dustintv said:
How did WWTI and WUTR lose their newscasts? I know both went against dominating stations WKTV and WWNY but what happened in the end?
*** LONG POST ALERT! ***
I didn't realize how long this was until I finished, but it should answer your questions.
The shortest version of the story would be to say both stations were doomed from the start by signing on the air too late. WUTR signed on in 1970, but WKTV had been on the air since 1949. In Watertown, WWNY was on the air in 1954, but WWTI didn't come along until 1987 (as WFYF). So in both markets, you have stations that literally held "market monopolies" for DECADES before they had any competition. People have long been loyal to WKTV and WWNY simply because they had no other choice. As is often the case in small markets, old habits die hard -- if ever.
Breaking it down by market, let's begin with
Watertown (although some of this applies to WUTR as well). Smith Broadcasting bought WWTI in the late 90s... Wikipedia says the old owners went bankrupt. (I don't live in Watertown, but I'd guess that, plus it's located in a shopping plaza, sharing a building with a Jo-Ann Fabrics store,
may have hurt WWTI's image somewhat.
) Anyway... Smith took on the task of resurrecting a dead news department. They borrowed some resources from sister station WKTV (designed the logo
that's still in use today, WKTV's old weather graphics computer, even some staff) and NewsWatch 50 was born. WWTI had at least 6 and 11. Don't know if they ever did a 5pm or weekends. I think they did mornings for awhile.
Smith eventually sold WWTI to Ackerley, who added it to their "hub" based at WIXT in Syracuse. Oddly, when WUTR and WIVT were re-branded to match WIXT's graphics and music, WWTI was left out (but the station map on Ackerley's company website had a WIXT-ized logo for WWTI). Other than that, I don't believe Ackerley made any other major changes.
Not long after, Ackerley was acquired by ClearChannel. ClearChannel's first big move eliminated weather departments at WWTI, WUTR and WIVT into one, based in Syracuse. Instead of two or three wx people
per station, there were two or three
total, in Syracuse, doing wx for WUTR, WWTI and WIVT. And the forecasts were done live for each station, meaning they had to coordinate their wx times with each other. (Somehow, WWTI managed to retain Jay Donovan for their early evening shows, but Syracuse provided weather for morning and 11pm.) Next, ClearChannel combined the morning shows in Watertown, Binghamton and Utica into ONE newscast airing on all three stations, anchored out of Binghamton (yes, with weather from Syracuse). No surprise... a single show serving three markets did not work very well and it was eventually ended.
At this point, I don't know if WWTI reverted to a full morning newscast, or just cut-ins for Good Morning America. Either way, it wouldn't be long until they reached their current situation: GMA cut-ins, 5-minute updates at other times throughout the day, and webcasting. No more "traditional" 30-minute newscasts, but they still have a small news department.
Now for
Utica... viewers have always been glued to WKTV. Even though WUTR had many "firsts" in the market (usually first to update its set, graphics, expand newscasts), WUTR shows us that that a falling tree, in fact,
doesn't make any noise if nobody's there to see it. Anytime WUTR had something new, WKTV would quickly follow within a month or two, before most people ever noticed WUTR was first.
When Ackerley bought WUTR around 1996 or 1997, they quickly re-branded it with the WIXT look, a smart move with so many viewers (particularly west of Utica) who may be familiar with WIXT. It gave WUTR more credibility, and a much more professional on-air look. Ackerley dumped a lot of money into talent and equipment. But just when WUTR was at its peak, Ackerley was preparing to sell itself to ClearChannel.
ClearChannel bought Ackerley primarily for its outdoor advertising properties, and its Seattle radio stations. Ackerley's TV stations were just icing on the cake. When the FCC said CC would be over the limit in Utica, the company had to sell either WUTR or four radio stations. They chose to sell WUTR. To make the station more attractive to potential buyers, they had to cut expenses. From a business standpoint, the improved-but-still-lagging news department was the easiest thing to eliminate, and so it was done. WUTR hasn't had local news since.
