WQMY

WQMY
Williamsport/Scranton/
Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania
United States
City Williamsport
Branding MyNetworkTV WQMY
Channels Digital: 29 (UHF) &
WOLF-DT 45.3 (UHF)
Virtual: 53 (PSIP)
Subchannels 53.1 MyNetworkTV
53.2 Fox
53.3 The CW
Affiliations MyNetworkTV (2006–present)
Owner New Age Media, LLC
(New Age Media of Pennsylvania License, LLC)
Operator Sinclair Broadcast Group
First air date December 30, 1988 (1988-12-30)
Call letters' meaning MYNetworkTV
Sister station(s) WOLF-TV, WSWB
Former callsigns WILF (1988–2006)
Former channel number(s) Analog: 53 (1988–2009)
Former affiliations Fox (1988–1998)
WB / UPN (1998–2006)
Transmitter power 50 kW
420 kW (WOLF-DT3)
Height 243 m
488 m (WOLF-DT3)
Facility ID 52075
73375 (WOLF-DT3)
Transmitter coordinates 41°12′1″N 77°7′13″W / 41.20028°N 77.12028°W / 41.20028; -77.12028
41°10′58.2″N 75°52′11.5″W / 41.182833°N 75.869861°W / 41.182833; -75.869861 (WOLF-DT3)
Licensing authority FCC
Public license information: Profile
CDBS

WQMY is the MyNetworkTV-affiliated television station for Northeastern Pennsylvania that is licensed to Williamsport. It broadcasts a standard definition digital signal on UHF channel 29 from a transmitter on top of Bald Eagle Mountain south of the city. The station can also be seen on Service Electric channel 4 (HD on digital channel 504) and Comcast channel 8 (HD on digital channel 811). Owned by New Age Media and operated by Sinclair Broadcast Group, WQMY is sister to Fox affiliate WOLF-TV and CW affiliate WSWB (owned by MPS Media and operated through a local marketing agreement). All three share studios on SR 315 in the Fox Hill section of Plains Township.

Syndicated programming on this station includes: The People's Court, Judge Mathis and Family Feud. Although its transmitter is in Williamsport, the station is considered part of the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre market. However, its over-the-air signal does not reach those two locations. Therefore, WQMY is offered on WOLF-TV's third digital subchannel. This broadcasts on UHF channel 45.3 (channel 56.3 through PSIP) from a transmitter on Penobscot Knob near Mountain Top.

History

On December 30, 1988, the station signed-on an analog signal on UHF channel 53. It was the second full-time satellite of Fox affiliate WOLF-TV (then on analog UHF channel 38) owned by Scranton TV Partners. Using the call letters WILF, this station was established to improve coverage of its parent station in the northern and western parts of the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre market. On November 1, 1998, then-owner Pegasus Television changed channel 38's call letters to the current WSWB and made it the area's second WB affiliate after low-powered WYLN-LP in Hazleton dropped the network. Fox programming remained on channel 38's former satellite, WWLF in Hazleton, which picked up the WOLF-TV calls. WILF remained as a repeater of WSWB. WSWB/WILF also picked up UPN as a secondary affiliation. Select programming from the network aired on Saturday nights (since The WB did not offer programs then) without the branding. At 8, the channel would air America's Next Top Model and at 9 would be WWE Friday Night SmackDown. Whenever America's Next Top Model was in repeats, it would air Veronica Mars instead. All UPN programming in pattern was available on cable via WWOR-TV from New York City, WPSG from Philadelphia, and WLYH-TV from Harrisburg.

Pegasus declared bankruptcy in June 2004 over a dispute with DirecTV, which was co-owned with Fox by News Corporation, over marketing of the direct broadcast satellite service in rural areas. The Pegasus station group was sold in August 2006 to private investment firm CP Media, LLC of Wilkes-Barre for $55.5 million. Eventually, CP Media formed a new broadcasting company, New Age Media. For the first time in its history, WSWB was no longer co-owned with WOLF-TV. However, the new owner entered into a local marketing agreement (LMA) so the stations could continue to be commonly operated.

