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| City | Johnstown, Pennsylvania |
| Channels | |
| Branding |
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| Programming | |
| Affiliations |
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| Ownership | |
| Owner |
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| WWCP-TV,WATM-TV | |
| History | |
First air date | September 15, 1949 (76 years ago) (1949-09-15) |
Former channel numbers |
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Call sign meaning | Johnstown Automotive Company |
| Technical information[3] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 73120 |
| ERP | 1,000 kW |
| HAAT | 382 m (1,253 ft) |
| Transmitter coordinates | 40°22′17″N78°58′55″W / 40.37139°N 78.98194°W /40.37139; -78.98194 |
| Translator(s) | see§ Translators |
| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Website | wjactv |
WJAC-TV (channel 6) is atelevision station licensed toJohnstown, Pennsylvania, United States, serving the Johnstown–Altoona–State Collegemarket as an affiliate ofNBC andThe CW Plus. It is owned bySinclair Broadcast Group, which provides certain services to Johnstown-licensedFox affiliateWWCP-TV, channel 8 (owned by Sinclair partner companyCunningham Broadcasting) and Altoona-licensedABC affiliateWATM-TV, channel 23 (owned by Palm Television,L.P. and operated by Cunningham Broadcasting under alocal marketing agreement (LMA)) under a time brokerage agreement (TBA).
WJAC-TV's studios (which also housemaster control and some internal operations for WWCP-TV and WATM-TV) are located on Old Hickory Lane inUpper Yoder Township, and its transmitter is located northwest of the city inLaurel Ridge State Park along theCambria–Westmoreland county line. WWCP-TV and WATM-TV maintain separate facilities on Lulay Street in the borough ofGeistown (also with a Johnstown postal address).
WJAC-TV first began its broadcasting operations on September 15, 1949,[4] originally owned by the Johnstown Automotive Company along with WJAC radio (AM 1400, laterWKGE at AM 850, and FM 95.5, nowWKYE at FM 96.5). At the time, it was the third-smallest television station in the countrymarket-wise to be granted a commercial license on or before December 31 behindCBS affiliateWNBF-TV inBinghamton, New York, and fellow NBC affiliateWICU-TV inErie. It originally aired an analog signal onVHF channel 13 before moving to VHF channel 6 in 1952. Upon its sign-on, it aired programming from all four networks of the time (NBC, CBS, ABC, andDuMont). CBS disappeared from WJAC-TV's schedule when WARD-TV (channel 56, nowPittsburgh independent stationWPKD-TV on channel 19) signed-on in 1953 followed by DuMont when it shut down network operations in 1955. However, the station continued to air a few ABC shows until WWPC-TV (channel 23), a satellite ofFox affiliateWWCP-TV (channel 8), became ABC affiliateWATM-TV in 1988.[5]
In the 1960s, Johnstown Automotive sold the WJAC stations to the estate of Anderson H. Walters, the owner ofThe Tribune-Democrat, who held them until 1984 when tightenedFederal Communications Commission (FCC) cross-ownership regulations forced the newspaper to sell off the radio stations. The Walters estate sold off the newspaper toMediaNews Group in 1987 but held on to Channel 6 until 1997 when it was sold toSunrise Television. WJAC and new sister stationWTOV-TV in theSteubenville, Ohio–Wheeling, West Virginia, market were sold toCox Enterprises in 2000. The two stations andWPXI in Pittsburgh were occasionally marketed together as a result. WJAC-TV and WTOV were updated to WPXI's on-air graphics after being acquired by Cox, despite WPXI changing its own look in 2004. Most of the graphics introduced to WJAC-TV after the acquisition were used until October 2011, when WJAC-TV updated to WPXI's then-current look. WhenKYW-TV switched to CBS on September 10, 1995, WJAC officially became the longest-tenured NBC affiliate in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
WJAC-TV gained a reputation for its locally produced programs at the station throughout the years.Scholastic Quiz, agame show featuring local high school students, andSeniors Today (apublic affairs program targeted to those 65 and older) would become mainstays of the station's programming and make host Ron Lorence (who would later build WADJ, laterWBHV, at 1330 AM and then buy WYSN-FM 101.7, nowWOWQ inSomerset County) a local household name. The station was also one of the stations across the country to produce a local version of the children's TV showRomper Room. In the 1950s and 1960s, WJAC-TV's slogan was "Serving Millions from Atop the Alleghenies".
