united states branding wndu channel 16 general newscenter 16 newscasts slogan your breaking news & weather authority channels digital 42 uhf virtual 16 psip subchannels 16.1 nbc hd 16.2 antenna tv affiliations nbc owner gray television gray television licensee llc first air date july 15 1955 ; 61 years ago 1955 07 15 call letters meaning notre dame university former owner former channel number s analog 46 uhf 1955 1957 16 uhf 1957 2009 transmitter power 800 kw height 311.8 m facility id 41674 transmitter coordinates 41 36 20 n 86 12 46 w 41.60556 n 86.21278 w 41.60556 ; 86.21278 website www.wndu.com wndu tv nbc 16 virtual channel 16.1 uhf digital channel 42 is an nbc affiliated television station located in south bend indiana united states . the station is owned by gray television . wndu maintains studios on state road 933 on south bend s northern side and its transmitter is located southeast of the st. joseph county fairgrounds on the city s south side . the station s studios also house production facilities for the syndicated agricultural news programs agday and u.s. farm report the former of which is broadcast locally by wndu . contents 1 history 2 digital television 2.1 digital channels 2.2 analog to digital conversion 3 programming 3.1 programming controversies 4 news operation 4.1 notable former on air staff 5 references 6 external links history edit this section needs expansion with further information on the history of wndu tv . you can help by adding to it . november 2012 the station first signed on the air on july 15 1955 originally broadcasting on uhf channel 46 . wndu tv was owned by the michiana television corporation a subsidiary of the university of notre dame . the station took its call letters from wndu radio 1490 am now wdnd at 1620 am and 92.9 fm now wndv fm which were also owned by the university until 1998 . however like its radio sisters it is a full fledged commercial station rather than a public broadcaster . in 1957 to much fanfare wndu tv moved to uhf channel 16 . the station immediately took the nbc affiliation from wsjv channel 28 and has been with the network ever since . wndu tv s early broadcast schedule included programs like romper room and the first local telecast of a notre dame football game . wndu aired the children s program sesame street from 1970 to 1974 until non commercial pbs member station wnit channel 34 signed on the air . from 1967 to 1986 wndu aired beyond our control a locally produced sketch comedy program which was presented as part of the station s involvement in the junior achievement program . 1 on november 24 2005 the university of notre dame entered into an agreement to sell the station to gray television for 85 million in an all cash deal with the university placing the money received from the sale in an endowment . 2 the sale closed on march 5 2006 after which the federal communications commission granted gray a crossownership waiver for wndu and goshen based newspaper the goshen news . this was necessary because the fcc prohibits the common ownership of a newspaper and a television station in the same market gray eventually spun off the times and four other newspapers the following year into a new company called triple crown media which was subsequently merged with host communications . 3 digital television edit digital channels edit the station s digital signal is multiplexed channel video aspect psip short name programming 4 16.1 1080i 16 9 wndu hd main wndu tv programming nbc 16.2 480i antenna antenna tv wndu s second digital subchannel formerly carried a standard definition simulcast of the station s main channel with limited programming substitutions for shows preempted by wndu 16.1 for local programming ; the subchannel became affiliated with antenna tv on july 1 2013 . analog to digital conversion edit wndu tv shut down its analog signal over uhf channel 16 at 7 00 pm on march 3 2009 after a voluntary nightlight period following the original date on which full power television stations in the united states were set to transition from analog to digital broadcasts under federal mandate which was later rescheduled for june 12 2009 . because of this the station officially goes off the air with a station notice followed by the national anthem and then the last words were this was wndu tv channel 16 south bend followed by static . the station s digital signal remained on its pre transition uhf channel 42 5 6 using psip to display the station s virtual channel as its former uhf analog channel 16 . programming edit syndicated programming seen on wndu includes access hollywood the ellen degeneres show rachael ray and inside edition . as an nbc affiliate it is the home station for the network s broadcast of notre dame football home games . due to an increased focus on news programming wndu tv made room for a three hour saturday morning newscast in 1994 citation needed by airing nbc s teen oriented program block tnbc in early hours of saturday and sunday mornings to fulfill e i guidelines . wndu currently airs the network s nbc kids programming block for three of the four hours on saturday with the final hour airing on sundays at 7 00 am . in addition the station s primary channel preempts the weekend editions of today for its weekend morning newscasts with the program airing on its second digital subchannel instead . programming controversies edit under notre dame s ownership wndu opted not to air certain nbc programs out of