pennsylvania united states city altoona branding abc 23 fox 8 on dt2 abc 23 news update news updates channels digital 24 uhf & wwcp dt 8.2 vhf virtual 23 psip & wwcp dt 8.2 psip subchannels 23.1 abc 23.2 fox 23.3 this tv 23.4 antenna tv owner palm television l.p. operator horseshoe curve communications llc first air date november 28 1974 ; 41 years ago 1974 11 28 call letters meaning altoona television market sister station s wwcp tv former callsigns wopc 1974 1986 wwpc tv 1986 1988 former channel number s analog 38 1974 early 1980s 23 1986 2009 former affiliations fox 1987 1988 as satellite of wwcp transmitter power 1 000 kw 9.3 kw wwcp dt2 height 311 m 368 m wwcp dt2 class dt facility id 20287 20295 wwcp dt2 transmitter coordinates 40 34 6.5 n 78 26 36.5 w 40.568472 n 78.443472 w 40.568472 ; 78.443472 40 10 53 n 79 9 5 w 40.18139 n 79.15139 w 40.18139 ; 79.15139 wwcp dt2 licensing authority fcc public license information profile cdbs website abc23.com watm tv is the abc affiliated television station for the west central pennsylvania that is licensed to altoona . it broadcasts a high definition digital signal on uhf channel 24 or virtual channel 23.1 via psip from a transmitter on lookout avenue in logan township along the cambria county line . the station can also be seen on comcast channel 5 and atlantic broadband channel 12 with hd on atlantic broadband digital channel 712 and comcast digital channel 813 . owned by palm television watm is operated by horseshoe curve communications through a local marketing agreement lma . this makes it sister to fox affiliate wwcp tv and the two outlets share studios on scalp avenue pa 56 in richland township with a johnstown postal address . watm and wwcp also operate advertising sales bureaus in altoona on east walton avenue pa 764 and state college on west beaver avenue pa 26 . watm can also be seen in standard definition on wwcp s second digital subchannel . this can be seen on vhf channel 8.2 from a transmitter along u.s. 30 lincoln highway in ligonier township near the somerset county line . contents 1 history 1.1 as wopc tv 1.2 as wwpc tv 1.3 as watm tv 1.4 digital conversion 2 digital television 2.1 digital channels 2.2 analog to digital conversion 3 newscasts 4 references 5 external links history edit as wopc tv edit this station originally signed on november 28 1974 as wopc tv and was an abc affiliate broadcasting in analog on uhf channel 38 at a power of 21 400 watts visual and 4 270 watts aural . john powley who owned whgm fm now waly was the station owner and served as its general manager . at the time altoona state college and johnstown were separate markets . the station was unable to afford a network feed so for most of its history engineers simply switched to and from the signal of wtpa tv now whtm tv in harrisburg . already hampered by a very weak signal it did not help matters that scranton s wnep tv had long operated two outlying translators one presently in state college the second biggest city in the area . already struggling for viewership wopc moved to channel 23 in 1981 in an attempt to improve its signal . it was seriously undermined in 1982 when johnstown and altoona state college were collapsed into a single market . the station s signal was all but unviewable in the western portion of the enlarged market . as a result it went dark shortly afterward . for the next few years the abc affiliation in this vast market was split between three stations in neighboring markets . whtm was the de facto abc affiliate for altoona wnep served state college and wtae tv in pittsburgh served johnstown . as wwpc tv edit in 1986 the owners of the market s newest station wwcp tv channel 8 faced a problem . it had originally been slated to be a pittsburgh station but its owners petitioned the federal communications commission fcc to move the license to johnstown . in their petition wwcp s owners cited lower programming costs in the johnstown altoona state college market . they also cited possible interference with wjw in cleveland . logo from the wwcp wwpc era . the fcc granted the request on condition that wwcp build its transmitter in a location that would allow pittsburgh to get a grade b signal from the station . however this meant channel 8 would be virtually unviewable in the eastern portion of the area . wwcp s owners solved this problem by buying the former wopc tv license from john powley on february 28 1986 at a price of 1.03 million . following aggressive over the air signal testing over the summer with wwcp along with a power increase of 186 000 watts visual and 18 600 watts aural the former wopc returned to the air on october 13 1986 as wwpc tv a satellite of wwcp . as watm tv edit at the time whtm and wtae both preempted moderate amounts of abc programming and it soon became obvious that johnstown altoona state college needed its own affiliate . as a result wwpc split from wwcp and became an abc affiliate on august 27 1988 under new calls watm tv . the station was later sold to palm television in order to comply with fcc ownership regulations regarding network affiliates . however watm is still managed by wwcp under a local marketing agreement as peak media channel 8 s former owner feared that if allowed to operate separately both stations would be put in jeopardy of going dark . digital conversion edit the digital conversion significantly improved watm s coverage in the market . previously it had been plagued for most of its history by its weak 708 000 watt analog signal . the station s signal was marginal at