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WNEP-TV (channel 16) is a television station licensed to Scranton, Pennsylvania, United States, serving as the ABC affiliate for Northeastern Pennsylvania. Owned by Tegna Inc., the station maintains studios on Montage Mountain Road in Moosic. Through a channel sharing agreement with PBS member WVIA-TV (channel 44), the two stations transmit using WNEP-TV's spectrum from an antenna at Penobscot Knob near Mountain Top.

Key Information

WNEP-TV operates a digital replacement translator on UHF channel 22 that is licensed to Waymart with a transmitter in Forest City. It exists because wind turbines run by NextEra Energy Resources at the Waymart Wind Farm interfere with the transmission of full-power television signals.

History

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WILK-TV and WARM-TV

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There were originally two ABC network affiliates in northeastern Pennsylvania. WILK-TV, operating on channel 34 and owned by WILK radio took to the air from Wilkes-Barre on September 15, 1953.[3] It was followed by Scranton-licensed WARM-TV, broadcasting on channel 16 and owned by future Governor William Scranton along with WARM radio, in February 9, 1954.[4] During the late 1950s, WILK-TV was also briefly affiliated with the NTA Film Network.[5]

WILK wanted to get a head start on the other local stations when it signed on in 1953, going on the air at 2 p.m. rather than the 3 p.m. sign on that the other stations did. The engineers got the signal ready by noon and decided to take a break. However, at lunch, they turned on the station to inspect their handiwork, only to find the signal was dead. They rushed back and were able to establish the link by 1:50 p.m., 10 minutes before sign-on.[6]

Getting a signal from ABC headquarters in New York City was a challenge in the early days with no access to satellites. As a result, WILK set up a microwave tower in Effort, about 45 miles (72 km) east of Wilkes-Barre. From there, the network signal was bounced to the Penobscot Knob transmitter site. Often, station engineers had to adjust the Effort transmitter to accept a signal from WFIL-TV (now ABC O&O WPVI-TV) in Philadelphia if they were unable to receive the New York feed.

WILK-TV and WARM-TV were both losing money, in large part because their network, ABC, was not on an equal footing with NBC and CBS (and would not be until the 1970s). However, they stayed on the air because they were owned by well-respected local radio stations.

Merger and transition

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By 1955, however, it was obvious that Scranton and Wilkes-Barre were going to be a single television market. On October 17, 1957, WILK-TV and WARM-TV agreed to merge into a single ABC station for Northeastern Pennsylvania.[7] The merged station, then as now, operated under WILK-TV's license, but used WARM-TV's channel 16 in order to provide wider signal coverage at less cost—no small consideration given the station's vast and mostly mountainous coverage area. Transcontinent Television Corporation, a Buffalo, New York–based media firm, acquired a 60 percent interest in the merged station; the remaining shares were split between the WARM and WILK groups, with William Scranton as chairman.[8] The merged station, WNEP-TV, was licensed to Scranton, and split operations between WILK-TV's former facility in Wilkes-Barre and a new studio in Scranton. In 1962, WNEP-TV consolidated its operations at a new studio near Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport in Avoca. WILK-TV's transmitter site at Penobscot Knob was retained by WNEP-TV, and the WARM-TV transmitter was donated a decade later to the area's PBS member station, WVIA-TV (channel 44).

Meanwhile, the WILK-TV facility was repurposed as a satellite repeater of WNEP-TV until late summer 1958.[9][10] The channel 34 assignment was later reallocated to Binghamton, New York, to be occupied by ABC affiliate WBJA-TV (now WIVT) beginning in 1962.[11][12]

Despite a power boost to 1.5 million watts, and an increased coverage area—expanded to 15 counties in northeastern Pennsylvania[6]—WNEP-TV bounced back and forth in the ratings for most of the next two decades. It was never able to achieve any consistency because of the bitter rivalry between Scranton and Wilkes-Barre. Viewers in Wilkes-Barre thought it was a Scranton station, while viewers in Scranton thought it was a Wilkes-Barre station. It was also hobbled by being an affiliate of the smallest and weakest network of the time. Indeed, WNEP's launch made Scranton–Wilkes-Barre the smallest market in Pennsylvania with full service from all three networks.

Transcontinent exited broadcasting in 1964 and sold several of its stations, including WNEP-TV, to Taft Broadcasting.[13][14] When Taft purchased Philadelphia independent station WIBF-TV (channel 29, now WTXF-TV) in 1969,[15] it sought a waiver to keep both stations. Channel 16's Grade B signal reaches the Lehigh Valley, which is part of the Philadelphia market. WNEP-TV had also operated an outlying translator on channel 7 in Allentown for many years. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) normally did not allow one company to own two stations with overlapping coverage areas. While it initially granted the waiver, it reversed itself four years later and forced Taft to sell channel 16. A group of WNEP-TV station employees and executives formed NEP Communications, which bought the station from Taft in late 1973.[16]

Soon after NEP took over the station, news director Elden Hale decided to take a regional approach. He billed the station as serving "Northeastern and Central Pennsylvania", and stepped up coverage of the remote portions of the market. These areas had largely been ignored by the other stations in town. He also added the area's first news helicopter. This approach quickly paid off. In November 1976, WNEP surged to first place for the first time in a decade. After briefly falling back to second it returned to number one in 1978, around the same time ABC became the nation's number one network. Apart from a brief period in the mid-1990s when WBRE-TV passed it, it has been number one ever since. NEP also established a remote production company, which operated as an adjunct to WNEP-TV.

The New York Times Company bought the station in 1985.[17] WNEP moved to its current studios in Moosic in 1989; the facility is similar to the building the Times Company built for then-sister station WHNT-TV in Huntsville, Alabama, but on a larger scale. NEP Communications retained the production unit, which became NEP Broadcasting; the company provided remote broadcast facilities for the Olympics, FIFA World Cup and the Academy Awards, as well as a studio production facility in New York City.[18]

On January 4, 2007, the station, along with the rest of the Times Company's television division, was sold to Oak Hill Capital Partners in a $575 million transaction. Oak Hill formed Local TV as a holding company for its stations.[19]

On July 1, 2013, Local TV announced that its 19 stations would be acquired by the Tribune Company for $2.75 billion;[20] Tribune owns The Morning Call in Allentown. Although Allentown is part of the Philadelphia television market, WNEP has long claimed the Lehigh Valley as part of its coverage area. The FCC ruled that Tribune could not keep WNEP due to its ban on newspaper-television cross-ownership within a single market, The Morning Call serving a city within WNEP's coverage area (although Tribune has maintained cross-ownership waivers for its newspaper-television station combinations in Los Angeles, Chicago, Miami, and Hartford). Tribune spun off WNEP-TV to Dreamcatcher Broadcasting, an unrelated company owned by former Tribune Company executive Ed Wilson.[21] However, Tribune will operate the station and provide other services under a shared services agreement, and will hold an option to buy back WNEP outright in the future.[22] The sale was completed on December 27.[23] Tribune later announced on July 10, 2013, that it would spin off its newspapers (including The Morning Call) into a separate company, the Tribune Publishing Company, in 2014, pending shareholder and regulatory approval.[24] The split was completed in August 2014, though as of yet Tribune has not announced plans to acquire Dreamcatcher outright.

