WSWB

Infobox_Broadcast
call_letters = WSWB
city =
station_
station_slogan = Northeast
Pennsylvania's CW
station_branding = The CW WSWB
analog = 38 (UHF)
digital = 31 (UHF)
& WOLF-DT 56.2
other_chs =
affiliations = The CW
network =
founded =
airdate = June 6, 1985
location = Scranton / Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania
callsign_meaning = Scranton / Wilkes-Barre
former_callsigns = WOLF-TV (1985-1998)
former_channel_numbers =
owner = Mystic Television of Scranton, LLC
"(LMA with New Age Media, LLC)"
licensee = MPS Media of Scranton License, LLC
sister_stations = WOLF-TV
WQMY
former_affiliations = Independent (1985-1986)
Fox (1986-1997)
The WB (1997-2006)
UPN (secondary, 1998-2006)
effective_radiated_power = 1,290 kW (analog)
100 kW (digital)
HAAT = 385 m (analog)
352 m (digital)
class =
facility_id = 73374
coordinates = coord|41|26|9|N|75|43|42.2|W|type:landmark_scale:2000
homepage = [http://media.myfoxnepa.com/special/cw/cw.html WSWB]

WSWB, channel 38, is the CW-affiliated television station for northeastern and north central Pennsylvania, licensed to Scranton. Its transmitter is located northwest of the city and I-476 in Lackawanna County. Owned by Mystic Television of Scranton, LLC, the station is operated by New Age Media, LLC though a local marketing agreement (LMA). This makes WSWB a sister station to Fox affiliate WOLF-TV and MyNetworkTV affiliate WQMY. The three stations share studios on S.R. 315 in the Fox Hill section of Plains Township. Although WSWB operates its own digital signal, the station is also offered on WOLF-TV's second digital subchannel. This is because WSWB cannot be received in many parts of the Wilkes-Barre area. Syndicated programming on the station includes: "Dr. Phil", "Friends", "Reba", and "Tyra".

History

Channel 38 first signed on June 3, 1985 as WOLF-TV the first independent station in northeast Pennsylvania. A few days later, it signed on a full-powered satellite, WWLF-TV, on channel 56 in Hazleton. Channel 56 was intended to improve WOLF's coverage in the southern part of the market as channel 38's transmitter is located farther north than the other major stations in the area. After a little more than a year as an independent, WOLF-TV became a charter affiliate of the Fox network in 1986. The network requested most of its affiliates to air local news in 1990. To satisfy this, the station began airing a nightly 10 o'clock newscast produced by ABC affiliate WNEP-TV in 1991. Know as "Newswatch 16 at 10 on Fox 38", it was the first instance of one station producing a newscast for another. Two years later, another satellite, WILF-TV in Williamsport, signed on to improve coverage in the far northern part of the market.

In 1993, WOLF's original local owner, Scranton TV Partners, merged with Pegasus Communications. Pegasus immediately sought permission to move either the channel 38 or channel 56 transmitter to the northeast Pennsylvania tower farm at Penobscot Knob. Channel 38 provides only a Grade B signal to much of the southern part of the market. Ultimately, Pegasus was allowed to move the WWLF transmitter to Penobscot Knob. On November 1, 1998, Pegasus activated the new channel 56 transmitter and moved the WOLF-TV call letters, Fox affiliation and the WNEP-produced newscast there. Meanwhile, channel 38 became a WB affiliate under new calls, WSWB. The WSWB calls were chosen because they could mean "Scranton's WB" for its affiliation, or the area it serves, Scranton / Wilkes-Barre. Originally, channel 38 was given the WSWB calls in 1981 but they were changed to WOLF-TV before the station went on the air in 1985. WILF in Williamsport remained as a WSWB satellite.

At the time of the switch, WSWB also picked up a secondary affiliation with UPN. WSWB showed select UPN programs on Saturday nights without the network's branding. At 8 P.M., the station would air "America's Next Top Model" and at 9 P.M. would be "WWE SmackDown". Whenever America's Next Top Model was in repeats, WSWB would air "Veronica Mars" instead. All UPN programming was also available on cable in the Scranton area via WWOR-TV from New York City, WPSG from Philadelphia, or WLYH-TV from Harrisburg. On January 24, 2006, UPN and The WB announced that they would cease broadcasting and merge. The newly 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.

On February 22, News Corporation announced that they would start up another new broadcast television network called MyNetworkTV. This new network, which would be sister to Fox, would be operated by Fox Television Stations and its syndication division, Twentieth Television. MyNetworkTV was created in order to give UPN and WB stations, not mentioned as becoming CW affiliates, another option besides becoming independent. It was also created to compete against The CW. On May 1, Pegasus announced that WILF would become a separate station and be the area's MyNetworkTV affiliate under the calls WQMY. Also at that point, WSWB was announced as being affiliated with The CW. MyNetworkTV began broadcasting on September 5. WSWB began broadcasting The CW on September 18.

Digital television

In 2009, WSWB will remain on channel 38 when the analog to digital transition is complete.http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-06-1082A2.pdf]

Logos

References

External links

* [http://media.myfoxnepa.com/special/cw/cw.html WSWB channel 38]
* [http://www.cwtv.com/ The CW]
*TVQ|WSWB