WSYR-TV

WSYR-TV is the ABC-affiliated television station for Central New York State that is licensed toSyracuse. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 17 from a transmitter on Sevier Road in Pompey. The station can also be seen on Time Warner channel 9 and in high definition on digital channel 889. Owned by Newport Television, it is the flagship of the company's New York stations and has studios on Bridge Street in East Syracuse. Syndicatedprogramming on WSYR includes: Entertainment Tonight, The Insider, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, Oprah, and Rachael Ray.

Digital programming
On WSYR-DT2, Verizon FiOS digital channel 460, and Time Warner digital channel 890 is anIndependent station. Programming includes repeats of newscasts from the main channel and a live feed of "Live Doppler 9" usually overnight. There is a re-airing of Central New York's Morning News with Joe Galuski and a simulcast of The Jim Reith Show from WSYR-AM 570. Syndicated programming on WSYR-DT2 includes: Storm Stories, Everybody Hates Chris, Entertainment Tonight, and Better.

Analog-to-digital transition
On June 12, 2009, WSYR ceased analog television service on VHF channel 9. It remained on UHF channel 17 after the transition. [1] Through the use of PSIP, digital television receivers display WSYR's virtual channel as 9.

History
It was the last of Syracuse's major network affiliates to sign-on September 9, 1962 after a channel shuffle involving rival WHEN-TV and Rochester's WHAM-TV allowed a third analog VHFstation in Syracuse. The original call letters were WNYS-TV (now assigned to Syracuse'sMyNetworkTV affiliate). It signed-on under the ownership of a group of local investors. The station was later owned by The Coca-Cola Company and has always been an ABC affiliate.

Fire overtook WNYS's studios in the basement of the Shopping Town Mall in DeWitt in April 1967 forcing the station to temporarily move toWCNY-TV's studios in Liverpool until its facilities were rebuilt. [2] The station was sold to The Outlet Company in 1978 and the call sign was changed to WIXT-TV with "IX" standing for Roman numeral 9. The Ackerley Group bought it in 1982.

In 1986, WIXT implemented a digital central-casting control hub for Ackerley's New York State cluster that includes stations in Rochester,Watertown, Binghamton, Elmira, and formerly Utica to help with the upcoming digital television transition. The central-casting still exists today. Other stations throughout Ackerley's New York cluster have received updated studios. Clear Channel Communications bought Ackerley in 2001 putting WIXT under the same ownership as WSYR-AM. The call sign was then changed to the current WSYR-TV in July 2005 creating a small amount of confusion as rival NBC affiliate WSTM-TV was known as WSYR-TV from February 15, 1950 until its sale to the Times Mirror Company in 1980.

On December 22, 2006, Nancy Duffy (a former general assignment reporter for the station) died after a long illness. She became the first woman police reporter in Central New York after joining the Syracuse Herald-Journal in 1966. She was Syracuse’s first female television reporter when she moved to WHEN-TV (now WTVH) in 1967. Duffy became the first woman to join the Syracuse Press Club and later served as its president. In 1970, Nancy served as press secretary at Syracuse City Hall. She returned to WTVH after a year and moved to WSYR as a weekday morning anchor and reporter in 1977. She had also founded the local St. Patrick's Day Parade and was active in the community.

On April 20, 2007, Clear Channel entered into an agreement to sell its entire television stations group to Newport Television, a broadcasting group established by Providence Equity Partners. [3] WSYR radio was not part of the sale. Nevertheless, the WSYR-TV call letters were retained.

WSYR-DT2 was affiliated with the Variety Television Network (operated by Newport Television) until its demise in early-January 2009. This station once served on cable as the default ABC affiliate in Northern New York State communities such as Ogdensburg, Potsdam, Massena, and Malone. Since then, most of those areas have been replaced with WSYR's sister station and fellow ABC affiliate WWTI. However, both were available in these markets for a short time with WVNY from Burlington, Vermont now serving Malone. WSYR is one of very fewAmerican television stations that broadcasts in mono. This can easily be detected when comparing it to stereo broadcasts especially using asurround sound decoder because the mono signal cannot be unfolded. It is due to the fact that it broadcasts in digital audio.

Bridge Street
In 2004, WIXT premiered the area's only locally produced daytime talk/entertainment/lifestyle magazine show known as Bridge Street (named from the address of the studios). The program airs every weekday morning at 10 from a secondary set and is replayed on WSYR-DT2 weekdays at noon and weeknights at 9. In July 2008, 46-year station veteran Mike Price retired. The station's news studio was renamed the "Mike Price Studio" on July 9 in dedication to his work on Bridge Street. On December 29, Maureen Green (a former WSYR anchor) was featured as a substitute co-host on Bridge Street filling in for Rick Gary. This was the first time Green was seen on the airwaves since being fired from her position at WTVH as main weeknight anchor in December 2007.

