please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . july 2010 learn how and when to remove this template message wmdt salisbury maryland united states branding 47 abc general 47 abc news delmarva cw 3 on dt2 slogan delmarva s trusted source coverage you can count on channels digital 47 uhf virtual 47 psip subchannels 47.1 abc 47.2 the cw 47.3 metv translators wevd lp 27 uhf dover de affiliations abc owner marquee broadcasting first air date april 11 1980 ; 36 years ago 1980 04 11 call letters meaning wmdt maryland delaware television wevd television delaware sister station s wgdv ld former channel number s analog 47 uhf 1980 2009 digital 53 uhf former affiliations secondary nbc 1980 1992 transmitter power 250 kw height 307 m facility id 16455 transmitter coordinates 38 30 6 n 75 44 8.6 w 38.50167 n 75.735722 w 38.50167 ; 75.735722 licensing authority fcc public license information profile cdbs website wmdt.com wmdt is the abc affiliated television station broadcasting on the delmarva peninsula that is licensed to salisbury maryland . it broadcasts a high definition digital signal on uhf channel 47 from a transmitter in rural wicomico county northeast of mardela springs . the tower is the second tallest structure in the state of maryland . it can also be seen on comcast channel 7 and in high definition on digital channel 210 . owned by marquee broadcasting the station has studios on west main street although its address is downtown plaza in salisbury . syndicated programming on wmdt includes the middle modern family the queen latifah show judge judy and the ellen degeneres show . wmdt can also be seen on low powered analog repeater wevd lp channel 27 in dover delaware . this channel has a transmitter northeast of the city between de 1 and de 9 . contents 1 history 1.1 programming rights 2 digital television 2.1 digital channels 2.2 analog to digital conversion 3 satellite availability 4 news operation 4.1 notable former on air staff 5 see also 6 references 7 external links history edit its logo used from 1997 until 2002 . wmdt initiated broadcast operations in the salisbury area on april 11 1980 . it was a primary abc station with secondary nbc affiliation . it was the brainchild of the late jean paul audet a television pioneer who spent some of his early years in the albuquerque new mexico and charleston south carolina markets . in its early years of operation wmdt won ap and upi awards for its then innovative eng efforts . brechner management company through its delmarva broadcast service subsidiary bought the station in 1982 . 1 in 1992 the station became a sole abc affiliate carrying that network s programming as well as a mix of syndicated shows . in 2000 wmdt launched cable only wb affiliate wbd the call letters were fictional . it was part of the wb 100 as a result of the salisbury market not being among the top 100 broadcast markets in the united states . the station was only available on comcast and mediacom channel 14 and as a result was known on air as wb 14 . it replaced wphl tv s channel location on both systems . several months after the launch it was relocated to comcast channel 3 and renamed wb 3 . on mediacom systems it moved to channel 2 . wbd frequently aired cross promotions for wmdt s main channel and its weeknight news programs . in july 2003 wmdt s transmitter tower experienced a fire after a severe storm caused extensive damage to the transmitter . the analog uhf channel 47 signal was unavailable for many weeks although its cable channel digital signal and cable only wb station were unaffected . in 2004 wmdt won the top service to children award for small market stations from the national association of broadcasters education foundation . the station also has a teachers who make a difference program and a meet the money givers among other community service activities . on january 24 2006 the wb and upn announced that they would cease broadcasting and merge . the new combined network would be called the cw . the letters would representing the first initial of its corporate parents cbs the parent company of upn and the warner bros. unit of time warner . upn was offered on wboc tv s second digital subchannel and comcast channel 5 . it was announced on march 28 that wbd would become an affiliate of the cw via the cw plus a similar operation to the wb 100 . wmdt would then create a new second digital subchannel to simulcast wbd and offer cw programming for non cable viewers . wboc announced on may 9 2006 that its upn subchannel would become a fox affiliate beginning august 21 2006 . on september 18 2006 the cw debuted on wbd now officially using the wmdt dt2 calls . the station began to be known on air as delmarva cw 3 . during the annual delaware state fair the 6 pm newscast is broadcast live from the exhibit hall 2 brechner management company announced the sale of wmdt to marquee broadcasting on august 8 2013 . 