WBTS-CD explained

Callsign:WBTS-CD
Country:United States
City:Nashua, New Hampshire
Branding:NBC 10 Boston (cable channel)
Digital:32 (UHF), shared with WGBX-TV
Virtual:15
Owner:NBC Owned Television Stations
Licensee:NBC Telemundo License LLC
Founded:August 5, 1985
Callsign Meaning:Boston Television Station
Haat:388.30NaN0
Class:CD
Facility Id:9766
Coordinates:42.3103°N -71.2367°W
Licensing Authority:FCC

WBTS-CD (channel 15) is a Class A television station licensed to Nashua, New Hampshire, United States, serving as the NBC outlet for the Boston area. It is owned and operated by the network's NBC Owned Television Stations division alongside Merrimack, New Hampshire–licensed Telemundo station WNEU (channel 60); it is also sister to regional cable news channel New England Cable News (NECN) and regional sports network NBC Sports Boston. The four outlets share studios at the NBCU Boston Media Center on B Street in Needham, Massachusetts.

Under a channel sharing arrangement, WBTS-CD shares transmitter facilities with PBS member station WGBX-TV (channel 44) on Cedar Street, also in Needham, on a tower also used by several other TV and radio stations. Despite WBTS-CD legally holding a low-power Class A license, it transmits using WGBX-TV's full-power spectrum. This ensures complete reception across the Boston television market.

WBTS-CD is carried on channel 10 by most local cable television providers;[1] [2] hence the station's on-air branding (since 2018) as NBC 10 Boston.

History

TV13 Nashua

The station came to the air at 8p.m. on January 29, 1988, as W13BG on VHF channel 13 in Nashua;[3] its license was granted on July 29.[4] Founded by Robert Rines[5] and owned by Center Broadcasting Corporation of New Hampshire, a non-profit partnership between the Concord–based Franklin Pierce Law Center and the Boston–based Academy of Law Sciences, the station aired local community programming for the Nashua area, along with programming that was already being sold to cable stations though the Yankee Communications Network.[3] Channel 13 changed its callsign to WYCN-LP on April 8, 1996.[6] Its tower in the analog era of television was on the campus of Rivier University, between two above-ground reservoirs and Brassard Hall, with studios in Memorial Hall on the same campus.[7]

WYCN-LP was nearly dropped by Harron Cable on its Nashua-area systems in October 1999 to accommodate a must-carry request by WMFP (channel 62),[8] a move that could have led to the closure of channel 13[9] even though its carriage on MediaOne in Nashua itself was not affected.[8] Its carriage was ultimately continued by Adelphia Communications following its purchase of Harron,[10] though the station was dropped for a time in 2000 after an additional must-carry request, from WYDN (channel 48), while Adelphia rebuilt the systems.[11] By August 11, 2000, WYCN-LP had been authorized to carry programming from FamilyNet.[12]

WYCN-LP, along with three co-owned translators in Nashua, Manchester, and Concord, was sold by Center Broadcasting Corporation of New Hampshire to New Hampshire 1 Network, a company controlled by William H. Binnie, in 2010;[13] by this point, control of the stations had passed to longtime WYCN staffers Gordon Jackson and Carolyn Choate[5] following the death of Robert Rines.[14] The deal was completed January 3, 2012;[15] in the meantime, Binnie would also acquire WBIN-TV (channel 50, now WWJE-DT) in Derry. As a result of the sale, much of WYCN's community programming, including aldermatic debates, was discontinued.[16] In December 2012, the station's studios moved from Rivier University to a location shared with sister station WFNQ (106.3 FM).[17]

New Hampshire 1 Network filed to sell WYCN-LP to OTA Broadcasting, a company controlled by Michael Dell's MSD Capital, on January 14, 2013; the three translators were not included in the deal,[18] and began to simulcast WBIN-TV. Operation of WYCN continued to be handled by New Hampshire 1.[19] At the time of the sale, WYCN was affiliated with My Family TV.[20] The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approved the sale on March 22,[21] and it was completed on May 20.[22]

WYCN-LP resumed producing local programming soon after the sale to OTA Broadcasting, rehiring Gordon Jackson and Carolyn Choate as station managers;[5] however, in June 2013, Comcast (successor to both Harron/Adelphia and MediaOne) informed the station that it would be dropped from its lineup as of August 15 due to the earlier cessation of local programming, as well as its limited broadcast reach and continued analog broadcasting, even though WYCN had a construction permit to convert to digital operations and increase its broadcast range.[23] [24] [25] [26] Comcast subsequently pushed back the date of the removal to September 3, despite protests from viewers, politicians, and Nashua's public access station.[27]

Due to its low power, WYCN's analog signal reached only portions of Nashua, its city of license. In contrast, its digital signal was expected to reach Manchester and Boston. The digital facility was planned to sign on by December 2013;[28] construction was held up by the need to use a helicopter to remove a former antenna for WNDS (now WWJE-DT) from the tower on Merrill Hill in Hudson that WYCN planned to use, an operation that was delayed to May 2014 by winter weather.[29] The conversion to digital was licensed by the FCC on October 23, 2014; concurrent with the launch of the digital signal, the analog channel 13 signal was shut down.

