states branding wane tv 15 general pronounced wayne newschannel 15 newscasts slogan coverage you can count on channels digital 31 uhf virtual 15 psip subchannels 15.1 cbs 15.2 antenna tv 15.3 ion television affiliations cbs secondary through 1957 owner media general sale to nexstar broadcasting group pending indiana broadcasting llc first air date september 26 1954 call letters meaning fort wayne former callsigns wint 1954 1957 former channel number s analog 15 uhf 1954 2009 former affiliations secondary abc 1954 1957 dt2 upn 2003 2006 thecooltv 2010 2011 transmitter power 1 000 kw height 232 m class dt facility id 39270 transmitter coordinates 41 5 38.3 n 85 10 48.8 w 41.093972 n 85.180222 w 41.093972 ; 85.180222 licensing authority fcc public license information profile cdbs website wane.com wane tv virtual channel 15 uhf digital channel 31 is a cbs affiliated television station located in fort wayne indiana united states . the station is owned by media general . wane s studios and transmitter are located on west state boulevard in the tower heights section of northwest fort wayne . 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 the station signed on the air on september 26 1954 as wint originally broadcasting its signal from a transmitter in auburn . it was fort wayne s second television station to launch but was technically licensed to and had studios in waterloo . the station s original owner tri state television not to be confused with tri state christian television owners of winm channel 12 took advantage of peculiarities in federal communications commission fcc rules to direct the signal to fort wayne . although the city was big enough to support three full network affiliates the fcc had originally allocated only a single station wkjg tv now wise tv on uhf channel 33 to the city . this circumstance attracted the attention of congress and led to changes in how broadcast licenses were assigned . the indiana broadcasting company owner of wish tv in indianapolis and wane radio 1450 am now wlyv purchased wint in 1956 . the new owners changed the station s call letters to wane tv reflecting its radio sister and moved the station s entire operations to fort wayne . the analog transmitter remained at its rural auburn location until 1957 . indiana broadcasting became known as the corinthian broadcasting company in 1957 . since then wane tv and wish tv have become close sister stations and for a time used same news theme as wish tv from 1997 until 2012 and currently uses separate graphics packages . the stations share resources which allows wane to use wish tv s resources for breaking news live events and sports coverage . the station has always been a cbs affiliate but also maintained a secondary affiliation with abc until wpta channel 21 signed on in september 1957 ; during the late 1950s wane was also briefly affiliated with the nta film network . 1 wane radio was sold off in 1966 . the station produced local programming shows such as the ann colone show . corinthian was purchased by dun & bradstreet in 1970 who in turn sold the station to the belo corporation in 1983 . however wane left belo with two stations over the fcc s television station ownership limit at the time so the company sold the station and wish to the lin tv corporation . in september 1999 wane tv acquired the local rights to jeopardy and wheel of fortune from nbc affiliate wkjg tv which had run both programs starting in september 1990 . after the launch of upn on january 16 1995 fox affiliate wfft channel 55 began a secondary affiliation with the fledgling network . the network s programming eventually moved to wane tv full time in 2003 after it launched a new second digital subchannel . 2 wane dt2 also featured repeats of newscasts seen on the main channel as well as indiana university purdue university fort wayne basketball games . in september 2006 upn programming was dropped after the network merged with the wb seen locally on wpta operated cable only outlet wbfw to form the cw . on september 15 2008 wane announced lin tv time warner cable and bright house networks had not been able to reach an agreement to renew carriage of wane and other lin owned stations on the two cable providers due to a dispute over compensation for the stations carriage . the company reached agreements with all television service providers in the fort wayne area except for twc and bright house . the contract with those providers expired on october 2 2008 . at 12 35 a.m. on october 3 the lin owned stations were removed from twc and bright house systems nationwide . it would not be until october 29 when wane tv was restored to time warner cable in northwest ohio . however it did not reappear on bright house networks systems in grant county indiana . 3 on march 21 2014 media general announced that it would purchase lin media and its stations including wane tv in a 1.6 billion merger . 4 the merger was completed on december 19 . 5 shortly thereafter after an aborted merger plan with meredith corporation media general announced on january 27 2016 that it was being acquired by nexstar broadcasting group with the new company named nexstar media group . as nexstar already owns wfft and since the fort wayne market is too small to allow duopolies in any case in order to comply with fcc ownership rules as well as planned changes to rules regarding same market television stations which would prohibit future joint sales agreements the company will be required to sell either wfft or wane to another company . 