1 3 programming rights edit wmdt has twice filed a petition seeking a waiver of the fcc s network non duplication and syndicated program exclusivity rules . the petition involved the carriage of two stations wmar tv filed in 1999 and wttg filed in 2000 . the petitions were filed by comcast the cable provider in the area that wmdt is located in within a 35 mile 56 km radius of its studios . wmar and wttg carried programming that wmdt held exclusive programming rights for either by syndication or by network distribution within its market catchment area . in both cases the fcc ruled in favor of wmdt in that the stations in question wmar and wttg failed to meet the criteria set by the fcc for distant stations with significant level of over the air viewership . the effect of the ruling resulted in that when wmar and or wttg broadcast programming which wmdt has exclusive rights to specifically in the communities of salisbury delmar fuitland hebron unincorporated areas of wicomico county and unincorporated areas of sussex county delaware comcast would have to blackout those channels while the programs were being shown . this resulted in wmar being removed entirely from the comcast ocean city lineup . today wmdt carries the full line up of abc network programming and a number of popular syndicated shows . for many years the station was the only one in the area to broadcast jeopardy and wheel of fortune . both shows have since moved to wboc dt2 . digital television edit digital channels edit channel video aspect psip short name programming 4 47.1 720p 16 9 wmdt hd main wmdt programming abc 47.2 wmdt d2 delmarva cw 3 47.3 480i 4 3 wmdt d3 metv on may 21 2014 weigel broadcasting announced that wmdt had signed an affiliation agreement to carry metv programming on a new digital subchannel ; the network debuted on digital channel 47.3 on may 26 . 5 analog to digital conversion edit wmdt discontinued regular programming on its analog signal over uhf channel 47 in september 2008 . the station s digital signal relocated from its pre transition uhf channel 53 which was among the high band uhf channels 52 69 that were removed from broadcasting use as a result of the transition to its analog era uhf channel 47 . 6 satellite availability edit wmdt is available on directv and dish network in the delmarva counties of wicomico somerset worcester and dorchester in maryland and sussex county in delaware . 7 8 news operation edit this section does not cite any sources . please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . january 2014 learn how and when to remove this template message wmdt s news department from its inception used electronic news gathering instead of the commonly used 16 mm film which was still in use on the delmarva peninsula in 1980 . it began broadcasting its first weekday noon show known as midday live on july 26 1982 . when wbd became wmdt dt2 it began to simulcast the midday broadcast . that channel also started to air a nightly prime time newscast which competes with wboc dt2 . the 5 a.m. hour of wmdt s weekday morning show is simulcast on wmdt dt2 followed by the nationally syndicated morning show the daily buzz . historically wmdt s newscasts have been a distant second in the market behind those of long dominant wboc . citation needed some well known television personalities that started their careers at wmdt include bonnie bernstein of espn mike tobin gregg jarrett of the fox news channel and greg fishel now with wral tv . wmdt has re launched a sports department in april 2014 . it airs a public affairs program good things delmarva on sunday mornings at 7 . unlike most abc affiliates it does not air local news weeknights at 5 p.m. following marquee broadcasting s acquisition of wmdt there have been several changes . in 2013 the station launched a sports department . in 2015 the station became the first in the nation to regularly broadcast its newscasts from a virtual news studio . additionally a focus was put on investigative reporting led by senior anchor emily lampa . in september 2015 wmdt launched the 47abc news hour airing each weeknight from 5 30 6 30 p.m. initially anchored by emily lampa and david caldwell the station branded this newscast as local news done differently . notable former on air staff edit mike seidel now with the weather channel bonnie bernstein now with espn see also edit channel 47 digital tv stations in the united states channel 47 virtual tv stations in the united states references edit a b marquee broadcasting to acquire wmdt tv . wmdt 47 news . august 8 2013 . retrieved august 9 2013 . delaware state fair . 2011 fair schedule . delaware state fair . retrieved 2011 07 22 . malone michael august 8 2013 . wmdt in salisbury md. sells for 9 million . broadcasting & cable . retrieved august 9 2013 . rabbitears tv query for wmdt metv network adds wmdt salisbury md. tvnewscheck may 21 2014 . dtv tentative channel designations for the first and the second rounds pdf . retrieved 2012 03 24 . directv local channels available dish network local channels external links edit official website wmdt dt2 delmarva cw 3 query the fcc s tv station database for wmdt query tv fool s coverage map for wmdt query the fcc s tv station database for wevd lp query tv fool s coverage map for wevd lp biafn s media web database information on wmdt tv biafn s media web database information on wevd lp v t e television on the delmarva peninsula including salisbury maryland and dover delaware reception may vary by location and some stations may only be viewable with cable television local stations wnga ld 7.1 wrav ld 8.1 ind w14dk d 14.1 wboc tv 16.1 cbs 16.2 antenna tv 21.2 fox wcpb 28.1 pbs mpt 28.2 mpt 2 28.3 v me wrde ld 31.1 nbc 31.2 mntv cozi wgdv ld 32.1 azteca 32.2 bounce tv 32.3 h & i 32.4 escape 32.5 laff w35cs d 35.1 gcn wmde 36.1 ssn wmdt 47.1 abc 47.2 the cw 47.3 metv wdpb 64.1 pbs 64.2 y2 64.3 y info w58dh 58 w63dc 63 w65ef 65 w67ea 67 tbn adjacent locals washington wrc tv 4.1 nbc 4.2 cozi tv wttg 5.1 fox 5.2 movies wjla tv 7.1 abc 7.2 metv 7.3 comet wusa 9.1 cbs 9.2 bounce