Update: 9/23/2012
Suddenlink Cable has announced plans to begin carrying our new local CBS affiliate on its basic tier before the end of October.
It will also begin carrying our 24-hour PinPoint Weather Channel.
The announcement is being made in a legal notice, to be published in the local newspaper on Monday, Sept. 24.
Suddenlink will put WIYE-CBS on its basic tier channel 5. It will replace the local MyNetwork station, “My5,” which will move to channel 97.
Suddenlink will also carry WIYE-CBS in HD on channel 105.
WIYE is one of two new signals launched by Gray Television earlier this month.
WIYE channel 47.1 is the new over-the-air channel for CBS.
WIYE channel 47.2 is the new over-the-air channel for My5.
WOVA channel 22 is the new over-the-air channel for FOX Parkersburg.
WTAP, channel 15.1, remains the over-the-air channel for WTAP-NBC.
And channel 15.4 is still the over-the-air channel for WTAP’s PinPoint Weather channel.
Suddenlink’s channel line-up for these local stations will be as follows:
WTAP-NBC Basic tier channel 4
WIYE-CBS Basic tier channel 5
WOVA-FOX Basic tier channel 14
WIYE-My5 Channel 97
WTAP WEA Channel 125
WTAP-NBC, WIYE-CBS, and WOVA-FOX are all available in HD on Suddenlink’s HD tier. My5 is not offered in HD.
WTAP-NBC, WIYE-CBS and WOVA-FOX are all carried by DirecTV (in HD) and DISH (in standard definition). DirecTV also carries My5.
Update: 9/20/2012
DISH Launches New Local CBS Station
DISH satellite has launched Gray Television's new CBS station for its customers in Wood, Washington and Pleasants counties.
According to a statement by DISH, it activated WIYE CBS 47 on Wednesday, Sept. 19, 2012.
It can be found on DISH channel 5, which is where local DISH customers had found another out-of-market CBS affiliate over the past couple of years.
DISH channel 5 is also known as four-digit channel 6721.
WIYE-CBS 47 is carried free over-the-air in High Definition (HD) on digital channel 47.1. It is also carried in HD on DirecTV on channel 47. Carriage on local cable systems is forthcoming.
Gray Television's new stations are now on the air in the Parkersburg-Marietta area.
WIYE digital channel 47… and WOVA digital channel 22 … were officially activated for testing purposes on Tuesday, August 21, 2012.
"About six years ago, we only had an NBC affiliate," says TheNewsCenter's VP, Roger Sheppard. "In 2006, we added our FOX and MyNetwork stations. A few months ago, we activated a new PinPoint Weather Channel, to provide around-the clock radar and weather information to our viewers who do not have cable or satellite service. On Labor Day, we'll launch our new CBS station, making us a five-station market."
TheNewsCenter is the new name that Gray Television will use in the Mid-Ohio Valley, to refer to all of its various properties, including this webchannel. The webchannel's main address will become www.TheNewsCenter.tv in the next couple of weeks but you;ll still be able to access it through www.wtap.com. (More info to come.)
Area residents who rely on antennas to receive television signals, can go ahead and scan in these new channels NOW, so they will be ready to go when the transition occurs on Sept. 3.
"On that morning, we will turn on our CBS station's actual programming on WIYE-TV, digital channel 47.1," Sheppard says. Right now, the station is running a CBS 47 logo and music to help folks know when they have the channel scanned in.
FOX Parkersburg, which has been available for several years in standard definition on digital channel 15.2, is now available in high definition on digital channel 22, WOVA-TV. The 15.2 signal will cease on Sept. 3rd.
My5, which has been on 15.3 for the past few years, is now on digital channel 47.2. The 15.3 signal will also end on September 3rd.
WTAP's new PinPoint Weather channel, which has been available on 15.4, will move up to 15.2 when the FOX and My5 stations move to their new positions.
Here's a chart to help explain where everything will be:
WTAP-NBC HD 49.1 (or 15.1)………No change
WTAP-FOX PKB 15.2…………………..Now in HD on WOVA ch. 22; ch 15.2 goes away Sept. 3rd
WTAP-My5 15.3…………………………Becomes WIYE…ch. 47.2; ch. 15.3 goes away Sept. 3rd
New CBS…WIYE ch 47.1……………..Test signal becomes CBS on Sept. 3rd
PinPoint Wea. 15.4………………….Becomes 15.2 on September 3rd
These channels will be carried on most, if not all, cable and satellite systems serving the valley. Some of the channel numbers have not yet been determined.
Dish has already announced that it will replace its current out-of-market CBS station (WDTV-TV) with WIYE on the same channel number: five. That carriage will begin before the end of August.
DirecTV plans to launch the new CBS station in HD on its channel 47. No word as to whether it will continue carrying WBNS from Columbus, OH.
"It's entirely up to the cable and satellite companies whether or not they continue carrying any out-of-market CBS stations," Sheppard says. "It's their business decision, not ours."
Suddenlink Cable is planning to include the new CBS station, as is Zito Media, whose cable systems serves Warner, OH. Discussions are continuing with CAS and Time Warner Cable.
If you have any questions, or run into an problems finding these new over-the-air channels, please contact Roger Sheppard at 304-481-8110.