Analog broadcast tower collapse

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WNEP-TV's transmission tower broadcasting the analog signal on channel 16 collapsed on December 16, 2007, due to severe ice, winds, and snow at the transmitter location on Penobscot Knob.[25] The tower collapse also destroyed the transmitter building. No one was injured during the incident.[25] WCLH's FM antenna and transmitter, which was co-located on WNEP's analog TV tower, was also destroyed during the incident.[26] Transmission of the digital signal on channel 49 was restored after a brief interruption of power to the tower supporting the digital transmitter and antenna. WNEP's signal on local cable systems and satellite was restored later that day. WNEP-TV partially restored its analog over the air TV signal by January 1, 2008[27] by broadcasting from the nearby American Tower on Penobscot Knob supporting the WNEP-DT antenna as well as WOLF-TV/DT's antenna.[28][29]

As the WNEP-TV analog broadcast tower collapsed on December 16, 2007, one of the falling guy wires supporting the WNEP-TV tower damaged the neighboring tower broadcasting WVIA-TV (analog and digital) and WVIA-FM by shearing off the top section of the WVIA tower supporting the antenna for the analog and digital TV signals. The antenna for WVIA-FM remained intact, as it is located on the lower section of the shared WVIA-FM-TV tower. The WVIA-TV analog signal on channel 44 was temporarily put off the air until service was restored through a back-up tower on Penobscot Knob.[30] The collapse of WNEP-TV's analog tower also severed power to the transmitters for CBS affiliate WYOU (channel 22) and NBC affiliate WBRE-TV (channel 28), putting those stations off the air for a time.[31]

On June 12, 2009, WNEP was to operate on a new tower which had been completed, though the antenna had not arrived in a timely fashion. Their goal was to have the new facility operating by August 2009, but it was delayed a few months.[32] On December 5, 2009, WNEP turned off channel 49 and moved to channel 50. Moving to channel 50 was necessary so it could alleviate possible interference from Telemundo O&O WWSI in Atlantic City, New Jersey, which at the time broadcast on UHF channel 49.[33]

On February 15, 2010, the channel 49 facility was put back into use by WNEP on a temporary basis with FCC approval to accommodate WVIA-TV, which had suffered a partial tower collapse and electrical fire which had destroyed WVIA's transmitter building and the equipment within.[34][35]

Aborted sale to Sinclair Broadcast Group

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On May 8, 2017, Sinclair Broadcast Group—which has operated Fox affiliate WOLF-TV (channel 56), CW affiliate WSWB (channel 38) and MyNetworkTV affiliate WQMY (channel 53) since October 2014—entered into an agreement to acquire Tribune Media for $3.9 billion, plus the assumption of $2.7 billion in debt held by Tribune. The complicated SSA relationships that Sinclair has in the Scranton–Wilkes-Barre market with WOLF, WSWB and WQMY – the former two of which are currently the only legal television duopoly in the market – created an ownership entanglement, as WNEP and WOLF rank among the market's four highest-rated stations, and the market has too few independently owned full-power stations to permit a second legal duopoly in any event. (Sinclair CEO Christopher Ripley cited Scranton–Wilkes–Barre as one of three markets, out of fourteen where ownership conflicts exist between the two groups, where the proposed acquisition would likely result in divestitures).[36][37][38][39][40][41] To alleviate some of the regulatory issues that the deal incurred by selling certain stations to both independent and affiliated third-party companies, on April 24, 2018, Sinclair announced that it would sell the non-license assets of WOLF-TV, WQMY, and WSWB and the full assets of eight other stations – Sinclair-operated KOKH-TV in Oklahoma City, WRLH-TV in Richmond, KDSM-TV in Des Moines and WXLV-TV in Greensboro/Winston-Salem/High Point, and Tribune-owned WPMT in Harrisburg and WXMI in Grand Rapids – to Standard Media Group (an independent broadcast holding company formed by private equity firm Standard General to assume ownership of and absolve ownership conflicts involving the aforementioned stations) for $441.1 million. Sinclair concurrently exercised its option to buy WOLF-TV and WQMY to allow Standard Media Group – the latter of which, for regulatory purposes, would have continued to be licensed as a satellite of WOLF-TV – to acquire the stations outright; Standard would concurrently acquire the WOLF-TV license, which is permitted under FCC ownership regulations as WSWB is not ranked as one of the top-four stations in the market.[42][43][44][45][46]

On July 18, 2018, the FCC voted to have the Sinclair–Tribune acquisition reviewed by an administrative law judge amid "serious concerns" about Sinclair's forthrightness in its applications to sell certain conflict properties.[47][48][49][50][51][52] Three weeks later on August 9, Tribune announced it would terminate the Sinclair deal, intending to seek other M&A opportunities. Tribune also filed a breach of contract lawsuit in the Delaware Chancery Court, alleging that Sinclair engaged in protracted negotiations with the FCC and the U.S. Department of Justice's Antitrust Division over regulatory issues, refused to sell stations in markets where it already had properties, and proposed divestitures to parties with ties to Sinclair executive chair David D. Smith that were rejected or highly subject to rejection to maintain control over stations it was required to sell.[53][54][55][56][57][58]

Sale to Nexstar Media Group and resale to Tegna Inc.

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On December 3, 2018, Irving, Texas–based Nexstar Media Group—which has owned NBC affiliate WBRE-TV since 1997 and operated CBS affiliate WYOU-TV since 1996 (running the latter through a shared services agreement with Mission Broadcasting since 1998 after selling the license to acquire WBRE through a grandfathered LMA)—announced it would acquire the assets of Tribune Media for $6.4 billion in cash and debt. Nexstar was precluded from acquiring WNEP directly or indirectly, as FCC regulations prohibit common ownership of more than two stations in the same media market, or two or more of the four highest-rated stations in the market. (Furthermore, any attempt by Nexstar to assume the operations of WNEP through local marketing or shared services agreements would have been subject to regulatory hurdles that could have delayed completion of the FCC and Justice Department's review and approval process for the acquisition.) As such, Nexstar was required to sell either WNEP or both WBRE and WYOU (separately as it would break the grandfathered LMA) to separate, unrelated companies to address the ownership conflict. On January 31, 2019, Nexstar announced that WNEP, along with WTKR and WGNT in Norfolk, Virginia, would be sold to independent third parties in order to address ownership conflicts involving existing Nexstar properties in both markets.[59][60][61][62][63][64][65][66][67][68] On March 20, 2019, McLean, Virginia-based Tegna Inc. announced it would purchase WNEP from Nexstar upon consummation of the merger, as part of the company's sale of nineteen Nexstar- and Tribune-operated stations to Tegna and the E. W. Scripps Company (the latter of which would acquire New York City's WPIX, which would later be re-acquired by Nexstar) in separate deals worth $1.32 billion; along with Harrisburg sister station WPMT (which was also acquired by Tegna as part of the spin-offs). This made WNEP among the first television properties in Pennsylvania for Tegna.[69][70] The sale was approved by the FCC on September 16, and was completed three days later.[71][72]

Local programming

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Many of the programs aired on WNEP have been in-house productions rather than syndicated shows. The most popular of these was a children's program called The Land of Hatchy Milatchy.[73][74] One of the hosts during its long run, Miss Judy (who replaced original host Nancy Berg in the 1960s), would tell children where to find their birthday gift live on the air. The show was the inspiration for a scene in the 18th episode of the second season of the TV series The Office, in which Michael Scott shows footage of him appearing as a child on a show called Fundle Bundle, hosted by "Miss Trudy".

Another program, Uncle Ted's Ghoul School, once employed Bill O'Reilly as a writer. He was also a reporter at the station for a brief period during the mid-1970s. WNEP also served as the local affiliate for the Bowling for Dollars and Dialing for Dollars formats, producing local versions of each.

