| WICU-TV | |
|---|---|
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| Erie, Pennsylvania | |
| Branding | WICU 12 (general) WICU 12 News The CW Erie (on DT2) WSEE (on DT3) |
| Slogan | Coverage You Can Count On |
| Channels | Digital: 12 (VHF) & WSEE-DT 16.3 (UHF) |
| Subchannels | 12.1 NBC 12.2 The CW 12.3 CBS |
| Owner | SJL Broadcast Management Corporation (SJL of Pennsylvania License Subsidiary, LLC) |
| First air date | March 15, 1949 |
| Call letters’ meaning | ICU (sounds like "I see you") |
| Sister station(s) | WSEE-TV WENY-TV |
| Former channel number(s) | Analog: 12 (VHF, 1949-2009) Digital: 52 (UHF, 1995-2009) |
| Former affiliations | CBS (1949-1954) ABC (1949-1966) DuMont (1949-1955) all secondary |
| Transmitter Power | 5.4 kW |
| Height | 306.7 m |
| Facility ID | 24970 |
| Transmitter Coordinates | 42°3′50″N 80°0′21″W / 42.06389°N 80.00583°W 42°3′52″N 80°0′19″W / 42.06444°N 80.00528°W |
| Website | wicu12.com |
WICU-TV is the NBC-affiliated television station for the Northwest Region of Pennsylvania that is licensed to Erie. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on VHF channel 12 from a transmitter east of Langdon in Greene Township. Owned by SJL Broadcast Management Corporation, the station operates CBS affiliate WSEE-TV and its CW subchannel (owned by Lilly Broadcasting, LLC) through a local marketing agreement a.k.a LMA. The two share studios on State Street in downtown Erie. Syndicated programming on WICU includes: Two and a Half Men, Inside Edition, Jeopardy!, and Oprah. [1] [2] They can also be seen on WSEE's third digital subchannel which airs on UHF channel 16.3 from the same tower east of Langdon. [3]
Contents |
Digital programming
Their signal is multiplexed.
| Channel | Video | Aspect | Programming |
|---|---|---|---|
| 12.1 | 1080i | 16:9 | main WICU programming (NBC HD) |
| 12.2 | 480i | 4:3 | WSEE-DT2 "The CW Erie" |
| 12.3 | 480i | 4:3 | WSEE (CBS) |
History
WICU began broadcasting in Erie on March 15, 1949 [4] as an affiliate of all four networks of the time (NBC, CBS, ABC, and DuMont). It was one of the last stations to be granted a construction permit before the FCC froze new applications. The station was a major beneficiary of a quirk in the FCC's plan for allocating stations.
In the early days of broadcast television, there were twelve VHF channels available and 69 UHF channels (later reduced to 57 in 1983). The VHF bands were more desirable because they carried longer distances. Since there were only twelve VHF channels available, there were limitations as to how closely the stations could be spaced. After the FCC opened the UHF band in 1952, it devised a plan for allocating VHF licenses. Under this plan, almost all of the country would be able to receive two commercial VHF channels plus one noncommercial channel. Most of the rest of the country ("1/2") would be able to receive a third VHF channel. Other areas would be designated as "UHF islands" since they were too close to larger cities for VHF service. The "2" networks became CBS and NBC, "+1" became PBS, and "1/2" became ABC (which was the weakest network usually winding up with the UHF allocation where no VHF was available).
Erie and Youngstown, Ohio were both sandwiched between Pittsburgh and Steubenville the south, Cleveland to the west, Buffalo to the east, and London, Ontario to the north. This created a large "doughnut" in Northwestern Pennsylvania and Northeastern Ohio where there could only be one VHF license. WICU was fortunate to gain that license and has been the market leader in Erie for most of its history. It was the only station in town until WSEE-TV signed-on in 1954 as a CBS affiliate. The two shared ABC until WJET-TV signed-on in 1966.
