states branding wbng 12 general 12 news newscasts binghamton cw 11 on dt2 slogan your weather authority dare to defy on dt2 channels digital 7 vhf virtual 12 psip subchannels 12.1 cbs 12.2 the cw owner quincy media wbng license llc first air date december 1 1949 ; 66 years ago 1949 12 01 call letters meaning binghamton former callsigns wnbf tv 1949 1973 former channel number s analog 12 vhf 1949 2009 former affiliations all secondary dumont 1949 1955 nbc 1949 1957 abc 1949 1962 transmitter power 20.4 kw height 342 m class dt facility id 23337 transmitter coordinates 42 3 31 n 75 57 6 w 42.05861 n 75.95167 w 42.05861 ; 75.95167 licensing authority fcc public license information profile cdbs website wbng.com wbng tv is the cbs affiliated television station for the eastern twin tiers of southern upstate new york and northern pennsylvania . licensed to the city of binghamton it broadcasts a high definition digital signal on vhf channel 7 or virtual channel 12.1 via psip from a transmitter on ingraham hill road in the town of binghamton . the station can also be seen on time warner cable channel 2 and in hd on digital channel 1209 . owned by quincy media wbng has studios on columbia drive in johnson city . contents 1 history 2 digital television 2.1 digital channels 2.2 analog to digital conversion 3 programming 4 news operation 5 see also 6 references 7 external links history edit the station signed on december 1 1949 as wnbf tv and was originally owned by clark associates inc. along with wnbf radio 1290 am and 98.1 fm now whwk . at its launch wnbf carried programs from all four american television networks at the time cbs dumont nbc and abc since it was the market s first television outlet to launch . for many of its early years wnbf was the only station available to viewers in the nearby scranton wilkes barre pennsylvania market as set owners pointed their roof top antennas north towards binghamton . the station subsequently lost its affiliations with dumont in 1956 after the network s collapse and the others when new uhf stations arrived in town nbc on winr tv channel 40 now wicz tv in 1957 and abc to wbja tv channel 34 now wivt in 1962 . philadelphia based triangle publications owner of various broadcasting and newspaper properties purchased the wnbf stations in 1955 . as part of triangle s exit from broadcasting in 1972 wnbf am fm tv and sister stations in altoona and lancaster both in pennsylvania were sold to gateway communications . gateway was a new broadcasting concern majority owned by the publishers of the bergen record of hackensack new jersey and headed by george koehler president of triangle s broadcast division . 1 2 3 as a condition of the purchase gateway sold the wnbf radio stations to des moines based stoner broadcasting and retained channel 12 which was renamed to its current call sign wbng tv . in 2000 gateway was purchased by sjl broadcasting which reduced staff from 100 to 58 over five years to fit the aggressive sjl automation model . in 2002 wbng s digital signal on vhf channel 7 signed on . in april 2006 it was announced that granite broadcasting made a deal to acquire the station from television station group license subsidiary llc successor to sjl and a subsidiary of alta communications for 45 million . the required money was funded by a new senior credit facility created after the previously announced sales of detroit s wmyd and san francisco s kbwb fell apart . granite would close on its purchase of wbng on july 26 2006 . as part of the transaction les vann formerly president and general manager of cbs affiliate wtvh in syracuse was promoted to executive vice president of the company s central and southern new york operations . his duties were regional in nature with responsibilities at both wbng and wtvh . this station s digital signal began broadcasting network programming in high definition in late january 2007 . beginning in september 2007 cw affiliate wbxi began to be simulcasted on a new second digital subchannel of wbng . that station then began using wbng dt2 as its call letters in an official manner as opposed to the faux wbxi call sign which was inherited from the former wb 100 cable only channel . in december 2008 it was announced a deal was reached between granite and time warner cable to carry wbng s high definition feed throughout the binghamton region . this was the first time hd programming from cbs was available to customers in the southern tier of new york state without using an antenna . on january 19 2009 the station went off the air for about thirty minutes around 11 p.m. due to a power failure . on february 11 2014 quincy newspapers announced that it had reached a deal to purchase wbng from granite along with other company owned and or managed stations in three other markets . 4 the sale was approved on september 15 2015 5 and completed on november 2 . 