A television station is a set of equipment managed by a business, organisation or other entity such as an amateur television (ATV) operator, that transmits video content and audio content via radio waves directly from a transmitter on the earth's surface to any number of tuned receivers simultaneously.
108-529: [REDACTED] WPXI (channel 11) is a television station in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania , United States, affiliated with NBC and owned by Cox Media Group . The station's offices and studios are located on Evergreen Road in the Summer Hill neighborhood of Pittsburgh. Its transmitter is on Television Hill in the Fineview section of the city, at the site of the station's original studio location. On September 1, 1957, Pittsburgh's second commercial VHF station signed on as WIIC. The station's construction permit
216-465: A barter in some cases. WXIA-TV WXIA-TV (channel 11) is a television station in Atlanta, Georgia , United States, affiliated with NBC . It is owned by Tegna Inc. alongside MyNetworkTV affiliate WATL (channel 36). The two stations share studios at One Monroe Place on the north end of midtown Atlanta ; WXIA-TV's transmitter is located in the city's east section, near Kirkwood . Atlanta
324-472: A dispute against Dish Network regarding compensation fees and Dish's AutoHop commercial-skip feature on its Hopper digital video recorders . Gannett ordered that Dish discontinue AutoHop on the account that it is affecting advertising revenues for WXIA and WATL. Gannett threatened to pull both stations should the skirmish continue beyond October 7 and Dish and Gannett fail to reach an agreement. The two parties eventually reached an agreement after extending
432-533: A 40% ratings drop, leaving them a very distant third behind the local morning shows on WSB and WAGA, and sometimes fourth behind WGCL. WXIA formerly had a partnership with The Weather Channel to use their weather forecasters and provide local weather forecasts (incidentally, NBCUniversal —which owns NBC through parent company Comcast , Atlanta's primary cable television provider—held a majority ownership stake in The Weather Channel until 2018). WXIA became
540-527: A 5:30 p.m. newscast in Pittsburgh from 1981 to 1984 (titled 5:30 Live ); it was then revived in 1987 with the name Channel 11 News First Edition . It was also the first station to offer a 5 p.m. newscast in the early 1990s, titled Channel 11 News First at 5. WPXI dropped NBC's Saturday morning cartoons in September 1990 in favor of a running a newscast airing from 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. The success of
648-465: A 6:30 p.m. newscast for WPGH, which launched on March 14, 2022. Since dropping "Move Closer to Your World" in the late 1990s, WPXI is known to commission its own theme music from various composers. It has commissioned "Total Coverage" (its previous package), and after WPXI moved to its new Summer Hill television building, it started using "The Tower V.2", ending the "NBC Collection" altogether. WPXI dropped "The Tower V.2" in 2014 and replaced it with
756-442: A castle. Cardille would introduce the film being shown, as well as perform skits during breaks in the film. Cardille became well known for hosting the show and the shows themselves became part of local yore. The final program aired on January 1, 1984. Cardille remained on-air at WPXI through the early-to-mid-1990s as the weekday morning and noon weather forecaster. Cardille remained in Pittsburgh as midday personality on WJAS radio until
864-727: A construction permit for channel 2 as WCON-TV. Construction had already begun on the WCON-TV facilities when the Howell family, longtime owners of the Constitution , sold their paper to Cox Enterprises , owners of the Journal . However, Cox had a problem. At the time, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) did not permit the sale of television station construction permits, considering it "trafficking". Cox had little option but to keep
972-477: A day. Locally, WPXI's Scott Harbaugh served as the main meteorologist on the station's Weather Plus service. WPXI added an airwave digital channel on 11.3 on October 15, 2007, when it began an affiliation with Retro Television Network . Sister stations WJAC-TV and WTOV-TV also began offering RTV programming on their subchannels. Following the shutdown of NBC Weather Plus in December 2008, WPXI moved RTV to 11.2 while
1080-417: A distant third place in the ratings behind KDKA-TV and WTAE-TV during much of the decade. This coincided with much of the period where NBC also struggled in the ratings. The station's ratings were so bad that Cox was unable to switch the station's affiliation to ABC like it did with sister stations WSB-TV and WSOC-TV in 1978, as Hearst Television had developed a solid affiliate relationship with ABC, thus WTAE-TV
1188-473: A half-hour prime time newscast at 10 p.m. for sister station WATL, which competes with the longer-running hour-long 10 p.m. newscast on Fox-owned WAGA-TV. The station's Doppler weather radar site is located west of Atlanta in far southern Cobb County , south-southwest of Mableton , on the south side of Interstate 20 not far west of Six Flags Over Georgia . The station began calling its newscasts News Watch in 1963 and began broadcasting news in color for
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#17328945815731296-405: A modernized version of the theme used during the 1990s. The changes, combined with Westinghouse absorbing CBS and standardizing KDKA-TV along the lines of its new CBS O&O sister stations (and subsequent less emphasis on local programming), finally saw WPXI reach parity with KDKA-TV and WTAE-TV during the 1990s. Nowadays in addition to being in a dead heat for number one in local news ratings, WPXI
1404-518: A month; even so, the "11 Alive" brand was not fully restored until 1996, when the 11 Alive News title was restored for its newscasts (which were retitled 11 News with the removal of the "11 Alive" brand). On June 5, 2006, Gannett entered into an agreement to purchase WATL from the Tribune Company for $ 180 million, creating Atlanta's first television duopoly ; the sale was finalized on August 7, 2006. WATL occasionally airs NBC programs when WXIA
