View source for WPNY-LD

{{short description|MyNetworkTV affiliate in Utica, New York}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2024}}
{{Infobox television station
| callsign = WPNY-LD
| above =
| city = Utica, New York
| logo = WPNY-2006.png
| logo_size = 200px
| branding = MyWPNYTV
| digital = 11 ([[VHF]])
| virtual = 11
| affiliations = [[MyNetworkTV]]
| translators = [[WUTR]] 20.2 Utica
| airdate = {{start date and age|1988|1|1|p=y|br=yes}}
| location = [[Utica, New York|Utica]]–[[Rome, New York]]
| country = United States
| callsign_meaning = "UPN, New York"
| former_callsigns = {{ubl|W11BS (1988–1995)|WUPN-LP (1995–1996)|WPNY-LP (1996–2021)}}
| former_channel_numbers = {{ubl|'''Analog:''' 11 (VHF, 1988–2021)}}
| owner = [[Nexstar Media Group]]
| licensee = Nexstar Media Inc.
| sister_stations = WUTR, [[WFXV]]
| former_affiliations = {{ubl|[[Independent station|Independent]] (1988–1995)|[[UPN]] (1995–2006)}}
| erp = 0.16 [[kW]]
| haat = {{convert|178.6|m|ft|0|abbr=on}}
| class = [[Low-power broadcasting#Television|LD]]
| facility_id = 34335
| coordinates = {{coord|43|8|41.1|N|75|10|32.2|W|type:landmark_scale:2000}}
| licensing_authority = [[FCC]]
| website = {{URL|https://www.cnyhomepage.com/}}
}}
'''WPNY-LD''' (channel 11) is a [[low-power television station]] in [[Utica, New York]], United States, affiliated with [[MyNetworkTV]]. It is owned by [[Nexstar Media Group]] alongside [[Fox Broadcasting Company|Fox]] affiliate/[[The CW Plus|CW+]] [[owned-and-operated station]] [[WFXV]] (channel 33); Nexstar also provides certain services to [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]] affiliate [[WUTR]] (channel 20) under [[local marketing agreement|joint sales and shared services agreements]] (JSA/SSA) with [[Mission Broadcasting]]. The three stations share studios on [[Smith Hill (Oneida County, New York)|Smith Hill Road]] in [[Deerfield, New York|Deerfield]] (with a Utica mailing address), where WPNY-LD's transmitter is also located.
The station broadcast on VHF [[analog television|analog]] channel 11 until the [[FCC]]-mandated shutdown of analog LPTV stations on July 13, 2021. It was licensed for digital broadcasting on the same channel effective July 23, 2021, and began digital operations later that year on November 30. Due to WPNY-LD's very low-power signal, its broadcasting radius only covers the immediate Utica area. Therefore, it is simulcast on WUTR's second [[digital subchannel]] (20.2)—which transmits from a separate facility on Smith Hill Road, shared with WFXV—in order to reach the entire market.
==History==
The station signed on January 1, 1988, with the call sign W11BS licensed to [[Little Falls (city), New York|Little Falls]]. It was a low-power translator and general entertainment [[Independent station|independent]] outlet. The station joined [[UPN]] as a charter affiliate on January 16, 1995. On December 22 of that year, W11BS upgraded to low-power status and adopted the WUPN-LP calls. However, less than a year later, the station became WPNY-LP after a full power [[WMYV|outlet]] in [[Greensboro, North Carolina]], took the call letters.
At some point in time, WPNY became a sister outlet to [[WFXV]] and began to be housed at the latter's facility on Greenfield Road in [[Rome, New York|Rome]]. In 1996, both stations were sold to Sullivan Broadcasting which would itself be bought out by the [[Sinclair Broadcast Group]] only two years later. Instead of being acquired by that company, WPNY and WFXV were purchased by Quorum Broadcasting founded by former Sullivan head Dan Sullivan.<ref name=nerw-saletoquorum>{{cite news|last=Fybush|first=Scott|title=North East RadioWatch|url=http://www.bostonradio.org/nerw/nerw-980709.html|access-date=April 1, 2011|date=July 9, 1998}}</ref>
The stations were acquired by current owner Nexstar in 2003. It was announced in December of that year that [[Clear Channel Communications]] would sell WUTR to Nexstar partner company Mission Broadcasting. The sale was approved by the [[Federal Communications Commission]] (FCC) on April 1, 2004, at which point Nexstar took over operations of WUTR under local marketing and joint sales agreements through the company's operational arrangement with Mission. Although the ABC affiliate was the subordinate entity, WPNY and WFXV were consolidated into WUTR's Deerfield studios.
