WNDU 5 & 6pm News (October 18, 1995). News Segements about WSJV network switch to FOX and WBND network switch to ABC. No copyright infringement is intended.
with some people thinking WNDU was losing NBC, WNDU staff was first reminding that they are still NBC and that they were not going anywhere and helping viewers understanding the changes in the South Bend Television market and also helping out people's frustration with the new WBND channel due to a 2000 watt low power transmitter they had at the time before December of that year when they were able to set up a more powerful transmitter
Indeed: In my hometown of Salt Lake City, Utah, KUTV (Channel 2) and KSL (Channel 5) swapped their CBS and NBC affiliations while KTVX (I believe at the time KCPX on Channel 4) kept their ABC affiliation.
When WPXT 51 in Portland, Maine dropped Fox programming in 2001 in favor of The WB, it left many Mainers scrambling to find a new source for their Fox programming. One solution included WCKD-LP 30, which gained secondary Fox network status, although it provided a poor signal to many viewers. In 2003, Pax TV affiliate WMPX-TV 23 became Portland, Maine's new Fox affiliate, WPFO 23, and Fox is now available in Portland, Maine on a full-power TV station once again. Today, WPXT 51 is Maine's CW affiliate.
When Fox began operations in the fall of 1986 it did not have an affiliate in South Bend; Chicago superstation WFLD had served the western portions of the Indiana side of the market via cable since before the network began operations. In late 1989, cable companies in the eastern half of the market received permission to carry WFFT (channel 55), the Fox affiliate for Fort Wayne that was available via antenna in the market’s extreme eastern portions. Both stations served the Indiana side of the market, while WXMI (channel 17) began to be carried in the Michigan side of the market in 1990, one year before Foxnet launched. The presence of these three stations made Foxnet unavailable to the South Bend area. WKBD was carried in cable throughout the eastern quarter of the Michigan side of the market but was dropped in late November 1994 due to WJBK affiliating with Fox. WSBT had begun carrying Fox as a secondary affiliation two months earlier and this continued until October 1995; the station aired NFL games and a few portions of the network’s primetime lineup.
forgot that Tom Rinaldi was once a poor, lil Channel 16 reporter ... I'm sure he recalls this all-important station affiliation switch story that officially put him on the road to stardom!
The NFL isn't afraid of plugging its product on different networks. Remember "check your local listings" to find where your favorite shows were moving to?
One viewer had the right idea: he turned his antenna towards the Fort Wayne ABC affiliate WPTA 21 until the new WBND ABC 58 came in later that year. There were also some FOX fans who were happy with the new affiliation, that like to watch The Simpsons, Melrose Place, COPS, The X Files, and other popular Fox shows from that time period.
Prior to the affiliation of Fox with WSJV, the network’s programming was only available via cable; the network’s Chicago station was carried in the western half of the market since before the network began operations. Between 1989 and 1990, the network’s Fort Wayne’s affiliate began to serve the eastern half of the market via cable, and the network’s affiliate in Grand Rapids served the Michigan side of the market, while the extreme northeastern area was served by WKBD until December 1994. During the summer of 1994, a few cable providers dropped the Fox stations that were being carried on cable; as a result WSBT carried Fox as a secondary affiliation between September 1994 and October 1995, airing the network’s NFL games and a few programs like The Simpsons, all of which were aired in late night.
3:10 Channel 58 now 57 owner (Weigel) also owned WCIU in Chicago and several years earlier brought WDJT-TV in Milwaukee which become a CBS affiliation in December 1994 as WITI become a FOX affiliation.
Justin Hill Meanwhile, in Augusta, GA I end up with a low powered NBC station all because what Media General was acting nefariously with the previous full power station.
Didn't the signal of Chicago's WLS Channel 7 in the analog era reach into South Bend as did those of WBBM Channel 2, WMAQ Channel 5, and WGN Channel 9?
In my area (Evansville), WFIE 14 also stayed with NBC, but WTVW 7 went ABC to FOX, WEHT went CBS to ABC, WEVV went FOX to CBS. Another station in Madisonville then called WLCN was an independent Christian station that became the local WB affiliate soon after.
Yup, I remember. Though as a kid who lived in Farrell, I was miffed when WJW did not show Fox Kids, so I had to watch it on WBNX, or WUAB's Disney afternoon. Youngstown didn't even get a fox affiliate until like 2-3 years later when WYFX signed on.