1512-415: A much shorter wavelength, and thus requires a shorter antenna, but also higher power. North American stations can go up to 5000 kW ERP for video and 500 kW audio, or 1000 kW digital. Low channels travel further than high ones at the same power, but UHF does not suffer from as much electromagnetic interference and background "noise" as VHF, making it much more desirable for TV. Despite this, in
1620-563: A new special news theme, which lasted until January 2024. The station went into cable television on January 1, 1994, with the launch of the Pittsburgh Cable News Channel (PCNC) . PCNC produced the first 10 p.m. newscast in the Pittsburgh market. The final installment of PCNC's 10 p.m. newscast aired on January 26, 2006, as WPXI took over production of WPGH-TV's 10 p.m. newscast. Comcast ( Xfinity ) announced in early 2020 that it would drop PCNC from its line up, greatly reducing
1728-590: A new studio facility in the city's Summer Hill neighborhood near the Parkway North . The station's transmitter tower continues to be located in the Fineview neighborhood. WPXI began broadcasting its newscasts from the Summer Hill studio on October 6 beginning with the 6 p.m. newscast. In turn, it also became the first station in the Pittsburgh market to begin broadcasting its local newscasts in high definition . The station
1836-533: A news share agreement allowing channel 11 to take over production of WPGH's 10 p.m. newscast. WPXI began producing a 10 p.m. newscast for that station (titled Channel 11 News on Fox 53 at Ten ) on January 30, 2006, two weeks after WPGH shut down its in-house news department due to corporate cutbacks made by Sinclair at its news-producing stations. All of WPGH's news staff, except for sportscaster Alby Oxenreiter, were laid off . The program runs for 45 minutes on Sunday through Friday nights, and for 30 minutes on Saturdays;
1944-469: A program called Noonday for many years, beginning with the news at noon and at 12:30 continuing on for the rest of the hour with features, akin somewhat to the Today Show . This program was canceled in 1997, but the half-hour noon newscast was preceded by the hour-long Atlanta & Company , a program which has some similar features, but is partly paid for by the companies featured on it, until 2015, when
2052-628: A redesigned website. By early November 2008, the websites of all of Cox's stations east of the Mississippi River began using the new format pioneered by WPXI; the websites of the company's stations west of the Mississippi River followed suit a month later. In 2011, Cox Media Group's partnership with Internet Broadcasting was dissolved, and the Cox television stations relaunched their website operations in-house. WPXI's and WSOC-TV's websites remained under
2160-659: A secondary NBC affiliate for the Youngstown television market, which is primarily served by WFMJ-TV (and in some parts with Cleveland NBC affiliate WKYC ), while giving the Youngstown market an outlet for MeTV and a secondary outlet for Laff alongside that market's primary affiliate WYFX-LD . Digital television receivers display the virtual channels of its main signal and its three repeaters as its former VHF analog channel 11. Television station The Fernsehsender Paul Nipkow ( TV Station Paul Nipkow ) in Berlin , Germany ,
2268-416: A secondary affiliation. It was the third Atlanta television station to sign-on after WSB-TV and WAGA, all signing on within a three-year time frame. Owned and operated by a group of Atlanta businessmen organized as Broadcasting, Inc., WLTV was indirectly born from the 1950 merger of Atlanta's two newspapers . The Atlanta Journal had originally owned channel 8 as WSB-TV, while The Atlanta Constitution held
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#17328945815732376-464: A significant relaunch of its news department, mirroring a similar move that was made by Tampa Bay sister station WTSP in April of that same year. The station renamed its morning and late-night newscasts as Morning Rush ATL and The Late Feed, respectively. Shiba Russell, who came over from NBC O&O station WNBC the previous year, became the solo anchor of Morning Rush ATL , while Vinnie Politan became
2484-618: A sports highlight show titled Ox on Fox Sports Extra (hosted by Oxenreiter) fills the remaining 15 minutes of the newscast Sunday through Fridays. As part of WPXI's contract with Sinclair, WPGH is permitted to air Sinclair's must-run programming , but must air them after the WPXI-produced newscast with a brief disclaimer stating that the editorials are from Sinclair and not WPXI; as a result, WPGH does not air Sinclair's must-runs , though it does air other political programming from Sinclair in prime time during election years. WPXI also produces
2592-521: A stylized "WPXI" below it. On September 2, 2013, WPXI expanded its noon news to an hour, becoming Pittsburgh's first hour-long noon newscast. On July 24, 2018, WPXI parent Cox Enterprises announced that it was "exploring strategic options" for Cox Media Group's television stations, which the company said could involve "partnering or merging these stations into a larger TV company." Cox Media Group's president, Kim Guthrie, subsequently clarified to trade publication Radio & Television Business Report that
2700-584: A teenager and resided in the area until his death in 2018. Studio Wrestling was run by Toots Mondt , who co-owned NWA member Capitol Wrestling Corporation (the predecessor to the present-day WWE ) with Vince McMahon Sr. McMahon promptly signed Sammartino to the CWC and where Sammartino would eventually become a two-time WWWF Champion for a combined record of 11 years. WIIC/WPXI has not produced its own wrestling program since Studio Wrestling , although it has aired various WWF/WWE shows through its affiliation with NBC in
2808-425: A variety of ways to generate revenue from television commercials . They may be an independent station or part of a broadcasting network , or some other structure. They can produce some or all of their programs or buy some broadcast syndication programming for or all of it from other stations or independent production companies. Many stations have some sort of television studio , which on major-network stations
2916-553: A weekly live professional wrestling show. Studio Wrestling , independent of the National Wrestling Alliance , which aired on Saturday evenings and drew strong ratings. Mal Alberts was the original host, but Cardille took over after a few years and handled the rest of the show's run. It started as a one-hour show, but was then expanded to 90 minutes because of its popularity. The show marked the earliest appearances of Bruno Sammartino , who moved to Pittsburgh from Italy as
