WGGB-TV (channel 40) is a

television station A television station is a set of equipment managed by a business, organisation or other entity, such as an amateur television (ATV) operator, that transmits video content and audio content via radio waves directly from a transmitter on the ea ...

Springfield, Massachusetts Springfield is a city in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, United States, and the seat of Hampden County. Springfield sits on the eastern bank of the Connecticut River near its confluence with three rivers: the western Westfield River, th ...

, United States, affiliated with ABC, Fox, and

MyNetworkTV MyNetworkTV (unofficially abbreviated MyTV, MyNet, MNT or MNTV, and sometimes referred to as My Network) is an American commercial broadcast television syndication service and former television network owned by Fox Corporation, operated by its ...

. It is owned by

Gray Television Gray Television, Inc. is an American publicly traded television broadcasting company based in Atlanta, Georgia. Founded in 1946 by James Harrison Gray as Gray Communications Systems, the company owns or operates 180 stations across the United St ...

alongside low-power CBS affiliate WSHM-LD (channel 3.7). Both stations share studios on Liberty Street in Springfield, while WGGB-TV's transmitter is located on Mount Tom in

Holyoke Holyoke is a city in Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States, that lies between the western bank of the Connecticut River and the Mount Tom Range. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 38,238. Located north of Springfiel ...

History

The station signed on April 14, 1953, as WHYN-TV, broadcasting an analog signal on UHF channel 55. It was the second television station to launch in the Springfield market, debuting one month after

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

affiliate WWLP (channel 61, now on channel 22). WHYN-TV was founded by Hampden-Hampshire Corporation, the owners of WHYN radio ( 560 AM and

93.1 FM The following radio stations broadcast on FM frequency 93.1 MHz: Argentina * LRI818 Frecuencia Plus in Rosario, Santa Fe * Radio María in Necochea, Buenos Aires * Radio María in Las Varillas, Córdoba * Radio María in Cinco Saltos, Río ...

); the stations were in turn jointly owned by the owners of the ''

Holyoke Transcript-Telegram The ''Holyoke Transcript-Telegram'', or ''T‑T'', was an afternoon daily newspaper covering the city of Holyoke, Massachusetts, United States, and adjacent portions of Hampden County and Hampshire County. Published as a daily since 1882, aft ...

'' and the

Northampton Northampton () is a market town and civil parish in the East Midlands of England, on the River Nene, north-west of London and south-east of Birmingham. The county town of Northamptonshire, Northampton is one of the largest towns in England ...

-based '' Daily Hampshire Gazette''. In 1954, a 50% interest in Hampden-Hampshire Corporation was purchased by the employees beneficial funds of the Springfield ''Republican'' and '' Daily News'' and the ''Springfield Union'' for $250,000. WHYN-TV originally operated as a primary CBS affiliate with a secondary affiliation with DuMont; it lost DuMont when that network folded in 1956. During the late-1950s, it was also briefly affiliated with the

NTA Film Network The NTA Film Network was an early American television network founded by Ely Landau in 1956. The network was not a full-time television network like CBS, NBC, or ABC. Rather, it operated on a part-time basis, broadcasting films and several f ...

. It moved to channel 40 on September 30, 1957, in order to give the station a closer dial position to other UHF stations in the region. However, on November 16, 1958, WTIC-TV (channel 3, now

WFSB WFSB (channel 3) is a television station licensed to Hartford, Connecticut, United States, serving the Hartford–New Haven market as an affiliate of CBS. Owned by Gray Television, the station maintains studios on Denise D'Ascenzo Way in Rocky ...

), a station in the nearby

Hartford Hartford is the capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It was the seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960. It is the core city in the Greater Hartford metropolitan area. Census estimates since t ...

market that had previously been an

independent station An independent station is an independent radio or terrestrial television station which is independent in some way from broadcast networks. The definition of "independence" varies from country to country, reflecting governmental regulations, marke ...

, switched to CBS, prompting WHYN to petition the

Federal Communications Commission The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains jurisdicti ...

