WNYT (TV)
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| WNYT | |
|---|---|
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| Albany-Schenectady-Troy, New York | |
| Branding | NewsChannel 13 |
| Slogan | Covering and Uncovering Your News |
| Channels | Analog: 13 (VHF) |
| Translators | W21CP Gloversville W28DA Pittsfield MA W38DL Adams MA |
| Affiliations | NBC NBC Weather Plus (DT2) |
| Owner | Hubbard Broadcasting Corporation (WNYT-TV, LLC) |
| First air date | February 19, 1954 |
| Call letters’ meaning | We're New York's Television Station. |
| Former callsigns | WTRI (1954-1958) WAST (1958-1981) |
| Former channel number(s) | 35 (1954-1958) |
| Former affiliations | ABC (1954–1977) CBS (1977-1981) |
| Transmitter Power | 178 kW (analog) 9.1 kW (digital) |
| Height | 357 m (analog) 436 m (digital) |
| Facility ID | 73363 |
| Transmitter Coordinates | (analog) (digital) |
| Website | www.wnyt.com/ |
WNYT channel 13 is the NBC-affiliated television station for Albany, New York. Its analog transmitter is located on Bald Mountain in Spiegeltown. The station's digital transmitter is located at the Helderberg Mountains tower farm in New Scotland. Owned by Hubbard Broadcasting Corporation, WNYT has studios located on North Pearl Street in Menands (though it has an Albany address).
Contents |
[edit] Overview
The station offers NBC Weather Plus on its second digital subchannel and Time Warner digital cable channel 556. Syndicated programming on WNYT includes: Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?, Family Feud, Friends, The Rachael Ray Show, Oprah and Entertainment Tonight. WNYT is a handful of NBC affiliates that doesn't air Poker After Dark.
[edit] Repeaters
In addition to its main signals, WNYT operates three additional repeaters. Until the early-1990s, WNYT also maintained a translator in Kingston. It was first located on channel 63 but moved to channel 36 after the launch of WTZA in 1985.
| Call letters | Channel | City of license | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| W21CP | 21 | Gloversville | until 2006, it had the call letters W07AJ but changed after WXXA-DT began broadcasting on digital channel 7 |
| W28DA | 28 | Pittsfield | until 2006, it had the call letters W07AI and was also changed due to sign on of WXXA-DT |
| W38DL | 38 | Adams | until 2005, it had the call letters W51AE and was changed due to the sign on of WNYA in Pittsfield |
[edit] History
The station began broadcasting on February 17, 1954. It was licenced to Troy, was a CBS affiliate and had the call letters WTRI. The station broadcased on channel 35 and was co-owned with WTRY radio. WTRI's studios were located east of Troy near its transmitter on Bald Mountain. It left the air in January 1955 when it lost its network affiliation to WROW-TV, now WTEN. No longer connected with WTRY radio, it returned to the air in August 1956 as an ABC affiliate. In 1958, it changed its city of license to Albany, moved to channel 13 and received new call letters WAST (for Albany - Schenectady - Troy). Originally, the station had wanted to take the "WTAS" calls (for Troy - Albany - Schenectady), but the similarity of the "TAS" letters to the news agency of the Soviet Union led to the use of WAST.
Shortly after the upgrade, The original owners moved the station's studios to a warehouse on the Albany - Menands line on North Pearl St. which previously housed Selective Service records. Although improvements to WAST's signal had been made, it was still significantly weaker than the other television stations due to a sizable short spacing to WNET in Newark, New Jersey. Also, the Bald Mountain transmitter location played a factor as well. The other stations in the market had their transmitters at a location in the Helderberg Mountains in New Scotland. In 1969, WAST was sold to Sonderling Broadcasting.
In 1977, WAST switched affiliations with WTEN and became the Capital District's CBS affiliate. During the next year, Viacom purchased Sonderling which made WAST the company's first television station holding (ironically, Viacom had started as the syndication arm of CBS). On September 21, 1981, WRGB swapped affiliations with WAST and WAST became the area's NBC affiliate. Seeking a fresh start and a new identity, Viacom decided to mark the affiliation change with the new calls of WNYT. With the new affiliation and call letters, Viacom expanded and modernized the studios, newsroom, offices (including the market's first modern computers). The company also made a significant investment in electronic equipment, including a satellite receiving news station. Investment in talent increased with the station with the building of its own talent and taking key talent from other stations in the market.
The station's affiliation and station changes also made WNYT one of a handful of channels to have affiliated with every major network (ABC, CBS and NBC). WNYT had overtaken WTEN for the runner-up spot by the late 1980s and in 1992 scored its first #1 late news victory. Gradually, the station overtook longtime leader WRGB in other timeslots. With the rebranding of the station's newscasts from "News 13" to "NewsChannel 13" in 1991, WNYT became the first station to use the "Live. Local. Late Breaking." tag line, a slogan which is now commonplace throughout the country.
