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Learn more about "WNYW"
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WNYW
- ''For the former shortwave radio station WNYW, see WNYW (shortwave); For its replacement, see WYFR''
WNYW, channel 5, is the flagship station|flagship television station of the News Corporation-owned Fox Broadcasting Company, located in New York City. The station's transmitter's atop the Empire State Building and its studio facilities are located in Manhattan's Yorkville, Manhattan|Yorkville neighborhood. WNYW is a sister station to Secaucus, New Jersey-based WWOR-TV (channel 9), the New York area's MyNetworkTV flagship station.
In the few areas of the eastern United States where viewers cannot receive Fox network programs over-the-air, WNYW is available on satellite via DirecTV, which also provides coverage of the station to Latin American countries and on JetBlue's LiveTV inflight entertainment system. WNYW is also available on cable in the Caribbean. As of March 4, 2009, WNYW is once again available on Dish Network as part of All American Direct's distant network package.
History
The DuMont era
The station traces its history to 1938, when television set and equipment manufacturer Allen B. DuMont founded '''W2XVT''' (re-named as '''W2XWV''' in 1944), an experimental station. On May 2, 1944, the station received its commercial license — the third in New York City — on channel 4 as '''WABD''' after DuMont's initials. It was one of the few stations that continued broadcasting during World War II, making it the fourth-oldest continuously broadcasting commercial station in the United States. The station broadcast from DuMont Building|515 Madison Avenue and on December 15, 1945 WABD was reassigned from channel 4 to channel 5.
Soon after channel 5 received its commercial license, DuMont Laboratories began a series of experimental coaxial cable hookups between WABD and W3XWT, a DuMont-owned experimental station in Washington, D.C. (now WTTG). These hookups were the beginning of the DuMont Television Network, the world's first licensed commercial television network. DuMont began regular network service in 1946 with WABD as the flagship station. In 1954, WABD and DuMont moved into the million DuMont Tele-Centre at 205 East 67th Street in the Yorkville, Manhattan|Yorkville section of Manhattan, inside the shell of the space formerly occupied by Jacob Ruppert's Central Opera House. A half-century later, channel 5 is still headquartered in the same building, which was later renamed the Metromedia Telecenter, and is known today as the Fox Television Center.
The Metromedia era
By February 1955, DuMont realized it could not continue in network television, and decided to shut down network operations and operate WABD and its Washington sister station, WTTG (also operating on channel 5), as independents. After DuMont aired its last network broadcast in August 1956, DuMont spun off WABD and WTTG as the "DuMont Broadcasting Corporation", which changed its name in early 1958 to '''Metropolitan Broadcasting Corporation'''. In 1958, Washington-based investor John Kluge acquired controlling interest in Metropolitan Broadcasting and installed himself as the company's chairman. WABD's operations were merged with WNEW radio (1130 AM, now WBBR; and 102.7 FM, now WWFS), also owned by Kluge. Channel 5's call letters were changed on September 7, 1958 to '''WNEW-TV''' to match its new radio sisters. Metropolitan Broadcasting would change its corporate name to '''Metromedia''' in 1961; however, the Metropolitan Broadcasting name was retained for Metromedia's TV and radio properties until 1967.
In the early 1960s, WNEW-TV produced a daily public affairs show eventually hosted by Gabe Pressman, ''Romper Room'' (until 1966, when it moved to WOR-TV), children's shows like ''Sandy Becker|The Sandy Becker Show'', and ''Sonny Fox|The Sonny Fox Show'', which was known as ''Wonderama''. Bob McAllister took over hosting ''Wonderama'' in 1967 and by 1970, ''Wonderama'' was syndicated to Metromedia's other stations. WNEW-TV also originated the ''Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon|Jerry Lewis Labor Day Telethon'' in 1966, and broadcasted it annually until 1987.
By the 1970s, the station was one of the strongest independent stations in the country. Despite its two rivals' eventual status as national superstations, WNEW-TV was the highest-rated independent in New York. From the early 1970s to the late 1980s, channel 5 was a regional superstation available in large portions of the Northeastern United States|Northeast, including most of upstate New York, and portions of eastern Pennsylvania and southern New England.
Transition to Fox
In 1986 Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation, who had recently bought controlling interest in the 20th Century Fox film studio, purchased the Metromedia television stations including WNEW-TV. The station's call letters were changed on March 7, 1986 to '''WNYW''' and it and the other Metromedia stations formed the cornerstone of the Fox network, with WNYW as the flagship station. Initially, WNYW's schedule changed little, as Fox only aired network programming on weekends. Channel 5 initially continued its format of cartoons and sitcoms into the late 1980s.
