WWCP-TV (channel 8) is a
television station
A television station is a set of equipment managed by a business, organisation or other entity such as an amateur television (ATV) operator, that transmits video content and audio content via radio waves directly from a transmitter on the earth's s ...
licensed to
Johnstown, Pennsylvania
Johnstown is the largest city in Cambria County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 18,411 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Located east of Pittsburgh, it is the principal city of the Metropolitan statistical area ...
, United States, serving as the
Fox
Foxes are small-to-medium-sized omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull; upright, triangular ears; a pointed, slightly upturned snout; and a long, bushy tail ("brush").
Twelve species ...
affiliate for the Johnstown–
Altoona–
State College
State College is a borough and home rule municipality in Centre County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is a college town, home to the University Park campus of The Pennsylvania State University.
State College is the largest designated borou ...
market
Market is a term used to describe concepts such as:
*Market (economics), system in which parties engage in transactions according to supply and demand
*Market economy
*Marketplace, a physical marketplace or public market
*Marketing, the act of sat ...
. It is owned by
Cunningham Broadcasting
Cunningham Broadcasting Corporation is an owner of broadcast television stations in the United States. The company owns fifteen stations–eight affiliated with Fox, three affiliated with The CW, two affiliated with ABC, and two affiliated with ...
, which provides certain services to Altoona-licensed
ABC
ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script.
ABC or abc may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting
* Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company
* American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...
affiliate
WATM-TV (channel 23) under a
local marketing agreement
In North American broadcasting, a local marketing agreement (LMA), or local management agreement, is a contract in which one corporation, company agrees to operate a radio station, radio or television station owned by another party. In essence, it ...
(LMA) with Palm Television,
L.P. Both stations, in turn, are operated under a
time brokerage agreement (TBA) by
Sinclair Broadcast Group
Sinclair, Inc., doing business as Sinclair Broadcast Group, is a publicly traded American telecommunications conglomerate that is controlled by the descendants of company founder Julian Sinclair Smith. Headquartered in the Baltimore suburb o ...
, owner of Johnstown-licensed dual
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...
/
CW+ affiliate
WJAC-TV
WJAC-TV (channel 6) is a television station licensed to Johnstown, Pennsylvania, United States, serving the Johnstown– Altoona– State College market as an affiliate of NBC and The CW Plus. It is owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group, which pro ...
(channel 6).
WWCP-TV and WATM-TV share studios on Lulay Street in the borough of
Geistown, and also operate advertising sales offices in Altoona (on East Walton Avenue/
PA 764) and State College (on West Beaver Avenue/
PA 26);
master control
Master control is the technical hub of a broadcast operation common among most over-the-air television stations and television networks. It is distinct from a production control room (PCR) in television studios where the activities such as swit ...
and some internal operations are based at WJAC-TV's facilities on Old Hickory Lane in
Upper Yoder Township. WWCP-TV's transmitter is located along
US 30
U.S. Route 30 or U.S. Highway 30 (US 30) is an east–west main route of the United States Numbered Highway System, with the highway traveling across the Northern U.S. With a length of , it is the third-longest U.S. Highway, afte ...
/
Lincoln Highway
The Lincoln Highway is one of the first transcontinental highways in the United States and one of the first highways designed expressly for automobiles. Conceived in 1912 by Indiana entrepreneur Carl G. Fisher, and formally dedicated Octob ...
, in
Ligonier Township, near the
Somerset County line.
Since WWCP-TV's signal is not viewable in State College, the station is
simulcast
Simulcast (a portmanteau of "simultaneous broadcast") is the broadcasting of programs or events across more than one resolution, bitrate or medium, or more than one service on the same medium, at exactly the same time (that is, simultaneously) ...
in
high definition on WATM-TV's second
digital subchannel
In broadcasting, digital subchannels are a method of transmitting more than one independent program stream simultaneously from the same digital radio or television station on the same radio frequency channel. This is done by using data compress ...
(23.2) from its transmitter on Lookout Avenue, in
Logan Township, along the
Cambria County line.
History
Initially, the analog VHF channel 8 facility was to be licensed to
Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...
on two occasions. The first occasion was in the 1940s where it was to be one of four VHF channels in Pittsburgh along with
3, 6, and 10. Only channel 3 made it to the air before the
Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, internet, wi-fi, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains j ...
