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{{Short description|TV station in Smithtown, New York}}
{{About|the Smithtown, New York television station|the Washington, D.C. television station formerly called WFTY|WDCW}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2024}}
{{short description|True Crime Network affiliate in Smithtown, New York}}
{{About|the television station in Smithtown, New York|the Washington, D.C., television station formerly called WFTY|WDCW}}
{{Infobox television station
{{Infobox television station
| callsign = WFTY-DT
| callsign = WFTY-DT
| digital = 23 ([[UHF]])
| city =
| virtual = 67
| logo =
| affiliations = {{ubl|'''67.1:''' [[True Crime Network]]|'''[[WFUT-DT|67.2]]:''' [[UniMás]]|'''[[WXTV-DT|67.3]]:''' [[Univision]]|''for others, see {{Section link||Subchannels}}''}}
| branding =
| owner = [[TelevisaUnivision]]
| slogan =
| licensee = Univision New York [[LLC]]
| digital = 23 ([[ultra high frequency|UHF]])
| location = [[Smithtown (CDP), New York|Smithtown, New York]]
| virtual = 67
| country = United States
| subchannels = [[#Digital channels|See § Digital channels]]
| airdate = {{Start date and age|1973|11|18|p=y|br=y}}
| translators =
| callsign_meaning = Telefutura New York (former name for UniMás)
| affiliations = {{ubl|'''67.1:''' [[True Crime Network]]|'''[[WFUT-DT|67.2]]:''' [[UniMás]]|'''[[WXTV-DT|67.3]]:''' [[Univision]]|'''67.4:''' [[Grit (TV network)|Grit]]|'''67.5:''' [[Court TV Mystery]]}}
| sister_stations = {{hlist|[[WFUT-DT]]|[[WXTV-DT]]|[[WADO]]|[[WXNY-FM]]}}
| owner = [[Univision Communications]]
| former_callsigns = {{ubl|WSNL-TV (1973–1987)|WHSI (1987–1998)|WHSI-TV (1998–2002)|WFTY (2002–2003)|WFTY–TV (2004–2009)}}
| licensee = Univision New York [[Limited liability company|LLC]]
| former_channel_numbers = '''Analog:''' 67 (UHF, 1973–2009)
| location = [[Smithtown (CDP), New York|Smithtown, New York]]
| former_affiliations = {{ubl|[[Independent station|Independent]] (1973–1975; 1979–1986)|[[Dark (broadcasting)|Dark]] (1975–1979)|[[Wometco Home Theater]] (1980–1985)|[[HSN]] (1986–2001)|[[American Independent Network|AIN]] (2001–2002)|Telefutura/UniMás (2002–2017; now on DT2)}}
| country = United States
| erp = 655 [[kW]]
| airdate = {{Start date and age|1973|11|18|p=y}}
| haat = {{convert|219|m|ft|0|abbr=on}}
| last_airdate =
| facility_id = 60553
| callsign_meaning = Tele'''F'''u'''T'''ura New '''Y'''ork<br>''(former affiliation)''
| coordinates = {{coord|40|53|23|N|72|57|11|W|type:landmark_scale:2000}}
| sister_stations = '''TV:''' [[WFUT-DT]], [[WXTV-DT]]<br>'''Radio:''' [[WADO]], [[WQBU-FM]], [[WXNY-FM]]
| licensing_authority = [[FCC]]
| former_callsigns = WSNL-TV (1973–1987)<br>WHSI (1987–1998)<br>WHSI-TV (1998-2002)
| former_channel_numbers = '''Analog:'''<br>67 (UHF, 1973–2009)
| former_affiliations = {{ubl|'''Analog/DT1:'''|[[Independent station (North America)|Independent]] (1973–1975; 1979–1987)|[[Dark (broadcasting)|Dark]] (1975–1979)|[[Wometco Home Theater]] (1980–1985)|[[HSN]] (1987–2001)|[[American Independent Network|AIN]] (2001–2002)|UniMás (2002–2017; now on DT2)|'''DT4:'''|[[GetTV]] (2014–2019)}}
| erp = 655 [[kilowatt|kW]]
| haat = {{convert|219|m|ft|0|abbr=on}}
| class = [[digital terrestrial television|DT]]
| facility_id = 60553
| coordinates = {{nowrap|{{coord|40|53|23|N|72|57|11|W|type:landmark_scale:2000|display=inline, title}}}}
| licensing_authority = [[Federal Communications Commission|FCC]]
| website =
}}
}}


'''WFTY-DT''', [[virtual channel]] 67 ([[Ultra high frequency|UHF]] [[digital terrestrial television|digital]] channel 23), is a [[True Crime Network]]-[[network affiliate|affiliated]] [[television station]] [[city of license|licensed]] to [[Smithtown (CDP), New York|Smithtown, New York]], United States and serving [[Long Island]]. The station is owned by the Univision Local Media subsidiary of [[Univision Communications]], as part of a de facto [[duopoly (broadcasting)#Triopolies and quadropolies|triopoly]] with [[Newark, New Jersey]]-licensed [[UniMás]] [[flagship (broadcasting)|co-flagship]] [[WFUT-DT]] (channel 68) and [[Paterson, New Jersey]]-licensed [[Univision]] co-flagship [[WXTV-DT]] (channel 41), which WFTY [[simulcast]]s on its respective second and third [[digital subchannel]]s. The three stations share studios on Frank W. Burr Boulevard in [[Teaneck, New Jersey]]; WFTY's transmitter is located in [[Middle Island, New York]].
'''WFTY-DT''' (channel 67) is a [[television station]] licensed to [[Smithtown (CDP), New York|Smithtown, New York]], United States, serving [[Long Island]] and owned by [[TelevisaUnivision]]. Its main channel broadcasts the [[True Crime Network]]; it also rebroadcasts the main channels of its New York City–area [[Univision]] and [[UniMás]] stations, [[WXTV-DT]] (channel 41) and [[WFUT-DT]] (channel 68), from its transmitter in [[Middle Island, New York]].


Channel 67 was originally assigned to [[Patchogue, New York]], where television producer Theodore Granik obtained the construction permit for a new TV station in September 1968. Granik envisioned a group of [[ultra high frequency]] (UHF) stations carrying public affairs programming, but he died in 1970 with channel 67 unbuilt. The permit was acquired by the Suburban Broadcasting Corporation, which believed it could fill a void in providing news, sports, and entertainment programming from and for Long Island. On this basis, WSNL-TV began broadcasting on November 18, 1973. As much as 70 percent of its lineup consisted of live, local programming—a level far ahead of most stations—ranging from local news and sports to children's and cooking shows and a Long Island–set soap opera. The station struggled to build a viewer and advertiser base owing to reception difficulties—lampooned so frequently by ''[[Newsday]]'' writer [[Marvin Kitman]] that he was sued—and economic troubles. It left the air on June 20, 1975, and filed for bankruptcy the next year.
WFTY's programming is simulcast to [[New York City]] and [[North Jersey|northern New Jersey]] on WFUT's second digital subchannel (UHF channel 30.5 or virtual channel 68.2 via [[Program and System Information Protocol|PSIP]]) from a transmitter (shared with WXTV) located at the [[Empire State Building]] in [[midtown Manhattan]].


In 1978, [[Canwest]] Capital Corporation, a Canadian company whose U.S. subsidiary Universal Subscription Television was in the [[subscription television]] (STV) business, paid off all of Suburban's debts in exchange for the rights to broadcast STV programming on channel 67. Canwest then entered into a joint venture with [[Wometco Enterprises]], majority owner of channel 68 and operator of the [[Wometco Home Theater]] (WHT) STV service that served the New York City area and northern New Jersey. Beginning in June 1980, WSNL-TV began providing WHT on Long Island. Wometco terminated the joint venture in 1981 and became the sole owner of channel 67. At its peak, WHT served more than 111,000 subscribers and was the fourth-largest STV system in the nation.
==History==
The station first signed on the air on November 18, 1973 as '''WSNL-TV''', originally licensed to [[Patchogue, New York]].<ref>{{cite news |date=December 13, 1973|title=New Television Station Begins Ll-Oriented Telecasts In Color|url=http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071025/1973-12-13/ed-1/seq-13.pdf|url-status=live |newspaper=The Long Island Advance|location=Patchogue New York |access-date=June 12, 2016}}</ref> The station was founded on the premise of there being over three million people living on Long Island who were underserved by local television news coverage; with all the network affiliates based in [[Manhattan]], it was rare to see more than one or two news stories a day focusing on Long Island.