Until January 2018, WYCN-CD's original digital transmitter was 625feet off Trigate Road in rural Hudson, southeast of Nashua. The station's pre-auction digital signal broadcast on UHF channel 36, using virtual channel 13.

As WBTS-CD

WYCN-CD sold its frequency rights as part of the FCC's spectrum auction for $80.4 million. OTA Broadcasting entered into a channel sharing agreement with WGBX-TV (channel 44) for the station; NBC agreed to purchase the channel share agreement[30] and the WYCN-CD license in October 2017.[31] In December 2017, the station announced on its website that it would "cease broadcasting on its current frequency on January 16, 2018 and begin broadcasting NBC Boston on a new frequency."[32] As WYCN's signal overlaps with WGME-TV in Portland, Maine, which also uses virtual channel 13, WYCN began using virtual channel 15 following the commencement of channel sharing, as WGME's post-auction physical channel is 15 (WGME's pre-auction channel, 38, was not available to WYCN as virtual channel 38 is assigned to WSBK-TV).[33]

The sale to NBC was completed on January 18, 2018;[34] the station began channel sharing with WGBX the same day. Before this transition, WYCN-CD was affiliated with Heroes & Icons (H&I),[31] which also maintained a full-market affiliation on the second subchannel of WSBK-TV; that station continues to carry H&I, though the network lost the low channel number cable carriage it held with WYCN-CD.

On August 8, 2019, WBTS-LD (channel 8) and WYCN-CD swapped call signs, with channel 8 becoming WYCN-LD and channel 15 changing to WBTS-CD.[35] [36] On August 31, 2019, WYCN-LD left the air in advance of its October 2019 transmitter move to Norton, Massachusetts, and city of license change to Providence, Rhode Island;[37] WYCN-LD now serves as a Telemundo station for Providence, leaving WBTS-CD as the sole NBC station for the Boston area.

News operation

WBTS-CD broadcasts 43 hours, 55 minutes of locally produced newscasts each week (with 7 hours, 5 minutes each weekday, hours on Saturdays and five hours on Sundays); in addition, the station produces a half-hour lifestyle program, The Hub Today, which airs weekday afternoons, and a weekly half-hour public-affairs program, This is New England, which airs Sunday mornings. It also uses a news helicopter (SkyRanger), a storm-chaser satellite truck (Weather Warrior), mobile weather-radar vehicles (StormRanger), a consumer-affairs unit (NBC 10 Boston Responds), and an investigative-reporting unit (The Investigators).

Notable current on-air staff

Coverage in Canada

WBTS-CD is one of several Boston television stations uplinked to provide U.S. network programming to television providers in Canada, particularly in Atlantic Canada. On November 11, 2016, a Canadian telecommunications company, Bell Canada, which distributes Boston's broadcast network affiliates on its satellite, IP TV, and cable TV services in much of eastern Canada and by satellite to other providers, filed a request with the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) to add WBTS's main feed to the CRTC's list of foreign television channels authorized for distribution in Canada, which was additionally supported by Rogers Cable for their systems in Atlantic Canada.[38] The request was approved by the CRTC on December 20, 2016; television providers who carried WHDH, including Bell, Eastlink, TELUS Optik TV, Nor-Del Cablevision, Rogers, and CommStream, among others, replaced the station with WBTS on January 1, 2017, coinciding with the launch of "NBC Boston" and the end of WHDH's NBC affiliation.[39] On January 1, 2019, Bell MTS's cable television systems in Altona, Carman, Morden, Morris, and Winkler, Manitoba replaced Detroit's WDIV-TV with WBTS entirely.[40]