On March 20, 2009, Keith Kobland (former weekday morning and noon anchor on WTVH until its consolidation with WSTM) joined Carrie Lazarus to co-host Bridge Street filling in for Rick Gary. On April 24, WSYR announced that Rick Gary had left the station after serving for more than two decades. Dan Cummings and Keith Kobland joined Carrie Lazarus as temporary replacements until February 1, 2010 whenBridge Street was relaunched with a new look hosted by Chris Brandolino and Tanja Babich.

News operation
After going from third to first place in Syracuse news ratings, work commenced on a new facility on Bridge Street in East Syracuse in 1985. Construction was completed in 1986 and WIXT moved there soon afterward. In 2000, a new news set and newsroom built by NewSet debuted. Also that year in response to declining ratings, WIXT began a new segment called "Your Stories". This feature is where viewers can call the station, not an automated phone system, and get right on-line with a staffer for help with questions. The most popular topics are turned into segments which air at 5:16 during the weeknight news at 5. [4] "Your Stories" was reinvented in 2007 when WSYR started the "Consumer Protection Unit". This is divided into three different parts: "Your Stories", "The Real Deal", and "Consumer Reports".

<p style="margin-top: 0.4em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em;">As of July 2008, WSYR remains number one in Nielsen ratings in Central New York for the whole day-part. However, this station and WSTM are in a tight battle for weekday mornings and weeknights at 11. WSYR makes up for this with huge leads during the week at noon, 5, 5:30, and 6. With the consolidation of WTVH and WSTM on March 2, 2009, there has been a noticeable decline in viewership especially on WTVH which now only airs separately-branded newscasts on weeknights with the same coverage. As a result, WSYR has seen increased viewership. Currently, there are only three news operations that cover the area including cable-only YNN Central New York.

<p style="margin-top: 0.4em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em;">Sister station WWTI in Watertown was hit by across the board cuts from Newport Television in June 2009. Eventually, it began simulcasting WSYR's news every night at 11 and added half-hour reports from the Buffalo Bills training camp produced by fellow ABC affiliate and sister station WHAM in Rochester. <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-wdt-wwtiwsyr_4-0" style="line-height: 1em; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; ">[5] On September 8, 2009, WWTI began simulcasting WSYR's weekday morning and nightly 6 o'clock newscasts. <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-wdt-wwtiwsyr_4-1" style="line-height: 1em; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; ">[5] After letting go the few on-air news staff that it had, the station became a news bureau of WSYR with contributions of content from the North Country from a single reporter. <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-wdt-wwtiwsyr_4-2" style="line-height: 1em; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; ">[5]

<p style="margin-top: 0.4em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em;">On September 7, 2010, WSYR added a prime time show weeknights at 10 on WSYR-DT2. However, unlike the hour-long weeknight and half-hour weekend broadcasts on low-power CW affiliate WSTQ-LP (produced by WSTM), WSYR-DT2's newscast only airs live for the first fifteen minutes and is then repeated four times in the 10 p.m. hour. The station also added a half-hour to the weekday morning show, which now starts at 4:30, becoming the first station outside of New York City to make such a launch. <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-5" style="line-height: 1em; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; ">[6] WSYR was an affiliate of CNN Newsource but in a late-2008 cost-cutting move Newport Television chose to terminate all station affiliations with the network. That leaves ABC NewsOne as its lone source of national and world material.

<p style="margin-top: 0.4em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em;">Unlike weekday broadcasts that air on the main channel, weekend newscasts are not repeated on WSYR-DT2. However when the weekend news at 6 is delayed or pre-empted altogether by live ABC Sports programming, the broadcast may occasionally air live at the regular time on WSYR-DT2. The station operates its own weather radar at its transmitter site known as "Live Doppler 9" making it the only local weather radar based in the Syracuse area. It exists due to a perceived inability of the NOAA National Weather Service radars in Montague,Binghamton, and Buffalo to pick up lake-effect snow. There is a live streaming video feed of "Live Doppler 9" on its website. WSYR also offers a live video stream of its weekday newscasts.

<p style="margin-top: 0.4em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em;">On January 29, 2011, WSYR became the first and only station in Central New York to broadcast local news in true high definition.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-6" style="line-height: 1em; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; ">[7] With the switch to HD came a new set, a new logo (which looks similar to KMBC-TV in Kansas City, Missouri), and a new slogan ("The Local Station"). WRGB in Albany, New York, in January 2008, became the first station in upstate NY to broadcast local news in high definition. Back in mid-December 2010, rivals, WSTM and WTVH became the first two stations in the market to offer local newscasts in 16:9 enhanced definition widescreen. Although not truly high definition, the broadcasts match the aspect ratio of HD television screens.

<p style="margin-top: 0.4em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em;">Since 1993, the station has used many versions of Frank Gari's "News Station" music package including customized vocal versions of the theme using old station slogans, "Making A Difference" and "Central New York's News Source".

