WNWT-LD
WNWT-LD, virtual channel 37 (VHF digital channel 3), is an independent television station licensed to New York, New York, United States. Owned by PMCM TV LLC, it is sister station to Middletown Township, New Jersey-licensed MeTV affiliate WJLP (channel 33). The two stations share studios in Freehold Township, New Jersey, and transmitter facilities at 4 Times Square in midtown Manhattan.
| New York, New York United States | |
|---|---|
| Channels | Digital: 3 (VHF) (shared with WJLP) Virtual: 37 (PSIP) |
| Branding | NewsNet |
| Programming | |
| Subchannels | See § Digital channels |
| Affiliations | |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | PMCM TV (Press Communications, LLC) |
| Sister stations | TV: WJLP Radio: WBBO, WBHX, WHTG, WKMK / WTHJ, WWZY |
| History | |
| Founded | 1989 (31 years ago) |
| First air date | 1998 (22 years ago) as W03BM |
| Former call signs | W38CL (until 1998) W03BM (1998–2004) WBQM-LP (2004–2012) |
| Former channel number(s) | Analog: 38 (UHF, 1998–2001) 3 (VHF, 2001–2009) Digital: 50 (UHF, 2013–2019) Virtual: 3 (PSIP, 2009–2011, 2013) 51 (PSIP, 2013–2019) 6 and 18 (PSID, late July-Aug 1st 2019) |
| Former affiliations | The Box (1998–2001) MTV2 (2001–2006) Cornerstone Television (2006–2012) Spanish Independent (2012–2013, 2014–2019) CNN Latino (2013–2014) Local weather (2019); now on channel 37.2 |
| Call sign meaning | W News Weather Talk |
| Technical information | |
| Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 22797 |
| Class | LD |
| ERP | 6.96 kW 9 kW (CP)[2] |
| HAAT | 340.2 m (1,116 ft) 476 m (1,562 ft) (CP)[2] |
| Transmitter coordinates | 40°45′22.4″N 73°59′10.5″W 40°42′46.8″N 74°0′47.3″W (CP)[2] |
| Links | |
| Public license information | Profile LMS |
From January 2012 to November 2013, WNWT (as WBQM) used virtual channel 3.1. The station formerly broadcast on VHF channel 3 and was previously owned by Renard Communications Corp. As of November 2013, they now use virtual channel 51. WBQM can't use its real channel of 50 as its virtual channel because of nearby New Jersey PBS station WNJN which broadcasts on Channel 51 and uses its old analog channel 50 as its virtual channel. In late July 2019, it was moved twice first on channel 6 and later on channel 18. On August 1, it was moved to its current channel 37.
History
As W38CL, W03BM, and WBQM-LP
Founded in 1989 as the second over the air television station in Brooklyn, the station didn't go on the air until 1998. Originally on channel 38 as a construction permit, it was later moved to channel 3 due to a reassignment of channel 38 to WPXU-LP Amityville, New York. Throughout the 1990s the station ran The Box, and later MTV2 through transfer of ownership from Viacom. At that point in early 2006, it switched to Cornerstone Television. On August 17, 2007, Renard Communications (which owned almost all of New York State's The Box affiliates) announced that would sell WBQM-LP, along with, at that time, sister station WMBQ-CA to Equity Media Holdings for $8 million.[3] However, the transaction had a closing deadline set for June 1, 2008, and either party could cancel the sale if it were not completed by then. The sale was not consummated.[4] As of December 8, 2008, Equity Media Holdings was in Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
As WBQM-LD
In February 2012, Renard reached another deal to sell WBQM-LD, this time to Buenavision TV Network NY, LLC (WMBQ was sold separately several months earlier).
As of February 2013 WBQM-LD joined an affiliation with CNN Latino and transmitted CNN Latino's signal on virtual channel 3.1 and 3.4, while the local Buenavision signal was on 3.2. As of November 2013 its virtual channel changed from channel 3 to channel 51, although its real channel frequency on channel 50 didn't change. CNN Latino was removed in 2014 to join WRNN-TV thus returning to a Spanish independent station.
As WNWT-LD
On December 9, 2018, BuenaVision agreed to sell WBQM-LD to PMCM TV for over $300,000. The deal, which was completed on February 19, 2019, made WBQM-LD a sister station to WJLP. On April 18, the station changed its callsign to WNWT-LD, and then on May 1, it became a primary NewsNet affiliate. In late July 2019 WNWT-LD moved from channel 51 to channel 6 and later to channel 18 which is currently airing weather reports simulcasting WJLP 33.10 before switching back to NewsNet a week later. At the same time WNWT-WX has moved to its second sub channel.
On August 1, the station switched to a channel 37 virtual channel, a rare assignment in broadcasting in North America, likely to prevent adjacent-market confusion with Hartford, Connecticut Univision affiliate WUVN, which has long held channel 18 (the channel 6 assignment was likewise also temporary due to a probable objection from ABC O&O WPVI-TV in Philadelphia). The physical channel 37 is reserved by most broadcasting authorities for the purposes of radio astronomy and medical telemetry, though a PSIP assignment of WNWT-LD's VHF physical channel otherwise causes no interference for those purposes.
Digital television
References
- "Digital TV Market Listing for WJLP". RabbitEars.Info. Retrieved February 7, 2019.
- "Amendment to a Modification of a Licensed Facility for DTV Application". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission. May 25, 2018. Archived from the original on 2018-05-26. Retrieved May 25, 2018.
- http://ir.emdaholdings.com/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=260358 Archived 2009-02-07 at the Wayback Machine Equity Media Holdings Corporation - Equity Media Announces Acquisition of Three New York City Television Stations
- http://www.nwanews.com/adg/Business/228628/ Archived 2009-02-06 at the Wayback Machine Equity ends newscasts; N.Y. station buy teeters