WNYF-LP Now on the Air Digitally

There’s some good news for local television fans.

The North Country’s local FOX station, WNYF, has a new digital transmitter in St. Lawrence County that will provide viewers with a better, more far reaching signal. The transmitter, located in South Colton, is designed to increase the St. Lawrence County coverage area for FOX 28. As an added bonus, the local CBS station, WWNY, will be carried on a secondary channel.

Some viewers lost local television signals in the 2009 digital transition when stations were forced to turn off their analog signals. United Communications Corporation, the parent company of WWNY and WNYF, applied and received permission to build a new FOX digital facility from a new location and with more power to increase its coverage area. FOX-28’s ability to transmit a secondary channel of WWNY’s programming might help gain back WWNY viewers lost in that DTV transition.

Area residents should re-scan their television tuners and may need to realign their antennas towards the new transmitter facility.

Viewers should have a VHF/UHF antenna (outdoor is best) orientated towards S. Colton NY. WNYF will be received on channel 28.1 and WWNY’s programming will be available on channel 28.2.

For assistance with antenna selection or orientation viewers can visit www.antennaweb.org. (Because the facility is so new the transmitter info may not be in the antennaweb database. Viewers should choose and orientate an antenna compatible with WNPI.)

For reception tips viewers should visit www.dtv.gov/fixreception.html.

WNYF-LP Granted Construction Permit to Build St Lawrence County DTV Facility

WNYF was granted permission to build a digital facility in St. Lawrence county...Read More...

Transition Update - WNYF-LP Still Awaiting FCC Approval for St Lawrence County Operations... Local Delivery on DISH Network

It has been sometime since I have commented on the DTV transition and any updates regarding WWNY & WNYF. That, in part, is because the DTV transition has more or less come and gone. It's true LPTV stations still have not been mandated to transition or convert to all DTV operations, but as my last post notes,WNYF-CA in Watertown has. We are still awaiting FCC approval for WNYF-LP in St Lawrence County.

The application to convert WNYF-LP to DTV operations was made last July. We have been told our proposal has passed Canadian review and the regulatory comment period has ended...so approval, barring any objections, should be days away. United Communication Corporation has already ordered a new DTV transmitter for our St Lawrence County operations and is preparing the site for installation. As a reminder, when this project is complete WNYF-LP will digitally be operating with channel 28.1 providing digital broadcasts of WNYF FOX-28 programming and 28.2 the HDTV programming of WWNY. This operation will not only digitize the FOX operation in St Lawrence County, but will help back-fill WWNY coverage to areas no longer served by our Watertown signal as a result of the transition to DTV.

One final update, DISH Network added local stations to their system last Thursday. Subscribers of DISH Network can now receive satellite broadcasts of our signals. This too will help back-fill areas lost from the DTV transition.