View source for WCWN

{{Short description|Television station in Schenectady, New York}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2025}}
{{Infobox television station
| callsign = WCWN
| city = Schenectady, New York
| logo = WCWN 2024.svg 
| logo_size = 200px
| logo_caption = 
| atsc3 = yes
| branding = CW 15 (cable channel)
| analog = 
| digital = 22 ([[UHF]])
| virtual = 45
| affiliations = {{ubl|'''45.1:''' [[The CW]] / [[CBS]] (alternate)|'''45.2:''' [[Charge! (TV network)|Charge!]]|'''45.4:''' [[The Nest (TV network)|The Nest]]}}
| translators = 
| country = United States
| founded = March 22, 1982
| airdate = {{start date and age|1984|12|3|p=y}}
| last_airdate = 
| location = [[Schenectady]]–[[Albany, New York|Albany]]–[[Troy, New York]]
| callsign_meaning = {{ubl|The CW Network|-or-|The CW [[New York State]]}}
| former_callsigns = {{ubl|WUSV (1982–1987)|WMHX (1987–1993)|WMHQ (1993–1999)|WEWB-TV (1999–2006)}}
| former_channel_numbers = {{ubl|'''Analog:''' 45 (UHF, 1984–2009)|'''Digital:''' 43 (UHF, 2003–2019)}}
| owner = [[Sinclair Broadcast Group]]
| licensee = WCWN Licensee, [[LLC]]
| sister_stations = [[WRGB]]
| former_affiliations = {{ubl|[[Independent station|Independent]] (1984–1987)|[[PBS]] (1987–1991, 1993–1999)|[[Dark (broadcasting)|Dark]] (1991–1993)|[[The WB]] (1999–2006)}}
| erp = 750 kW
| haat = {{convert|426|m|ft|0|abbr=on}}
| class = 
| facility_id = 73264
| coordinates = {{coord|42|37|31.3|N|74|0|36.7|W|type:landmark_scale:2000|display=inline, title}}
| licensing_authority = [[FCC]]
| website = {{URL|https://cwalbany.com/}}
}}

'''WCWN''' (channel 45, cable channel 15) is a [[television station]] licensed to [[Schenectady, New York]], United States, serving the [[Capital District, New York|Capital District]] as an affiliate of [[The CW]]. It is owned by [[Sinclair Broadcast Group]] alongside [[CBS]] affiliate [[WRGB]] (channel 6). The two stations share studios on Balltown Road in [[Niskayuna, New York]]; WCWN's transmitter is located on the [[Helderberg Escarpment]] west of [[New Salem, New York|New Salem]]. WCWN brands as '''CW 15''' after the cable channel position on [[Charter Spectrum]] and [[Verizon Fios]].

==History==
WCWN originated as an [[independent station]] on December 3, 1984, under the call letters WUSV, after its owner, Union Street Video. [[Chattanooga, Tennessee]]–based Media Central, a company that helped sign on a handful of independent UHF stations during this time, helped Union Street Video build the station, and also provided services to WUSV.<ref name=mediacentral>{{cite news|title=Consultant to independents makes SEC filing|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1984/BC-1984-01-16.pdf|access-date=February 27, 2022|newspaper=[[Broadcasting Magazine]]|date=January 16, 1984|archive-date=November 8, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211108151306/https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1984/BC-1984-01-16.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> However, it made little headway against the market's original independent, [[WXXA-TV]] (channel 23). As with most independent stations in mid-sized markets during that period, it had difficulties from the outset in terms of getting programming with only afternoon [[animated cartoon|cartoons]] and some reruns getting respectable ratings. Most of the stronger programming went to WXXA, perhaps due in part to one of its founding partners, longtime movie director [[Arthur Penn]], having ties to [[Cinema of the United States|Hollywood]]. Also hurting WUSV was the presence of New York City's three independent stations–WNEW-TV (now [[WNYW]]), WOR-TV (now [[WWOR-TV]]) and [[WPIX]]–and [[Boston]]'s [[WSBK-TV]] on cable, which had been the case for more than a decade.

