Network stations that don't refer to their channel numbers

[raccoonradio]

WBZ-TV 4 Boston uses the identifier "WBZ" without mentioning their channel number. They are a heritage, well respected TV station with similarly respected and well known radio stations too.

Logo: http://ts3.mm.bing.net/images/thumbnail.aspx?q=846983338426&id=5b7e0dc96800779169a8882760f1d97d
Logo has boxes for each of the 3 call letters, plus the CBS eye. Primary sister station is mostly news, some talk, and anyone in this area knows well that "hey there's a big local story going on,
I better check out WBZ..." (radio OR TV)

 

[OhioMediaWatch]

Scott's noting of the upstate PBS affiliates reminds me.

Both PBS affiliates here have eschewed their channel numbers in branding.

* WVIZ/25 hasn't used "25" in ages, and is known as "WVIZ/PBS ideastream" (yes, with the lower case).

* WNEO/45-WEAO/49 dropped their long-time "PBS 45 & 49" branding a while back to become "Western Reserve PBS". The umbrella company is now known (DBA) as "Western Reserve Public Media", which encompasses their website and subchannels (Fusion, MHz Worldview and V-me, none of which are directly supplied by PBS).

45/49 are a dual-city PBS operation that simulcasts - 45 is licensed to Alliance, has a tower in Salem and serves the Youngstown market, and 49 is licensed to Akron, has a tower there and serves the Cleveland/Akron market.

 

[kms575]

ansky212: That's because NJN is actually four different stations (WNJS, WNJT, WNJM, WNJB) simulcasting the same signal on four different channels numbers.

WTXF 29 bills itself as "Fox Philadelphia" which is odd because "Channel 29" always had a great image both pre- and post-Fox.

IIRC, the Fox Philadelphia moniker was dropped a few years back and WTXF resorted to the Fox 29 labeling.

 

[KeyTimes950]

WPGH always has called itself Fox53 here in Pittsburgh since picking up that network.
Its sibling WPMY is "My Pittsburgh TV" and sometimes touts its Channel 10 placement on most area cable systems.
WPCW, licensed to Jeannette (and one occasionally sees that ID on screen) is "Pittsburgh's CW" as in "The KDKA 10 O'Clock News on Pittsburgh's CW" from its CBS-owned sibling, and rarely calls itself Channel 19.
WQED doesn't use Channel 13 all that much, but, interestingly enough, it is on Channel 13 digital (same channel it had as an analog).
The big three here still use their old analog channel positions in touting themselves, KDKA-2, WTAE-4 and WPXI-11, as well as in WTAE's and WPXI's cases their subchannels.
WPCB-40 used to say "Life Begins at 40" but it goes for its satellite audience as Cornerstone TeleVision.

 

[easttxtv]

Dallas-Fort Worth:
KXAS/5 is starting to do without the 5 part of late.
KERA/13 has been a while since they ID'd or imaged with the 13 part.

Tyler-Longview:
KETK/56 in the last 2-3 years (?) has not used 56 in it's promos, news, or website.

The other stations around both markets don't seem to be as ashamed of their channel number. : 8)

 

[MarcB]

Doesn't WCTX do something similar? I don't remember them mentioning a channel number since way back in the days of "WB 59". Then later they became "The X" (which I thought was pretty lame). They even did "MY 9" at one point in reference to their cable channel number. What are they now? How about WCCT?

WCTX is "MY TV 9". WWOR in NYC is "MY 9". WCCT refers to itself as "The CT". However sometimes you'll hear on the radio "...on The CT, WCCT-TV 20"

 

[dhett]

It's been awhile so maybe this has changed, but the last time I was in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, neither NBC affiliate WBRE or CBS affiliate WYOU used channel numbers.

 

[Iowan]

In the Quad Cities, KGCW doesn't use their channel number anymore - at least not as part of The CW. WBQD is known as 'My Network TV 16', but that's actually a cable channel...