Today, WNEP produces two in-house programs: Pennsylvania Outdoor Life, a show about hunting and fishing in Pennsylvania, and Home & Backyard, a show about do-it-yourself home improvements, cooking and gardening. Pennsylvania Outdoor Life airs Sundays at 11 a.m. and Home & Backyard airs Saturdays at 10 a.m. on WNEP. The station also participates in several local charity events, including the MDA Labor Day Telethon (which ended in 2014) and Scranton's annual Santa Parade.

News operation

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The station is best known for its local newscasts which are among the highest rated in the United States.[75] It runs their newscasts under the branding of Newswatch 16. WNEP has led the ratings in northeastern Pennsylvania for most of the last 40 years and according to Nielsen data attracts more viewers than the other stations in the market combined. In 2000, the weekday morning program earned shares between 50 and 60 meaning that 50 to 60% of televisions in the market were tuned to this station. Their on-air personalities are well known in the area. Chief Meteorologist Tom Clark had been with the station since 1981 and was one of the region's most popular broadcasters. He retired, and his final broadcast was on December 31, 2016. His wife Noreen, who was a meteorologist for the weekend news, had been with the station since 1982. She retired in April 2018. Marisa Burke, a native of nearby Danville, had been with the station since 1984 and solo anchored the noon news and co-anchored the weeknight 6 o'clock newscast with Scott Schaffer. She retired from WNEP on October 28, 2016.[76]

WNEP-TV presently broadcasts 41 hours of locally produced newscasts each week (with 61⁄2 hours each weekday, 41⁄2 hours on Saturdays and four hours on Sundays). Recurring features of news broadcasts include the station's scale model train set in the background of its weather deck and garden and the viewer response segment Talkback 16.[77]

Like most stations at the time, WNEP aired local news at 6 and 11 p.m. It added a noon newscast, titled at first Midday 16, beginning January 12, 1981. A half-hour 5 p.m. newscast was added in September 1987, beating WYOU-TV's 5:30 p.m. "First News" as the earliest evening option for news.

Fox requested most of its affiliates to air local news in 1990. However, area Fox affiliate WOLF-TV (then channel 38) did not have a studio large enough for an in-house news department. To satisfy this, WNEP began producing a nightly 10 o'clock newscast on WOLF-TV in 1991, known as Newswatch 16 at 10 on Fox 38. When the Fox affiliation moved from channel 38 to channel 56, the 10 o'clock news switched stations as well. It then became known as Fox 56 News at 10 with a secondary title of Newswatch 16 at 10 on Fox 56. WNEP aired this broadcast from a secondary set at its studios.

The station runs a secondary service, known as "WNEP 2" (formerly "Newswatch 16 Anytime" and before that "Newswatch 16 on Adelphia 63"[78]), on its second digital subchannel and area cable systems. This channel currently airs Antenna TV programming along with other local programming. WNEP was the only media outlet in the market to utilize a helicopter, known as "Skycam 16", for news gathering purposes. The helicopter was operational from 1984 until being decommissioned in February 2009.[79] The station airs the Pennsylvania Lottery televised nighttime drawings live seven nights a week, Mega Millions drawing Tuesdays and Fridays, and the live Powerball drawing on Wednesdays and Saturdays.

In March 2009, its weekday morning news at 6 added another two hours (7–9 a.m.) seen on WNEP 2. Also in March, the station started up-converting its news programs to 720p widescreen format becoming the first one in the area to make such a change. WNEP announced on August 6, 2009, that they would begin broadcasting a 4 p.m. newscast on September 8, known as Newswatch 16 at 4. In November 2009, after being unable to reach an agreement with WNEP on a contract extension, WOLF announced its intention to turn to WBRE to produce an hour-long 10 p.m. newscast beginning January 1, 2010. WNEP then announced that it would begin a 10 p.m. newscast on WNEP 2 on the same date.

On February 10, 2011, starting with the 4 p.m. newscast, WNEP premiered a new HD-ready set (newscasts remained in widescreen standard definition). On July 9, 2011, WNEP began broadcasting its local newscasts in high definition starting with the 6 p.m. newscast, becoming the first station in the Scranton–Wilkes-Barre market to begin offering local newscasts in high definition. In early September 2011, WNEP expanded its 4 pm newscast to a full hour with an additional half-hour at 4:30 p.m.

Since 1994, the station has used as its new theme song an updated version of Al Ham's "Move Closer to Your World", which is composed by Cliff Schwarz. From 1979 to 1994, the station used the original theme, which is currently used by ABC O&O WPVI-TV in Philadelphia. Following its purchase by Tegna, a Change.org petition was started asking viewers to sign the petition to ask Tegna not to drop the song in favor of Tegna's proprietary "C Clarity" theme.[80][81] On March 4, 2020, the station began using Tegna's standardized news graphics but retained the Schwarz version of "Move Closer to Your World" as its theme as opposed to using "C Clarity", seen somewhat as a compromise.[77]

Notable former on-air staff

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A live interview by WNEP reporter Sofia Ojeda (later with Houston NBC affiliate KPRC-TV) on August 1, 2014, at the Wayne County Fair made a social-media sensation of 5-year-old Noah Ritter.[82][83] WNEP's video was later "songified" by The Gregory Brothers into the song "Apparently."[84]

John Oliver from HBO's Last Week Tonight with John Oliver mentioned the conflict of viewers over the station's scale model train set in the background of its weather deck and garden (including 'agree/disagree' comments on the station's viewer comment line, which air in the newscasts' Talkback 16 segment). This resulted in the show building a larger-scale train set for the station with the landmarks of Scranton and the surrounding area exaggerated. Though the station accepted it, it proved to be too large for the weather deck/garden, and was donated to Scranton's Electric City Trolley Museum for display beginning in late September 2017, with some modifications (including its tunnel now being presented as Oliver's mouth wide open rather than that of area native P. J. Carlesimo).[85]

Technical information

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Subchannels

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Subchannels of WNEP-TV and WVIA-TV[86]
License Channel Res. Aspect Short name Programming
WNEP-TV 16.1 720p 16:9 WNEP-TV ABC
16.2 480i WNEP2 Antenna TV
WVIA-TV 44.1 720p WVIA-HD PBS
44.2 480i PBSKids PBS Kids
44.3 Create Create

The station became a charter affiliate of Antenna TV upon its launch on January 1, 2011. The network is carried on digital subchannel 16.2, replacing RTV on that subchannel.[87]

Analog-to-digital conversion

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WNEP-TV shut down its analog signal, over UHF channel 16, on June 12, 2009, the official date on which full-power television stations in the United States transitioned from analog to digital broadcasts under federal mandate. The station's digital signal remained on its pre-transition UHF channel 49,[88] using virtual channel 16.

Translators

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WNEP serves one of the largest coverage areas east of the Mississippi River. This area is very mountainous meaning that some areas cannot get a clear signal from the main transmitter on physical channel 21. As a result, it operates one of the largest translator systems of any station in the Eastern Time Zone.

W20EI-D and W29EU-D are owned by WVIA but broadcast the full WNEP/WVIA multiplex.

Former translator

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Out-of-market coverage

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WNEP was carried for many years on the two cable providers in the Lehigh Valley until it was declared part of the Philadelphia (WPVI) market in January 2013. From then on both Service Electric and RCN decided to drop WNEP due to the inability to broadcast duplicate programming from two ABC affiliates. Many viewers in the Lehigh Valley now rely on an over-the-air signal from WNEP-TV's Allentown translator.

