originally sought affiliation with CBS
but was stopped by WHEN-TV (now WTVH
) in Syracuse
when that outlet claimed the Utica area in its market coverage area. Although WHEN cited potential revenue losses as reasoning for its actions, a rivalry between the Syracuse-based Park and then-WHEN owner Meredith Corporation
may have also played a factor.
As a result, WUTR joined ABC and was the only affiliate with the network owned by Park at that time. Until the 1980s, WUTR was the default ABC affiliate for much of the Watertown market and operated translators both there and in Massena
. The translators were shut down after WFYF (now WWTI
which later spent several years as a sister station to WUTR) began operations on the Watertown translator allotment. After Roy Park died in 1993, the future of the group was put into doubt as his estate sold much of the group to corporate investor Gary Knapp. In turn, he sold the remnants of the Park group to Media General
in 1996.
With WUTR being one of the smallest of Park's stations and the sole station the group had in the Northeast
, Media General spun it off in mid-1997 to the Ackerley Group
(then-owner of ABC affiliate WIXT, now WSYR-TV
, in Syracuse). With the purchase, Ackerley began to build a regional strategy called the "Central New York Station Group" (CNYSG) which eventually covered most of Upstate New York and acquired stations in markets the company did not initially enter. In October 2001, Clear Channel Communications
announced its buyout of Ackerley closing on its purchase in 2002. Though initially no changes took place, market concentration concerns with Clear Channel's radio cluster in the Utica market put WUTR's future under the company in doubt.
Given the option between potentially selling WUTR or the four-station "Sports Stars
" sports radio
simulcast, Clear Channel decided to hack away at this station by cutting budgets and redistributing resources to other stations in the CNYSG. This ultimately resulted in the December 2003 announcement where WUTR would be sold to Nexstar Broadcasting Group subsidiary Mission Broadcasting. The sale was completed on April 1, 2004. At that time, Nexstar (owner of WFXV and WPNY) took over operations of WUTR under local marketing and joint sales agreements with the three stations eventually being consolidated into WUTR's studios in Deerfield. It began digital-exclusive transmission on March 16, 2009 continuing to broadcast its digital signal on channel 30. However, through the use of PSIP, digital television receivers display its virtual channel as 20.1.
For a time in December 2010, WUTR was available in the Burlington, Vermont
/Plattsburgh, New York area on Time Warner
Cable systems. Due to an ongoing retransmission dispute, the provider dropped that market's ABC affiliate WVNY
and added WUTR in its place. Rival WKTV, which is co-owned with WVNY, was replaced with Nexstar-owned WBRE-TV
from Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania
on Time Warner Cable's systems in Utica for the same reason. Eventually, the dispute was resolved and home stations were returned to the cable system. This station has traditionally carried Christmas
promos accompanied by the station's Christmas-themed music package. WUTR was also known in its coverage area for its "A Visit from St. Nicholas
" done by the station's personnel which aired through Christmas during newscasts. Its current holiday cards (also aired on sister stations WFXV and WPNY) are seen in a similar fashion to WKTV and accompanied by the song Winter Wonderland
.
. Two reasons resulting in this leadership include being the first outlet in Utica to sign-on and remaining the only station on the more powerful VHF dial. Despite those facts, WUTR was most competitive with WKTV in the mid-1990s stayed at a distant but strong second place. After Clear Channel began cutting back this station's operations, WUTR became more reliant on content originating from its sister stations in Upstate New York (particularly flagship WIXT in Syracuse). WUTR ended its weekday morning show and weekend newscasts in June 2002.
A new weekday morning broadcast known as Daybreak debuted a month later and was simulcasted on sister stations WIVT
(in Binghamton
) and WWTI. The news was produced by WIXT from a secondary set at its studios and included brief updates, focusing on Utica, twice an hour from 5 until 7. However, most coverage presented was regional in nature with area wide weather forecasts. Weeknight newscasts and the remaining news department at WUTR was shut down entirely on August 1, 2003. For the rest of Clear Channel's ownership, the station simulcasted newscasts from WIXT which providing some limited coverage of the Utica and Rome area. After Nexstar/Mission assumed ownership of WUTR, the simulcasts of WIXT's newscasts were replaced with syndicated programming.
