WSBK-TV

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WSBK-TV
Boston, Massachusetts
Branding	TV38
Slogan	Entertaining Boston
Channels	38 (UHF) analog, 39 (UHF) digital
Affiliations	Independent (1964-95; 2006-present)
Owner	CBS Corporation
Founded	October 12, 1964
Call letters meaning	SBK = stock ticker symbol of former owner Storer Broadcasting
Former callsigns	WIHS-TV (1964-66)
Former affiliations	ABC, NBC (all secondary 1966-83) UPN (1995-2006)
Transmitter Power	2340 kW/354 m(analog) 135 kW/390 m (digital)
Website	www.TV38.com

WSBK-TV, TV38, is the CBS Corporation-owned independent television station serving the Boston, Massachusetts television market. In addition, it is carried across the country and in Canada as a superstation. The station's transmitter is located in Needham, Massachusetts, while broadcast studios and administrative offices are at the WBZ Broadcast Center in Boston. Before becoming an independent station in September 2006, the station was affiliated with UPN since January 1995.

Contents 1 History 1.1 Logos 2 Programming 2.1 Local programming 3 On air personalities 3.1 News team 3.2 Other on-air personalities 4 See also 5 References 6 External links

[edit] History

On October 12, 1964, the station was first licensed to Boston Catholic Television Center as WIHS-TV. The station employed a general entertainment format along with the daily and Sunday Mass.

The station was bought by Storer Broadcasting two years later. A few months after the purchase, the station's call letters became the present WSBK-TV. WSBK-TV was known for broadcasting Boston Bruins and Boston Red Sox games, and as such many bought UHF antennas just to view the station. Storer ran TV38 as a general entertainment independent station. Some of the shows included cartoons, off-network sitcoms, professional sports, and feature films. Until 1983, WSBK-TV also ran some network programs that were preempted by Boston's NBC (then WBZ-TV), ABC (WNAC-TV and later WCVB-TV), and CBS (the original WHDH-TV and later WNAC-TV/WNEV) affiliates. TV38 also had a local newscast in the late 1970s to the early 1980s. By the start of the 1980s, the station was on nearly every cable system in New England and other areas of the northeastern United States, making it a regional superstation. By the early 2000s, the rest of the northeast began to receive local UPN affiliates and WSBK-TV was gradually removed from most cable systems outside its home territory.

The station was sold in a group deal with other Storer stations to KKR in 1985. KKR later sold most of the stations to Gillett Communications, who eventually sold the stations as a unit to SCI TV by the early 1990s.

For a brief period in the 1990s, WSBK-TV attempted to become a national superstation on the level of WGN-TV in Chicago and WTBS in Atlanta, using its sports coverage in much the same way as the other stations used the Chicago Cubs and Atlanta Braves, respectively. However, the station could not reach the level of carriage that the other successful superstations had reached, and the effort was dropped. Nevertheless, the superstation effort would have been discontinued as Paramount had ceased the service when the company switched most of their stations (including WSBK-TV) to UPN affiliates when it launched.

As a result of SCI TV's parent company filing for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy, the station was sold in a group deal to New World Communications in 1993. Most New World stations were switching to the Fox network, while others kept NBC affiliations in 1994. But WSBK-TV would remain an independent station and be put up for sale again. The station was then sold to Paramount Communications (which would become a subsidiary of Viacom that same year) and became a charter UPN affiliate in 1995. Originally, the station continued to run the same type of programming with UPN's schedule added, but eventually replaced many older off network reruns and cartoons with first-run syndicated talk and reality shows. The station also ran far fewer movies, beginning to show them only overnights and on weekends.

In 2001, after Viacom's merger with the previous CBS Corporation, WSBK-TV moved its studios and offices to WBZ-TV's building.

On January 24, 2006, the UPN and WB networks announced that they would merge into a new network called The CW. The merger took effect September 18, 2006, and the then WB station WLVI-TV was announced as the CW's Boston affiliate. CBS had previously confirmed that WSBK-TV would revert to independent status in September 2006.

[edit] Logos

WSBK's original TV38 logo, used from 1977 to 1995	Another variation of the logo circa 1988 during a Three Stooges marathon	WSBK's first UPN38 logo, used from 1995 to 2000	Chrome version of WSBK's first UPN38 logo, used from 2000 to 2002
WSBK's last UPN38 logo, used from 2002 to 2006	Current TV38 logo, used since 9/06.

[edit] Programming

WSBK-TV generally broadcasts syndicated programs and movies. However the station is best known in the Boston area for being the long-time TV home of the Boston Red Sox. WSBK became the Red Sox's over-air flagship station in 1975 and remained so for 20 years, losing the rights in 1996 to WABU (now WBPX). After a seven-season hiatus, WSBK-TV (in partnership with sister station WBZ-TV) resumed its role as the Red Sox flagship station in 2003, although only Friday night games were carried over air, and the games were produced and also carried by NESN, (who aired the Friday night games outside of the Boston DMA, effectively blacking out the station in these areas). Among the nationally prominent announcers that have called Red Sox games on the station are Dick Stockton and Sean McDonough. WBZ-TV ceased to broadcast games after the 2004 season, and NESN announced that WSBK-TV would itself cease airing games in early 2006, making the team cable-exclusive.

