states branding wsbt 22 general fox michiana on dt2 wsbt 22 news newscasts slogan first fast accurate channels digital 22 uhf virtual 22 psip subchannels 22.1 cbs 22.2 fox affiliations cbs secondary through 1954 fox wsbt dt2 owner sinclair broadcast group wluc licensee llc first air date december 21 1952 call letters meaning south bend tribune former channel number s analog 34 uhf 1952 1957 22 uhf 1957 2009 digital 30 uhf 2009 former affiliations all secondary nbc abc dumont 1952 1954 dt2 upn 2003 2006 independent 2006 2016 transmitter power 266 kw height 332.6 m facility id 73983 transmitter coordinates 41 37 0 n 86 13 1 w 41.61667 n 86.21694 w 41.61667 ; 86.21694 website wsbt.com wsbt tv uhf digital channel 22 is a cbs affiliated television station licensed to south bend indiana and serving northern indiana and the southern portion of western michigan which are collectively referred to as michiana . owned by sinclair broadcast group the station s studios are located on east douglas avenue in mishawaka and its transmitter is located in south bend . contents 1 history 2 digital television 2.1 digital channels 2.2 analog to digital conversion 3 programming 4 news operation 4.1 notable former on air staff 5 references 6 external links history edit wsbt s former studio in south bend now the home of wnit . the station first signed on the air on december 21 1952 and was founded by the schurz family the owners of the south bend tribune and wsbt radio from studios on lafayette and jefferson streets in downtown south bend . wsbt tv was originally affiliated with all four major networks of the time it was a primary cbs affiliate with secondary affiliations with nbc abc and dumont ; it lost the latter three networks when wsjv channel 28 now a fox affiliate signed on in march 1954 . it was the first uhf station in the united states to produce a live telecast a five minute local news bulletin . although wsbt is the oldest continuously operating uhf station in the country it switched channels once during the analog era . originally broadcasting on uhf channel 34 the station moved to the stronger channel 22 around 1958 . wsbt was the first station on uhf to telecast a high school basketball tournament which came from john adams high school . in 1953 wsbt tv had several sports related firsts . in the fall of that year wsbt became the first television station in the country to present a closed circuit telecast of a college football practice . this allowed notre dame coach frank leahy to direct the practice as he was hospitalized at the time . wsbt tv was also the first station in indiana to broadcast in color starting in 1954 in new studios designed by architect william pereira . wsbt logo used from 1994 to 2013 . when the federal communications commission tightened its cross ownership regulations in the 1970s to bar common ownership of television stations and newspapers in the same market the combination of the tribune and the wsbt radio and television stations were among the few such combinations that were grandfathered under those rules . wsbt has the distinction of being the longest tenured cbs affiliate in the state of indiana . the station unveiled its new all digital facility in mishawaka on november 16 2008 beginning with the station s 10 p.m. newscast which airs on its second digital subchannel . the new facility was built from the ground up for digital broadcasting and channel 22 became the first michiana station to broadcast its local newscasts in high definition . the radio stations began broadcasting from the new facility a few weeks earlier . 1 the former wsbt studio building is now home to the area s pbs member station wnit channel 34 . on august 4 2008 wsbt announced plans to purchase weigel broadcasting s three stations in the market abc affiliate wbnd lp channel 57 cw affiliate wcww lp channel 25 and mynetworktv affiliate wmys lp channel 69 . since the three stations are all low powered outlets they are not counted under fcc ownership rules which permit common ownership of a full power television station and one or more low power stations . alongside wsbt dt s existing three channels the purchase would have given schurz communications a total of six channels in the market across four stations including two big four network affiliates . however in the absence of action by the fcc the deal was called off in august 2009 . 2 schurz announced on september 14 2015 that it would exit broadcasting and sell its television and radio stations to gray television for 442.5 million . as gray already owned wndu tv channel 16 in south bend that company kept wndu and sold wsbt tv to expedite approval of the deal ; 3 4 on october 1 2015 gray announced that the station would be swapped to sinclair broadcast group for wluc tv in marquette michigan . 5 the sale separated channel 22 from both the south bend tribune which schurz would keep and the wsbt radio group which was sold to mid west family broadcasting . 3 4 6 the fcc approved the sale on february 12 2016 . 7 the sale was completed on february 16 2016 . 8 sinclair s purchase of wsbt also marked a re entry into indiana as the company had owned wttv wttk in indianapolis from 1996 before that station was sold to tribune broadcasting in 2002 . as a result of the sale fellow cbs affiliate wwmt to the north in kalamazoo michigan which serves the grand rapids market became a sister station to wsbt . on july 25 2016 sinclair announced that wsbt dt2 would affiliate with fox beginning on august 1 2016 . quincy media had reached an agreement to transfer the affiliation from wsjv in exchange for the abc and cw affiliations in peoria illinois from sinclair owned whoi . 