WUAB

WUAB

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Lorain/Cleveland, Ohio United States
City of license	Lorain, Ohio
Branding	CLE 43 (general) Cleveland 19 News (newscasts)
Slogan	Cleveland's Go-To Place for Everything (general) Cleveland's News Center (newscasts)
Channels	Digital: 28 (UHF) Virtual: 43 (PSIP)
Subchannels	43.1 MyNetworkTV 43.2 Bounce TV 43.3 Grit
Affiliations	MyNetworkTV CBS (alternate)
Owner	Raycom Media, Inc. (WOIO License Subsidiary, LLC)
First air date	September 15, 1968 (1968-09-15)
Call letters' meaning	United Artists Broadcasting (founding owner)
Sister station(s)	WOIO
Former channel number(s)	Analog: 43 (UHF, 1968–2009)
Former affiliations	Main channel: Independent (1968–1995) UPN & The WB (1995–1997) UPN (1997-2006) DT2: The Tube (2005–2007) This TV (2009–2012) DT3: This TV (2012)
Transmitter power	200 kW
Height	337 m
Facility ID	8532
Transmitter coordinates
Licensing authority	FCC
Public license information:	Profile CDBS
Website	www.cle43.com

WUAB, virtual channel 43 (UHF digital channel 28), is a MyNetworkTV-affiliated television station serving Cleveland and Akron, Ohio, United States that is licensed to Lorain. The station is owned by Raycom Media, as part of a duopoly with CBS affiliate WOIO (channel 19). The two stations share studio facilities located on East 12th Street in downtown Cleveland, WUAB's transmitter is located in suburban Parma.

History

Independent years

The station first signed on the air on September 15, 1968; WUAB was originally owned by United Artists Broadcasting (owned by the studio of the same name, then a Transamerica property). Eddie Manheim of Marcus Advertising handled the first promotions for the station; billboard advertisements placed across Cleveland promoting channel 43's pending debut read "September 15th. Our First Date". WUAB was the second commercial UHF station in the area; WKBF-TV (channel 61) had beaten it to the air by eight months. Its main studio was in a combination bowling alley kiddie's room and a trailer at the Parmatown shopping center in suburban Parma, with sales offices in downtown Cleveland. WUAB personalities in its early years included professional wrestling host/staff announcer Jack Reynolds, Linn Sheldon (host of the children's show "Barnaby"), Marty Sullivan (also known as Saturday afternoon movie host "Superhost"), and John Lanigan, who hosted the daily Prize Movie.

Originally, WUAB's schedule consisted of cartoons, syndicated off-network sitcoms, movies (most notably the long-running afternoon Prize Movie and primetime Star Movie presentations), and religious programs. On September 7, 1970, WUAB opened a new studio facility on Day Drive in Parma. WUAB drew a lot of its early programming from its parent company, including pre-1950 Warner Bros. films and cartoons which UA acquired in 1958 after its merger with Associated Artists Productions (a.a.p.), which also brought the theatrical Popeye cartoons (originally released by Paramount Pictures, a company which would factor somewhat in WUAB's later history) into the company fold. WUAB and WKBF struggled to be profitable, despite the deep pockets of the stations' owners (WKBF was owned by Kaiser Broadcasting). Both stations signed on every day at around 10 a.m. and went off the air by 1 a.m.

By September 2, 1974, WUAB had clearly established itself as the leading independent in Cleveland. Kaiser opted to shut down WKBF and purchase a percentage of WUAB on March 28, 1975, but United Artists kept majority control of the station. WUAB therefore acquired the programming rights to most of WKBF's stronger shows. WUAB expanded its broadcast hours around this time, signing on at 6 a.m. and signing off long after midnight.

On September 6, 1977, Field Communications bought the rest of Kaiser's share in its television outlets. WUAB and KBSC in Los Angeles were not included in the sale. KBSC was sold to National Subscription TV while WUAB was sold (by both United Artists/Transamerica and Kaiser) to the Gaylord Broadcasting Company on September 6, 1977. Under Gaylord, WUAB continued as a broadcasting powerhouse, and cemented its status as one of the leading independent stations in the country. The station pulled off a major coup on September 2, 1979 by winning the broadcast rights to the Cleveland Indians of Major League Baseball's American League. The station broadcast Indians' games from the 1980 season through the 2001 season.

