WEPT-CD

WEPT-CD
Newburgh, New York
Channels Digital: 22 (UHF)
Virtual: 15 (PSIP)
Affiliations AMGTV (2013–present)
Owner Venture Technologies Group, LLC
Founded January 24, 1996
First air date December 1997
Former callsigns W39CE (1997–1998)
WVBX-LP (1998–2002)
WVBX-CA (2002–2003)
WNYA-CA (2003–2013)
WEPT-CA (2013–2014)
Former channel number(s) Analog:
39 (UHF, 1997–2003)
15 (UHF, 2003–2014)
Former affiliations Independent (via WVBG-LP, 1997–1998 and 2000–2001)
UPN (via WVBG-LP, 1998–2000; via WNYA, 2003–2006)
A1 (via WVBG-LP, 2001–2003)
RSN (via WVBG-LP, 2001–2003)
MyNetworkTV (via WNYA, 2006–2011)
Antenna TV (via WNYA-DT2, 2011–2013)
Transmitter power 15 kW
Class Class A
Facility ID 30429
Transmitter coordinates 42°5′5.70″N 74°6′1.50″W / 42.0849167°N 74.1004167°W / 42.0849167; -74.1004167 (WEPT-CD)
Licensing authority FCC
Public license information: Profile
CDBS

WEPT-CD, channel 22 (PSIP 15), is a television station licensed to serve Newburgh, New York.[1] The station is owned by Venture Technologies Group, and is an AMGTV affiliate.[2]

History

The station originated on January 24, 1996[3] as a construction permit for W02CJ,[4] which was to have operated on channel 2 in Manchester, Vermont from a tower at the studios of radio station WJAN (95.1 FM, now WVTQ).[3] However, that facility was never built, and later that year owners Ronald and Jan Morlino, who also owned WJAN, transferred W02CJ to Vision 3 Broadcasting,[5][6] which on May 9, 1997 modified the permit to instead serve Easton, Glens Falls, Hudson Falls, and Saratoga Springs on channel 39 from Willard Mountain,[7] making the station W39CE.[4] The station was designed to be a repeater of WVBG-LP (channel 25) from Albany; however, when channel 39 signed on in December 1997 as an independent station, it was the first of Vision 3's three stations to launch,[8] ahead of W49BU (channel 49, later renamed WVBK-LP; now WYCX-CD channel 2) in Manchester, which signed on in March 1998,[9] and WVBG itself, which debuted in August 1998.[10] Channel 39 became WVBX-LP on April 10, 1998.[4]

On October 5, 1998, WVBX, along with parent station WVBG, became a UPN affiliate;[11] it already carried the UPN Kids block,[12] but the network's primetime programming had previously been seen in the Capital District through secondary affiliations with Fox affiliate WXXA-TV (channel 23)[12] and Pax station WYPX (channel 55),[13] as well as cable carriage of WSBK-TV from Boston.[11][13] However, from its inception, the station could not get carriage on Time Warner Cable,[12] which chose to continue its carriage of WSBK;[11] this was despite acquiring several sports packages, including Big East football and basketball, the Boston Red Sox (the telecasts of which were dropped following a territorial complaint by the New York Yankees),[14] and the Boston Celtics.[15]

Vision 3 did win must-carry rights in Washington County (in the WVBX coverage area) on December 3, 1999.[16] However, the UPN affiliation ended at the start of 2000 when cable-only "WEDG-TV" (known later as "UPN 4") signed on as a joint operation between Time Warner Cable and WXXA.[17] WVBX would then revert to being an independent station, heavily emphasizing its status as a primarily over-the-air station;[18] that June, Vision 3 put WVBG and WVBX up for sale,[19] and by 2001 much of the station's schedule was taken up by America One[20] and Resort Sports Network programming.[21]