concerns over inappropriate content ; such shows included the animated series god the devil and bob for content offensive to the religious values of the university and the american version of the british sitcom coupling due to the program s sexual content . the latter series instead aired on wsbt dt2 then south bend s upn affiliate on thursday nights after upn programming . the station also aired the notre dame commencement address of president barack obama in full on may 17 2009 in lieu of the first half of an nhl playoff game . news operation edit this section needs expansion with further information on the history of wndu s news programming . you can help by adding to it . november 2012 wndu tv broadcasts a total of 31 hours of local newscasts each week with five hours on weekdays four hours on saturdays and two hours on sundays . wndu tv used a helicopter for its news gathering purposes from the 1980s through 2006 . citation needed on april 21 2010 starting with its 12 noon newscast wndu became the second television station in the south bend market behind wsbt tv to begin broadcasting its local newscasts in high definition . 7 notable former on air staff edit sarah platt weekend anchor reporter 2006 2009 ; now at witi tv milwaukee tom rinaldi reporter 1993 96 ; now with espn hannah storm 1988 1996 last anchor of the early show on cbs now with espn s sportscenter references edit tv guide one vice president resigned because he was failing algebra june 9 15 1973 . wndu to be sold to gray television the south bend tribune november 24 2005 . gray closes on wndu sale broadcasting & cable march 6 2006 . rabbitears tv query for wndu dtv tentative channel designations for the first and second rounds pdf . retrieved 2012 03 24 . cdbs print newscenter 16 now broadcasting in hd external links edit official website query the fcc s tv station database for wndu tv biafn s media web database information on wndu 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 from wytu ld milwaukee 69.3 decades adjacent areas chicago grand rapids fort wayne indianapolis michigan broadcast television areas by city alpena detroit duluth mn flint saginaw bay city grand rapids kalamazoo green bay wi lansing jackson marquette northern michigan south bend in toledo oh v t e nbc network affiliates in the state of indiana wtwo 2 terre haute wthr 13 indianapolis wfie 14 evansville wndu 16 south bend wpta dt 21.2 fort wayne see also abc cbs cw fox ion mynetworktv nbc pbs other stations in indiana v t e gray television abc network affiliates kcrg kgns 1 kjct knoe 1 kolo kota khsd ksfy kaby kpry kspr 2 wbko whsv wjrt wtok wtvg wvaw cbs network affiliates kalb 1 kgwn kstf kktv kmvt knoe knpl koln kgin kosa kwch kbsd kbsh kbsl kwtx kbtx kxii kxjb kylx wagm 1 wcav wctv wswg wdbj wecp wibw wifr wiye wkyt wymt wrdw wsaw wsvf 1 wtvy wvlt the cw network affiliates 1 kbtx kcwy kgwn kstf kjct knoe kscw ksfy kaby kpry kwtx kxjb kycw kylx wagt wbko wbxx wjhg wkyt wmtv wqcw wswg wtok wtvg wymt fox network affiliates kevn kiit kndx kxnd ksvt kxii 1 wagm wahu wbko 1 wluc 1 wova wsvf wzaw mynetworktv affiliates 1 kktv kosa ksnb kxii kyes wahu wctv wecp whsv wibw witn wrdw wsaw wsaz wswg wtok wtvy wiye wvlt nbc network affiliates kalb kcwy kfyr kqcd kmot kumv kgns kkco knop ksnb ktuu kvly kytv wagt weau wilx witn wjhg wluc wmtv wndu wowt wrgx wsaz wtap other stations tel kgns 1 kkco 1 uni kdcu 3 ind. k17dl d 4 acquisitions benedek broadcasting hoak media schurz communications 1 these stations except for kscw & wqcw broadcast these networks on their digital subchannels . 2 owned by schurz communications gray operates kspr through a ssa . 3 owned by entravision communications gray operates kdcu through a jsa . 4 owned by branson visitors tv ; gray holds a 50.1 % interest in this company . v t e university of notre dame topics alumni history campus presidents congregation of holy cross notre dame indiana schools and colleges college of arts and letters college of engineering college of science law school mendoza college of business school of architecture academics center for the study of religion and society environmental research center history of science society journal of legislation medieval institute notre dame journal of law ethics & public policy notre dame opencourseware esteem program driehaus architecture prize american midland naturalist campus buildings basilica of the sacred heart bond hall cartier field compton family ice arena edmund p. joyce center fire department frank eck stadium grotto of our lady of lourdes legends of notre dame log chapel main building notre dame fieldhouse notre dame stadium snite museum of art stepan center theodore hesburgh library washington hall residence halls residence halls alumni badin breen phillips carroll cavanaugh dillon duncan dunne farley fisher flaherty howard keenan keough knott lewis lyons mcglinn morrissey old college o neill pasquerilla east pasquerilla west ryan siegfried sorin stanford st. edward s walsh welsh family zahm athletics bengal bouts football jeweled shillelagh leprechaun baseball men s basketball men s ice hockey men s lacrosse men s soccer rugby football club women s basketball women s soccer uconn notre dame rivalry bookstore basketball culture and the arts band of the fighting irish irish guard laetare medal molarity comic strip notre dame collegiate jazz festival notre dame glee club notre dame our mother alma mater notre dame review notre dame symphony orchestra notre