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| Channels | |
| Programming | |
| Affiliations | 37.1:Story Television |
| Ownership | |
| Owner |
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| WJLP,WZME | |
| History | |
| Founded | December 8, 1989 (35 years ago) (1989-12-08)[2] |
First air date | May 1, 1998 (26 years ago) (1998-05-01) |
Former call signs |
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Former channel number(s) |
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Call sign meaning | News, Weather, Talk |
| Technical information[3] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 22797 |
| Class | LD |
| ERP | 26.5 kW |
| HAAT | 340.2 m (1,116 ft) |
| Transmitter coordinates | 40°45′22.4″N73°59′10.5″W / 40.756222°N 73.986250°W /40.756222; -73.986250 |
| Links | |
Public license information | LMS |
WNWT-LD (channel 37) is atelevision station inNew York City, airing programming fromStory Television. It isowned and operated byWeigel Broadcasting alongsideMiddletown Township, New Jersey–licensedMeTV stationWJLP (channel 33) andBridgeport, Connecticut–licensed Story Television outletWZME (channel 43). WNWT-LD and WJLP share studios inFreehold Township, New Jersey, and transmitter facilities at4 Times Square inmidtown Manhattan. Despite WNWT-LD legally holding alow-power license, it transmits using WJLP's full-power spectrum through achannel sharing agreement. This ensures complete reception across the New York Citytelevision market.
The station has used various virtual channels since its conversion to digital television in 2012, due to the lack of allocations in the New York andPhiladelphia markets, starting on channel 3 (conflicting withKYW-TV), then 51 (averting a conflict withNJ PBS station WNJN on channel 50) from late 2013 until mid-2019, then 6 and 18 (conflicting withWPVI-TV, thenWUVN inHartford, Connecticut), before finally settling on channel 37 on August 1, 2019.
Founded in 1989 as the second over the air television station inBrooklyn, the station didn't go on the air until 1998. Originally on channel 38 as W38CL, licensed to(The) Bronx with its transmitter atSound Shore Medical Center inNew Rochelle, it was later moved to channel 3 due to a reassignment of channel 38 toWWOR-TV as its new digital companion channel andWPXU-LP inAmityville, New York. Throughout the 1990s the station ranThe Box, and laterMTV2 through transfer of ownership fromViacom. At that point in early 2006, it switched toCornerstone Television. On August 17, 2007,Renard Communications Corp. (which owned almost all of New York State's The Box affiliates) announced that it would sell WBQM-LP, along with, at that time, sister stationWMBQ-CA toEquity Media Holdings for $8 million.[4] However, the transaction had a closing deadline set for June 1, 2008, and either party could cancel the sale if it were not completed by then. The sale was not consummated.[5] As of December 8, 2008, Equity Media Holdings was inChapter 11 bankruptcy.
In February 2012, Renard reached another deal to sell WBQM-LD, this time to Buenavision TV Network NY, LLC (WMBQ was sold separately several months earlier).[6]
As of February 2013, WBQM-LD affiliated withCNN en Español and transmitted CNN en Español's signal on virtual channel 3.1 and 3.4, while the local Buenavision signal was on 3.2. As of November 2013 its virtual channel changed from channel 3 to channel 51, although its real channel frequency on channel 50 did not change. CNN en Español was removed in 2014 to joinWRNN-TV thus returning to a Spanishindependent station.
On December 9, 2018, BuenaVision agreed to sell WBQM-LD toPMCM TV for over $300,000. The deal, which was completed on February 19, 2019, made WBQM-LD a sister station toWJLP. On April 18, the station changed its callsign to WNWT-LD, and then on May 1, it became a primaryNewsNet affiliate. In late July 2019, WNWT moved from channel 51 to channel 6 and later to channel 18 which broadcast weather reports simulcasting WJLP 33.10 before switching back to NewsNet a week later. At the same time WNWT-WX moved to its second subchannel.
On August 1, the station switched to virtual channel 37, a rare assignment in broadcasting in North America, likely to prevent adjacent-market confusion withUnivision affiliateWUVN inHartford, Connecticut, which has long held channel 18 (the channel 6 assignment was likewise also temporary due to a probable objection fromABC O&OWPVI-TV inPhiladelphia). Thephysical channel 37 is reserved by most broadcasting authorities for the purposes ofradio astronomy and medicaltelemetry, though a PSIP assignment of WNWT-LD's VHF physical channel otherwise causes no interference for those purposes.
On October 11, 2021, PMCM TV announced a pending sale of WNWT-LD and WJLP toWeigel Broadcasting of Chicago for $62.5 million, a time where the station served as thede factoflagship affiliate ofThe Weather Channel'sLocal Now.[1] The sale was completed on January 7, 2022.[7] It then switched to Weigel'sStory Television several months after.
| License | Channel | Res. | Aspect | Short name | Programming |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| WJLP | 33.1 | 720p | 16:9 | MeTV | MeTV |
| 33.2 | 480i | TOONS | MeTV Toons | ||
| 33.3 | LAFF | Laff | |||
| 33.4 | TOONS | MeTV Toons | |||
| 33.6 | NEST | The Nest | |||
| 33.7 | STORY | Story Television (WNWT-LD) | |||
| 33.8 | MeTV+ | MeTV+ | |||
| WNWT-LD | 37.1 | STORY | Story Television |