WETM-TV

Infobox_Broadcast
call_letters = WETM-TV
city =
station_
station_slogan = Coverage You Can Count On
station_branding = WETM 18
analog = 18 (UHF)
digital = 2 (VHF) returning to 18 in 2009
other_chs =
subchannels = 18.1 NBC 18.2 independent
network =
founded =
airdate = September 10, 1956
location = Elmira, New York
callsign_meaning = Elmira Times Mirror
(former owner)
former_callsigns = WSYE-TV (1956-1980)
former_channel_numbers =
owner = Newport Television, LLC
licensee =
sister_stations =
former_affiliations =
effective_radiated_power = 603 kW (analog)
270 watts (digital, VHF) 45 kW (digital, UHF)
erp_temporary = 603 kW (analog)
270 watts (digital)
HAAT = 376 m (analog)
363 m (digital)
class =
facility_id = 60653
coordinates = coord|42|6|23|N|76|52|16.5|W|type:landmark_scale:2000
homepage = [http://www.wetmtv.com/ www.wetmtv.com]

WETM-TV (Channel 18) is the NBC affiliate for Elmira, New York. The award winning station broadcasts on UHF channel 18 analog while its digital signal, WETM-DT, signed on in 2005 broadcasting on VHF channel 2.

History

WETM debuted on September 18, 1956; as WSYE-TV. It was owned by Newhouse Communications, who also owned WSYR-TV in nearby Syracuse. It is Elmira's oldest surviving station; WTVE had signed on channel 24 a few years earlier, but went dark after a hurricane blew through the Elmira area in 1954 and took out the station's tower.

WSYE was largely a semi-satellite of WSYR-TV. However, it originated its own news programming at 6 and 11PM. The local news team consisted of anchors Bruce Flaherty, Carl Proper, and chief cameraman/reporter/anchor/weather reporter Rod Denson and others. Rod Denson began his television broadcasting career on November 11,1963 when he was hired as the stations first full time chief photographer by General Manager Art Kendall. Local news events of that era were filmed with 16mm cameras using negative film and Polaroid cameras with black and white prints. When the 16mm negative film was run through the projector in the control room the image was electronically reversed so it ended up a positive image on viewers home screens. To show the Polaroid prints they were taped to a board side by side, the board was then inserted into a slot on a wooden frame where the prints were moved horizontally. A studio camera was focused on a rectangular slot in the frame where the prints appeared one by one. As the anchor read news script the photos were moved in relation to the story. In the late 70s Denson was one of the first cameramen in New York State and the Nation to use portable color video tape recorders to shoot news events. Denson anchored the Saturday 11PM Newscast alone, doing the local, state, sports, national news and weather from Hawley Hill. There were times when the Saturday newscast was done with only two people in the building, an engineer in the control room and Denson in the Studio. Most of the time there were four people for that newscast, a director, engineer, studio cameraman and Denson. Morning news cut-ins during "The Today Show" were originated from the Hawley Hill studio and a ladies informational show, "The Dana Near Show" was also broadcast from the station. In the early 60s The Dana Near Show consisted of 35mm slides on the screen with Dana's voice on reel to reel audio tape. Her show was made up of announcements of upcoming local events and other items of interest in the community. WSYE Station General Managers in the early years were Bob Bolger, Paul Abbot, Art Kendall, Don Buies, and Jon Wingate. Channel 18 began originating its own color programming in 1969 by adding color film capabilities with an RCA TK-27. This author remembers well watching NBC's "Saturday Night at the Movies" and seeing a WSYE-TV ID pop up in color for the first time! Shortly thereafter live color from the studio was added with RCA TK-42's. Videotape rounded out the colour upgrades and became a part of the station in 1972.

In 1980, WSYR-TV and WSYE owner Newhouse Communications sold the stations to the Times Mirror Company which changed the call letters to WSTM-TV and WETM respectively. Over the next several years, Times Mirror would cut the last ties between it and WSTM and would later sell the station to Smith Broadcasting in the late 1980's. Under Smith's ownership, a reversal of the station's origins would take place with the launch of partial-satellite WBGH in Binghamton in 1996. Set up in the wake of established NBC affiliate WICZ defecting to FOX, WBGH (originally called NBC 5 and seen only on Time Warner Cable in the Binghamton TV market) would soon split off on its own outside of simulcasting WETM's newscasts.