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: NBC's New Boston O&O, WBTS, Sets Lineup. TVNewsCheck. November 2016 . November 2, 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20170924141834/http://www.tvnewscheck.com/article/98933/nbcs-new-boston-oo-wbts-sets-lineup. September 24, 2017. live.
  2. Web site: NBCUniversal Gambles in Beantown With NBC Boston Launch. Cynthia. Littleton. Variety. December 30, 2016. December 30, 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20161231005636/http://variety.com/2016/tv/news/nbc-boston-affiliate-switch-1201950263/. December 31, 2016. live.
  3. News: Welych . Maria T. . New TV station hits air today . September 22, 2023 . . January 29, 1988.
  4. Web site: Application Search Details. CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. December 22, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20171223045455/http://licensing.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/pubacc/prod/app_det.pl?Application_id=109233. December 23, 2017. live.
  5. News: Sept. 3 slated as date Comcast will drop Nashua channel WYCN TV-13 . September 23, 2023 . . August 16, 2013.
  6. Web site: Call Sign History (WYCN-CD). CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. December 22, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20171223052817/http://licensing.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/pubacc/prod/call_hist.pl?Facility_id=9766&Callsign=WYCN-CD. December 23, 2017. live.
  7. Web site: WYCN tv13 Nashua Studio (Google Maps pinpoint provided by former ownership). Google Maps. January 25, 2018.
  8. News: Milbouer. Stacy. Local station is losing out to shopping channel. https://archive.today/20130731104006/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/boston/access/44178424.html?FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Aug+22,+1999&author=Stacy+Milbouer,+Globe+Correspondent&pub=Boston+Globe&desc=Local+station+is+losing+out+to+shopping+channel&pqatl=google. dead. July 31, 2013. July 31, 2013. The Boston Globe. August 22, 1999.
  9. News: Spiller. Karen. Operators of station may shut down business. July 31, 2013. The Telegraph. August 17, 1999. https://web.archive.org/web/20141129174717/http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=NTGB&p_theme=ntgb&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_text_search-0=WYCN&s_dispstring=WYCN%20AND%20date%2807%2F31%2F2000%20to%2001%2F01%2F1999%29&p_field_date-0=YMD_date&p_params_date-0=date%3AB%2CE&p_text_date-0=07%2F31%2F2000%20to%2001%2F01%2F1999%29&xcal_numdocs=20&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date%3AA&xcal_useweights=no. November 29, 2014. live.
  10. News: Spiller. Karen. Company plans channel shuffle to preserve local station. July 31, 2013. The Telegraph. October 30, 1999. https://web.archive.org/web/20141129174717/http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=NTGB&p_theme=ntgb&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_text_search-0=WYCN&s_dispstring=WYCN%20AND%20date%2807%2F31%2F2000%20to%2001%2F01%2F1999%29&p_field_date-0=YMD_date&p_params_date-0=date%3AB%2CE&p_text_date-0=07%2F31%2F2000%20to%2001%2F01%2F1999%29&xcal_numdocs=20&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date%3AA&xcal_useweights=no. November 29, 2014. live.
  11. News: Spiller. Karen. Cable carrier to shut off service to most towns outside of Nashua as of July 1. July 31, 2013. The Telegraph. March 21, 2000. https://web.archive.org/web/20141129174717/http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=NTGB&p_theme=ntgb&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_text_search-0=WYCN&s_dispstring=WYCN%20AND%20date%2807%2F31%2F2000%20to%2001%2F01%2F1999%29&p_field_date-0=YMD_date&p_params_date-0=date%3AB%2CE&p_text_date-0=07%2F31%2F2000%20to%2001%2F01%2F1999%29&xcal_numdocs=20&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date%3AA&xcal_useweights=no. November 29, 2014. live.
  12. Web site: Family Net Additional Systems List . September 22, 2023 . July 14, 2010.
  13. News: Binnie buy to lead to something bigger for the Granite State?. January 18, 2011. Television Business Report. December 28, 2010. https://web.archive.org/web/20101231150952/http://www.rbr.com/tv-cable/binnie-buy-to-lead-to-something-bigger-for-the-granite-state.html. December 31, 2010. live.
  14. News: Nashua's TV-13 hopes public support will convince Comcast to keep it the cable lineup . September 23, 2023 . . July 28, 2013.
  15. Web site: Jackson. Gordon T.. Extension of Consummation. July 5, 2011. CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. July 6, 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20121026074251/http://licensing.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/forms/prod/prefill_and_display.pl?Application_id=1432794&Service=CA&Form_id=905&Facility_id=9766. October 26, 2012. live.
  16. News: McKeon. Albert. Nashua...From the inside. December 25, 2011. The Telegraph. October 30, 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20160304051733/http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/news/938308-196/nashua-mayors-building-fund-upsets-some-aldermen.html. March 4, 2016. live.
  17. Web site: Re: WYCN-LP.... Federal Communications Commission. January 15, 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20160304102942/https://stations.fcc.gov//collect/files/9766/Applications/STA-Related%20Documents/wycnStudioReloc20121203%20(13576599345875)_.pdf. March 4, 2016. live.
