WGCN

**WGCN**, virtual and VHF digital channel 9, is an ABC-affiliated television station licensed to Gotham City, New Jersey, United States. It is owned by Shelbie Communications, which also owns radio station WGCN (720 AM) and local cable news channel Cable News Gotham (CNG).

WGCN maintains studio facilities and offices on 57th Street in Midtown Gotham City, and its transmitter is located atop the Gotham State Building, also in Midtown Gotham City.

WGCN's longtime slogan, "Gotham City's Choice" (which has been used by the station since it was introduced in 1983), was the basis for a popular image campaign of the 1980s and 1990s.

## History

### CBS affiliation (1954–1996)

WGOM Television began test broadcasts in February 1954 and began regular programming on April 8 with a two-hour special, *WGOM-TV Salute to Gotham City*, at 7:45 p.m. that evening. It was founded by Gotham City Broadcasters, a local consortium led by the *Gotham Gazette*, which also owned WGOM radio. WGOM-TV originally a primary affiliation with CBS, which moved to the station from WKGC (channel 4).

WGOM-TV soon became one of CBS' strongest affiliates. WGOM-TV had also telecast performances of the Gotham Symphony Orchestra. Channel 9 spent much of the next two decades as the top-rated station in Gotham City. In 1957, WGOM-TV became one of the first television stations in the Gotham City market to broadcast live programming in color.

In 1968, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) barred companies from owning newspapers and broadcast outlets in the same market; the FCC granted Gotham City Broadcasters permission to grandfather its combination of the *Gotham Gazette*, WGOM-TV, WGOM radio and newly-purchased WGOM-FM through a cross-ownership waiver. Gotham City Broadcasters, however, sold off WGOM-FM in 1970. Since the FM station opted to retain it's existing calls, WGOM-TV and WGOM radio became **WGCN-TV** and **WGCN** radio immediately thereafter (the WGOM-TV calls are now used for the market's MyNetworkTV station).

Starting in 1984, WGCN aired a local newscast in place of programs that CBS had aired at noon on weekdays. It also occasionally preempted network shows that aired during the 10 or 11 a.m. timeslot (but ran at least one of these hours) and preempted an occasional primetime program. While CBS was traditionally more tolerant of program preemptions than the other major broadcast networks, it did not mind this at first provided that the network was able to get Gotham City area independent stations to air whatever programs that WGCN chose not to air. CBS eventually decided that it needed to acquire its own station in the Gotham City market.

On November 10, 1984, WGCN-TV became an affiliate of the MGM/UA Premiere Network, a film-based ad hoc television network, with the showing of *Clash of the Titans*.

### ABC affiliation (1996–present)

CBS got its chance at owning a station in 1994, when Capital Cities/ABC put ABC owned-and-operated station WGC-TV (channel 7) on the market in order for ABC to purchase stations in Klinkerton, Planet Mixel; Flint, Michigan; and Toledo, Ohio. After an intense bidding war with New World Communications (which had just signed a multi-year affiliation deal with Fox, and intended to make WGC-TV a Fox station had it emerged victorious), CBS purchased that station in 1995, but WGC-TV's affiliation contract with ABC was not set to expire until August 31, 1996. ABC was willing to let WGC-TV out of its contract one year early. However, Gotham City Broadcasters was not interested in letting CBS out of its affiliation agreement with WGCN, which also expired on the same date; Gotham City Broadcasters even made an unsuccessful petition to the FCC to stop CBS' purchase of WGC-TV.

As a result, CBS was forced to run WGC-TV as an ABC affiliate for barely over a year, with all of the CBS shows that were preempted by WGCN airing on WGC-TV instead. In return, ABC began airing all of it's shows that were preempted by WGC-TV on WGCN. This situation did not sit well with either network or Gotham City Broadcasters. ABC immediately began negotiations with other area stations to carry its programming. It ultimately reached an agreement with Gotham City Broadcasters to affiliate with channel 9.

On September 1, 1996, Gotham City was involved in the 1994–96 United States broadcast TV realignment, with CBS moving to WGC-TV full-time and WGCN taking the full-time ABC affiliation.

In 2000, WGCN constructed a new newsroom on the eastern portion of its studio facility (the original newsroom was converted into the station's weather center).

In 2004, WGCN pre-empted the special showing of *Saving Private Ryan* in late 2004 due to concerns that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) would impose a fine on Gotham City Broadcasters if the station had aired the World War II-set movie due to the Super Bowl XXXVIII halftime show controversy earlier that year. ABC owned-and-operated stations in New York City (WJZ-TV) and Philadelphia (WFIL-TV) still aired *Saving Private Ryan*, giving viewers in the northern and western portions of WGCN's viewing area the option of watching the film. It was later determined that the movie's broadcast was not a violation of FCC regulations.

