please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . december 2012 learn how and when to remove this template message wten albany schenectady troy new york united states city albany new york branding 10 abc general news 10 abc newscasts slogan dedicated . determined . dependable . channels digital 26 uhf virtual 10 psip subchannels 10.1 abc 10.2 gettv 10.3 justice network translators 4 vhf w04ae herkimer owner media general sale to nexstar broadcasting group pending young broadcasting of albany inc. first air date october 14 1953 ; 62 years ago 1953 10 14 call letters meaning ten former analog channel and current psip allocation sister station s wxxa tv former callsigns wrow tv 1953 1956 wcda 1956 1957 former channel number s analog 41 uhf 1953 1957 10 vhf 1957 2009 former affiliations cbs 1953 1977 transmitter power 700 kw height 426 m 1 398 ft class dt facility id 74422 transmitter coordinates 42 38 14.2 n 73 59 53.4 w 42.637278 n 73.998167 w 42.637278 ; 73.998167 licensing authority fcc public license information profile cdbs website news10.com wcdc tv satellite of wten albany n.y. adams pittsfield massachusetts united states city adams massachusetts branding 10 abc general news 10 abc newscasts slogan dedicated . determined . dependable . channels digital 36 uhf virtual 19 psip subchannels 19.1 abc owner media general sale to nexstar broadcasting group pending young broadcasting of albany inc. first air date february 5 1954 ; 62 years ago 1954 02 05 call letters meaning derived from wten s former call sign wcda sister station s wxxa tv former callsigns wmgt 1954 1957 former channel number s analog 74 uhf 1954 1957 19 uhf 1957 2009 former affiliations primary cbs 1954 1977 secondary dumont 1954 1956 transmitter power 27.5 kw height 631 m 2 070 ft facility id 74419 transmitter coordinates 42 38 13.7 n 73 10 6.2 w 42.637139 n 73.168389 w 42.637139 ; 73.168389 wcdc tv licensing authority fcc public license information satellite of wten albany n.y. profile satellite of wten albany n.y. cdbs website news10.com wten channel 10 is an abc affiliated television station licensed to albany new york usa . wten is owned by richmond virginia based media general and operates fox affiliate wxxa tv channel 23 owned by shield media llc through joint sales and shared services agreements . the two outlets share studios in the bishop s gate section of albany ; wten s transmitter in located in voorheesville new york . wcdc tv channel 19 in adams massachusetts operates as a full time satellite of wten . this station broadcasts from a transmitter on mount greylock the highest peak in massachusetts . wcdc tv s signal covers the western half of massachusetts and portions of vermont connecticut and new hampshire . contents 1 history 1.1 wcdb 1.2 wcdc 2 digital television 2.1 digital channels 2.2 analog to digital conversion 3 cable and satellite carriage 4 news operation 4.1 notable current on air talent 5 see also 6 references 7 external links history edit wten began broadcasting on october 14 1953 as wrow tv on uhf channel 41 from a temporary transmitter in herkimer new york limiting the signal to the immediate area . the station went to full power and installed a permanent antenna tower next to the studio a few months later . wrow tv was founded by hudson valley broadcasting company operating alongside wrow radio 590 am . the two stations shared space inside a former retirement home for nuns on a farm dirt road in the town of north greenbush near troy . 1 wrow tv carried the capital district s abc television network affiliation at its launch . within their first year the station was losing money and on the verge of bankruptcy prompted the company s management to sell the wrow stations . by november 1954 hudson valley s shareholders sold its majority stake to a new york city based syndicate group led by legendary radio broadcaster author lowell thomas and his manager business partner frank smith who also became president of the company upon completion of the sale . 2 after the sale the station switch network affiliate to cbs in december 1955 . in the spring of 1956 the channel s call letters were changed to wcda and a satellite station wcdb channel 29 in nearby hagaman new york was launched to reach areas where the main signal could not . 3 the call letters were changed again to the current wten in 1957 when the station moved to vhf channel 10 . upon moving to the vhf band the station s transmitter was moved to vail mills approximately 35 miles west of the capital district . the previous site in herkimer was fell outside of the federal communications commission fcc 170 mile separation requirement for vhf high band stations in the northeastern united states and wten s new channel 10 signal was required to protect both whec tv wvet tv in rochester and wjar tv in providence rhode island . but the new transmitter proved inadequate for serving the capital district proper . the fcc eventually allowed a waiver in 1963 which let wten move its transmitter to voorheesville closer to albany . 