WUTR

Infobox_Broadcast
call_letters = WUTR
city =
station_
station_slogan =
station_branding = WUTR
analog = 20 (UHF)
digital = 30 (UHF)
other_chs =
affiliations = ABC
network =
founded =
airdate = February 28, 1970
location = Utica, New York
callsign_meaning = UTica/Rome
former_callsigns =
former_channel_numbers =
owner = Mission Broadcasting, Inc.
"(operated by Nexstar Broadcasting Group, Inc.)"
licensee =
sister_stations = WFXV
former_affiliations =
effective_radiated_power = 1150 kW (analog)
50 kW (digital)
HAAT = 244 m (analog)
227 m (digital)
class =
facility_id = 57837
coordinates = coord|43|8|41.2|N|75|10|32.6|W|type:landmark_scale:2000
homepage = [http://www.cnyhomepage.com/ www.cnyhomepage.com]

WUTR is the ABC affiliate for Utica, New York. The station is owned by Mission Broadcasting (and thus is operated by Nexstar Broadcasting Group, along with WFXV and WPNY-LP) and broadcasts its signal on UHF channel 20, with a digital signal on channel 30. WUTR's transmitter is located in Utica.

History

The station first signed on February 28, 1970 as the second television station in the Utica market. Owned by Roy H. Park Communications at the outset, the station originally sought to affiliate with CBS but was stopped by WHEN-TV (today's WTVH) in Syracuse which claimed the Utica area in its market area. Though WHEN-TV cited potential revenue losses as reasoning for their actions, a rivalry between the Syracuse-based Park and then-WHEN owner Meredith also may have played a factor. As a result, WUTR signed on with ABC marking the only affiliate of that network owned by Park. For the next couple decades, WUTR stayed a distant but strong #2 behind dominant NBC affiliate WKTV. Until the 1980s, WUTR also was the default ABC affiliate for much of the Watertown market (also in the mid 80's in Alexandria Bay via Castle Cable) and operated translators both there and in Massena; the translators would be shut down after WFYF (now WWTI, which would later spend several years as a sister station to WUTR) began operations.

After Roy Park died in 1993, the future of the group was put into doubt as Park's estate sold much of the group to corporate investor Gary Knapp, who in turn sold the remnants of the Park group to Media General in 1996. With WUTR being one of the smallest of Park's stations and the sole station the group had in the Northeast, Media General spun WUTR off in mid-1997 to The Ackerley Group (then-owners of Syracuse ABC affiliate WIXT, today's WSYR-TV). With that purchase, Ackerley began to build a regional strategy called the Central New York Station Group (CNYSG) which eventually would cover most of Upstate New York and nearly acquired stations in the markets they did not enter. With the new ownership, WUTR became a real competitor to WKTV, and even the "Observer-Dispatch".

In October 2001, Clear Channel Communications announced their buyout of Ackerley, closing on their purchase in 2002. Though initially no changes took place, market concentration concerns with Clear Channel's radio cluster in the Utica market put WUTR's future under Clear Channel in doubt. Given the option between potentially selling WUTR or the four-station "Sports Stars" sports radio simulcast, Clear Channel decided to hack away at WUTR by cutting budgets and redistributing resources to other stations in the CNYSG, and regionalizing its newscasts. This resulted in the ultimate cancellation of WUTR's newscasts in August 2003, followed in early 2004 with the sale of WUTR to current owner Mission Broadcasting.

Speculation of starting a news department for WUTR, as well as "sister" stations WFXV and WPNY-LP (WUTR is operated under an local marketing agreement with Nexstar Broadcasting, which owns those two stations), have circulated, but no progress has been made so far. The only news information currently on WUTR is a weather forecast originating from Nexstar-owned WROC-TV in Rochester.

Digital television

In 2009, WUTR will remain on its current pre-transition channel number, 30. http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-06-1082A2.pdf] [http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/forms/prod/cdbsmenu.hts?context=25&appn=101248608&formid=387&fac_num=57837 CDBS Print ] ] However, through the use of PSIP, digital television receivers will display WUTR's virtual channel as 20.

News/Station Presentation

Newscast Titles

*"NewsWatch 20" (1970-1981)
*"TV-20 Eyewitness News" (1981-1997)
*"NewsChannel 20" (1997-2001)
*"WUTR Channel 20" (2001-August 2003; newscasts were cancelled after August 2003)

Logo Gallery

Former Personalities

*Don Shipman - "Now at WKTV, still in Utica"
*Steve McMurray - "Now at WKTV, still in Utica"
*Melissa Godshall
*Anna Crowley - "Now at WCNC-TV"
*Lisa Spitz - "Now at WSTM-TV, in Syracuse"
*Adam Shadoff - "Now at KRQE"
*Steve Osterhaus
*Kristen Wright
*Cheryl Nelson - "Now at WAVY"
*Mark Dudek
*Bob Van Dillen - "Now at CNN, doing Morning Express with Robin Meade."
*Kylie Bennnett
*Christine Webb - "Now of Central Florida News 13"
*Mike Cameron
*John DiPasquale - "Now at WTVH in Syracuse"
*Greg Horine
*Chris Watson

References

External links

* [http://www.cnyhomepage.com/ Official website]
*TVQ|WUTR
*BIA|WUTR|TV|TV