In 1994, after Viacom bought Paramount Pictures, Paramount became the parent for all of Viacom's television stations, including WNYT. Shortly thereafter, Paramount decided to divest itself of all non-UPN affiliates, which led to a deal in 1996 where Paramount traded WNYT and WHEC-TV in Rochester, New York to Hubbard Broadcasting Corporation for UPN affiliate WTOG-TV in Tampa, Florida. In Viacom's last sweeps period owning WNYT, the station had its first solid book as the #1 station in the market, a position which the station has maintained in the decade Hubbard has owned the station. Two years after Hubbard bought WNYT, it won the distinction of being the first and, to date, the only station outside of New York City to win the regional Emmy award for best newscast in New York State.
WNYT signed on its digital signal in October of 2003 on VHF channel 12. Unlike the station's analog signal, WNYT-DT's transmitter is located in the Helderberg Mountains with the market's other stations. WNYT-DT will move to Channel 13 after the switchover to digital television on February 17, 2009.
[edit] News operation
In the mid-1990s, WNYT began an alliance with PBS affiliate WMHT. This led to WNYT producing several programs for WMHT including semi-regular "Town Hall" meetings, the weekly call-in show Health Link, and for two years the market's first 10 P.M. newscast on WMHT's then-secondary station, WMHQ. From 2001 until 2004, WNYT also maintained a joint sales agreement (JSA) with PAX affiliate WYPX that included rebroadcasts of newscasts and local non-news programming. In 2001, WNYT opened a news bureau covering Berkshire County, Massachusetts.
At that time, it was the first Western Massachusetts news bureau of a Capital District station. It is located on South Church Street in downtown Pittsfield. After forging an alliance with the Glens Falls Post-Star, the Saratoga / North Country Newsroom was opened in Saratoga Springs in early-2004. In December of 2005, WNYT began broadcasting NBC Weather Plus on its second digital subchannel with a full launch coming two months later.
This service is also carried on various digital cable systems. This includes Time Warner channel 556 (channel 169 in Queensbury), Berkshire Cable Corporation channel 713 in northwest Columbia County, and in Bennington, Vermont on Comcast channel 169. WNYT operates their own weather radar that is known as "NewsChannel 13 First Warning Doppler". It is located next to the station's analog signal on Bald Mountain. On March 24, 2008, WNYT replaced its weekday Noon newscast with an hour-long broadcast at 11 A.M. entitled Midday. Family Feud, which originally aired for a half-hour at that time, moved to the Noon timeslot.
[edit] Newscast titles
- WTRI-TV News (1954-1958)
- WAST News (1958-1966)
- Eyewitness News (1966-1977)
- 13 News (1977-1981)
- TV-13 News (1981-1986)
- during this period, the 6 P.M. newscast was known as The 30-Minute News, a move to signify its length vs. the then-hour long newscasts on WRGB and WTEN
- News 13 (1986-September 1991)
- NewsChannel 13 (September 1991-present)
[edit] News team
Anchors
(in alphabetical order)
| Personality | Position | WNYT Since |
|---|---|---|
| Phil Bayly | NewsChannel 13 Today | 1986 |
| Elaine Houston | NewsChannel 13 Live at 5:30/Education Reporter | 1990 |
| Jim Kambrich | NewsChannel 13 Live at 5, NewsChannel 13 Live at 6, NewsChannel 13 Live at 11/Reporter | 1994 |
| Lydia Kulbida | NewsChannel 13 Live at 6, NewsChannel 13 Live at 11 | 2000 |
| Jessica Layton | News Channel 13 Weekend Today/General Assignment Reporter | 2006 |
| Kelly Lynch | NewsChannel 13 Midday/Host of: Forum 13 | 1996, 1998 |
| Kumi Tucker | NewsChannel 13 Live at 6, NewsChannel 13 Live at 11 (weekends)/Reporter | unknown |
| Benita Zahn | NewsChannel 13 Live at 5, NewsChannel 13 Live at 5:30/Health Reporter | 1979 |
NewsChannel 13 First Warning Weather Team
(in order of rank)
| Personality | Position | WNYT Since |
|---|---|---|
| Bob Kovachick | NewsChannel 13 Live at 5, NewsChannel 13 Live at 5:30, NewsChannel 13 Live at 6, NewsChannel 13 Live at 11, NewsChannel 13 Chief Meteorologist | 1988 |
| Paul Caiano | NewsChannel 13 Today | 1993 |
| Jason Gough | NewsChannel 13 Midday/Fill-in meteorologist | 2004 |
| George Caldes | NewsChannel 13 Weekend Today, News Channel 13 Live at 6, News Channel 13 Live at 11 (weekends) | 2008 |
Sports
(in order of rank)
| Personality | Position | WNYT Since |
|---|---|---|
| Rodger Wyland | Sports Director, NewsChannel 13 at 6, NewsChannel 13 at 11 | 1986 |