Newscast titles

 * Information 9 News (1962-?)
 * Charles Hammond and the News (?–1972)
 * 9 News (1972–1974 and 1989–1996)
 * Channel 9/ 9 Eyewitness News (1974–1989)
 * NewsChannel 9 (1996–present)

Stati on slogans

 * "Colorful Channel 9" (1960s)
 * "You And Me And WIXT" (1980-1981, localized version of ABC campaign)
 * "Now is the Time, Channel 9 is the Place" (1981-1982; localized version of ABC campaign)
 * That Special Feeling on 9, A Special Place" (1983-1984; local version of ABC campaign)
 * "The News Team That's Making a Difference" (1989–1992)
 * "Your 24-Hour News Source" (1989–1992)
 * "Making A Difference, Central New York's News Source" (1989–1996)
 * "Coverage You Can Count On" (1996–2007)
 * "The News That Matters from the People You Trust" (2005-2011)
 * "The Station That Tells Your Stories" (2005-2011)
 * "Anytime, Anywhere: NewsChannel 9 is Everywhere" (2007–2011)
 * "The Local Station" (2011–present)

News team
<p style="margin-top: 0.4em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em;">As of Jan. 2011 Anchors


 * Tanja Babich - weekday mornings
 * Christie Casciano - weeknights at 10 p.m. and 11 p.m.; also crime reporter
 * Dan Cummings - weekday mornings; also reporter
 * James Gaddis - weekend evenings; also reporter and producer
 * Carrie Lazarus - weekdays at noon, 5, 5:30, and 6 p.m.; also "Family Healthcast" segment producer
 * Rod Wood - weeknights at 5, 5:30, 6, and 11 p.m.; also consumer reporter
 * Jan Carabeo - weekend mornings

<p style="margin-top: 0.4em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em;">Hall of Fame Inductions


 * On June 27, 2011, NewsChannel 9's 25-year-duo Rod Wood and Carrie Lazarus were inducted into the New York State Broadcasters Association Hall of Fame. As one of the longest-running anchor teams in the United States, their names join those of Walter Cronkite, Barbara Walters, and other broadcast legends.

<p style="margin-top: 0.4em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em;">NewsChannel 9 Storm Team


 * Dave Longley (AMS Seal of Approval) - chief meteorologist; weeknights
 * Chris Brandolino - meteorologist; weekday mornings and noon; also Bridge Street host
 * Mike Bennett - meteorologist; weekend mornings
 * Jim Teske (AMS Seal of Approval) - meteorologist; weekend evenings
 * Tom Hauf (AMS Certified Broadcast Meteorologist Seal of Approval) - meteorologist; fill-in

<p style="margin-top: 0.4em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em;">Sports team


 * Steve Infanti - sports director; weeknights at 6 and 11 p.m., also Friday Night Fever, Rewind and Reload, SU Shootaround, and Orange All Access host
 * Sal Maneen - sports anchor; weekend evenings, also sports reporter and fill-in sports anchor

<p style="margin-top: 0.4em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em;">Reporters


 * Racquel Asa
 * Holly Boname - North Country reporter (based at WWTI)
 * Jan Carabeo
 * Tim Fox - also news producer
 * Staci-Lyn Honda
 * Keith Kobland - also news producer
 * Jeff Kulikowsky - senior reporter
 * Jennifer Lewke - consumer investigator
 * Kaylea Nixon - traffic reporter and Bridge Street co-host
 * Kelly Quinn - also fill-in news anchor

Former on-air staff

 * Scott Beyerl
 * Dave Eichorn - now at WYYY
 * Peggy Finnegan - now at WPXI in Pittsburgh
 * Rick Gary - now at WZUN and WUMX
 * Solon Gray - retired
 * Mark Chapin - Austin, Texas
 * Maureen Green
 * Bud Hedinger - later of WKCF in Orlando
 * Frank Hudson
 * Stu Kellogg
 * Bill Carey - now Senior Reporter at News 10 Now
 * Doug Logan - now Sports Director at Time Warner Cable Syracuse
 * Anne McNamara, former News/Sports Reporter, now Reporter at WGME in Portland, ME
 * Kelly McPherson
 * Alyson Megur
 * Horace "Stormy" Meredith (1917–2008) <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-6" style="line-height: 1em; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; ">[7]
 * Jack Morse - semi-retired
 * now at WTLA
 * Stephanie Nazzaro
 * Steve Newman
 * Kyle Pieper
 * Jim Rose - now at WLS-TV in Chicago
 * Jeff Rossen - now at MSNBC
 * Anish Shroff - now at ESPNews
 * Kevin Torres - now at KUSA in Denver
 * Erica Van Ross - later of KMOV in St. Louis
 * Ray Villeda - now at WFSB in Hartford
 * Lelia Walsh
 * Audrey Washington - now at [WJAR] in Providence