On September 15, 2009, WJAC-TV celebrated its 60th year of broadcasting.[6] During that month, WJAC-TV aired several commercials advertising the anniversary. One featured a variation of the "Serving Millions from Atop the Alleghenies" slogan creating "Serving Millions Across the Alleghenies". This old slogan was used in various ways in the station's broadcasts and mixed with the station's then-current slogan "Coverage You Can Count On" to form "Coverage You Can Count On Across the Alleghenies" the year before.
On July 20, 2012, one day after Cox purchased four television stations inJacksonville, Florida, andTulsa, Oklahoma, fromNewport Television, Cox put WJAC-TV, WTOV-TV, and sister stations inEl Paso, Texas, andReno, Nevada, plus several radio stations in medium to small markets, on the selling block. All four of the television stations were located in markets that were smaller than Tulsa.[7] On February 25, 2013, Cox announced that it would sell the four stations to Sinclair Broadcast Group.[8] The FCC granted its approval of the sale on April 29,[9] and it was consummated on May 2.[10] This made WJAC-TV a sister station to nearbyWPGH-TV andWPMY in Pittsburgh though it is still connected to WPXI-TV through a news-share agreement.
On July 22, 2013, Horseshoe Curve Communications agreed to sell WWCP-TV toCunningham Broadcasting for $12 million. The Sinclair Broadcast Group was to operate the station throughshared services and joint sales agreements.[11] However, the majority of Cunningham's stock is held by the Smith family (owners and founders of Sinclair). As a result, Sinclair would have effectively owned WWCP as well. As WWCP's long-standing local marketing agreement to operate WATM-TV was part of the deal, it would have resulted in the major commercial television stations in the market being controlled by just two companies. It would have essentially made WJAC-TV, WWCP, and WATM all sister stations and expanded on their existing news share arrangement (see below). However, on February 20, 2014, Horseshoe Curve informed the FCC that the sale of WWCP had fallen through.[12]
TheRetro Television Network began airing on WJAC-TV's second digital subchannel in the late December 2008.[13] Along with then-sister station WPXI, WJAC-TV 6.2 transitioned toMeTV at midnight on June 13, 2011, immediately following an episode ofEllery Queen, at which point the channel was switched to the MeTV feed for the start ofHogan's Heroes. Sister station WTOV continued to air RTV until January 16, 2012.[14] Before its closure in December 2008, WJAC-TV carriedNBC Weather Plus on the second digital subchannel. The regular changes in WJAC's subchannel over its first few years reflect the decisions made internally about how to best make use of the new programming options afforded by Digital OTA broadcast.[15]
On September 1, 2022, MeTV was replaced byCharge!.[16]
WJAC-TV's fourth digital subchannel serves as the market'sCW affiliate, branded on-air asAlleghenies CW6. All programming on WJAC-DT4 is received through The CW's programming feed for smaller media markets,The CW Plus, which provides a set schedule ofsyndicated programming acquired by The CW for broadcast during time periods outside of the network's regular programming hours; however, Sinclair handles local advertising and promotional services for the subchannel.
On August 21, 2019, Sinclair announced in a letter to the National Cable Television Cooperative that WJAC-TV's fourth subchannel would switch fromTBD to The CW Plus, giving The CW its first full-time affiliate in the Johnstown–Altoona market.[17] The affiliation was launched on September 16 at 6 a.m.[18] Prior to this, Pittsburgh's WPCW—which itself was a Johnstown station for much of its history—served the market via cable. Through aggressivestatistical multiplexing, CW+ programming on WJAC-DT4 is broadcast in 720p high definition (albeit in a highly-compressed variation of that video resolution). On September 18, WJAC-DT4 adopted its current "Alleghenies CW6" branding.[19][20][21]
In the late-1960s and 1970s, WJAC had a fifteen-minute news and weather show weekday afternoons at 1 known asThe News Today. Its 6 o'clock newscast was known asThe News Tonight and the 11 p.m. broadcast was entitled11th Hour News. The weather segment aired first and was titled "Weather in Motion" with its own sound and graphics, and was hosted (at least for the 1 p.m. broadcast) by Chick Young. The sports segment had a separate theme and was called "Sports Nitecap". Their weekday morning newscast began as a half-hour broadcast at 6:30 in 1985. In 1987, TCI Cable (now Comcast) inCentre County began producing a WJAC newscast, known as theCentre County Report, specifically targeted to that area.
