WVNC-LD (channel 45) is a low-power television station in Watertown, New York, United States, affiliated with NBC. Owned by SagamoreHill Broadcasting, the station maintains studios at Public Square in downtown Watertown, and its transmitter is located on Miser Road in the town of Rutland.[3]

WVNC-LD
Channels
Branding
  • NBC Watertown
  • Antenna TV Watertown (LD2)
Programming
Affiliations
Ownership
Owner
History
FoundedMarch 24, 2015
First air date
December 1, 2016 (7 years ago) (2016-12-01)
Former call signs
W45EI-D (2015–2016)
Former channel number(s)
Digital: 45 (UHF, 2016–2020)
Call sign meaning
Watertown Television North Country
Technical information[1]
Licensing authority
FCC
Facility ID188838
ClassLD
ERP15 kW
HAAT107.2 m (352 ft)
Transmitter coordinates43°58′4.6″N 75°48′21.2″W / 43.967944°N 75.805889°W / 43.967944; -75.805889
Links
Public license information
LMS
Websitewww.nbcwatertown.com
Translator
WVNV-LD
Channels
History
First air date
August 26, 2016 (8 years ago) (2016-08-26)
Former call signs
  • W26EP-D (2016–2023)
  • WNGF-LD (2023–2024)
Call sign meaning
disambiguation of WVNC
Technical information[2]
Facility ID182618
ERP0.075 kW
HAAT64.4 m (211 ft)
Transmitter coordinates44°38′54.8″N 75°1′6.4″W / 44.648556°N 75.018444°W / 44.648556; -75.018444
Links
Public license information
LMS

Due to WVNC-LD's low-power status, its broadcast radius only covers the immediate Watertown area. Therefore, it must rely on cable and satellite to reach the entire market.

WVNV-LD (channel 45) in Potsdam operates as a translator of WVNC-LD; this station's transmitter is located on Bagdad Road southwest of Potsdam.

History

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Although the channel 45 frequency had never been used in Watertown prior to 2015, the adjacent channel 46 was the home of WLOT-LP, Watertown's UPN affiliate, until its owner died in 2005 and the station went dark (its frequency has never been reactivated and would eventually be taken out of service in the late-2010s spectrum reallocation).

On August 28, 2016, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approved the transfer of control of a low-power digital television license in Watertown, W45EI-D, from Sunrise, Florida–based DTV America Corporation to SagamoreHill Broadcasting.[4] The new owners promptly renamed the station WVNC-LD and signed it to an affiliation deal with NBC, giving the Watertown area its first locally-based full-time NBC affiliate. The new station signed on December 1, 2016. Prior to WVNC-LD's sign-on, North Country cable systems received either WSTM-TV in Syracuse or WPTZ in Plattsburgh, depending on the location. WWNY-TV previously had a secondary affiliation with the network until 1995.[5] WPTZ and WSTM-TV are still available on cable along with WVNC-LD.

Programming

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WVNC-LD's main channel clears the entire NBC schedule, including The More You Know, NBC's E/I-compliant block which, as a low-power station, it is not required to clear.

 
Former WVNC-LD as both an Antenna TV and MyNetworkTV affiliate.

In addition to NBC programming, WVNC-LD operates the Watertown market's Antenna TV affiliate on its LD2 subchannel. Until recently,[when?] WVNC-LD2 also carried programs from the MyNetworkTV programming service, filling in programming for all time slots outside of the MyNetworkTV programming schedule with the Antenna TV schedule.[6][7]

Local programming

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WVNC-LD airs no local news programming, despite station officials stating at its launch that planning was underway to open a news department by early 2018. The station does, however, stream events of local interest on its YouTube channel.

Subchannels

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The station's signal is multiplexed:

Subchannels of WVNC-LD[3] and WVNV-LD[8]
Channel Res. Aspect Short name Programming
45.1 1080i 16:9 WVNCNBC NBC
45.2 480i Antenna Antenna TV
45.3 ION Ion Television
45.4 GritTv Grit
45.5 Bounce Bounce TV
45.6 CourtTv Court TV
45.7 QVC QVC

References

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  1. ^ "Facility Technical Data for WVNC-LD". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
  2. ^ "Facility Technical Data for WVNV-LD". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
  3. ^ a b "RabbitEars TV Query for WVNC". RabbitEars.info. Retrieved August 22, 2024.
  4. ^ http://licensing.fcc.gov/prod/cdbs/pubacc/Auth_Files/1731564.pdf [dead link]
  5. ^ Dwyer, Brian. "NBC will Soon be Local in Watertown; News Department in 2018". Time Warner Cable News. Retrieved December 1, 2016.
  6. ^ "Interactive Affiliate Map". AntennaTV.com. Retrieved October 21, 2017.
  7. ^ www.nbcwatertown.com
  8. ^ "RabbitEars TV Query for WVNV". RabbitEars.info. Retrieved August 22, 2024.
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