 

[hintomedia]

WUHF here in Rochester has been exclusively "Fox Rochester" for many years now, with no reference to "channel 31" even in the last years of analog. Interestingly, its sister Sinclair stations in Buffalo and Syracuse are still "Fox 29" and "Fox 68" in their branding, and WUHF operates under a shared-services agreement with Nexstar's WROC-TV here, which is very much "channel 8" in its own branding.

WUHF switched to a "Fox 31" logo when Sinclair launched News Central a few years back, then dropped the 31 again after News Central went kaput.

Dallas-Fort Worth:
KXAS/5 is starting to do without the 5 part of late.

NBC seems to not know what to do with the channel numbers for now. As of a few months ago it looked like they wanted to get rid of them, which they did with the aforementioned WVIT and KNTV; KNSD also changed from "NBC 7/39" to "NBC San Diego" a few months ago. Of course, WVIT and KNSD are UHF stations, and they pretty much started anew with KNTV. But apparently KNSD's new logo and graphics sans channel number are supposed to be implemented across the board, all the way up to NYC; hence all the new "nbclosangeles.com" and "nbcdfw.com" domains.

Now the rebranding seems to be on hold. The new logo/graphics have been spotted on WCAU's promos, but with the "10" tacked on in a box next to "NBC". Who knows what's going with them...

 

[OhioMediaWatch]

The other networks in Cleveland:

* WKYC/3 (NBC) is just WKYC Channel 3, and their newscasts are "Channel 3 News".

* WEWS/5 (ABC) has actually started using the WEWS calls to some degree as of late, but is otherwise just "Channel 5". News is "NewsChannel 5", branding that used to extend to the entire station.

3 and 5 do not use network branding at ALL, except in logo bugs.

* WJW/8 (Fox) is "Fox 8" everywhere, and "Fox 8 News".

* WOIO/19 (CBS) is "Cleveland's CBS 19", though they push the "19 Action News" branding more often.

* WUAB/43 (MyNet) is "My 43", more recently they've returned to a form of old branding as "My 43 The Block". (Don't ask.) (Really, don't ask.) Since they're a Raycom sister station to WOIO, you see "19 Action News" promoted a lot.

 

[RadioDaze]

In Raleigh/Durham, CBS affiliate WRAL-TV 5 rebranded its news as "WRAL News" either when the all-HD newsroom came online in 2001 or shortly thereafter, though the "5" is still prominently featured. (The station had the first commercial digital signal at UHF 32 in 1996, their "permenant pre-transition signal on UHF 53 and their final 6-12-2009 digital assignment on UHF 48).

WRDC-TV 28 dropped references to their UHF 28 position when they became a MyNetwork affiliate, rebranding as "My RDC" (The station's pre-2/17/2009--they switched on the original date--digital channel was UHF 27, but sister station WLFL-TV 22 moved from UHF 57 to 27, while WRDC went digital at UHF 28---their analog home since 1968).

In 1995, the newly christened WNCN-TV 17 was known as "NCN Television", but changed to the current "NBC 17" not long into their NBC affiliation.

Statewide Public Broadcaster the University of North Carolina Center for Public Television--based in Durham-- has used either that name, North Carolina Public Television or the current UNC-TV, since the network is seen--with no local origination--on 12 stations across the state.

 

[bpatrick]

I believe WXII Winston-Salem also identifies itself verbally
by its call letters but the 12 is prominently displayed in its
logo, and its newscast is Newschannel 12. WFMY identifies
itself by a combination of call letters and newscast title:
"WFMY News 2," so the channel number is there.

 

[wncc]

For years, WCNC branded themselves as NBC 6, but with the DTV conversion, they converted back to 36. WMYT brands itself as MYTV12 rather than 55. WCCB brands themselves as Fox Charlotte, an WJZY is Charlotte's WJZY with no mention of their channel number.

