Editing WTEN (section)

==History==
WTEN began broadcasting on October 14, 1953, as WROW-TV on UHF channel 41.<ref>[https://cdbs.recnet.com/corres/?doc=86935 FCC History Cards for WTEN]. [[Federal Communications Commission]].</ref> It was owned by the Hudson Valley Broadcasting Company, operating alongside [[WROW|WROW radio]] (590 AM). The two stations shared space inside a former retirement home for [[nun]]s on a farm dirt road in the town of [[North Greenbush]], near [[Troy, New York|Troy]]. It broadcast from a temporary transmitter in [[Herkimer, New York|Herkimer]], limiting the signal to the immediate area. The station went to full power and installed a permanent tower next to the studio a few months later.<ref name="Capital Cities/ABC The Early Years: How The Minnow Swallow The WhaleP11">Capital Cities/ABC The Early Years: How The Minnow Swallow The Whale, Chilton Books, 1993, page 11</ref> It was originally the [[Capital District, New York|Capital District]]'s ABC affiliate.

Within their first year, the station was losing money, and on the verge of [[Bankruptcy in the United States|bankruptcy]]. By November 1954, Hudson Valley's shareholders sold controlling interest to a [[New York City]]–based syndicate group led by legendary radio broadcaster/author [[Lowell Thomas]] and his manager/business partner Frank Smith, who became president of the company upon completion of the sale.<ref name="Capital Cities/ABC The Early Years: How The Minnow Swallow The WhaleP15">Capital Cities/ABC The Early Years: How The Minnow Swallow The Whale, Chilton Books, 1993, page 15</ref> After the sale, the station switched its affiliation to [[CBS]] on February 1, 1955. In the spring of 1956, the station's [[call signs in North America|call letters]] were changed to WCDA (for "Capital District Albany")<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.qsl.net/n2jac/jota2k/Call%20Letter%20Origins.htm|title=Radio Station Call Letter Origins Release Number 90|date=February 20, 2000|access-date=December 26, 2017}}</ref> and a satellite station, WCDB (channel 29) in nearby [[Hagaman, New York]] was launched to reach areas in the northern portion of the market where the main signal did not penetrate.<ref name="Albany Times-Union 1956">Albany Times-Union, April 22, 1956, page H-4</ref> In December 1957, Hudson Valley merged with Durham Broadcasting Enterprises, the owners of [[WTVD]] in [[Durham, North Carolina]], to form Capital Cities Television Corporation (predecessor of [[Capital Cities Communications]]) with WCDA as its flagship station.

That same year, the call letters were changed again to WTEN when the station moved to [[VHF]] channel 10. By this time, the market had expanded to cover not only east-central New York, but also large swaths of southwestern Vermont and western Massachusetts. Not only is this market one of the largest east of the [[Mississippi River]], but much of it is very mountainous. UHF stations have never covered large areas or rugged terrain very well. When the FCC allocated two additional VHF channels to Albany, Hudson Valley sought and received permission to move to channel 10.

Upon moving to the VHF band, the station's transmitter was moved to [[Vail Mills]], approximately {{convert|35|mi}} west of Albany. This was necessary to protect both [[WHEC-TV|WHEC-TV/WVET-TV]] in [[Rochester, New York|Rochester]] and [[WJAR-TV]] in [[Providence, Rhode Island]]. But the new transmitter proved inadequate for serving the Capital District proper. The FCC eventually allowed a waiver in 1963 which let WTEN move its transmitter to Voorheesville, closer to Albany.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://lists.bostonradio.org/pipermail/boston-radio-interest/2008-January.txt |format=TXT|access-date=September 11, 2023|title=WUNR/WKOX/WRCA construction}}</ref> The new transmitter, located on the Helderberg Escarpment, was on some of the highest ground in the region, giving WTEN a coverage area comparable to that of long-dominant [[WRGB]] (channel 6).

In 1966, WTEN and WROW moved to new facilities on Albany's northside on Northern Boulevard. Channel 10 is still based there today (the WROW radio stations moved out in 1993, ten years after they were sold by Capital Cities). In 1966, the old studio in [[North Greenbush]] was burned down by an arson fire, but the station's owner donated its old transmitter to [[WRPI|WRPI radio]].

