SYRACUSE — Fox 68 (WSYT) and My 43 (WNYS) have a full-time opening for a Master Control Operator at the stations’ facility on James Street. Among other duties, the MCO will be required to monitor transmitters, receive programming from various sources and handle live switching of both stations.
BALTIMORE, MD — Sinclair Broadcast Group, the owner of Syracuse’s Fox 68 (WSYT) is buying NBC3 (WSTM-TV) and CW6 (WSTQ-LP), as part of a $370 million deal that involves a total of 24 stations in 15 markets. To satisfy FCC ownership limits, Sinclair plans to sell WSYT.
Updated 12/3 with a correction – SYRACUSE — Barrington Broadcasting, the owner of NBC3 (WSTM) and CW6 (WSTQ-LP), is reportedly nearing a deal to sell all 24 of its television stations in 15 markets nationwide. But it’s unclear how the deal could impact the two Syracuse stations — one national trade publication says the leading bidders include two companies which already have a presence in the Syracuse market.
UTICA — Have you ever wondered what it takes to become a contestant on Jeopardy!? Mike Lonesky of Clinton knows a little bit about the process. He was selected for the long-running game show over the summer, and he’ll appear on TV tonight.
SYRACUSE — Although Sinclair Broadcast Group and Dish Network failed to agree on a new ”permanent” retransmission deal before the old one expired overnight, Fox 68 (WSYT) and My43 (WNYS) remain available on the satellite provider’s lineups. The two sides have extended the old deal for two weeks as they continue to hash out a new contract.
UPDATED 8/16 – Blackout averted temporarily; click here for newer story. SYRACUSE – As of Wednesday evening, management at Fox 68 (WSYT) and My43 (WNYS) say they’re pretty certain both channels will be pulled from Dish Network’s lineup at midnight tonight. That’s when a contract allowing the satellite provider to retransmit the two channels will expire — and with less than an hour to go, there’s still no new contract in place.
UPDATE 7/19: WSYR-TV has been sold to Nexstar; see our newer story here.
SYRACUSE — The parent company of local ABC affiliate NewsChannel 9 (WSYR-TV) is reportedly getting closer to a sale, nearly four months after initial reports that Newport Television was putting itself on the market. And it looks like there will be not one, but three buyers involved in the deal.
SYRACUSE — For the first time in almost 40 years, the National Football League is relaxing its TV blackout policy. But Buffalo Bills fans in Syracuse and Utica won’t notice anything different: the Bills announced today that they won’t be exercising a new option to reduce the team’s “blackout threshold.”
SYRACUSE — If you’re among the few holdouts that still think of Fox as the “fourth network” in television, this might turn your head: after many years on CBS5 (WTVH), highly-rated syndicated game shows Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy! are moving to Fox 68 (WSYT) this fall.
WASHINGTON, DC — For years, the FCC has allowed television stations to reduce operating expenses by forming duopolies or other agreements where multiple stations are operated under one roof. We have examples of this here in Syracuse and Utica. And soon, there could be another chance to save more money: the FCC has announced a policy which would allow TV stations to share the bandwidth of a single digital channel.