In New York State, WNEP is carried on Charter Spectrum in Highland Lake in Sullivan County, which are part of the New York City market.

References

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Revisions and contributorsEdit on WikipediaRead on Wikipedia

WNEP-TV

View on Grokipedia
from Grokipedia
WNEP-TV, 16 (UHF digital channel 50), is an ABC-affiliated television station licensed to , , serving the television market including Wilkes-Barre and surrounding areas. Owned and operated by TEGNA Inc., the station maintains studios on Montage Mountain Road in Moosic and transmits from Penobscot Knob in Wilkes-Barre Township. Launched originally as WILK-TV in 1953 and rebranded as WNEP-TV by 1956, it has historically carried ABC network programming and developed into the region's dominant outlet for , weather, and sports under the "Newswatch 16" banner. WNEP first achieved the top ratings position in in 1978 and has maintained that lead since, introducing technological innovations such as live remote broadcasts in 1976 and early adoption of electronic news-gathering equipment.

History

Origins and early operations (WILK-TV and WARM-TV era)

WARM-TV, broadcasting on VHF channel 16 from Scranton, signed on , 1954, as the city's second and an ABC affiliate. Owned by WARM Broadcasting Company—a group that included future A. Scranton and was affiliated with WARM-AM radio—the station operated from studios in downtown Scranton and focused on delivering network programming via mountain-top microwave relays from , with broadcasts typically running from 3 p.m. to midnight. Its VHF signal provided stronger coverage across compared to emerging UHF competitors, aiding initial market penetration in a region where terrain challenges often disrupted reception. Earlier that year, on September 16, 1953, WILK-TV launched on UHF channel 34 from Wilkes-Barre, also as a primary ABC affiliate with secondary programming from the . The station was established by owners Thomas Shelbourne and Dr. , linked to WILK-AM radio, under FCC authorization for the channel allocation granted in the early as part of the agency's expansion of television service to smaller markets. Operating from studios in downtown Wilkes-Barre, WILK-TV faced inherent disadvantages of UHF transmission, including weaker signal propagation over distance and through obstacles, which limited its audience reach relative to VHF outlets like WARM-TV and incumbents () and WDAU-TV (). The competitive landscape in the nascent Scranton-Wilkes-Barre market pitted these ABC affiliates against each other and established VHF stations, with both WILK-TV and WARM-TV incurring financial losses due to divided audience shares and high operational costs for network feeds. WARM-TV's superior transmitter location and VHF band enabled better penetration into rural areas, contributing to its edge in early viewership, while stations occasionally shared signals during outages to maintain service continuity. No comprehensive Nielsen ratings from the period quantify exact shares, but the economic pressures of UHF viability and market duplication underscored the challenges, setting the stage for operational strains by the mid-1950s without resolving into a dominant ABC entity.

Consolidation and rebranding to WNEP-TV

In 1957, the owners of WILK-TV (channel 34, Wilkes-Barre) and WARM-TV (channel 16, Scranton)—both ABC affiliates serving the overlapping Scranton-Wilkes-Barre market—agreed to merge operations to eliminate duplicative costs in a region with limited advertising revenue and viewership potential. The approved the arrangement, retaining WILK-TV's construction permit but shifting to WARM-TV's channel 16 allocation for superior signal propagation over UHF frequencies, while channel 34 operated as a temporary until its shutdown on July 1, 1958, marking full consolidation. The resulting entity adopted the WNEP-TV , signifying Television, and was licensed to Scranton, with split operations initially between the existing Wilkes-Barre facility and a newly constructed studio in Scranton to serve both urban centers efficiently. The merger preserved ABC as the primary network affiliation, with no documented secondary clearances for CBS or NBC post-consolidation, as both predecessor stations had prioritized ABC programming from their inceptions in 1953 and 1954. This unification enabled streamlined production and transmission, contributing to early competitive advantages in local content delivery amid a market dominated by VHF competitors WBRE-TV (NBC) and WGBB/WYOU (CBS). Ownership remained with Transcontinent Television Corporation until 1964, when it was acquired by Company for an undisclosed sum, reflecting the era's trend of consolidation among UHF independents seeking through network reliance and regional synergies. Under Taft's stewardship from onward, initial post-acquisition investments focused on upgrading studio infrastructure and equipment at the Scranton site, enhancing production capabilities for and yielding measurable gains in overall audience share during late-1960s Nielsen sweeps, though news-specific ratings began to lag behind general entertainment by decade's end. These enhancements stemmed directly from the merged entity's scale advantages, allowing reinvestment that smaller standalone UHF operations could not sustain, and positioned WNEP-TV as the market's leading ABC outlet without reliance on secondary network feeds.

Expansion, tower collapse, and recovery (1970s–2008)

During the 1970s and 1980s, WNEP-TV, under ownership by Company following its 1964 acquisition from Transcontinent Broadcasting, invested in operational growth including news department enhancements and technological upgrades, contributing to its established market leadership in total day viewership. The station's news operation expanded amid competitive pressures, with archived broadcasts from the era showing consistent local coverage of regional events such as weather disruptions and economic developments in . By the mid-1980s, WNEP had solidified its position as the dominant station, outpacing competitors like in audience share during evening newscasts and overall programming. Ownership transitioned in 1985 when acquired WNEP from NEP Communications—a group formed by station employees—for more than $40 million, enabling further scaling of facilities and staff. This period saw sustained investments in broadcasting infrastructure, correlating with WNEP's ongoing #1 Nielsen ratings in key dayparts, driven by strong appeal in the Wilkes-Barre–Scranton market. The station's analog signal, transmitted from an 800-foot tower on Knob, supported broad coverage across Luzerne and Lackawanna counties, underpinning its viewership resilience despite occasional slips in specific news metrics under prior management. On December 16, 2007, severe ice accumulation combined with high winds and snow caused the collapse of WNEP's primary analog on Knob at approximately 7:00 a.m., severing power lines and damaging the adjacent transmitter building, which housed equipment for multiple stations including WYOU and WVIA. The incident, exacerbated by a regional power outage, immediately disrupted WNEP's analog over-the-air signal, though its separate digital facility remained operational, minimizing total blackout duration. FCC guidelines facilitated rapid deployment of backup systems, with partial analog restoration achieved by January 1, 2008, via a nearby auxiliary tower on Knob operated by . Recovery efforts prioritized redundancy and rebuilding, with WNEP engineering teams coordinating with federal regulators to relocate temporary transmissions while constructing a replacement structure; full analog capabilities were phased out amid the national digital transition, but infrastructure restoration ensured minimal long-term signal loss by late 2008. The event highlighted vulnerabilities in guyed steel lattice masts to extreme weather loads, prompting engineering reviews but demonstrating the station's operational agility, as cable carriage preserved most viewer access during the approximately two-week primary outage. By 2008, under Tribune Company's ownership following its earlier acquisition from Times Mirror, WNEP had regained full market functionality, maintaining its ratings edge through adaptive broadcasting strategies.

