states branding fox 40 hd general fox 40 hd news my 8 on dt2 channels digital 8 vhf virtual 40 psip subchannels 40.1 fox 40.2 mynetworktv affiliations fox 1996 present owner northwest broadcasting stainless broadcasting l.p. first air date november 1 1957 ; 58 years ago 1957 11 01 call letters meaning henry guzewicz former owner sister station s wbpn lp former callsigns winr tv 1957 1971 former channel number s analog 40 uhf 1957 2009 former affiliations primary nbc 1957 1996 secondary abc 1957 1962 upn c. 1999 2000 transmitter power 7.9 kw height 371 m class dt facility id 62210 transmitter coordinates 42 3 23 n 75 56 38.7 w 42.05639 n 75.944083 w 42.05639 ; 75.944083 licensing authority fcc public license information profile cdbs website wicz.com wicz tv is the fox affiliated television station for the eastern twin tiers of southern upstate new york and northern pennsylvania . licensed to binghamton it broadcasts a high definition digital signal on vhf channel 8 or virtual channel 40.1 via psip from a transmitter on ingraham hill southwest of downtown . the station can also be seen on time warner cable channel 3 and in hd on digital channel 1206 . owned by the stainless broadcasting company subsidiary of northwest broadcasting wicz is sister to low powered mynetworktv affiliate wbpn lp and the two outlets share studios on vestal parkway east ny 434 in vestal . contents 1 history 2 digital television 2.1 digital channels 2.2 analog to digital conversion 3 programming 4 news operation 5 references 6 external links history edit the station signed on november 1 1957 as winr tv the area s second television station and aired an analog signal on uhf channel 40 . the station was originally owned by the gannett company which purchased the station just before its launch along with winr radio 680 am and the binghamton press . winr tv was primarily an nbc affiliate though it also carried some abc programming before wbja tv channel 34 now wivt went on the air in 1962 . 1 broadcast tower manufacturer stainless inc. acquired winr tv in 1971 2 and changed its call letters to wicz tv 3 named for company owner henry guzewicz . 4 that fall the station moved to an 870 foot 270 m tower on ingraham hill ; 5 it had previously shared a transmitter location with winr radio . 4 in november 1995 wicz tv announced it would be dropping its nbc affiliation and switching to fox ; the station stated that the switch would allow it to expand its news programming . 6 wicz already had a secondary affiliation with fox to carry fox kids 6 which resulted in the station beginning to preempt much of nbc s programming especially its daytime soap operas . other fox programming was only available on cable via either foxnet or out of market stations such as new york city flagship wnyw . 6 the affiliation change took place april 4 1996 after wicz s contract with nbc expired . 6 nbc programming was then seen on cable via a localized version of elmira s wetm tv ; 7 the network regained an over the air affiliate in binghamton a year later when wetm s owners smith broadcasting purchased wbgh lp channel 8 now wbgh cd channel 20 and made it a semi satellite of wetm . 8 stainless whose holdings by this point included its tower manufacturing business wicz tv and ktvz in bend oregon was sold to northwest broadcasting for 17 million in 1997 . 9 10 though northwest would sell the stainless tower company to spectrasite holdings in 1999 11 it still owns wicz under the stainless broadcasting name to this day . during the late 1990s wicz added a secondary affiliation with upn ; 12 in 2000 northwest bought w10co channel 10 changed its call letters to wbpn lp and moved upn programming there . 13 on september 16 2013 it was announced that mission broadcasting would acquire wicz tv and wbpn lp from stainless broadcasting . upon the deal s completion the stations operations would have been taken over by nexstar broadcasting group making them sister stations to wivt and wbgh ca. 14 stainless withdrew the license assignment application on march 18 2015 following the deal s cancellation . 15 digital television edit digital channels edit the station s digital channel is multiplexed channel video aspect psip short name programming 16 40.1 720p 16 9 wicz hd main wicz tv programming fox 40.2 wbpn dt simulcast of wbpn analog to digital conversion edit wicz tv shut down its analog signal over uhf channel 40 on april 16 2009 . the station s digital signal remained on its pre transition vhf channel 8 . 17 through the use of psip digital television receivers display the station s virtual channel as its former uhf analog channel 40 . programming edit syndicated programming on this station includes the big bang theory two and a half men and the people s court among others . news operation edit news logo . since switching networks wicz has consistently maintained lower viewership than rival cbs outlet wbng tv and remains ranked at second but that gap has closed slightly in recent years . the big three affiliate has always been a ratings powerhouse in binghamton . for the most part wivt has always been a non factor in the local newscast race . the abc outlet has spent most of its history as the third station in what was originally a two station market since wivt did not sign on until november 1962 and virtually gained no benefit when wicz joined fox . on memorial day in 2009 in an attempt to increase its presence against wbng wicz added a thirty minute newscast weeknights at 6 joining their flagship