(FCC) issued a
"freeze" on television licenses. Although
KQV was essentially a shoo-in for the channel 8 allocation and later won the channel 4 license after the Pittsburgh market was reallocated channels 2, 4, 11, and 13, it eventually had to split ownership of what became
WTAE-TV
WTAE-TV (channel 4) is a television station in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States, affiliated with ABC. It has been owned by Hearst Television since the station's inception, making this one of two stations that have been built and signe ...
with the
Hearst Corporation
Hearst Corporation, Hearst Holdings Inc. and Hearst Communications Inc. comprise an American multinational mass media and business information conglomerate owned by the Hearst family and based in Hearst Tower in Midtown Manhattan in New York ...
.
[Original Pittsburgh Allocations](_blank)
/ref>
In 1980, after previously toying with the idea through the 1960s and 1970s, the FCC added four VHF "drop-in" assignments, one of which was channel 8 for Johnstown. In 1984, after comparative hearings, a construction permit was granted to Laurel Television Inc., a subsidiary of Johnstown retailer Glosser Bros. By 1985, however, Glosser had put the construction permit on the market because it was going through a leveraged buyout
A leveraged buyout (LBO) is the acquisition of a company using a significant proportion of borrowed money (Leverage (finance), leverage) to fund the acquisition with the remainder of the purchase price funded with private equity. The assets of t ...
.
Evergreen Broadcasting Company acquired the permit and began construction. Because the signal had to protect WGAL-TV
WGAL (channel 8) is a television station licensed to Lancaster, Pennsylvania, United States, serving the Susquehanna Valley region as an affiliate of NBC. Owned by Hearst Television, the station maintains studios on Columbia Avenue ( PA 462) in ...
in Lancaster
Lancaster may refer to:
Lands and titles
*The County Palatine of Lancaster, a synonym for Lancashire
*Duchy of Lancaster, one of only two British royal duchies
*Duke of Lancaster
*Earl of Lancaster
*House of Lancaster, a British royal dynasty
...
and was broadcast from Laurel Mountain State Park in Westmoreland County, in order to ensure that the new station would be viewable in cities like Altoona in the eastern part of the market, Evergreen acquired WOPC-TV, the ABC affiliate in Altoona, disaffiliated it from the network, and converted it to satellite operation as WWPC-TV; the two would serve as one independent station. WWCP-TV began on October 13, 1986, and WWPC-TV started the next day.
Originally, both stations aired a general entertainment format running cartoons
A cartoon is a type of visual art that is typically drawn, frequently Animation, animated, in an realism (arts), unrealistic or semi-realistic style. The specific meaning has evolved, but the modern usage usually refers to either: an image or s ...
, classic sitcom
A sitcom (short for situation comedy or situational comedy) is a genre of comedy produced for radio and television, that centers on a recurring cast of character (arts), characters as they navigate humorous situations within a consistent settin ...
s, old movies
A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are generally, since ...
, recent sitcoms, and drama shows. Finding itself in the unusual position of being an independent on the VHF band, WWCP-WWPC immediately took most of the stronger shows from the only other independent in the market, WFAT (channel 19). That coup was the beginning of the end for the latter station (it went dark
Darkness is the condition resulting from a lack of illumination, or an absence of visible light.
Human vision is unable to distinguish colors in conditions of very low luminance because the hue-sensitive photoreceptor cells on the retina are ...
in 1991, returned in 1996, and is now Pittsburgh independent station WPKD-TV
WPKD-TV (channel 19), branded KDKA+, is an independent television station licensed to Jeannette, Pennsylvania, United States, serving the Pittsburgh area. It is owned by the CBS News and Stations group alongside KDKA-TV (channel 2), the market ...
). Upon sign-on, WWCP and WWPC each obtained a Fox affiliation. After the conversion of WOPC to WWPC, the eastern portion of the market received ABC programming from WHTM-TV
WHTM-TV (channel 27) is a television station licensed to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, United States, serving the Susquehanna Valley region as an affiliate of ABC. Owned by Nexstar Media Group, the station maintains studios on North 6th Street i ...
in Harrisburg
Harrisburg ( ; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), U.S. commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat, seat of Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, Dauphin County. With a population of 50, ...