Murdoch had one local obstacle to overcome before his purchase of channel 5 could become final. The News Corporation had been publishing the ''New York Post'' since 1976, and Federal Communications Commission rules of the time did not allow common ownership of newspapers and broadcast licenses in the same city. Murdoch was granted a temporary waiver of this prohibition in order to complete the Metromedia television purchase. The News Corporation would sell the ''Post'' in 1988, but reacquired the paper five years later with a permanent waiver of the concentration of media ownership|cross-ownership rules.
Starting in the late summer of 1986, WNYW produced the nightly newsmagazine ''A Current Affair (US)|A Current Affair'', one of the first shows to be labeled under the tag "tabloid television". Originally a local program, it was first anchored by Maury Povich, formerly of WTTG (and who would later do double-duty, albeit briefly on WNYW's newscasts as an anchor). Within months of its launch, ''A Current Affair'' was on the other Fox-owned stations and in 1988 the series went into national syndication, where it remained until its cancellation in 1996.
On August 2, 1988, the station dropped the morning cartoons in favor of a morning newscast called '''''Good Day New York'''''. WNYW became the first Fox-owned station as well as Fox affiliate with a weekday morning newscast, and within five years of its launch it became the top-rated morning show in the New York market. Today it remains a viable competitor to the network morning shows, and the success of ''Good Day New York'' led to other Fox-owned stations launching morning shows of their own, notably ''Fox Morning News'' on WTTG, ''Fox News in the Morning'' on WFLD-TV in Chicago and ''Good Day L.A.'' on KTTV in Los Angeles.
From 1999 to 2001, WNYW was the broadcast home of the New York Yankees, displacing long-time incumbent WPIX.
In 2001, Fox bought most of the television interests of Chris-Craft Industries, including WNYW's former rival, WWOR-TV. In the fall of 2001, WNYW dropped the ''Fox Kids'' weekday block and moved it to WWOR-TV, where it ran for a few more months before being cancelled at the end of the year. Some office functions have been merged, but most of the stations' operations remain separate. Fox announced plans to merge the two stations' operations in 2004, with WWOR-TV moving from its studios in Secaucus to the Fox Television Center. However, it backed off later in the year under pressure from New Jersey's congressional delegation.
On September 11, 2001, the transmitter facilities of WNYW as well as eight other local television stations and several radio stations were destroyed when two hijacked airplanes crashed into and destroyed the World Trade Center towers. Since then, WNYW has been transmitting its signal from the Empire State Building. The station had previously transmitted from the Empire State Building until moving to the World Trade Center in the 1970s.
On September 16, 2009 during the 10 p.m. newscast, anchor Ernie Anastos cursed live on air while engaging in banter with chief meteorologist Nick Gregory.[http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/18/nyregion/18anastos.html] The video in which Anastos said to Gregory, "I guess it takes a tough man to make a tender forecast" and then added, "keep fucking that chicken", gained some notoriety when it and multiple other videos of the on-air gaffe were uploaded on YouTube[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PdnXYWSa56w], and made him and WNYW the subject of a joke on American Broadcasting Company|ABC's ''Jimmy Kimmel Live''. Anastos apologized for the incident the following night's 10 p.m. newscast, saying "I misspoke during last night's broadcast, I apologize for my remarks to anyone who may have been offended."[http://www.newsday.com/entertainment/tv/ernie-anastos-apologizes-for-on-air-chicken-remark-1.1458191]
Digital television
The station's digital signal is multiplexed:
Branding and station identity
The station is also known for starting the trend of American stations using their network and channel number (or cable channel number) as their on-air name. After Fox bought the station, it began calling itself ''Fox Television Channel 5 New York''. Soon after the Fox network premiered, the station shortened its on-air name to ''Fox Channel 5'' and later shortened that to the current ''Fox 5''. However, this practice dated in another form to its days as WNEW-TV. For much of the time from at least the 1970s until the Fox takeover, its main ID was "WNEW-TV, channel 5, Metromedia New York." Since the Fox purchase, station announcers have almost never used its call letters on-air.
