Information AboutWsbk-tv |
WSBK-TV, channel 38, is the Boston, Massachusetts UPN affiliate. Like the network, WSBK-TV is owned by the CBS Corporation . Its transmitter is located in Needham, Massachusetts while it shares its studios with its sister station WBZ-TV (channel 4) in the Allston/Brighton neighborhood of Boston. WSBK is also seen in Canada to subscribers of the Bell ExpressVu and StarChoice satellite services, as well as subscribers of Shaw Cable and Rogers Cable . HISTORY On October 12, 1964 , channel 38 was first licensed to the Boston Catholic Television Center as WIHS-TV before being bought by Storer Broadcasting two years later. After the purchase, the station's call letters became the present '''WSBK-TV'''. The station was known for broadcasting Boston Bruins and Boston Red Sox games, and as such many people bought UHF antennas just to watch channel 38. Storer ran WSBK as a general entertainment Independent Station . Until 1983 , WSBK also ran a few network programs that were being preempted by Boston's NBC (then WBZ-TV), ABC ( WNAC-TV and later WCVB-TV ), and CBS (the original WHDH-TV and later WNAC-TV/WNEV) affiliates. Channel 38 also had a local newscast in the late 1970s to the early 1980s . By the start of the 1980s WSBK was on nearly every cable system in New England and other areas of the northeastern United States, making channel 38 a regional Superstation . WSBK was sold in a group deal with other Storer stations to KKR in 1984 . KKR later sold most the stations to Gillett Communications, who eventually sold the stations as a unit to SCI TV by the early 1990s. For a brief period in the 1990s , WSBK attempted to become a national superstation on the level of WGN-TV in Chicago and WTBS in Atlanta , using its sports coverage in much the same way as the other stations used the Chicago Cubs and Atlanta Braves , respectively. However, WSBK could not reach the level of carriage that the other successful superstations had reached, and so the idea was dropped. Nevertheless, the superstation idea would have been discontinued as Paramount had ceased the service when the company switched most of their stations (including WSBK) to UPN when it launched. The station was sold in a group deal to New World Communications in 1993 . WSBK would remain an independent station as other New World stations were switching to the Fox network. In 1994 , the station was then sold to Paramount Pictures (which would become a subsidiary of Viacom that same year) and became a charter UPN affiliate in 1995 . Originally, WSBK continued to run the same type of programming with UPN's schedule added, but eventually replaced many older off network reruns and cartoons with first run syndicated talk shows. The station also ran far fewer movies, beginning to show them only overnights and on weekends. After Viacom 's merger with the CBS network, WSBK moved its studios and offices to WBZ-TV 's building. PROGRAMMING WSBK generally broadcasts Syndicated Programs , movies, and UPN programming. However the station is best known in the Boston area for being the long-time TV home of the Boston Red Sox . WSBK became the Red Sox's over-air flagship station in 1975 and remained so for 20 years, selling the rights in 1996 to WABU (now WBPX ). After a seven-season hiatus, WSBK (in partnership with sister station WBZ-TV ) resumed its role as the Red Sox flagship station in 2003 , although only Friday night games were carried over air, and the games were produced and also carried by NESN , (whom aired the Friday night games outside of the Boston DMA, effectively blacking out WSBK in these areas). Among the nationally prominent announcers that have called Red Sox games on WSBK are Dick Stockton and Sean McDonough . WBZ-TV ceased to broadcast games after the 2004 season, and NESN announced that WSBK would itself cease airing games in early 2006 , making the team cable-exclusive. In addition to the Red Sox games, WSBK was also for many years the over-air flagship of the Boston Bruins . It was also the over-air home of the Boston Celtics before losing the broadcast rights in 1998 to FSN New England. Also, beginning with the 2005 season, WSBK (along with WLWC ) began airing Jefferson Pilot 's syndicated broadcasts of Atlantic Coast Conference College Football and Basketball games, as Boston College 's move to the conference has created regional interest for the ACC. The station used to broadcast a 10 PM newscast. WBZ-TV produced such programming from 1993 to 1995 . The newscast was then produced by NECN and was named ''UPN38 Prime News'' until 1998 . After Viacom 's merger with CBS , WBZ-TV once again began to produce channel 38's news programming starting in 2001 , which originally aired at 7 PM before they switched back to a 10 PM newscast in 2002 , entitled ''Nightcast at 10''. In 2003, a WSBK extension of WBZ-TV's morning news was added from 7 AM to 8 AM. In January 2005 , WSBK cancelled the ''Nightcast'', turning its attention to the morning newscast, which was relaunched as ''The Morning Show on UPN38'' on April 4 . On September 12 , the program was moved to 8-9 AM to make room for the first two hours of '' The Daily Buzz ''. Although WSBK never acknowledges it, ''The Morning Show'' is still produced by WBZ-TV. WSBK also broadcasts the '' Phantom Gourmet '' every Saturday morning, with its time depending on the station's programming commitments (such as ACC college football), and with a repeat of a recent episode each Sunday at 11 AM. On January 24 , 2006 , the UPN and The WB networks announced that they would merge into a new network called The CW , the letters representing the first initial of its corporate parents CBS and the Warner Bros. unit of Time Warner . The merger will take effect in September 2006, and current WB station WLVI-TV was announced as the CW's Boston affiliate. WSBK is tenatively scheduled to revert to independent status at that time. ON-AIR TALENT
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