The death of Wometco majority owner [[Mitchell Wolfson]] in 1983 triggered a [[leveraged buyout]] by [[Kohlberg Kravis Roberts]] (KKR). As subscriptions declined due to rising cable penetration, Wometco sold off the WHT business but kept channels 68 and 67, which began broadcasting a music video service known as U68 on June 1, 1985. U68 was a locally programmed competitor to [[MTV]] with a more eclectic mix of music. The stations were put on the market in December 1985 because KKR executed a second leveraged buyout, this time of [[Storer Communications]], and chose to retain Storer's cable systems in northern New Jersey and Connecticut over WWHT and WSNL-TV. The two stations were sold to the [[Home Shopping Network]] (HSN) as part of its foray into broadcasting; renamed WHSE and WHSI, they broadcast home shopping programming for the next 15 years. While an attempt by company owner [[Barry Diller]] to convert the stations to general-entertainment independents was slated as late as 2000, Diller ultimately sold WHSE and WHSI and other [[USA Broadcasting]] stations to Univision in 2001. Many of these stations formed the backbone of Telefutura (now UniMás), which launched in January 2002.
WSNL went on the air with two daily newscasts: a half-hour early evening broadcast and an hour-long newscast at 10 p.m., in addition to coverage of [[high school sports]]; it also carried some off-network [[reruns]] and first-run [[Broadcast syndication|syndicated]] programming. One of the more noteworthy series among this batch was ''[[The Phil Donahue Show|Phil Donahue]]'', which had been in national syndication since 1970, but had not been available in the crucial New York City market since [[WPIX]] (channel 11) dropped the show in the fall of 1970. After the station's demise, ''Donahue'' would not find another outlet until [[WWOR-TV|WOR-TV]] (channel 9) acquired the local rights to the program in 1976, followed by [[WNBC]] (channel 4) in 1977. The station also carried games from the short-lived [[New York Stars (WFL)|New York Stars]] of the [[World Football League]] in 1974.


==WSNL-TV==
The station also produced several locally produced programs, among these offerings were: ''Chef Nicola'' (a [[cooking show]] hosted by Nicola Zanghi); ''Home Handyman'' (a home repair show hosted by future [[New York State Assembly|Assemblyman]] [[David McDonough]]); ''Captain Ahab'' (a weekday children's show hosted by George McCaskey, as the Captain); ''Ahab and Friends'' (a three-and-a-half-hour weekend [[children's television series|children's show]] similar to [[WNEW-TV]]'s ''[[Wonderama]]''; also hosted by McCaskey, which featured cartoons, puppets, games, contests, and other assorted entertainment for its young audience);<ref>{{cite news |title=Captain Ahab: Who is he? |url=https://2.bp.blogspot.com/_jGNMYXkXgl8/Ske3cDMM0QI/AAAAAAAAAfo/zl9oac94jNo/s1600-h/CaptainAhab.jpg |newspaper=Newsday |location=Long Island New York |access-date=December 10, 2017 }}</ref><ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UwMQcR4eLaU Capt. Ahab WSNL Ch. 67]</ref> ''Mary Kelly's Puppet Party'' (another children's program); ''Long Island Tonight with Richard Hall'' (a [[variety show]]); and ''The Fairchilds of Long Island'' (a rare locally produced [[soap opera]] which featured local actors).<ref>{{cite news |date=November 11, 1973|title=Channel 67 to Go on Air Next Sunday|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1973/11/11/archives/channel-67-to-go-on-air-next-sunday-need-for-station-cited-a-daily.html?_r=0|newspaper=The New York Times|location=New York New York|access-date=June 8, 2017}}</ref>
===Prehistory===
On August 22, 1964, Theodore Granik applied for a construction permit for channel 75 in [[Patchogue, New York]], with the channel assignment soon changed to 67 after the [[Federal Communications Commission]] (FCC) overhauled television allocations nationally.<ref name="hc">{{Cite web|url=https://enterpriseefiling.fcc.gov/dataentry/enwiki/api/download/attachment/fe70800b-c440-1196-11d3-9b429f8d63cd|title=History Cards for WFTY-DT|publisher=[[Federal Communications Commission]]}}</ref> Granik, who had produced the long-running ''[[The American Forum of the Air]]'' on radio and television, envisioned the Patchogue channel as one of seven stations nationwide specializing in public affairs programming.<ref name="Dail640904">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-news-granik-plans-7-uhf-tv-public/135880461/|date=September 4, 1964|page=64|first=Ben|last=Gross|title=Granik Plans 7 UHF-TV Public Service Stations|newspaper=Daily News|location=New York, New York|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=November 30, 2023|archive-date=November 30, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231130201438/https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-news-granik-plans-7-uhf-tv-public/135880461/|url-status=live}}</ref><!-- Fri --> Long Island Video also filed for channel 67;<ref name="News670811">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/newsday-nassau-edition-lis-first-tv-s/135881074/|date=August 11, 1967|page=5|title=LI's First TV Station Is Given an OK|newspaper=Newsday |via=Newspapers.com|access-date=November 30, 2023}}</ref><!-- Fri --> Medallion Pictures acquired the company and became the applicant,<ref name="News660627">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/newsday-nassau-edition-fcc-sets-li-hea/135883441/|date=June 27, 1966|page=5A|first=Murray|last=Frymer|title=FCC Sets LI Hearing Date|newspaper=Newsday |via=Newspapers.com|access-date=November 30, 2023}}</ref><!-- Mon --> but it agreed to withdraw in exchange for the costs it had incurred in seeking channel 67, granting Granik the permit in September 1968.<ref name="Post680822">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-post-standard-fcc-approves-televisio/135881092/|date=August 22, 1968|page=5|title=FCC Approves Television Permit|newspaper=The Post-Standard|location=Syracuse, New York|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=November 30, 2023}}</ref><!-- Thu -->{{r|hc}}


Granik never built channel 67. He died on September 21, 1970.<ref>{{cite news|title=Theodore Granik, Moderated Debates on Radio, Television|page=C5|date=September 23, 1970|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|id={{ProQuest|147922507}} }}</ref> His death scuttled plans for channel 67 and [[WDCW|channel 50 in Washington, D.C.]]; the estate left no money to start the Washington station, which declared bankruptcy.<ref>{{cite news|date=May 27, 1971|title=Channel 50 In Bankruptcy|page=C13|id={{ProQuest|148049498}}|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=New D.C. permittee has financial troubles |url=https://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1971/1971-05-31-BC.pdf |work=Broadcasting |date=May 31, 1971 |id={{ProQuest|1014526632}} |page=39 |access-date=March 14, 2019 |archive-date=May 28, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220528174525/https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1971/1971-05-31-BC.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> On March 19, 1971, Granik Broadcasting Corporation filed to sell the permit to the Suburban Broadcasting Corporation. Suburban was a consortium of New York–area investors, including some from Long Island as well as [[Percy Sutton]], the president of [[Manhattan Borough]].<ref name="News710702">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/newsday-suffolk-edition-group-seeks-to/116262782/|date=July 2, 1971|page=23|title=Group Seeks to Build TV Station on LI|first=Knut|last=Royce|newspaper=Newsday |via=Newspapers.com|access-date=November 30, 2023}}</ref><!-- Fri -->
The news department of 18 people used the very earliest form of portable videotape equipment, which only ran off AC or inverters in cars, and not off batteries. This greatly restricted local video coverage to the length of a power cord. In that era, before satellites were used for television distribution, the station employed a courier who used a motorcycle nightly to race from Manhattan with a tape of national and international news stories for the late newscasts.


After closing on the purchase of the permit from Granik's estate, Suburban unveiled its plans for channel 67, which was given the call sign WSNL-TV (for [[Suffolk County, New York|Suffolk County]] and [[Nassau County, New York|Nassau County]] counties on Long Island). Suburban's principals believed Long Island was underserved by television, being part of the New York television market. In 1969, an educational station, [[WLIW (TV)|WLIW]], began broadcasting from [[Garden City, New York|Garden City]], but there was no commercial outlet. Company president David H. Polinger noted the presence of two daily newspapers and 20 radio stations on Long Island but no locally focused TV station.{{r|NYT731111}} Polinger brought Long Island broadcast experience, having built radio stations in [[Lake Success, New York|Lake Success]] and [[Babylon (village), New York|Babylon]].<ref name="News731118">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/newsday-nassau-edition-theyre-turned/135882888/|date=November 18, 1973|page=II:3|first=Leo|last=Seligsohn|title=They're Turned On For LI To Tune In|newspaper=Newsday |via=Newspapers.com|access-date=November 30, 2023}}</ref><!-- Sun -->
After a year of operation, inadequate revenue resulted in the cutback of its news programming to five-minute briefs that aired several times a day and the department shrunk to just a few employees before the station went [[Bankruptcy in the United States|bankrupt]] and signed off for the last time on June 13, 1975.<ref>{{cite news |last=Abrams |first=John |date=June 22, 1975 |title=Channel 67 Suspends Televising Indefinitely |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1975/06/22/archives/brooklyn-pages-channel-67-suspends-televising-indefinitely.html |newspaper=The New York Times |location=New York New York |access-date=October 7, 2017}}</ref>


