WEDG-TV

WEDG-TV (originally EdgeTV, later UPN4, no relation to the

radio station Radio broadcasting is transmission of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based radio ...

of the same calls in Buffalo or WEDG.TV) was a

cable Cable may refer to: Mechanical * Nautical cable, an assembly of three or more ropes woven against the weave of the ropes, rendering it virtually waterproof * Wire rope, a type of rope that consists of several strands of metal wire laid into a hel ...

-only

UPN The United Paramount Network (UPN) was an American broadcast television network that launched on January 16, 1995. It was originally owned by Chris-Craft Industries' United Television. Viacom (through its Paramount Television unit, which pr ...

affiliate in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

Capital District A capital district, capital region or capital territory is normally a specially designated administrative division where a country's seat of government is located. As such, in a federal model of government, no state or territory has any poli ...

which was a joint venture between

Time Warner Cable Time Warner Cable, Inc. (TWC) was an American cable television company. Before it was acquired by Charter Communications on May 18, 2016, it was ranked the second largest cable company in the United States by revenue behind only Comcast, operat ...

and Fox affiliate

WXXA-TV WXXA-TV (channel 23) is a television station licensed to Albany, New York, United States, serving the Capital District as an affiliate of the Fox network. It is owned by Mission Broadcasting and operated under a shared services agreement (SSA ...

. Edge TV, named for and promoted with

WQBK-FM WQBK-FM (105.7 MHz "Q105.7/103.5") is a commercial radio station licensed to Malta, New York, and serving the Capital District of New York, including the Albany-Schenectady-Troy radio market. The station is owned by Townsquare Media, and ai ...

and WQBJ (which at the time were branded as "The Edge" and were owned by

Clear Channel Communications iHeartMedia, Inc., formerly CC Media Holdings, Inc., is an American mass media corporation headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. It is the holding company of iHeartCommunications, Inc. (formerly Clear Channel Communications, Inc.), a company fou ...

as sister stations to WXXA-TV), signed on at the start of 2000, displacing Boston's

WSBK-TV WSBK-TV (channel 38) is an independent television station in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It is owned by the CBS News and Stations group alongside CBS owned-and-operated station WBZ-TV (channel 4). Both stations share studios on So ...

from Time Warner's systems (and later that year,

WWOR-TV WWOR-TV (channel 9) is a television station licensed to Secaucus, New Jersey, United States, serving the New York City area as the Flagship (broadcasting), flagship of MyNetworkTV. It is owned-and-operated station, owned and operated by Fox Te ...

from Mid-Hudson Cable systems as well as WVBG-LP on Taconic Cable, later

Charter A charter is the grant of authority or rights, stating that the granter formally recognizes the prerogative of the recipient to exercise the rights specified. It is implicit that the granter retains superiority (or sovereignty), and that the rec ...

, in

Nassau Nassau may refer to: Places Bahamas *Nassau, Bahamas, capital city of the Bahamas, on the island of New Providence Canada *Nassau District, renamed Home District, regional division in Upper Canada from 1788 to 1792 *Nassau Street (Winnipeg), ...

–

Chatham, New York Chatham is a town in Columbia County, New York, United States. The population was 4,104 at the 2020 census, down from the 2010 census. The town has a village also called Chatham on its southern town line. The town is at the northern border of ...

) and stripping low-power UPN affiliate WVBG-LP of their affiliation. Outside of UPN programming, the lineup was filled with double runs and failed syndicated programming from WXXA, older films, and an assortment of sporting events including

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Amer ...

games (from

WNYW WNYW (channel 5) is a television station in New York City, serving as the flagship of the Fox network. It is owned and operated by the network's Fox Television Stations division alongside Secaucus, New Jersey–licensed MyNetworkTV flagship W ...

, then

WCBS-TV WCBS-TV (channel 2) is a television station in New York City, serving as the flagship of the CBS network. It is owned and operated by the network's CBS News and Stations division alongside Riverhead, New York–licensed independent station WL ...

) and

Boston Bruins The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston. The Bruins compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. The team has been in existence since 1924, making t ...

games from WSBK. In Fall 2000, EdgeTV became UPN4 after the "Edge" radio stations were divested as a result of the merger between co-partner Clear Channel Communications and AMFM, Inc. First run programming exclusive to the station began to be added to UPN4, but the Time Warner-WXXA partnership hamstrung other providers (including satellite providers

DirecTV DirecTV (trademarked as DIRECTV) is an American multichannel video programming distributor based in El Segundo, California. Originally launched on June 17, 1994, its primary service is a digital satellite service serving the United States. It ...

and

Dish Network DISH Network Corporation (DISH, an acronym for DIgital Sky Highway) is an American television provider and the owner of the direct-broadcast satellite provider Dish, commonly known as Dish Network, and the over-the-top IPTV service, Sling TV. A ...

and former Adelphia systems in and around

Glens Falls Glens Falls is a city in Warren County, New York, United States and is the central city of the Glens Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 14,700 at the 2010 census. The name was given by Colonel Johannes Glen, the falls refe ...

and

Pittsfield, Massachusetts Pittsfield is the largest city and the county seat of Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States. It is the principal city of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area which encompasses all of Berkshire County. Pittsfield� ...

) from what was seen as a secondary promotional vehicle for Time Warner services, and refused to carry it, or did add it but were slow to do so, did not advertise the addition, or put it in a channel tier away from the main broadcast tier. The 2003 announcement of new sign-on

WNYA WNYA (channel 51) is a television station licensed to Pittsfield, Massachusetts, United States, serving New York's Capital District as an affiliate of MyNetworkTV. It is owned by Hubbard Broadcasting alongside Albany-licensed NBC affiliate WNYT ...

obtaining the UPN affiliation marked the quick end of UPN4's existence. The station came to the air well before

digital subchannel In broadcasting, digital subchannels are a method of transmitting more than one independent program stream simultaneously from the same digital radio or television station on the same radio frequency channel. This is done by using data compress ...

s came to prominence and although there was consideration of continuing UPN4 as an independent station, both entities decided to end broadcasting UPN4 at midnight on September 1, 2003. Six hours later, WNYA launched over UPN4's former slots (including Time Warner channel 4), and WXXA retained UPN4's former programming inventory. Defunct local cable stations in the United States Television channels and stations established in 2000 Television channels and stations disestablished in 2003 {{NewYork-tv-station-stub 2000 establishments in New York (state) 2003 disestablishments in New York (state) EDG-TV