WPMT

Infobox_Broadcast
call_letters = WPMT
city =
station_
station_slogan = Central Pennsylvania's Fox Station
station_branding = Fox 43
analog = 43 (UHF)
digital = 47 (UHF)
other_chs =
affiliations = Fox
network =
founded =
airdate = December 1952 [The "Broadcasting and Cable Yearbook" says December 22, while the "Television and Cable Factbook" says December 21.]
location = York/Harrisburg/Lancaster, Pennsylvania
callsign_meaning = Pennsylvania
Movie
Time
(station showed a lot of movies after becoming independent)
former_callsigns = WSBA-TV (1952-1983)
former_channel_numbers =
owner = Tribune Company
licensee = Tribune Television Company
sister_stations =
former_affiliations = ABC (1952-1961)
CBS (1961-1983)
independent (1983-1986)
The WB (secondary, to 2006)
effective_radiated_power = 2140 kW (analog)
933 kW (digital)
HAAT = 415 m (analog)
385 m (digital)
class =
facility_id = 10213
coordinates = coord|40|1|41.4|N|76|35|58.9|W|type:landmark_scale:2000
homepage = [http://fox43.com/ fox43.com]

WPMT is the Fox affiliate broadcasting to the Susquehanna Valley area. Licensed to York, Pennsylvania, it also serves the cities of Harrisburg, Lancaster, and Lebanon. Its transmitter is located in Hallam, Pennsylvania. Syndicated programming on the station includes "Malcolm in the Middle", "King of the Hill", "The Simpsons", "Two and a Half Men", "Everybody Loves Raymond", "Family Guy", "Seinfeld", "Sex and the City", "Friends" and "Will & Grace"

History

The station began broadcasting on December 22, 1952, as WSBA-TV. It was owned by Susquehanna Radio Corporation along with WSBA radio (AM 910). It is one of the first commercially-licensed UHF stations in the United States, just over three months after KPTV, channel 27 in Portland, Oregon, first went on the air. However, that station moved to VHF channel 12 shortly after taking to the air. This makes WPMT the third oldest active UHF station in the country, only behind WARD-TV channel 56 in Pittsburgh -- now CBS-owned CW affiliate WPCW on channel 19 and CBS affiliate WSBT-TV channel 22 in South Bend, Indiana, owned by Schurz Communications.

WSBA-TV was originally an ABC affiliate. In 1961, WSBA-TV switched to CBS and joined the "Keystone Network", comprising of WHP-TV in Harrisburg, WLYH-TV in Lebanon, and WSBA-TV. The three stations provided a strong combined signal with about 55% overlap.

In 1983, Susquehanna sold WSBA-TV to Idaho-based Mohawk Broadcasting, who changed its calls to WPMT and dropped the CBS affiliation in favor of becoming an independent station. WPMT aired cartoons, sitcoms, movies, dramas, sports and westerns. The station also got rid of its newscast, & local news on WPMT would not return until the debut of Fox 43 News at 10 in 1994.

In October 1986, after Mohawk sold the station to Renaissance Broadcasting, it became one of the charter affiliates of the newly-launched Fox Broadcasting Company.

In 1997, Renaissance merged with Tribune Broadcasting, WPMT's present owners.

Trivia

* In the mid-1990s, WPMT featured original children's programming hosted by the station's mascot, a clown named Pete McTee.

* "At ten it's news, at eleven it's history" is Fox 43 News at Ten's popular slogan.

Logos

External links

* [http://fox43.com/ Fox 43 website]
* [http://blogs.trb.com/entertainment/news/blog Fox 43's Weblog]
*TVQ|WPMT
*BIA|WPMT|TV|TV
*TitanTV|WPMT

References