Channel 67 planned a schedule heavy on live programs, with as much as 70 percent of the schedule being live, ranging from news and high school sports to a live soap opera.<ref name="News711217">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/newsday-nassau-edition-commercial-tv-f/135882731/|date=December 17, 1971|page=11A|first=Thomas|last=Collins|title=Commercial TV for LI: A step closer|newspaper=Newsday |via=Newspapers.com|access-date=November 30, 2023}}</ref><!-- Fri --><ref name="News730117">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/newsday-nassau-edition-lis-own-soaps/135882778/|date=January 17, 1973|page=11A|first=Howard|last=Schneider|title=LI's own soaps, talk shows: Ch. 67|newspaper=Newsday |via=Newspapers.com|access-date=November 30, 2023}}</ref><!-- Wed --> Films and syndicated programming rounded out the lineup.<ref name="Long731213">{{cite news|date=December 13, 1973|title=New Television Station Begins LI-Oriented Telecasts In Color|url=https://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071025/1973-12-13/ed-1/seq-13.pdf|newspaper=The Long Island Advance|location=Patchogue, New York|page=13|access-date=June 12, 2016|archive-date=August 8, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160808043021/http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071025/1973-12-13/ed-1/seq-13.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> Construction of studios near the corner of the [[Long Island Expressway]] and Veterans Highway in [[Central Islip]], near [[Hauppauge, New York|Hauppauge]], began in April 1973.{{r|News730117}}<ref name="News730408">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/newsday-nassau-edition-new-li-tv-stati/135883525/|date=April 8, 1973|page=35|title=New LI TV Station Dedicated|newspaper=Newsday |via=Newspapers.com|access-date=November 30, 2023}}</ref><!-- Sun --> The {{convert|18000|ft2|m2}} building featured two studios to handle the station's large local program output.<ref>{{Cite news|work=Back Stage|id={{ProQuest|963054977}}|title=Station Production Trend Continues As WSNL Takes Plunge |first=Tom|last=Tolnay|date=July 19, 1974|pages=3, 22}}</ref>
===Return to air===
WSNL returned to the air again four-and-a-half years later, on December 4, 1979, with a broadcast day running from 7:00&nbsp;p.m. to midnight weeknights and 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. on weekends.<ref>{{cite news |date=December 30, 1979|title=WSNL-TV Returns to Air On L.I. After 41/2 Years|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1979/12/30/archives/wsnltv-returns-to-air-on-li-after-4-years.html|url-status=live |newspaper=The New York Times|location=New York New York |access-date=July 22, 2017}}</ref> The station ran some old [[feature film|movies]], brokered programming, and [[religious broadcasting|religious shows]]. The following month on January 30, 1980, an electrical fire nearly destroyed the station's studios, forcing WSNL to shut down again, this time until July 1980.


===Live and local for Long Island===
Upon returning to the air, the station began running a mixed independent/subscription television format featuring programming from [[Wometco Home Theater]]. WSNL aired a morning movie from WHT between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m., then ran encoded color bars until 3:45&nbsp;p.m., followed by unencoded color bars until sign on at 4 p.m. for four hours of commercial programming. This lineup consisted primarily of old movies, film fillers, [[public affairs (broadcasting)|public affairs]] shows, and a local newscast that was anchored by [[Karl Grossman]] and Joan May.<ref>{{cite news |date=June 19, 1986|title=L.I. no longer ignored by New York City News|url=http://fultonhistory.com/Newspaper4/Sayville%20NY%20Suffolk%20County%20News/Sayville%20NY%20Suffolk%20County%20News%201986%20Jan-Jun%201986%20Grayscale/Sayville%20NY%20Suffolk%20County%20News%201986%20Jan-Jun%201986%20Grayscale%20-%201001.pdf|url-status=live |newspaper=Suffolk County News|location=Sayville New York |access-date=June 22, 2016}}</ref> At 8 p.m., WSNL ran WHT programming until sign-off, which was usually around 1:30&nbsp;a.m. or later. On Saturdays, WSNL operated for four hours beginning at 1 p.m. (featuring old movies, public affairs shows and wrestling), followed by WHT programming from 5 p.m. until sign-off. Sunday was slightly different, as WSNL would sign on at 8 a.m. with two hours of religious shows, then sign off at 10 a.m., it resumed programming at 1 p.m. with general entertainment programming running until 5 p.m., followed by WHT programming running until sign-off. In January 1981, [[Wometco Enterprises]] bought WSNL and began simulcasting Newark's WWHT (now WFUT). However, WSNL would occasionally break away from WWHT-TV during its entertainment schedule to run a local public affairs show, then rejoin WWHT.
WSNL-TV began broadcasting to Long Island on November 18, 1973.<ref name="News731119">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/newsday-nassau-edition-ch-67-lis-fi/135882302/|date=November 19, 1973|pages=4A, [https://www.newspapers.com/article/newsday-nassau-edition-ch-67/135882336/ 5A]|first=Leo|last=Seligsohn|title=Ch. 67: LI's First Commercial TV Station Is Born|newspaper=Newsday |via=Newspapers.com|access-date=November 30, 2023}}</ref><!-- Mon --> It represented a $4 million investment by Suburban Broadcasting.<ref>{{Cite news|page=47|title=Long Island's New WSNL-TV Gears Up In Toughest Market|first=Frank|last=Meyer|date=April 10, 1974|work=Variety|id={{ProQuest|1505777275}}}}</ref> Programming included ''The Fairchilds'', a soap opera featuring a family that moved from California to [[Oyster Bay (hamlet), New York|Oyster Bay]]; the amateur variety show ''Toast of Long Island''; a late-night variety show, ''Long Island Tonight''; ''Chef Nicola'', a live cooking show; ''Black Metamorphosis'', a public affairs program; exercise program ''Trim and Slim''; children's programs ''Captain Ahab'' and ''Ahab and Friends''; and as sports coverage and two daily editions of ''67 Action News''.<ref name="News730921">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/newsday-nassau-edition-theres-a-trend/135882805/|date=September 21, 1973|pages=3A, [https://www.newspapers.com/article/newsday-nassau-edition-a-trend-for-eve/135882831/ 36A]|first=Leo|last=Seligsohn|title=There's A Trend For Everyone|newspaper=Newsday |via=Newspapers.com|access-date=November 30, 2023}}</ref><!-- Fri --><ref name="NYT731111">{{cite news|first=Jane|last=Chekenian|date=November 11, 1973|title=Channel 67 to Go on Air Next Sunday|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1973/11/11/archives/channel-67-to-go-on-air-next-sunday-need-for-station-cited-a-daily.html?_r=0|newspaper=The New York Times|access-date=June 8, 2017|archive-date=November 7, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171107115646/http://www.nytimes.com/1973/11/11/archives/channel-67-to-go-on-air-next-sunday-need-for-station-cited-a-daily.html?_r=0|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="News731219">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/newsday-nassau-edition-the-marvin-kitm/135882398/|date=December 19, 1973|page=180|title=M-m-m-m...|first=Marvin|last=Kitman|author-link=Marvin Kitman|newspaper=Newsday |via=Newspapers.com|access-date=November 30, 2023}}</ref><!-- Wed --> Syndicated programs included ''[[The Phil Donahue Show]]''.<ref name="pullout">{{Cite news|date=November 18, 1973|type=Advertising pullout|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/newsday-nassau-edition-wsnltv-channel/136064716/|work=Newsday|pages=1, [https://www.newspapers.com/article/newsday-nassau-edition-is-long-island/136064658/ 2/3]|title=WSNL-TV Channel 67 UHF is Long Island's own...and it's really something to watch!|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref>


The principal operating challenge for WSNL-TV was that it was an [[ultra high frequency]] (UHF) station. The quality of the station's local programming and many viewers' trouble tuning it in became regular fodder for [[Marvin Kitman]], the television critic and satirist for Long Island's daily ''[[Newsday]]''. Over the course of 1974, Kitman published several columns making light of channel 67's poor signal—hobbled by installation difficulties—and production values. In April, Kitman wrote,<ref name="News740417">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/newsday-nassau-edition-the-marvin-kitm/127368335/|date=April 17, 1974|page=67A|first=Marvin|last=Kitman|author-link=Marvin Kitman|title=The Marvin Kitman Show: New directions|newspaper=Newsday |via=Newspapers.com|access-date=November 30, 2023}}</ref><!-- Wed -->
In a corporate deal, [[Kohlberg Kravis Roberts]] took over Wometco along with a couple of other broadcasting companies. In 1985, WSNL and WWHT discontinued the general entertainment and subscription programming in favor of [[music video]]s, with the parent station becoming known as "U-68". By the fall of 1986, when KKR sold its stations to a variety of owners, WWHT and WSNL were sold to the [[Home Shopping Network]] (HSN), WSNL-TV became '''WHSI''' and WWHT-TV became WHSE. HSN programming ran on both stations for the next fifteen years.