During this time as part of Gaylord's strategy of establishing regional superstations, it appeared on several cable systems in Ohio, as well as West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, and the western part of the Canadian province of Ontario. The station was dropped from most cable providers outside Cleveland in the 1990s and is now no longer seen outside of Columbus, Erie and Youngstown.

WUAB remained Cleveland's leading independent station into the 1980s. Channel 61 returned to the air as WCLQ on March 3, 1981, but made no real headway against WUAB. On May 19, 1985, WOIO (channel 19) signed on as an independent station. WOIO and WUAB went head to head, with WCLQ lagging behind, with WBNX-TV (channel 55) becoming the fourth Cleveland independent station upon its December 1, 1985 sign-on. WCLQ bowed out of the competition in 1986 to become full-time Home Shopping Network affiliate WQHS. WUAB turned down an affiliation with Fox, making it one of the few long-established major-market independents to do so. This was mainly because most of the markets in WUAB's large cable footprint had enough stations to provide local Fox affiliates, making the prospect of WUAB as a multi-market Fox affiliate unattractive to Gaylord. WOIO then signed on with Fox, becoming a charter affiliate when the network launched on October 9, 1986, and eventually overtook WUAB in the ratings.

On August 14, 1990, Gaylord sold WUAB to Cannell Broadcasting, headed by actor/writer/director Stephen J. Cannell. Though the station performed adequately in the ratings under Cannell ownership, the company was unable to overtake WOIO. On September 5, 1994, WOIO's owner Malrite Communications entered into a local marketing agreement with Cannell, which retained ownership of WUAB, though the station was now managed in tandem with WOIO. Both stations moved to a facility at downtown Cleveland's Reserve Square.

During its waning years as an independent station, WUAB was the Cleveland home of the various Star Trek series (Deep Space Nine was in production then) from Paramount Television, and also carried the Action Pack (which aired on WUAB from 1994 until 1997) and Prime Time Entertainment Network.

UPN affiliation

In September 1994, WOIO became the market's CBS station after an affiliation swap with the area's longtime CBS affiliate, WJW-TV (channel 8), which become an area's new Fox affiliate due to as part of multi-affiliation deal with New World Communications. On September 5 of that year, Channel 19 moved most of its sitcoms and syndicated cartoons to WUAB, with Fox Kids moving to WBNX-TV. WOIO also moved its Cleveland Cavaliers telecasts over to channel 43 as well (channel 19 had originally signed the Cavaliers away from WUAB in 1988, but no longer had time to air the broadcasts because of the acquired CBS affiliation and its network schedule).

In January 1995, WUAB became a dual affiliate of UPN (co-owned by Paramount, by that point a division of Viacom) and The WB Television Network (co-owned by Time Warner and Tribune Broadcasting); both networks debuted within a week of each other (The WB on January 11 and UPN on January 16).

On September 1, 1997, WUAB became solely affiliated with UPN, after The WB signed an affiliation deal with WBNX. When the Federal Communications Commission began allowing television duopolies in 2000, Raycom purchased channel 43 outright on May 10 of that year.

The Block

With the loss of the Cleveland Indians broadcast contract for the spring of 2002, WUAB rebranded itself, from its previous branding as Hometeam 43 (a brand shared with WOIO to promote their local news and sports coverage) to 43 The Block (while WOIO underwent a similar makeover from Hometeam 19, to become CBS 19). The Block was phased out in 2005 for UPN 43 and later My 43.

MyNetworkTV affiliation

File:WUAB My 43.png

WUAB logo used from September 5, 2006 to August 23, 2015.

