WWTI
Encyclopedia
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 (virtual channel
50.1 via PSIP) from a transmitter on Hayes Road in Copenhagen
. The station can also be seen on Time Warner Cable
channel 5 and in high definition on digital channel 889. Owned by Newport Television
, WWTI has studios on Arsenal Street/NY 3
in Watertown
. However, master control
and some internal operations are based at centralcasting
facilities within the studios of sister station WSYR-TV
on Bridge Street in East Syracuse
. Syndicated
programming on this station includes Judge Judy
, Dr. Phil
, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire
, and Swift Justice with Nancy Grace
among others.
. Known on-air as The North Country CW, this is also offered on Time Warner
Cable channel 14. WWTI-DT2 receives all programing through The CW Plus
. It uses the "EWTI-DT" call sign for identification purposes.
The station signed-on February 1, 1985 with the calls WJCK. Airing an analog signal on UHF channel 50, it replaced a low-powered translator of Utica
's ABC affiliate WUTR
previously on the allotment. The station was the third outlet established in Watertown after WWNY-TV
and WPBS. Prior to WJCK's launch, WWNY was a secondary ABC affiliate and also served Massena
and Malone
along with WIXT-TV (now WSYR) from Syracuse
.
At its sign-on, WJCK took over operation of repeater W25AB channel 25 in Massena to better serve the St. Lawrence River Valley
. However, WVNY
in Burlington, Vermont
eventually launched a translator (W60AF channel 60) of its own in Malone. WJCK also operated a second repeater (W25AB channel 25) in order to expand its reach in and around Watertown. The station became WFYF on August 8, 1986.
In addition to being an ABC affiliate from the start, it shared secondary Fox status with WWNY beginning October 9, 1986. While the latter cleared more of Fox's programming offerings, WFYF aired Fox Sports
National Football League
(NFL) games on Sunday afternoons (in addition to carrying Monday Night Football
through ABC). Its original ownership team consisted of several investors including General Manager
David James Alteri, Steven Fox, and Richard Kimball. After the station went bankrupt under the initial partnership, it was sold to Robert Smith of Smith Broadcasting
in 1990 and the current call sign WWTI was adopted September 14. A new General Manager, Shelly Markoff, took control of operations.
In September 1998, an agreement between this station and Time Warner Cable allowed WWTI to launch cable-exclusive WB affiliate "WBWT". The arrangement was established during a period when The WB deployed various network stations outside the top 100 market
s as cable-only channels. WWTI provided sales and promotional opportunities to "WBWT" which was originally seen on Time Warner Cable channel 31. Since it was a cable-exclusive outlet, the call sign was not officially recognized by the Federal Communications Commission
(FCC). At some point in time, "WBWT" moved to the more appropriate channel 14 slot allowing it to be known on-air as "Watertown's WB 14".
In 2000, the United Communications Corporation
(owner of WWNY) entered into an agreement with Smith Broadcasting to make WWTI's repeaters (W28BC and W25AB) separate full-time Fox affiliates known together as WNYF. After a year of joint operation, United Communications took complete ownership of the two stations. The Ackerley Group
purchased WWTI in 2000 at which point David Males, then General Sales Manager, was promoted to General Manager. It joined Ackerley's cluster of New York stations with master control and other internal operations based out of centralcasting facilities at flagship WIXT in Syracuse. Clear Channel Communications
would take control of the station with its purchase of Ackerley in 2001. On July 30, 2003, WWTI began broadcasting a digital signal on UHF channel 21.
On January 24, 2006, The WB and UPN
announced the two networks would end broadcasting and merge. The new combined service would be called The CW. The letters would represent the first initial of corporate parents "C"BS
(the parent company of UPN) and the "W"arner Bros.
unit of Time Warner. Some of UPN's programming was seen in Watertown on WNYF in a secondary nature through a tape-delayed arrangement. On May 18, it was confirmed "WBWT" would be joining The CW via The CW Plus (a similar operation to The WB 100+). When the new network launched on September 18, WWTI created a second digital subchannel to offer non-cable viewers access to CW programming. "WBWT" dropped the faux call sign in favor of WWTI-DT2 which began to be used in a official manner.