{{blockquote|The morning of March 6, a large crane went to the site of a leading cultural landmark on Long Island, the Ch. 67 transmitter and antenna off the expressway in Central Islip. The riggers turned the tower in a new direction. Since then, there have been bitter complaints from the Russian trawler fleet. ... By twisting the antenna very early that morning in March, Ch. 67 may have damaged the [[détente]].}}
In the late 1990s, HSN's broadcasting arm Silver King Television planned to switch its stations to a general entertainment independent format, with WHSE/WHSI slated to switch in 2001. In the interim WHSE/WHSI ran programming from the [[American Independent Network|AIN]]/[[Urban America Television|UATV]] networks. Late in 2000, however, [[USA Broadcasting]], which Silver King was renamed after [[Barry Diller]] had purchased HSN and its other holdings (merging it with [[USA Network]]), decided instead to sell its stations to [[Univision Communications]]. [[The Walt Disney Company]], owners of [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]] owned-and-operated station [[WABC-TV]] channel 7, had been the leading bidder for the USA stations but were outbid by Univision at the last minute.{{citation needed|date=July 2020}} On January 14, 2002 WHSE/WHSI then became charter affiliates of Univision's new secondary network Telefutura (which rebranded as UniMás in January 2013) with WHSE's call letters being changed to WFUT and WHSI's call letters changed to '''WFTY'''. In November 2017, UniMás moved to 67.2 thus reverting to its English Channel 67.1 as the Justice Network affiliate.


Kitman ran a survey asking for readers' comments on WSNL-TV's reception and programming in February 1974.<ref name="News740217">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/newsday-nassau-edition-testing-ch-67/135883823/|date=February 17, 1974|page=II:7|first=Marvin|last=Kitman|author-link=Marvin Kitman|title=Testing Ch. 67's visible impact|newspaper=Newsday |via=Newspapers.com|access-date=November 30, 2023}}</ref><!-- Sun --> Based on the survey, Kitman published "ratings" for the station's various local programs.<ref name="News740509">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/newsday-nassau-edition-news-is-tops-wi/135883911/|date=May 9, 1974|pages=108A, [https://www.newspapers.com/article/newsday-nassau-edition-news-is-tops/135883887/ 107A]|first=Marvin|last=Kitman|author-link=Marvin Kitman|title=News is tops with Ch. 67 viewers|newspaper=Newsday |via=Newspapers.com|access-date=November 30, 2023}}</ref><!-- Thu --> He also published reader comments as to the station's receivability. A man from [[Far Rockaway]] told Kitman, "Yes, I saw Channel 67. In ''[[TV Guide]]''."<ref name="News740707">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/newsday-nassau-edition-getting-ch-67/135882948/|date=July 7, 1974|page=II:7|first=Marvin|last=Kitman|author-link=Marvin Kitman|title=Getting Ch. 67's audience in focus|newspaper=Newsday |via=Newspapers.com|access-date=November 30, 2023}}</ref><!-- Sun --> In response, Suburban Broadcasting filed a $15 million lawsuit in [[New York Supreme Court]] against Kitman and ''Newsday'' in November 1974, claiming a "willful and malicious effort to mortally injure" WSNL-TV's chances as a "viable advertising medium".<ref>{{Cite news|title=Kitman 'Canards' Are Suit-Able, Long Island UHFer Decides |page=38|work=Variety|date=November 20, 1974|id={{ProQuest|1401275291}} }}</ref>
==Digital television==


Suburban's lawsuit against Kitman coincided with a retrenchment. Channel 67 had been in talks for a loan from [[Franklin National Bank]], but the bank became insolvent and was closed in October 1974.<ref name="NYT750622">{{cite news |last=Abrams |first=John |date=June 22, 1975 |title=Channel 67 Suspends Televising Indefinitely |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1975/06/22/archives/brooklyn-pages-channel-67-suspends-televising-indefinitely.html |newspaper=The New York Times |access-date=October 7, 2017 |archive-date=October 7, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171007121413/http://www.nytimes.com/1975/06/22/archives/brooklyn-pages-channel-67-suspends-televising-indefinitely.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="News741009">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/newsday-suffolk-edition-franklin-natio/136062197/|date=October 9, 1974|pages=3, [https://www.newspapers.com/article/newsday-suffolk-edition-franklin-bank/136062229/ 4]|first=Avery|last=Hunt|title=Franklin National Is Bankrupt, International Group Takes Over|newspaper=Newsday |via=Newspapers.com|access-date=November 30, 2023}}</ref><!-- Wed --> The station's first election night coverage was almost affected by strike action among twelve unionized news employees.<ref name="News741106">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/newsday-nassau-edition-pact-reached-at/135884013/|date=November 6, 1974|page=30|title=Pact Reached at Ch. 67|newspaper=Newsday |via=Newspapers.com|access-date=November 30, 2023}}</ref><!-- Wed --> In October, WSNL laid off Oren Palenik, host of a women's program, and other hosts and increased its reliance on syndicated shows and films.<ref name="News741217">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/newsday-nassau-edition-for-one-woman/135884027/|date=December 17, 1974|page=5|first=Ed|last=Lowe|title=For One Woman, the Show Is Over|newspaper=Newsday |via=Newspapers.com|access-date=November 30, 2023}}</ref><!-- Tue --> The news programming was reduced to hourly news updates in January 1975, part of a reduction in local programming from forty hours a week to just eight or nine hours and accompanying a layoff of one-fifth of the station's staff.<ref name="News750111">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/newsday-nassau-edition-channel-67-layi/136061575/|date=January 11, 1975|page=6|title=Channel 67 Laying Off 20% of Staff|newspaper=Newsday |via=Newspapers.com|access-date=November 30, 2023}}</ref><!-- Sat --> In addition to filing suit against Kitman, Suburban sued equipment manufacturer [[RCA]] and tower fabricator Stainless Inc. for improper initial installation of the antenna. The company also sought new investors.<ref name="News750124">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/newsday-nassau-edition-from-lis-ch-6/135883049/|date=January 24, 1975|pages=3A, [https://www.newspapers.com/article/newsday-nassau-edition-at-lis-ch-67/135883073/ 6A]|title=From LI's Ch. 67, Reorganization And a Major Change in Focus|newspaper=Newsday |via=Newspapers.com|access-date=November 30, 2023}}</ref><!-- Fri --> In one last miscue, the station gave up its rights to telecast [[New York Cosmos (1970–1985)|New York Cosmos]] soccer just two weeks before [[Pelé]] signed with the team.{{r|NYT750622}}
===Digital channels===

The station's digital signal is [[Multiplex (TV)|multiplexed]]:
The reduction in local programming and personnel failed to turn the station's finances around. The station left the air on June 20, 1975, while signing a deal with a company to use the Central Islip studios for commercial and film production.<ref name="News750607">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/newsday-nassau-edition-channel-67-goin/135881261/|date=June 7, 1975|page=7|title=Channel 67 Going Off Air June 20|newspaper=Newsday |via=Newspapers.com|access-date=November 30, 2023}}</ref><!-- Sat --> The suspension was described as temporary, lasting just three months.<ref name="News750619">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/newsday-nassau-edition-wsln-tv-sic-s/136061651/|date=June 19, 1975|page=25|first=Barbara|last=Murray|title=WSLN-TV [sic] Set To Leave Air For 3 Months|newspaper=Newsday |via=Newspapers.com|access-date=November 30, 2023}}</ref><!-- Thu --> One broadcaster operating other UHF stations told ''[[The New York Times]]'' that Suburban failed to take its "VHF thinking" and translate it to the different economics of running a UHF television station.{{r|NYT750622}} The station lost an average of $255,931 for each of the 20 months it was in business.{{r|order|p=361}}

Suburban Broadcasting Corporation filed for bankruptcy in February 1976, listing assets of $3.9&nbsp;million and liabilities of $4.8&nbsp;million. Creditors were told that the station was about to become profitable when two of its three largest advertisers went out of business.<ref name="News760222">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/newsday-suffolk-edition-creditors-weig/135881321/|date=February 22, 1976|page=19|first=Mitchell|last=Freedman|title=Creditors Weigh Fate of Channel 67|newspaper=Newsday |via=Newspapers.com|access-date=November 30, 2023}}</ref><!-- Sun -->

