WWTI

Infobox_Broadcast
call_letters = WWTI
city =
station_
station_slogan =
station_branding = NewsWatch 50
North Country CW
(on DT2)
analog = 50 (UHF)
digital = 21 (UHF)
affiliations = ABC
The CW (on DT2)
network =
founded =
airdate = 1987
location = Watertown, New York
callsign_meaning = Welcome to Watertown /
Thousand Islands
former_callsigns = WFYF-TV (1988-1990)
former_channel_numbers =
owner = Newport Television
licensee =
sister_stations =
former_affiliations = Fox (secondary, 1986-2000)
erp_temporary = 1,000 kW (analog)
25 kW (digital)
effective_radiated_power = 25 kW (digital)
HAAT = 387 m (analog)
331 m (digital)
class =
facility_id = 16747
coordinates = coord|43|52|47.2|N|75|43|9.7|W|type:landmark_scale:2000
homepage = [http://www.newswatch50.com/ newswatch50.com]

WWTI, channel 50, is the ABC-affiliated television station for Watertown, New York. Its transmitter is located in Copenhagen. Owned by Newport Television, the station has studios on Arsenal Street in downtown Watertown. WWTI operates the area's CW affiliate on its second digital subchannel. Known on-air as "North Country's CW", it is also offered on Time Warner cable channel 14. Syndicated programming on WWTI includes: "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire", "Judge Judy", "Dr. Phill", and "Oprah".

History

The station began broadcasting as WFYF-TV in 1987. It was the second commercial television station in the Watertown market, behind WWNY, which had the market very much to itself since going on the air in late-1954. After the station went bankrupt under its initial investors (a group of Watertown businessmen), the station was sold to Smith Broadcasting in 1990 and the current call sign was adopted. The Ackerley Group purchased the station in 2000 and Clear Channel Communications took control of WWTI with their purchase of Ackerley in 2001. Until Fox affiliate WNYF (which had formerly been a WWTI translator but is now owned by WWNY) went on the air in 2000, WWTI had been a secondary Fox station. It aired that network's Sunday NFL games.

On January 24, 2006, UPN and The WB announced that they would cease broadcasting and merge. The new combined network would be called The CW. The letters would represent the first initial of its corporate parents: CBS (the parent company of UPN) and the Warner Bros. unit of Time Warner. Cable only "WBWT" had served as the area's WB affiliate via The WB 100+. On September 18, WWTI created a new second digital subchannel to simulcast WBWT and offer access to CW programming to non-cable viewers. The station began to use the WWTI-DT2 calls officially and became part of The CW Plus. That service is similar to The WB 100+. On April 20, 2007, Clear Channel entered into an agreement to sell its entire television stations group to Providence Equity Partners.

Newscasts

WWTI has maintained a minimal local news presence for several years. The nightly "NewsWatch 50" broadcasts were canceled in 2004. However, the station continues to air several daily news updates under that branding. The newscasts have never successfully competed with WWNY. In December of 2006, WWTI launched a weeknight news program at 5 P.M. The program is billed as "5 at 5" and runs for 5 minutes. There are also local news and weather updates that air during the weekday edition of "Good Morning America". WWTI-DT2 airs the nationally syndicated morning show, "The Daily Buzz", weekdays from 6 to 9.

*John Moore - weeknight anchor
*Alan Walts - weekday morning anchor
*Jay Donovan - weeknight meteorologist
**heard on WCIZ-FM 93.3
*Ryan Coyle - weekday morning meteorologist
**based at WIVT / WBGH-CA

External links

* [http://www.newswatch50.com/ WWTI "NewsWatch 50"]
* [http://www.yourcwtv.com/partners/watertown/ WWTI-DT2 "North Country's CW"]
*TVQ|WWTI