On April 27, 1971, Capital Cities sold WTEN to [[Poole Broadcasting]]. Following its purchase of several broadcast properties from [[Triangle Publications]], Capital Cities had to sell off two VHF stations to stay within the FCC's limit of five stations per owner at the time. In mid-1977, Poole sold WTEN and sister stations [[WJRT-TV]] in [[Flint, Michigan]], and [[WPRI-TV]] in Providence to [[Knight-Ridder]], with the deal finalized in 1978. Before the sale could be completed, Knight-Ridder signed an affiliation deal with ABC, which resulted in WTEN swapping affiliations with WAST (channel 13, [[NBC]]-affiliated [[WNYT]]) on October 23, 1977, thus returning ABC to its original affiliate in the Capital District (WPRI-TV had switched to ABC from CBS that June and would eventually reaffiliate with CBS in September 1995, nine years after WTEN's former owners, Capital Cities, completed its acquisition of ABC in January 1986). Upon Knight-Ridder's exit from broadcasting in 1989, WTEN and sister station [[WKRN-TV]] in [[Nashville]] were sold to [[Young Broadcasting]]. Since the Young purchases of the two stations plus WTEN satellite WCDC were made through two separate deals, they were consummated more than three months apart.

WTEN signed on its digital signal on UHF channel 26 in 2004 and began offering high definition service from the start. On October 1, 2007, Young Broadcasting launched the [[Retro Television Network]] (RTV) on a new third digital subchannel of WTEN. This was part of a test of the network with sister stations [[WBAY-TV]] in [[Green Bay, Wisconsin|Green Bay]] and [[KRON-TV]] in [[San Francisco]].

In an effort to cut costs, the company eliminated ten positions from WTEN on January 31, 2008, fueling speculation that the company might sell the station in order to pay down its financial debt. In January 2009, after failing to meet the minimum standards for listing on [[NASDAQ]], Young Broadcasting was dropped from the exchange.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20090127005778&newsLang=en |title=Young Broadcasting Inc. Receives NASDAQ Delisting Notice |publisher=Businesswire.com |date=January 27, 2009 |access-date=April 22, 2013}}</ref> One month later, on February 13, they declared [[Chapter 11]] bankruptcy.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/business/6262997.html |title=Young Broadcasting declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy one month after dropout from the exchange. |access-date=July 21, 2009 }}{{dead link|date=May 2016|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> The company planned to auction off its stations in a New York City bankruptcy court on July 14, 2009, but canceled the auction at the last minute.<ref>[http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/315182-Young_Broadcasting_Calls_Off_Auction.php "Young Broadcasting Calls Off Auction", from broadcastingcable.com July 14, 2009]</ref> After multiple issues with RTV operations and programming, Young switched their main subchannel affiliations to ABC's [[Live Well Network]] as part of a group deal with Young's other stations in 2012.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/479562-Young_Broadcasting_Stations_Look_to_Live_Well.php |title=Young Broadcasting Stations Look to Live Well - 2012-01-24 21:58:50 &#124; Broadcasting & Cable |publisher=Broadcastingcable.com |access-date=April 22, 2013}}</ref>

[[File:WTEN Headquarters.jpg|thumb|WTEN studio and office facility, on Northern Boulevard in Albany, circa 2010.]]
On July 27, 2012, it was announced that the Capital District's Fox affiliate, WXXA-TV, owned by [[Newport Television]], would be sold to Shield Media, LLC (owned by White Knight Broadcasting [[vice president]] [[Sheldon Galloway]]) for $19.2 million. That company then entered into a shared services agreement with Young Broadcasting resulting in WTEN operating WXXA. On October 23, the FCC granted the transaction.<ref>[http://www.tvnewscheck.com/article/61098/shield-buying-newports-wxxa-for-194m Shield Buying Newport's WXXA For $19.4M], ''TVNewsCheck'', July 27, 2012.</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://licensing.fcc.gov/prod/cdbs/pubacc/Auth_Files/1509776.pdf |title=The master control of the Fox outlet will likely move as the result of WTEN operating WXXA. |access-date=December 6, 2012 }}{{dead link|date=May 2016|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Nearing |first=Brian |url=http://www.timesunion.com/default/article/Fox-affiliate-sold-new-role-with-WTEN-3741937.php |title=Fox affiliate sold, new role with WTEN |publisher=Times Union |date=July 27, 2012 |access-date=April 22, 2013}}</ref> The move was completed on March 23, 2013.<ref>{{cite web|last=Anderson |first=Eric |url=http://www.timesunion.com/business/article/More-layoffs-at-Fox-News-4376573.php |title=Stormy weather: WXXA cuts jobs |publisher=Times Union |date=March 22, 2013 |access-date=April 22, 2013}}</ref> Soon afterward, WXXA closed its studios on Corporate Circle in Albany and moved its operations to WTEN.