On April 20, 2007, Clear Channel entered into an agreement to sell its entire television station unit to Newport Television (a subsidiary of private equity group Providence Equity Partners
). WWTI's broadcasts, which were originally scheduled to become digital-exclusive on February 17, 2009, were forced to continue in both analog and digital until June 12 due to FCC objections at an estimated $
50,000 in additional cost. At 11:59 p.m. on the revised DTV transition date, the station finally shut down its analog transmitter and became digital-exclusive.
by a wide margin. It has been the dominant station in the North Country because the station had the market to itself until WWTI signed-on. Even after this station began maintaining a minimal local news presence for many years, WWNY remained the most watched outlet. WWTI's original news team was quite small compared with other big three stations operating news departments. Its first attempt at airing newscasts and competing with WWNY ceased in early-1991. Four years later, a second attempt was established and the station maintained a small news team similar to the previous effort.
After the Ackerley Group acquired WWTI, it became more reliant on content originating from its sister stations in Upstate New York particularly flagship WIXT in Syracuse. In July 2002, a two-hour weekday morning show known as Daybreak debuted on this station. The broadcast, airing from 5 until 7, was simulcasted on sister stations WIVT
in Binghamton
and WUTR in Utica. The newscast was produced by WIXT from a secondary set at its studios and included brief localized updates (focusing on Watertown) twice an hour. Most coverage, however, presented was regional in nature with area-wide weather forecasts.
Having never successfully competed with WWNY, WWTI's nightly NewsWatch 50 newscasts were canceled in 2004. For a short time afterward, the station featured a 24 Hour News Source
-style series of short hourly news updates seen throughout the day. After this, it continued to air several daily news and weather updates under the NewsWatch 50 branding. In December 2006, WWTI added a news and weather update on weeknights known as 5 at 5. On June 5, 2009, the station's news department was shut down completely after Newport Television implemented across the board cuts. At the same time, WIVT and WBGH-CA
announced their Binghamton news operation would be consolidated with sister station WETM-TV
in Elmira
. This affected WWTI because it only maintained one locally-based meteorologist and WIVT/WBGH provided all other weather forecasts seen on-air. On September 14, the station switched its branding to "ABC 50" and website from "newswatch50.com" to "myabc50.com" de-emphasizing local news.
Even though WWTI lost a Watertown-based news department, it began simulcasting WSYR's NewsChannel 9 Eleven at 11
every night through a news share agreement. Occasionally, a reporter based at WWTI will contribute content to WSYR but most local coverage is seen on WWTI's website consisting of short headlines and features. During the 2009-2010 NFL season, the station featured half-hour reports from the Buffalo Bills
training camp produced by sister station WHAM-TV
in Rochester
. On September 8, 2009, WWTI began simulcasting WSYR's weekday morning and nightly 6 o'clock newscasts. Although that station eventually expanded its weekday morning show to 4:30, the first half hour is not seen on WWTI.
On Saturday and Sunday mornings, the station simulcasts WSYR's local news and weather cut-ins during Good Morning America
. On January 29, 2011, WSYR upgraded its newscasts to high definition and the simulcasts on this station were included. WWNY remains the only station operating a news department based in the North Country but Your News Now
(operated by Time Warner Cable) covers Watertown and Massena as well from a Syracuse-based newsroom with regional content. Like all CW Plus affiliates in the Eastern Time Zone
, WWTI-DT2 offers the nationally syndicated morning show The Daily Buzz
on weekdays from 6 until 9.
Anchors
Storm Team Meteorologists
Sports
Reporters
Contributors
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 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 North Country
North Country, New York
The North Country is a region of the U.S. state of New York that encompasses the state's extreme northern frontier, bordering Lake Ontario on the west, the Saint Lawrence River and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec on the north and northwest, and Lake Champlain and Vermont on the east...
. Licensed to Watertown
Watertown (city), New York
Watertown is a city in the state of New York and the county seat of Jefferson County. It is situated approximately south of the Thousand Islands. As of the 2010 census, it had a population of 27,023, an increase of 1.2% since 2000. The U.S...
, 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 21 (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....
50.1 via PSIP) from a transmitter on Hayes Road in Copenhagen
Copenhagen, New York
Copenhagen is a village in Lewis County, New York, United States. This village is situated between Watertown, New York and Lowville, New York. The population was 865 at the 2000 census...
. 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 5 and in high definition on digital channel 889. 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...
, WWTI has studios on Arsenal Street/NY 3
New York State Route 3
New York State Route 3 is a major east–west state highway in New York, United States, that connects central New York to the North Country region near the Canadian border via Adirondack Park. The route extends for between its western terminus at an intersection with NY 104A in the Cayuga...
in Watertown
Watertown (town), New York
Watertown is a town in Jefferson County, New York, United States. The population is 4,470.The Town of Watertown is located in the southeast part of the county...
. 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 the studios of sister station 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...
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 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...
