To save everyone else time, I found therealjm's post and here's the link:
http://boards.radio-info.com/smf/index.php?topic=17411.msg1480476#msg1480476
They are now just a sub station of WSTM -3. They simulcast Ch. 3's newscast with a CBS 5 logo in the bottom of the screen. Outside of CBS programing all I saw were infomercials. The station is an embarrassment to the Syracuse community. They need another CBS affiliate and it is time for Utica get a CBS affiliate of their own.
Not to give WTVH too much credit: they were #2 in Utica for many years because WKTV was solo in Utica until WUTR started in 1970. (Though I wouldn't be surprised if TVH still outdid UTR for awhile after that.)
To offer you more background on WTVH's simulcasting of WSTM: They definitely simulcast WSTM for every newscast on weekends, the only exception being when sporting events cause the newscasts to air at different times. (In those cases, I'm not sure what happens. Probably a case-by-case decision.)
It's a little better weekdays, but not much better. The WTVH news at 5/6/11 has its own dedicated anchor and set, but they put VERY minimal effort into making it different. For example, if a reporter does a pkg for 5 and 6pm on WSTM, the 5pm WSTM package airs at 6pm on WTVH and vice versa. The two share sports and weather, and most of those segments are pre-taped for WTVH because they can't have the same personality live on both stations at the same time.
It's especially odd when there's major breaking news: WSTM gets first dibbs on reporter live shots, so WTVH's anchor has to say ridiculous things like "A raging fire is engulfing an entire city block right now... we'll have a live report in a few minutes. But first..." and then he goes into some lame national pkg or some other fluff news, stalling until the reporter's done with 3's live hit and ready to go on with 5.
And that's just 5/6/11. They still simulcast morning and noon.
Interestingly, when the "merger" was first announced, management told the local paper they'd find creative ways to repurpose the news on 5 so it's not just the same stuff as 3 at the same times. They had mentioned finding new timeslots. I think many people took that to mean that channel 5 would offer news at "off" times where they'd have no competition -- for example, 4pm, 7pm, maybe 9am. Been over a year now, and 5 still either simulcasts 3 or just runs nearly the same material during the exact same timeslots. It really doesn't make sense.