After WTVH's acquisition by the Granite Broadcasting Corporation
in June 1993, that station did not take full advantage of its status as Utica's de-facto CBS affiliate in terms of local advertising opportunities and news coverage. Although Syracuse's WSTM-TV
carries substantial news stories from Herkimer County
, WKTV is currently the only locally-based station to offer newscasts. WSTM eventually took over WTVH's news operation in 2009 but there was no noticeable increase in Mohawk Valley coverage. Your News Now
, Time Warner's cable-only station in Upstate New York, covers the area from a Syracuse-based newsroom but with more regional content. In instances of severe weather, Syracuse-based stations do offer coverage of Utica and Rome. Right now due to WUTR's lack of a news department, meteorologists from sister station WROC-TV
in Rochester
provide the station with weekday morning weather cut-ins from 7 until 9 during Good Morning America
.
There is a locally-produced business showcase segment called "Ask The Expert" seen at 7:25 and 8:25 during the national morning show in addition to features and short headlines on the station's website. After WUTR's sale to Mission Broadcasting, speculation began circulating Nexstar would establish a combined news department for WUTR as well as sister stations WFXV and WPNY in order to take on WKTV. Progress was made on March 31, 2011 when the company announced it would launch a news operation for the three stations by mid-September. It announced plans to invest $
1 million for new equipment and the hiring of twelve employees. On weeknights, there will be an early evening newscast at 6 on WUTR which will be repeated at 7 on WPNY. Although it will not air live, the latter program will be the only offering of local news in the time slot since there is no broadcast seen on WKTV. Late night newscasts will be seen at 10 (on WFXV) and at 11 (on WUTR).
It is unknown how long the prime time show will ultimately air on WFXV; the initial press release indicated that it would feature separate news anchors from WUTR and be presented in a more fast-paced format to attract Fox's younger viewers, but an August press release indicated that only one anchor team was hired for both stations, and only seven people were hired for news operations instead of the originally announced twelve. This will compete with a thirty minute weeknight broadcast seen at the same time on CW affiliate WKTV-DT2. Ironically, WFXV did air a nightly newscast at 10 from 2001 until 2004 produced by WKTV through a news share agreement.
WUTR announced that its Eyewitness News operation would begin on September 12, 2011, and broadcast in true high definition
. In comparison, WKTV has not yet upgraded its news operation to 16:9 enhanced definition widescreen
or full high definition. Throughout the process of building a local news operation from scratch, WUTR will consult with viewers and businesses for input in developing the final product. '
WUTR has made no indications of carrying morning, noon, afternoon (4:00, 5:00 or 5:30), or weekend newscasts, and the current plans for WUTR only indicate weeknight newscasts at 6:00 and 11:00. As a result, even with the addition of news, WUTR will have the fewest weekly hours of news of any ABC affiliate in the state of New York, surpassing WENY-TV
, which carries a one-hour morning newscast in addition to news at 6:00 and 11:00 on weeknights, but like WUTR, no news at noon, in the afternoon or on weekends. The station also has no sports department or sports reporters.
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 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:...
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
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
's Mohawk Valley
Mohawk Valley
The Mohawk Valley region of the U.S. state of New York is the area surrounding the Mohawk River, sandwiched between the Adirondack Mountains and Catskill Mountains....
. Licensed to 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....
, 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 30 (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....
20.1 via PSIP) from a transmitter at its studios on Smith Hill
Smith Hill
Smith Hill is the name of many places, among them:*Smith Hill , a notable house in Elphin, Ireland*Smith Hill, Providence, Rhode Island, a neighborhood*The site of a particularly long-range broadcast tower in Herkimer County, New York...
Road in Deerfield
Deerfield, New York
Deerfield is a town in Oneida County, New York, United States. The population was 3,906 at the 2000 census.The Town of Deerfield is on the eastern border of the county and northeast of the City of Utica.- History :...
(official address is Utica). 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 7 and in high definition on digital channel 889. 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...
, WUTR is operated through local marketing
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...
and joint sales agreements 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...