, Dr. Phil
Dr. Phil (TV series)
Dr. Phil is a reality/talk television show hosted by Phil McGraw. After McGraw's success with his segments on The Oprah Winfrey Show, Dr. Phil debuted on September 16, 2002...
, 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 Swift Justice with Nancy Grace
Swift Justice With Nancy Grace
Swift Justice with Jackie Glass is a syndicated court program hosted by Judge Jackie Glass....
among others.
Digital programming
It operates the area's CW affiliate 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...
. Known on-air as The North Country CW, this is also offered on Time Warner
Time Warner
Time Warner is one of the world's largest media companies, headquartered in the Time Warner Center in New York City. Formerly two separate companies, Warner Communications, Inc...
Cable channel 14. WWTI-DT2 receives all programing through The CW Plus
The CW Plus
The CW Plus is a group of primarily digital sub-channels, analog, and non-broadcast cable television outlets for the CW Television Network, for markets below the top 99 television media markets in the United States....
. It uses the "EWTI-DT" call sign for identification purposes.
| Channels | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 50.1 | WWTI-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 WWTI programming / ABC |
| 50.2 | WWTI-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 | "The North Country CW" |
History
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....
's ABC affiliate WUTR
WUTR
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 from a transmitter at its studios on Smith Hill Road in Deerfield...
previously on the allotment. The station was the third outlet established in Watertown after WWNY-TV
WWNY-TV
WWNY-TV is the CBS-affiliated television station for Upstate New York's North Country region, licensed to Carthage. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on VHF channel 7 from a transmitter along State Street/NY 126 in Wilna's Carthage section. The station can also be seen on Time Warner...
and WPBS. Prior to WJCK's launch, WWNY was a secondary ABC affiliate and also served Massena
Massena (village), New York
Massena is a village in St. Lawrence County, New York, United States. The population was 13,589 at the 2000 census. The village is named after Andre Massena, one of Napoleon's generals....
and Malone
Malone (village), New York
-Notable natives:Notable natives include:*William Almon Wheeler served as Vice President of the United States under Rutherford Hayes. Is buried at Morningside Cemetery in Malone....
along with WIXT-TV (now WSYR) from 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...
.
At its sign-on, WJCK took over operation of repeater W25AB channel 25 in Massena to better serve the St. Lawrence River Valley
St. Lawrence County, New York
St. Lawrence County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2010 census, the population was 111,944. The county seat is Canton. The county is named for the Saint Lawrence River, which in turn was named for the Catholic saint on whose Feast day the river was discovered by...
. However, 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...
in 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....
eventually launched a translator (W60AF channel 60) of its own in Malone. WJCK also operated a second repeater (W25AB channel 25) in order to expand its reach in and around Watertown. The station became WFYF on August 8, 1986.
In addition to being an ABC affiliate from the start, it shared secondary Fox status with WWNY beginning October 9, 1986. While the latter cleared more of Fox's programming offerings, WFYF aired Fox Sports
NFL on FOX
NFL on Fox is the brand name of the Fox Broadcasting Company's coverage of the National Football League's National Football Conference games, produced by Fox Sports...
National Football League
National Football League
The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...
(NFL) games on Sunday afternoons (in addition to carrying Monday Night Football
Monday Night Football
Monday Night Football is a live broadcast of the National Football League on ESPN. From to it aired on ABC. Monday Night Football was, along with Hallmark Hall of Fame, and the Walt Disney anthology television series, one of the longest running prime time commercial network television series...
through ABC). Its original ownership team consisted of several investors including General Manager
General manager
General manager is a descriptive term for certain executives in a business operation. It is also a formal title held by some business executives, most commonly in the hospitality industry.-Generic usage:...
David James Alteri, Steven Fox, and Richard Kimball. After the station went bankrupt under the initial partnership, it was sold to Robert Smith of 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 1990 and the current call sign WWTI was adopted September 14. A new General Manager, Shelly Markoff, took control of operations.
In September 1998, an agreement between this station and Time Warner Cable allowed WWTI to launch cable-exclusive WB affiliate "WBWT". The arrangement was established during a period when The WB deployed various network stations outside the top 100 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...
s as cable-only channels. WWTI provided sales and promotional opportunities to "WBWT" which was originally seen on Time Warner Cable channel 31. Since it was a cable-exclusive outlet, the call sign was not officially recognized by the Federal Communications Commission
Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, created, Congressional statute , and with the majority of its commissioners appointed by the current President. The FCC works towards six goals in the areas of broadband, competition, the spectrum, the...
