WFUT-TV

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WFUT-TV
Newark, New Jersey / New York, New York
Channels	68 (UHF) analog, 53 (UHF) digital
Affiliations	Telefutura
Owner	Univision
Founded	January 26, 1974
Call letters meaning	"TeleFUTura"
Former callsigns	WWRO-TV (1974) WBTB-TV (1974-1976) WTVG (1976-1977) WWHT-TV (1977-1986) WHSE-TV (1986-2001)
Former affiliations	Independent (general) (1974-1986) Wometco Home Theater (1977-1985) Independent (Music videos) (1985-1986) Home Shopping Network (1986-2001) AIN/UATV (2001-2002)
Website	www.univision.com/

WFUT-TV is one of two Telefutura network-Owned stations for the New York City market, along with WFTY-TV. Owned by the Univision Broadcast Group, the station broadcasts on channel 68 and is licensed to Newark, New Jersey. The station broadcasts a Spanish General Entertainment format.

[edit] History

WFUT first signed on January 26, 1974 as WBTB-TV (its calls before that were WWRO-TV as a construction permit, but the calls were changed by the first transmission, a test card with a drawing of a shade rree with the WBTB calls). Initially, channel 68 offered old classic TV shows during the weekday afternoons, as well as a business news report, The Uncle Floyd Show, and ethnic and brokered programming at night and for most of the weekend as well as religious programming during the day on Sunday and on weekday mornings.

In 1976, Wometco Home Thearter purchased the station originally with the intent of making it a general entertainment station in competition with WNEW-TV, WOR-TV and WPIX with the new callsign of WTVG. However, the fact that those independents were all VHF stations as well as the general ignorance of UHF in the area, made this very hard to accomplish. However, WTVG did acquire the rights to some programs.

In 1977, Wometco launched a nationwide subscription television service called Wometco Home Theater, and opted to use channel 68 as the New York affiliate, under the WWHT callsign. However, only a morning movie from 10 a.m. to noon and programming during primetime and overnight hours were used for the service, with the independent format continuing at all other times. By 1980, WWHT was running religious shows from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m., WHT Programming 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and from 8 p.m. through the overnight, more religious shows from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m., general entertainment from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m., and business news from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m.

On weekends the station ran childrens programming early Saturday morning followed by brokered programming from late morning to about 4 p.m. Sundays consisted of religious shows until 4 p.m. WHT began after 4 p.m. on weekends at that point. Also, at that point, WSNL (now WFTY) in Smithtown, Long Island began simulcasting WWHT.

In the spring of 1981, WWHT 68 dropped afternoon programming and began running Financial News Network from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. and from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. In the spring of 1983, WHT began offering programming 24 hours a day. WWHT at this point only ran some religious programming from 7 to 10 a.m. Weekdays and Sundays and WHT programming the rest of the time. FNN, brokered shows, and the few entertainment shows were dropped. Uncle Floyd would move to New Jersey Network. In 1984, after Wometco's founder died, WWHT along with WSNL, WTVJ, WTVG, and WLOS were all sold to KKR, which was an investment firm. KKR also bought Storer stations.

By 1985, WHT folded, due to huge losses as a result of the expansion of cable television; as a result, the station switched to music videos as U-68, programmed by Steve Leeds (later at MTV). KKR was looking to sell all of its broadcast properties. Most were sold to Gillett while one was eventually sold to NBC. However, in the fall of 1986, WWHT and WSNL were sold to the Home Shopping Network and became WHSE and WHSI, airing the HSN format full-time for the next sixteen years. When Barry Diller bought the USA Network, the company was renamed USA Broadcasting.

By the late 1990s, HSN's broadcasting arm, known as USA Broadcasting, planned to switch their HSN stations to an independent format, with WHSE and sister station WHSI (now WFTY) slated to switch in 2001. Several sisters stations did indeed switch. Late in 2000, however, USA Broadcasting, who owned HSN by that time, decided to sell their stations to Univision, meaning that WHSE would switch to AIN/UATV, networks generally used by low-powered stations, before becoming a charter Telefutura affiliate on January 14, 2002, re-called as WFUT.

[edit] See also

• All Channels Act
• WFTY

[edit] External links

• Univision
• More information about Wometco Home Theater
• Query the FCC's TV station database for WFUT