===Subscription TV broadcasting===
On August 24, 1978, Suburban Broadcasting found a Canadian [[white knight]] to pay its $5 million in debts. [[Canwest]] Capital Corporation provided the financing in a deal that saw Canwest's U.S. [[subscription television]] (STV) subsidiary, Universal Subscription Television, enter into a franchise agreement to provide pay broadcasting over WSNL-TV. Canwest, as a Canadian company, could not own stations outright, but it could provide them with subscription programming.<ref name="Glob800130">{{Cite news|page=B2|date=January 31, 1980|title=Canwest joins U.S. firm in bid for N.Y. market|work=[[The Globe and Mail]]|id={{ProQuest|386984288}} }}</ref> As part of the deal, channel 67 changed its [[city of license]] from Patchogue to [[Smithtown, New York|Smithtown]], where enough commercial, free TV stations were received to permit FCC licensing of an STV station.<ref name="News780805">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/newsday-nassau-edition-li-channel-67-t/135881334/|date=August 5, 1978|page=6|title=LI Channel 67 To Reopen, Offer Pay TV|first=Mitchell|last=Freedman|newspaper=Newsday |via=Newspapers.com|access-date=November 30, 2023}}</ref><!-- Sat --> The station began plans for reactivation in late 1979; in addition to subscription programming from Universal Subscription Television, WSNL-TV would air some local programming as a condition of its license.<ref name="News791016">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/newsday-li-tv-station-plans-comeback/136062611/|date=October 16, 1979|page=41|first=Brian|last=Moss|title=LI TV Station Plans Comeback|newspaper=Newsday|location=New York, New York|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=November 30, 2023}}</ref><!-- Tue -->

WSNL-TV returned to Long Island screens on December 15, 1979, after nearly {{frac|4|1|2}} years of silence, with a limited schedule of prime time programming during the week and daytime programs on weekends.<ref name="News791215">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/newsday-nassau-edition-ch-67-rides-ag/135884194/|date=December 15, 1979|page=II:28|title=Ch. 67 rides again|newspaper=Newsday |via=Newspapers.com|access-date=November 30, 2023}}</ref><!-- Sat --><ref>{{cite news|date=December 30, 1979|title=WSNL-TV Returns to Air On L.I. After 4 1/2 Years|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1979/12/30/archives/wsnltv-returns-to-air-on-li-after-4-years.html|newspaper=The New York Times|location=New York New York|access-date=July 22, 2017|archive-date=November 7, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171107115754/http://www.nytimes.com/1979/12/30/archives/wsnltv-returns-to-air-on-li-after-4-years.html|url-status=live}}</ref> A month later, Suburban filed to sell the station to a new joint venture led by [[Wometco Enterprises]]. This sale meant that, instead of programming from Universal Subscription Television, WSNL would provide STV programming from [[Wometco Home Theater]] (WHT).<ref name="News800116">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/newsday-suffolk-edition-2-firms-seek-t/135881517/|date=January 16, 1980|page=47|first=Brian|last=Moss|title=2 Firms Seek to Buy Channel 67 Operator|newspaper=Newsday |via=Newspapers.com|access-date=November 30, 2023}}</ref><!-- Wed --> WHT had been operating in the New York market on channel 68 from [[Newark, New Jersey]], at this point known as [[WFUT-DT|WWHT]], since March 1, 1977;<ref name="Reco770426">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-record-pay-tv-goes-wireless/136063311/|date=April 26, 1977|page=A-18|first=Robert|last=Feldberg|title=Pay TV goes wireless|newspaper=The Record|location=Hackensack, New Jersey|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=November 30, 2023}}</ref><!-- Tue --> Canwest approached WHT because it was worried about the viability of a standalone STV service from WSNL.{{r|order|p=361}} From January 30 to June 2, 1980, channel 67 was out of service because of an electrical fire at its Central Islip studios;{{r|order|p=362}} the fire gutted the control room and burned so hot that a brick wall cracked.<ref name="News800131">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/newsday-suffolk-edition-fire-damage-pu/135881547/|date=January 31, 1980|page=31|title=Fire Damage Puts Ch. 67 Off the Air|newspaper=Newsday |first=Mitchell|last=Freedman|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 1, 2023}}</ref><!-- Thu --> The station began airing Wometco Home Theater after returning to the air.<ref>{{Cite news|work=The Film Journal|page=72|title=FCC Grants Wometco Control of WSNL-TV|date=January 15, 1981|id={{ProQuest|1017412119}} }}</ref> It also offered old movies and a nightly newscast.{{r|News800131}}<ref>{{cite news|date=June 19, 1986|title=L.I. no longer ignored by New York City news|url=http://fultonhistory.com/Newspaper4/Sayville%20NY%20Suffolk%20County%20News/Sayville%20NY%20Suffolk%20County%20News%201986%20Jan-Jun%201986%20Grayscale/Sayville%20NY%20Suffolk%20County%20News%201986%20Jan-Jun%201986%20Grayscale%20-%201001.pdf|newspaper=Suffolk County News|location=Sayville, New York|page=22|first=Karl|last=Grossman|access-date=June 22, 2016|archive-date=November 5, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211105065556/https://fultonhistory.com/Newspaper4/Sayville%20NY%20Suffolk%20County%20News/Sayville%20NY%20Suffolk%20County%20News%201986%20Jan-Jun%201986%20Grayscale/Sayville%20NY%20Suffolk%20County%20News%201986%20Jan-Jun%201986%20Grayscale%20-%201001.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>

The FCC approved of Wometco acquiring WSNL-TV in November 1980. Because channels 67 and 68 had overlapping signals, Wometco would operate WSNL-TV as a simulcast of WWHT with up to four and a half hours a week of its own programming.<ref name="order">{{Cite web|url=https://recnet.net/fccrecord/?id=ark:/67531/metadc770893|page=359|title=Memorandum Opinion and Order (83 FCC 2d 359)|date=November 18, 1980|publisher=[[Federal Communications Commission]]}}</ref> Wometco closed on the purchase in January 1981,<ref>{{Cite news|title=Wometco finalizes TV station buy|page=8|date=January 9, 1981|work=The Hollywood Reporter|id={{ProQuest|2598207355}} }}</ref> and in June, it bought out Canwest's interest in the joint venture and became the sole owner of WSNL while sharing ownership of WWHT with [[Blonder Tongue Labs|Blonder-Tongue Laboratories]].<ref>{{Cite news|date=June 18, 1981|work=The Hollywood Reporter|id={{ProQuest|2598184491}}|page=6|title=Wometco, Uni venture terminated}}</ref>

{{#section:WFUT-DT|shared}} <!--All of this material lives at the article for WFUT!-->

In 2017, Univision reached a deal with the Justice Network, a [[diginet]] focusing on true crime and law enforcement programming, and provided it carriage in 11 markets, including New York City.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nexttv.com/news/univision-rolling-out-justice-network-11-markets-168358|first=Diana|last=Marszalek|title=Univision Rolling Out Justice Network in 11 Markets|date=September 6, 2017|access-date=December 1, 2023|archive-date=May 28, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230528002215/https://www.nexttv.com/news/univision-rolling-out-justice-network-11-markets-168358|url-status=live}}</ref> Justice Network rebranded as [[True Crime Network]] in 2020.<ref>{{Cite news|first=Jon|last=Lafayette|url=https://www.nexttv.com/news/tegna-relaunching-justice-as-true-crime-net-with-streaming|date=August 26, 2020|access-date=December 1, 2023|title=Tegna Relaunching Justice as True Crime Net with Streaming|work=Broadcasting & Cable|archive-date=June 27, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220627114316/https://www.nexttv.com/news/tegna-relaunching-justice-as-true-crime-net-with-streaming|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Technical information==
{{Maplink|frame=yes|frame-height=240|frame-width=300|raw={{Wikipedia:Map data/WFUT and WFTY map}} |text=Coverage areas of WFUT–WXTV (red) and WFTY-DT (blue). WFUT–WXTV, from the [[Empire State Building]], serves New York City, the [[Hudson Valley]], and northern New Jersey. WFTY-DT, from Middle Island, serves much of the southern Connecticut coast and eastern Long Island. The signals overlap over southwestern Connecticut and west-central Long Island.}}
===Subchannels===
The station's signal is [[Multiplex (TV)|multiplexed]]:
{| class="wikitable"
{| class="wikitable"
|+Subchannels of WFTY-DT<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.rabbitears.info/market.php?request=station_search&callsign=WFTY|title=Digital TV Market Listing for WFTY|website=[[RabbitEars]]|access-date=September 28, 2023|archive-date=September 28, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230928040926/https://www.rabbitears.info/market.php?request=station_search&callsign=WFTY|url-status=live}}</ref>
! scope = "col" | [[Digital subchannel#United States|Channel]]
! scope = "col" | [[Display resolution|Res.]]
! scope = "col" | [[Aspect ratio (image)|Aspect]]
! scope = "col" | Short name
! scope = "col" | Programming
|-
|-
! scope = "row" | 67.1
! [[Digital subchannel#United States|Channel]]
| [[480i]] || rowspan=7| [[16:9]] || CRIME || [[True Crime Network]]
! [[Display resolution|Video]]
! [[Aspect ratio (image)|Aspect]]
! [[Program and System Information Protocol#What PSIP does|PSIP Short Name]]
! Programming<ref>[http://www.rabbitears.info/market.php?request=station_search&callsign=WFTY#station RabbitEars TV Query for WFTY]</ref>
|-
|-
! scope = "row" | [[WFUT-DT|67.2]]
| 67.1 || [[480i]] || rowspan=3| [[16:9]] || CRIME || Main WFTY-DT programming / [[True Crime Network]]
| rowspan=2| [[720p]] || style="background-color: #E6FFF7;"|WFUT-DT || style="background-color: #E6FFF7;"|[[UniMás]] ([[WFUT-DT]])
|-
|-
! scope = "row" | [[WXTV-DT|67.3]]
| [[WFUT-DT|67.2]] || rowspan=2| [[720p]] || WFUT-DT || Simulcast of WFUT-DT / [[UniMás]]
| style="background-color: #E6FFF7;"|WXTV-DT || style="background-color: #E6FFF7;"|[[Univision]] ([[WXTV-DT]])
|-
|-
! scope = "row" | 67.4
| [[WXTV-DT|67.3]] || WXTV-DT || Simulcast of WXTV-DT / [[Univision]]
| rowspan=4| 480i || GRIT ||[[Grit (TV network)|Grit]]
|-
|-
! scope = "row" | 67.5
| 67.4 || rowspan=2| [[480i]] || rowspan=2| [[4:3]] || GRIT ||[[Grit (TV network)|Grit]]
| MYSTERY || [[Ion Mystery]]
|-
|-
! scope = "row" | 67.6
| 67.5 || Escape || [[Court TV Mystery]]
| style="background-color: #f2d1de;"|ShopLC || style="background-color: #f2d1de;"|[[Shop LC]] [[File:4 rounded rect pink.svg|14px|alt=MPEG-4 video|link=MPEG-4 Part 2]]
|-
|-
! scope = "row" | 67.7
| NVSN || [[Nuestra Visión]]
|}
|}
{{legend|#E6FFF7|Simulcast of subchannels of another station}}