4 in december 1957 hudson valley merged with durham broadcasting enterprises the owners of wtvd in durham north carolina to form capital cities television corporation predecessor of capital cities communications with wten as its flagship station . in 1966 wten and wrow am fm moved to new facilities on the northside of albany on northern boulevard where wten remains to this day the wrow radio stations moved out in 1993 ten years after they were sold by capital cities . in 1967 the old studio in north greenbush was burned down by a fire caused by arson but the station s owner donated its old transmitter to wrpi radio . on february 24 1971 capital cities sold wten to poole broadcasting . following its purchase of several broadcast properties from triangle publications capital cities had to sell off two vhf stations to stay within the fcc s limit of five per owner . in 1978 poole sold wten and sister stations wjrt tv in flint michigan and wpri tv in providence to knight ridder . the new owner signed an affiliation deal with abc which resulted in wten swapping affiliations with wast channel 13 now wnyt on october 23 1977 . upon knight ridder s exit from broadcasting in 1989 wten and sister station wkrn tv in nashville were sold to young broadcasting . since the young purchases of the two stations plus wten satellite wcdc were made through two separate deals they were consummated more than three months apart . wten signed on its digital signal on uhf channel 26 in 2004 and began offering high definition service right from the start . this can also be seen on time warner basic channel 10 and digital channel 1200 . on october 1 2007 young broadcasting launched the retro television network on a new third digital subchannel of wten . this was part of a test of the network with sister stations wbay tv in green bay and kron tv in san francisco . in an effort to cut costs the company eliminated ten positions from wten on january 31 2008 fueling speculations that the company might sell the station in order to pay down its financial debt . in january 2009 after failing to meet the minimum standards for being listed on nasdaq young broadcasting was dropped from the exchange . 5 one month later on february 13 they declared chapter 11 bankruptcy . 6 the company planned to auction off its stations in a new york city bankruptcy court on july 14 2009 but canceled the auction last minute . 7 rtv has been replaced by a 480i widescreen feed of abc s live well network as part of a group deal with young s other stations . 8 wten studio and office facility on northern boulevard in albany circa 2010 . on july 27 2012 it was announced that the capital district s fox affiliate wxxa tv would be sold from newport television to shield media llc owned by white knight broadcasting vice president sheldon galloway for 19.2 million . that company will then enter into joint sales and shared services agreements with young broadcasting resulting in wten operating wxxa . on october 23 the fcc granted the transaction . after consummation of the sale master control of the fox outlet will likely move from wxxa s corporate circle studios to wten s offices . 9 10 11 the move was completed on march 23 2013 . 12 on june 6 2013 young broadcasting announced that it would merge with media general . 13 the merger was approved by the fcc on november 8 after media general shareholders approved the merger a day earlier ; 14 it was completed on november 12 . 15 more than two years later on january 27 2016 it was announced that the nexstar broadcasting group would buy media general for 4.6 billion . wten and the operations of wxxa will become part of nexstar media group . 16 this means nexstar will own stations in every television market in upstate new york . wcdb edit in the spring of 1956 satellite station wcdb on uhf channel 29 in hagaman was launched to reach areas where the main signal could not . 3 this signed off in 1957 after wcda moved its transmitter closer to albany making wcdb superfluous even though it did provide some primary cbs coverage to utica . the wcdb call sign would return to the air in 1978 for the student run radio station at university at albany . wcdc edit wcdc began broadcasting on february 5 1954 as wmgt mount greylock television on uhf channel 74 . this was a separate station affiliated with the dumont network . the tower location on mount greylock helped wmgt serve first as the market s secondary affiliate of dumont and later as a major boost to wcda . in december 1954 wmgt moved to channel 19 extending the station s range to the capital district of new york state . in february 1956 it was forced off the air when a storm damaged its transmitter tower . 17 capital cities bought the license and returned it to the air in 1957 under its current calls wcdc . note the wmgt callsign now resides at a nbc affiliated station in macon georgia . since then it has been a straight simulcast of wcda wten . wcdc s digital signal on uhf channel 36 signed on nearly eighteen months before wten s did . however it did not upgrade to high definition until wten dt signed on . digital television edit digital channels edit the station s digital signal is multiplexed channel video aspect psip short name programming 18 10.1 720p 16 9 wten hd main wten programming abc 10.2 480i 4 3 wten sd gettv 10.3 lwn justice network wcdc does carry wten s two subchannels as 19.2 and 19.3 respectively and they are carried locally in massachusetts on the digital tier of time warner cable . analog to digital conversion edit wten shut down its analog signal over vhf channel 10 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 uhf channel 26 . 19 through the use of psip digital television receivers display the station s virtual channel as its former vhf analog channel 10 . cable and satellite carriage edit wten is carried on the following cable and satellite systems within the albany schenectady troy market station comcast directv dish network mid hudson cablevision time warner cable