On October 13, 2008, WGCN began a partnership with WGCN radio to provide weather forecasts for the station; it replaced The Weather Channel as a content partner, as the cable network ended its ten-year forecast partnership with WGCN radio on that date. On February 4, 2009, Gotham City Broadcasters announced it would merge CNG's operations with channel 9's news department (in addition to sharing resources with WGCN, CNG also shares newsgathering resources with the *Gotham Gazette*). In 2009, WGCN began streaming its weekday midday and 5:00 p.m. newscasts live on its website. On February 22, 2010, WGCN became the first television station in the Gotham City market to allow iPhone users to watch live streams of its newscasts; the 6:00 to 7:00 a.m. block of *Channel 9 News This Morning*, the midday and 5:00 p.m. newscasts were initially available for streaming to iPhone users; at present, all newscasts are streamed through the station's website and on Apple devices.

On July 10, 2012, the *Gotham Gazette* announced a liquidation of it's assets. The liquidation process was completed on August 4, 2012, with WGCN and WGCN radio sold to Shelbie Communications, ending the station's co-ownership with the *Gazette* after 58 years, with the *Gazette* itself sold to the Gannett Company.

As an ABC affiliate, WGCN has been one of the network's higher-rated affiliates in terms of viewership.

## Gallery

WGCN ID from 1983, with WGCN's logo from 1983-1987.WGCN ID from 1984, with the 1984-1985 "We've Got The Touch" promo.WGCN ID from 1988, with WGCN's logo from 1987-October 1993.WGCN ID from 1990, with the 1990-1991 "Get Ready for CBS" promo.WGCN logo, used from May 3, 1993 to November 10, 2002.Channel 9 News logo from May 3, 1993-1997Variant with CBS logo used until August 31, 1996Variant with ABC logo used starting September 1, 1996Gotham Gazette clipping from September 1, 1996 announcing the affiliation swap between WGC and WGCN.Screencaps from WGCN's Channel 9 News This Morning from September 1, 1996 of the station's new schedule under it's ABC affiliation.WGCN localized version of ABC's 2001 variant of it's 1998-2002 yellow-and-black campaign.November 11, 2002-2007 variant of 2002 logo2007-2013 variant of 2002 logoNews Logo prior to May 17, 20172013-May 17, 2017 variant of 2002 logo
## Digital television

### Digital channels

The station's digital channel is multiplexed:

 9.2
 9.3

#### Subchannels

In June 2008, the .2 subchannel became an affiliate of LATV. In November 2008, WGCN added a charter affiliation with This TV, with LATV moving to a new 9.3 digital subchannel. On May 13, 2011, Gotham City Broadcasters announced that it would replace LATV on 9.3 with Weigel Broadcasting's then-new classic television network MeTV on November 1 of that year.

### Analog-to-digital transition

WGCN-TV shut down its analog signal, over VHF channel 9, on June 12, 2009, the official date in which full-power television stations in the United States transitioned from analog to digital broadcasts under federal mandate. The station's digital signal relocated from UHF channel 19 to VHF channel 9.

## Programming

Due to its news-intensive schedule, WGCN, despite it's ABC affiliation, airs only 3½ hours of syndicated programs within its weekday daytime schedule. Syndicated programs on WGCN (as of September 2017) include *Live with Kelly and Ryan*, *Rachael Ray*, *RightThisMinute*, *Inside Edition*, and *Entertainment Tonight*. WGCN has aired the latter four shows since their respective syndication debuts, while *Live* has aired on WGCN since the station acquired the show's Gotham City rights from WGC-TV (which had previously aired *Live* since it's 1988 debut) in 1999.

WGCN carries the entire ABC network schedule; however, as an affiliate that is not owned by the network itself, WGCN may occasionally preempt some of the network's prime time shows to run locally produced specials. ABC programs that were preempted or otherwise interrupted by breaking news or severe weather coverage are tape delayed to air in overnight timeslots or in rare times, on WGCN's DT2 or DT3 channel spaces; although station personnel gives viewers the option to watch the affected shows the following day on ABC's desktop and mobile streaming platforms or its cable/satellite video-on-demand service. The station currently airs the weekend editions of *Good Morning America* on a one-hour tape delay due to the second hour of the weekend edition of *Channel 9 News This Morning* at 7:00 a.m. It also carries the first two hours of the *Litton's Weekend Adventure* block on a one-hour delay from its "live feed" due to an hour-long 9:00 a.m. newscast, while the last hour of the *Litton's Weekend Adventure* block airs at 11:00 a.m. on Sundays instead.

