WUTB
Encyclopedia
WUTB, digital channel 41, is the MyNetworkTV
owned-and-operated
television station for Baltimore, Maryland. Its transmitter is located near Gilson Park in Catonsville
. The station has studios on Seton Drive in Baltimore near the city and county
line. Syndicated
programming on WUTB includes: Two and a Half Men
, Everybody Loves Raymond
, The Office, My Name Is Earl
, Divorce Court
, and Judge Alex
. It is the only Fox-owned MyNetworkTV affiliate not part of any Fox / MyNetworkTV duopoly. In other words, it is the only standalone MyNetworkTV station under network ownership. The station is one of two network owned-and-operated stations in Baltimore alongside CBS
affiliate WJZ-TV
.
on March 3. It was a low-budget and low-powered station that was sister 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
that later owned channel 24). The original channel 24 was headquarted in the former Avalon Theatre on Park Heights Avenue. In 1972, both stations ceased broadcasting due to financial difficulties.
A new channel 24, Christian
station WKJL-TV (owned by Family Broadcast Group) launched on December 24, 1985. 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.
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 1986 airing programming from the Home Shopping Network
overnight. HSN announced its purchase of the station in September 1986. By November, the station aired HSN programming about 15 hours a day. The sale to HSN was finalized on January 23, 1987. It then began running HSN programming 24 hours a day and changed its call letters to WHSW. In January 1998, WNUV
dropped UPN
in favor of The WB so Chris-Craft Industries
(co-owner of UPN) bought channel 24 to make it a network owned-and operated-station. On January 20, the call letters were changed to the current "WUTB". Chris-Craft ran the station out of WWOR-TV
'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 stations including WUTB. It was rumored in November 2002 that the station would become a Fox affiliate but WBFF
made a deal to keep its affiliation with that network. On January 24, 2006, The WB and UPN announced that they would cease broadcasting and merge to create a new network. The new combined network would be called The CW
. The letters would represent 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 and became known on-air as "WUTB 24". Similar changes were made to Fox's other UPN affiliates including its nearby sister station WDCA
in Washington D.C.
The CW announcement again touched off speculation that Fox would pull affiliation from WBFF and move it to WUTB. On February 22, News Corporation
announced that it would start up another new broadcast television network called MyNetworkTV
. This 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 with WUTB joining MyNetworkTV. On August 11, WUTB adopted the standard MyNetworkTV logo and gradually rebranded itself as "My 24". It began broadcasting MyNetworkTV on September 5. WNUV began broadcasting The CW on September 18, 2006.
. The station remained on its pre-transition channel 41, using PSIP to display WUTB's virtual channel
as 24.
began simulcasting its weekday morning and 10 p.m. newscasts on WUTB. Known on-air as My 24 News, there was a "My 24 News" network bug
seen in the bottom left hand corner of the screen. The higher-ups at both stations cited the decision to simulcast as a by-product of cross-regional news interests and increasing overlap between the Baltimore and Washington media market
s. During the 2006 MLB
postseason, WTTG's 10 p.m. newscast aired on Washington, D.C.'s MyNetworkTV affiliate WDCA under the name Fox 5 News at 10 Special Edition while continung to be simulcasted on WUTB. The same occurred in 2007, but the newscast was known as My 20 News at 10. When Fox Sports
or other programming delayed the 10 p.m. newscast from airing on WTTG, it was still produced for WUTB. The station dropped the morning news simulcast after the November 30, 2007 edition and the 10 o'clock simulcast was discontinued by January 2008. It cited low ratings as a reason for an end to the simulcasts. However, many viewers who commute to the Washington area have expressed a desire to see the simulcasts restored.
MyNetworkTV
MyNetworkTV is a television broadcast syndication service in the United States, owned by the Fox Entertainment Group, a division of News Corporation...
owned-and-operated
Owned-and-operated station
In the broadcasting industry , an owned-and-operated station usually refers to a television station or radio station that is owned by the network with which it is associated...
television station for Baltimore, Maryland. Its transmitter is located near Gilson Park in Catonsville
Catonsville, Maryland
According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of , all of it land.-Demographics:In 2010 Catonsville had a population of 41,567...
. The station has studios on Seton Drive in Baltimore near the city and county
Baltimore County, Maryland
Baltimore County is a county located in the northern part of the US state of Maryland. In 2010, its population was 805,029. It is part of the Baltimore-Washington Metropolitan Area. Its county seat is Towson. The name of the county was derived from the barony of the Proprietor of the Maryland...
line. Syndicated
Television syndication
In broadcasting, syndication is the sale of the right to broadcast radio shows and television shows by multiple radio stations and television stations, without going through a broadcast network, though the process of syndication may conjure up structures like those of a network itself, by its very...
programming on WUTB includes: Two and a Half Men
Two and a Half Men
Two and a Half Men is an American television sitcom that premiered on CBS on September 22, 2003. Starring Charlie Sheen, Jon Cryer, and Angus T. Jones, the show was originally about a hedonistic jingle writer, Charlie Harper; his uptight brother, Alan; and Alan's growing son, Jake...