3024-496: Is non-commercial educational (NCE) and considered public broadcasting . To avoid concentration of media ownership of television stations, government regulations in most countries generally limit the ownership of television stations by television networks or other media operators, but these regulations vary considerably. Some countries have set up nationwide television networks, in which individual television stations act as mere repeaters of nationwide programs . In those countries,
3132-470: Is broadcast via terrestrial radio waves. A group of television stations with common ownership or affiliation are known as a TV network and an individual station within the network is referred to as O&O or affiliate , respectively. Because television station signals use the electromagnetic spectrum, which in the past has been a common, scarce resource, governments often claim authority to regulate them. Broadcast television systems standards vary around
3240-652: Is currently a Rev'n affiliate). WPXI joined the syndicated MGM/UA Premiere Network , with the November 10, 1984, showing of Clash of the Titans . WPXI also televised the Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon as the "Love Network" affiliate of the annual fundraiser for the Pittsburgh market, until the Muscular Dystrophy Association decided to move the event from syndication to ABC (and locally to WTAE) as
3348-401: Is currently one of NBC's strongest major-market affiliates overcoming any lags due to the station's delays in signing on in its early years and despite the fluctuating strength of network programming. Over the past decade, Pittsburgh has been a perennially competitive market for local news, with news ratings usually differing by less than a full ratings point. WPXI was the first station to offer
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3456-468: Is not able due to extended breaking news and severe weather coverage, or special programming. As a result of the WATL acquisition, WXIA management decided to house the combined operation at WATL's facility at One Monroe Place, leaving WXIA's longtime studios at 1611 West Peachtree Street ; WXIA and WATL began broadcasting from the new studios on July 27, 2008. Around the first week of October 2012, Gannett entered
3564-792: Is often used for newscasts or other local programming . There is usually a news department , where journalists gather information. There is also a section where electronic news-gathering (ENG) operations are based, receiving remote broadcasts via remote pickup unit or satellite TV . Outside broadcasting vans, production trucks , or SUVs with electronic field production (EFP) equipment are sent out with reporters , who may also bring back news stories on video tape rather than sending them back live . To keep pace with technology United States television stations have been replacing operators with broadcast automation systems to increase profits in recent years. Some stations (known as repeaters or translators ) only simulcast another, usually
3672-636: Is the largest television market where the NBC station is not owned and operated by the network. WXIA-TV is popularly known within the Atlanta metropolitan area by its longtime on-air brand , 11 Alive , which the station has used since 1976. What is known today as WXIA-TV originally signed on the air September 30, 1951, at 5 p.m., as WLTV on VHF channel 8. It was the first full time ABC affiliate for Atlanta, taking it over from WSB-TV and WAGA-TV (channel 5), both originally primary NBC and CBS affiliates respectively that previously shared ABC programming as
3780-423: Is usually provided by former WAGA sports reporter Jeff Hullinger . On April 28, 2010, a new 4:30 a.m. newscast called Wake Up with Chesley debuted, featuring meteorologist Chesley McNeil and travel producer Matt Holmes; in addition to news updates throughout the show, McNeil primarily gives weather updates while Holmes gives travel delays and information. On January 29, 2013, on the noon broadcast, WXIA debuted
3888-624: The MDA Show of Strength in 2013; the show ended the next year. The local portion of the telethon continued to be hosted by Bill Cardille until 2012. In 2000, Cox Enterprises purchased WTOV in Steubenville, Ohio , and WJAC-TV in Johnstown, Pennsylvania , from Sunrise Television. Those stations—which are also NBC affiliates—often appear in channel lineups for the same viewers that watch WPXI, either by over-the-air signal or via cable provider, and due to
3996-497: The Pittsburgh Penguins as they had carried games that were part of NBC's National Hockey League broadcast contract from the 2005–06 NHL season to the 2020–21 season ; this included the team's 2009 , 2016 and 2017 Stanley Cup championship victories. Since its sign-on in 1957, WIIC, and later WPXI, has aired a mix of syndicated first-run shows, off-network reruns, and afternoon movies throughout its history, although by
4104-525: The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (which would later partner with KDKA-TV), channel 11 struggled in the local ratings due to the dominance of KDKA-TV, which unlike channel 11 and WTAE-TV was locally owned by Westinghouse as well as channel 2's eight-year head start on the market before channel 11 signed on. WTAE-TV would become competitive with KDKA-TV during the 1970s due to an investment in its news department by owner Hearst Television , leaving WIIC-TV in
4212-405: The broadcast range , or geographic area, that the station is limited to, allocates the broadcast frequency of the radio spectrum for that station's transmissions, sets limits on what types of television programs can be programmed for broadcast and requires a station to broadcast a minimum amount of certain programs types, such as public affairs messages . Another form of television station
4320-534: The electricity bill and emergency backup generators . In North America , full-power stations on band I (channels 2 to 6) are generally limited to 100 kW analog video ( VSB ) and 10 kW analog audio ( FM ), or 45 kW digital ( 8VSB ) ERP. Stations on band III (channels 7 to 13) can go up by 5 dB to 316 kW video, 31.6 kW audio, or 160 kW digital. Low-VHF stations are often subject to long-distance reception just as with FM. There are no stations on Channel 1 . UHF , by comparison, has