6 7 nexstar announced on june 13 2016 that it would keep wane and sell wfft tv as well as four other stations including soon to be former sister stations wlfi lafayette and wthi tv in terre haute to heartland media through its usa television midamerica holdings joint venture with msouth equity partners for 115 million . 8 digital television edit digital channels edit channel video aspect psip short name programming 9 15.1 1080i 16 9 wane hd main wane tv programming cbs 15.2 480i 4 3 wane sd1 antenna tv 15.3 wane sd2 ion television on august 7 2009 wane began offering mobile tv using blackberry . 10 on december 2 2011 wane tv announced that it had signed an affiliation agreement with antenna tv when it began airing on its previously vacant 15.2 digital subchannel on december 26 . 11 12 analog to digital conversion edit wane tv shut down its analog signal over uhf channel 15 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 31 . 13 through the use of psip digital television receivers display the station s virtual channel as its former uhf analog channel 15 . programming edit syndicated programming on wane includes rachael ray jeopardy wheel of fortune among others . all of the programs mentioned are distributed by cbs television distribution . news operation edit wane tv presently broadcasts 24 hours of locally produced newscasts each week with 3 hours on weekdays and two hours each on saturdays and sundays ; in addition the station produces the sports highlight program the highlight zone which airs friday through sunday evenings at 11 15 p.m. unlike most cbs affiliates in the eastern time zone the station does not air local newscasts in the weeknight 5 30 p.m. timeslot ; however the station is home to the market s only weekend morning newscast which runs for one hour at 8 a.m. on saturdays and sundays . it operates a doppler weather radar known as live doppler 15 fury at its studio facility . wane tv s news department has won awards including the jack r. howard award in 1998 for reporting on drug abuse the peabody award in 1999 for reporting on organ donation 14 and the edward r. murrow award in 2003 for flooding and sports coverage . after having its operations taken over by the granite broadcasting corporation wise tv s news department was combined with abc affiliate wpta . there was a decrease in ratings for the new indiana s newscenter newscasts which resulted in wane tv becoming the market s dominant news station according to nielsen media research since it was the only other news producing station in the area prior to wfft tv beginning a nightly newscast in 2009 . this was most easily attributed to continued viewer resentment towards wpta and granite for the elimination of wise tv s news department and arguably its identity and history . wpta management said the changes were part of a longer term plan that would need up to five years to take hold with viewers but the success never materialized and the branding of indiana s newscenter was abandoned in 2013 . on may 18 2009 wpta and wise tv became the first two television stations in the fort wayne market to upgrade their newscasts to 16 9 widescreen enhanced definition . although not truly high definition the aspect ratio matched those of hd television screens . broadcasts on wane tv were previously in pillarboxed 4 3 standard definition though by july 2012 the station began the process of transitioning its newscasts to high definition . the upgrade to hd occurred along with the debut of a new set and graphics on september 10 2012 making it the second station and first network affiliated station in the fort wayne market to have made the upgrade wfft tv a former fox affiliate that has since rejoined the network was the first but did not make the upgrade until after the station had lost its fox affiliation in 2011 . this left wpta and wise tv which co produce local news that are essentially the same in terms of coverage and format as the last remaining local news operation to continue to broadcast their news programming in sd until upgrading to hd in mid october . notable former on air staff edit nicole manske reporter 2001 2004 ; now at espn 15 rolland smith anchor 1965 1967 16 references edit require prime evening time for nta films boxoffice 13 november 10 1956 eggerton john december 7 2003 . suddenly it s hip to spectrum split . broadcasting & cable . access date requires url help wish tv and wndy returns but not wane to bright house marion chronicle tribune media general to buy wane parent in 1.6 billion deal . the journal gazette . associated press . march 21 2014 . retrieved march 22 2014 . media general completes merger with lin media press release media general retrieved 19 december 2014 nexstar media general it s a done deal . tvnewscheck . retrieved 27 january 2016 . nexstar clinches deal to acquire media general . the new york times . retrieved 27 january 2016 . prather buys 5 tvs from nexstar media gen. . tvnewscheck . june 13 2016 . retrieved june 13 2016 . rabbitears tv query for wane eggerton john 2009 08 07 . lin tv develops blackberry app for mobile tv service . broadcasting & cable . retrieved 2009 08 11 . verbatim wane announces launch of retro channel the journal gazette december 2 2011 . antenna tv coming to wane dt 15.2 on december 26 . retrieved 3 december 2011 . dtv tentative channel designations for the first and second rounds pdf . retrieved 2012 03 24 . 58th annual peabody awards may 1999 . nicole briscoe bip