In 2000, Smith Broadcasting sold WETM, WBGH, and WWTI in Watertown to The Ackerley Group, which maintained a cluster of stations throughout New York state. With this purcase, the last ties between WETM and WBGH were cut given Ackerley's ownership of ABC affiliae WIVT in the Binghamton market. Ackerley itself would be bought out by Clear Channel Communications in late 2001.

On April 20, 2007, Clear Channel entered into an agreement to sell its entire television stations group to Providence Equity Partners.cite press release|title=Clear Channel Agrees to Sell Television Station Group to Providence Equity Partners|publisher=Clear Channel Communications|url=http://www.clearchannel.com/Corporate/PressRelease.aspx?PressReleaseID=1943|date=2007-04-20|accessdate=2007-04-20]

In 2007, WETM became one of four stations in upstate New York to stream its noon newscast live on an Internet video stream (the other three being WKBW-TV in Buffalo and sister stations WHAM-TV in Rochester and WSYR-TV in Syracuse).

News Team Line-Up

*"WETM-18 News Today Anchor: Ana Liss
*"WETM-18 News at Noon Anchor: Camille Williams
*"WETM 18 News at Five Anchor: Zach Wheeler
*"WETM 18 News at Six Anchor: Jeff Stone & Raegan Medgie
*"WETM 18 News at Ten Anchor: Zach Wheeler
*"WETM 18 News at Eleven Anchor: Jeff Stone & Raegan Medgie
*"WETM 18 News Weekends Anchor: Staci-Lyn Honda

General Assignment Reporters

*"Naveen Dhaliwal
*"Katie Graham
*"Raegan Medgie
*"Camille Williams

Meteorologists

*"Joe Pasquarelli WETM-18 News Today & WETM-18 news at noon and 10
*"Vanessa Richards WETM 18 News at 5, 6, and 11
*"Nick Bannin Weekend Meteorologist

ports Anchors

*"Steve Vesey Sports Director
*"Emerson Lotzia Weekend Sports Anchor
*"Chuck Brame substitute sports reporter

Digital television

The station's digital signal is multiplexed.

Post-analog shutdown

After the analog television shutdown and digital conversion, which is tentatively scheduled to take place on February 17, 2009 http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-06-1082A2.pdf] , WETM-TV will move its digital broadcast back to its present analog channel number, 18. [http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/forms/prod/cdbsmenu.hts?context=25&appn=101257781&formid=387&fac_num=60653 CDBS Print ] ]

WETM-2

WETM also operates an independent station on digital channel 18.2, which identifies on-air as "WETM-2". The station airs local sports, movies, as well as a 10:00 p.m. newscast. Time Warner Cable carries WETM-2 on channel 11 in Elmira, Corning, and Watkins Glen.

Until September 2006, it was affiliated with UPN, and from September 2004 to July 2006, it was also available on an analog low-power station, WTTX-LP, which operated on UHF channel 30 (the former W30AA, a WSKG-TV translator), identifying on air as "UPN 30". The station's launch gave the Elmira market its first 10:00 p.m. newscast.

With the merger of UPN and The WB into The CW, WTTX had been expected to compete for the affiliation as well as for the Fox-owned MyNetworkTV. However, the inability to get either affiliation (The CW affiliated with a cable-only station operated by WENY-TV; MyNetworkTV went to WJKP-LP) and WSKG's launch of a full-power digital-only satellite (WSKA) on channel 30 in Corning led Clear Channel to shut down the WTTX transmitter and take channel 18.2 independent. WETM-2 won a New York State Broadcasters Association Award for its coverage of high school sports in 2006.

External links

* [http://www.wetmtv.com/ www.wetmtv.com]
*TVQ|WETM
*BIA|WETM|TV|TV

References