In 2002, a year after parent station WVBG was sold to Wireless Access, Vision 3 was granted a construction permit to move WVBX to channel 15 from a transmitter on the Helderberg Escarpment in New Scotland, near the location of the WVBG transmitter, in effect moving the station to Albany.[22] The new facility was also granted class A status,[22] with the call sign WVBX-CA.[4] On May 22, 2003, Vision 3 sold WVBX to Venture Technologies Group,[23] who took channel 39 off-the-air that June.[24] During this time, Venture built the channel 15 facility, gave it the call letters WNYA-CA on June 30, 2003,[4] and announced that the station would serve as a repeater of WNYA (channel 51) from Pittsfield, Massachusetts, which Venture was in the process of launching; this resulted in the unusual circumstance of a repeater station older than its parent station.[25] Together, the two stations came on the air September 1, 2003 as the Capital District's new UPN affiliate (replacing "WEDG-TV"),[25] operated by Freedom Communications, then-owner of WRGB (channel 6), under a joint sales agreement.[26]

On January 24, 2006, The WB and UPN announced that they would end broadcasting and merge to form a new network, The CW; the new network immediately named WEWB-TV (channel 45, now WCWN) its Capital District affiliate after then-owner Tribune Broadcasting signed a ten-year affiliation deal with the new network on most of its WB stations.[27] On February 22, News Corporation announced that it would start up another new broadcast television network called MyNetworkTV; on March 9, it was announced that WNYA (and in turn WNYA-CA) would join this network, which launched on September 5.[28] A few months after the affiliation change, on December 5, 2006, Freedom Communications purchased WCWN from Tribune, in effect giving it control over three stations in the Capital District;[29] in February 2007, the joint sales agreement with WRGB was terminated,[30] and WNYA moved from WRGB's studios in Niskayuna to a facility in Rotterdam that formerly housed WMHT-FM-TV.[31] In April 2011, WNYA-CA replaced WNYA's main programming with Antenna TV, simulcast from WNYA's second digital subchannel.[32]

On February 25, 2013, Hubbard Broadcasting announced that it would purchase WNYA to form a duopoly with its local NBC affiliate WNYT, for $2.3 million, pending FCC approval.[33][34] The sale did not include WNYA-CA, which remained with Venture Technologies.[35] Under a clause of the sale of WNYA that required WNYA-CA to use a new call sign that does not feature the letters "N" or "Y,"[34] channel 15 became WEPT-CA on March 8, 2013.[4] On May 29, 2013, the FCC approved the sale of WNYA to Hubbard,[36] which was completed July 15;[37] that September, WEPT-CA dropped its WNYA-DT2 simulcast to join AMGTV,[2] moved its transmitter to New Baltimore, and changed its city of license to Kinderhook. Venture then filed on September 25 to construct a digital companion facility on channel 22 broadcasting from Overlook Mountain in Woodstock;[1] the permit was granted on December 23.[38] On December 18, 2014, the station was issued a license for digital operation, with its city of license moving from Kinderhook to Newburgh and its call sign changing to WEPT-CD.