4428-588: The "11 Alive" branding that same year, then- independent station WPIX (now a CW affiliate) in New York City —which used the brand until 1986, and NBC affiliate WIIC in Pittsburgh , now WPXI —which used it until 1979). In 1979, Combined merged with the Gannett Company in what became the largest media merger in history up to that time. Following the acquisition, most of the former Combined stations stopped using
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4536-404: The "Alive" brand, though WXIA continued to call itself "11 Alive". On September 1, 1980, WXIA swapped affiliations with WSB-TV and became an NBC affiliate. This move could be traced to ratings: NBC slid to a very poor third place; meanwhile, ABC was in first place for most of the late 1970s and was seeking out affiliates with higher viewership in many markets, including Atlanta. ABC thus jumped at
4644-434: The 11.3 subchannel went dark. On June 13, 2011, WPXI replaced RTV with competing classic television network Me-TV . While all three Pittsburgh news stations air news video on its websites with WTAE even airing full newscasts on its website, WPXI was the first station in the Pittsburgh market to have over-the-top content available on a streaming service, having its own dedicated channel on Roku since 2014. If someone within
4752-759: The 1980s the schedule would become less dependent on most of this product in favor of more talk fare and an expanding newscast. WPXI acquired the rights to then- King World (now CBS Media Ventures )-distributed syndicated game shows Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune from then-Westinghouse-owned KDKA-TV in 1987. In the late 1990s, WPXI was known as one of the " Big 3 " stations in the Pittsburgh area to air popular tabloid talk shows Jerry Springer and Jenny Jones in their late morning and afternoon daytime lineup. Today, WPXI's syndicated programming focuses on hard-hitting news and lifestyle platforms. In September 2018, WPXI acquired The Wendy Williams Show from WPGH-TV after going back and forth at its 10 a.m. time slot on
4860-688: The 5–6 a.m. and 10 p.m. timeslots. However, WPXI had the least-watched newscasts in Pittsburgh at noon, 4, 5, 6, and 11 p.m. (with KDKA-TV being the highest watched during those timeslots, except for WTAE-TV which was the leader at 11 p.m. as of the February 2013 ratings period). The station's signal is multiplexed : WPXI was the first station in Pittsburgh to make use of additional programming on its digital channels. On June 21, 2007, WPXI began carrying programming from NBC Weather Plus on digital subchannel 11.2. The service, branded as WPXI 11 Weather Plus, offered local and national weather information 24 hours
4968-570: The AFC broadcast rights, and most games moved to CBS O&O KDKA-TV; channel 2 had previously served as the default home station from 1962 to 1969 ). Even though it aired most of the games from the Steelers' glory years of the 1970s—typically the highest-rated television programs in the market during that time—channel 11 stayed in the ratings basement. Today, Steelers games are shown on WPXI when they are featured on NBC's Sunday Night Football ; in addition,
5076-457: The Cox Media Group name. The sale was completed on December 17, 2019. From 1963 to 1983, the station produced and broadcast Chiller Theater , a late Saturday evening horror film show hosted by Bill Cardille, or as he was referred to, "Chilly Billy." The show originally had Cardille as a solo host. In the 1970s, a cast of characters was added, and the setting was changed from a laboratory to
5184-558: The FCC had barred new radio-television combinations in top 50 markets. The radio stations were sold to Jefferson-Pilot Broadcasting ; as a result of the split, the station assumed the WXIA-TV call letters on December 24, 1973. On September 20, 1976, WXIA first adopted "11 Alive" as its on-air branding, as part of Combined's practice of using the word "Alive" as part of the brand of most of their stations (two stations not owned by Combined also adopted
5292-451: The May 2009 Nielsen ratings period. Also during this period, WPXI had in increase during the morning hours and the WPXI-produced 10 p.m. news remained in first place. From 1997 to 1999, WPXI led #1 ahead of WTAE-TV and KDKA-TV in viewership for the 5 p.m. newscast due to lead-in by early fringe talk show, The Jerry Springer Show at 4 p.m. As of May 2010, WPXI has a strong lead with viewers in
5400-804: The Pittsburgh DMA is both the only market in Pennsylvania where Cox owns a station as well as the only market where Nexstar does not own or operate a station, the deal has no overlap between the two companies. In 1970 , when the Pittsburgh Steelers moved to the American Football Conference after the AFL-NFL merger, channel 11 became the station of record for the team (as NBC held the broadcast rights to AFC games then); this partnership continued through 1997 (after that season, CBS took over
5508-552: The U.S., the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is taking another large portion of this band (channels 52 to 69) away, in contrast to the rest of the world, which has been taking VHF instead. This means that some stations left on VHF are harder to receive after the analog shutdown . Since at least 1974, there are no stations on channel 37 in North America for radio astronomy purposes. Most television stations are commercial broadcasting enterprises which are structured in
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#17328945815735616-713: The WCON-TV construction permit rather than the already-operating WSB-TV. As such, it announced plans to move the WSB-TV intellectual unit to the stronger channel 2 facility when it was completed and sell its channel 8 license, which was acquired by Broadcasting, Inc., for $ 525,000. The sale was challenged by applicants for additional stations that were affected by the then-ongoing freeze on new construction permits, including Georgia Tech (owners of WGST radio) and Decatur radio station owner E.D. Rivers, in part because planned allocation changes meant that there would be no further commercial VHF stations for Atlanta, and they sought to operate