, Everybody Loves Raymond
Everybody Loves Raymond
Everybody Loves Raymond is an American television sitcom that originally ran on CBS from September 13, 1996, to May 16, 2005. Many of the situations from the show are based on the real-life experiences of lead actor Ray Romano, creator/producer Phil Rosenthal and the show's writing staff...
, The Office, My Name Is Earl
My Name Is Earl
My Name Is Earl is an American television comedy series created by Greg Garcia that was originally broadcast on the NBC television network from September 20, 2005, to May 14, 2009, in the United States...
, Divorce Court
Divorce Court
Divorce Court is a judge show about cases which only involve divorcing couples. Out of the shows currently airing in the court-themed genre, Divorce Court is the oldest...
, and Judge Alex
Judge Alex
Judge Alex is a United States syndicated courtroom television show that debuted September 12, 2005. The host/arbitrator is the Hon. Alex Ferrer, a former police officer, lawyer, and Florida judge. The show was produced in Houston at the television studios of Fox's KRIV , as was previously done with...
. It is the only Fox-owned MyNetworkTV affiliate not part of any Fox / MyNetworkTV duopoly. In other words, it is the only standalone MyNetworkTV station under network ownership. The station is one of two network owned-and-operated stations in Baltimore alongside CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
affiliate WJZ-TV
WJZ-TV
WJZ-TV, channel 13, is an owned and operated television station of the CBS Television Network, located in Baltimore, Maryland. WJZ-TV's studios and offices are located on Television Hill in the Woodberry section of Baltimore, adjacent to the transmission tower it shares with four other Baltimore...
.
History
On March 1, 1967, WMET-TV began broadcasting on channel 24 as the first UHF signal in Baltimore touted as "Baltimore's fourth television station" in the Baltimore Evening SunThe Baltimore Sun
The Baltimore Sun is the U.S. state of Maryland’s largest general circulation daily newspaper and provides coverage of local and regional news, events, issues, people, and industries....
on March 3. It was a low-budget and low-powered station that was sister to WFAN in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
Both stations were owned by United Broadcasting (which is unrelated to the United Television that was owned by Chris-Craft Industries
Chris-Craft Industries
Chris-Craft Industries, Inc., formerly National Automotive Fibers, Inc., was a publicly-held American corporation traded on the New York and Pacific Stock Exchanges. It later took on the name of one of its acquisitions, Chris-Craft Boats...
that later owned channel 24). The original channel 24 was headquarted in the former Avalon Theatre on Park Heights Avenue. In 1972, both stations ceased broadcasting due to financial difficulties.
A new channel 24, Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
station WKJL-TV (owned by Family Broadcast Group) launched on December 24, 1985. 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.
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 1986 airing programming from the Home Shopping Network
Home Shopping Network
Home Shopping Network or HSN began in 1977 as a 24-hour/7 day a week home shopping television network televised via cable, satellite, and some terrestrial channels in the Philippines. HSN can also be shopped online at hsn.com...
overnight. HSN announced its purchase of the station in September 1986. By November, the station aired HSN programming about 15 hours a day. The sale to HSN was finalized on January 23, 1987. It then began running HSN programming 24 hours a day and changed its call letters to WHSW. In January 1998, WNUV
WNUV
WNUV, digital channel 40, is an affiliate of the CW Television Network, located in Baltimore, Maryland. WNUV is owned by Cunningham Broadcasting, but is operated by Sinclair Broadcast Group through a local marketing agreement with Fox affiliate WBFF . However, WNUV is effectively owned by...
dropped UPN
UPN
United Paramount Network was a television network that was broadcast in over 200 markets in the United States from 1995 to 2006. UPN was originally owned by Viacom/Paramount and Chris-Craft Industries, the former of which, through the Paramount Television Group, produced most of the network's...
in favor of The WB so Chris-Craft Industries
Chris-Craft Industries
Chris-Craft Industries, Inc., formerly National Automotive Fibers, Inc., was a publicly-held American corporation traded on the New York and Pacific Stock Exchanges. It later took on the name of one of its acquisitions, Chris-Craft Boats...
(co-owner of UPN) bought channel 24 to make it a network owned-and operated-station. On January 20, the call letters were changed to the current "WUTB". Chris-Craft ran the station out of WWOR-TV
WWOR-TV
WWOR-TV, virtual channel 9 , is the flagship station of the MyNetworkTV programming service, licensed to Secaucus, New Jersey and serving the Tri-State metropolitan area. WWOR is owned by Fox Television Stations, a division of the News Corporation, and is a sister station to Fox network flagship...