Ownership transitions and aborted Sinclair sale (2010s)

In July 2013, Tribune Company announced a $2.73 billion agreement to acquire Local TV Holdings LLC, which included WNEP-TV among 19 stations, effectively bringing the ABC affiliate under Tribune's operational control through a local marketing agreement. To comply with FCC ownership limits, WNEP's license was transferred to Dreamcatcher Broadcasting LLC, a entity owned by former Tribune executive Ed Wilson, while Tribune retained management responsibilities. The FCC approved the transaction on December 20, 2013, allowing Tribune to expand its broadcast portfolio without immediate divestitures in the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton market. On May 8, 2017, Sinclair Broadcast Group agreed to purchase Tribune Media, WNEP's effective parent, for approximately $3.9 billion in a deal valued at $43.50 per share, potentially creating the largest U.S. local TV owner by revenue. The proposal triggered FCC and Department of Justice reviews focused on national ownership caps, where Sinclair's projected reach—factoring in the UHF discount—would exceed the 39% threshold for households served, raising empirical concerns about reduced viewpoint diversity based on coverage overlap data in DOJ filings. Sinclair planned divestitures of stations in overlapping markets, including sidecar arrangements with affiliated entities, to mitigate concentration, but FCC scrutiny intensified over the adequacy of these sales in filings from April 2018 onward. The merger unraveled after the FCC designated the application for a hearing in July 2018, citing insufficient evidence that divestitures would prevent cap violations, as analyzed in commission documents referencing market share projections. On August 9, 2018, terminated the agreement, alleging Sinclair's delays and inadequate responses breached contract terms, leading to a $1 billion lawsuit later settled out of court; no divestitures were required for WNEP, preserving its operational status under the Tribune-Dreamcatcher structure. Nielsen ratings for WNEP's newscasts showed no significant disruption during the period, maintaining market leadership in key demographics per available viewership reports.

Nexstar acquisition, resale to TEGNA, and 2025 Nexstar merger proposal

In December 2018, as part of its planned acquisition of Tribune Media, Nexstar Media Group announced an agreement to acquire WNEP-TV along with other assets, but to comply with Federal Communications Commission (FCC) duopoly restrictions in the Scranton–Wilkes-Barre market—where Nexstar already owned NBC affiliate WBRE-TV—Nexstar simultaneously agreed to divest WNEP and ten other stations to TEGNA Inc. for a total of $740 million. The divestiture closed in March 2019, transferring ownership of WNEP to TEGNA without interrupting station operations or prompting significant changes to staffing or programming formats, as confirmed in subsequent local reports. Under TEGNA's ownership, WNEP maintained its focus on local news and ABC network affiliation, benefiting from TEGNA's broader portfolio of 64 stations while adhering to regulatory requirements for independent operation in the market. On August 19, 2025, Nexstar Media Group announced a definitive agreement to acquire TEGNA Inc. in an all-cash transaction valued at $6.2 billion, or $22 per share—a 31% premium over TEGNA's unaffected 30-day volume-weighted average stock price ending August 8, 2025. The deal, unanimously approved by both companies' boards, aims to create the largest U.S. local broadcaster with approximately 265 stations reaching about 40% of U.S. television households, citing verifiable cost synergies from shared infrastructure and enhanced revenue from integrated advertising and news production resources as outlined in Nexstar's public filings. Closure is anticipated in the second half of 2026, pending FCC and U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) regulatory approvals, which may require divestitures of overlapping stations such as WNEP and Nexstar's WBRE-TV in the same designated market area to address market concentration concerns. As of October 2025, the proposal remains under review with no final outcome determined.

Programming and content

Network affiliations and syndicated programming

WNEP-TV has maintained a primary affiliation with the (ABC) since the sign-on of its predecessor station WILK-TV on February 10, 1953, providing continuous carriage of the network's programming in the Scranton–Wilkes-Barre market. The station's other predecessor, WARM-TV, also operated as an ABC affiliate prior to their 1965 merger and subsequent rebranding as WNEP-TV in 1967, ensuring no interruption in ABC service despite early secondary affiliations with (NTA) programming from 1956 to 1961. This long-term stability reflects ABC's empirical dominance in the market, with WNEP airing the network's full schedule of primetime dramas, sitcoms, and sports events, alongside occasional preemptions limited to extended coverage during . In addition to ABC network content, WNEP carries select ESPN-produced events under ABC's sports umbrella, such as and games, which contribute to elevated viewership during seasonal peaks. The station has avoided major affiliation shifts, unlike some competitors in adjacent markets, underscoring viewer loyalty tied to ABC's consistent ratings performance in this designated market area (DMA) ranked 55th nationally. Syndicated programming on WNEP fills key access periods, including morning talk shows like and entertainment news segments, selected for alignment with local demographics favoring lifestyle and celebrity content. Evening slots feature enduring game shows such as Wheel of Fortune at 7:00 p.m. and Jeopardy! at 7:30 p.m., which have anchored preemptions of ABC primetime since their national syndication launches in 1983 and 1984, respectively, driving household shares exceeding 30% in Nielsen sweeps data for the market. Daytime reruns of court programs, including legacy episodes of , supplement ABC soaps, with selections informed by barter agreements prioritizing high-repeat-value formats over network preemptions. These offerings have evolved minimally, maintaining empirical appeal through proven ad revenue models in a small-market environment resistant to disruptive format changes.

Local news operation

WNEP-TV operates its local news under the "Newswatch 16" banner, delivering coverage to Northeastern and Central through anchor-driven newscasts that integrate reporting, weather, and sports segments. Daily broadcasts include extended morning shows such as Newswatch 16 This Morning from 6:00 a.m. to 7:00 a.m., alongside evening editions at 6:00 p.m. and 11:00 p.m., timed to complement ABC network programming. The operation maintains a primary studio in Moosic near Scranton and a dedicated in Wilkes-Barre established in 2012 as a state-of-the-art facility, supporting reporting across the market including Hazleton and surrounding communities. 16 investigative team handles consumer-focused probes and accountability stories, such as contractor disputes and local scandals. Technological capabilities feature the Stormtracker 16 interactive for real-time tracking and high-definition production, enabling detailed visuals in segments on verifiable events like political developments and disasters, including historical coverage of the 1979 Three Mile Island incident. This structure prioritizes straightforward, event-based reporting on community issues, such as congressional reactions to national events.

Format, bureaus, and technological investments

WNEP-TV maintains its primary news studio at 16 Montage Mountain Road in Moosic, , supporting operations with trucks and mobile production units designed for remote live across the station's coverage area of Northeastern and Central , encompassing at least 10 counties including Lackawanna, Luzerne, Monroe, and others. These assets, including the "Supershooters" tractor-trailer mobile units introduced in 1979, enable self-contained studio-quality transmissions from field locations despite the region's challenging mountainous terrain, such as in the Poconos, where signal propagation requires enhanced and capabilities. The station's technological milestones include its first on-location live news broadcast in 1976, followed by the adoption of videotape cameras in 1977 for improved field recording efficiency, and the deployment of 16 in 1979 for aerial imaging, which was upgraded to a larger system in June 1984 to expand vantage points for event coverage. These investments facilitated rapid response to major incidents, such as live reporting during the 2011 flooding from Tropical Storm Lee, where mobile units captured evacuations and damage in real time across affected counties. For localized reporting, WNEP operates a bureau in the , established in June 2012 as a state-of-the-art HD facility at 16 Public Square in Wilkes-Barre, allowing dedicated coverage of Luzerne County and surrounding areas without reliance on the main Moosic studio. Subsequent upgrades, including video walls and anchor desk enhancements completed in early 2023, have integrated digital production tools to streamline editing and on-air presentation, reflecting ongoing adaptations to electronic demands in a geographically dispersed market.

