Editing WWOR EMI Service

{{Short description|Defunct American superstation feed}}
{{about|the superstation feed of WWOR-TV available nationwide via cable and satellite from 1990 to 1996|the local New York City market television station|WWOR-TV}}
{{Infobox television channel
| name = WWOR EMI Service
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| type = [[Cable television|Cable]] and [[Satellite television|satellite]] [[television network|network]]
| country = [[United States]]
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| former_names = 
| owner = Eastern Microwave, Incorporated (uplinker, 1965–1996; Superstation programmer, 1990–1996)<br>Advance Entertainment Corporation (uplinker and Superstation programmer, 1996)
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| founded = 
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| launch_date = {{Start date and age|1990|1|1}}
| replaced = 
| closed_date = {{End date and age|1996|12|31}}
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'''WWOR EMI Service''' was a [[New York City]]-based [[United States|American]] [[cable television]] channel that operated as a [[superstation]] feed of [[Secaucus, New Jersey]]-licensed [[WWOR-TV]] (channel 9). The service was uplinked to satellite from [[Syracuse, New York]], by Eastern Microwave, Inc., which later sold the satellite distribution rights to the [[Advance Publications#Former and defunct divisions|Advance Entertainment Corporation]] subsidiary of [[Advance Publications]], a Syracuse-based company that also owned various print, broadcast and cable television properties.

In the [[New York metropolitan area]], the superstation feed was not carried on local cable providers but was available to satellite subscribers. Two exceptions to this took place; once on February 26, 1993, after the [[World Trade Center bombing]], when the local WWOR's transmitter was knocked out for the day. Cable providers in the New York metro area used the superstation feed as a substitute until the transmitter returned to service. The other was on [[Long Beach Island]] in [[Ocean County, New Jersey]]. Although that area falls within the New York City market, the [[Xfinity|Comcast]] system serving that area carried WWOR EMI Service instead of the local feed, as they were unable to obtain a microwave link to be able to carry channel 9. Months after the end of the feed, that system began carrying the local feed, which by that point was uplinked to satellite.

==History==
In 1989, the [[Federal Communications Commission]] (FCC) passed the "[[Syndication Exclusivity]] Rights rule" (or "SyndEx") into law. This law meant that whenever a local [[television station]] had the exclusive rights to broadcast a syndicated program, that particular program must be blacked out on any out-of-market stations that were carried by local cable providers. After the law was passed, EMI purchased the rights to programs that no stations had claimed exclusive rights to, and launched a special national feed for cable and satellite subscribers outside of the New York City market on January 1, 1990, called the "WWOR EMI Service". Most of the syndicated programs that WWOR-TV had the rights to show in the New York City market were covered up by the alternate programming shown on the national feed—with the exception of most sporting events, local newscasts and other WWOR-produced programming such as ''[[Steampipe Alley]]'', ''The [[Joe Franklin]] Show'', the overnight ''[[Shop at Home]]'' program, the annual ''Weekend with the Stars Telethon'' for [[United Cerebral Palsy]], the annual ''[[Jerry Lewis]] [[MDA Labor Day Telethon]]'' for the [[Muscular Dystrophy Association]], and a select number of programs that were not claimed as exclusive to any market. Most of the programs came from the libraries of [[Universal Television]] (whose parent company, [[MCA Inc.]], owned WWOR-TV at the time of the EMI Service's founding), [[MGM Television]] and [[Quinn Martin]], along with some shows from the ''[[Christian Science Monitor]]''{{'}}s [[WBPX-TV|television service]],<ref>{{Cite news|date=1989-12-29|title=Is Axel in or out?|pages=63|work=The Boston Globe|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/73918734/is-axel-in-or-out/|access-date=2021-11-23}}</ref> as well as some holdover shows that had aired on the local New York feed before the SyndEx law's passage.

In mid-1996, EMI sold the satellite distribution rights to WWOR and [[Boston]]'s [[WSBK-TV]] to Advance Entertainment Corporation. On December 31, 1996, AEC discontinued the feed,<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20121105151525/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-19009914.html McConville, Jim. "N.Y.'s WWOR loses super status; satellite distributor discontinues service contract with television station"], ''[[Broadcasting & Cable]]'', January 6, 1997.</ref> selling WWOR's former satellite transponder slot to [[Discovery, Inc.|Discovery Communications]] for the then six-month-old [[Animal Planet]],<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20121105151531/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-19193323.html Paikert, Charles. "Discovery dogs WWOR; Animal Planet gets leg up on Open Slots"], ''[[Multichannel News]]'', January 6, 1997. </ref> which Advance still presently owns in part.

==See also==
* [[WWOR-TV]], the local version

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{NYC TV}}
{{Superstations}}
{{Advance Publications}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wwor Emi Service}}
[[Category:1979 establishments in New York (state)]]
[[Category:1997 disestablishments in New York (state)]]
[[Category:Defunct television networks in the United States]]
[[Category:Superstations in the United States]]
[[Category:Television channels and stations established in 1979]]
[[Category:Television channels and stations disestablished in 1997]]
[[Category:English-language television stations in the United States]]
[[Category:Advance Publications]]
[[Category:Television stations in New Jersey]]
[[Category:Defunct companies based in Syracuse, New York]]