 

[harrisburgpatv]

It's been awhile so maybe this has changed, but the last time I was in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, neither NBC affiliate WBRE or CBS affiliate WYOU used channel numbers.

Nope.....They still refer to themselves as WBRE and WYOU. I think it has to do with their owner (Nexstar)...They own WTAJ-10 in Altoona - they call themselves simply WTAJ too. Must be a Nextar thing...

 

[fybush]

Nexstar is weird when it comes to branding. They'll use channel numbers for stations that are seen pretty much universally on one number, like WROC-TV 8 here in Rochester, but they go with call letters for others, like WBRE and WYOU in Scranton or WUTR/WFXV in Utica, that are on a hodgepodge of channel numbers depending on the cable system.

And of course they're notorious for their websites that are branded almost completely separately from their TV stations - "rochesterhomepage.net" here in Rochester, for instance. You'll have to scour the site pretty deeply to find a WROC logo.

 

[Sammi Brie]

Nexstar is weird when it comes to branding. They'll use channel numbers for stations that are seen pretty much universally on one number, like WROC-TV 8 here in Rochester, but they go with call letters for others, like WBRE and WYOU in Scranton or WUTR/WFXV in Utica, that are on a hodgepodge of channel numbers depending on the cable system.

And of course they're notorious for their websites that are branded almost completely separately from their TV stations - "rochesterhomepage.net" here in Rochester, for instance. You'll have to scour the site pretty deeply to find a WROC logo.

Part of it is that Nexstar seems to dislike high channel number branding (KTAB 32, WUTR 20, WBRE 28...). Oh yeah, and their crazy webpages.

 

[RadioDaze]

For years, WCNC branded themselves as NBC 6, but with the DTV conversion, they converted back to 36. WMYT brands itself as MYTV12 rather than 55. WCCB brands themselves as Fox Charlotte, an WJZY is Charlotte's WJZY with no mention of their channel number.

I don't believe Charlotte public broadcaster WTVI hasn't referenced their (now virtual) channel 42 dial position in quite a while, either.

In the eastern part of the state, the Greenville-New Bern-Jacksonville market Fox simulcast of WFXI-TV 8 Morehead City and WYDO-TV 14 Greenville once IDed as "Fox 8/Fox 14" but is now "Fox Eastern Carolina"

 

[DToTheJ]

In 1995, the newly christened WNCN-TV 17 was known as "NCN Television", but changed to the current "NBC 17" not long into their NBC affiliation...

Wouldn't that actually be NBC ownership? I recall it actually being an NBC O&O for a time, right after they bolted the aforementioned WRDC.

 

[Ultimajock]

Dallas-Fort Worth:
KERA/13 has been a while since they ID'd or imaged with the 13 part.

...in fact, I seem to recall that when Dish Network expanded their local service from Dallas-Fort Worth in 2002, they mistakenly put KDTN/2 Denton on a channel and identified it as "KERA" because at the time they were calling themselves on-the-air "KERA 2" -- meaning KERA's second TV service. 13 didn't have any channel number whatsoever in the IDs or promos. Dish Network (perhaps somebody in their Denver offices?) assumed 2 was the main channel and 13 was a secondary...

 

[Sammi Brie]

In 1995, the newly christened WNCN-TV 17 was known as "NCN Television", but changed to the current "NBC 17" not long into their NBC affiliation...

Wouldn't that actually be NBC ownership? I recall it actually being an NBC O&O for a time, right after they bolted the aforementioned WRDC.

Timeline:

Jan. 1, 1995: Outlet rechristens WYED-TV as WNCN.
February 1995: WNCN begins to run WRDC's preempted NBC programming after Outlet and the network strike a deal.
Sept. 1995: WNCN becomes the Triangle's NBC affiliate of record and launches "NCN News" newscasts at 6, 7 and 11. It also moves into WLFL's old studios.
1996: NBC buys WNCN outright, along with the other Outlet stations. The station becomes "NBC 17".