9 a few of wsjv s employees were transferred to wsbt . 10 11 for a sixty day period wsbt dt2 will be simulcast on wsjv dt1 to allow viewers to transition to the former signal along with pay television providers . sbt2 s broadcasts of south bend cubs baseball games will also end for the season ; sinclair intends to begin a new broadcasting relationship with the team for the 2017 season . 12 digital television edit digital channels edit the station s digital channel is multiplexed channel video aspect psip short name programming 13 22.1 1080i 16 9 wsbtcbs main wsbt tv programming cbs 22.2 720p wsbtfox fox michiana in 2003 wsbt launched a upn affiliated digital subchannel branded as upn michiana on digital channel 22.2 . wsbt dt2 became an independent station in september 2006 when upn shut down and its programming was merged with that of the wb to form the cw . at that point upn michiana was rebranded as sbt2 . on august 1 2016 sbt2 became fox michiana . the weather radar channel was discontinued at that time . 11 analog to digital conversion edit wsbt tv shut down its analog signal over uhf channel 22 on february 17 2009 the original target date in which full power television stations in the united states were to transition from analog to digital broadcasts under federal mandate which was later pushed back to june 12 2009 . the station s digital signal relocated from its pre transition uhf channel 30 to former analog channel 22 for post transition operations . 14 programming edit syndicated programming featured on the station includes dr. phil jeopardy criminal minds america s court with judge ross and wheel of fortune . news operation edit not surprisingly given its roots in a newspaper wsbt tv has long devoted significant resources to its news department . it has led the ratings in michiana for as long as records have been kept . wsbt tv presently broadcasts 49 hours of locally produced newscasts each week with eight and a half hours on weekdays four hours on saturdays and three hours on sundays . the station maintains a news and weather content agreement with their former sister radio stations wsbt and wnsn as well as douglas road radio owned whfb fm and wzoc ; it also continues to partner with former sister publication the south bend tribune with news stories seen in the tribune and the station providing the paper s observations for their weather page on september 5 2006 the station began producing a half hour weeknight 10 p.m. newscast on its second digital subchannel currently branded as wsbt 22 news at 10 on sbt2 after wsbt dt2 lost its upn affiliation . on november 16 2008 wsbt became the first television station in the south bend market to being broadcasting its local newscasts in high definition . on september 8 2014 wsbt added the area s first ever 4 00 p.m. newscast with the half hour newscast called wsbt 22 news first at 4 00 . 15 notable former on air staff edit sage steele reporter 1995 1997 ; now at espn 16 kate sullivan reporter recently left wbbm tv in chicago references edit http www.wsbt.com news local 32995139.html malone michael ; john eggerton august 24 2009 . wsbt south bend deal fizzles absent fcc action . broadcasting & cable . retrieved august 25 2009 . a b schurz communications to sell wsbt and other tv radio stations . south bend tribune . september 14 2015 . retrieved september 14 2015 . a b kuperberg jonathan september 14 2015 . gray acquiring tv radio stations from schurz for 442.5 million . broadcasting & cable . retrieved september 14 2015 . gray television sells some buys some . tvnewscheck . october 1 2015 . retrieved october 1 2015 . allen kevin november 2 2015 . wsbt radio group will have a new owner again . south bend tribune . retrieved january 9 2016 . fcc approves gray schurz tv station deal . broadcasting & cable 12 february 2016 retrieved 13 february 2016 . gray closes schurz acquisition related transactions and incremental term loan facility press release gray television retrieved 16 february 2016 . eck kevin 26 july 2016 . sinclair and quincy make affiliation deal wsjv employees wonder what s next . tvspy . adweek blog network . retrieved 1 august 2016 . wsbt to take over fox affiliate on aug. 1 . south bend tribune . retrieved 25 july 2016 . a b sbt 2 to become fox affiliate monday aug. 1 . wsbt.com . sinclair broadcast group . retrieved 26 july 2016 . hernandez sharon 27 july 2016 . wsbt taking over elkhart s fox affiliate monday programs moving to new channel . elkhart truth . retrieved 28 july 2016 . rabbitears tv query for wsbt dtv tentative channel designations for the first and second rounds pdf . retrieved 2012 03 24 . wsbt is gon na be first at 4 00 in michiana . the changing newscasts blog august 13 2014 . steele sage bio . espn . retrieved 12 march 2013 . external links edit official website query the fcc s tv station database for wsbt biafn s media web database information on wsbt tv v t e broadcast television in the michiana area reception of low powered stations may vary by location and some stations may only be viewable with cable television stations wygn ld 10.1 3abn 10.2 3abn latino 10.3 3abn radio 10.4 radio 74 wndu tv 16.1 nbc 16.2 antenna tv weid lp 18 daystar wsbt tv 22.1 cbs 22.2 fox wcww ld 25.1 cw 25.2 this tv wsjv 28.1 h & i wnit 34.1 pbs whme tv 46.1 lesea 46.2 cozi tv 46.3 blank 46.4 bulletin board whpd audio waaa lp 49 ind. wbnd ld 57.1 abc 57.2 metv 57.3 movies wmys ld 69.1 mntv 69.2 tmd