SJL Communications, a subsidiary of SJL Broadcast Management and Alta Management, acquired WICU in 1996. SJL purchased Alta's interest in 2005. [5] [6] [7] [8] A Consummation Notice was filed with the FCC in February 2007 to voluntarily transfer control of the station from SJL Communications to SJL Broadcast Management Corporation. [9] [10] This transaction was then authorized by the FCC. [11]
Their broadcast signal reaches the city of Erie and surrounding communities as well as across Lake Erie in parts of Ontario, Canada. It is available on all cable systems in Erie County, Pennsylvania as well as Warren and Crawford counties in Pennsylvania along with selected cable networks in Venango County, Pennsylvania, Southwestern New York State, and Northeastern Ohio. [12] As recently as the 1990s, it was available on cable as far east as Olean, New York well out of WICU's broadcast range and in competition with Buffalo NBC affiliate WGRZ-TV. The station was the subject of a television special entitled "WICU: The First 40 Years" that was aired on March 15, 1989. [13]
In 2002, the station entered into a local marketing agreement with WSEE. [14] [15] From that point until June 1, 2009, WSEE continued to operate from their own studios on Peach Street (a.k.a. U.S. 19) in downtown Erie. On that date, that station along with its CW subchannel merged into WICU's facilities. On June 12, WICU returned to channel 12 when the analog to digital conversion was completed. It turned-off its analog signal at Noon on June 8 to prepare for the change. It was the last analog station serving the Erie region to make the switch. [16]
News operation
On May 28, 2009, WSEE aired its final newscast from their Peach Street studios. After moving into WICU's facilities and going without local broadcasts for nearly four days, news returned to the air on that station. WSEE's weeknight 11 o'clock broadcast moved to 10 on WSEE-DT2 so it would no longer compete with WICU. It is then re-aired on WSEE at 11. During the week, WSEE-DT2 also simulcasts the first hour of WICU's weekday morning news, airs the nationally syndicated morning show The Daily Buzz from 6 to 9, repeats WSEE's Noon show at 12:30, and re-airs for a third time the 10 P.M. newscast early the next morning. Since the studios are unable to broadcast two live shows at the same time due to the lack of a secondary set, all of WSEE's newscasts are taped in advance except weekdays at Noon and weeknights at 10 since WICU does not air shows at those times.
In certain areas of New York State, a special feed of WSEE-DT2 replays WICU's weeknight 6 o'clock news at 10 instead of the first airing of WSEE's newscast. This is due to the fact that the area's cable provider, Atlantic Broadband, carries WSEE on its systems but not WICU. Unlike most NBC affiliates in the Eastern Time Zone, WICU does not air local news weeknights or 5:30. Eventually as contracts expire, the news teams of WICU and WSEE will merge so that they produce newscasts for all three stations. This is currently the case weekends at 6 when the two stations simulcast each other except for the sports segment.
Newscast titles
- The World Tonight (1949-1953)
- WICU Television News (1953-1970)
- Channel 12 News (1970-1979)
- ICU News (1980-1986)
- NewsCenter 12 (1987-1997)
- 12 News (1997-present)
Station Slogans
- "TV 12, Proud as a Peacock!" (1979-1981, localized version of NBC ad campaign)
- "Come Home to TV 12" (1986-1987, localized version of NBC ad campaign)
- "Come on Home to TV 12" (1987-1988, localized version of NBC ad campaign)
- "Come Home to the Best, Only on TV 12" (1988-1990, localized version of NBC ad campaign)
- "Coverage You Can Count On" (1999-present)
News team
Anchors
- Jill McCormick - weekday mornings
- Mark Soliday - weekday mornings
- Kevin MacDowell - weeknights
- Amanda Post - weeknights and education reporter
- Lisa Adams - weekends and weekend producer
12 News FutureTrack Meteorologists
- Rob Wilson (AMS Seal of Approval) - Chief seen weeknights
- Julie Coates - weekday mornings
- Cheryl Scott - weekends
Sports
- Mike Ruzzi - weeknights at 6 and 11
- Jay Puskar - weekends
Reporters
- John Rupolo - nightly
- Paul Wagner - weeknights
- Emily Matson - weekdays
- John Last
- Lisa Weismann
- Jamison Hixenbaugh
Former personalities
- Shannon Solo - meteorologist (2006-2009, left to pursue a country music career)
- Kelsie Smith - reporter (2007-2009, now at WENY-TV)
- Kristin Kane - reporter
References
- ^ TV Query, Video Division, Federal Communications Commission (FCC)
- ^ Call Sign History, Federal Communications Commission (FCC)
- ^ http://tvlistings.zap2it.com/tvlistings/ZCSGrid.do?stnNum=62953&channel=35.3
- ^ Postwar Television
- ^ About SJL Broadcast Management Corporation
- ^ Broadcast and Cable Magazine, 18 September 2000
- ^ PR News Wire, 29 September 2005
- ^ Note that SJL has obvious links to Montecito Broadcast Group, but URLs for Montecito no longer function. See SJL Host to see linkage and lack of function of Montecito URL.
- ^ Correspondence, Federal Communication Commission
- ^ Public Notice Comment, Federal Communications Commission (FCC)
- ^ FCC authorization
- ^ WICU-TV Television Services
- ^ Tom Kleinschmidt's Video and Audio Collection
- ^ About SJL Broadcast Management Corp
- ^ Biography of Walter W. Ward says Ward works with WICU-TV and WSEE-TV (LMA). LMA is presumably short for Local Management Agreement.
- ^ http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-06-1082A2.pdf
External links
- WICU-DT channel 12
- WSEE-DT channel 16
- WSEE-DT2 "The CW Erie"
- Query the FCC's TV station database for WICU-TV
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