(FCC) unsuccessfully for a

VHF Very high frequency (VHF) is the ITU designation for the range of radio frequency electromagnetic waves (radio waves) from 30 to 300 megahertz (MHz), with corresponding wavelengths of ten meters to one meter. Frequencies immediately below VHF ...

channel; in 1959, channel 40 became an ABC affiliate. WTIC-TV then became the CBS affiliate of record in Springfield; over the years, channel 3 would block several attempts by channel 40 to switch from ABC back to CBS. Guy Gannett Broadcasting Services (not to be confused with the

Gannett Company Gannett Co., Inc. () is an American mass media holding company headquartered in McLean, Virginia, in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area.December 31 the station took its present WGGB-TV call letters. Most of Guy Gannett's television stations, including WGGB, were acquired by the

Sinclair Broadcast Group Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc. (SBG) is a publicly traded American telecommunications conglomerate that is controlled by the descendants of company founder Julian Sinclair Smith. Headquartered in the Baltimore suburb of Cockeysville, Maryland, ...

in 1998. In late-July 2007, Sinclair sold WGGB to locally based Gormally Broadcasting for $21.2 million. The sale closed on November 2, resulting in WGGB being the only locally owned television station in the market. In addition to WGGB,

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 re ...

systems offer fellow ABC affiliate

WCVB-TV WCVB-TV (channel 5) is a television station in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, affiliated with ABC and owned by Hearst Television. The station's studios are located on TV Place (off Gould Street near the I-95/ MA 128/Highland Avenue ...

from

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

on channel 23 (

Comcast Comcast Corporation (formerly known as American Cable Systems and Comcast Holdings),Before the AT&T merger in 2001, the parent company was Comcast Holdings Corporation. Comcast Holdings Corporation now refers to a subsidiary of Comcast Corpora ...

does not offer such access). On June 18, 2014, the

Meredith Corporation Meredith Corporation was an American media conglomerate based in Des Moines, Iowa, that owned magazines, television stations, websites, and radio stations. Its publications had a readership of more than 120 million and paid circulation of more ...

(owner of WFSB in Hartford) announced that it would acquire WGGB creating a duopoly with low-power CBS affiliate WSHM-LD. Although FCC broadcast ownership rules normally forbid same-market ownership of two of the four highest-rated television stations (based on monthly total-day ratings), which often constitute stations affiliated with the four major broadcast networks (the Springfield market has only three full-power television stations, too few to allow a duopoly in any normal circumstance), the deal is permissible under FCC rules which allow common ownership of full-power and low-power television stations (the respective class designations of WGGB and WSHM) in all markets. The sale was completed on October 31, 2014. This reunited WGGB with

affiliate KSMO-TV in

Kansas City, Missouri Kansas City (abbreviated KC or KCMO) is the largest city in Missouri by population and area. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 508,090 in 2020, making it the List of United States cities by populat ...

, which Meredith acquired from Sinclair in 2005. On September 8, 2015,

Media General Media General was an American media company based in Richmond, Virginia. The company's origins can be traced back to 1887 when Richmond attorney Joseph Bryan acquired ''The Richmond Daily Times'', which later became ''The Richmond Times-Dispatch ...

announced that it would acquire Meredith for $2.4 billion, with the combined group to be renamed Meredith Media General once the sale was finalized. Because Media General already owns WWLP, and the Springfield-Holyoke market does not have enough full-power television stations to legally allow a

duopoly A duopoly (from Greek δύο, ''duo'' "two" and πωλεῖν, ''polein'' "to sell") is a type of oligopoly where two firms have dominant or exclusive control over a market. It is the most commonly studied form of oligopoly due to its simplicit ...

in any event (WGGB and WWLP are the only full-power licenses assigned to the market), the companies would have been required to sell either WGGB or WWLP to comply with FCC ownership rules as well as recent changes to those rules regarding same-market television stations that restrict sharing agreements had the sale gone through. WSHM-LD was the only one of the three stations affected by the merger that could legally be acquired by Meredith Media General, as FCC rules permit common ownership of full-power and low-power stations regardless of the number of stations within a single market. However, on January 27, 2016, Nexstar Broadcasting Group announced that it had reached an agreement to acquire Media General, resulting in the termination of Meredith's acquisition by Media General. On May 3, 2021,

announced its intent to purchase the Meredith Local Media division for $2.7 billion. The sale was completed on December 1.