On June 6, 2013, Young Broadcasting announced that it would merge with [[Media General]].<ref>[http://www.tvnewscheck.com/article/68068/media-general-young-broadcasting-to-merge Media General, Young Broadcasting To Merge], ''TVNewsCheck'', June 6, 2013.</ref> The merger was approved by the FCC on November 8, after Media General shareholders approved the merger a day earlier;<ref>[http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/496491-FCC_Approves_Media_General_Young_Merger.php FCC Approves Media General-Young Merger] Broadcasting & Cable, Retrieved November 8, 2013</ref> it was completed on November 12.<ref name=tvnc-youngmgcomplete>{{cite news|title=Media General, Young Now Officially One|url=http://www.tvnewscheck.com/article/71928/media-general-young-now-officially-one|access-date=November 12, 2013|newspaper=TVNewsCheck|date=November 12, 2013}}</ref> More than two years later, on January 27, 2016, it was announced that the [[Nexstar Broadcasting Group]] would buy Media General for $4.6 billion. WTEN and the operations of WXXA became part of "Nexstar Media Group".<ref>[http://www.mediageneral.com/press/2016/jan27_2016nexs.html Shareholders of Both Companies to Realize Immediate and Long-Term Value] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160130083411/http://www.mediageneral.com/press/2016/jan27_2016nexs.html |date=January 30, 2016 }} © 2016 Media General. All rights reserved.</ref> The acquisition resulted in Nexstar owning stations in every television market in Upstate New York; the sale was completed on January 17, 2017.

===WCDB===
In the spring of 1956, satellite station WCDB on UHF channel 29 in Hagaman was launched to reach areas in the northern portion of the market where WCDA's main signal didn't penetrate.<ref name="Albany Times-Union 1956"/> This signed off in 1957 after WCDA moved its transmitter closer to Albany, making WCDB redundant even though it did provide some primary CBS coverage to [[Utica, New York|Utica]]. The [[WCDB]] call sign would return to the air in 1978 for the student-run radio station at [[University at Albany]]. The UHF channel 29 allocation remained in the Albany market until the DTV transition in 2009; however, no other station had used the channel number since WCDB's sign-off.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20110515210032/http://www.w9wi.com/articles/analog-tv.html w9wi.com END OF ANALOG SNAPSHOT]</ref>

===WCDC-TV===
{{Infobox television station
| callsign = WCDC-TV
| above = Defunct; served as [[broadcast relay station#Satellite stations|satellite]] of WTEN
| city = Adams, Massachusetts
| digital = 36 (UHF)
| virtual = 19
| airdate = {{start date|1954|2|5}}
| last_airdate = {{ubl|{{end date|2017|11|19}}|({{age in years and days|1954|2|5|2017|11|19}})<ref name="fcc-wcdcoffearly">{{cite web|title=Suspension of Operations and Silent Authority of a DTV Station Application|url=https://enterpriseefiling.fcc.gov/dataentry/public/tv/draftCopy.html?displayType=html&appKey=25076ff35fd108c0015fe57f3bca1012&id=25076ff35fd108c0015fe57f3bca1012&goBack=N|website=Licensing and Management System|publisher=[[Federal Communications Commission]]|access-date=December 4, 2017|date=November 22, 2017}}</ref>}}
| location = [[Adams, Massachusetts|Adams]]–[[Pittsfield, Massachusetts]]
| callsign_meaning = Capital District-Albany, Station C ''(for WTEN's original WCDA calls)''
| former_callsigns = WMGT (1954–1957)
| former_channel_numbers = {{ubl|'''Analog:''' 74 (UHF, 1954–1957), 19 (UHF, 1957–2009)|'''Digital:''' 36 (UHF, 2003–2017)}}
| former_affiliations = {{ubl|DuMont (secondary, 1954–1955)|ABC (1955–1957, 1977–2017)|CBS (1957–1977)}}
| erp = 27.5&nbsp;kW
| haat = {{cvt|631|m|0}}
| facility_id = 74419
| coordinates = {{coord|42|38|14|N|73|10|6|W|type:landmark_scale:2000|name=WCDC-TV}}
}}