When WXXA joined [[Fox Broadcasting Company|Fox]] as a charter affiliate in 1986 (displacing WNYW on cable systems), WUSV had some difficulty filling the void. The Capital District was just barely large enough at the time to support what were essentially two independent stations (WXXA, like other early Fox affiliates, was still programmed as an independent at the time), and there simply wasn't enough programming to go around. Due to continuing financial difficulties, Union Street Video finally gave up in 1987 and sold the station in a [[fire sale]] to [[WMHT (TV)|WMHT Educational Telecommunications]]. Under WMHT's ownership, channel 45 became a secondary [[PBS]] [[network affiliate#Member stations|member station]] under the calls WMHX. It was still licensed as a commercial station, but operated as a [[non-commercial educational station|non-commercial]] broadcaster—much like [[Buffalo, New York|Buffalo]]'s [[WNED-TV]] (which received an educational license in 2000) and New York City's WNYC-TV (now [[Ion Television]] [[owned-and-operated station]] [[WPXN-TV]]) operated for many years.

This arrangement lasted until 1991 when, due to financial difficulties, WMHX was taken off-the-air. Two years later, the station returned to the air as WMHQ, carrying a large amount of instructional programming alongside repeats and double runs from WMHT. Further financial difficulties at WMHT led to WMHQ being put up for sale in the late 1990s.

Despite WMHT's financial difficulties, WMHQ's commercial license was still very valuable. By this time, the Capital District had grown large enough that a second non-Big Three station was now viable. After a sale to [[Sinclair Broadcast Group]], which intended to make the station a dual [[UPN]]/[[The WB|WB]] affiliate, fell through, [[Tribune Broadcasting]], part-owner of The WB, bought the station in 1999 for $18.5 million. Channel 45's final day of programming as a PBS station was September 5, 1999; after its nightly midnight sign-off, it returned to the air at 6&nbsp;a.m. the next morning as WB affiliate WEWB-TV, branded on-air as "WB 45". Prior to WEWB's relaunch, WPIX and [[NewsNation|WGN-TV's national feed]] had both served as the default WB affiliates for the Capital District. WPIX remained available to cable viewers in [[Albany, New York|Albany]] until 2002, but was blacked out during WB programming as well as syndicated programming shown exclusively on Albany stations (due to [[syndication exclusivity]] rules).

From the station's relaunch as WEWB until December 2006, its master control was located at sister station WB affiliate [[WLVI-TV]] in Boston. However, local offices were at Corporate Woods in Albany. WLVI's meteorologists maintained WCWN's weather page. In 2004, WEWB's digital signal signed on-the-air and began broadcasting on UHF channel 43. In 2005, the "WB 45" name was dropped in favor of "Capital Region's WB" at the tail end of a period in which most of Tribune's WB affiliates (minus its [[VHF]] and "heritage" stations) were re-branded in the same format.

Eleven years after the births of UPN and The WB on January 24, 2006, it was announced by [[CBS Corporation|CBS]] and [[WarnerMedia|Time Warner]] that The WB would merge with its rival network, UPN, to form [[The CW]]. As part of the deal, the newly formed network signed a 10-year affiliation deal with 16 of Tribune's WB stations, including WEWB. In preparation, the station's call letters changed to the current WCWN on May 8.<ref>[https://licensing.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/pubacc/prod/call_hist.pl?Facility_id=73264 Call Sign History for WCWN]</ref> In July 2006, commercials for The CW as well as syndicated fall programming had the station rebranding as "The Capital Region's CW" effective with the network's launch on September 18.

On June 19, 2006, Tribune announced it would sell WCWN to [[Freedom Communications]], owner of CBS affiliate WRGB, for $17 million. The purchase faced review from the [[Federal Communications Commission]] (FCC) for much of 2006, since the Capital District has only eight full-power stations—not enough to legally permit a duopoly. However, the FCC granted Freedom a "failed station" waiver for the station's purchase on November 22, clearing the way for Freedom to close on the station on December 6. At that point, all of WCWN's operations were merged into WRGB's facilities in Niskayuna and Freedom began to maintain WCWN's website. The purchase gave the Capital District its first television duopoly. For a short period of time, this essentially gave WRGB control of three stations as it continued its pre-existing [[joint sales agreement]] (JSA) with [[MyNetworkTV]] affiliate [[WNYA]] until February 2007.

