WZMY-TV
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
For the former channel 50 in the Boston area, see WXPO-TV.
| WZMY-TV | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Derry, New Hampshire/Boston, Massachusetts | |
| Branding | MyTV New England |
| Slogan | MyTV is Your TV |
| Channels | 50 (UHF) analog, 35 (UHF) digital |
| Affiliations | MyNetworkTV |
| Owner | ShootingStar Broadcasting |
| Founded | January 22, 1983 |
| Call letters meaning | WZMY-TV (also refers to current MyNetworkTV affiliation) |
| Former callsigns | WNDS (1983-2005) WQNH (applied for in 1988, unused) |
| Former affiliations | Global Shopping Network (1997), Independent (1969-2006) |
| Website | mytvstation.tv |
WZMY-TV "MyTV New England" is a MyNetworkTV affiliated television station in Derry, New Hampshire, serving the Boston market. WZMY's transmitter is located 5 miles north of the Massachusetts border in Hudson, New Hampshire. The station is offered on most cable systems in the Boston area, along with carriage on Vermont, Maine, and central New Hampshire cable systems. WZMY can found on channel 18 on Comcast Cable. Owned by ShootingStar Broadcasting, it bases much of its schedule on viewer suggestions. WZMM's studios are located on A Street in Derry and has addtional offices located on Clarendon Street in Boston.
The station is well known in New England for legendary meteorologist Al Kaprielian and as a result of his popularity, was a "Guest Meteorologist" on The Weather Channel's Abrams & Bettes: Beyond The Forecast program on November 10, 2006.
Contents |
[edit] History
[edit] As an independent
WZMY signed on as WNDS on September 5, 1983, and became known as "The Winds of New England", airing an independent format that was a constant of the station for most of its years of operation. In April 1988, the station applied for the calls WQNH, which were never used. In 1997, CTV of Derry, the then-owners of WNDS, attempted to sell the station to the Global Shopping Network, who operated channel 50 from April to June with a home shopping format. [1] However, GSN failed to make important payments for WNDS (as well as their other stations), effectively returning control of the station to CTV. [2], [3]
In September 1998, WNDS began the News Now local newscast at 7 and 10 p.m., as well as a short-lived Saturday afternoon newscast. By 2003, the 11:57 a.m. news update was expanded into a full noon newscast. However, the station began to struggle by 2004-05 as the noon news was discontinued and the 10 p.m. edition cut by 20 minutes in favor of syndicated programming like That 70's Show. As such, CTV of Derry sold channel 50 again, this time to ShootingStar Broadcasting.
[edit] MyTV
In the summer of 2005, WNDS's owner, ShootingStar Broadcasting, announced that the station would change the call letters to WZMY-TV and the branding to "MyTV" [4], coinciding with a major overhaul of the programming lineup, including the complete removal of the 10 p.m. news, the relocation of the 7 p.m. news to 7:30, new local programs, and other changes [5] based on viewer responses on the old WNDS website.
[6]. The station relaunched on September 26, 2005.
[edit] WZMY adds MyNetworkTV
On January 24, 2006, the WB and UPN networks announced that they would merge into The CW, as of September 2006. Boston's WB affiliate, WLVI-TV was announced as Boston's CW affiliate. WSBK-TV, the Boston UPN affiliate, reverted to its previously held independent status.
In February 2006, News Corporation announced the formation of MyNetworkTV, with the goal of providing programming to former UPN and WB stations that would not be seeking affiliation with The CW (such as in markets that had both a UPN and WB station). WZMY, having already established itself as "MyTV," considered filing a lawsuit in order to block the new network from taking its similar sounding name, but did not follow through with such action.
On July 21, 2006, members of the "MyTV Club" (who get special MyTV-related announcements through their e-mail) received an e-mail announcing that WZMY would be affiliating with MyNetworkTV. Details on this affiliation was announced to the general public on Wednesday, July 26. [7] Details became available Monday afternoon, July 24, to the media & on WZMY's website. With the new affiliation, the station's branding became MyTV New England, although it still used "MyTV" as well. The new branding reflects the New England region. Until this announcement, Boston had been the largest market without a stand-alone MyNetworkTV affiliate. Speculation abounded that Boston's Fox O&O, WFXT-TV, would add the new network either as a secondary affiliation or on a digital subcarrier.
The station redesigned its website to reflect MNTV and have began airing promos for the new network, but was still using its original "MyTV" logo on-air. WZMY's current MNTV logo retains the "MyTV" moniker from its previous logo. Since September 5, 2006, WZMY has been using the new MNTV logo with all on-air programming and the "MyTV New England" branding is now used on all programming as well.