5724-721: The WIZ channel being restored two weeks later on 36.3. In early October, 11.2 again became Universal Sports and 11.3 was deleted and was reversed again a week later, with WIZ bounced back to its original channel 11.2. In November 2011, 11.3 was deleted leaving 36.3 as the sole channel for Universal Sports until it became a cable channel in 2012. Eventually, WIZ was converted from being presented using internal station weather computers to presentation and programming from The Local AccuWeather Channel . But an agreement with WAGA-TV and AccuWeather has made WXIA switch its programming and presentation to WeatherNation TV . The station added Universal Sports at
5832-444: The WIZ was moved to WATL, and aired on channel 36.2, while 11.2 continued to air a static message graphic directing over-the-air viewers to tune there and re- scan if necessary. One month later, on January 10, the channel was removed completely from WXIA, and 11.3 became 11.2, before being reversed the following day. In 2011, Atlanta-based Bounce TV launched on September 26 with WATL 36.2 as its de facto flagship affiliate, with
5940-545: The WPXI viewing area orders a Roku Player, the WPXI News app is automatically installed on the player. The WPXI-Roku partnership is part of a larger partnership between Roku and Cox-owned stations. WPXI was the only station in Pittsburgh with such a service until KDKA-TV launched CBSN Pittsburgh as part of CBS News on March 5, 2020. On April 15, 2015, WPXI became a charter affiliate of Laff on channel 11.3, bringing 11.3 live again for
6048-841: The affiliation with KDKA-TV, WTAE-TV, and public television station WQED . In 1964, WIIC was sold to Cox Enterprises; Cox subsequently traded its share in the then new cable system (today's Buckeye Broadband ) in Toledo, Ohio , to the Post-Gazette 's parent company Block Communications , which is based in Toledo. The station has been the longest running NBC affiliate under Cox's ownership, especially after sister stations WSOC-TV in Charlotte and WSB-TV in Atlanta switched their affiliations to ABC in 1978 and 1980, respectively. In 1970, WIIC made Pittsburgh broadcasting history when Eleanor Schano became
6156-490: The anchor of The Late Feed . In March 2020, WXIA relaunched its noon newscast; however, it was meant to be temporary due to the COVID-19 pandemic . In June 2021, WXIA re-titled its morning and late-night newscasts once again; the former is now titled 11 Alive Morning News and the latter, which had been renamed from The Late Feed to Up Late following Vinnie Politan's departure from the station in November 2018, returned to
6264-582: The beginning of May 2009 on channel 11.3, added it to 36.3 in October 2011, and then deleted it from 11.3 in November 2011. However, it used severe video data compression , which left very obvious blurriness and pixelation during high-motion scenes common in sports . This low- bitrate sacrifice protects the quality of the main HD channel and is unavoidable because Universal Sports transmits its programming via satellite in this highly compressed form (4.48 Mbit/s). It
6372-511: The chance to affiliate with longtime market leader WSB-TV. Some network daytime programs switched stations in August, before the full affiliation switch occurred. In August 1994, Gannett dropped the "11 Alive" moniker as part of the introduction of new on-air graphics for its newscasts and promos; however, the brand was so well established in Atlanta that viewer outcry forced Gannett to restore it after only
6480-556: The change in callsigns to WPXI in 1981, Cox began to follow WTAE-TV's lead and invest heavily in its news department. Upon adopting its current logo in 1987, WPXI started using the famous " Move Closer to Your World " theme by Al Ham that was popularized by ABC O&O WPVI-TV in Philadelphia , even adopting that station's fast-paced video montage (but not the Action News branding, due to it being used by WTAE-TV), eventually commissioning
6588-420: The channel 10 license. Channel 11, however, did not sign on for well over two years after its permit was granted. The primary reason for the delay was on the part of WENS-TV (channel 16, now WINP-TV ), whose application for the permit had been denied and later contested the FCC's original decision. In the interim, CBS continued to have most of its programs cleared by Westinghouse -owned KDKA-TV (channel 2), at
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#17328945815736696-411: The channel as well. The FCC dismissed the complaints and approved the sale of the channel 8 license to Broadcasting, Inc., in August 1951. Testing for the new channel 2 began on September 25, 1951, and WSB-TV moved there on September 30. Channel 8 returned at 5 p.m. that day as WLTV. Due to the way the transfer was structured legally, WXIA operates under the license originally granted to WSB-TV, while
6804-575: The clinching sixth game; all Braves games on NBC 's MLB broadcast contract from 1981 to 1989 (and before that, from 1976 to 1980 with ABC's broadcast contract) and postseason games in select years from 1996 to 2000 were also broadcast on WXIA which include their 1999 World Series appearance). WXIA also aired a Braves game in 2023 as part of a simulcast between NBC and Peacock 's MLB Sunday Leadoff package. From its switch to NBC in 1980 up to 1997 , all Atlanta Falcons involving them playing an AFC team at home were aired on WXIA. Today,
6912-480: The company was solely seeking "a merger or partnership" and not an outright sale of the television stations. In February 2019, it was announced that Apollo Global Management would acquire Cox Media Group and Northwest Broadcasting's stations. Although the group planned to operate under the name Terrier Media, it was later announced in June 2019 that Apollo would also acquire Cox's radio and advertising businesses, and retain
7020-710: The current WSB-TV license dates from 1951. Thus, the present-day channel 11 is the second-oldest broadcasting facility in the South; WSB-TV signed on in 1948, four months after WTVR-TV in Richmond, Virginia . Several more large changes would come for WLTV in the years that followed. When the FCC lifted its freeze on new TV stations with the Sixth Report and Order in April 1952, it made several changes to television allocations and substituted channel 11 for 8 at Atlanta, modifying WLTV's license to specify channel 11. The change coincided with
7128-512: The deadline for a few hours. On June 29, 2015, the Gannett Company split in two, with one side specializing in print media and the other side specializing in broadcast and digital media. WXIA and WATL were retained by the latter company, named Tegna . On January 24, 2019, WXIA debuted a new station logo for the first time in 26 years; the "11" in the new logo is similar to Louisville sister station WHAS-TV . The station previously aired