, while the northern portion was served by WNEP-TV
WNEP-TV (channel 16) is a television station licensed to Scranton, Pennsylvania, United States, serving as the ABC affiliate for Northeastern Pennsylvania. Owned by Tegna Inc., the station maintains studios on Montage Mountain Road in Moosic. ...
in Scranton, and the western portion was served by WTAE-TV in Pittsburgh. At the time, both stations preempted a moderate number of network shows. It soon became obvious that Johnstown needed its own ABC affiliate.
In 1988, WWCP converted WWPC to a separate operation as WATM-TV, which then took the ABC affiliation. That station was soon sold off to a separate licensee in order to comply with FCC regulations on station ownership but the commission allowed WWCP to continue to control that channel under a local marketing agreement. WWCP successfully contended that if operated separately, both stations may have been in danger of going dark. For a time, a repeater was set up that allowed WWCP to be received on UHF channel 57 in the Altoona area. This was not effective, however, because the transmitter was away near Martinsburg. Altoona viewers who did not possess a high-powered antenna could not receive this signal. Throughout most of the city, viewers only saw a picture with no sound.
WWCP was the first Fox affiliate in the nation to refuse to air O. J. Simpson
Orenthal James Simpson (July 9, 1947 – April 10, 2024), also known by his nickname "the Juice", was an American professional American football, football player, actor, and media personality who played in the National Football League (NFL) ...
's two-night interview special with Judith Regan
Judith Regan (born August 17, 1953) is an American editor, producer, book publisher, and television and radio talk show host. She is the head of Regan Arts.
Early life and education
Regan grew up in Fitchburg, Massachusetts and Bay Shore, New Y ...
on November 27 and 29, 2006. The controversial program, called '' If I Did It, Here's How It Happened'', resulted in the station owner saying it was inappropriate for Simpson to profit from his infamy. A special on St. Jude Children's Research Hospital
St. Jude Children's Research Hospital is a pediatric treatment and research hospital headquartered in Memphis, Tennessee. Founded by entertainer Danny Thomas in 1962, it is a 501(c)(3) designated nonprofit medical corporation which focuses on chi ...
in Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis is a city in Shelby County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. Situated along the Mississippi River, it had a population of 633,104 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of municipalities in Tenne ...
, would have aired on November 27 with a locally produced program about domestic abuse
Domestic violence is violence that occurs in a domestic setting, such as in a marriage or cohabitation. In a broader sense, abuse including nonphysical abuse in such settings is called domestic abuse. The term "domestic violence" is often use ...
, ''When Violence Hits Home'', produced by WWCP/WATM executive producer Josh Bandish and anchored by Jim Penna, airing on November 29 had Fox not pulled the special from air on November 21. WWCP also airs the locally produced Catholic
The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
news show ''Proclaim!'' on Sundays.
Horseshoe Curve Communications bought out Peak Media's assets on December 31
It is known by a collection of names including: Saint Sylvester's Day, New Year's Eve or Old Year's Day/Night, as the following day is New Year's Day. It is the last day of the year; the following day is January 1, the first day of the followi ...
, 2010. However, the Peak Media name remains on WWCP's license. On July 22, 2013, Horseshoe Curve agreed to sell WWCP to Cunningham Broadcasting
Cunningham Broadcasting Corporation is an owner of broadcast television stations in the United States. The company owns fifteen stations–eight affiliated with Fox, three affiliated with The CW, two affiliated with ABC, and two affiliated with ...
for $12 million. Sinclair Broadcast Group
Sinclair, Inc., doing business as Sinclair Broadcast Group, is a publicly traded American telecommunications conglomerate that is controlled by the descendants of company founder Julian Sinclair Smith. Headquartered in the Baltimore suburb o ...
was to operate the station through shared services and joint sales agreements. However, the majority of Cunningham's stock is held by the Smith family (owners and founders of Sinclair). As a result, Sinclair would have effectively owned WWCP as well. As the LMA for WATM was part of the deal, it would have resulted in the major commercial television stations in the market being controlled by just two companies. It would have essentially made WWCP, WATM, and WJAC all sister stations and expanded on their existing news share arrangement (see below). However, on February 20, 2014, Horseshoe Curve informed the FCC that the sale of WWCP had fallen through; as a result, the sale application was dismissed on February 24. Two years later, on January 8, 2016, Cunningham agreed to program WWCP under a time brokerage agreement.
On January 5, 2021, Horseshoe Curve agreed again to sell WWCP-TV and the LMA with WATM-TV to Cunningham, this time for $2.85 million. The transaction was approved by the FCC on March 4 and completed on April 1.