. This makes it sister to Fox affiliate WFXV
WFXV
WFXV is the Fox-affiliated television station for Central Upstate New York's Mohawk Valley. Licensed to Utica, it broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 27 from a transmitter at its studios on Smith Hill Road in Deerfield...
and low-powered MyNetworkTV
MyNetworkTV
MyNetworkTV is a television broadcast syndication service in the United States, owned by the Fox Entertainment Group, a division of News Corporation...
affiliate WPNY-LP
WPNY-LP
WPNY-LP is the MyNetworkTV-affiliated television station for Central New York State's Mohawk Valley. Licensed to Utica, it broadcasts a low-powered analog signal on VHF channel 11 from a transmitter at studios on Smith Hill Road in Deerfield . The station can also be seen on Time Warner Cable...
(all three share facilities together on Smith Hill Road). 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 WUTR includes 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...
, 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...
, 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...
, and 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...
among others.
Digital programming
WPNY does not currently air a digital signal of its own due to low-powered status. Therefore, one is provided in standard definition on a second digital subchannelDigital 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...
of WUTR.
| Channels (virtual/physical) | Name | Video | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20.1/30.1 | WUTR-HD | 720p 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 WUTR programming/ABC (HD) |
| 20.2/30.2 | WUTR-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 | "My WPNY TV" (SD) |
History
WUTR signed-on February 28, 1970 as the second television station in 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...
. Owned by Roy H. Park Communications at the outset, the station originally sought affiliation with 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...
but was stopped by WHEN-TV (now 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...
when that outlet claimed the Utica area in its market coverage area. Although WHEN cited potential revenue losses as reasoning for its actions, a rivalry between the Syracuse-based Park and then-WHEN owner Meredith Corporation
Meredith Corporation
The Meredith Corporation is a media conglomerate based in Des Moines, Iowa, USA. The company has two divisions, National Media and Local Media.-History:...
may have also played a factor.
As a result, WUTR joined ABC and was the only affiliate with the network owned by Park at that time. Until the 1980s, WUTR was the default ABC affiliate for much of the Watertown market and operated translators both there and in Massena
Massena (town), New York
Massena is a town in St. Lawrence County, New York, United States. The town is on the northern border of the county and is nicknamed "The Gateway to the Fourth Coast". The population was 13,121 at the 2000 census. The town of Massena contains a village also called Massena...
. The translators were shut down after WFYF (now WWTI
WWTI
WWTI is the ABC-affiliated television station for Upstate New York's North Country. Licensed to Watertown, it broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 21 from a transmitter on Hayes Road in Copenhagen. The station can also be seen on Time Warner Cable channel 5 and in high...
which later spent several years as a sister station to WUTR) began operations on the Watertown translator allotment. After Roy Park died in 1993, the future of the group was put into doubt as his estate sold much of the group to corporate investor Gary Knapp. In turn, he sold the remnants of the Park group to Media General
Media General
Media General, Inc. is a media company based in the Southeastern United States. Its major properties include newspapers such as The Tampa Tribune, the Winston-Salem Journal, and the Richmond Times-Dispatch, as well as numerous television stations, such as flagship station WFLA-TV.The company was...
in 1996.
With WUTR being one of the smallest of Park's stations and the sole station the group had in the Northeast
Northeastern United States
The Northeastern United States is a region of the United States as defined by the United States Census Bureau.-Composition:The region comprises nine states: the New England states of Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont; and the Mid-Atlantic states of New...
, Media General spun it off in mid-1997 to the Ackerley Group
Ackerley Group
The Ackerley Group was an American media company that owned several television stations that was taken over by Clear Channel Communications in 2001. Its chairman was Seattle-based businessman Barry Ackerley.-Stations list :...
(then-owner of ABC affiliate WIXT, now 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...
, in Syracuse). With the purchase, Ackerley began to build a regional strategy called the "Central New York Station Group" (CNYSG) which eventually covered most of Upstate New York and acquired stations in markets the company did not initially enter. In October 2001, 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...
announced its buyout of Ackerley closing on its purchase in 2002. Though initially no changes took place, market concentration concerns with Clear Channel's radio cluster in the Utica market put WUTR's future under the company in doubt.
Given the option between potentially selling WUTR or the four-station "Sports Stars
WRNY (AM)
WRNY is an American radio station broadcasting at 1350 kHz. The station was owned by Clear Channel until September 2007, when ownership was transferred to Galaxy Utica as a result of Clear Channel's decision to "go private"...