{{legend|#f2d1de|Subchannel broadcast with [[MPEG-4 Part 2|MPEG-4 video]]}}
As of November 2014, WFTY changed the simulcast of WXTV-DT 41.1 from [[480i]] to [[1080i]].


===Analog-to-digital conversion===
===Analog-to-digital conversion===
WFTY discontinued regular programming on its analog signal, over [[Ultra high frequency|UHF]] channel 67, on June 12, 2009, as part of the [[Digital television transition in the United States|federally mandated transition from analog to digital television]].<ref>[http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-06-1082A2.pdf List of Digital Full-Power Stations]</ref> The station's digital signal remained on its pre-transition UHF channel 23, using [[Program and System Information Protocol|PSIP]] to display WFTY's [[virtual channel]] as 67 on digital television receivers, which was among the high band UHF channels (52-69) that were removed from broadcasting use as a result of the transition.
WFTY ended regular programming on its analog signal, over [[UHF]] channel 67, on June 12, 2009, as part of the [[Digital television transition in the United States|federally mandated transition from analog to digital television]]. The station's digital signal remained on its pre-transition UHF channel 23, using [[virtual channel]] 67.<ref name="Analog to Digital">{{Cite web |date=May 23, 2006 |title=DTV Tentative Channel Designations for the First and Second Rounds |url=http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-06-1082A2.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130829004251/http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-06-1082A2.pdf |archive-date=August 29, 2013 |access-date=August 29, 2021 |publisher=Federal Communications Commission}}</ref>

===Subchannels===
====Grit====
As of 2019, [[Grit (TV network)|Grit]] airs on channel 67.4, featuring [[Action film|action]]/adventure television series and [[Western (genre)|westerns]].

====Court TV Mystery====
Court TV Mystery was added on 67.4 in August 2014 as '''Escape''', adding both movies and original TV series to the station's lineup. Escape was the first sub-channel targeted specifically at women, and the first general entertainment network since music videos were added in 1985. In November 2017, Escape moved to 67.5. The network was renamed [[Court TV Mystery]] on September 29, 2019.

====Justice Network====
The [[Justice Network]], previously airing on [[WJLP]], was added on 67.5 in October 2017, airing [[crime film|crime dramas]] and documentary programming. In November 2017, Justice Network moved to 67.1. This is the first primary English-language network to air on 67.1 since 2002.

===Former subchannel===
====GetTV====
[[GetTV]] was launched in February 2014 on the station's 67.3 digital sub-channel, becoming the first free over-the-air [[American English|English-language]] movie network to air on the station since the demise of Wometco Home Theater in 1985. In November 2017, GetTV moved to 67.4. As of 2019, Grit airs on 67.4 while GetTV is available on [[WFUT-DT]] channel 68.3.


==See also==
==See also==
*[[WFUT-DT]]
* [[WFUT-DT]]


==References==
==References==
Line 106: Line 114:


==External links==
==External links==
*[http://www.justicenetwork.com/ Justice Network]
* [http://www.univision.com/ Univision]
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LcP5NBcuoak YouTube WSNL-TV: A Remembrance]
*[http://www.univision.com/content/channel.jhtml?chid=6&schid=1611 UniMás]
*[http://www.univision.com/ Univision]
*{{TVQ|WFTY}}
*{{BIA|WFTY|TV|DT}}
*[https://licensing.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/prod/cdbs/forms/prod/getimportletter_exh.cgi?import_letter_id=86805 FCC History Cards for WFTY]
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LcP5NBcuoak YouTube WSNL-TV: A Remembrance]


{{NYC TV}}
{{NYC TV}}
Line 119: Line 122:
{{Major U.S. TV O-O Stations}}
{{Major U.S. TV O-O Stations}}


[[Category:Television stations in New York City|FTY-DT]]
[[Category:Television channels and stations established in 1973]]
[[Category:1973 establishments in New York (state)]]
[[Category:1973 establishments in New York (state)]]
[[Category:UniMás network affiliates]]
[[Category:Companies based in Bergen County, New Jersey]]
[[Category:GetTV affiliates]]
[[Category:Grit (TV network) affiliates]]
[[Category:Court TV Mystery affiliates]]
[[Category:Ion Mystery affiliates]]
[[Category:Wometco Enterprises]]
[[Category:Mass media in Suffolk County, New York]]
[[Category:Mass media in Suffolk County, New York]]
[[Category:Nuestra Visión affiliates]]
[[Category:Television channels and stations established in 1973]]
[[Category:Television stations in New York City|FTY-DT]]
[[Category:True Crime Network affiliates]]
[[Category:True Crime Network affiliates]]
[[Category:Univision network affiliates]]
[[Category:UniMás affiliates]]
[[Category:Univision affiliates]]
[[Category:Wometco Enterprises]]

Latest revision as of 05:14, 31 December 2024

WFTY-DT
Channels
Programming
Affiliations
Ownership
Owner
History
First air date
November 18, 1973
(51 years ago)
 (1973-11-18)
Former call signs
  • WSNL-TV (1973–1987)
  • WHSI (1987–1998)
  • WHSI-TV (1998–2002)
  • WFTY (2002–2003)
  • WFTY–TV (2004–2009)
Former channel number(s)
Analog: 67 (UHF, 1973–2009)
Call sign meaning
Telefutura New York (former name for UniMás)
Technical information[1]
Licensing authority
FCC
Facility ID60553
ERP655 kW
HAAT219 m (719 ft)
Transmitter coordinates40°53′23″N 72°57′11″W / 40.88972°N 72.95306°W / 40.88972; -72.95306
Links
Public license information

WFTY-DT (channel 67) is a television station licensed to Smithtown, New York, United States, serving Long Island and owned by TelevisaUnivision. Its main channel broadcasts the True Crime Network; it also rebroadcasts the main channels of its New York City–area Univision and UniMás stations, WXTV-DT (channel 41) and WFUT-DT (channel 68), from its transmitter in Middle Island, New York.

Channel 67 was originally assigned to Patchogue, New York, where television producer Theodore Granik obtained the construction permit for a new TV station in September 1968. Granik envisioned a group of ultra high frequency (UHF) stations carrying public affairs programming, but he died in 1970 with channel 67 unbuilt. The permit was acquired by the Suburban Broadcasting Corporation, which believed it could fill a void in providing news, sports, and entertainment programming from and for Long Island. On this basis, WSNL-TV began broadcasting on November 18, 1973. As much as 70 percent of its lineup consisted of live, local programming—a level far ahead of most stations—ranging from local news and sports to children's and cooking shows and a Long Island–set soap opera. The station struggled to build a viewer and advertiser base owing to reception difficulties—lampooned so frequently by Newsday writer Marvin Kitman that he was sued—and economic troubles. It left the air on June 20, 1975, and filed for bankruptcy the next year.

