WSBK-TV

Encyclopedia : W : WS : WSB : WSBK-TV

This article is about the television station, for the championship see World Superbike.

History

WSBK was sold in a group deal with other Storer stations to KKR in 1984. KKR later sold most the stations to Gillett Communications, who eventually sold the stations as a unit to SCI TV by the early 1990s.

For a brief period in the 1990s, WSBK attempted to become a national superstation on the level of WGN-TV in Chicago and WTBS in Atlanta, using its sports coverage in much the same way as the other stations used the Chicago Cubs and Atlanta Braves, respectively. However, WSBK could not reach the level of carriage that the other successful superstations had reached, and so the idea was dropped. Nevertheless, the superstation idea would have been discontinued as Paramount had ceased the service when the company switched most of their stations (including WSBK) to UPN when it launched.

The station was sold in a group deal to New World Communications in 1993. WSBK would remain an independent station as other New World stations were switching to the Fox network. In 1994, the station was then sold to Paramount Pictures (which would become a subsidiary of Viacom that same year) and became a charter UPN affiliate in 1995. Originally, WSBK continued to run the same type of programming with UPN's schedule added, but eventually replaced many older off network reruns and cartoons with first run syndicated talk shows. The station also ran far fewer movies, beginning to show them only overnights and on weekends.

After Viacom's merger with the CBS network, WSBK moved its studios and offices to WBZ-TV's building.

Logos

Programming

In addition to the Red Sox games, WSBK was also for many years the over-air flagship of the Boston Bruins. It was also the over-air home of the Boston Celtics before losing the broadcast rights in 1998 to WABU (all Celtics' games not on national television are now broadcast on FSN New England). Since 2005, WSBK (along with WLWC) has been the home of Atlantic Coast Conference college football and basketball games in Boston, as Boston College's move to the conference has created regional interest for the ACC.

The station used to broadcast a 10 p.m. newscast. WBZ-TV produced such programming from 1993 to 1995. The newscast was then produced by NECN and was named UPN38 Prime News until 1998. After Viacom's merger with CBS, WBZ-TV once again began to produce channel 38's news programming starting in 2001, which originally aired at 7 p.m. before they switched back to a 10 p.m. newscast in 2002, entitled Nightcast at 10. In 2003, a WSBK extension of WBZ-TV's morning news was added from 7 a.m. to 8 a.m.. In January 2005, WSBK cancelled the Nightcast, turning its attention to the morning newscast, which was relaunched as The Morning Show on UPN38 on April 4. On September 12, the program was moved to 8-9 a.m. to make room for the first two hours of The Daily Buzz, and on June 30, 2006, The Morning Show aired its last broadcast. [link] The Daily Buzz was also removed from the schedule at that time, and both programs were replaced by infomercials. However, WLWC in Providence will still carry The Daily Buzz. WSBK still shows the sports program "Red Sox This Week" on Sunsays at 10 PM, with a rebroadcast Monday mornings at 12:30 on WBZ.

Although WSBK stated in the Nightcast cancellation press release that it would create a "separate news operation", The Morning Show was still produced by WBZ-TV. Starting in 2004, the station used the radar from WBZ, rebranded as "UPN 38 First Alert Doppler", in all of its news programming.

WSBK also broadcasts the Phantom Gourmet every Saturday morning, with its time depending on the station's programming commitments (such as ACC college football), and with a repeat of a recent episode each Sunday at 11 a.m..

On January 24, 2006, the UPN and WB networks announced that they would merge into a new network called the CW, the letters representing the first initial of its corporate parents CBS and the Warner Bros. unit of Time Warner. The merger will take effect in September 2006, and current WB station WLVI-TV was announced as the CW's Boston affiliate. CBS had initially announced that WSBK, along with its Miami sister station WBFS-TV, would not seek the affiliation for My Network TV and would revert to independent status in September 2006. CBS eventually changed its mind and decided to affiliate WBFS, along with WUPL in New Orleans, Louisiana and WB affiliate WTCN-CA in West Palm Beach, Florida, with My Network TV; however, it is standing by its decision to revert WSBK to independent status. At present, Boston is the largest market without a My Network TV affiliate -- unless Fox station WFXT picks it up for secondary affiliation and airs it during daytime.

When the CW and My Network TV launch in September, WSBK's primetime lineup will include Dr. Phil at 8 p.m., a second-run of Jeopardy! at 9 p.m. and a newscast at 9:30 p.m..[link] It will also continue to air CBS programs when WBZ-TV cannot do so. It will be one of three CBS-owned independent stations, joining KCAL-TV in Los Angeles and KTXA in Fort Worth. WSBK, after becoming independent again, is slated to re-brand back to TV38.

One of WSBK's most remembered past programs was the informative series ["Ask the Manager,"] created by its general manager, William J. Flynn, in the mid-1970s. Each week Flynn, and later his successors Joseph C. Dimino, Daniel J. Berkery, and Stuart Tauber would answer viewer questions on the air. The letters were read each week for many years by WSBK's announcer and host Dana Hersey, who also hosted WSBK's nightly movie under the title "The Movie Loft." Other letter readers included Sean McDonough and Carla Nolan, and Meg LaVigne and Leslie Savage occasionally substituted in the manager's chair. The producer of "Ask the Manager" was Clifford D. "Cliff" Allen, who passed away just weeks after "Ask the Manager" broadcast its final show in January 1999.

Local Programming

• Phantom Gourmet - Weekends, 10:30 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.; 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
• Keller at Large - Sundays, 10:00 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. [link]
• Red Sox This Week - Sundays, 10:00 p.m. to 10:30 p.m.

On-air personalities

• Dan Andelman, Host, Phantom Gourmet
• Jon Keller, Host, Keller at Large
• Dan Roche, Host, Red Sox This Week

See also

• WBZ-TV
• WLWC

References

• [WSBK-TV (3-27-2005). The Boston TV Dial].
• [WSBK: About UPN38 (2005). UPN38.com].

External links

• [WSBK-TV Website]
• [TheProvidenceChannel.com: WSBK-TV UPN 38]
• ["Ask the Manager" Fan Site]
• [Query the FCC's TV station database for WSBK-TV]

.54 billion USD (2005) | Employees: Unknown at this time. | Stock Symbol: NYSE: [CBS] | Website: [www.cbscorporation.com]

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