(FCC). At some point in time, "WBWT" moved to the more appropriate channel 14 slot allowing it to be known on-air as "Watertown's WB 14".
In 2000, the United Communications Corporation
United Communications Corporation
United Communications Corporation is a privately owned publisher and operator of three daily newspapers, several weekly newspapers and three television stations in the U.S. states of Illinois, Massachusetts, Minnesota, South Dakota and Wisconsin...
(owner of WWNY) entered into an agreement with Smith Broadcasting to make WWTI's repeaters (W28BC and W25AB) separate full-time Fox affiliates known together as WNYF. After a year of joint operation, United Communications took complete ownership of the two stations. 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 :...
purchased WWTI in 2000 at which point David Males, then General Sales Manager, was promoted to General Manager. It joined Ackerley's cluster of New York stations with master control and other internal operations based out of centralcasting facilities at flagship WIXT in Syracuse. 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...
would take control of the station with its purchase of Ackerley in 2001. On July 30, 2003, WWTI began broadcasting a digital signal on UHF channel 21.
On January 24, 2006, The WB and 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...
announced the two networks would end broadcasting and merge. The new combined service would be called The CW. The letters would represent the first initial of corporate parents "C"BS
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...
(the parent company of UPN) and the "W"arner Bros.
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...
unit of Time Warner. Some of UPN's programming was seen in Watertown on WNYF in a secondary nature through a tape-delayed arrangement. On May 18, it was confirmed "WBWT" would be joining The CW via The CW Plus (a similar operation to The WB 100+). When the new network launched on September 18, WWTI created a second digital subchannel to offer non-cable viewers access to CW programming. "WBWT" dropped the faux call sign in favor of WWTI-DT2 which began to be used in a official manner.
On April 20, 2007, Clear Channel entered into an agreement to sell its entire television station unit to Newport Television (a subsidiary of private equity group Providence Equity Partners
Providence Equity Partners
Providence Equity Partners is a global private equity investment firm focused on media, entertainment, communications and information investments...
). WWTI's broadcasts, which were originally scheduled to become digital-exclusive on February 17, 2009, were forced to continue in both analog and digital until June 12 due to FCC objections at an estimated $
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....
50,000 in additional cost. At 11:59 p.m. on the revised DTV transition date, the station finally shut down its analog transmitter and became digital-exclusive.
News operation
For its entire existence, WWNY has held the number one spot in 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...
by a wide margin. It has been the dominant station in the North Country because the station had the market to itself until WWTI signed-on. Even after this station began maintaining a minimal local news presence for many years, WWNY remained the most watched outlet. WWTI's original news team was quite small compared with other big three stations operating news departments. Its first attempt at airing newscasts and competing with WWNY ceased in early-1991. Four years later, a second attempt was established and the station maintained a small news team similar to the previous effort.
After the Ackerley Group acquired WWTI, it became more reliant on content originating from its sister stations in Upstate New York particularly flagship WIXT in Syracuse. In July 2002, a two-hour weekday morning show known as Daybreak debuted on this station. The broadcast, airing from 5 until 7, 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 WUTR in Utica. The newscast was produced by WIXT from a secondary set at its studios and included brief localized updates (focusing on Watertown) twice an hour. Most coverage, however, presented was regional in nature with area-wide weather forecasts.
Having never successfully competed with WWNY, WWTI's nightly NewsWatch 50 newscasts were canceled in 2004. For a short time afterward, the station featured a 24 Hour News Source
24 Hour News Source
The 24 Hour News Source brand was a common name used by American television stations starting in the early 1990s for brief hourly news updates, usually running 30 seconds to a minute in length. At its peak, dozens of stations across the U.S. were producing these brief news updates...
-style series of short hourly news updates seen throughout the day. After this, it continued to air several daily news and weather updates under the NewsWatch 50 branding. In December 2006, WWTI added a news and weather update on weeknights known as 5 at 5. On June 5, 2009, the station's news department was shut down completely after Newport Television implemented across the board cuts. At the same time, WIVT and WBGH-CA
WBGH-CA
WBGH-CA is the Class A NBC-affiliated television station for New York's Eastern Southern Tier licensed to Binghamton. It broadcasts a low-powered analog signal on UHF channel 20 from a transmitter at its studios on Ingraham Hill Road. The station can also be seen on Time Warner Cable channel 5 and...
announced their Binghamton news operation would be consolidated with sister station WETM-TV
WETM-TV
WETM-TV is the NBC-affiliated television station for Upstate New York's Central Southern Tier licensed to Elmira. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 18 from a transmitter on Hawley Hill in West Elmira. The station can also be seen on Time Warner Cable channel 3 and in...
in Elmira
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...
