History of WKTV in Timeline

WKTV is a television station located in Utica, New York. It operates as an affiliate of both NBC and CBS. The station is owned by Heartland Media and maintains its studios in Deerfield, with its transmitter situated in Fairfield.

December 1, 1949: WKTV Launched

On December 1, 1949, WKTV launched as Utica's first television station on VHF channel 13, becoming the 93rd station in the United States. Owned by Copper City Broadcasting Corporation and affiliated with NBC, DuMont, ABC, and CBS, Utica was one of the smallest cities with a TV station.

1951: Dick Clark Joins WKTV

In 1951, Dick Clark, a young local radio announcer, joined WKTV's staff and became known as "Dick Clay" on-air. He would eventually anchor the weeknight newscasts on WKTV.

1952: Dick Clark Departs WKTV

In 1952, Dick Clark departed from WKTV and went to WFIL AM-FM-TV in Philadelphia.

1952: FCC's Sixth Report and Order

In 1952, after the FCC's Sixth Report and Order ended the license freeze and opened the UHF band, a plan for allocating VHF licenses was devised to ensure most of the country received two commercial VHF channels and one noncommercial channel.

1956: DuMont Network Closure

In 1956, WKTV lost its affiliation with the DuMont Television Network after the network ceased operations.

1958: WKTV Sold to New Group

In 1958, Myron Kallet sold WKTV to a group led by Paul Harron and Gordon Gray.

January 1, 1959: WKTV Moves to Channel 2

On January 1, 1959, WKTV moved to VHF channel 2, upgrading its signal to cover a wider area.

1961: WKAL Sold

In 1961, Mid-New York Broadcasting sold WKAL, but retained WKTV.

1962: WOKR Signs On

In 1962, a channel 13 allocation being assigned to Rochester which signed on as WOKR and is now WHAM-TV.

1963: Harron Builds Cable System

In 1963, Harron operated a chain of cable systems in the Northeastern United States, including a system in Utica, Central New York Cable TV (later Harron Cable TV).

February 28, 1970: WUTR Signs On

On February 28, 1970, WUTR signed on as an ABC affiliate, ending WKTV's monopoly in the Utica television market. WKTV then became solely affiliated with NBC.

1970: WUTR Signs On

In 1970, WUTR signed on, providing local competition for WKTV.

1983: FCC Reduces UHF Channels

In 1983, the FCC reduced the number of UHF channels from 69 to 55.

1992: Harron Sells Controlling Interest in WKTV

In 1992, Harron sold controlling interest in WKTV to Smith Broadcasting.

September 1998: WKTV-DT2 Signs On

In September 1998, WKTV-DT2 signed on alongside the creation of The WB 100+ to launch a cable-only WB affiliate, replacing WPIX on Harron Cable systems.

September 2001: WKTV Enters News Share Agreement

In September 2001, WKTV entered into a news share agreement with Fox affiliate WFXV, leading to a 10 p.m. newscast on that station known as NewsChannel 2 on Fox.

August 2003: WUTR Ends Local Newscasts

In August 2003, WUTR stopped airing local newscasts, leaving WKTV as the only news operation in the market.

2003: Bob Smith Dies

In 2003, the founder of Smith Broadcasting, Bob Smith, died.

August 31, 2004: Outsourcing contract ends

On August 31, 2004, WFXV decided not to renew its outsourcing contract. WFXV was owned by Nexstar Broadcasting Group and operated Mission Broadcasting's WUTR through a joint sales agreement at the time.

2004: Boston Ventures Acquires Smith Broadcasting Stations

In 2004, Boston Ventures acquired the Smith Broadcasting stations and formed Smith Media, LLC.

January 2006: The WB and UPN Announce Merger

In January 2006, The WB and UPN announced that they would merge and form The CW Television Network. "WBU" was chosen to become the CW affiliate for Utica.

May 2006: WKTV Begins Broadcasting Digital Signal

In May 2006, WKTV began broadcasting its digital signal on UHF channel 29.

2006: WKTV-DT2 formed

In 2006, the station became WKTV-DT2.

2008: WKTV Starts Broadcasting in High Definition

In 2008, WKTV started broadcasting in high definition, beginning with the Summer Olympics.

February 18, 2009: WKTV Ends Analog Broadcasts

On February 18, 2009, WKTV signed off its analog signal and began broadcasting exclusively in digital.