WGGB-DT2

WGGB-DT2, branded as Fox 6 for its primary cable channel slot, is the primary Fox and secondary MyNetworkTV-affiliated second

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 compres ...

of WGGB-TV, broadcasting in high definition on channel 40.2. WGGB-DT2 first became active under Sinclair's ownership as part of their nationwide deal with

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing devic ...

network The Tube (a 24-hour digital music channel) from 2005 until the end of 2006, when multiple issues, including The Tube's refusal to add E/I programming within its national schedule, had the Tube pulled from all of Sinclair's stations; the network went dark at the end of October 2007. It never attained any cable carriage under that guise, and the subchannel was vacated for over a year. Meanwhile, the market did not have a Fox affiliate of its own, with Springfield being the largest television market in the United States to hold this distinction. For most of Fox's first two decades,

WTIC-TV WTIC-TV (channel 61) is a television station in Hartford, Connecticut, United States, serving the Hartford–New Haven market as an affiliate of the Fox network. It is owned by Tegna Inc. alongside Waterbury-licensed CW affiliate WCCT-TV ...

in Hartford was Fox's affiliate of record for the Pioneer Valley. Depending on the location, cable companies carried either WTIC (which was available over the air in extreme southern portions of the market) or WFXT from Boston (which was owned by the network at the time), while

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 ...

from

Albany, New York Albany ( ) is the capital of the U.S. state of New York, also the seat and largest city of Albany County. Albany is on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River, and about north of New York Cit ...

was (and still is) also available over-the-air in the market's western

Berkshires The Berkshires () are a highland geologic region located in the western parts of Massachusetts and northwest Connecticut. The term "Berkshires" is normally used by locals in reference to the portion of the Vermont-based Green Mountains that ex ...

region. At one point, new Class A station

WFXQ-CD WFXQ-CD (channel 28) is a low-power, Class A television station in Springfield, Massachusetts, United States. It is a translator of dual NBC/ CW+ affiliate WWLP (channel 22), owned by Nexstar Media Group, allowing viewers in the core of the ...

, owned by WWLP owner

LIN Media LIN Media was an American holding company founded in 1994 that operated 43 television stations. All except one were affiliates of the six major U.S. television networks. One of the remaining stations was a low powered weather station in In ...

, had been rumored as attempting to affiliate with the network (hence the station's call letters). As Fox's NFC-focused NFL coverage did not include the majority of the games of the

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East divisio ...

outside two NFC-hosted games per year and

Super Bowl The Super Bowl is the annual final playoff game of the National Football League (NFL) to determine the league champion. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966, replacing the NFL Championship Game. Since 2022, the gam ...

appearances, and WTIC usually did carry those games, it was not a priority for the network to attain a Springfield affiliate until it discontinued the Foxnet cable service in 2006, and Fox began to push for at least a subchannel presence in every television market in order to obtain profitable

retransmission consent Retransmission consent is a provision of the 1992 United States Cable Television Consumer Protection and Competition Act that requires cable operators and other multichannel video programming distributors (MVPDs) to obtain permission from commer ...

revenue from affiliate agreements arising from cable and satellite provider carriage of their channels. On March 31, 2008, WGGB (by then locally owned by Gormally Broadcasting) officially launched WGGB-DT2 as Springfield's first in-market Fox affiliate. Almost immediately, WTIC was substituted on Comcast systems with WGGB's Fox subchannel on cable channel 6 (thus giving the subchannel its branding), and as a result, moved to the digital tier on channel 292. Charter eventually followed suit as well placing WTIC on digital channel 261. Comcast eventually removed WTIC to make way for smaller subchannel networks from local stations (including WSHM-LD's

Cozi TV Cozi TV (stylized on-air as COZI TV) is an American free-to-air television network owned by the NBC Owned Television Stations division of NBCUniversal. The network airs classic television series from the 1960s to the 2000s. The network ori ...

subchannel and WWLP-DT2 after they acquired

The CW ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...

affiliation), along with Fox's preference for only a market's own Fox affiliate to be carried on a pay-TV system. When WGGB-DT2 signed on for the second time, it also added Fox's secondary programming service MyNetworkTV as a secondary affiliation. It is seen in a delayed manner from 12:30 a.m. until 2:30 a.m. early Tuesdays through Saturdays. Outside of default network promotional advertising (which makes no mention of it being programmed by MyNetworkTV), the service airs unbranded on WGGB-DT2.

New Haven, Connecticut New Haven is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut and is part of the New York City metropolitan area. With a population of 134 ...

-based MyNetworkTV affiliate WCTX lost all of their carriage in the Springfield market as a result. It is currently the only affiliate of the service in the Commonwealth, as 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 ...

(which is carried on Comcast systems throughout the market) disaffiliated from the network in the fall of 2022.