Ratings dominance and market share

WNEP-TV has held the top position in local news ratings within the Wilkes-Barre–Scranton market continuously since the 1970s, surpassing competitors such as WBRE-TV and WYOU-TV across key dayparts including mornings, early fringe, and evenings. This dominance persisted through periods of industry-wide challenges like cable proliferation, with the station capturing shares often exceeding those of rivals combined; for instance, in November 2015 total-day household ratings, WNEP achieved a 6.1 rating and 23.3 share, compared to WBRE's 2.3 rating and 8.7 share. Longitudinal Nielsen data affirm no material erosion in its lead, contrasting with broader declines in local TV viewership nationally, attributable to sustained investments in staffing, technology, and content depth that prioritized viewer retention over cost-cutting prevalent among competitors. Peak performances underscore this supremacy, including a 25 rating and 44 share for its 6:00 p.m. cast in the late to early , which ranked as the highest-rated early fringe newscast among the nation's top 100 markets during May 2000 with a 24.8 rating and 44 share. Morning shares reached 50–60% in the , while May 1997 sweeps showed leads in six major time slots over WBRE and . Recent sweeps through 2015 reinforced total-day advantages, with WNEP's empirical edge linked to aggressive —outspending rivals on production and talent—yielding market shares up to 71% in select periods like 1996 evenings, unaffected by fragmentation as viewers favored its comprehensive, locally focused reporting. No verified indicate significant declines, debunking narratives of competitive parity; instead, WNEP's model demonstrates causal of quality-driven operations in preserving audience loyalty amid digital shifts.

Notable current and former staff

Jon Meyer has served as a key for WNEP-TV's morning newscasts since transitioning from evening duties, having joined the station in 2003 initially as a Luzerne County beat reporter before anchoring weekends and contributing to investigative reporting on local issues. Chief Kurt Aaron, who handles forecasts across multiple evening and midday slots, began at WNEP in February 2002 after prior roles in regional , focusing on coverage for northeastern and central . Meteorologist Joe Snedeker joined full-time in 1999, providing weather updates and supporting storm tracking efforts during the station's expansion of digital forecasting tools. Mindi Ramsey has anchored morning and noon editions since June 2007, emphasizing community stories and daily updates in the Scranton-Wilkes-Barre market. Among former staff, Marisa anchored and reported from 1984 until her departure in late 2016 following a 32-year tenure, during which she covered midday and evening newscasts amid the station's shift to extended . Early reporters included Bill O'Reilly, who started in January 1975 handling general assignment stories and weather segments before advancing to national roles. Dan Patrick worked as a reporter in the , conducting interviews such as one with in 1977 on training camps in the region.

Other local programming and features

WNEP-TV engages its audience through annual contests that promote community participation and local sponsorships. The flagship Snow Thrower Contest, a dating back decades, challenges viewers to submit daily guesses for the date and hour of the first full inch of snow measured at the station's Moosic backyard facility, starting entries from October 23 at 6 p.m. each year. Winners receive such as or MTD snow throwers valued up to $829, donated by partners like Dalton Do-It Center, with announcements following the snowfall verification; for instance, the 2024 grand went to Melinda Drank of Wilkes-Barre, and a runner-up to another Luzerne entrant. This feature has evolved from postcard submissions to online-only entries to accommodate modern habits, while retaining its role in building seasonal anticipation amid the region's heavy snowfall. The station also produces event-based specials highlighting regional landmarks and fairs, such as the annual Bloomsburg Fair TV Special, which showcases performances on the WNEP Free Stage alongside fair schedules and attractions to celebrate local agriculture and entertainment. Complementary seasonal promotions include summer giveaways like "Take a Bite out of Summer" with for grilling recipes and tips, or trips to , which draw participation through viewer-submitted content and reinforce ties to Pennsylvania's outdoor and culinary heritage. These initiatives, distinct from syndicated or network fare, underscore WNEP's emphasis on interactive, regionally tailored content that supplements core affiliations.

Technical information

Subchannels and multicast streams

WNEP-TV's utilizes ATSC 1.0 on physical UHF channel 21, shared under an FCC-approved agreement with WVIA-TV for additional capacity allocation. The primary subchannel, 16.1, has broadcast the ABC network in high-definition since the nationwide full-power digital transition on June 12, 2009, with 16:9 and 5.1 audio. Subchannel 16.2 airs , a digital network featuring classic television sitcoms and dramas from the to , in standard definition with 4:3 aspect ratio and audio; this affiliation represents a post-digital-transition expansion for ancillary programming, following the discontinuation of prior services like on that slot.
Virtual ChannelProgrammingVideo ResolutionAspect RatioAudio Format
16.1ABC720p16:9DD 5.1
16.24:3DD 2.0
As of October 2025, WNEP-TV operates only these two subchannels, with no additional streams for networks like Laff TV or Justice Network, and no implementation of next-generation broadcasting in the market. Bandwidth is allocated variably per FCC guidelines to support the shared multiplex without interference.

Analog-to-digital transition

WNEP-TV ceased full-power analog transmissions on UHF channel 16 at midnight on June 12, 2009, aligning with the federally mandated nationwide transition to broadcasting. Prior to the cutoff, the station its ABC-affiliated programming in both analog and digital formats to ease viewer preparation, with digital service having commenced as early as 2006 on temporary UHF channel 49. This pre-existing digital capability, operational at reduced power during initial phases, minimized service interruptions for equipped households. The transition followed the collapse of WNEP's primary analog tower on December 16, 2007, due to severe ice accumulation and high winds on Knob, which destroyed the 800-foot structure and briefly disrupted both analog and digital signals. Digital transmissions were swiftly restored using backup facilities and a separate antenna system, fostering viewer familiarity with over-the-air digital reception well ahead of the deadline and averting widespread outage complaints during the switchover. Low-power analog operations were not extended post-cutoff for WNEP, consistent with most full-service stations ceasing all analog emissions after June 12. Post-transition, the FCC approved WNEP's relocation of its to permanent UHF channel 50 in late 2009, completed on December 5, while preserving 16.1 to maintain numbering continuity for viewers and electronic program guides. This shift complied with spectrum efficiency goals, as the relinquished analog channel 16 frequencies contributed to broader FCC reallocations, though WNEP retained its virtual identity without direct auction proceeds at that stage.

Transmitter facilities and signal coverage

The transmitter facilities for WNEP-TV are located atop Penobscot Knob (also known as Electronics Heights), a prominent elevation of approximately 2,122 feet near Mountain Top in , at coordinates 41°10′55″N 75°52′16″W. The station's digital signal operates from a shared tower at this , utilizing an of 760 kW on UHF channel 21 ( 16). The height above average terrain measures 509 meters (1,671 feet), enabling extensive suited to the hilly terrain of . This configuration supports a primary service contour that blankets the Scranton–Wilkes-Barre designated market area and adjacent regions, encompassing key counties such as Lackawanna, Luzerne, Wyoming, and others in northeastern Pennsylvania. FCC data indicate the signal reaches a potential population of over 3.4 million viewers, corresponding to roughly 1.2 million television households within the predicted coverage area. The facilities were rebuilt and upgraded between 2008 and 2009 following a December 2007 tower collapse caused by an ice storm, which destroyed the original analog transmitter building and equipment; the reconstruction incorporated a new antenna system and temporary reliance on a nearby backup tower for signal continuity during repairs. These enhancements prioritize broadcast reliability, drawing from the outage lessons to maintain service amid regional weather vulnerabilities.