Freedom announced on November 2, 2011, that it would bow out of television and sell its stations, including WCWN, to Sinclair Broadcast Group, marking the company's second attempt at acquiring channel 45.<ref name=ocr-freedomsinclair>{{cite news|last=Milbourn|first=Mary Ann|title=O.C. Register owner sells TV stations|url=https://www.ocregister.com/articles/sinclair-324997-stations-company.html|access-date=November 2, 2011|newspaper=[[Orange County Register]]|date=November 2, 2011|archive-date=November 3, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111103014937/https://www.ocregister.com/articles/sinclair-324997-stations-company.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Since Freedom had acquired WCWN through a "failed station" waiver, Sinclair requested a similar waiver for the purchase; this was granted on March 13, 2012, as part of the FCC's approval of the transaction.<ref name=tvbr-waiverapproval>{{cite news|last=Seyler|first=Dave|title=FCC waves through another failing-station waiver|url=https://rbr.com/fcc-waves-through-another-failing-station-waiver/|access-date=March 16, 2012|newspaper=Television Business Report|date=March 13, 2012|archive-date=March 17, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120317170522/https://rbr.com/fcc-waves-through-another-failing-station-waiver/|url-status=live}}</ref> The group deal closed on April 2, 2012.

==Programming==
Since WCWN is a [[sister station]] to WRGB, it is responsible for airing CBS programming when WRGB is unable to or otherwise chooses not to air a program due to weather/emergency updates or local specials. In the past, it has been known to air coverage of the [[US Open Tennis Championship]]. When the yearly ''[[Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon]]'' aired in its original {{frac|21|1|2}}-hour format, WCWN was responsible for airing WRGB's local, syndicated, and network lineup. The station also airs some [[New York Mets]] baseball games produced by [[WPIX]] in [[New York City]]. Games are shown on Friday nights, Saturdays, and Sundays. The arrangement was in place because WCWN was owned by the [[Tribune Company]], WPIX's owner, from 1999 to 2006. Also, WCWN airs WRGB's newscasts at times when [[CBS Sports]] programming preempts them (prime examples include the [[Masters Tournament]] and the [[NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament|NCAA tournament]] and [[Final Four (college basketball)|Final Four]]).

===News operation===
{{see||WRGB#News operation}}
As WMHQ, it partnered with [[NBC]] affiliate [[WNYT]] to launch the [[media market|market]]'s first prime time newscast at 10 which ran from 1996 until 1998. The broadcast was canceled due to a lack of support. At the outset of the station's relaunch as WEWB, there was a chance Tribune would launch a news department possibly with some support from another station in the area. These plans were indefinitely put on hold after Tribune put a news freeze in place and did not consider such a launch to be a priority.

Newscasts would not return to the station until the start of 2007 when Freedom moved an hour-long extension of WRGB's weekday morning show at 7 from WNYA to this channel (currently known as ''The CW 15 Morning News''). This happened because, at the time, WCWN had higher ratings than WNYA. On January 14, 2008, the morning news on WCWN began to be produced in [[high-definition television|high definition]]. A day earlier, WRGB became the first station in the market to make the upgrade.

On September 24, 2008, WRGB started airing a weeknight prime time newscast in high definition on WCWN. Originally known as ''The CBS 6 News 10 at 10'' and airing for ten minutes, it featured the top stories of the day along with an updated weather forecast. On October 18, 2010, this was expanded to thirty minutes and renamed ''The CW 15 News at 10''. The format on WCWN became unique to the market and is different compared with newscasts seen on WRGB. There is more fast-paced reporting along with original stories and various features. The weekday morning and prime time newscasts are streamed live on WRGB's website. In the past, WCWN has also occasionally aired that channel's 11 o'clock news during CBS' coverage of [[NCAA March Madness]]. Currently, it airs WRGB's Saturday 6 and 11 p.m. and Sunday 6:30 and 11 p.m. newscasts whenever the main channel cannot do so, due to [[CBS Sports]] coverage.

==Technical information==

===Subchannels===
The station's ATSC 1.0 channels are carried on the [[multiplex (TV)|multiplexed]] signals of other Capital District television stations:
{| class="wikitable"
|+ Subchannels provided by WCWN (ATSC 1.0)<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.rabbitears.info/market.php?request=station_search&callsign=WTEN|title=RabbitEars TV Query for WTEN|website=[[RabbitEars.info]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.rabbitears.info/market.php?request=station_search&callsign=WRGB|title=RabbitEars TV Query for WRGB|website=[[RabbitEars.info]]}}</ref>
! scope = "col" | [[Digital subchannel#United States|Channel]]
! scope = "col" | [[Display resolution|Res.]]
! scope = "col" | [[Aspect ratio (image)|Aspect]]
! scope = "col" | Short name
! scope = "col" | Programming
! scope = "col" | ATSC 1.0 host
|-
! scope = "row" | 45.1
| [[1080i]] || rowspan=3|[[16:9]] || WCWN-HD || [[The CW]] || [[WTEN]]
|-
! scope = "row" | 45.2
| rowspan=2|[[480i]] || Charge! || [[Charge! (TV network)|Charge!]] || rowspan=2|[[WRGB]]
|-
! scope = "row" | 45.4
| TheNest || [[The Nest (TV network)|The Nest]]
|}