7236-410: The first Atlanta station to begin broadcasting its local newscasts in high definition on February 2, 2006. As part of the conversion to HD, a new HD-ready news set from Production Design Group, Ltd. was built and the station began using a new graphics package from Giant Octopus. In February 2010, WXIA began a nightly news segment, "Bull Fighters", which consists of eight reporters/anchors; the segment
7344-461: The first time on March 20, 1967. From the early 1970s onward, channel 11's newscasts waged a spirited battle with WAGA for second place behind long-dominant WSB-TV. When WAGA switched to Fox in 1994, WXIA surged to become a solid runner-up , usually finishing well ahead of perennial third-place finisher WGCL-TV ; however, by May 2009, WXIA's ratings had been surpassed by WGCL at noon and 11 p.m. The morning news program Today in Atlanta had experienced
7452-487: The first time since NBC Weather Plus shut down. WPXI shut down its analog signal, over VHF channel 11, on June 12, 2009, the official date on which full-power television stations in the United States transitioned from analog to digital broadcasts under federal mandate. The station's digital signal continued to broadcast on its pre-transition UHF channel 48. One of the station's last programs it aired on its analog signal
7560-476: The first woman to anchor a newscast solo. Schano also hosted a weekly 30-minute public affairs program called Face to Face . Around 1975, Channel 11 branded itself as "e11even". Around 1977, WIIC used the "11 Alive" moniker (which had become popularized by fellow NBC affiliate WXIA-TV in Atlanta and WPIX in New York City ). WIIC carried the Operation Prime Time package in 1979. On April 20, 1981,
7668-420: The highest point available in the transmission area, such as on a summit , the top of a high skyscraper , or on a tall radio tower . To get a signal from the master control room to the transmitter, a studio/transmitter link (STL) is used. The link can be either by radio or T1 / E1 . A transmitter/studio link (TSL) may also send telemetry back to the station, but this may be embedded in subcarriers of
7776-432: The local audience. From 1966 to 1972, WIIC had a Bandstand -type show on Saturday afternoons. Come Alive was originally sponsored by Pepsi and hosted by KQV disc jockey Chuck Brinkman . Later, WIXZ DJ Terry Lee would take over as host. The show featured teens dancing to current hit records, a weekly Top 10 countdown and appearances by local bands. From the earliest days of the station through 1973, WIIC produced
7884-400: The local television station has no station identification and, from a consumer's point of view, there is no practical distinction between a network and a station, with only small regional changes in programming, such as local television news . To broadcast its programs, a television station requires operators to operate equipment, a transmitter or radio antenna , which is often located at
7992-419: The main broadcast. Stations which retransmit or simulcast another may simply pick-up that station over-the-air , or via STL or satellite. The license usually specifies which other station it is allowed to carry. VHF stations often have very tall antennas due to their long wavelength , but require much less effective radiated power (ERP), and therefore use much less transmitter power output , also saving on
8100-503: The market, signed a contract with the then-unnamed channel 11 shortly thereafter. Before the "freeze" on television station licenses, the two stations were competing for the channel 10 license originally assigned to Pittsburgh before the FCC reallocated the channels in 1952, with channel 10 going to Altoona ; the Hearst Corporation (then-owners of WCAE and eventual owners of WTAE-TV ) and two other companies were also applying for
8208-512: The most part exclusive to over-the-air customers. In February 2020, WeatherNation TV was replaced by a VHF simulcast of WATL on subchannel 11.2. The simulcast ended on April 5, 2021, when it was replaced with Twist after the network launched. WXIA-TV originally had the only VHF allotment for digital television in the area, until WGTV (channel 8) was moved from UHF 22 to VHF 12 (now 8). The station shut down its analog signal, over VHF channel 11, on June 12, 2009, at 12:30 p.m., as part of
8316-495: The name), hosted by Willie the Duck, a hand-puppet with a Donald Duck type of voice who spoke to off-camera announcer Don Riggs (who served as Willie's comedy foil) in between the cartoons. The show had been previously hosted by a character called "Captain Jim", who had hosted one of WIIC's best-remembered children's programs: Cap'n Jim's Popeye Club , built around Popeye cartoons. The Captain
8424-675: The new Gannett standardized graphics and music ("This is Home" by Gari Media Group ); their renovated studio debuted on February 12, 2013. On January 29, 2015, WXIA announced that the 5 p.m. newscast would return for the first time since 2003, when Dr. Phil took over that time slot; that show moved to the 3 p.m. timeslot. However, the new newscast came at the cost of ending its noon and 7 p.m. newscasts, which were replaced by an extension of Atlanta & Company and Wheel of Fortune , respectively (the latter reversing its 2007 move from WXIA to WATL). These changes went into effect on March 2, 2015. Between July 31 and August 28, 2017, WXIA underwent
8532-636: The noon newscast was canceled. The program then expanded to 90 minutes, currently running from 11 to 12:30 p.m. Owing to NBC 's longstanding contract with the International Olympic Committee , WXIA was the local broadcaster for the 1996 Summer Olympics held in Atlanta. It also carried the Atlanta Braves ' World Series victory the previous year (coverage alternated between NBC and ABC as part of The Baseball Network , so WSB had Games 1, 4 and 5, while WXIA received Games 2, 3 and
8640-458: The only Cox-owned NBC affiliate. WPXI currently uses the number 11 drawn into a circle, which debuted in 1987. The "11" symbol is colored gold, while the box around it is dark blue. WPXI previously used the NBC Peacock in its logo, which was copied by sister stations WTOV and WJAC and is still used by WTOV, but revamped its own look in October 2004. WPXI's current look uses the circle 11 logo with
