WYDC
WYDC, virtual channel 48 (UHF digital channel 30), is a Fox-affiliated television station licensed to Corning, New York, United States, serving the Twin Tiers of Southern Upstate New York (including Elmira) and Northern Pennsylvania. Owned by Vision Communications, it is a sister station to low-powered MyNetworkTV affiliate WJKP-LD (channel 39). The two outlets share studios on East Market Street in Downtown Corning; WYDC's transmitter is located on Higman Hill. On cable, the station is available on Spectrum channel 13 in both standard and high definition.
| |
| Corning–Elmira, New York United States | |
|---|---|
| City | Corning, New York |
| Channels | Digital: 30 (UHF) Virtual: 48 |
| Branding | Big Fox |
| Programming | |
| Affiliations | 48.1: Fox 48.2: MyNetworkTV (WJKP-LD) 48.3: MeTV |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | Vision Communications, LLC (sale to Coastal Television pending[1]) (WYDC, Inc.) |
| WJKP-LD | |
| History | |
| Founded | October 2, 1989 |
First air date | September 6, 1994 |
Former channel number(s) | Analog: 48 (UHF, 1994–2009) Digital: 50 (UHF, 2001–2009) |
| Independent (1994–1995) UPN (1995–2004; secondary from 1997) | |
| Technical information | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 62219 |
| Class | DT |
| ERP | 7.6 kW 5.36 kW (CP) |
| HAAT | 334 m (1,096 ft) 342 m (1,122 ft) (CP) |
| Transmitter coordinates | 42°8′31.2″N 77°4′38.8″W |
| Links | |
Public license information | Profile LMS |
History
On June 9, 1988, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) granted a construction permit to Rural New York Broadcasting, owned by Robert Walker of Albany, to build a new television station in Corning. In 1992, Walker moved to Florida and donated the permit to Cornerstone Television, a Christian broadcaster from Pittsburgh.[2] Cornerstone never built the station, and instead it was Molly and David Grant, with investors known as Standfast Broadcasting, who put WYDC on the air in 1994 as independent "Big TV".[3]
Big TV rapidly grew. It built translators in Elmira and Bath, became an affiliate of UPN and The WB in 1995,[4] and added Fox in October 1996.[5]
Vision Communications, headed by William Christian, leased the station with an option to buy in 1997 and moved to shift the station's focus to Fox, eliminating UPN programs.[6] The new ownership upgraded the facilities with a $2 million investment.[7] The Grants went on to start another station known as Big TV, UPN affiliate WBGT-LP in Rochester, which Vision acquired in 2002.[8]
Vision Communications filed to sell its broadcast properties to Standard Media in 2019.[9] The sale was never consummated.[10]
Digital television
Digital channels
The station's digital signal is multiplexed:
| Channel | Video | Aspect | PSIP Short Name | Programming[11] |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 48.1 | 720p | 16:9 | WYDC | Main WYDC programming / Fox |
| 48.2 | WJKP | Simulcast of WJKP-LD / MyNetworkTV | ||
| 48.3 | 480i | 4:3 | MeTV | MeTV |
Analog-to-digital conversion
WYDC shut down its analog signal, over UHF channel 48, on June 12, 2009, the official date in which full-power television stations in the United States transitioned from analog to digital broadcasts under federal mandate. The station's digital signal relocated from its pre-transition UHF channel 50 to channel 48.[12]
Translators
In addition to its main signal, WYDC can also be seen on six low-powered repeaters (one analog and five digital). WYDC will have to shut down all remaining analog operations by July 13, 2021 due to the FCC's LPTV transition. WYDC was also formerly repeated on WMYH-LP in Elmira/Watkins Glen, which is no longer licensed.
| City of license | Callsign | Channel | ERP | HAAT | Facility ID | Transmitter coordinates |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bath | W19ET-D | 19 | 15 kW | 137 m (449 ft) | 43452 | 42°17′32.0″N 77°40′26.0″W |
| Corning | W19EO-D | 19 | 15 kW | 109 m (358 ft) | 125480 | 42°03′48.2″N 76°31′26.7″W |
| Elmira | WECY-LD | 19 | 0.800 kW | 135.6 m (445 ft) | 125480 | 42°08′31.0″N 77°04′39.0″W |
| Elmira | W26BF | 26 | 1.09 kW | 196 m (643 ft) | 15570 | 42°07′51.2″N 76°47′19.8″W |
| Hornell | W16BE-D | 16 | 0.277 kW | 102 m (335 ft) | 43451 | 42°17′32.0″N 77°40′26.0″W |
| Corning | W15EG-D | 15 | 4.0 kW | 123.5 m (405 ft) | 128780 | 42°08′31.0″N 77°04′39.0″W |
Programming
Syndicated programming on this station includes Family Feud, Mike & Molly, 2 Broke Girls, and The People's Court among others. According to television listings, WYDC airs ten-minute update on weeknights known as Big Fox News at 10.[13] All weather forecasts are provided through an outsourcing agreement by WeatherVision of Jackson, Mississippi.[14] The prime time update competes with a weeknight thirty-minute newscast at 10 seen on WETM-DT2.
References
- Vision-WYDC - Coastal New York Asset Purchase and Contribution Agreement - Execution 7-19-21 - For FCC Application
- Lowman, Jim (September 26, 1992). "Corning may tune in religious network". Star-Gazette. pp. 1A, 2A. Retrieved July 4, 2021.
- Wilson, Larry (September 17, 1994). "The Big TV picture comes to Corning: WYDC-TV starts broadcasting 24 hours a day next week". Star-Gazette. pp. 1A, 2A. Retrieved July 4, 2021.
- Wilson, Larry (September 12, 1995). "Big TV gets even bigger, expands into Bath, Elmira". Star-Gazette. pp. 1A, 5A. Retrieved July 4, 2021.
- Wilson, Larry (October 25, 1996). "Corning station will become a Fox affiliate". Star-Gazette. p. 1B. Retrieved July 4, 2021.
- Finger, Ray (August 5, 1997). "Corning's Fox affiliate WYDC-TV gets new manager". Star-Gazette. p. 3B. Retrieved July 4, 2021.
- Fernandez, Lydia (September 17, 1998). "Corning's a Fox when it comes to station growth". Star-Gazette. p. 1C. Retrieved July 4, 2021.
- Aaron, G. Jeffrey (November 12, 2002). "WYDC-TV owner buys Rochester UPN station". Star-Gazette. p. 8A. Retrieved July 4, 2021.
- "Standard Media to acquire nine stations". Standard Media. November 25, 2019. Retrieved November 26, 2019.
- "Notification of Non-consummation". fcc.gov. January 3, 2021.
- RabbitEars TV Query for WYDC
- "DTV Tentative Channel Designations for the First and the Second Rounds" (PDF). Retrieved 2012-03-24.
- http://tvlistings.zap2it.com/tvlistings/ZCSGrid.do?stnNum=35307&channel=48.1
- Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: "WYDC Big Fox ELmira, Ny". YouTube.