. This affected WWTI because it only maintained one locally-based meteorologist and WIVT/WBGH provided all other weather forecasts seen on-air. On September 14, the station switched its branding to "ABC 50" and website from "newswatch50.com" to "myabc50.com" de-emphasizing local news.
Even though WWTI lost a Watertown-based news department, it began simulcasting WSYR's NewsChannel 9 Eleven at 11
Eleven @ 11:00
Eleven @ 11:00 is the title of the 11:00 p.m. newscast on many local television stations in the United States. The name is based on the fact that the newscast will run for at least eleven minutes before the first commercial break, a summarized weather forecast segment will air during that time, or...
every night through a news share agreement. Occasionally, a reporter based at WWTI will contribute content to WSYR but most local coverage is seen on WWTI's website consisting of short headlines and features. During the 2009-2010 NFL season, the station featured half-hour reports from the Buffalo Bills
Buffalo Bills
The Buffalo Bills are a professional football team based in Buffalo, New York. They are currently members of the East Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
training camp produced by sister station 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...
. On September 8, 2009, WWTI began simulcasting WSYR's weekday morning and nightly 6 o'clock newscasts. Although that station eventually expanded its weekday morning show to 4:30, the first half hour is not seen on WWTI.
On Saturday and Sunday mornings, the station simulcasts WSYR's local news and weather cut-ins 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...
. On January 29, 2011, WSYR upgraded its newscasts to high definition and the simulcasts on this station were included. WWNY remains the only station operating a news department based in the North Country but 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,...
(operated by Time Warner Cable) covers Watertown and Massena as well from a Syracuse-based newsroom with regional content. Like all CW Plus affiliates in the Eastern Time Zone
Eastern Time Zone
The Eastern Time Zone of the United States and Canada is a time zone that falls mostly along the east coast of North America. Its UTC time offset is −5 hrs during standard time and −4 hrs during daylight saving time...
, WWTI-DT2 offers the nationally syndicated morning show The Daily Buzz
The Daily Buzz
The Daily Buzz is a nationally syndicated breakfast television news and infotainment program. The show is produced by Fisher Communications and is owned and distributed by ACME Communications; it is broadcast every weekday morning from studios at Full Sail University in Winter Park, Florida...
on weekdays from 6 until 9.
Newscast Titles
- North Country News (1988-1990s)
- NewsWatchNewsWatchNewswatch is a brand for local newscasts.-Stations That Use or Have Used the Newswatch Name:-See also:*Action News*Eyewitness News*NewsCenter...
50 (1990s-2009) - 5 at 5 (weeknight 5 p.m. update, 2006-2009)
- NewsChannel 9 (2009-present, used during WSYR news simulcasts)
Station slogans
- "Your North Country News Station" (1988-early 1990s)
- "Always On" (2006–2009)
- "We're Always On!" (2009–2011)
- "Start Here" (2011-present, localized version of ABC ad campaign)
- "Anytime, Anywhere: NewsChannel 9 is Everywhere." (2009–2011, used during WSYR news simulcasts)
- "The Local Station" (2011-present, used during WSYR news simulcasts)
News team
+ denotes personnel based at WWTIAnchors
- Dan Cummings - weekday mornings
- Tanja Babich - weekday mornings and reporter
- Carrie Lazarus - weeknights at 6
- Christie Casciano - weeknights at 11
- Rod Wood - weeknights and consumer reporter
- Jan Carabeo - weekend morning cut-ins and reporter
- James Gaddis - weekend evenings and reporter
Storm Team Meteorologists
- Dave Longley (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 weeknights - Chris Brandolino (AMS Seal of Approval) - weekday mornings and "The School Buzz" segment producer
- Mike Bennett - weekend morning cut-ins
- Jim Teske (AMS Seal of Approval) - weekend evenings
Sports
- Steve Infanti - 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 and Friday Night Fever host - Lindsay Liquori - weekend evenings and sports reporter
Reporters
- Kaylea Nixon - weekday morning traffic
- Jennifer Lewke - consumer investigator
- Keith Kobland - producer
- Jeff Kulikowsky - Senior
- Staci-Lyn Honda
- Racquel Asa
Contributors
- + Holly Boname - News Content Manager and Live, Right Now
- Rick Reagan - Money in Your Pocket
- + Jessica Page - Fitness Watch
- + Chris Page - Fitness Watch
- + Kris Allen - Wine and Dine