" sports radio
Sports radio
Sports radio is a radio format devoted entirely to discussion and broadcasting of sporting events. A popular format with an almost exclusively male demographic in most areas, sports radio is characterized by an often-boisterous on-air style and extensive debate and analysis by both hosts and...
simulcast, Clear Channel decided to hack away at this station by cutting budgets and redistributing resources to other stations in the CNYSG. This ultimately resulted in the December 2003 announcement where WUTR would be sold to Nexstar Broadcasting Group subsidiary Mission Broadcasting. The sale was completed on April 1, 2004. At that time, Nexstar (owner of WFXV and WPNY) took over operations of WUTR under local marketing and joint sales agreements with the three stations eventually being consolidated into WUTR's studios in Deerfield. It began digital-exclusive transmission on March 16, 2009 continuing to broadcast its digital signal on channel 30. However, through the use of PSIP, digital television receivers display its virtual channel as 20.1.
For a time in December 2010, WUTR was available in the Burlington, Vermont
Burlington, Vermont
Burlington is the largest city in the U.S. state of Vermont and the shire town of Chittenden County. Burlington lies south of the U.S.-Canadian border and some south of Montreal....
/Plattsburgh, New York area 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 systems. Due to an ongoing retransmission dispute, the provider dropped that market's ABC affiliate WVNY
WVNY
WVNY is the ABC-affiliated television station for Vermont's Champlain Valley and Upstate New York's North Country. Licensed to Burlington, Vermont, it broadcasts a high definition digital signal on VHF channel 13 from a transmitter on Vermont's highest peak Mount Mansfield. The station can also be...
and added WUTR in its place. Rival WKTV, which is co-owned with WVNY, was replaced with Nexstar-owned WBRE-TV
WBRE-TV
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...
from Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania
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...
on Time Warner Cable's systems in Utica for the same reason. Eventually, the dispute was resolved and home stations were returned to the cable system. This station has traditionally carried Christmas
Christmas
Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...
promos accompanied by the station's Christmas-themed music package. WUTR was also known in its coverage area for its "A Visit from St. Nicholas
A Visit from St. Nicholas
"A Visit from St. Nicholas", also known as "The Night Before Christmas" and "'Twas the Night Before Christmas" from its first line, is a poem first published anonymously in 1823 and generally attributed to Clement Clarke Moore, although the claim has also been made that it was written by Henry...
" done by the station's personnel which aired through Christmas during newscasts. Its current holiday cards (also aired on sister stations WFXV and WPNY) are seen in a similar fashion to WKTV and accompanied by the song Winter Wonderland
Winter Wonderland
"Winter Wonderland" is a winter song, popularly treated as a Christmastime pop standard, written in 1934 by Felix Bernard and Richard B. Smith . Through the decades it has been recorded by over 150 different artists.-History:...
.
News operation
For its entire history, NBC affiliate WKTV has traditionally been the dominant station in the Mowhawk Valley according to Nielsen ratingsNielsen 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...
. Two reasons resulting in this leadership include being the first outlet in Utica to sign-on and remaining the only station on the more powerful VHF dial. Despite those facts, WUTR was most competitive with WKTV in the mid-1990s stayed at a distant but strong second place. After Clear Channel began cutting back this station's operations, WUTR became more reliant on content originating from its sister stations in Upstate New York (particularly flagship WIXT in Syracuse). WUTR ended its weekday morning show and weekend newscasts in June 2002.
A new weekday morning broadcast known as Daybreak debuted a month later and was simulcasted on sister stations 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...
(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...
) and WWTI. The news was produced by WIXT from a secondary set at its studios and included brief updates, focusing on Utica, twice an hour from 5 until 7. However, most coverage presented was regional in nature with area wide weather forecasts. Weeknight newscasts and the remaining news department at WUTR was shut down entirely on August 1, 2003. For the rest of Clear Channel's ownership, the station simulcasted newscasts from WIXT which providing some limited coverage of the Utica and Rome area. After Nexstar/Mission assumed ownership of WUTR, the simulcasts of WIXT's newscasts were replaced with syndicated programming.
After WTVH's acquisition 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...
in June 1993, that station did not take full advantage of its status as Utica's de-facto CBS affiliate in terms of local advertising opportunities and news coverage. Although Syracuse's 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...
carries substantial news stories from Herkimer County
Herkimer County, New York
Herkimer County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. It was created in 1791 north of the Mohawk River out of part of Montgomery County. As of the 2010 census, the population was 64,519. It is named after General Nicholas Herkimer, who died from battle wounds in 1777 after taking part...