8748-674: The permit has expired), channel 23 in Uniontown , and channel 33 in New Castle . The signal in Derry Township was expected to cover all of Westmoreland County , while the Uniontown signal could penetrate into the Pittsburgh suburb of McKeesport . The New Castle signal partially goes into Youngstown, Ohio (to which New Castle is much closer despite being part of the Pittsburgh DMA), and serves as
8856-466: The previous 11 Alive News at 11 title. The station's signal is multiplexed : The NBC Weather Plus service was discontinued on December 1, 2008; however, some stations, including WXIA, continued to air national and local radar with Weather Plus branding, supplied by The Weather Channel through the end of December. In January, WXIA rebranded the channel "11Alive Weather" and kept the "L-Bar" with weather information from The Weather Channel, but shifted
8964-476: The programmes seen on its owner's flagship station, and have no television studio or production facilities of their own. This is common in developing countries . Low-power stations typically also fall into this category worldwide. Most stations which are not simulcast produce their own station identifications . TV stations may also advertise on or provide weather (or news) services to local radio stations , particularly co-owned sister stations . This may be
9072-586: The proximity of the three stations to each other (as well as the common affiliation with NBC), were occasionally marketed together as a result. Cox changed the stations' on-air appearances to match WPXI's look, despite WPXI changing its own look in 2004. WTOV still used WPXI's former look until October 2010, and WJAC-TV adopted WPXI's current design in October 2011. Over the Labor Day weekend of 2007, WPXI began relocating from its longtime studios at Television Hill in Pittsburgh's Fineview neighborhood after 50 years, to
9180-446: The reallocation of channel 8 to non-commercial educational use at Athens and mitigated interference with channel 9 at Rome . The station would not change channels until September 1953, by which time Broadcasting, Inc., had sold WLTV to Cincinnati -based Crosley Broadcasting Corporation . In line with its other television stations, Crosley changed the call letters to WLWA (often rendered as "WLW-A") on March 3, 1953. In 1962, WLWA
9288-401: The remainder of the content to a local radar loop, and eliminated the background music that aired with it. It was later rebranded as the "11Alive Weather Information Zone" or "WIZ" in 2010, along with the weather segments during newscasts on the main channel. This service was also carried on digital cable in the Atlanta area through Charter Spectrum and Comcast . In early December 2010,
9396-463: The slogan "The Eyes of Atlanta" and the calls standing for "Atlanta's 11" (II). The station was sold to Pacific & Southern Broadcasting in 1968 and on March 23 became known as WQXI-TV, aligning it with WQXI AM and FM (the calls had originally been used on channel 36, currently WATL , from 1954 to 1955). Pacific & Southern later merged with Combined Communications Corporation; the merged company could not purchase both WQXI radio and television, as
9504-607: The station airs any Falcons contests under NBC's Sunday Night Football banner (afternoon games air either on WAGA or WANF ). The station also provided local coverage of Super Bowl XXVIII , which was hosted at the Georgia Dome . WXIA also aired all Atlanta Hawks games carried through NBC's NBA coverage from 1990 to 2002 . WXIA presently broadcasts 33 hours, 25 minutes of locally produced newscasts each week (with 5 hours, 35 minutes each weekday, 3 + 1 ⁄ 2 hours on Saturdays and two hours on Sundays). It also produces
9612-496: The station format changed to talk radio in 2014; Cardille died in 2016. The show was part of a trend during the 1960s and 1970s for television stations to produce local programming. Local stations often created their own children's shows as well. Horror theater shows, such as Shock Theatre , hosted by Ghoulardi and Big Chuck & Little John in Cleveland, as well as Chiller Theater , were not only easy to produce, but popular with
9720-455: The station has aired three of its Super Bowl victories ( IX , XIII and XLIII ) and its appearance in Super Bowl XXX . Channel 11 also aired most Pittsburgh Pirates games that were part of NBC's Major League Baseball broadcast contract from its sign-on until 1989 ; this included the team's 1960 and 1971 World Series victories. In addition, WPXI served as the secondary station for
9828-484: The station on the air. In addition to Cardille, five other announcers that were with the station when it launched in 1957 include Mal Alberts, Bob Cochran, Ed Conway, Len Johnson and Mark Schaefer. Some of the first original programming to air on WIIC included Studio Wrestling and Chiller Theatre , both hosted by Cardille. Shortly after its sign-on, WIIC was briefly affiliated with the NTA Film Network , sharing
9936-438: The station since its 2009 debut. The show aired at 11 a.m. until its 2022 cancellation and being replaced in the timeslot by the new syndicated talk show Sherri , serving as a lead-in to the midday newscast. WPXI broadcasts 42 hours of locally produced newscasts each week (with 6 + 1 ⁄ 2 hours each weekday, four hours on Saturdays and 5 + 1 ⁄ 2 hours on Sundays). Despite its early newspaper heritage with
10044-452: The station's call sign was changed to WPXI (for "Pittsburgh 11", with "XI" being the Roman numeral for 11). Although the station has officially never had the "-TV" suffix since adopting the WPXI call sign, the station has on occasion been marketed as "WPXI-TV". The WIIC calls in Pittsburgh were later used by an unrelated low-power independent station that ran a music video format (that station
10152-664: The stewardship of Internet Broadcasting until late January 2012, when they became the last two stations to have redesigned their websites to match the format of the in-house web operations of their sister stations. With Cox Media Group's February 23, 2013, sale of WJAC and WTOV (a sale which also included KFOX-TV in El Paso, Texas , and KRXI and KAME-TV in Reno, Nevada ) to the Sinclair Broadcast Group , owners of local Fox affiliate WPGH-TV and MyNetworkTV affiliate WPMY (which
