WUTB
WUTB | |
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Baltimore, Maryland | |
Branding | My 24 (general) My 24 News (during similcasted WTTG newscasts) |
Slogan | Very Local. Very Baltimore. |
Channels | Analog: 24 (UHF) Digital: 41 (UHF) |
Affiliations | MyNetworkTV |
Owner | FOX Television Stations |
Founded | 1968 (as WMET) 1983 (as WKJL) (current license dates back to 1983) |
Call letters meaning | -United Television Baltimore (first station owner) -Watch Us Today Baltimore (former slogan until 2006) -UPN Television Baltimore (previous affiliation) |
Former callsigns | WMET (1967-1972) WKJL (1983-1987) WHSW (1987-1998) |
Former affiliations | Independent (1968-1972) Religious Independent (1985-1987) Home Shopping Network (1987-1998) UPN (1998-2006) |
Transmitter Power | 1170 kW (analog) 220 kW (digital) |
Website | my24wutb.com |
WUTB is the MyNetworkTV owned and operated television station for Baltimore, Maryland. Licensed to the city, the station broadcasts an analog signal on UHF channel 24 and a digital signal on UHF channel 41. WUTB's transmitter is located near Gilson Park in Catonsville. Owned by FOX Television Stations, WUTB is the only FOX-owned MyNetworkTV affiliate not part of any FOX / MyNetworkTV duopoly. The station has studios located on Seton Drive in Baltimore near the city / Baltimore County line. WUTB is one of two network-owned and operated stations in Baltimore alongside CBS station WJZ-TV. The station is known on-air as "My 24".
Along with MyNetworkTV primetime and overnight paid programming, WUTB's syndicated lineup includes: The Montel Williams Show, The Tyra Banks Show, Everybody Loves Raymond, Seinfeld, and a weekday court block from 2 until 6 PM.
Starting September 10th, TMZ on TV and Two and a Half Men will be added to the station's 6-8pm block. Two and a Half Men, Raymond, and Seinfeld will also air M-F/11p-1230am.
Contents |
History
On , channel 24 signed on as WMET, the first UHF signal in Baltimore and touted as "Baltimore's fourth television station" in the Baltimore Evening Sun on Sunday, March 3rd, 1967. It was a low-budget and low-powered station that was sister station to WFAN in Washington D.C.. Both stations were owned by United Broadcasting (which is unrelated to the United Television that was owned by Chris-Craft Industries who later owned channel 24). In 1972, both stations ceased broadcasting due to financial difficulties.
The station was born again in 1983 as Christian station WKJL. The call letters stood for Where the Kingdom of Jesus Lives. Initially the station was on the air about 8 hours a day with religious shows. It was sold to Family Broadcast Group in 1985. In early 1986, the station expanded to an 18-hour broadcast day featuring 6 hours of religious programming and 12 hours of family entertainment. The station began broadcasting 24 hours a day in June of 1986 airing programming from the Home Shopping Network overnight.
Home Shopping Network announced its purchase of the station in September of 1986. By November, the station aired HSN programming about 15 hours a day. The sale to HSN was finalized on January 23, 1987. The station then began running HSN programming 24 hours a day and changed its call letters to WHSW.
In January of 1998, WNUV dropped UPN in favor of The WB, so Chris-Craft Industries (co-owner of UPN) bought channel 24 to make it a UPN owned and operated station. On January 20, 1998, the call letters were changed to the current WUTB. Chris-Craft ran the station out of WWOR's facilities in Secaucus, New Jersey and fed the station to its transmitter site in Baltimore. On September 11, 2001, WUTB aired WWOR's local news coverage of the terrorist attacks.
On July 25, 2001, FOX Television Stations purchased Chris-Craft's television stations, including WUTB. It was rumored in November of 2002 that the station would become a FOX affiliate but WBFF made a deal to keep its FOX affiliation.
On January 24, 2006, the WB and UPN networks announced that they would cease broadcasting and merge to create a new network. The new combined network would be called The CW, the letters representing the first initial of its corporate parents: CBS (the parent company of UPN) and the Warner Bros. unit of Time Warner. WUTB immediately dropped its "UPN 24" branding becoming "WUTB 24". Similar changes were made to FOX's other UPN affiliates (including its nearby sister station WDCA in Washington, DC). The CW announcement again touched off speculation that FOX would pull affiliation from WBFF and move it to WUTB.
On February 22, 2006, News Corporation announced that they would start up another new broadcast television network called MyNetworkTV. The new network, which would be sister to FOX, would be operated by FOX Television Stations and its syndication division Twentieth Television. MyNetworkTV was created in order to give UPN and WB stations, not mentioned as becoming CW affiliates, another option besides becoming independent. It was also created to compete against The CW.
It was later announced that WNUV would become Baltimore's CW affiliate. On August 11, 2006, WUTB adopted both the standard MyNetworkTV logo and gradually rebranded itself as "My 24". WUTB began broadcasting MyNetworkTV on September 5, 2006. WNUV began broadcasting The CW on September 18, 2006.
Newscasts
On September 4, 2006, Washington D.C.'s FOX owned and operated station WTTG began simulcasting its weekday morning and 10 PM newscasts on WUTB. The newscasts on WUTB are rebranded from "FOX 5 News" to "My 24 News". During the simulcasts, WTTG's network bug is replaced with a "My 24 News" bug. The higher-ups at both stations cite the decision to simulcast as a by-product of cross-regional news interests and increasing overlap between the Baltimore and Washington media markets. During the 2006 MLB postseason, WTTG's 10 PM newscast aired on Washington D.C.'s MyNetwotkTV affiliate WDCA under the name FOX 5 News at 10 Special Edition. The same has occurred in 2007, but the newscast is now known as My 20 News at 10. When FOX Sports or programming delays the 10 PM newscasts on WTTG, the 10pm News is still produced for WUTB / My 24.
News Team
Weekday Mornings
- Anchors:
- Steve Chenevey (5 to 7 AM)
- Gurvir Dhindsa (5 to 7 AM)
- Bob Sellers (7 to 9 AM)
- Allison Seymour (7 to 9 AM)
- Weather:
- Tony Perkins
- Sports:
- Dave Ross
Weeknights
- Anchors:
- Brian Bolter
- Shawn Yancy
- Weather:
- Sue Palka
- Sports:
- Dave Feldman
Weekends
- Anchors:
- Will Thomas
- Maureen Umeh
- Weather:
- Gary McGrady
- Sports:
- Lou Holder
the WUTB simulcasts of WTTG newscasts feature additional news personnel from WTTG, see the WTTG article for a complete listing
Logos
External Links
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Local television stations |
See also broadcast television in the Philadelphia, Washington, DC, and Susquehanna Valley markets |