nightly prime time broadcast at 10 . wbng already established a weeknight newscast in the prime time slot airing on its cw second digital subchannel . the prime time newscast on wbng dt2 would eventually be expanded to weekends at some point in time . on june 5 2009 there was an increase in viewership on wicz and to a larger extent on wbng when wivt announced its plans to consolidate news operations with wetm tv in elmira . wivt eventually began simulcasting some of wetm s newscasts featuring regional weather coverage but not a full news focus of the eastern twin tiers region . a separate taped newscast specifically covering the binghamton area was subsequently brought back to wivt on june 28 . on august 19 2012 wicz became the market s first television station to upgrade local news production to high definition level . the transition included a new on air look with state of the art graphics and updated set design . references edit winr tv goes on air friday pdf . broadcasting . november 4 1957 . p. 82 . retrieved december 20 2015 . changing hands pdf . broadcasting . march 8 1971 . p. 37 . retrieved december 20 2015 . for the record pdf . broadcasting . january 11 1971 . p. 60 . retrieved december 20 2015 . a b fybush scott december 3 2004 . binghamton s ingraham hill revisited . tower site of the week . retrieved december 20 2015 . more muscle for wicz tv pdf . broadcasting . october 11 1971 . p. 54 . retrieved december 20 2015 . a b c d flint joe november 26 1995 . fox lures wicz from peacock nest . variety . retrieved december 20 2015 . ross chuck april 22 1996 . tv station hooks up with cable outlet ; new york s wetm crafts local marketing agreement . advertising age . retrieved december 20 2015 . fybush scott september 11 1997 . fire at wvip . north east radiowatch . retrieved december 20 2015 . kanaley reid may 18 1997 . digital tv it s a high tower act . philadelphia inquirer . retrieved december 4 2015 . stainless which owns uhf stations in binghamton n.y. and bend ore . is being sold to a detroit based partnership northwest broadcasting said stainless counsel james j. heffernan of plymouth meeting . he said the deal is worth 17 million . changing hands pdf . broadcasting & cable . may 19 1997 . p. 38 . retrieved december 4 2015 . spectrasite holdings inc. form 8 k txt . securities and exchange commission . january 21 2000 . retrieved december 4 2015 . upn affiliate stations new york . upn.com . archived from the original on may 8 1999 . retrieved december 20 2015 . kucinski carla august 17 2000 . new tier tv station bulks up with pro wrestling . press & sun bulletin . p. b8 . retrieved december 20 2015 . preview of subscription content malone michael september 16 2013 . nexstar to acquire citadel s iowa stations for 88 million . broadcasting & cable . retrieved september 16 2013 . corbett dennis p. march 18 2015 . re withdrawal of file nos . balcdt 20130927a11g baltvl 20130927ahh and bapdtl 20130927ah1 pdf . cdbs public access . federal communications commission . retrieved march 24 2015 . rabbitears tv query for wicz dtv tentative channel designations for the first and the second rounds pdf . retrieved 2012 03 24 . external links edit official website wbpn lp website query the fcc s tv station database for wicz tv biafn s media web database information on wicz tv v t e broadcast television in the central southern tier of new york and the northern tier of pennsylvania including binghamton reception may vary by location and some stations may only be viewable with cable television local stations wxxw lp 6 ind wbpn lp 10 mntv wbng tv 12.1 cbs 12.2 the cw wbgh cd 20.1 nbc 20.3 abc wivt 34.1 abc 34.2 nbc 34.3 laff wicz tv 40.1 fox 40.2 mntv wskg tv 46.1 pbs 46.2 world 46.3 create cable only stations spectrum sports spectrum news central new york yes msg sny adjacent locals elmira corning wetm tv 18.1 nbc 18.2 ind 18.3 laff 18.4 escape wska tv 30.1 pbs 30.2 world 30.3 create weny tv 36.1 abc 36.2 cbs 36.3 the cw wjkp ld 39.1 mntv wydc 48.1 fox 48.2 mntv 48.3 wx scranton wilkes barre pa wnep tv 16.1 abc 16.2 atv 16.3 justice wyou 22.1 cbs 22.2 escape 22.3 bounce tv wbre tv 28.1 nbc 28.2 laff 28.3 grit wswb 38.1 the cw 38.2 metv 38.3 comet wvia tv 44.1 pbs 44.2 via 2 44.3 create wqmy 53.1 mntv 53.2 fox 53.3 the cw wolf tv 56.1 fox 56.2 the cw 56.3 mntv wqpx tv 64.1 ion 64.2 qubo 64.3 life 64.4 ion shop 64.5 qvc over air 64.6 hsn syracuse wstm tv 3.1 nbc 3.2 the cw 3.3 comet wtvh 5.1 cbs 5.2 grit wsyr tv 9.1 abc 9.2 metv 9.3 bounce tv 9.4 laff wcny tv 24.1 pbs 24.2 create 24.3 world 24.4 pbs plus wnys tv 43.1 mntv 43.2 gettv wnyi 52.1 daystar wspx tv 56.1 ion 56.2 qubo 56.3 life 56.4 shop 56.5 qvc 56.6 hsn wsyt 68.1 fox 68.2 tcn defunct w26bs 26 tbn new york state television albany schenectady binghamton buffalo burlington plattsburgh elmira new york city rochester syracuse utica watertown pennsylvania broadcast television binghamton new york buffalo new york elmira new york erie johnstown altoona state college new york city philadelphia pittsburgh scranton wilkes barre susquehanna valley harrisburg washington dc youngstown ohio v t e broadcast television in southwestern ny state including elmira and corning reception may vary by location and some stations may only be viewable with cable television local stations wetm tv 18.1 nbc 18.2 ind 18.3 laff 18.4 escape wska 30.1 pbs 30.2 world 30.3 create weny tv 36.1 abc 36.2 cbs 36.3 the cw wjkp ld 39.1 mntv wydc 48.1 fox 48.2 mntv 48.3 accuwx outlying areas w20cp d 20.1