10260-508: The time Pittsburgh's only commercial VHF station. When CBS decided to make KDKA-TV its full-time Pittsburgh affiliate, NBC (which shared time on KDKA-TV with CBS, ABC , and station founder DuMont since its sign-on in 1949) reached a deal to affiliate with WIIC. Also, as a condition of the license grant, WJAS radio had to be sold; NBC wound up purchasing that station in August 1957. The WJAS interests later divested their 50 percent share of WIIC to another local broadcaster. Bill Cardille signed
10368-410: The viewing audience. WPXI added PCNC to its digital subchannel lineup in early March 2023. Pittsburgh is one of the most competitive markets in the country for local news and viewers benefit by getting quality newscasts from three strong stations. More recently, however, WPXI has had an increase in most dayparts, although it continues to maintain a tie with KDKA-TV in the market for daytime news, as of
10476-518: The weekend morning newscast prompted NBC network officials to extend the Today show to weekends. WPXI, however, has since scaled back the length of its weekend morning newscasts. Pittsburgh native Jodi Applegate co-anchored NBC's Weekend Today , but was never seen locally due to WPXI's weekend morning newscasts. WPXI added Weekend Today in September 2012. On January 12, 2006, Sinclair Broadcast Group (owner of Fox affiliate WPGH-TV) and WPXI entered into
10584-399: The world. Television stations broadcasting over an analog system were typically limited to one television channel , but digital television enables broadcasting via subchannels as well. Television stations usually require a broadcast license from a government agency which sets the requirements and limitations on the station. In the United States, for example, a television license defines
10692-459: The years since. WIIC also produced a daily afternoon game show , Give It a Whirl , from 1965 to 1967. Steve Rizen of KQV radio hosted the show, which had contestants spinning a wheel to determine what prizes they could win. Local musician Dom Trimarkie was part of the show, providing material for the "Mystery Tunes" segment. In regards to children's programming, WIIC produced Cartoon Colorama , which aired older cartoons produced in color (hence
10800-458: Was Game 7 of the 2009 Stanley Cup Finals, which saw the Pittsburgh Penguins clinch their third Stanley Cup less than an hour and a half before WPXI shut down its analog signal. WPKD-TV currently operates its digital signal on WPXI's former analog position. In July 2009, the station applied with the FCC to operate three repeater signals: channel 21 in Derry Township (which was not used and
10908-484: Was briefly played at the beginning by the little-known Jim Saunders, and from 1959 on by Ted Eckman. The station also aired a local version of The Mickey Mouse Club during the 1960s, which was hosted by By Williams. Since 2022, WPXI has partnered with Nexstar Media Group on state governmental public affairs programming airing throughout the state, with programming airing on WPXI and (outside of Pittsburgh) on Nexstar owned or operated stations within Pennsylvania. As
11016-637: Was completed on May 2), WPXI became Cox's only NBC-affiliated station until 2019 when the company acquired Northwest Broadcasting stations KYMA-DT in Yuma, Arizona , KIEM-TV in Eureka, California , KPVI-DT in Pocatello, Idaho , and WNBD-LD in Grenada, Mississippi ; these four stations were sold in 2022 to Imagicomm Communications , a company affiliated with the cable network INSP , at which time WPXI regained its status as
11124-408: Was criticized for technical glitches during the initial week of the new system run but worked through the issues and set the pace of technological advances for WTAE and KDKA to follow. With the switch to HD came a new set, created by FX Group and a new graphics package designed by Hothaus Creative. In mid-October 2008, WPXI, in collaboration with Cox's longtime partner Internet Broadcasting , launched
11232-531: Was one of its strongest affiliates and unwilling to exchange networks. It could also be argued that if not for sports coverage like the Steeler dynasty of the 1970s and the Pirates in the playoffs airing via NBC, WIIC-TV's ratings could have even been below PBS member station WQED (during the peak era of locally recorded Mister Rogers' Neighborhood ) and lowly independent WPGH-TV, years before Fox's existence. Following
11340-506: Was originally issued by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in June 1955, to WIIC Incorporated – a joint venture of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette , which owned WWSW radio (970 AM, now WBGG ), and Pittsburgh Radio Supply House, the then-owners of WJAS radio (1320 AM). Both radio stations had competed individually for the permit grant along with other applicants. CBS , which was looking to gain its own full-time affiliate in
11448-534: Was purchased by Indianapolis businessman Richard Fairbanks, via his WIBC, Inc. , as part of a settlement between Crosley and Fairbanks. Crosley had started WLWI (now WTHR ) in Indianapolis in 1957, but Fairbanks insisted that the last VHF allocation in Indianapolis should go to a local owner. Eventually, the two companies agreed to what amounted to a trade, in which Crosley kept WLWI while Fairbanks bought WLWA. The Atlanta station's call sign then became WAII-TV, using
11556-674: Was the first regular television service in the world. It was on the air from 22 March 1935, until it was shut down in 1944. The station was named after Paul Gottlieb Nipkow , the inventor of the Nipkow disk . Most often the term "television station" refers to a station which broadcasts structured content to an audience or it refers to the organization that operates the station. A terrestrial television transmission can occur via analog television signals or, more recently, via digital television signals. Television stations are differentiated from cable television or other video providers as their content
11664-512: Was therefore not originally transmitted on sister station WATL (virtual channel 36.3, digital channel 25) because it would look the same there, and that station's bandwidth is being used for mobile television ( ATSC-M/H ), including WXIA's mobile channels. Additionally, mobile communications work better on higher UHF TV channels than on low VHF ones. In early 2018, the station added new network Quest on new subchannel 11.4, taking over many of WXIA-DT2's cable slots and leaving that station for
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