, WKTV is currently the only locally-based station to offer newscasts. WSTM eventually took over WTVH's news operation in 2009 but there was no noticeable increase in Mohawk Valley coverage. Your News Now
Your News Now
YNN ' is the brand for Time Warner Cable's 24-hour cable news television channels.The channels operate on the half-hour wheel format popularized by CNN Headline News. Weather reports are aired every 10 minutes and a Top Stories or Your News in a Minute is aired at the top and bottom of every hour,...
, Time Warner's cable-only station in Upstate New York, covers the area from a Syracuse-based newsroom but with more regional content. In instances of severe weather, Syracuse-based stations do offer coverage of Utica and Rome. Right now due to WUTR's lack of a news department, meteorologists from sister station WROC-TV
WROC-TV
WROC-TV, virtual channel 8, is a CBS affiliate based in Rochester, New York, USA, owned and operated by Nexstar Broadcasting Group. WROC-TV operates Fox affiliate WUHF through a shared services agreement. The two share studios on Humboldt Street in Rochester...
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...
provide the station with weekday morning weather cut-ins from 7 until 9 during 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...
.
There is a locally-produced business showcase segment called "Ask The Expert" seen at 7:25 and 8:25 during the national morning show in addition to features and short headlines on the station's website. After WUTR's sale to Mission Broadcasting, speculation began circulating Nexstar would establish a combined news department for WUTR as well as sister stations WFXV and WPNY in order to take on WKTV. Progress was made on March 31, 2011 when the company announced it would launch a news operation for the three stations by mid-September. It announced plans to invest $
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....
1 million for new equipment and the hiring of twelve employees. On weeknights, there will be an early evening newscast at 6 on WUTR which will be repeated at 7 on WPNY. Although it will not air live, the latter program will be the only offering of local news in the time slot since there is no broadcast seen on WKTV. Late night newscasts will be seen at 10 (on WFXV) and at 11 (on WUTR).
It is unknown how long the prime time show will ultimately air on WFXV; the initial press release indicated that it would feature separate news anchors from WUTR and be presented in a more fast-paced format to attract Fox's younger viewers, but an August press release indicated that only one anchor team was hired for both stations, and only seven people were hired for news operations instead of the originally announced twelve. This will compete with a thirty minute weeknight broadcast seen at the same time on CW affiliate WKTV-DT2. Ironically, WFXV did air a nightly newscast at 10 from 2001 until 2004 produced by WKTV through a news share agreement.
WUTR announced that its Eyewitness News operation would begin on September 12, 2011, and broadcast in true 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...
. In comparison, WKTV has not yet upgraded its news operation to 16:9 enhanced definition widescreen
Widescreen
Widescreen images are a variety of aspect ratios used in film, television and computer screens. In film, a widescreen film is any film image with a width-to-height aspect ratio greater than the standard 1.37:1 Academy aspect ratio provided by 35mm film....
or full high definition. Throughout the process of building a local news operation from scratch, WUTR will consult with viewers and businesses for input in developing the final product. '
WUTR has made no indications of carrying morning, noon, afternoon (4:00, 5:00 or 5:30), or weekend newscasts, and the current plans for WUTR only indicate weeknight newscasts at 6:00 and 11:00. As a result, even with the addition of news, WUTR will have the fewest weekly hours of news of any ABC affiliate in the state of New York, surpassing 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...
, which carries a one-hour morning newscast in addition to news at 6:00 and 11:00 on weeknights, but like WUTR, no news at noon, in the afternoon or on weekends. The station also has no sports department or sports reporters.
Anchors
- Joe Parker - News director, anchor
- Caroline Gable - Anchor
- Jeff Matthews (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 Approval) - Chief Meteorologist
Newscast titles
- NewsWatch 20 (1970–1981)
- TV 20 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...
(1981–1993) - WUTR-TV Eyewitness News (1993–1995)
- WUTR Eyewitness News (1995–1997)
- NewsChannel 20 (1997–2001)
- Eyewitness News (2011–present)
Station slogans
- "Here For You!" (1988–1993)
- "Local Coverage You Can Count On" (1994–1995)
- "Still Here For You!" (1995–1997)
- "Coverage You Can Count On" (1995–2003, used by the entire Central New York Station Group)