WBGH-CD

WBGH-CD (channel 20, cable channel 5) is a low-power, Class A television station in Binghamton, New York, United States, affiliated with NBC. It is owned by Nexstar Media Group alongside ABC affiliate WIVT (channel 34). The two stations share studios on Ingraham Hill Road in the town of Binghamton, where WBGH-CD's transmitter is also located.

Even though WBGH-CD transmits a digital signal of its own, its broadcast range is limited to the immediate Binghamton area. However, in order to serve the entire market, WBGH-CD has been carried in 720p high definition on WIVT's second digital subchannel since February 9, 2010. A direct-to-cable full 1080i HD feed of WBGH-CD/WIVT-DT2 is carried on Charter Spectrum channel 5 (hence the NBC 5 branding).

History

The original construction permit for the station was granted on November 10, 1993,[1]

News operation

Throughout its entire existence, WBGH has never had its own news operation. In the late-1990s as a semi-satellite of WETM, it simulcast that station's local newscasts. After the sale to Ackerley in 2000, WIVT's weeknight newscasts began to be simulcast on WBGH.[7] The early weeknight shows (from 5 to 6:30) eventually began originating from secondary studios in the Oakdale Mall in Johnson City featuring unique segments including exclusive musical performances.

On June 5, 2009, WBGH and WIVT announced there would be a consolidation of news operations with WETM after Newport Television made across the board cuts.[15] WBNG reported all but two people from the news staff and all production personnel for the news department would be terminated.[16] The Press & Sun-Bulletin later identified the two personnel remaining as news director Jim Ehmke and news anchor Peter Quinn but also said fifteen other members of the original 28 person staff, including non-news personnel, would remain based in Binghamton. The two stations would continue to be locally operated and maintain engineer staff at the studios on Ingraham Hill Road.[17] WBGH and WIVT then began simulcasting WETM's newscasts with only regional weather coverage of the Eastern Twin Tiers.[18]

A separate newscast specifically focusing on the Binghamton area was brought back to WBGH and WIVT on June 28, 2009, through a simulcast on both stations.[19] This effort originally consisted of a 6 p.m. weeknight newscast entirely produced from WETM's studios in Elmira. Eventually, production of the news and sports portions of the broadcast shifted back to the Ingraham Hill Road facility. These segments are recorded earlier in the day (usually by 5 o'clock) and feature locally based photojournalists in Binghamton. A repeat of the 6 o'clock newscast at 11 was subsequently added to the schedules of WBGH and WIVT. During the broadcast, WSYR-TV in Syracuse provides a local weather forecast (featuring rotating meteorologists) that is also recorded in advance. Soon after adding the hyper-local Binghamton news, WIVT ceased simulcasting WETM's newscasts making the taped weeknight newscast the only local news shown on the station. However, WBGH continued to air WETM's weekend 11 p.m. newscast until some point in late 2013.

callsign	WBGH-CD
branding	NBC 5; News 34
digital	20 (UHF)
virtual	20
translators	WIVT 34.2 Binghamton
affiliations	NBC
owner	Nexstar Media Group
licensee	Nexstar Media Inc.
location	Binghamton, New York
country	United States
founded	November 10, 1993
airdate	April 25, 1996
callsign meaning	Binghamton
sister stations	WIVT
former callsigns	W08DL (1996–1997) WBGH-LP (1997–2001) WBGH-CA (2001–2015)
former channel numbers	Analog: 8 (VHF, 1996–2001), 20 (UHF, 2001–2015)
former affiliations	Independent (1996–1997)
class	CD
erp	0.04 kW
haat	203 m
facility id	15569
coordinates	42.06083°N, -75.94306°W
licensing authority	FCC
website	https://www.binghamtonhomepage.com/

History

News operation

Technical information

Subchannel

Analog-to-digital conversion

See also

External links

References