WSBK-TV
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- This article is about the television station, for the championship see World Superbike.
| WSBK-TV | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Boston, Massachusetts | |
| Branding | TV38 |
| Slogan | Entertaining Boston |
| Channels | 38 (UHF) analog, 39 (UHF) digital |
| Affiliations | Independent (1964-95; 2006-present) |
| Owner | CBS Corporation |
| Founded | October 12, 1964 |
| Call letters meaning | SBK = stock ticker symbol of former owner Storer Broadcasting |
| Former callsigns | WIHS-TV (1964-66) |
| Former affiliations | ABC, NBC (all secondary 1966-83) UPN (1995-2006) |
| Transmitter Power | 2340 kW/354 m(analog) 135 kW/390 m (digital) |
| Website | www.TV38.com |
WSBK-TV, channel 38, is an independent television station licensed to Boston, Massachusetts, owned by the CBS Corporation. The station shares studio facilities in the Allston/Brighton section of Boston with sister stations WBZ-TV (channel 4), and New Bedford, Massachusetts-based CW affiliate WLWC (channel 28). WSBK's transmitter is located in Needham, Massachusetts.
From January 1995 to September 2006, WSBK was an affiliate of the United Paramount Network (UPN). On September 16, 2006, WSBK reverted into an independent station, using the its previous branding tagline TV-38.
WSBK-TV is also seen in Canada to subscribers of the Bell ExpressVu and StarChoice satellite services, as well as subscribers of Cogeco Cable, Shaw Cable, Rogers Cable, Videotron, and Persona.
Contents |
[edit] History
On October 12, 1964, the station was first licensed to Boston Catholic Television Center as WIHS-TV. The station employed a general entertainment format along with the daily and Sunday Mass.
The station was bought by Storer Broadcasting two years later. A few months after the purchase, the station's call letters became the present WSBK-TV. WSBK-TV was known for broadcasting Boston Bruins and Boston Red Sox games, and as such many bought UHF antennas just to view the station. Storer ran channel 38 as a general entertainment independent station. Some of the shows included cartoons, off-network sitcoms, professional sports, and feature films. Until 1983, WSBK-TV also ran some network programs that were preempted by Boston's NBC (then WBZ-TV), ABC (WNAC-TV and later WCVB-TV), and CBS (the original WHDH-TV and later WNAC-TV/WNEV) affiliates. Channel 38 also had a local newscast in the late 1970s to the early 1980s. By the start of the 1980s, the station was on nearly every cable system in New England and other areas of the northeastern United States, making it a regional superstation. By the early 2000s, the rest of the northeast began to receive local UPN affiliates and WSBK-TV was gradually removed from most cable systems outside its home territory.
The station was sold in a group deal with other Storer stations to KKR in 1985. KKR later sold most of the stations to Gillett Communications, who eventually renamed the stations as SCI Television by the early 1990s.
For a brief period in the 1990s, WSBK-TV attempted to become a national superstation on the level of WGN-TV in Chicago and WTBS in Atlanta, using its sports coverage in much the same way as the other stations used the Chicago Cubs and Atlanta Braves, respectively. However, the station could not reach the level of carriage that the other successful superstations had reached, and the effort was dropped. Nevertheless, the superstation effort would have been discontinued as Paramount had ceased the service when the company switched most of their stations (including WSBK-TV) to UPN affiliates when it launched.
As a result of SCI TV's parent company filing for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy, the station was sold in a group deal to New World Communications in 1993. Most New World stations were switching to the Fox network, while others kept NBC affiliations in 1994. But WSBK-TV would remain an independent station and be put up for sale again. The station was then sold to Paramount Communications (which would become a subsidiary of Viacom that same year) and became a charter UPN affiliate in 1995. Originally, the station continued to run the same type of programming with UPN's schedule added, but eventually replaced many older off network reruns and cartoons with first-run syndicated talk and reality shows. The station also ran far fewer movies, beginning to show them only overnights and on weekends.
In 2001, after Viacom's merger with the previous CBS Corporation, WSBK-TV moved its studios and offices to WBZ-TV's building.
On January 24, 2006, the UPN and WB networks announced that they would merge into a new network called the CW. The merger took effect September 18, 2006, and then-WB station WLVI-TV was announced as the CW's Boston affiliate. CBS had previously confirmed that WSBK-TV would revert to independent status in September 2006.
The MLS announced earlier this year, that TV38 will be the exclusive carrier of the New England Revolution.