News operation
On January 6, 1992, WWCP and WATM established their own separate news departments in an attempt to cover their respective areas. WWCP offered a nightly prime time newscast at 10 (sixty minutes on weeknights; half-hour on weekends) from its studios in Johnstown. Meanwhile, WATM aired local news every night at 11 from its headquarters in State College. Despite a valid attempt to gain enough market share, these broadcasts barely registered as a blip in the Nielsen ratings
Nielsen Media Research (NMR) is an American firm that measures media audiences, including television, radio, theatre, films (via the AMC Theatres MAP program), and newspapers. Headquartered in New York City, it is best known for the Nielsen rat ...
against longer-established WJAC-TV
WJAC-TV (channel 6) is a television station licensed to Johnstown, Pennsylvania, United States, serving the Johnstown– Altoona– State College market as an affiliate of NBC and The CW Plus. It is owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group, which pro ...
and WTAJ-TV
WTAJ-TV (channel 10) is a television station licensed to Altoona, Pennsylvania, United States, serving the Johnstown–Altoona– State College market as an affiliate of CBS. Owned by Nexstar Media Group, the station maintains studios on 6th ...
that offered market
Market is a term used to describe concepts such as:
*Market (economics), system in which parties engage in transactions according to supply and demand
*Market economy
*Marketplace, a physical marketplace or public market
*Marketing, the act of sat ...
-wide coverage.
Due in part to continual ratings struggles and low viewership, WATM's separate news department was shut down in December 2002 and merged with WWCP. On November 28, 2007, '' The Tribune Democrat'' reported the shared news operation of the two television stations would shut down entirely. According to a written statement, WWCP and WATM had been operating at a loss for several years and the move was desperately needed. The closure resulted in the termination of around fifteen personnel in the news and production departments.
As a result, WJAC entered into a news share agreement with WWCP. The Big Three affiliate then began to produce WWCP's nightly prime time show and reduced the program to 35 minutes on weeknights while remaining a half-hour on weekends. The newscast, still known as ''Fox 8 News at 10'', now originates from a secondary set at WJAC's facility on Old Hickory Lane in Upper Yoder Township. It features a separate news anchor on weeknights, who does not appear on WJAC, in addition to a different music and graphics package from broadcasts seen on the NBC outlet. In addition to its main studios, the station also shares WJAC's bureaus in Altoona (on Beale Avenue), State College (on West College Avenue/PA 26) and DuBois (on East DuBois Avenue/ PA 255; building is shared with WIFT 102.1 FM). On January 16, 2017, a new morning newscast launched using the branding ''Fox 8 News Morning Edition''. The newscast runs from 7 to 9 a.m. (a first in its market) and is anchored by WJAC's morning news team.
On November 15, 2021, WWCP began airing Sinclair's '' The National Desk'' in place of the WJAC-produced weekday morning and weekend night newscasts. The weekday morning and weekend night newscasts were eliminated, along with a meteorologist who appeared on WWCP and WATM. WWCP still airs a WJAC-produced 30-minute weeknight newscast at 10 p.m. with a single anchor and a WJAC meteorologist.
Technical information
Subchannels
The station's signal is multiplexed
In telecommunications and computer networking, multiplexing (sometimes contracted to muxing) is a method by which multiple analog or digital signals are combined into one signal over a shared medium. The aim is to share a scarce resource— ...
:
Analog-to-digital conversion
WWCP-TV shut down its analog signal, over VHF channel 8, on June 12, 2009, the official date on which full-power television stations in the United States transitioned from analog to digital broadcasts under federal mandate. The station's digital signal relocated from its pre-transition UHF
Ultra high frequency (UHF) is the ITU designation for radio frequencies in the range between 300 megahertz (MHz) and 3 gigahertz (GHz), also known as the decimetre band as the wavelengths range from one meter to one tenth of a meter ...
channel 29 to VHF channel 8.[CDBS Print](_blank)
/ref>
References
External links
*
WATM-TV "ABC 23"
WJAC-TV
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wwcp-Tv
1986 establishments in Pennsylvania
Fox Broadcasting Company affiliates
Get (TV network) affiliates
Sinclair Broadcast Group
Roar (TV network) affiliates
Television channels and stations established in 1986
WCP-TV