Programming

WGGB-TV currently airs the entire ABC network schedule in pattern outside

breaking news Breaking news, interchangeably termed late-breaking news and also known as a special report or special coverage or news flash, is a current issue that broadcasters feel warrants the interruption of scheduled programming or current news in orde ...

situations. Syndicated programming on WGGB includes ''

Family Feud ''Family Feud'' is an American television game show created by Mark Goodson. It features two families who compete to name the most popular answers to survey questions in order to win cash and prizes. The show has had three separate runs, th ...

'', ''

Live with Kelly and Ryan ''Live with Kelly and Ryan'' (or simply ''Live'') is an American syndicated morning talk show hosted by Kelly Ripa and Ryan Seacrest. Executive produced by Michael Gelman, the ''Live with...'' show formula has aired under various hosts since ...

'' (which shifted from WSHM-LD in the fall of 2022, ''

Rachael Ray Rachael Domenica Ray (born August 25, 1968) is an American cook, television personality, businesswoman, and author. She hosts the syndicated daily talk and lifestyle program '' Rachael Ray'', and the Food Network series ''30 Minute Meals'' ...

'' and ''Pictionary''. Syndicated programming on WGGB-DT2 includes ''

Modern Family ''Modern Family'' is an American family sitcom television series created by Christopher Lloyd and Steven Levitan for the American Broadcasting Company. It ran for 11 seasons, from September 23, 2009, to April 8, 2020. It follows the lives of th ...

'', ''

The Simpsons ''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical depiction of American life, epitomized by the Simpson family, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, ...

'' and ''

Seinfeld ''Seinfeld'' ( ) is an American television sitcom created by Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld. It aired on NBC from July 5, 1989, to May 14, 1998, over nine seasons and 180 episodes. It stars Seinfeld as a fictionalized version of himself and ...

'', along with the more traditional court shows and sitcoms which usually defines a Fox affiliate's syndicated schedule. In 2004, Sinclair prohibited WGGB and its other ABC affiliates from airing a ''

Nightline ''Nightline'' (or ''ABC News Nightline'') is ABC News' late-night television news program broadcast on ABC in the United States with a franchised formula to other networks and stations elsewhere in the world. Created by Roone Arledge, the prog ...

'' broadcast that featured a segment in which then-host

Ted Koppel Edward James Martin Koppel (born February 8, 1940) is a British-born American broadcast journalist, best known as the anchor for ''Nightline'', from the program's inception in 1980 until 2005. Before ''Nightline'', he spent 20 years as a broadc ...

read the names of those who died in the

Iraq War {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Iraq War {{Nobold, {{lang, ar, حرب العراق (Arabic) {{Nobold, {{lang, ku, شەڕی عێراق (Kurdish languages, Kurdish) , partof = the Iraq conflict (2003–present), I ...

; Sinclair viewed the reading as

anti-war An anti-war movement (also ''antiwar'') is a social movement, usually in opposition to a particular nation's decision to start or carry on an armed conflict, unconditional of a maybe-existing just cause. The term anti-war can also refer to p ...

rhetoric against the invasion. Along with 20 other ABC affiliates (including Boston's WCVB), WGGB also preempted an unedited 2004 broadcast of ''

Saving Private Ryan ''Saving Private Ryan'' is a 1998 American epic war film directed by Steven Spielberg and written by Robert Rodat. Set during the Battle of Normandy in World War II, the film is known for its graphic portrayal of war, especially its depicti ...

'', which was eventually determined not to be a violation of the FCC's indecency guidelines. Until April 2007, the station did not carry ''

World News Now ''World News Now'' (or WNN) is an American overnight news broadcast seen on ABC. Airing during the early morning hours each Monday through Friday, the program features a mix of general news and off-beat stories, along with weather forecasts, sp ...

'' from

ABC News ABC News is the news division of the American broadcast network ABC. Its flagship program is the daily evening newscast '' ABC World News Tonight with David Muir''; other programs include morning news-talk show '' Good Morning America'', '' ...

in the early weekday morning hours, choosing instead to air programming from the

Home Shopping Network HSN, an initialism of its former name Home Shopping Network, is an American free-to-air television network owned by the Qurate Retail Group, which also owns catalog company Cornerstone Brands. Based in the Gateway area of St. Petersburg, Flo ...

and later its broadcast sub-network,

America's Store America's Store was a US shopping television network. It was the spin-off channel to the Home Shopping Network (HSN). On April 3, 2007, America's Store ceased broadcasting permanently. America's Store (AS) began in 1988 as the Home Shopping ...

, which ended operations in April 2007. Preemptions of network programming ended immediately upon Gormally's assumption of ownership, and Meredith and Gray have maintained the same hands-off policy outside rare breaking news/weather situations, such as the 2011 tornado outbreak which directly hit downtown Springfield.