  18. Web site: Application for Consent to Assignment of Broadcast Station Construction Permit or License. CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. January 15, 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20171223052611/http://licensing.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/forms/prod/prefill_and_display.pl?Application_id=1536488&Service=CA&Form_id=314&Facility_id=9766. December 23, 2017. live.
  19. News: TV-13 Nashua sale announced. January 16, 2013. Foster's Daily Democrat. January 16, 2012. https://web.archive.org/web/20171223043110/http://www.fosters.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=%2F20130116%2FGJBUSINESS_01%2F130119402%2F-1%2FFOSBUSINESS. December 23, 2017. live.
  20. News: Malone. Michael. OTA Broadcasting Grabs WYCN in Boston Market. December 22, 2017. Broadcasting & Cable. January 17, 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20171223043542/http://www.broadcastingcable.com/news/local-tv/ota-broadcasting-grabs-wycn-boston-market/43854. December 23, 2017. live.
  21. http://licensing.fcc.gov/prod/cdbs/pubacc/Auth_Files/1541195.pdf
  22. Web site: Consummation Notice. May 20, 2013. CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. May 26, 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20160304091241/http://licensing.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/forms/prod/prefill_and_display.pl?Application_id=1555781&Service=CA&Form_id=905&Facility_id=9766. March 4, 2016. live.
  23. News: Solomon. Dave. Nashua TV station WYCN fights to remain on Comcast. July 30, 2013. New Hampshire Union-Leader. July 2, 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20141129092356/http://www.unionleader.com/article/20130702/NEWS02/130709932. November 29, 2014. live.
  24. News: Allen. Samantha. Channel 13 WYCN's future still unknown as Comcast eyes closure in Nashua. July 3, 2013. The Telegraph. July 30, 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20141129030254/http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/news/1009721-469/channel-13-wycns-future-still-unknown-as.html. November 29, 2014. live.
  25. News: Shaoup. Dean. Channel 13 in Nashua adds online petition to its push to stay on Comcast. July 30, 2013. The Telegraph. July 20, 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20141129030257/http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/news/1011374-469/channel-13-in-nashua-adds-online-petition.html. November 29, 2014. live.
  26. News: Taormina. Barbara. Comcast's plan to drop TV 13 Nashua draws ire. July 30, 2013. New Hampshire Union-Leader. July 27, 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20141129090847/http://www.unionleader.com/article/20130728/NEWS02/130729301. November 29, 2014. live.
  27. News: Taorima. Barbara. Comcast to pull plug on WYCN Channel 13 in Nashua on Sept. 3 despite outcry. August 25, 2013. New Hampshire Union-Leader. August 15, 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20141129085338/http://www.unionleader.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=%2F20130815%2FNEWS02%2F130819593&source=RSS. November 29, 2014. live.
  28. News: Brooks. David. TV-13 digital transmitter gets federal OK, will be running by Christmas. October 4, 2013. The Telegraph. October 2, 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20141102185420/http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/news/1017462-469/tv-13-digital-transmitter-gets-federal-ok-will.html. November 2, 2014. live.
  29. News: Helicopter removes old antenna as Nashua's Channel 13 moves closer to digital broadcasting . January 26, 2022 . . May 10, 2014.
  30. News: Jacobson . Adam . NBC Boston Scores A Channel-Sharing Agreement . February 13, 2020 . Radio and Television Business Report . October 30, 2017.
  31. News: Station Trading Roundup: 5 Deals, $25.9M . February 13, 2020 . TV News Check . October 31, 2017 . en.
  32. Web site: HomeWYCN. tv13nashua.com. December 17, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20171223102115/http://www.tv13nashua.com/. December 23, 2017. live.
  33. Web site: Tobey. Margaret L.. Re: Assignment of Virtual Channel 15 WYCN-CD, Nashua, New Hampshire (FIN 9766). Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission. December 22, 2017. PDF. December 12, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20171223051417/https://enterpriseefiling.fcc.gov/dataentry/api/download/attachment/25076ff3604b50a80160555d59d800cd. December 23, 2017. live.
  34. Web site: Consummation Notice. CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. January 19, 2018. January 18, 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180119123503/http://licensing.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/forms/prod/prefill_and_display.pl?Application_id=1776300&Service=DC&Form_id=905&Facility_id=9766. January 19, 2018. live.
  35. Web site: Call Sign History. licensing.fcc.gov.
  36. Web site: Call Sign History. licensing.fcc.gov.
  37. Web site: Request for Special Temporary Authority to Remain Silent (WYCN-LD) . Licensing and Management System . . January 9, 2020 . PDF . October 3, 2019.
  38. Web site: Interventions to CRTC Application 2016-1170-8. Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission. December 2, 2016. December 3, 2016.
  39. Web site: Faguy. Steve. NBC station switch affects many TV subscribers in Eastern Canada. Montreal Gazette. January 7, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170103121042/http://montrealgazette.com/entertainment/television/nbc-station-switch-affects-many-tv-subscribers-in-eastern-canada. January 3, 2017. live.
  40. Web site: Bell MTS Cable TV. Bell MTS. January 27, 2022.

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