best even in altoona five miles from the transmitter . it only provided grade b coverage of johnstown and state college and most viewers in this vast market could only watch it on cable . however with the station s digital transmitter licensed for a full one million watts the equivalent to five million watts for an analog uhf transmitter watm gained a coverage area comparable to the other major stations in the market . additionally the station was picked up on wwcp s digital subcarrier and carries an hd simulcast of wwcp on one of its subchannels . in november 2010 it was announced that horseshoe curve communications would acquire peak media s assets including wwcp and its fourteen year old agreement to operate watm . in february 2011 watm added a third subchannel to their lineup in the form of a standard definition feed of this tv . on july 22 2013 horseshoe curve communications agreed to sell wwcp to cunningham broadcasting for 12 million . the lma for watm was to be included in the deal . sinclair broadcast group who already owns nbc affiliate wjac tv was to assume operations of both watm and wwcp through shared services and joint sales agreements . 1 however on february 20 2014 horseshoe curve informed the fcc that the sale of wwcp had fallen through . 2 on february 11 2015 watm added a fourth subchannel to their lineup in the form of a standard definition feed of antenna tv . digital television edit digital channels edit the station s digital signal is multiplexed channel video aspect psip short name programming 3 23.1 720p 16 9 watm hd main watm tv programming abc 23.2 wwcp hd simulcast of wwcp tv 23.3 480i 4 3 this tv this tv 23.4 antenna tv antenna tv analog to digital conversion edit watm tv shut down its analog signal over uhf channel 23 on february 17 2009 the original target date in which full power television stations in the united states were to transition from analog to digital broadcasts under federal mandate which was later pushed back to june 12 2009 . the station s digital signal remained on its pre transition uhf channel 24 . 4 5 through the use of psip digital television receivers display the station s virtual channel as its former uhf analog channel 23 . newscasts edit on january 6 1992 watm and wwcp established their own separate news departments in an attempt to cover their respective areas . watm aired local news every night at 11 pm from its headquarters in state college . meanwhile wwcp offered a nightly prime time newscast at 10 pm sixty minutes on weeknights ; half hour on weekends from its studios in johnstown . despite a valid attempt to gain enough market share these broadcasts barely registered as a blip in the nielsen ratings against longer established wjac and wtaj tv that offered market wide coverage . due in part to continual ratings struggles and low viewership watm s separate news department was shut down in december 2002 and merged with wwcp . on november 28 2007 the tribune democrat reported the shared news operation of the two television stations would shut down entirely . according to a written statement watm and wwcp had been operating at a loss for several years and the move was desperately needed . the closure resulted in the termination of around fifteen personnel in the news and production departments . 6 as a result wjac entered into a news share agreement with wwcp and watm . the nbc affiliate then began to produce wwcp s nightly prime time show and reduced the program to 35 minutes on weeknights while remaining a half hour on weekends . the newscast still known as fox 8 news at 10 now originates from a secondary set at wjac s facility on old hickory lane in upper yoder township with a johnstown postal address . it features a separate news anchor on weeknights who does not appear on wjac in addition to a different music and graphics package from broadcasts seen on the nbc station . since wjac has prior commitments with local news and weather cut ins during today watm offers taped news updates that are seen tuesday through saturday mornings at 25 and 55 past the hour during good morning america . from january 2008 until march 2011 wjac simulcasted its nightly newscast at 11 pm on watm under the abc 23 news branding . references edit application for consent to assignment of broadcast station construction permit or license federal communications commission 12 august 2013 re request for dismissal of assignment application pdf . cdbs public access . federal communications commission . february 20 2014 . retrieved february 24 2014 . rabbitears tv query for watm dtv tentative channel designations for the first and the second rounds pdf . retrieved 2012 03 24 . cdbs print http www.tribune democrat.com local local story 332113055.html external links edit watm tv abc 23 watm dt3 this tv wwcp tv fox 8 wjac tv query the fcc s tv station database for watm tv v t e broadcast television in west central pennsylvania including johnstown altoona state college dubois bedford and clearfield reception may vary by location and some stations may only be viewable with cable television local stations wpsu 3.1 pbs 3.2 create 3.3 world wjac 6.1 nbc 6.2 metv 6.3 comet 6.4 grit wwcp 8.1 fox 8.2 watm wtaj 10.1 cbs 10.2 escape 10.3 laff wscp lp 13 ind wpcw 19.1 cw watm 23.1 abc hd 23.2 wwcp tv hd 23.3 this tv 23.4 atv whvl lp 29.1 mntv 29.2 buzzr w36be d 36.1 abc 36.2 atv 36.3 justice wkbs 47.1 cor local cable channels iup tv ind adjacent locals pittsburgh pa kdka 2.1 cbs 2.2 decades wtae 4.1 abc 4.2 this tv wpxi 11.1 nbc 11.2 metv 11.3 laff hagerstown