is the
FOX affiliate in
Johnstown /
Altoona /
State College, Pennsylvania Media Market . It is owned by Peak Media of Pennsylvania, who also controls
ABC affiliate
WATM-TV . The station operates on
VHF channel 8, with a digital signal on
UHF channel 29. Its transmitter is located atop Laurel Ridge near
Ligonier, Pennsylvania .
Initially, WWCP was supposed to be licensed to
Pittsburgh , but its owners petitioned the
FCC to move the license to Johnstown. Additionally, programming prices were lower in Johnstown, and more shows would be available to them there as opposed to in Pittsburgh. Another likely consideration was the need to protect
WJW in
Cleveland . The FCC approved the move, under the condition that Pittsburgh would need to receive a grade B signal.
This posed a problem for the new channel 8, as this stipulation meant that its signal would be all but unviewable in the eastern portion of the market (including Altoona and State College). WWCP's owners solved this problem by buying the dormant license of Altoona's former ABC affiliate, WOPC-TV. It moved the WOPC license from channel 38 to channel 23 and changed the calls to WWPC-TV. As a result, the station signed on
October 13 ,
1986 , with WWPC as a full-time satellite.
Originally, both stations broadcast a general entertainment format, running cartoons, classic sitcoms, old movies, recent sitcoms, and drama shows. Finding itself in the unique position of being an independent station on the VHF band, the station immediately took most of the stronger shows from the only other independent in the market, WFAT (channel 19)--a coup which effectively spelled the end for that station (it went off the air in
1991 , returned in
1996 and is now Pittsburgh
CW station
WPCW ). Within 10 months of going on the air, the stations obtained a FOX affiliation.
Since WOPC had gone dark in the early 1980s, the eastern portion of the market had gotten ABC programming from
WHTM-TV in
Harrisburg , while the western portion was served by
WTAE-TV in Pittsburgh. At the time, both stations preempted a moderate amount of network shows. It soon became obvious that Johnstown needed its own ABC affiliate. In 1988, channel 8 converted WWPC to a separate station,
WATM-TV , which then took the ABC affiliation. WATM was soon sold off in order to comply with FCC regulations on station ownership, but the FCC allowed WWCP to continue to control channel 23 under a
Local Marketing Agreement . WWCP successfully contended that if operated separately, both stations may have been in danger of going
Dark .
For a time, a repeater was set up that allowed WWCP to be received as UHF Channel 57 to the Altoona area. This was not effective anyway; As the transmitter for channel 57 was located near
Martinsburg , 20 miles away, Altoona viewers who did not possess a high-powered antenna could not receive channel 57. Throughout most of the city, viewers only saw a picture, no sound, or vice versa, or neither. Also, the station was widely available on cable, which is all but essential for acceptable television in much of this market.
WWCP was the first Fox affiliate in the nation to refuse to air in
Memphis would have aired on the 27th, with a locally produced program about
Domestic Abuse , "When Violence Hits Home" produced by Josh Bandish and anchored by Jim Penna airing on the 29th, had Fox not pulled the special from air on November 21.
- Rich(Knight)Appuzo, Meteorologist(WXIX-TV Cincinnati)
- Donya Archer, Co-Anchor(Fox Philadelphia)
- Mindy Basara, Reporter(WBAL-TV Baltimore)
- Ryan Brant, Sports Anchor, reporter(Sports Director, WKEF/WRGT-TV Dayton)
- Paige Hopkins, Co-Anchor(Anchor, Fox News)
- David Pingalore, Sports Director(Sports Anchor, WOIO/WUAB-TV Cleveland)
- Josh Bandish, State College Bureau Reporter/Executive Producer
- Bob McCall, Senior Producer (WBFF-TV Baltimore)