's facilities in Secaucus, New Jersey
Secaucus, New Jersey
Secaucus is a town in Hudson County, New Jersey. As of the 2010 United States Census, the town population was 16,264. Located within the New Jersey Meadowlands, it is the most suburban of the county's municipalities, though large parts of the town are dedicated to light manufacturing, retail, and...
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 stations including WUTB. It was rumored in November 2002 that the station would become a Fox affiliate but WBFF
WBFF
WBFF, channel 45, is a Fox-affiliated television station located in Baltimore, Maryland. WBFF is the flagship station of the Sinclair Broadcast Group, which also operates Baltimore's CW affiliate, WNUV-TV , through a local marketing agreement...
made a deal to keep its affiliation with that network. On January 24, 2006, The WB and UPN announced that they would cease broadcasting and merge to create a new network. The new combined network would be called The CW
The CW Television Network
The CW Television Network is a television network in the United States launched at the beginning of the 2006–2007 television season. It is a joint venture between CBS Corporation, the former owners of United Paramount Network , and Time Warner's Warner Bros., former majority owner of The WB...
. The letters would represent the first initial of its corporate parents: CBS (the parent company of UPN) and the Warner Bros.
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...
unit of Time Warner
Time Warner
Time Warner is one of the world's largest media companies, headquartered in the Time Warner Center in New York City. Formerly two separate companies, Warner Communications, Inc...
. WUTB immediately dropped its "UPN 24" branding and became known on-air as "WUTB 24". Similar changes were made to Fox's other UPN affiliates including its nearby sister station WDCA
WDCA
WDCA, virtual channel 20, is a television station in Washington, D.C.. Owned by Fox Television Stations, a division of the News Corporation, WDCA is a sister station to Fox network outlet WTTG , and is affiliated with the co-owned MyNetworkTV programming service...
in Washington D.C.
The CW announcement again touched off speculation that Fox would pull affiliation from WBFF and move it to WUTB. On February 22, News Corporation
News Corporation
News Corporation or News Corp. is an American multinational media conglomerate. It is the world's second-largest media conglomerate as of 2011 in terms of revenue, and the world's third largest in entertainment as of 2009, although the BBC remains the world's largest broadcaster...
announced that it would start up another new broadcast television network called MyNetworkTV
MyNetworkTV
MyNetworkTV is a television broadcast syndication service in the United States, owned by the Fox Entertainment Group, a division of News Corporation...
. This 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 with WUTB joining MyNetworkTV. On August 11, WUTB adopted the standard MyNetworkTV logo and gradually rebranded itself as "My 24". It began broadcasting MyNetworkTV on September 5. WNUV began broadcasting The CW on September 18, 2006.
Digital television
WUTB shut down its analog signal on June 12, 2009, as part of the DTV transition in the United StatesDTV transition in the United States
The DTV transition in the United States was the switchover from analog to exclusively digital broadcasting of free over-the-air television programming...
. The station remained on its pre-transition channel 41, using PSIP to display WUTB's virtual channel
Virtual channel
In telecommunications, a logical channel number , also known as virtual channel, is a channel designation which differs from that of the actual radio channel on which the signal travels....
as 24.
Newscasts
On September 4, 2006, sister station and Fox affiliate WTTGWTTG
WTTG, channel 5, is an owned-and-operated television station of the Fox Broadcasting Company, located in the American capital city of Washington, D.C...
began simulcasting its weekday morning and 10 p.m. newscasts on WUTB. Known on-air as My 24 News, there was a "My 24 News" network bug
Digital on-screen graphic
A digital on-screen graphic is a watermark-like station logo that many television broadcasters overlay over a portion of the screen-area of their programs to identify the channel...
seen in the bottom left hand corner of the screen. The higher-ups at both stations cited the decision to simulcast as a by-product of cross-regional news interests and increasing overlap between the Baltimore and Washington media market
Media market
A media market, broadcast market, media region, designated market area , Television Market Area , or simply market is a region where the population can receive the same television and radio station offerings, and may also include other types of media including newspapers and Internet content...
s. During the 2006 MLB
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...
postseason, WTTG's 10 p.m. newscast aired on Washington, D.C.'s MyNetworkTV affiliate WDCA under the name Fox 5 News at 10 Special Edition while continung to be simulcasted on WUTB. The same occurred in 2007, but the newscast was known as My 20 News at 10. When Fox Sports
Fox Sports (USA)
Fox Sports is a division of the Fox Broadcasting Company . It was formed in 1994 with Fox's acquisition of broadcast rights to National Football League games...
or other programming delayed the 10 p.m. newscast from airing on WTTG, it was still produced for WUTB. The station dropped the morning news simulcast after the November 30, 2007 edition and the 10 o'clock simulcast was discontinued by January 2008. It cited low ratings as a reason for an end to the simulcasts. However, many viewers who commute to the Washington area have expressed a desire to see the simulcasts restored.