News operation

WWLP has traditionally been the most watched station in the Pioneer Valley according to

Nielsen ratings Nielsen Media Research (NMR) is an American firm that measures media audiences, including television, radio, theatre, films (via the AMC Theatres MAP program), and newspapers. Headquartered in New York City, it is best known for the Nielsen rat ...

. However, there have been brief times when WGGB was on top and extended periods in which the two outlets were basically neck-and-neck with WWLP having a slight edge. Originally, WGGB's newscasts were known as ''NewsWatch 40''. The station cut back financially under Sinclair ownership, and during that period, rumors of canceling ''ABC 40 News'' or converting to Sinclair's controversial, now-defunct

centralcasting In terrestrial radio and television broadcasting, centralcasting refers to the use of systems automation by which customised signals for broadcast by multiple individual stations may be created at one central facility. Definition Centralcast ...

'' News Central'' format sometimes spread. The station ultimately retained its news operation, though it did carry ''The Point'' segment of

conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

political commentary from Mark Hyman which was required to be carried by all Sinclair stations with a local news operation, which was discontinued by Hyman's decision in December 2006. In fall 2006, WGGB rehired Ed Carroll to be chief

meteorologist A meteorologist is a scientist who studies and works in the field of meteorology aiming to understand or predict Earth's atmospheric phenomena including the weather. Those who study meteorological phenomena are meteorologists in research, while t ...

; he had previously been at the station from 1989 until 1993 before moving to

WBZ-TV WBZ-TV (channel 4) is a television station in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, airing programming from the CBS network. It is owned and operated by the network's CBS News and Stations division alongside independent station WSBK-TV (ch ...

in Boston. After becoming locally owned-and-operated, WGGB's news department underwent significant changes. Several prominent on-air personnel resigned or were

laid off A layoff or downsizing is the temporary suspension or permanent termination of employment of an employee or, more commonly, a group of employees (collective layoff) for business reasons, such as personnel management or downsizing (reducing the ...

. The station debuted a brand new set, graphics theme, and music package on April 24, 2008. On September 8, WGGB-DT2 added a 10 p.m. newscast known as ''Fox 6 News at 10''; this half-hour newscast originally featured a separate graphics package and music theme from the main WGGB broadcasts. Eventually, it was expanded to weekends and became known as ''ABC 40 First on Fox''. On February 13, 1994, a WGGB video crew taped a heated confrontation between

Temple University Temple University (Temple or TU) is a public state-related research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1884 by the Baptist minister Russell Conwell and his congregation Grace Baptist Church of Philadelphia then calle ...

head

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

coach John Chaney and

University of Massachusetts Amherst The University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass Amherst, UMass) is a public research university in Amherst, Massachusetts and the sole public land-grant university in Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Founded in 1863 as an agricultural college, ...

head coach A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches. In some sports, the head coach is instead called the "manager", as in asso ...

John Calipari John Vincent Calipari (born February 10, 1959) is an American basketball coach. Since 2009, he has been the head coach of the University of Kentucky men's team, with whom he won the NCAA Championship in 2012. He has been named Naismith College ...

at a post-game

press conference A press conference or news conference is a media event in which notable individuals or organizations invite journalists to hear them speak and ask questions. Press conferences are often held by politicians, corporations, non-governmental organ ...

, where at one point, Chaney had made a

death threat A death threat is a threat, often made anonymously, by one person or a group of people to kill another person or group of people. These threats are often designed to intimidate victims in order to manipulate their behaviour, in which case a d ...

against Calipari. The footage (which was

watermark A watermark is an identifying image or pattern in paper that appears as various shades of lightness/darkness when viewed by transmitted light (or when viewed by reflected light, atop a dark background), caused by thickness or density variations ...

ed with a

digital on-screen graphic A digital on-screen graphic, digitally originated graphic (DOG, bug, or network bug) is a watermark-like station logo that most television broadcasters overlay over a portion of the screen area of their programs to identify the channel. They are ...

showing the station's identification) was picked up by

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

and has since been shown thousands of times. The incident was ranked the second-biggest outburst in sports history by

Fox Sports Net Fox Sports Networks (FSN), formerly known as Fox Sports Net, was the collective name for a group of regional sports channels in the United States. Formed in 1996 by News Corporation, the networks were acquired by The Walt Disney Company on Mar ...

