station currently known as wsyr . for the station originally known as wsyr until 1980 see wstm tv . wsyr tv syracuse new york united states branding newschannel 9 slogan the local station channels digital 17 uhf virtual 9 psip subchannels 9.1 abc 9.2 metv 9.3 bounce tv 9.4 laff affiliations abc owner nexstar broadcasting group nexstar broadcasting inc. first air date september 9 1962 ; 54 years ago 1962 09 09 call letters meaning syracuse former callsigns wnys tv 1962 1978 wixt tv 1978 2005 former channel number s analog 9 vhf 1962 2009 former affiliations variety television network dt2 transmitter power 105 kw height 402 m facility id 73113 transmitter coordinates 42 56 42.5 n 76 1 26.6 w 42.945139 n 76.024056 w 42.945139 ; 76.024056 licensing authority fcc public license information profile cdbs website localsyr.com wsyr tv is the abc affiliated television station for central new york state that is licensed to syracuse . it currently broadcasts a high definition digital signal on uhf channel 17 from a transmitter on sevier road in pompey . the station can also be seen on time warner channel 9 and in high definition on digital channel 1240 . owned by nexstar broadcasting group it has studios on bridge street ny 690 in east syracuse . contents 1 history 1.1 first call sign change 1.2 second call sign change 2 personalities 3 programming 3.1 bridge street 4 digital television 4.1 digital channels 4.2 analog to digital conversion 5 programming 6 news operation 6.1 notable former on air staff 7 references 8 external links history edit channel 9 was the last of syracuse s major network affiliates to sign on doing so september 9 1962 after a channel shuffle involving rival when tv and rochester s wroc tv allowed a third analog vhf station in syracuse . the original call letters were wnys tv now assigned to syracuse s mynetworktv affiliate . it signed on under the ownership of a group of local investors . the station has always been an abc affiliate . channel 9 s original studios were located in the basement of the shoppingtown shopping center on erie boulevard in dewitt . fire overtook the studios in april 1967 forcing the station to temporarily move to wcny tv s studios in liverpool until its facilities were rebuilt . 1 in 1969 then owner w.r.g. baker television corporation applied for a wnys tv translator on channel 7 2 w07ba ; this facility serving syracuse and nearby nedrow came on the air in 1972 . 3 w07ba which later moved its second city of license to dewitt remained a repeater of channel 9 until 2014 ; its license was canceled on march 24 2014 . 4 the station was purchased by the outlet company in 1971 . first call sign change edit the outlet company sold wnys in 1978 to wnys acquisition corp. which was a joint partnership of coca cola s new york bottling division and former washington post president larry h. israel . the call sign was then changed to wixt tv on march 1st with ix standing for roman numeral 9 . the ackerley group bought the station in 1982 . the station moved its studios to the current location on bridge street in 1985 . in 1999 wixt tv implemented a digital central casting control hub for ackerley s new york state cluster that included stations in rochester watertown binghamton elmira and utica to help with the upcoming digital television transition . the central casting still exists today ; however now that nexstar owns wsyr tv and most of the other stations in new york state that were previously owned by ackerley the hub is in the process of being relocated to now sister station wroc tv . other stations throughout ackerley s new york cluster have received updated studios . second call sign change edit clear channel communications now iheartmedia bought ackerley in 2001 putting wixt tv under the same ownership as wsyr radio 570 am . the call sign was then changed to the current wsyr tv in july 2005 . this created a small amount of confusion as rival nbc affiliate wstm tv had been known as wsyr tv from february 15 1950 until its sale to the times mirror company in 1980 . the wixt call letters were moved to sister station wlfh in little falls new york . on april 20 2007 clear channel entered into an agreement to sell its entire television stations group to newport television a broadcasting group established by providence equity partners . 5 wsyr radio was not part of the sale as it remains owned and operated by iheartmedia . nevertheless the wsyr tv call letters were retained . wsyr dt2 was affiliated with the variety television network operated by newport television until its demise in early january 2009 . this station once served on cable as the default abc affiliate in northern new york state communities such as ogdensburg potsdam massena and malone . since then most of those areas have been replaced with wsyr tv s sister station and fellow abc affiliate wwti . however both were available in these markets for a short time with wvny from burlington vermont now serving malone . on july 19 2012 newport television announced the sale of wsyr tv and all of its stations in new york state except wxxa tv in albany and wham tv in rochester to the nexstar broadcasting group as part of a 22 station deal that involved nexstar sinclair broadcast group and cox media group . 6 the transaction was completed on december 3 . 