WOLF-TV
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| WOLF-TV | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Hazelton-Scranton-Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania | |
| Branding | FOX 56 |
| Slogan | Northeast Pennsylvania's FOX |
| Channels | 56 (UHF) analog, 45 (UHF) digital |
| Translators | W24DB Clarks Summit |
| Affiliations | FOX The CW (on DT2) MyNetworkTV (on DT3) |
| Owner | CP Media, LLC (WOLF License Corp.) |
| Founded | September 30, 1982 |
| Call letters meaning | Wolf (the animal) |
| Former callsigns | WWLF-TV (1984-98), WERF (1982-84) (CP only) |
| Former affiliations | Independent (1985-86) |
| Transmitter Power | 1580 kW (analog) 456 kW (digital) |
| Height | 503 m |
| Facility ID | 73375 |
| Website | www.nepatoday.com |
WOLF-TV "FOX 56" is the FOX affiliate for the Scranton / Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania DMA. It is licensed to Hazleton and shares studios in Plains Township, with sister stations CW affiliate WSWB channel 38 and MyNetworkTV affiliate WQMY channel 53. WOLF-TV broadcasts its analog signal on UHF channel 56 and digital signal on UHF channel 45. WOLF shares a website with WSWB and WQMY. WOLF also has a repeater in Clarks Summit on channel 24 with the call letters W24DB. WOLF's transmitter is located in Mountaintop, Pennsylvania.
WQMY channel 53 in Williamsport, which was at one point a repeater for WOLF and then WSWB, has become its own station with an affiliation with FOX's new sister network MyNetworkTV. With the station not able to be picked up over the air in the Scranton area, WQMY is carried on WOLF's DT3 digital subchannel. WQMY does have a digital signal of its own, though. WSWB is carried on WOLF's DT2 subchannel even though it has its own digital signal as well.
Contents |
[edit] Digital Programming
The station's digital channel is multiplexed:
| Channel | Programming |
|---|---|
| 56.1 / 45.1 | main WOLF-TV programming (FOX) |
| 56.2 / 45.2 | WSWB (The CW) |
| 56.3 / 45.3 | WQMY (MyNetworkTV) |
[edit] History
The FCC granted an original construction permit for Hazleton's first full-service television station on September 30, 1982.[1] The new station, given the call letters WERF,[2] was owned by James Oyster, and was to broadcast from a tower located south of Hazleton.[3] At that location, WERF could serve its city of license, Hazleton, but was not able to serve the main cities in the market, Wilkes-Barre and Scranton. In April 1983, WERF applied to move its transmitter to the Penobscot Knob antenna farm near Mountaintop, where WNEP-TV, WDAU-TV (now WYOU), WBRE-TV, and WVIA-TV had their transmitters. The application was denied.[4] Oyster changed the station's call letters to WWLF-TV on July 25, 1984,[2] then sold the construction permit to Hazleton TV Associates on December 13.[5] Two months later, on February 20, 1985, the station was sold again, this time to Scranton TV Partners, Ltd., who completed construction of the station and brought it on air in September 1985. WWLF was a satellite of co-owned WOLF-TV in Scranton, which was then on UHF channel 38, and was an independent station, having just begun broadcasting in June 1985. WWLF was licensed on June 12, 1987.
WOLF/WWLF were independent for a little more then a year, but on October 9, 1986, they became a charter affiliate of the FOX Television Network.[6] In 1988, WWLF moved to a new transmitter location, on Nescopeck Mountain near the junction of I-80 and PA 93,[7] but remained a satellite of WOLF. On April 27, 1993, WWLF-TV was sold to Pegasus Broadcast Television LP,[8] and the new owners were able to accomplish something that the station's original owner could not: get permission to move the transmitter to the antenna farm at Penobscot Knob.[9]
The completion of the new transmitter ushered in a new era for WWLF-TV. No longer in a remote location, the station had a signal that was accessible to more of the region than that of WOLF-TV channel 38. On November 1, 1998, Pegasus moved the WOLF-TV call letters and the FOX affiliation to channel 56,[2] changed the call letters of channel 38 to WSWB and made them an affiliate of The WB Television Network.[10][6]
On January 4, 2007, WOLF-TV was sold to CP Media, LLC.[11], although as of March 2007, the sale has not yet been consummated. For the first time in its history, the station was no longer co-owned with channel 38, however, the new owners of WSWB signed a Joint Sales and Shared Services Agreement with CP Media, meaning that the stations continue to be commonly operated.[12]
[edit] Programming
The station has a few original programs like The FOX 56 High School Sports Show, The Great Outdoors and The Pulse. WOLF-TV also airs a daily 10 PM newscast called Newswatch 16 at 10 PM on FOX 56 also known as the FOX 56 News at 10. The newscast is produced by the area's ABC affiliate WNEP-TV. Past WOLF-TV anchors include Paul Grippi (who is now the weekend sports anchor) and Jill Garret.
Outside of FOX programing, the schedule is mostly general entertainment with infomercials late at night.
[edit] Newscast
Newswatch 16 at 10 PM on FOX 56 / FOX 56 News at 10 (10 to 10:30 PM)
Weekdays
- Anchor: Paola Giangiacomo (also weekday anchor on WNEP at 5, 5:30, and 11 PM)
- Meteorologist: Tom Clark
- Sports: Jim Coles
Weekends
- Anchor: Jon Meyer (also Wilkes-Barre reporter on WNEP)
- Meteorologist: Kurt Aaron
- Sports: Paul Grippi
WOLF-TV uses additional news personel from WNEP, see the main WNEP article for the complete listing
[edit] Administration
- Jon Cadman - Executive Producer of NEPAtoday.com
- John Mendola - Producer of "The FOX 56 High School Sportshow"
- Bob Ide - Producer of "The Great Outdoors"
- Linda Greenwald - Programming
- Bob Spager - Local Sales Manager
- Dan Mecca - National Sales Manager
- Steve Phillips - Creative Services Director
- Cheryl Willis - Promotions Assistant
[edit] References
- ^ Original construction permit, FCC CDBS database, accessed March 15, 2007
- ^ a b c Channel 56 call sign changes, FCC CDBS database, accessed March 15, 2007
- ^ WERF tower location, www.topozone.com, accessed March 15, 2007
- ^ Denied transmitter move application, FCC CDBS database, accessed March 15, 2007
- ^ 1984 assignment of permit, FCC CDBS database, accessed March 15, 2007
- ^ a b WOLF/WSWB/WQMY Timeline, NEPA Today, accessed March 16, 2007
- ^ 1988 transmitter site, FCC CDBS database, accessed March 16, 2007
- ^ Sale to Pegasus, FCC CDBS database, accessed March 16, 2007
- ^ 1997 transmitter site, FCC CDBS database, accessed March 16, 2007
- ^ Channel 38 call sign changes, FCC CDBS database, accessed March 16, 2007
- ^ Sale to CP Media, FCC CDBS database, accessed March 16, 2007
- ^ Revised Joint Sales and Shared Services Agreement, FCC CDBS database, accessed March 16, 2007
[edit] External links
- Station Website
- FOX Website
- Query the FCC's TV station database for WOLF-TV
- Query the FCC's TV station database for W24DB
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WWCP 8 (Johnstown) - WFXI-CA 17 (Mercer) - WTXF 29 (Philadelphia) - WPMT 43 (York) - WPGH 53 (Pittsburgh) - WOLF 56 (Hazelton) - WFXP 66 (Erie) |
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| See also: ABC, CBS, CW, MyNetworkTV, NBC, PBS, and Other stations in Pennsylvania | |