In 1994, WAGA Channel 5 no longer became a CBS affiliate in Atlanta, and became a FOX affiliate! WATL Channel 36, then Atlanta's FOX affiliate, moved on to The WB, and independent station WGNX Channel 46 became CBS!
In 1995, WTVG of Toledo became an ABC O&O, and would be an O&O until 2010. NBC signed on an affiliation with WNWO which remains to this day. However, WNWO’s newscasts are based in South Bend, whereas WTVG’s are based locally.
KNXV-TV 15 in Phoenix, Arizona did an elaborate transition from Fox to ABC, where they unloaded Fox programs in stages, while slowly introducing ABC programs throughout 1994 under temporary independent status as they gained the likes of Good Morning America, Monday Night Football and TGIF, while unloading The Simpsons, COPS and the X-Files onto KSAZ-TV 10 and Fox Kids onto KTVK 3...
WCYB Channel 5 in Bristol, VA, and WSAZ Channel 3 in Huntington, WV have also used that same theme music in their own newscasts! And like WNDU-TV Channel 16 in South Bend, IN, they're NBC affiliates!
So, if you go frame-by-frame from 5:33 onwards, you can see their opening signal: a program promo, signal farts, it clips into a color bars from "FOX Television Center" in Hollywood, then the FOX Promo Satellite Feed, then the ABC NewsOne Channel Overnight Feed, another signal fart, then another program promo.
The same thing happened in Jacksonville when WJKS lost the ABC affiliation in early 1997. The new ABC station had a low-powered signal until September 1997.
The FOX buy up of many television stations in 1994 throughout America did this! CBS had to merge with Westinghouse to stay in business!! That’s how brutal it got!!
@@dimitriberozny3729 Yeah, the 1994 New World/FOX deal certainly had a ripple effect. The switch in my home market of Jacksonville, FL was due to the Albritton station group, which owned a small Independent in nearby Brunswick, Georgia, making a deal with ABC.
I remember being bummed out that they did this right before "The Beatles Anthology" debuted on the air. Caught a couple episodes at friends' houses that had cable.
WFMY Channel 2 is CBS. WXII Channel 12 is NBC. It will not Change. WGHP Channel 8 will Switch from ABC to Fox. WNRW Channel 45 will Switch to ABC & Changed the Call Letters to WXLV.
Stephen Holloway the primary reason was because wsjv changed to fox that day and because this would leave south bend with out an abc station, the network insisted they start now with their 2000 watt low power transmitter than wait till December when they were able to set up a more powerful transmitter
I would guess that maybe people would turn to Channel 16 (NBC) to get info on the switch and those people would be grateful for the help Channel 16 gave them and in return, maybe watch NewsCenter 16 more then they normally would and the station can pull in more revenue.
@@d0ug0005 It reminds me of how NBC-turned-CBS affiliate KCNC-TV 4 in Denver, Colorado did a TV special about their three-way switch where KUSA 9 switched from ABC to NBC, KMGH-TV 7 switched from CBS to ABC and KCNC-TV 4 switched from NBC to being owned and operated by CBS. They even gave details about which programs are staying, going or being moved to new times, as well as new programs, like how David Letterman replaces Jay Leno on KCNC's late night talk show scene...despite the switch from NBC to CBS, KCNC-TV's commitment to being "Colorado's News Channel" never changes...
WFMY Channel 2 is CBS not going Anywhere. WXII Channel 12 is NBC not going Anywhere. In 1995 WGHP Channel 8 Dropped ABC for Fox. Since That Network Brought the Station. Sending ABC to the Former Fox Affiliate WNRW Channel 45 & Changed the Call Letters to WXLV-TV. WCWG is CW. WMYV is My Network TV.
WFMY Channel 2 is CBS it is not Changing. WXII Channel 12 Is NBC it is not Changing. WGHP Channel 8 was a ABC Affiliate is now a Fox Affiliate. WNRW Channel 45 was a Fox Affiliate is a ABC Affiliate & Changed the Call Letters to WXLV. WCWG & WMYV was Changed in 2006.
Thanks Revin for the reply. One more question, is Channel 69 a CW affiliate now? Or a MY TV affiliate? Thanks again from a former resident of Michiana.... or something like it.
I didn't know that Channel 28 is a FOX affiliate. Last time I checked, 28 was an ABC affiliate....... but that was 29 years ago. Thank goodness 22 is still CBS and 16 is still NBC. And for the record.... sort of... WBND is 57 now. Is 34 still PBS......my bad, it still is. I miss Southeastern Michigan, but then again, I hate those Summers there...ugh. Anyway, go Irish!.....from afar.