In the early days after Fox took control, WNYW reporters would end their reports by saying ''"I'm (name) Fox News, Channel 5"''. This sign off would later be shortened to ''Fox News,'' then later it became ''Fox 5 News'', as to avoid confusion with the Fox News Channel. Ironically, recent changes made to WNYW's logo and newscasts (effective April 2006) bear a close stylistic resemblance to the Fox News Channel.
Successful branding campaigns for WNEW-TV include the long-running "Choice" campaign. Well-known station jingles in the late 1970s and early 1980s included "Take Five!", "The Choice is Channel 5, Metromedia New York 5" and later, "Your Choice is 5."
Channel 5's public service announcements were also a key part of its image for decades. The phrase, ''It's 10:00 PM...Do you know where your children are?'' was coined in 1969 (though another source mentioned that it was Buffalo, New York's American Broadcasting Company|ABC affiliate WKBW-TV|WKBW that coined that phrase), and variations of the phrase would spread to television stations nationwide. In addition, WNEW-TV, used PSAs during the 1970s and 1980s that aired during different day parts, such as "Have you done your homework yet?"; "Have you hugged your child today?"; and "It's 6 PM. Do you know where your children are?", using a simple slide and staff voiceover.
In 2001, the slogan was "What New Yorkers Watch" derived from the call letters and was used until the logo was changed in early 2006.
News/Station Presentation
Newscast titles
- ''Late Night News'' (1944–1945)
- ''TV5 Late Report'' (1945–1962)
- ''TV5 24 Hours'' (1962–1967)
- ''The 10 O'Clock News'' (1967–2001)
- ''Channel 5 News'' (1980s)
- ''Fox Channel 5 News'' (1987–1996)
- ''Fox 5 News'' (1996–present)
Station Slogans
- ''New York's Window On The World'' (1940s-1950s)
- ''Take Five!'' (late 1970s)
- ''Turn to 5 for a Change'' (1976)
- ''The Choice is Channel 5, Metromedia New York 5'' (1977–1978)
- ''We Give You a Choice'' (1978–1979)
- ''Your Choice is 5'' (mid 1980s)
- ''Forty Years of Fine Tuning'' (1984–1985)
- ''Don't Let 5 Weekend Pass You By'' (1987–1988; local version of Fox ad campaign)
- ''This is 5'' (1988–1990; local version of Fox ad campaign)
- ''It's on 5'' (1990–1992; local version of Fox ad campaign)
- ''You're Watching 5'' (1992–1993; local version of Fox ad campaign)
- ''5, You're Watching It'' (1993–1994; local version of Fox ad campaign)
- ''It Could Only Happen on 5'' (January–September 1994; local version of Fox ad campaign)
- ''The Spirit of 5'' / ''We're Gonna Keep it on 5'' (1994–1995; local version of Fox ad campaign)
- ''5, Cool Like Us'' / ''Cool Like 5'' (1995-1996; local version of Fox ad campaign)
- ''Non-Stop 5'' (January–October 1996; local version of Fox ad campaign)
- ''Just One 5'' (1997–2002; local version of Fox ad campaign)
- ''What New Yorkers Watch'' (2001–2006)
- ''5 NOW'' (2002–2006)
- ''The Most Powerful Name in Local News'' (2006–present, news programming)
- ''Experience the Magic'' (2009–present)
In popular culture
- WNYW was portrayed in an episode of the Fox animated comedy ''Futurama'', titled "When Aliens Attack", in which the station was accidentally knocked off the air by Philip J. Fry in 1999. That resulted in angry Omicronians invading Earth in the year 3000 (having received the broadcast signal 1000 years later being 1000 light-years away) and demanding to see the end of a program which had been cut off for them.
External links
*
- Kinescope of a WABD station identification from 1948 (YouTube)
- NYNewsWATCH
*
References
- History of WNYW Fox 5 Including historical video clips. ''myfoxny.com''
- 10 O'Clock News 40th Anniversary Coverage. ''myfoxny.com''
Category:Television stations in New York City
Category:Manhattan
Category:Television stations in New York
Category:Fox network affiliates
Category:Fox Television Stations Group
Category:Channel 5 TV stations in the United States
Category:Channel 44 digital TV stations in the United States
Category:Television channels and stations established in 1944
Category:Metromedia
Category:DuMont Television Network owned-and-operated stations
Related Images- The Fox Television Center, 205 East 67th St. in New York City, was opened by DuMont in June 1954.
Sources: StartLearningNow, Wikipedia | Usage license: GNU FDL
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