WCDC began broadcasting on February 5, 1954, as WMGT ("Mount Greylock Television") on UHF channel 74, the highest channel number ever used by a full-power U.S. television station. WMGT began as a separate station affiliated with the [[DuMont Television Network|DuMont]] network. The tower location on [[Mount Greylock]] (part of a [[Mount Greylock State Reservation|state reserve]]) helped WMGT serve first as the market's secondary affiliate of DuMont and later as a major boost to WCDA. In December 1954, WMGT moved to channel 19 extending the station's range to the Capital District of New York State. In February 1956, it was forced off the air when a storm damaged its transmitter tower.<ref>Albany Times Union, April 22, 1956, Page H-4</ref> Capital Cities bought the license and returned it to the air in 1957 under its final sign, WCDC. (The [[WMGT-TV|WMGT]] callsign is held by an NBC-affiliated station in [[Macon, Georgia]].) After Capital Cities returned WCDC to the air and until it shut down, it served as a straight simulcast of WCDA/WTEN. Due to snow and ice build-up, a tower collapse forced WCDC off the air again in March 1983.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://archives.chicagotribune.com/1983/03/12/page/20/article/storms-bring-snowfall-cold|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19830312010101/http://archives.chicagotribune.com/1983/03/12/page/20/article/storms%2Dbring%2Dsnowfall%2Dcold|title=Storms bring snowfall, cold|last=UPI|date=March 12, 1983|work=Chicago Tribune|access-date=April 20, 2017|archive-date=March 12, 1983|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Mulherin|first=N.D.|date=June 3–6, 1996|title=Atmospheric Icing and Tower Collapse in the United States|url=https://portal.ct.gov/-/media/CSC/1_Dockets-medialibrary/Docket_421/6IcingandTowerCollapseintheUSApdf.pdf|journal=Presented at the 7th International Workshop on Atmospheric Icing of Structures (IWAIS'96)}}</ref> Most cable systems on the Vermont and Massachusetts sides of the market picked up WCDC's signal. WTEN's various owners also leased tower space to other entities, including the [[Massachusetts State Police]] and competitor WNYT for their area translator station, as well as the area's main [[NPR]] station, [[WAMC-FM]].

WCDC's digital signal on UHF channel 36 signed on nearly eighteen months before WTEN's did in 2002. However, it did not upgrade to high definition until WTEN-DT signed on. WCDC shut down its analog signal on channel 19 on June 12, 2009, following WTEN's lead.

Citing declining over-the-air viewership, Nexstar Broadcasting, through the FCC's spectrum incentive auction in April 2017, was awarded $34,558,086 to agree to take WCDC-TV off the air; at the time, it indicated that WCDC would enter a channel sharing agreement (CSA) to continue providing service to viewers.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://ecfsapi.fcc.gov/file/0413879022478/DA-17-314A2.pdf|title=FCC Broadcast Television Spectrum Incentive Auction|date=April 4, 2017|website=fcc.gov|access-date=April 20, 2017}}</ref> Nexstar subsequently announced that WCDC would instead go dark December 1, 2017;<ref name="be-wcdcclosing">{{cite news|last=Fanto|first=Clarence|title=Amid dwindling viewer numbers, WCDC Channel 19 going dark Dec. 1.|url=http://www.berkshireeagle.com/stories/amid-dwindling-viewer-numbers-wcdc-channel-19-going-dark-dec-1,524311|access-date=November 21, 2017|work=[[The Berkshire Eagle]]|date=November 10, 2017|language=en}}</ref> however, damage to the station's transmission line in a storm would take WCDC off the air on November 19, almost two weeks earlier than scheduled. Nexstar informed the FCC that, due to insufficient time and a lack of available tower crews, the line would not be repaired before the planned shutdown date.<ref name="fcc-wcdcoffearly"/> Nexstar surrendered the WCDC-TV license for cancellation on February 12, 2018.<ref name="fcc-wcdccancelled">{{cite web|title=Cancellation Application|url=https://enterpriseefiling.fcc.gov/dataentry/public/tv/draftCopy.html?displayType=html&appKey=25076ff3617fe83801618abd20ff1688&id=25076ff3617fe83801618abd20ff1688&goBack=N|website=Licensing and Management System|publisher=[[Federal Communications Commission]]|access-date=February 12, 2018}}</ref>

On December 22, 2017, WAMC entered into an agreement to purchase the Mount Greylock transmitter and tower from Nexstar for just over $1 million. Due to sitting on [[Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation]] (MDCR) land and WTEN's lease having expired two years earlier, WAMC could have been taken off the air without purchasing the facility. WAMC owns the facility itself, but not the land beneath, which is under lease with the MDCR until 2025, and will fundraise in order to rebuild their financial reserves.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.berkshireeagle.com/stories/wamc-purchases-radio-tower-atop-mount-greylock,527769|title=WAMC purchases radio tower atop Mount Greylock|last=Fanto|first=Clarence|date=December 22, 2017|work=[[Berkshire Eagle]]|access-date=December 25, 2017}}</ref>