In 2006, UPN and [[The WB]] merged into one network called [[The CW]]. Several weeks later, [[Fox Broadcasting Company|Fox]] announced the establishment of another network called [[MyNetworkTV]], for the benefit of those UPN or WB affiliates that did not earn a CW affiliation. Since "[[WKTV#WKTV-DT2 (CBS)|WBU]]", the cable-only WB affiliate operated by [[NBC]] affiliate [[WKTV]] through [[The WB 100+]], was the default choice to take the CW affiliation, WPNY-LP chose to associate with MyNetworkTV, and promptly did so on September 5, 2006.
==Newscast==
{{see|WUTR#News operation}}
After WUTR's sale to Mission Broadcasting, speculation began circulating that Nexstar would establish a combined news department for WUTR, WFXV and WPNY in order to take on longtime dominant WKTV. Progress was not made until March 31, 2011, when the company announced it would launch a news operation for the three stations by mid-September. Nexstar invested $1 million for new equipment and the hiring of twelve employees.
''Eyewitness News at 6'', seen weeknights at 6&nbsp;p.m. on WUTR, was repeated at 7&nbsp;p.m. on WPNY from September 2011 to September 2017.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.cnyhomepage.com/more-news|title=More News is Good News - Starting from scratch|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111005093341/https://www.cnyhomepage.com/more-news|archive-date=October 5, 2011|access-date=September 19, 2023}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://cnyradio.com/2011/03/31/uticas-wutr-to-revive-local-news-operation/|title=Utica's WUTR to Revive Local News Operation • CNYRadio.com / CNYTVNews.com|first=JMyrleFuller|last=says|date=March 31, 2011|website=cnyradio.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://uticadailynews.com/utica_daily_focus/13012-Company-has-not-had-news-since-2003.html|title=Company has not had news since 2003| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100620162929/http://uticadailynews.com/utica_daily_focus/13012-Company-has-not-had-news-since-2003.html |archive-date=June 20, 2010| access-date=September 19, 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.uticaod.com/topstories/x479634772/Local-news-coming-to-ABC-and-FOX-in-Utica-and-Rome|title=Unknown page}}{{dead link|date=September 2023|fix-attempted=yes}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.cnyhomepage.com/fulltext/?nxd_id=52196|title=WFXV, WUTR AND WPNY ELEVATE UTICA COMMUNITY CONTENT OFFERINGS WITH THE ADDITION OF NEW LOCAL NEWS PROGRAMMING|access-date=September 19, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111005093253/https://www.cnyhomepage.com/fulltext/?nxd_id=52196|archive-date=October 5, 2011}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.tvnewscheck.com/article/2011/08/15/53260/nexstar-to-launch-news-in-utica-on-sept-12|title = Nexstar to Launch News in Utica on Sept. 12|date = August 15, 2011}}</ref> It was the Mohawk Valley region's only local newscast in its time slot, since there was no such offering on WKTV. The quiet cancellation of this rebroadcast without advance notice left no local news programming on WPNY's schedule.
==References==
{{Reflist}}
==External links==
*{{official website|https://www.cnyhomepage.com/}}
{{Utica TV}}
{{MNTV New York}}
{{NXST TV}}
[[Category:1988 establishments in New York (state)]]
[[Category:Low-power television stations in New York (state)|PNY]]
[[Category:MyNetworkTV affiliates]]
[[Category:Nexstar Media Group]]
[[Category:Television channels and stations established in 1988]]
[[Category:Television stations in Utica, New York|PNY-LD]]