In 1978, Canwest Capital Corporation, a Canadian company whose U.S. subsidiary Universal Subscription Television was in the subscription television (STV) business, paid off all of Suburban's debts in exchange for the rights to broadcast STV programming on channel 67. Canwest then entered into a joint venture with Wometco Enterprises, majority owner of channel 68 and operator of the Wometco Home Theater (WHT) STV service that served the New York City area and northern New Jersey. Beginning in June 1980, WSNL-TV began providing WHT on Long Island. Wometco terminated the joint venture in 1981 and became the sole owner of channel 67. At its peak, WHT served more than 111,000 subscribers and was the fourth-largest STV system in the nation.

The death of Wometco majority owner Mitchell Wolfson in 1983 triggered a leveraged buyout by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR). As subscriptions declined due to rising cable penetration, Wometco sold off the WHT business but kept channels 68 and 67, which began broadcasting a music video service known as U68 on June 1, 1985. U68 was a locally programmed competitor to MTV with a more eclectic mix of music. The stations were put on the market in December 1985 because KKR executed a second leveraged buyout, this time of Storer Communications, and chose to retain Storer's cable systems in northern New Jersey and Connecticut over WWHT and WSNL-TV. The two stations were sold to the Home Shopping Network (HSN) as part of its foray into broadcasting; renamed WHSE and WHSI, they broadcast home shopping programming for the next 15 years. While an attempt by company owner Barry Diller to convert the stations to general-entertainment independents was slated as late as 2000, Diller ultimately sold WHSE and WHSI and other USA Broadcasting stations to Univision in 2001. Many of these stations formed the backbone of Telefutura (now UniMás), which launched in January 2002.

WSNL-TV

[edit]

Prehistory

[edit]

On August 22, 1964, Theodore Granik applied for a construction permit for channel 75 in Patchogue, New York, with the channel assignment soon changed to 67 after the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) overhauled television allocations nationally.[2] Granik, who had produced the long-running The American Forum of the Air on radio and television, envisioned the Patchogue channel as one of seven stations nationwide specializing in public affairs programming.[3] Long Island Video also filed for channel 67;[4] Medallion Pictures acquired the company and became the applicant,[5] but it agreed to withdraw in exchange for the costs it had incurred in seeking channel 67, granting Granik the permit in September 1968.[6][2]

Granik never built channel 67. He died on September 21, 1970.[7] His death scuttled plans for channel 67 and channel 50 in Washington, D.C.; the estate left no money to start the Washington station, which declared bankruptcy.[8][9] On March 19, 1971, Granik Broadcasting Corporation filed to sell the permit to the Suburban Broadcasting Corporation. Suburban was a consortium of New York–area investors, including some from Long Island as well as Percy Sutton, the president of Manhattan Borough.[10]

After closing on the purchase of the permit from Granik's estate, Suburban unveiled its plans for channel 67, which was given the call sign WSNL-TV (for Suffolk County and Nassau County counties on Long Island). Suburban's principals believed Long Island was underserved by television, being part of the New York television market. In 1969, an educational station, WLIW, began broadcasting from Garden City, but there was no commercial outlet. Company president David H. Polinger noted the presence of two daily newspapers and 20 radio stations on Long Island but no locally focused TV station.[11] Polinger brought Long Island broadcast experience, having built radio stations in Lake Success and Babylon.[12]

Channel 67 planned a schedule heavy on live programs, with as much as 70 percent of the schedule being live, ranging from news and high school sports to a live soap opera.[13][14] Films and syndicated programming rounded out the lineup.[15] Construction of studios near the corner of the Long Island Expressway and Veterans Highway in Central Islip, near Hauppauge, began in April 1973.[14][16] The 18,000 square feet (1,700 m2) building featured two studios to handle the station's large local program output.[17]

Live and local for Long Island

[edit]

WSNL-TV began broadcasting to Long Island on November 18, 1973.[18] It represented a $4 million investment by Suburban Broadcasting.[19] Programming included The Fairchilds, a soap opera featuring a family that moved from California to Oyster Bay; the amateur variety show Toast of Long Island; a late-night variety show, Long Island Tonight; Chef Nicola, a live cooking show; Black Metamorphosis, a public affairs program; exercise program Trim and Slim; children's programs Captain Ahab and Ahab and Friends; and as sports coverage and two daily editions of 67 Action News.[20][11][21] Syndicated programs included The Phil Donahue Show.[22]

The principal operating challenge for WSNL-TV was that it was an ultra high frequency (UHF) station. The quality of the station's local programming and many viewers' trouble tuning it in became regular fodder for Marvin Kitman, the television critic and satirist for Long Island's daily Newsday. Over the course of 1974, Kitman published several columns making light of channel 67's poor signal—hobbled by installation difficulties—and production values. In April, Kitman wrote,[23]

The morning of March 6, a large crane went to the site of a leading cultural landmark on Long Island, the Ch. 67 transmitter and antenna off the expressway in Central Islip. The riggers turned the tower in a new direction. Since then, there have been bitter complaints from the Russian trawler fleet. ... By twisting the antenna very early that morning in March, Ch. 67 may have damaged the détente.

Kitman ran a survey asking for readers' comments on WSNL-TV's reception and programming in February 1974.[24] Based on the survey, Kitman published "ratings" for the station's various local programs.[25] He also published reader comments as to the station's receivability. A man from Far Rockaway told Kitman, "Yes, I saw Channel 67. In TV Guide."[26] In response, Suburban Broadcasting filed a $15 million lawsuit in New York Supreme Court against Kitman and Newsday in November 1974, claiming a "willful and malicious effort to mortally injure" WSNL-TV's chances as a "viable advertising medium".[27]

Suburban's lawsuit against Kitman coincided with a retrenchment. Channel 67 had been in talks for a loan from Franklin National Bank, but the bank became insolvent and was closed in October 1974.[28][29] The station's first election night coverage was almost affected by strike action among twelve unionized news employees.[30] In October, WSNL laid off Oren Palenik, host of a women's program, and other hosts and increased its reliance on syndicated shows and films.[31] The news programming was reduced to hourly news updates in January 1975, part of a reduction in local programming from forty hours a week to just eight or nine hours and accompanying a layoff of one-fifth of the station's staff.[32] In addition to filing suit against Kitman, Suburban sued equipment manufacturer RCA and tower fabricator Stainless Inc. for improper initial installation of the antenna. The company also sought new investors.[33] In one last miscue, the station gave up its rights to telecast New York Cosmos soccer just two weeks before Pelé signed with the team.[28]

The reduction in local programming and personnel failed to turn the station's finances around. The station left the air on June 20, 1975, while signing a deal with a company to use the Central Islip studios for commercial and film production.[34] The suspension was described as temporary, lasting just three months.[35] One broadcaster operating other UHF stations told The New York Times that Suburban failed to take its "VHF thinking" and translate it to the different economics of running a UHF television station.[28] The station lost an average of $255,931 for each of the 20 months it was in business.[36]: 361 

Suburban Broadcasting Corporation filed for bankruptcy in February 1976, listing assets of $3.9 million and liabilities of $4.8 million. Creditors were told that the station was about to become profitable when two of its three largest advertisers went out of business.[37]

Subscription TV broadcasting

[edit]

On August 24, 1978, Suburban Broadcasting found a Canadian white knight to pay its $5 million in debts. Canwest Capital Corporation provided the financing in a deal that saw Canwest's U.S. subscription television (STV) subsidiary, Universal Subscription Television, enter into a franchise agreement to provide pay broadcasting over WSNL-TV. Canwest, as a Canadian company, could not own stations outright, but it could provide them with subscription programming.[38] As part of the deal, channel 67 changed its city of license from Patchogue to Smithtown, where enough commercial, free TV stations were received to permit FCC licensing of an STV station.[39] The station began plans for reactivation in late 1979; in addition to subscription programming from Universal Subscription Television, WSNL-TV would air some local programming as a condition of its license.[40]

WSNL-TV returned to Long Island screens on December 15, 1979, after nearly 4+12 years of silence, with a limited schedule of prime time programming during the week and daytime programs on weekends.[41][42] A month later, Suburban filed to sell the station to a new joint venture led by Wometco Enterprises. This sale meant that, instead of programming from Universal Subscription Television, WSNL would provide STV programming from Wometco Home Theater (WHT).[43] WHT had been operating in the New York market on channel 68 from Newark, New Jersey, at this point known as WWHT, since March 1, 1977;[44] Canwest approached WHT because it was worried about the viability of a standalone STV service from WSNL.[36]: 361  From January 30 to June 2, 1980, channel 67 was out of service because of an electrical fire at its Central Islip studios;[36]: 362  the fire gutted the control room and burned so hot that a brick wall cracked.[45] The station began airing Wometco Home Theater after returning to the air.[46] It also offered old movies and a nightly newscast.[45][47]

The FCC approved of Wometco acquiring WSNL-TV in November 1980. Because channels 67 and 68 had overlapping signals, Wometco would operate WSNL-TV as a simulcast of WWHT with up to four and a half hours a week of its own programming.[36] Wometco closed on the purchase in January 1981,[48] and in June, it bought out Canwest's interest in the joint venture and became the sole owner of WSNL while sharing ownership of WWHT with Blonder-Tongue Laboratories.[49]