From its launch in 2006 until October 1, 2007, WCWN offered [[The Tube (TV channel)|The Tube]] on its second digital subchannel and [[Time Warner Cable|Time Warner]] digital cable. On November 1, 2008, WCWN-DT2 relaunched as an affiliate of [[This TV]], then shortly thereafter swapped subchannels with WRGB and took [[Universal Sports]]. WCWN-DT2 went dark again on January 1, 2012, when Universal Sports moved to cable only status and later shut down altogether.

===Analog-to-digital conversion===
WCWN shut down its analog signal, over [[UHF]] channel 45, on June 12, 2009, the official date on which full-power television stations in the United States [[Digital television transition in the United States|transitioned from analog to digital broadcasts]] under federal mandate. The station's digital signal remained on its pre-transition UHF channel 43, using [[virtual channel]] 45.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-06-1082A2.pdf |title=DTV Tentative Channel Designations for the First and the Second Rounds |format=PDF |access-date=March 24, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130829004251/https://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-06-1082A2.pdf |archive-date=August 29, 2013 |url-status=dead }}</ref> During the 2019 digital television repack, WCWN relocated from UHF channel 43 as it was no longer allocated to broadcast television and is now broadcasting on UHF channel 22.

===ATSC 3.0 lighthouse===
{| class="wikitable"
|+ Subchannels of WCWN (ATSC 3.0)<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.rabbitears.info/market.php?request=station_search&callsign=WCWN#station |title=RabbitEars TV Query for WCWN |website=[[RabbitEars.info]]|access-date=February 4, 2014 |archive-date=February 21, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140221233341/https://www.rabbitears.info/market.php?request=station_search&callsign=WCWN#station |url-status=live }}</ref>
! style="background-color: #bdbdff" scope = "col" | [[Digital subchannel#United States|Channel]]
! style="background-color: #bdbdff" scope = "col" | [[Display resolution|Res.]]
! style="background-color: #bdbdff" scope = "col" | Short name
! style="background-color: #bdbdff" scope = "col" | Programming
|-
! scope = "row" | [[WRGB|6.1]]
| rowspan=2 | [[1080p]] || WRGB || [[CBS]] ([[WRGB]])
|-
! scope = "row" | 6.10
| style="background-color:#ffffd0|T2 || style="background-color:#ffffd0|[[Tennis Channel#Streaming channels|T2]]
|-
! scope = "row" | 6.11
| || style="background-color:#ffffd0|PBTV || style="background-color:#ffffd0|[[Tennis Channel#Streaming channels|Pickleballtv]]
|-
! scope = "row" | [[WTEN|10.1]]
| [[720p]] || WTEN || [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]] ([[WTEN]])
|-
! scope = "row" | [[WMHT (TV)|17.1]]
| 1080p || WMHT || [[PBS]] ([[WMHT (TV)|WMHT]])
|-
! scope = "row" | [[WXXA-TV|23.1]]
| 720p || WXXA || [[Fox Broadcasting Company|Fox]] ([[WXXA-TV]])
|-
! scope = "row" | 45.1
| 1080p || WCWN || [[The CW]]
|}
{{legend|#ffffd0|Subchannel streamed via the Internet<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.rabbitears.info/static.php?name=atsc3_streaming|title=ATSC 3.0 Streams Delivered Via Internet|website=[[RabbitEars.info]]|accessdate=March 24, 2024}}</ref>}}

==See also==
*[[Channel 15 branded TV stations in the United States]]
*[[Channel 22 digital TV stations in the United States]]
*[[Channel 45 virtual TV stations in the United States]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*[https://cwalbany.com/ CWAlbany.com] - Official website

{{Albany NY TV}}
{{CW New York}}
{{CW New England}}
{{SBGI}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wcwn}}
[[Category:1984 establishments in New York (state)]]
[[Category:ATSC 3.0 television stations]]
[[Category:Charge! (TV network) affiliates]]
[[Category:The CW affiliates]]
[[Category:The Nest (TV network) affiliates]]
[[Category:Sinclair Broadcast Group]]
[[Category:Television channels and stations established in 1984]]
[[Category:Television stations in Capital District (New York)|CWN]]