On January 24, 2006, the Warner Bros. unit of Time Warner and CBS Corporation announced that the two companies would shut down The WB and UPN and combine the networks' respective programming to create a new "fifth" network called The CW, which would launch on September 18, 2006. Nearly one month after the CW launch announcement, on February 22, 2006, News Corporation announced the launch of a new "sixth" network called MyNetworkTV, to affiliate with stations left out of The CW's affiliation deals.

On March 7, 2006, six days after competitor WBNX signed a deal to affiliate with The CW, WUAB was announced as an affiliate of MyNetworkTV, along with two other Raycom Media-owned stations. On July 14, 2006, WUAB began using its new on-air logo (which was based on MyNetworkTV's logo scheme), and began branding as "My 43, WUAB" in its promos and legal identifications in anticipation of the launch of MyNetworkTV.

On August 24, 2015, as part of a universal rebranding of WOIO and WUAB to abandon Raycom's "tabloid" reputation in the Cleveland market, channel 43 changed its branding to "CLE 43" (WOIO similarly rebranded under the "Cleveland 19" brand). The station also discontinued its MyNetworkTV-inspired logo, replacing it with a wordmark combined with an abstract "play button" design.

Digital television

Digital channels

The station's digital channel is multiplexed:

Channel	Video	Aspect	PSIP Short Name	Programming
43.1	720p	16:9	WUAB DT	Main WUAB Programming / MyNetworkTV
43.2	480i	4:3	Bounce	Bounce TV
43.3		16:9	Grit	Grit

WUAB began broadcasting in the 720p high definition format after the station switched its affiliation from UPN to MyNetworkTV in September 2006. The 10 p.m. newscast airing on WUAB is also broadcast in 720p, even though WOIO itself produces its newscasts in the 1080i format commonly used by CBS affiliates.

Subchannels

In 2005, WUAB began carrying The Tube Music Network on digital subchannel 43.2; the network ceased operations on October 1, 2007. On April 1, 2009, WUAB began carrying This TV on 43.2. On January 3, 2012, WUAB moved This TV over to a newly activated 43.3 subchannel, while Bounce TV began to be carried on 43.2. WUAB's affiliation contract with This TV expired on March 26, 2012, and the network moved to WBNX on that station's 55.3 subchannel. Digital channel 43.3 (after displaying a message explaining the situation to viewers for several days) was deactivated on March 30, 2012. In August 2014, 43.3 was reactivated, running the new male-focused Grit network.

Analog-to-digital conversion

WUAB shut down its analog signal, over UHF channel 43, on June 12, 2009, the official date in which full-power television stations in the United States transitioned from analog to digital broadcasts under federal mandate. The station's digital signal remained on its pre-transition UHF channel 28. Through the use of PSIP, digital television receivers display the station's virtual channel as its former UHF analog channel 43.

Programming

In addition to carrying the entire MyNetworkTV programming lineup, syndicated programs broadcast on WUAB (as of September 2014) include The Jerry Springer Show, Maury, Extra, Inside Edition, TMZ on TV. Occasionally, WUAB may air CBS network programs whenever sister station WOIO is unable to in the event of extended breaking news or severe weather coverage, a scheduled local special, or other scheduling conflicts.

Sports programming

Current

WUAB has been the longtime "free TV" home of the Cleveland Cavaliers, which first aired on the station from October 1980 to April 1988, and again since October 1994. Under the current deal with Fox Sports Ohio, Channel 43 simulcasts five Cavaliers regular season games, as well as select playoff games per year with the regional sports network, which serves as the Cavs' main television partner. Beginning in 2008, WUAB became the over-the-air television home of the Lake Erie Monsters hockey team, televising several contests per year. In 2014, WUAB became the local TV home of the Arena Football League's Cleveland Gladiators, airing select home games.

In 2011, WUAB began airing Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) football and men's basketball games, serving as the Cleveland affiliate for the Raycom-owned ACC Network.