The station's current logo resembles that of TNT, ironic considering that Time Warner, the owner of TNT, also owns half of the CW, which chose WLVI over WSBK for the affiliation.
[edit] Logos
 WSBK's original TV38 logo, used from 1977 to 1995 |
 Another variation of the logo circa 1988 during a Three Stooges marathon |
 WSBK's first UPN38 logo, used from 1995 to 2000 |
 Chrome version of WSBK's first UPN38 logo, used from 2000 to 2002 |
 WSBK's last UPN38 logo, used from 2002 to 2006 |
 Current TV38 logo, used since 9/06. |
[edit] Programming
WSBK-TV generally broadcasts syndicated programs and movies. However the station is best known in the Boston area for being the long-time TV home of the Boston Red Sox. WSBK became the Red Sox's over-air flagship station in 1975 and remained so for 20 years, losing the rights in 1996 to WABU (now WBPX). After a seven-season hiatus, WSBK-TV (in partnership with sister station WBZ-TV) resumed its role as the Red Sox flagship station in 2003, although only Friday night games were carried over air, and the games were produced and also carried by NESN, (who aired the Friday night games outside of the Boston DMA, effectively blacking out the station in these areas). Among the nationally prominent announcers that have called Red Sox games on the station are Dick Stockton and Sean McDonough. WBZ-TV ceased to broadcast games after the 2004 season, and NESN announced that WSBK-TV would itself cease airing games in early 2006, making the team cable-exclusive.
In addition to the Red Sox games, WSBK-TV was also for many years the over-air flagship of the Boston Bruins. It was also the over-air home of the Boston Celtics before losing the broadcast rights in 1998 to WABU (all Celtics' games not on national television are now broadcast on FSN New England). Since 2005, the station has been the home of Atlantic Coast Conference college football and basketball games in Boston, as Boston College's move to the conference has created regional interest for the ACC.
The station had broadcast a 10 p.m. newscast. WBZ-TV produced such programming from 1993 to 1995. The newscast was then produced by NECN and was named UPN38 Prime News until 1998. From the NECN staff, Lila Orbach was the original sole anchor when this newscast launched on October 2, 1995; eventually Margie Reedy and R.D. Sahl, a former WHDH news duo, took over for the remainder of its run. After Viacom's merger with CBS, WBZ-TV once again began to produce the station's news programming starting in 2001, initially airing a 7 p.m. newscast before switching back to a 10 p.m. newscast —entitled Nightcast at 10— in 2002. In 2003, a WSBK extension of WBZ-TV's morning news was added from 7–8 a.m.. In January 2005, WSBK cancelled Nightcast, turning its attention to the morning newscast, which was relaunched as The Morning Show on April 4. On September 12, the program was moved to 8–9 a.m. to make room for the first two hours of The Daily Buzz, and on June 30, 2006, The Morning Show aired its last broadcast. In addition to its current 9:30 p.m. newscast, WSBK-TV currently shows the sports program "Red Sox This Week" on Sundays at 10 p.m.
The station has played host to no fewer than three locally-produced nightime movie programs: The Movie Loft, hosted by Dana Hersey, The UPN38 Movie House, hosted by Brian Frates, and Movie Night, co-hosted by Dan and Dave Andelman.
From May 2001 to August 2004, WSBK had rights to Lottery Live, the weeknight broadcasts of the Mass State Lottery games. UPN38 ended up with them, as sister station WBZ moved 'SBK into its facilities. WBZ had recently had the games itself, for the last 3 years prior to that. As the contract for WSBK expired the games moved back to WCVB.
WSBK also broadcasts Phantom Gourmet on weekends, with its time depending on the station's programming commitments (such as ACC college football).
After UPN ceased operations in September 2006, WSBK-TV's primetime lineup was converted to a second run of Dr. Phil at 8 p.m., a second-run of Jeopardy! at 9 p.m. and a newscast at 9:30 p.m. anchored by Chris May, who recently joined the station from WHDH, and Sara Underwood. It also continues to air CBS programs when WBZ-TV preempts for local programming. The station, after becoming independent again, returned to the TV38 branding and Entertaining Boston slogan. The station changed its web address to "tv38.com" in late August, and started using the new branding on the air on September 6, more than a week before officially becoming independent.
One of WSBK-TV's most remembered past programs was the informative series "Ask the Manager," created by its general manager, William J. Flynn, in the mid-1970s. Each week Flynn, and later his successors Joseph C. Dimino, Daniel J. Berkery, and Stuart Tauber would answer viewer questions on the air. The letters were read each week for many years by the station's announcer and host Dana Hersey. Other letter-readers included Sean McDonough and Carla Nolan — and Meg LaVigne and Leslie Savage occasionally substituted in the manager's chair. The producer of "Ask the Manager" was Clifford D. "Cliff" Allen, who died just weeks after "Ask the Manager" broadcast its final show in January 1999.