December 16, 2010: Time Warner Cable Replaces WKTV

On December 16, 2010, due to a retransmission dispute, Time Warner Cable replaced WKTV with WBRE-TV and dropped WKTV-DT2, replacing it with HBO Family.

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January 8, 2011: WKTV and Time Warner Reach Agreement

On January 8, 2011, WKTV and Time Warner reached an agreement, allowing WKTV and its CW subchannel to return to the cable system the next day.

May 2011: Radio Stations Simulcast WKTV Morning Show

In May 2011, WUTQ (1550 AM, now WUSP) and WADR (1480 AM, now WRCK) began simulcasting the second hour of WKTV's weekday morning show.

September 2011: WUTR Restarts Local Newscasts

In September 2011, WUTR resumed airing local newscasts.

March 16, 2012: WUTQ-FM Simulcasts Newscasts

On March 16, 2012, WUTQ-FM (100.7 FM) began simulcasting WKTV's newscasts.

October 1, 2013: Smith Media to Sell WKTV to Heartland Media

On October 1, 2013, Smith Media reached a deal to sell WKTV to Heartland Media.

2013: WRUN Shuts Down

In 2013, WRUN (1150 AM), the radio station where Dick Clark's father worked, shut down. The radio station was later to become WUTI.

March 20, 2014: Sale of WKTV Completed

On March 20, 2014, the sale of WKTV to Heartland Media was completed.

August 4, 2014: New set debuted

On August 4, 2014, WKTV debuted a new set as the first step in its HD conversion.

November 10, 2014: WKTV-DT3 Signs On

On November 10, 2014, WKTV-DT3 signed on as an affiliate of MeTV.

January 29, 2015: Newscasts upgraded to HD

On January 29, 2015, WKTV's newscasts officially upgraded to true high definition, making WKTV the third station in the Utica area to switch.

October 26, 2015: WKTV Announces Affiliation Change

On October 26, 2015, WKTV announced that WKTV-DT2's affiliation would change from The CW to CBS on November 22, rebranding as "CBS Utica".

November 22, 2015: Newscast moved to WKTV-DT3

On November 22, 2015, the 10 p.m. newscast moved from WKTV-DT2 to WKTV-DT3, after WKTV-DT2 switched affiliations to CBS.

November 23, 2015: WKTV-DT3 began airing 10 p.m. newscast

On November 23, 2015, WKTV-DT3 began airing the 10 p.m. newscast that had previously aired on WKTV-DT2.

2015: CBS Affiliation Change

In 2015, WHEN-TV/WTVH in Syracuse served as the default CBS affiliate for the Utica area.

2015: WKTV-DT3 Added to Time Warner Cable

In the Summer of 2015, WKTV-DT3 was added to Time Warner Cable's Utica line-up on channel 1245.

January 25, 2016: WKTV-DT3 added 7 a.m. newscast

On January 25, 2016, WKTV-DT3 added a 7 a.m. newscast, becoming the first station in the Utica market to carry local news at that time.

May 2016: WKTV-DT2 Upgrades Digital Signal

In May 2016, WKTV-DT2 upgraded its over-the-air digital signal into 720p high definition, offering a locally operated in-market over-the-air HD feed for CBS.

July 1, 2016: WKTV-DT2 Re-launched

On July 1, 2016, WKTV-DT2 was re-launched in the rest of the Utica DMA when the station replaced WTVH in Herkimer County and WBNG in Otsego County.

September 28, 2016: Broadcast signal intrusions

On September 28, 2016, WKTV was subjected to two broadcast signal intrusions. The Emergency Alert System's test and development message aggregators, was mistakenly viewed by WKTV's EAS device and produced a warning for hazardous substances with a place holder message from "Green Eggs and Ham".

January 25, 2017: WBNG Restored to Time Warner Cable Systems

On January 25, 2017, WBNG was restored to Time Warner Cable systems in Otsego County, alongside WKTV-DT2, following viewer complaints.

September 1, 2024: The CW Moves to WFXV-DT2

On September 1, 2024, The CW moved to WFXV-DT2. WKTV announced that WKTV-DT3 would become a news-oriented independent station, replaying recent WKTV newscasts and airing weather presentations and exclusive newscasts.