On January 14, 2008, WJAC entered into a news share agreement with WWCP and WATM. This station then began to produce WWCP's nightly prime time show and reduced the program to 35 minutes on weeknights while remaining a half-hour on weekends. The newscast, still known asFox 8 News at 10, now originates from a secondary set at WJAC's facility on Old Hickory Lane inUpper Yoder Township. It features a separate news anchor on weeknights, who does not appear on WJAC, in addition to a different music and graphics package from broadcasts seen on the NBC outlet. Since WJAC has prior commitments with local news and weather cut-ins duringToday, WATM offers taped news updates that are seen Tuesday through Saturday mornings (at 25 and 55 minutes past the hour) duringGood Morning America. From January 2008 until March 2011, WJAC simulcast its nightly newscast at 11 on WATM under theABC 23 News branding.
WJAC-TV officially changed its news branding fromWJAC-TV News to6 News on October 25, 2011. This change came only three years after the switch fromChannel 6 News. In addition to the new branding, WJAC updated their on-air graphics and theme music to those of its former sister station, WPXI, in Pittsburgh. Then, in July 2012, WJAC became the first station in the market to broadcast local news in full high definition.[22] In January 2016, to reflect the station's ownership by Sinclair, WJAC-TV stopped using WPXI's former on-air look and updated their package and music to those used by other Sinclair stations. WTOV-TV already made a similar change in 2014.
In addition to its main studios, WJAC-TV also operates bureaus in Altoona (on Beale Avenue), State College (on West College Avenue/PA 26) andDuBois (on East DuBois Avenue/PA 255; building is shared withWIFT 102.1 FM). In May 2022, WJAC-TV closed its Altoona bureau in a cost cutting measure. However, the station maintains a photographer based in Altoona for that area. The station also consolidated their State College bureau, and still maintains news reporters and a photographer there.[citation needed]
The station's signal ismultiplexed:
| Channel | Res. | Aspect | Short name | Programming |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6.1 | 1080i | 16:9 | NBC | NBC |
| 6.2 | 480i | Charge! | Charge! | |
| 6.3 | Comet | Comet | ||
| 6.4 | 720p | CW+ | The CW Plus | |
| 6.5 | 480i | TheNest | The Nest |
WJAC-TV shut down its analog signal, over VHF channel 6, on June 12, 2009, the official date on which full-power television stations in the United Statestransitioned from analog to digital broadcasts under federal mandate. The station's digital signal remained on its pre-transitionUHF channel 34, usingvirtual channel 6.[28][29][30][31]
The nearby mountain ridges had prevented most of Altoona and all of State College from receiving the analog signal; conversely, many of Pittsburgh's outer-ring eastern andWestmoreland County suburbs actually got a grade B signal from WJAC, which in some cases, was superior to that of Pittsburgh NBC affiliate WPXI.
Because the audio portion of VHF channel 6 was transmitted at 87.75MHz, it was possible to listen to the television station on most FM car radios (or any standard FM radio for that matter). This was a feature frequently employed by area residents. However, this is no longer an option after the digital conversion.
WJAC-TV is carried on various cable systems in several counties that are located outside of the Johnstown–Altoona market. These counties includeArmstrong, easternButler,Clarion,Mifflin and the central to eastern portion of Westmoreland.[32][33] During the 1990s, WJAC was available on cable in portions ofWarren County, despite that county being a part of the Erie market. In Maryland, it is carried inAllegany County. In West Virginia, it is carried inPetersburg (93 miles (150 km) away), Dorcas, Moorefield and Keyser. WJAC-TV is also broadcast over-the-air on a low-powered repeater, W29DH-D, inMoorefield, West Virginia.[34] This repeater is owned by Valley TV Cooperative.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)Broadcast television stations by affiliation in the Commonwealth ofPennsylvania | ||
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** Owned by third parties and operated by Sinclair through various operating agreements. *** Owned by Sinclair and operated byMarquee Broadcasting. JV Joint venture. | ||||||||||||||||||