's '' The Best Damn Sports Show Period'' in 2006. On April 6, 2009, WGGB's weekday morning show became a full two-hour broadcast like most other ABC affiliates. WGGB-DT2 simulcasts this program, replaying it in full during ''

Good Morning America ''Good Morning America'' (often abbreviated as ''GMA'') is an American morning television program that is broadcast on ABC. It debuted on November 3, 1975, and first expanded to weekends with the debut of a Sunday edition on January 3, 1993. ...

''. Later, it was expanded to 4:30 a.m. in concert with most stations in the Northeast expanding their morning newscasts, the first to do so in the Springfield market. The station shares content with the wire services of ABC and Fox NewsEdge, and locally maintains news shares with WCVB-TV and WFXT in Boston for the eastern part of the state. With the acquisition of WSHM-LD, additional partnerships with CBS Newspath and WBZ-TV are also a part of ''Western Mass News'' sharing agreements. On September 14, 2011, WGGB officially became the first station in the Springfield market to upgrade local news production to high definition level (shows seen on WGGB-DT2 were included with the change). On September 15, 2014, WGGB's weekday noon newscast was expanded to an hour. Following Meredith's purchase of WGGB, the news operations of WGGB and WSHM-LD were merged under the ''Western Mass News'' branding on April 21, 2015; the combined news operation is based out of WGGB's facilities. As a result of the merger, WGGB and WSHM simulcast the weeknight 6 p.m. and nightly 11 p.m. newscasts; in addition, WGGB inherited WSHM's partnership with the Springfield ''Republican'' and MassLive. In delay situations where one station is carrying sports or extended entertainment programming in prime time (for instance, WGGB is carrying NBA coverage or ''

Saturday Night Football ''ESPN Saturday Night Football on ABC'' (branded for sponsorship purposes as ''ESPN Saturday Night Football on ABC presented by Capital One'') is an American weekly presentation of prime time broadcasts of National Collegiate Athletic Associatio ...

'' or the CBS lineup is delayed on WSHM on Sunday nights during the NFL season), one station carries that night's newscast live, with the other station airing that same broadcast in full on a tape delay immediately after their prime time ends. On weekend early evenings, a newscast being produced is dependent on either WGGB-DT1 or WSHM carrying network sports coverage. On nights where WGGB-DT2 carries extended coverage from

Fox Sports Fox Sports is the brand name for a number of sports channels, broadcast divisions, programming, and other media around the world. The ''Fox Sports'' name has since been used for other sports media assets. These assets are held mainly by the F ...

(including prime time

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football in the United States, American football rules first gained populari ...

boxing Boxing (also known as "Western boxing" or "pugilism") is a combat sport in which two people, usually wearing protective gloves and other protective equipment such as hand wraps and mouthguards, throw punches at each other for a predetermined ...

, or baseball coverage), only the 11 p.m. newscast is produced and broadcast on WGGB-DT1 and WSHM, then aired delayed on WGGB-DT2 at the end of the Fox sports event.

Technical information

Subchannels

The station's digital signal is multiplexed:

Analog-to-digital conversion

WGGB-TV upgraded its over-the-air digital signal to allow the transmission of ABC network programming in high definition on October 15, 2004. The station planned to discontinue regular programming on its analog signal, over UHF channel 40, on December 1, 2008, though it left the air a few days earlier than planned after the transmitter suffered a failure. The station also accelerated its analog closedown to facilitate the relocation of its digital channel from its pre-transition UHF channel 55, which was among the high band UHF channels (52-69) that were removed from broadcasting use as a result of the transition, to its analog-era UHF channel 40. Channel 55's spectrum was reassigned for use by

Qualcomm Qualcomm () is an American multinational corporation headquartered in San Diego, California, and incorporated in Delaware. It creates semiconductors, software, and services related to wireless technology. It owns patents critical to the 5G, ...

MediaFLO MediaFLO was a technology developed by Qualcomm for transmitting audio, video and data to portable devices such as mobile phones and personal televisions, used for mobile television. In the United States, the service powered by this technology wa ...

system until later being sold to

AT&T Mobility AT&T Mobility LLC, also known as AT&T Wireless and marketed as simply AT&T, is an American telecommunications company. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of AT&T Inc. and provides wireless services in the United States. AT&T Mobility is the th ...

for mobile service spectrum.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wggb-Tv GGB-TV Television channels and stations established in 1953 1953 establishments in Massachusetts ABC network affiliates Gray Television Court TV affiliates Former Meredith Corporation subsidiaries