In addition to the Red Sox games, WSBK-TV was also for many years the over-air flagship of the Boston Bruins. It was also the over-air home of the Boston Celtics before losing the broadcast rights in 1998 to WABU (all Celtics' games not on national television are now broadcast on FSN New England). Since 2005, the station has been the home of Atlantic Coast Conference college football and basketball games in Boston, as Boston College's move to the conference has created regional interest for the ACC.

The station had broadcast a 10 p.m. newscast. WBZ-TV produced such programming from 1993 to 1995. The newscast was then produced by NECN and was named UPN38 Prime News until 1998. After Viacom's merger with CBS, WBZ-TV once again began to produce the station's news programming starting in 2001, initially airing a 7 p.m. newscast before switching back to a 10 p.m. newscast —entitled Nightcast at 10— in 2002. In 2003, a WSBK extension of WBZ-TV's morning news was added from 7–8 a.m.. In January 2005, WSBK cancelled Nightcast, turning its attention to the morning newscast, which was relaunched as The Morning Show on April 4. On September 12, the program was moved to 8–9 a.m. to make room for the first two hours of The Daily Buzz, and on June 30, 2006, The Morning Show aired its last broadcast. In addition to its current 9:30 p.m. newscast, WSBK-TV currently shows the sports program "Red Sox This Week" on Sundays at 10 p.m.

WSBK also broadcasts Phantom Gourmet on weekends, with its time depending on the station's programming commitments (such as ACC college football).

After UPN ceased operations in September 2006, WSBK-TV's primetime lineup was converted to a second run of Dr. Phil at 8 p.m., a second-run of Jeopardy! at 9 p.m. and a newscast at 9:30 p.m. anchored by Chris May, who recently joined the station from WHDH, and Sara Underwood. It also continues to air CBS programs when WBZ-TV preempts for local programming. The station, after becoming independent again, returned to the TV38 branding and Entertaining Boston slogan. The station changed its web address to "tv38.com" in late August, and started using the new branding on the air on September 6, more than a week before officially becoming independent.

One of WSBK-TV's most remembered past programs was the informative series "Ask the Manager," created by its general manager, William J. Flynn, in the mid-1970s. Each week Flynn, and later his successors Joseph C. Dimino, Daniel J. Berkery, and Stuart Tauber would answer viewer questions on the air. The letters were read each week for many years by the station's announcer and host Dana Hersey, who also hosted the nightly movie under the title "The Movie Loft." Other letter-readers included Sean McDonough and Carla Nolan — and Meg LaVigne and Leslie Savage occasionally substituted in the manager's chair. The producer of "Ask the Manager" was Clifford D. "Cliff" Allen, who died just weeks after "Ask the Manager" broadcast its final show in January 1999. The station has indicated that there are no plans to revive the show.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Local programming

• TV38 News - Weekdays, 9:30 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.
• Phantom Gourmet - Weekends, 10:30 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.; 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
• Red Sox This Week - Sundays, 10:00 p.m. to 10:30 p.m.

[edit] On air personalities

[edit] News team

• Chris May (news anchor)
• Sara Underwood (news anchor)
• Ken Barlow (meteorologist)
• Eileen Curran (reporter)
• Jon Keller (political editor)
• Joyce Kulhawik (arts & entertainment editor)
• Bob Lobel (sports director)

(The TV38 news team is also featured on WBZ-TV's 5 p.m newscast. The station shares other WBZ-TV staff as well.)

[edit] Other on-air personalities

• Dan Andelman, Host, Phantom Gourmet
• Dan Roche, Host, Red Sox This Week

[edit] See also

• WBZ-TV
• WLWC

[edit] References

• WSBK-TV (3-27-2005). The Boston TV Dial.
• WSBK: About UPN38 (2005). UPN38.com.

[edit] External links

• Official website
• TheProvidenceChannel.com: WSBK-TV UPN 38
• "Ask the Manager" Fan Site
• Query the FCC's TV station database for WSBK-TV

Superstations in North American markets
United States: KTLA | KWGN | WAPA | WGN / US feed | WKAQ | WPIX | WSBK | WTBS | WWOR / EMI
Mexico: XEW | XHAW | XHCNL | XHDF | XHGC | XHIMT
See Also: American networks | List of American Over-The-Air Networks | Local American TV Stations (W) | Local American TV Stations (K) | Canadian networks | Local Canadian TV Stations | Mexican networks | Local Mexican TV Stations | Superstations | North American TV | List of local television stations in North America