[edit] Local Programming
- Phantom Gourmet - 10:30 to 11:00 AM Saturdays, 11 AM to 12 PM Sundays (with Dan Andelman)
- Red Sox This Week - 10 to 10:30 PM Sundays (with Dan Roche)
[edit] Newscast
Sister station WBZ produces WSBK's weekday 9:30 PM newscast. It began broadcasting on September 18, 2006, when WSBK became an independent station. During the weather portion of the newscast, WSBK uses WBZ's weather radar known as "WBZ Doppler Live", which is located at the Worcester Regional Airport in Worcester. For use on WSBK, it is rebranded as "38 Weather Live Doppler".
It has been announced that the 9:30 PM newscast will begin airing at 9 PM starting on April 23, 2007. At that time, the second-run of Jeopardy! will air at 9:30 PM. [1]
TV 38 News at 9:30 (9:30 to 10 PM)
- Anchors:
- Chris May & Sara Underwood
- Weather:
- Ken Barlow
- Sports:
The WSBK news team is also featured on WBZ's weekday 5 PM newscast. The station shares other WBZ staff as well. See the main WBZ article for the complete listing.
[edit] See Also
[edit] References
[edit] External Links
|
Local television stations |
||
| Local digital television channels |
||
| Local and regional cable television channels CN8 - NECN 6 - NESN - FSN New England - CatholicTV - TV3 Medford - CKSH 9 (SRC, Sherbrooke) |
||
|
WLNE 6 (ABC) - WJAR 10 (NBC) - WPRI 12 (CBS) - WLWC 28 (The CW) - |
||
| Significantly Viewed Out-of-Market Broadcast Stations | ||
|
WGBH 2 (PBS) - WUNI 27 (UNI) - WSBK 38 (Ind) - WGBX 44 (PBS) - WEDN 53 (PBS / CPTV) |
||
| Cable television channels | ||
|
WPRI / WNAC Eyewitness News Pinpoint Weather Station - |
||
|
WMUR 9 (ABC) - WENH 11 / WLED 49 / WEKW 52 (PBS / NHPTV) - W17CI 17 (MNTV) - |
||
| Boston stations serving / available in Southern New Hampshire | ||
|
WGBH 2 (PBS) - WBZ 4 (CBS) - WHDH 7 (NBC) (WX+ on DT2) - |
||
| Defunct television channels | ||
|
WHED 15 / WEDB 40 (PBS / NHPTV) - WNHT 21 (Ind / CBS) - WXPO 50 (Ind) |
||
| Cable television stations | ||
|
CN8 - NECN - NESN - FSN New England - CKSH (SRC, Sherbrooke) |
||
|
Boston Spanish Language Stations: WFXZ 24 (Azteca América, Boston) - WUNI 27 (Univision, Worcester) - WTMU 32 (Telemundo, Boston) - WUTF 66 (TeleFutura, Marlborough) |
|
|
Boston Home-Shopping Stations: WWDP 46 (ShopNBC, Norwell) - WMFP 62 (Shop at Home / Jewelry Television, Lawrence) |
|
|
Other Boston Stations: WHDN 26 (Deutsche Welle, Boston) - WSBK 38 (Independent, Boston) - WYDN 48 (Daystar, Worcester) - WBPX 68 (ION, Boston) |
|
|
Springfield Market Stations: WFXQ 28* - WHTX 43 (Univision) - WDMR 65 (Telemundo) |
|
| See also: ABC, CBS, CW, Fox, MyNetworkTV, NBC and PBS stations in Massachusetts | |
|
|
|---|
|
United States: KTLA | KWGN | WAPA | WGN local / national | WKAQ | WPIX | WSBK | WTBS | WWOR / EMI |
|
See Also: American networks | List of American Over-The-Air Networks | Local American TV Stations (W) | Local American TV Stations (K) | Canadian networks | Local Canadian TV Stations | Mexican networks | Local Mexican TV Stations | Superstations | North American TV | List of local television stations in North America |
Categories: Television stations in Providence | Television stations in Massachusetts | CBS Corporation television stations | Television stations in Boston | Independent television stations in the United States | Superstations in the United States | Channel 38 TV stations in the United States | Television channels and stations established in 1964