Translators and boosters

WNEP-TV maintains a network of low-power translators to rebroadcast its signal into remote and terrain-obstructed regions, including the Endless Mountains, where the primary transmitter on Penobscot Knob experiences shadowing from elevated geography. These facilities, licensed by the Federal Communications Commission, operate at reduced effective radiated powers—typically ranging from 1 to 15 kW depending on location—to provide reliable over-the-air reception without interfering with the main broadcast. The deployment addresses coverage gaps in northeastern Pennsylvania's rugged landscape, ensuring ABC network programming and local news reach isolated communities that would otherwise rely on cable or satellite carriage. Prior to the on June 12, 2009, WNEP's translators predominantly used analog transmission, with select sites incorporating hybrid NTSC/ATSC modes to facilitate a phased shift and minimize service disruptions during the federal mandate for full-power stations to cease analog operations. Following the switchover, the system transitioned to digital ATSC, leveraging improved signal efficiency, resistance to interference, and multicasting capabilities, which diminished the operational necessity for extensive auxiliary over time. Maintenance costs and constraints have prompted periodic evaluations, with digital propagation characteristics allowing consolidation while preserving core fringe-area service.

Current translators

WNEP-TV operates several digital translators to rebroadcast its programming and mitigate signal propagation challenges posed by the and other terrain features in northeastern and central , ensuring coverage in remote valleys and communities. These low-power facilities, licensed by the FCC, primarily carry the station's ABC-affiliated main channel and secondary services like on WNEP2. The active translators as of October 2025 include:
CallsignChannelLocation
W07DC-D7Allentown/, PA
W10CP-D10Towanda, PA
W14CO-D14Clarks Summit, PA
W15CO-D15Towanda, PA
W20AD-D20Williamsport, PA
W20CP-D20Mansfield, PA
W20EI-D20Towanda, PA
W26CV-D26Mansfield, PA
W29EU-D29Clarks Summit, PA
W29FQ-D29Pottsville, PA
These stations typically operate at effective radiated powers ranging from 15 to 200 kW, depending on site-specific licensing, and were converted to digital following the 2009 DTV transition to improve reliability over analog predecessors.

Discontinued translators

Following the merger of WARM-TV and WILK-TV that established in , the former WILK-TV transmission facility on UHF channel 34 in Wilkes-Barre continued operating as a satellite to extend WNEP-TV's signal. This was discontinued in late summer after WNEP-TV activated a new one-million-watt transmitter atop Knob on September 14, which substantially improved its primary signal coverage across and eliminated the need for the auxiliary facility. No significant viewer disruptions were reported from the shutdown, as the enhanced main transmitter addressed prior coverage gaps that the repeater had mitigated. Post-2009 digital transition, WNEP-TV phased out any remaining analog low-power in favor of digital operations, aligning with FCC mandates requiring full-power stations to cease analog broadcasts by June 12, 2009, though specific VHF analog drop dates for WNEP's are not publicly detailed beyond general consolidation for cost efficiency and signal overlap reduction. These discontinuations occurred without noted FCC cancellations due to complaints, reflecting broader industry shifts to digital and full-power digital replication rather than maintaining redundant analog infrastructure.

Market position and coverage

Primary designated market area

The primary designated market area for WNEP-TV is the Wilkes Barre-Scranton-Hazleton DMA in , ranked 59th out of 210 Nielsen-designated markets for the 2024–2025 television season. This DMA includes approximately 589,190 television households, equivalent to 0.47% of the U.S. total, serving a population of about 1.32 million across counties such as Luzerne, Lackawanna, and . WNEP-TV, as the market's ABC affiliate, holds a dominant position against including affiliate (channel 28), affiliate WYOU-TV (channel 22), affiliate (channel 56), and public broadcaster WVIA-TV (channel 44). The station consistently leads in household ratings, driven by its franchise, Newswatch 16, which recorded a 25 rating and 44 share for the 6:00 p.m. newscast in Nielsen measurements as of March 2025, outperforming competitors in total day and news time periods. This edge stems from ABC's programming mix, including strong primetime lineups, resonating with the DMA's industrial and rural viewer base concentrated in areas like Wilkes-Barre and Scranton. Nielsen rankings for the DMA have remained stable in the mid-50s to low-60s range over the past decade, with TV household counts fluctuating minimally from 571,470 in the 2021–2022 season to the current figure, reflecting persistent over-the-air viewership amid cable fragmentation. No significant network realignments or market boundary changes have disrupted this structure since the cable era's expansion in the , preserving WNEP's foundational role in delivering network content to core audiences.

Out-of-market reception and carriage disputes

WNEP-TV's over-the-air signal reaches fringe areas in the adjacent Binghamton designated market area, particularly southern portions near the border, though reception quality varies and is not classified as significantly viewed by FCC standards, limiting mandatory cable carriage there. In the region, which falls within the station's primary Wilkes-Barre-Scranton DMA, OTA access is stronger, with rights elected by the station enabling inclusion on local cable systems serving overlapping communities. The station has faced periodic retransmission consent disputes with satellite providers, typically resolved through FCC-mediated negotiations without extended blackouts. A 2012 impasse with ended on August 31, restoring carriage after contract expiration. Similarly, in December 2020, WNEP announced a multi-year agreement with on December 20, reinstating the channel following a brief disruption. As part of parent company TEGNA's company-wide standoff, WNEP was dropped from and U-Verse on December 1, 2023, amid expired agreements, but returned after a new multiyear deal was finalized. No significant carriage conflicts with have been documented for WNEP-TV, with ongoing retransmission agreements ensuring consistent availability on the provider's systems within the DMA. The station's online streaming on WNEP.com employs geo-fencing restricted to the Wilkes-Barre-Scranton market, blocking access for out-of-market viewers to comply with affiliation and syndication rules.

Community impact and

WNEP-TV has played a key role in by providing detailed coverage of major regional disasters, including the September 2011 flooding triggered by Tropical Storm Lee, which devastated communities like Bloomsburg and Wilkes-Barre with widespread evacuations, , and failures. The station's reporting on real-time flood impacts, recovery efforts, and resident experiences helped inform evacuation decisions and coordinate aid, as evidenced by its documentation of affected areas two years post-event. Through its Newswatch 16 programming and online platforms, WNEP promotes by highlighting local service projects, such as volunteer fairs, fundraisers for park improvements, and drives amid shortages, thereby raising awareness and encouraging participation in initiatives like efforts. For instance, the station covered urgent blood needs in Luzerne County hospitals during winter shortages, underscoring the life-saving potential of donations that can benefit up to three patients per unit. In 2025, WNEP's news team earned awards from the Pennsylvania Association of Broadcasters for excellence in broadcasting, recognizing contributions to informative local journalism that supports community resilience. Independent assessments, such as Media Bias/Fact Check's rating of the station as Least Biased with High factual reporting due to neutral wording and proper sourcing, reflect limited substantive criticisms of bias, particularly in its focus on regional issues rather than national ideological narratives. Occasional claims of slant, like a 2024 test graphic error mimicking election results, were attributed to technical mishaps rather than intentional distortion, with no pattern of failed fact checks.

Cultural and media references

A live by WNEP reporter Ojeda with five-year-old Noah Ritter at the Wayne County Fair on August 1, 2014, became a viral sensation after Ritter repeatedly used the word "apparently" while describing his experience on the Zero Gravity ride. The WNEP clip garnered millions of views on and was republished by national outlets including , marking one of the station's most widely shared segments in online media. WNEP's outdoor model train display at its studios was featured in a June 2017 episode of HBO's Last Week Tonight with , which satirized enthusiast-scale garden railroads and prompted the show to donate an "irresponsibly large" train set to the station as a . The program referenced WNEP footage again in a November 2020 segment critiquing unsubstantiated voter fraud claims, incorporating a station report by Carolyn Blackburne.