| Andrew Catalon | NewsChannel 13 Live at 6, NewsChannel Live at 11 (weekends)/Host of: Big Board Sports | 2003 |
Reporters
(in alphabetical order)
| Personality | Position | WNYT Since |
|---|---|---|
| John Allen | General Assignment Reporter/Fill-in anchor | 1996 |
| Abigail Bleck | General Assignment Reporter | 2004 |
| Jay Bobbin | Entertainment Critic | 1993 |
| John Craig | General Assignment Reporter | 2008 |
| Subrina Dhammi | General Assignment Reporter/Political Reporter | 2005 |
| Bill Lambdin | General Assignment Reporter | 1980 |
| Matt McFarland | General Assignment Reporter | 2006 |
| Mark Mulholland | Saratoga/North Country Bureau Chief | 1993 |
| Beth Wurtmann | General Assignment Reporter | 2008 |
[edit] Past personnel
- Howie Altschule (Fill-in, then noon, meteorologist from 1997-2004, now a notable forensic meteorologist)
- Gary Apple (Sports reporter in the mid-1980s, now at SportsNet New York)
- Dan Bazile (Political reporter and weekend morning anchor from 2004 to 2007; left in 2007 to become a spokesman for NY State Assemblyman James Tedisco)
- Chris Brunner (Longtime reporter and later assistant News Director, left in 2002 to become News Director at Capital News 9. Retired from Capital News 9 in May of 2007.)
- Lindsay Cohen (News reporter and fill-in anchor from 2002-2005, now at WPEC in West Palm Beach, FL
- Lee Copson (Weekend Meteorologist from 2000 to 2006. He said on his last newscast that he was leaving the business to pursue a career in financial services)
- Nancy Cozean (First lead female weekday anchor in the Albany market, left in 1985 to co-anchor the evening newscast at upstart WTZA in Kingston, NY. Now the mayor of the City of Poughkeepsie)
- Ed Dague (Lead anchor and managing editor from 1984 to 2003; his arrival at the station is seen as the reversal of WNYT's fortunes. Now the caretaker of the In Media Res blog at the Albany Times-Union website)
- Tim Drawbridge (Former weekend meteorologist from 2007-2008. He left WNYT in May 2008 to become the Public Relations Manager & Spokesperson for The Great Escape)
- Josh Einiger (Original chief of the Berkshire Newsroom, now a general assignment reporter at WFTV in Orlando, Florida)
- John Gray (Left for WXXA at the end of 2003 after being passed up as Ed Dague's replacement, most notably anchored the 5:00/5:30 newscasts)
- Todd Gross (Chief meteorologist from 1980 to 1983)
- Wilson Hall (The longtime NBC news reporter joined the station as the main news anchor in the late 1970s. Hall died in 1991.)
- Brandon Hertell (Fill-in meteorologist, morning meteorologist at WXXA-TV since September 2006)
- Chris Kapostasy (Now better known as Chris Jansing of MSNBC, started at then-WAST as a reporter in 1981 and was weeknight co-anchor from 1987 until her 1998 departure
- Lars Lifrak (Weekend sports anchor from the late 1990s-2004, now a reporter at Soccer365.com)
- Bob McNamara (Sports director from 1981-2001, the first talent WNYT acquired from another station (WRGB) and the only person to have on-air roles at all 3 of Albany's VHF's)
- Joe Moskowitz (Reporter and Weekend evening anchor in early-mid 1980s.)
- Scott Murray (Sports anchor, late 1970s-1980; retired, previously at KXAS-TV in Dallas)
- Miles O'Brien (Now of CNN, his first job as an anchor was weekends at WNYT for a time in the mid-1980s)
- Randy Salerno (Weekend anchor from 1988-93; killed in snowmobile accident in 2008)
- Steve Scoville (Reporter and later contributor of "Capital Region Backroads", a longtime segment at the end of Wednesday and Friday night newscasts, 1982-2006)
- Norm Sebastian (Former weekend, then weekday morning/noon meteorolgist until his death in December 2000)
- Herb Stevens (Chief Meteorologist prior to Bob Kovachick's arrival, Stevens is known as the Skiing Weatherman of syndicated weekly ski forecast fame)
- Don Weeks (Weatherman during the late 1960s under the name of "Wally Weather", now a morning show host at WGY, a post he has held since 1980)
- John Wolf (Weatherman during the later WAST years)
- Julie Wilcox (staff reporter and occasional weekend anchor. Now weekend morning meteorologist at WVEC Hampton Roads, VA)
[edit] External links
- WNYT "NewsChannel 13"
- NBC
- Query the FCC's TV station database for WNYT
- Query the FCC's TV station database for W21CP
- Query the FCC's TV station database for W28DA
- Query the FCC's TV station database for W38DL
- BIAfn's Media Web Database -- Information on WNYT-TV
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