7 personalities edit on december 22 2006 nancy duffy a former general assignment reporter for the station died after a long illness . she became the first woman police reporter in central new york after joining the syracuse herald journal in 1966 . she was syracuse s first female television reporter when she moved to when tv now wtvh in 1967 . duffy became the first woman to join the syracuse press club and later served as its president . in 1970 duffy served as press secretary at syracuse city hall . she returned to when tv after a year and moved to wnys tv as a weekday morning anchor and reporter in 1977 . she had also founded the local st. patrick s day parade and was active in the community . programming edit bridge street edit in 2004 wixt tv premiered the area s only locally produced daytime talk entertainment lifestyle magazine show known as bridge street named from the address of the studios . the program airs weekdays at 10 a.m. from a secondary set . in july 2008 46 year station veteran mike price retired . the station s news studio was renamed the mike price studio on july 9 in dedication to his work on bridge street . on december 29 maureen green a former wsyr tv anchor was featured as a substitute co host on bridge street filling in for rick gary . this was the first time green was seen on the airwaves since being fired from her position at wtvh as main weeknight anchor in december 2007 . on march 20 2009 keith kobland former weekday morning and noon anchor on wtvh until its consolidation with wstm tv joined carrie lazarus to co host bridge street filling in for rick gary . on april 24 wsyr tv announced that rick gary had left the station after serving for more than two decades . dan cummings and keith kobland joined carrie lazarus as temporary replacements until february 1 2010 when bridge street was relaunched with a new look hosted by chris brandolino with an occasional guest . the show is currently hosted by jim teske and sistina giordano as of january 2014 . digital television edit digital channels edit the station s digital signal is multiplexed channel video aspect psip short name programming 8 9.1 720p 16 9 wsyr hd main wsyr tv programming abc 9.2 480i 4 3 wsyr 2 metv 9 9.3 bounce tv 9.4 laff on june 15 2016 nexstar broadcasting group owners of wsyr tv announced that it has entered into an affiliation agreement with katz broadcasting for the escape laff grit and bounce tv networks the last one of which is owned by bounce media llc whose coo jonathan katz is president ceo of katz broadcasting bringing one or more of the four networks to 81 stations owned and or operated by nexstar including wsyr tv . as a result wsyr tv renewed its dt3 subchannel s affiliation with bounce tv and added a new fourth subchannel carrying programs from laff on august 25 2016 . grit is already available in syracuse on wtvh dt2 . 10 analog to digital conversion edit wsyr tv shut down its analog signal over vhf channel 9 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 17 . 11 through the use of psip digital television receivers display the station s virtual channel as its former vhf analog channel 9 . programming edit although technically operating as a separate station in its own right wwti in watertown is now a semi satellite of wsyr tv . as such wwti clears all abc programming and most local newscasts see below as provided by wsyr tv but airs separate commercials and legal identifications . the watertown station airs its own lineup of syndicated programming . news operation edit after going from third to first place in syracuse news ratings work commenced on a new facility on bridge street in east syracuse in 1985 . construction was completed in 1986 and wixt tv moved there soon afterward . in 2000 a new news set and newsroom built by newset debuted . also that year in response to declining ratings wixt tv began a new segment called your stories . this feature is where viewers can call the station not an automated phone system and get right on line with a staffer for help with questions . the most popular topics are turned into segments which air at 5 16 during the weeknight news at 5 . 12 your stories was reinvented in 2007 when wsyr tv started the consumer protection unit . this is divided into three different parts your stories the real deal and consumer reports . as of july 2008 wsyr tv remains number one in nielsen ratings in central new york for the whole day part . however this station and wstm tv are in a tight battle for weekday mornings and weeknights at 11 . wsyr tv makes up for this with huge leads during the week at noon 5 5 30 and 6 . with the consolidation of wtvh and wstm tv on march 2 2009 there has been a noticeable decline in viewership especially on wtvh which now only airs separately branded newscasts on weeknights with the same coverage . as a result wsyr tv has seen increased viewership . currently there are only three news operations that cover the area including cable only time warner cable news . sister station wwti in watertown was hit by across the board cuts from newport television in june 2009 . eventually it began simulcasting wsyr tv s news every night at 11 and added half hour reports from the buffalo bills training camp produced by fellow abc affiliate and sister station wham tv in rochester . 13 on september 8 2009 wwti began simulcasting wsyr tv s weekday morning and nightly 6 o clock newscasts . 13 after letting go the few on air news staff that it had the station became a news bureau of wsyr tv with contributions of content from the north country from a single