[edit] Logos
 The most recent version of the late 90s WNDS logo, which was retired after the September 26, 2005 relaunch. |
 WZMY's previous MyTV logo used in 2006. |
 WZMY's current MyTV logo with network affiliation. |
[edit] Local programming
[edit] Newscasts
[edit] As WNDS
Before channel 50 became "MyTV", WNDS called its newscasts News Now, which debuted in 1998. These were the newscasts at the end of WNDS's run:
- News Now at 7 (7 to 7:30 PM Monday-Friday)
- News Now at 10 (10 to 10:30 PM Monday-Friday)
Both of these broadcasts began with WNDS's news operation, although the 10:00 p.m. news was also a 30-minute broadcast originally. At various points, WNDS also had weekend afternoon and weekday noon newscasts, but these were eventually dropped.
In addition, some news/weather updates as well as stand-alone weather updates from Al Kaprielian were provided throughout the day. When MyTV launched, the 10 PM news was dropped. The news team remained the same throughout the transition.
[edit] As WZMY
When the station was relaunched, it had only one news program on the schedule, MyTV Now, which aired from 7:30 to 8 PM. An additional 60-minute news and commentary program, MyTV Prime, aired from 9 to 10 PM. However, on March 10, 2006, the two programs were consolidated into a new, 90-minute version of MyTV Prime that aired from 8 to 9:30 PM. News was no longer provided outside of that program. By July 2006, channel 50 had discontinued MyTV Prime in favor of sitcom reruns. Weather updates from chief meteorologist Al Kaprielian are still provided each hour from noon to midnight, but these (as of August 2006) are now accompanied by news updates (using the MyTV Now title).
[edit] News Team
- Al Kaprielian, My TV Chief Meteorologist
- Mike DeBlasi, My TV Anchor
- Nicole Papageorge, My TV Anchor
- Christina Heller, My TV Anchor
(Eric Shiener left WZMY to go to WYOU in Scranton, Pennsylvania. Gail Scott-Key also left the station recently, and Christina Heller has taken her place.)
[edit] Other local programs
[edit] As WNDS
For most of WNDS's existence, the station ran a candlepin bowling show each weekend at noon called Candlepin Stars and Strikes, which was dropped from the schedule in August 2005. In addition, during the early 2000s, channel 50 ran a public affairs program titled Capital Ideas. The station currently airs MyVoice, Sunday nights at 11PM which focuses on issues important to New Englanders.
Prior to the switch to Global Shopping Network in April 1997, WNDS also ran three additional shows: High School Sports Review, which looked at high school sports news in the station's broadcast region, Sports Wrap, a sports talk show discussing Boston sports, and WNDS News Up Front, a local newsmagazine. When regular programming was restored in June, these three shows were not resurrected.
[edit] As WZMY
Much of MyTV's current local programming consists of visits to businesses around the region. The general show for this format is My New England, although as of August 2006 variants focusing on specific topics have been added, such as My Premier Bride and My Good Health. These programs appear throughout the day. Additionally, several local businesses (particularly car dealerships, but sometimes other businesses such as Dollar Bill's Discount World) have elected instead to produce programs that appear on weekend mornings. The latter programming had also appeared on WNDS.
When MyTV launched, two other local programs also existed: a talk show entitled MyTV Prime, which originally aired from 9 to 10 PM, and later from 8 to 9:30 PM, and Wild World, a review of action sports around the region, which was produced by Dan Egan. However, the station has subsequently discontinued these shows from its lineup (although Wild World is still produced for other outlets).
[edit] External links
- WZMY-TV Website
- MyNetworkTV Website
- Query the FCC's TV station database for WZMY
- Query the FCC's TV station database for W18AE
|
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) |
||
|
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) |
||
| Local television stations
WCAX 3 (CBS) - WPTZ 5 / WNNE 31 (NBC) (WX+ on WPTZ DT2) - W16AL 16 (TBN) - W18AE 18 (RSN / A1) - WVNY 22 (ABC) - WWBI 27 (Daystar) - |
||
|
Out of market channels available in the Burlington / Plattsburgh area on cable |
||
|
Regional cable television channels |
||
|
WZMY 50 (Derry, NH / Boston) - WNYA 51 (Pittsfield) |
|
| See also: ABC, CBS, CW, Fox, NBC, PBS and Other stations in Massachusetts | |