6 until april 25 2009 wbng served as the longtime default cbs affiliate for the elmira and corning area . on that date abc affiliate weny tv signed on a new second digital subchannel in order to offer access to cbs for the first time ever in that market . on november 22 2015 wbng also lost its status as the default cbs affiliate for most of otsego county in the utica market as did former sister station wtvh in syracuse for the rest of that dma when nbc affiliate wktv s second digital subchannel became cbs first full time affiliate in that area . 7 digital television edit digital channels edit the station s digital channel is multiplexed channel video aspect psip short name programming 8 12.1 1080i 16 9 wbng dt main wbng tv programming cbs 12.2 720p binghamton cw 11 analog to digital conversion edit wbng tv shut down its analog signal over vhf channel 12 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 vhf channel 7 . 9 through the use of psip digital television receivers display the station s virtual channel as its former vhf analog channel 12 . programming edit syndicated programming on the station includes entertainment tonight inside edition dr. phil and the rachael ray show among others . all of the programs mentioned are distributed by cbs television distribution . news operation edit for its entire existence wbng has held the number one spot in nielsen ratings by a wide margin . for the most part wivt has always been a non factor in the local newscast race in binghamton . the abc outlet has spent most of its history as the third station in what was originally a two station market wivt did not sign on until november 1962 and virtually gained no benefit when the area s original nbc affiliate wicz switched to fox in april 1996 . since the network switch wicz has consistently maintained lower viewership than wbng but remains ranked at a distant but steady second place . on memorial day in 2009 trying to increase its presence against this cbs outlet wicz added a thirty minute newscast seen weeknights at 6 that joined a nightly prime time broadcast at 10 . wbng had already established a weeknight newscast in the prime time slot seen for a half hour on its cw affiliated second digital subchannel . known as action news at 10 on binghamton cw 11 the program on wbng dt2 would eventually be expanded to weekends at some point in time . like all the cw plus affiliates in the eastern time zone the subchannel also airs the nationally syndicated morning show the daily buzz on weekdays . on june 5 2009 there was a noticeable increase in viewership on wbng and to a lesser extent on wicz when wivt announced there would be a consolidation of news operations with wetm tv in elmira after their owner newport television made across the board cuts . 10 wbng reported all but two people from the news staff and all production personnel for the news department would be terminated . 11 the press & sun bulletin later identified the two personnel remaining as news anchor peter quinn and news director jim ehmke but also said fifteen other members of the original 28 person staff including non news personnel would remain based in binghamton . 12 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 . 13 a separate newscast recorded in advance from elmira specifically covering the binghamton area was subsequently brought back to wivt on june 28 . 14 on august 28 2013 wbng became the market s second television station to upgrade local news production to high definition level . see also edit channel 7 digital tv stations in the united states channel 12 virtual tv stations in the united states references edit triangle spins off last seven stations . broadcasting december 6 1971 pg . 38 . 1 fcc grants approval of 16 million in triangle transfers . broadcasting september 25 1972 pg . 12 . 2 end of an era . broadcasting november 6 1972 pg . 36 quincy buying stations from granite malara . tvnewscheck . february 11 2014 . retrieved february 11 2014 . letter cdbs public access federal communications commission retrieved 15 september 2015 wilson doug november 2 2015 . quincy newspapers inc. acquires four tv stations . quincy herald whig . archived from the original on november 7 2015 . retrieved november 3 2015 . wktv bringing cbs affiliation to utica rabbitears tv query for wbng dtv tentative channel designations for the first and the second rounds pdf . retrieved 2012 03 24 . http www.newschannel34.com news local story wivt and wbgh to expand local news to the d9sj cstc0w ict5k50qfw.cspx http www.wbng.com news local 47047142.html http www.pressconnects.com article 20090606 business 906060387 wivt elmira station consolidate news department at wivt wbgh combined with wetm . ynn binghamton . june 5 2009 . retrieved october 6 2012 . http www.newschannel34.com news local story newschannel34 will be returning june 29th with dhi4bmkinemwwjcpuuxcqw.cspx external links edit official website mobile wbng dt2 binghamton cw 11 query the fcc s tv station database for wbng tv biafn s media web database information on wbng 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