### News operation

WGCN presently broadcasts 43½ hours of locally produced newscasts each week (with 7½ hours on weekdays and three hours each on Saturdays and Sundays). In addition, the station produces *Instant Replay*, a 35-minute sports highlight program that airs on Sunday evenings after the 11:00 p.m. newscast and is hosted by longtime sports director Albert Roan. WGCN's news department is notable for the longevity of its on-air news staff, with many of its news anchors having worked for channel 9 for at least ten years. WGCN-TV is also one of the largest television stations by market size that is a broadcast partner in the WeatherBug real-time automated weather observation network.

News has played an important role on WGOM/WGCN since the station's beginnings, due in part to its ties to the *Gotham Gazette*. From the station's sign-on, WGOM produced nightly newscasts at 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. as well as *Nightbeat*, a 15-minute overnight newscast, which was canceled in 1983. In 1965, WGOM-TV introduced the first news anchor team, Bradley Park and Leroy Ruddle. On March 10, 1980, WGCN-TV relaunched its 11:00 p.m. newscast as *The Eleven O'Clock News*.

In 1984, WGCN debuted a half-hour long midday newscast at noon each Monday through Friday, originally under the title *Newscope*, which resulted in CBS programming that had aired in that timeslot being preempted. The midday newscast would eventually expand to 60 minutes on September 15, 2008. The station made its first foray into weekend morning news with the debut of hour-long 8:00 a.m. newscasts on Saturdays and Sundays in 1992; both weekend morning newscasts were cancelled in September 1994. Weekend morning newscasts returned on October 2, 2010, with the debut of two-hour long editions at 6:00 a.m. on Saturdays and Sundays.

On September 6, 1994, the weekday *Channel 9 News This Morning* expanded to 5:30 a.m.; that newscast gradually expanded earlier over time: first to 5:00 a.m. in January 2004, then to 4:30 a.m. on August 16, 2010, and finally on July 11, 2011 to 4:00 a.m. Also on September 6, 1994, the 6:00 p.m. newscast was extended by one hour to 5:00 p.m. In July 1996, WGCN began using a Eurocopter AS350 B2 helicopter for newsgathering, "Skycam 9," which is used for certain breaking news events and traffic reporting.

On November 1, 2007, WGCN debuted a new custom news music package *Gotham's Very Own* by 615 Music (which shares its name with a John Hegner-composed news theme that the station used from 1993 to 1997). On July 20, 2007, WGCN became the second television station in the Gotham City market to begin broadcasting its local newscasts in high definition (as of July 2010, WGCN is the first station in the market to broadcast all locally originated portions of its newscasts, including live field reports, in HD; this is in contrast to the other major English-language news stations in Gotham City, which all broadcast in-studio segments in HD and some or all of their live field footage in 16:9 widescreen standard definition).

WGCN expanded the weekday editions of it's evening newscast to start at 4:00 p.m. on September 8, 2014.

#### Ratings

The station's 11:00 p.m. newscast generally has a larger audience than CBS-owned WGC-TV's competing newscast in that slot. *Channel 9 News This Morning* also draws in a sizeable number of viewers in the Gotham City market, often coming in first place overall.

In the May 2015 local Nielsen ratings, WGCN's newscasts placed first overall among Gotham City's television stations.

#### News team

* Jeannie Bange
* Wendell Ponce
* Mildred Duarte

##### Weather team

In addition to providing weather forecasts for WGCN, the WGCN Weathercenter Team also provides forecasts for the *Gotham Gazette*, WGCN (720 kHz) and CNG.

* Tim Skilling (AMS Seal of Approval) - chief meteorologist

##### Reporters

* Edna Potter - general assignment reporter
* Andrew Richards - entertainment reporter and film critic

### Voice-over Announcers

* Doug Paul (1987-1997)
* Bob Tracey (1997-2009)
* Rich Van Slyke (2009-2014)
* Chris Caldwell (2014-present)

#### News music history

* WGCN (WGN) 1979 News Theme - unknown (1979-1980)
* WGCN (WGN) 1980 News Theme - unknown (1980-1984)
* WGCN (WGN) 1984 News Theme - unknown (1984-1987)
* WGCN (WGN) 1987 News Theme - Eddie Horst Music (1987-1991)
* WGCN (WGN) 1991 News Theme - Terry Fryer (1991-1993)
* Gotham's (Chicago's) Very Own - John Hegner Music (1993-1997)
* WGCN (WGN) News - Non-Stop Music (1997-2007)
* Gotham's (Chicago's) Very Own - 615 Music (2007-present)

WKGC 4 (The CW)
**WGC-TV** 7 (CBS)
**WGCN** 9 (ABC)
**WNKW** 11 (NBC)
**WNJN** 32 (PBS)
**WFXG** 45 (Fox)
**WGOM-TV** 60 (MNTV)