On November 30, 1981, WWHT–WSNL began airing daytime programming from the new Financial News Network (FNN) between 10 a.m. and 5 pm.[50] With the extended reach of WHT, the service boasted 111,200 subscribers in June 1982, making it the fourth-largest STV operation in the country behind the ON TV operations in Los Angeles and Chicago and the SelecTV operation in Los Angeles.[51] This year was the peak for subscription operation as the early 1980s recession deepened and cable systems continued building out in areas served by STV.[52] In addition, beginning in 1981, Wometco Home Theater was also seen on WRBV-TV (channel 65) in southern New Jersey and the Philadelphia area,[53] where it had as many as 20,000 subscribers before closing in November 1984.[54]

WWHT and WSNL began broadcasting WHT programming 20 hours a day on March 1, 1983, and discontinued all ad-supported telecasting, including FNN and Uncle Floyd.[55][56] They were able to do so because the FCC had abolished the so-called "28-hour rule"—which required stations to provide a minimum of, on average, four hours a day of non-subscription programming—in June 1982.[57] The Uncle Floyd Show returned to television on the New Jersey Network later in 1983.[58]

KKR buyout of Wometco

[edit]

Mitchell Wolfson, the founder of Wometco, died of a heart attack on January 28, 1983.[59] He left the company with no clear succession plan,[60] and no one was designated as a succeeding chairman.[61] In fact, Wolfson was the largest stockholder in Wometco at the time of his death.[62]

After approving several measures in a shareholders meeting designed to prevent a hostile takeover,[62] the Wolfson family and Wometco board sold the company to merchant banker Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. (KKR) on September 21, 1983, in a $1 billion leveraged buyout,[63] the largest in history at the time.[64] While Wometco still existed after the buyout was completed on April 13, 1984, the company was taken private and split into two entities:[65] one based around the television station licenses and Wometco Home Theater and the other centered around the theater chain, Miami Seaquarium, bottling, and cable divisions.[66][67]

With rapidly advancing cable and declining subscriptions, KKR began the process of ending the subscription television era of WWHT and WSNL. On November 1, 1984, Wometco ceased programming the service and instead began passing through movies from SelecTV; at that time, it still counted some 80,000 subscribers.[68] It sold the WHT service to Pay TV of Greater New York.[69] That company renamed itself Cooper Wireless Cable and began broadcasting from the channel 60 translator, though in doing so it lost subscribers who could not receive the low-power signal from the World Trade Center.[70] Meanwhile, KKR contemplated reformatting WWHT–WSNL as general-entertainment independents with syndicated reruns.[71]

In April 1985, KKR executed another leveraged buyout, this one of Storer Communications, then facing a shareholder revolt[72] and a hostile takeover attempt by Comcast.[73] The deal was completed in December 1985; however, approval by the FCC was contingent on KKR divesting either Storer's cable systems in northern New Jersey and Connecticut, serving 195,000 subscribers, or WWHT–WSNL within 18 months to satisfy cross-ownership rules. While Storer and Wometco remained nominally separate companies, the FCC recognized KKR as the primary owner of both and forced it to make a number of station or system divestitures. Storer already had announced it would keep the cable systems over WWHT and WSNL.[74]

U68

[edit]

With the end of WHT programming, channels 68 and 67 switched to a music video format known as U68 on June 1, 1985. The new format came together in just ten days[75] and originally broadcast for twelve hours a day.[76] In the morning hours, WWHT and WSNL continued to offer non-video religious and community affairs shows.[75]

U68 touted its format as specifically programmed for the New York market in contrast to the national cable service of MTV; it carved out time to air videos by local acts. It offered R&B, pop, and heavy metal music in dayparts, as well as music newsbreaks—which Uncle Floyd returned to channel 68 to co-host.[77] It had a broader format than MTV with more urban contemporary and metal music;[78] program director Steve Leeds called it "all over the place musically".[79] As a music video station and not merely a program, it was subject to the six-month exclusivity that MTV demanded from some labels for new titles.[78][80] At the end of 1985, it extended to begin late-night broadcasting to 1 or 2 a.m. six nights a week.[81] The service also produced a music video, for "Put That Head Out" by rap artist Funkmaster Wizard Wiz.[82]

Home shopping and Telefutura/UniMás

[edit]

On August 4, 1986, the Home Shopping Network (HSN) announced that it would enter the broadcast television business by buying three stations in two acquisitions: WWHT and WSNL-TV, as well as the Boston area's WVJV "V-66", a station with a similar format to U68. The three stations went for $46 million. The stations would carry the newly established Home Shopping Network 2 service, which offered a more upscale assortment of products than the existing HSN.[83] News that U68 was likely on its way out to make way for home shopping programming led Pablo Guzmán in the New York Daily News to praise the "quality service" that it provided to homes without cable in spite of MTV's restrictions and other challenges[84] and his colleague Jim Farber to laud its "innovative, genre-busting programming and no creepy veejays".[85] On October 6, 1986, HSN closed on the WWHT–WSNL deal and began programming both stations with home shopping.[86] Five production employees lost their jobs with the transition to home shopping.[87] HSN also changed the stations' call letters from WWHT and WSNL to WHSE and WHSI, respectively,[88] effective January 23, 1987.[89]

The purchase of the New York and Boston stations started a shopping spree for HSN. By January 1987, it had acquired stations serving Baltimore and Washington, D.C., Chicago, Cleveland, Houston, Los Angeles, and Philadelphia.[89] It later added stations in the Dallas–Fort Worth, Miami, and Tampa Bay markets, giving it 12 stations and making it the fifth-largest station owner by reach in the country as of 1992, behind the Big Three networks and Tribune Broadcasting.[90] That year, HSN spun off the twelve stations into a new company, Silver King Broadcasting.[91]

A joint venture led by Barry Diller bought the Silver King stations in 1996.[92] As late as 2000, Diller promised to bring the CityVision general-entertainment independent format that USA Broadcasting was slowly rolling out in its portfolio to New York and Los Angeles. CityVision had made it to four cities, but it proved costly to operate and was a ratings disappointment outside of live sports. USA Station Group Partnership of New Jersey, the licensee of WHSE, registered a trademark on WORX as a future call sign in October 2000.[93] After discussions for a joint venture with ABC fell apart, the USA Broadcasting stations were sold to Univision for $1.1 billion in a deal announced in December 2000.[94][95] The USA–Univision deal created seven new duopolies, including the pairing of WHSE and WHSI with Univision's WXTV (channel 41).[94]

In the immediate aftermath of the September 11 attacks of 2001, channel 68 temporarily simulcast WABC-TV, which broadcast from the World Trade Center.[96] It was later joined by channel 67.[97] The station ceased broadcasting HSN on October 1, 2001, and temporarily switched to the American Independent Network.[98]

Univision used most of the stations it acquired by USA Broadcasting to launch a second network, Telefutura, which debuted on January 14, 2002.[99] The stations adopted new WFUT and WFTY call letters, respectively.[100] Telefutura rebranded as UniMás in 2013.[101]

In 2008, Univision experimented with adding 7 a.m. local morning newscasts to four of its Telefutura stations, including WFUT–WFTY.[102] This continued through at least 2014.[103]

In 2017, Univision reached a deal with the Justice Network, a diginet focusing on true crime and law enforcement programming, and provided it carriage in 11 markets, including New York City.[104] Justice Network rebranded as True Crime Network in 2020.[105]

Technical information

[edit]
Map
Coverage areas of WFUT–WXTV (red) and WFTY-DT (blue). WFUT–WXTV, from the Empire State Building, serves New York City, the Hudson Valley, and northern New Jersey. WFTY-DT, from Middle Island, serves much of the southern Connecticut coast and eastern Long Island. The signals overlap over southwestern Connecticut and west-central Long Island.

Subchannels

[edit]

The station's signal is multiplexed:

Subchannels of WFTY-DT[106]
Channel Res. Aspect Short name Programming
67.1 480i 16:9 CRIME True Crime Network
67.2 720p WFUT-DT UniMás (WFUT-DT)
67.3 WXTV-DT Univision (WXTV-DT)
67.4 480i GRIT Grit
67.5 MYSTERY Ion Mystery
67.6 ShopLC Shop LC MPEG-4 video
67.7 NVSN Nuestra Visión
  Simulcast of subchannels of another station
  Subchannel broadcast with MPEG-4 video

Analog-to-digital conversion

[edit]

WFTY ended regular programming on its analog signal, over UHF channel 67, on June 12, 2009, as part of the federally mandated transition from analog to digital television. The station's digital signal remained on its pre-transition UHF channel 23, using virtual channel 67.[107]

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
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  2. ^ a b "History Cards for WFTY-DT". Federal Communications Commission.
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