Parkersburg To Get Its Very Own CBS Station

[Mr. Jones]

Via WTAP, of course, in a shuffle of what the station already offers:

http://www.wtap.com/home/headlines/New_ ... 29776.html

New CBS Affiliate Coming To Mid-Ohio Valley
WTAP New
Two new television stations are coming to the Valley … and one of them is CBS.
Reporter: Roger Sheppard
Email Address: news@wtap.com

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Two new television stations are coming to the Valley … and one of them is CBS.

Gray Television, Inc. -- parent company of WTAP, FOX Parkersburg and My5 -- is announcing these two new stations today.

On or about September 1st, the new CBS station will be launched in HD on WIYE-TV, digital channel 47. The call letters of WIYE were selected because of their similarity to the word "eye," in reference to the CBS logo. WIYE will also carry My5 as a side channel.

At about the same time, FOX Parkersburg will move to WOVA-TV. That way, folks who receive television signals free, over-the-air, will be able to see it in HD. Currently, as a side channel to WTAP, FOX Parkersburg is only offered in standard definition. The letters "OVA" are meant to stand for Ohio Valley.

WTAP's NBC station will continue to be on digital channels 15.1. Our new PinPoint Weather Channel will move up to channel 15.2.

Gray Television, Inc. is a television broadcast company headquartered in Atlanta, GA. Gray currently operates 36 television stations serving 30 markets. It broadcasts a primary channel from each of its stations and also operates at least one secondary channel from the majority of its stations. Each of its primary channels are affiliated with either CBS (17 channels), NBC (10 channels), ABC (8 channels) or FOX (1 channel). In addition, it currently operates 40 digital second channels that are affiliated with either ABC (1 channel), FOX (4 channels), CW (8 channels), MyNetworkTV (18 channels), Untamed Sports Network (1 channel) and The Country Network (1 channel) or are operated as local news/weather channels (7 channels).

"We are excited to become the new home for CBS in the Parkersburg-Marietta area," said Roger Sheppard, vice president and general manager of WTAP and the new stations.

"Until about six years ago, we were only one TV station, our flagship NBC affiliate. Now, that station is stronger than ever. And it will soon be one of five locally-operated TV stations."

In addition to its NBC, FOX and now CBS stations, Gray Television operates a local MyNetwork station (called "My5") and it has recently begun offering a local 24-hour weather channel, called PinPoint Weather.

"PinPoint Weather was created entirely by WTAP's Production Manager, Larry White, and Engineer, Kevin Buskirk. It has been available free, over-the-air on digital channel 15.4 for several weeks. You can also sample it overnight on My5. It provided crucial information for local residents after the recent storms as power began to come on. It was the only local TV source of 24-hour-a-day weather radar and information. WTAP even re-broadcast its local newscasts on that channel in the days the followed the storm, since more and more people were coming back on line with electricity all the time."

"We'll move some of our stations around, but we'll let everyone know where they can find what," Sheppard said.

"CBS caries a lot of programming of all types," Sheppard said. "We have not yet made all of the decisions regarding other programming for our new CBS station."

Exact cable channels for the new CBS station have not yet been determined but it will be carried on virtually every cable system in the area and will also be available via satellite.

[Greg Goodfellow]

That's great for Parkersburg, but, being outside the correct DMA, this household is still being held hostage by Bray Cary and DISH Network. Anyhoo, congratulations to WTAP.

[JKF18]

The Parkersburg DMA Is only three counties - correct ?

[Dave Loudin]

These new stations are low-power stations. Gray is adding CBS in the same way in Harrisonburg, VA, filling a gigantic hole in that market.

[Greg Goodfellow]

Could they drop My5 and get an ABC affiliation, or is that possible, or even needed in that market? If CBS were needed, one might also argue for ABC.

BTW, not to hijack this thread, it's great to get FOX, CBS and ABC back. I wonder who blinked first.

[Mr. Tom Jones]

Could they drop My5 and get an ABC affiliation, or is that possible, or even needed in that market? If CBS were needed, one might also argue for ABC.

Not likely, unless My Network goes away. They are part of the Murdoch empire. To get Fox affiliation, Gray had to take My Network and put it somewhere.

Apparently, CBS is about as happy about dealing with Bray in WV as everyone else is. This will cut into his WV footprint. I can foresee WOWK departing Parkersburg-area cable channels.

[Mr. Jones]

Update:

UPDATE: 8/24/2012

WTAP's new TV stations are now on-the-air with test signals.

These stations will be the homes for our new CBS station, WIYE.as well as FOX Parkersburg and My5.

The exact cable channels are still being negotiated, but those of you who pick up TV using an antenna, can go ahead and scan in the new channels now.

That way, you'll be ready to go when CBS-47 signs on, on Labor Day
morning, September 3rd.

You can now pick up FOX Parkersburg in HIGH DEFINITION on our new over-the-air digital channel 22. The Standard Definition version of that FOX signal will go away on Sept. 3.

We've put up our new CBS 47 logo on WIYE's over-the-air channel, 47-point-one, so you can tell when you have it tuned in.

Our My5 station is already on 47-point-2.

For more information, go to the station information section of wtap.com

http://www.wtap.com/home/headlines/New_ ... 29776.html

[cgarison]

Apparently, CBS is about as happy about dealing with Bray in WV as everyone else is. This will cut into his WV footprint. I can foresee WOWK departing Parkersburg-area cable channels.

Seeing how CBS affiliates run their newscasts in other markets and comparing that to the clown crew in the new Charleston studios of WOWK, I would think that CBS would be shopping for alternatives in WV. It would make a good fit if WSAZ could pick up CBS which would now tie Parkersburg, Lexington, Hazard, and Charleston-Huntington to the same network. That would have to generate a significant cost savings in producing network packages to send out to the stations to fill in gaps in broadcast time.

[Mr. Jones]

Today is launch day in P-burg... any word on how it looks so far?

[the jive talkin one]

Apparently, CBS is about as happy about dealing with Bray in WV as everyone else is. This will cut into his WV footprint. I can foresee WOWK departing Parkersburg-area cable channels.

Seeing how CBS affiliates run their newscasts in other markets and comparing that to the clown crew in the new Charleston studios of WOWK, I would think that CBS would be shopping for alternatives in WV. It would make a good fit if WSAZ could pick up CBS which would now tie Parkersburg, Lexington, Hazard, and Charleston-Huntington to the same network. That would have to generate a significant cost savings in producing network packages to send out to the stations to fill in gaps in broadcast time.

coincidentally, maybe Gray could flip their Bowling Green affiliate from ABC to CBS...giving a huge CBS footprint over a three-state area (five if you include the limited WBKO and WYMT carriage in TN and western VA).

[cgarison]

coincidentally, maybe Gray could flip their Bowling Green affiliate from ABC to CBS...giving a huge CBS footprint over a three-state area (five if you include the limited WBKO and WYMT carriage in TN and western VA).

I bet the folks at Sinclair are scrating their heads as to why we think this is such a great idea yet their central casting of many news elements has been less of a success than they intended. Yea, Sinclair got cost savings but they lost synergy. Gray has the opportunity here to build huge amounts of synergy with shared resources and pull out a modest amounts of cost savings.

Wow! That Six Sigma stuff has really improved my thinking. Its not just about the dollars, it is about better serving the customer and the customer is better served by purchasing ads on the broadcasts of a regions top news producers. So spending money is good when it is an investment to leverage the ability to earn more revenue. It is a shame that the idiots with MBAs from Wharton and Harvard don't understand this principle and reward companies accordingly on Wall St.