References

  1. 1 2 "Application for Authority to Construct or Makes Changes in a Class A Television Broadcast Station". CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. September 25, 2013. Retrieved February 7, 2014.
  2. 1 2 "FCC 398 Children's Television Programming Report (WEPT-CA)". Federal Communications Commission. September 30, 2013. Retrieved February 7, 2014.
  3. 1 2 "Application Search Details (WEPT-CA, 1)". CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved March 21, 2013.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Call Sign History (WEPT-CA)". CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved March 1, 2015.
  5. ↑ Pinckney, Barbara (July 22, 1996). "Trio of towers to beam new regional TV station". The Business Review. Retrieved March 21, 2013.
  6. ↑ "Application Search Details (WEPT-CA, 2)". CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved March 21, 2013.
  7. ↑ "Application Search Details (WEPT-CA, 3)". CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved March 21, 2013.
  8. ↑ Owen, Rob (December 9, 1997). "`Daily' takes shot at the whole year". Albany Times-Union. p. D6. Retrieved March 22, 2013.
  9. ↑ Owen, Rob (March 27, 1998). "WVBG channels make slow debut". Albany Times-Union. p. D4. Retrieved March 22, 2013.
  10. ↑ Pinckney, Barbara (August 31, 1998). "Most powerful of low-power trio of TV stations goes on air". The Business Review. Retrieved March 22, 2013.
  11. 1 2 3 McGuire, Mark (September 30, 1998). "Channel 25 is now affiliated with UPN". Albany Times-Union. p. D6. Retrieved March 24, 2013.
  12. 1 2 3 Owen, Rob (August 14, 1997). "Cable systems may not carry new TV station". Albany Times-Union. p. D4. Retrieved March 24, 2013.
  13. 1 2 McGuire, Mark (September 4, 1998). "Pax TV, UPN form contradictory alliance". Albany Times-Union. p. D1. Retrieved March 24, 2013.
  14. ↑ Dougherty, Pete (September 18, 1998). "WVBG forced to stop showing Red Sox games". Albany Times-Union. p. C2. Retrieved March 24, 2013.
  15. ↑ Dougherty, Pete (February 19, 1999). "WVBG shoots airballs on two Celtics' telecasts". Albany Times-Union. p. C8. Retrieved March 24, 2013.
  16. ↑ McGuire, Mark (December 4, 1999). "FCC ruling helps WVBG". Albany Times-Union. p. D7. Retrieved March 24, 2013.
  17. ↑ McGuire, Mark (November 17, 1999). "WVBG hurt by UPN deal". Albany Times-Union. p. D5. Retrieved March 24, 2013.
  18. ↑ Pinckney, Barbara (February 14, 2000). "WVBG/TV 25 proving there is life after UPN". The Business Review. Retrieved March 24, 2013.
  19. ↑ Pinckney, Barbara (June 12, 2000). "Vt. owner puts independent WVBG/TV 25 on the block". The Business Review. Retrieved March 25, 2013.
  20. ↑ "FCC 398 Children's Television Programming Report (WVBX-LP)". Federal Communications Commission. June 30, 2001. Retrieved March 25, 2013.
  21. ↑ McGuire, Mark (February 14, 2001). "Westminster purebreeds pure ratings for USA". Albany Times-Union. p. D1. Retrieved March 25, 2013.
  22. 1 2 "WVBX gets FCC OK to move channel; will cover entire Capital Region". The Business Review. April 29, 2002. Retrieved March 25, 2013.
  23. ↑ "Application Search Details (WEPT-CA, 4)". CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved March 25, 2013.
  24. ↑ "CapitalGold Dial Guide SoundBoard". June 20, 2003. Archived from the original on January 13, 2004. Retrieved March 25, 2013.
  25. 1 2 McGuire, Mark (August 26, 2003). "New UPN station to debut Sept. 1". Albany Times-Union. p. D4. Retrieved March 25, 2013.
  26. ↑ Pinckney, Barbara (February 19, 2003). "WRGB to handle ad sales for new channel". The Business Review. Retrieved March 25, 2013.
  27. ↑ Sutel, Seth (January 25, 2006). "Failing networks merge to survive". Albany Times-Union. p. A1. Retrieved March 25, 2013.
  28. ↑ "With loss of UPN program, channel 15 to air MyNetworkTV". The Business Review. March 10, 2006. Retrieved March 25, 2013.
  29. ↑ Pinckney, Barbara (December 11, 2006). "WRGB promises to put 10 p.m. news slot on Channel 45 schedule". The Business Review. Retrieved March 27, 2013.
  30. ↑ McGuire, Mark (February 16, 2007). "With self-reliance, station can transcend networks". Albany Times-Union. p. D1. Retrieved March 27, 2013.
  31. ↑ Churchill, Chris (March 14, 2008). "WNYA deal a likely home run". Albany Times-Union. p. C1. Retrieved March 27, 2013.
  32. ↑ "FCC 398 Children's Television Programming Report (WNYA-CA)". Federal Communications Commission. June 30, 2011. Retrieved March 8, 2013.
  33. ↑ "WNYT Albany to Purchase MyNet WNYA". Broadcasting & Cable. Retrieved 25 February 2013.
  34. 1 2 Application For Consent To Assignment Of Broadcast Station Construction Permit Or License Federal Communications Commission, 8 March 2013
  35. ↑ Seyler, Dave (March 8, 2013). "Hubbard believes failure will allow it to double in Albany". Television Business Report. Retrieved March 27, 2013.
  36. ↑ Rooney, Chris (May 29, 2013). "FCC approves sale of WNYA to WNYT". Albany, NY. WNYT NewsChannel 13. Retrieved May 29, 2013.
  37. ↑ https://licensing.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/forms/prod/cdbsmenu.hts?context=25&appn=101563276&formid=905&fac_num=136751
  38. ↑ "Application Search Details (WEPT-LD)". CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved February 7, 2014.
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