Past

As stated above, WUAB broadcast Cleveland Indians' games from 1980 to 2001. Perhaps its most famous Indians telecast was that of Len Barker's perfect game on May 15, 1981. Channel 43 at various points throughout the years also carried Cleveland Barons, Cleveland Crusaders and Cleveland Lumberjacks hockey, and Cleveland Force indoor soccer games. WUAB also previously carried ESPN Plus coverage of Ohio State Buckeyes football and basketball, and in 2010 carried SEC football and basketball games via ESPN's SEC Network.

Newscasts

WOIO & WUAB's studios in Downtown Cleveland.

As of September 2015, WUAB broadcasts 14½ hours of locally produced newscasts each week (with 2½ hours on weekdays, and one hour each on Saturdays and Sundays), all of which are produced by sister station WOIO. In addition, WOIO also produces the sports wrap-up program Sports Extra which airs nightly during the final 15 minutes of the 10:00 p.m. newscast.

Under Gaylord ownership, WUAB formed a news department. The station debuted an hour-long late evening newscast, The Ten O'Clock News, on January 4, 1988. It was the second attempt at a primetime newscast in the Cleveland market following WKBF-TV's two-year effort in 1968. The original WUAB news team consisted of anchors Romona Robinson and Bob Hetherington, meteorologist Frank Cariello, and sports director Gib Shanley. After WJW-TV switched to Fox in 1994, WUAB's newscast gained a competitor as channel 8 had moved its late evening newscast from 11:00 to 10:00 p.m., and reformatted it as an hour-long program. On February 6, 1995, WUAB began producing two daily newscasts (an hour-long program at 6:00 p.m. and a 35-minute broadcast at 11:00 p.m.) for WOIO, in addition to their own 10:00 p.m. newscast under the unified brand Cleveland Television News (however, WOIO's newscasts were separately titled 19 News, while WUAB's prime time newscast continued to be titled The Ten O'Clock News). Although WOIO was the senior partner in the LMA, it did not have a news department prior to affiliating with CBS, and originally did not plan to have one until CBS informed the station that it preferred that WOIO carry local news programming.

WOIO now manages WUAB's news department, and produces the nightly 10:00 p.m. newscast under the title Cleveland 19 News on 43. WOIO began broadcasting its local newscasts in high definition on October 21, 2007; the prime time newscast on WUAB was included in the upgrade. On May 16, 2011, WUAB debuted an hour-long weekday morning newscast airing from 7:00 to 8:00 a.m., as an extension of WOIO's Cleveland 19 News This Morning.

As of September 21, 2015, WUAB expanded its evening newscasts on weekdays into a 90-minute block from 9:00 to 10:30 p.m., with the addition of an hour-long newscast in the former timeslot; the existing 10:00 p.m. newscast will also be reduced to a half-hour, with Sports Extra concurrently being moved to the 9:00 p.m. newscast. As a result of the expansion of its evening news programming, the station shifted the MyNetworkTV programming lineup out of prime time, moving it to 11:00 p.m. to 1:00 a.m. each weeknight.

Notable alumni

• Gretchen Carlson
• John Lanigan
• Jeff Phelps
• Jack Reynolds
• Gib Shanley
• Linn Sheldon
• Marty Sullivan
• Chris Van Vliet

Coverage in Canada

The station is available over-the-air in Kingsville, Leamington, and Pelee Island in southern Essex County, Ontario, and was once listed in the TV Guides for those communities (and Windsor, Ontario; though the station's signal was not strong enough to reach Windsor and Detroit). Unlike WKYC-TV, WEWS-TV, and WJW, it was not one of the Cleveland stations that was carried on local cable providers in those three locations. WUAB has been carried on cable channel 20 in London, Ontario since 1976, and is the only Cleveland station carried in London to this day.

On October 16, 2009, the Windsor Star had notified readers that digital subchannels of the Detroit and Toledo stations would be added, while the Cleveland stations (such as WKYC) and some Toledo stations would have to be dropped from the listings to make room for them, starting with the next issue of the TV Times, released the next day. As a result, WUAB is the only Cleveland area station whose listings remain in the Windsor-area TV Times.

External links

• Official website
• WUAB news team
• Query the FCC's TV station database for WUAB
• Bounce Cleveland