On January 24, 2006, The WB and UPN announced that the 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 CBS (the parent company of UPN) and the Warner Bros. unit of Time Warner. On February 22, News Corporation announced that it would start up another new network called MyNetworkTV. This service, which would be sister to Fox, would be operated by Fox Television Stations and its syndication division Twentieth Television. MyNetworkTV was created in order to give UPN and WB stations, not mentioned as becoming CW affiliates, another option besides becoming Independent. It was also created to compete against The CW.

On May 1, 2006, it was made public WILF would become a separate station and become the area's charter MyNetworkTV affiliate. Also at that point, it became known that WSWB would affiliate with The CW. This was due to both UPN and The WB being offered on the main station. Since WILF's signal completely missed Scranton and Wilkes-Barre, it was also announced that it would be added to a new third digital subchannel of WOLF-TV. WILF changed its call sign to the current WQMY on July 7 to reflect the upcoming affiliation change.

MyNetworkTV launched September 5 and this station introduced its first logo. As a WSWB full-time satellite, it did not have one. WSWB began airing The CW on September 18. Starting on May 8, 2010, it began re-broadcasting live Philadelphia Union MLS telecasts from ABC affiliate WPVI-TV.

On September 25, 2013, New Age Media announced that it would sell most of its stations, including WQMY and WOLF-TV, to the Sinclair Broadcast Group.[1][2] On October 31, 2014, New Age Media requested the dismissal of its application to sell WQMY;[3] the next day, Sinclair purchased the non-license assets of the stations it planned to buy from New Age Media and began operating them through a master service agreement.[4][5]

Digital television

Digital channels

The station's digital signal is multiplexed:

Channel Video Aspect PSIP Short Name Programming[6]
53.1 480i 4:3 WQMY-DT Main WQMY programming / MyNetworkTV
53.2 720p 16:9 WOLF-DT Simulcast of WOLF-TV
53.3 480i 4:3 WSWB-DT Simulcast of WSWB

WQMY multiplexes its signal in order to broadcast WOLF in HD and WSWB to the Lycoming County, PA area.[7] In mid 2010 WQMY started routing direct HD signals to various cable companies in northeast Pennsylvania.

Analog-to-digital conversion

WQMY shut down its analog signal, over UHF channel 53, on February 17, 2009, the original target date in which full-power television stations in the United States were to transition from analog to digital broadcasts under federal mandate (which was later pushed back to June 12, 2009). The station's digital signal remained on its pre-transition UHF channel 29.[8] Through the use of PSIP, digital television receivers display the station's virtual channel as its former UHF analog channel 53, which was among the high band UHF channels (52-69) that were removed from broadcasting use as a result of the transition.

References

  1. ↑ Haber, Gary (September 25, 2013). "Sinclair Broadcast Group to pay $90M for eight New Age Media TV stations". Baltimore Business Journal. Retrieved September 25, 2013.
  2. ↑ "Sinclair To Buy 8 New Age Stations for $90M". TVNewsCheck. September 25, 2013. Retrieved September 25, 2013.
  3. ↑ Kirkpatrick, Daniel A. (October 31, 2014). "Re: New Age Media of Pennsylvania License, LLC…" (PDF). CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved November 15, 2014.
  4. ↑ "Sinclair Reports Third Quarter 2014 Financial Results" (PDF) (Press release). Baltimore: Sinclair Broadcast Group. November 5, 2014. Retrieved November 15, 2014.
  5. ↑ "Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc. Form 10-Q". sbgi.edgarpro.com. November 10, 2014. Retrieved November 15, 2014.
  6. ↑ RabbitEars TV Query for WQMY
  7. ↑ http://www.silicondust.com/hdhomerun/lineup_web/US:17701#lineup_3845390
  8. ↑ "DTV Tentative Channel Designations for the First and the Second Rounds" (PDF). Retrieved 2012-03-24.

External links

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