Station awards and recognitions

WNEP-TV has received recognition from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS) Mid-Atlantic Chapter for excellence in , winning a regional Emmy Award in 2024 for the report "Kids For Cash: The New Crisis" in the Investigative News category. The station has also earned nominations in other years, such as three in 2014, reflecting competitive standing in regional broadcast standards. The station has won multiple Pennsylvania Association of Broadcasters (PAB) Awards for Excellence in Broadcasting, including three in for outstanding use of digital media in television programming, such as coverage of the "Apparently Kid" viral sensation. WNEP teams secured additional PAB honors in 2025, announced at the annual ceremony, underscoring ongoing achievements in broadcast production and innovation. In terms of market performance, WNEP's Newswatch 16 newscasts have maintained ratings dominance in northeastern Pennsylvania for over four decades, per Nielsen Media Research data, with the 6:00 p.m. program achieving a national high of 24.8 rating and 44 share among top-100-market early fringe newscasts in 2000. This sustained leadership, verified through sweeps periods like May 1996 and 1997 where it topped all slots, validates its empirical standing without formal "certifications" but through consistent measurable viewership superiority.

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  42. https://www.wnep.com/video/syndication/ott/from-the-wnep-archives/1979-three-mile-island-nuclear-scare-news-coverage-from-the-wnep-archive/523-1ebf6ce2-a429-48ac-abd4-8d48fc749499
  43. https://www.wnep.com/video/news/local/pas-senators-and-members-of-congress-react-to-chaos-at-the-capitol/523-a668eca7-0f8a-41b6-b6da-9cfa1cc07199
  44. https://www.wnep.com/
  45. http://local.wnep.com/tour/vehicles.htm
  46. https://www.wnep.com/article/news/local/bradford-county/the-unforgetable-flood/523-4a4c5c78-d914-4b68-ab3c-c448997b9c1a
  47. https://www.newscaststudio.com/2023/02/07/wnep-new-set-2023/
  48. https://www.nexttv.com/news/market-eye-it-apparently-wnep-s-title-lose-137190
  49. https://local.wnep.com/sales/highestrating.htm
  50. https://www.nexttv.com/news/high-ratings-low-rates-85532
  51. https://www.timesleader.com/archive/913390/wnep-news-keeps-big-lead-in-ratings-theres-no-change-at-the-top-of-the-local-television-news-ratings-according-to-a-c-nielsens-may-sweeps
  52. https://www.timesleader.com/archive/890627/wnep-ranks-first-in-news-ratings-some-things-never-change-certainly-that-appears-to-be-the-case-when-it-comes-to-local-television-news-ratings
  53. https://www.retrojunk.com/t/w2JgRFQt0o/wnep-tv-newscasts
  54. https://www.wnep.com/article/about-us/team-bios/jon-meyer/523-8b50fbad-5e27-41a1-8fb7-d37db77c2723
  55. https://www.wnep.com/article/about-us/team-bios/kurt-aaron/523-79f39162-95d6-4b5e-8198-4918a08fbc64
  56. https://thefamousinfo.com/kurt-aaron/
  57. https://www.wnep.com/meet-the-team
  58. https://grabien.com/profile?id=23865
  59. https://www.timesleader.com/news/1580435/former-wnep-tv-news-anchors-memoir-featured-on-tv-documentary-series
  60. https://www.billoreilly.com/b/50th-Anniversary/-19562866332796146.html
  61. https://www.facebook.com/ClayLePardTV/videos/muhammad-ali-used-to-train-in-northeast-pa-for-years-heres-part-of-an-interview-/1013422008743598/
  62. https://www.wnep.com/article/news/local/contests/wnep-snow-thrower-contest-2025/523-e8f6433e-14ff-4e28-94f6-b3d7a910afd0
  63. https://wnep.upickem.net/engine/Rules.aspx?contestid=150246
  64. https://www.wnep.com/article/news/local/lackawanna-county/the-history-of-wneps-annual-snow-thrower-contest-first-inch-of-snow-newswatch-16/523-2fcccfc1-b150-4960-b311-899975e95ea5
  65. https://www.wnep.com/community
  66. https://www.wnep.com/contests
  67. https://www.fcc.gov/media/engineering/dtvmaps
  68. https://www.wnep.com/tv-listings
  69. https://www.nielsen.com/insights/2009/the-switch-from-analog-to-digital-tv/
  70. https://www.fcc.gov/dtv/markets/maps_current/Wilkes_Barre-Scranton_PA.pdf
  71. https://www.fccinfo.com/CMDProFacLookup.php?sCurrentService=TV&sFacilityID=73318&tabSearchType=Facility%2BID%2BSearch
  72. https://www.rabbitears.info/tvq.php?request=items&facid=73318
  73. https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/FCC-23-66A1_Rcd.pdf
  74. https://enterpriseefiling.fcc.gov/dataentry/api/download/attachment/dcd19ccf-5a25-826d-46ce-e8ea92485e45
  75. https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/DA-11-245A1.pdf
  76. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2009-01-27/pdf/E9-1543.pdf
  77. https://nationalmediaspots.com/DMA-Ranks.pdf
  78. https://ustvdb.com/seasons/2024-25/markets/
  79. https://www.nexstar.tv/stations/wbre-d-4/
  80. https://outdoormediabuyers.com/tv-markets-in-the-united-states/
  81. https://www.channelmaster.com/pages/tv-antenna-map-binghamton-ny-13901
  82. https://www.inmyarea.com/tv/cable/18347/providers
  83. https://www.thetimes-tribune.com/2012/08/31/wnep-directv-dispute-settled/
  84. https://thedesk.net/2023/12/tegna-stations-dropped-directv-blackout-2023/
  85. https://www.wnep.com/video/news/local/bradford-county/the-flood-of-2011-two-years-later/523-5f5f60cb-e355-4297-a52b-3a7f5eef91fd
  86. https://www.wnep.com/video/news/local/luzerne-county/523-859774f2-88e3-403b-a209-3aa9c1327be8
  87. https://www.wnep.com/video/news/local/lackawanna-county/lackawanna-county-fundraiser-unites-community-to-try-and-improve-nay-aug-park/523-616fada5-46bf-4632-a68c-3dec5a721f13
  88. https://www.wnep.com/video/news/local/wnep-team-takes-home-pab-awards/523-132d8eab-79fc-49f7-91c6-1cef958774e9
  89. https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/wnep-scranton-news-bias/
  90. https://www.wnep.com/article/news/local/future-wnep-reporter-young-fairgoer-steals-the-show-during-interview/523-e726db64-6c4e-4c21-b3fc-7902ea746aa5
  91. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2014/08/06/5-year-old-apparently-news-interview-fair/13661933/
  92. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rz5TGN7eUcM
  93. https://6abc.com/post/john-oliver-gifts-irresponsibly-large-train-set-to-scranton-tv-station/2444227/
  94. https://www.wnep.com/article/news/local/john-oliver-features-newswatch-16-on-last-week-tonight-again/523-761d1c91-d645-4ed0-a9f6-1e7fa31866f7
  95. https://natasmid-atlantic.org/awards/2024-mid-atlantic-regional-emmy-recipients/
  96. https://www.wnep.com/article/news/local/bradford-county/wnep-nominated-for-three-regional-emmy-awards/523-6abc900a-7f0c-4fac-ab7b-8022b8af2ef0
  97. https://www.wnep.com/article/news/local/bradford-county/wnep-awarded-three-pab-prizes/523-d67b5d16-fdb7-492f-9a35-169be52305ca
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