WATM-TV - History

History

This station originally signed-on November 28, 1974 as WOPC-TV and was an ABC affiliate broadcasting in analog on UHF channel 38. At the time, Altoona/State College and Johnstown were separate markets. The station was unable to afford a network feed. For most of its history, engineers simply switched to and from the signal of WTPA-TV (now WHTM-TV) in Harrisburg. It did not help matters that Scranton's WNEP-TV had long operated two outlying translators (one presently) in State College, the second-biggest city in the area.

Already struggling for viewership, WOPC was dealt a fatal blow in 1982 when Johnstown and Altoona/State College were collapsed into a single market. The station's signal was all but unviewable in the western portion of the enlarged market. As a result, it went dark shortly afterward. For the next few years, the ABC affiliation in this vast market was split between three stations in neighboring markets. WHTM was the de facto ABC affiliate for Altoona, WNEP served State College, and WTAE-TV in Pittsburgh served Johnstown.

In 1986, the area's soon-to-be Fox affiliate, WWCP, faced a problem. It had originally been slated to be a Pittsburgh station, but its owners petitioned the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to move the license to Johnstown. In their petition, WWCP's owners cited lower programming costs in the Johnstown/Altoona/State College market. They also cited possible interference with WJW in Cleveland. The FCC granted the request on condition that WWCP build its transmitter in a location that would allow Pittsburgh to get a Grade B signal from the station. However, this meant channel 8 would be virtually unviewable in the eastern portion of the area. WWCP's owners solved this problem by buying the dormant channel 38 license and moving it to channel 23. As a result, the old WOPC returned to the air on October 13, 1986 as WWPC-TV, a satellite of WWCP.

At the time, WHTM and WTAE both preempted moderate amounts of ABC programming and it soon became obvious that Johnstown/Altoona/State College needed its own affiliate. As a result, WWPC split from WWCP and became an ABC affiliate on August 27, 1988 under new calls, WATM-TV. The station was later sold to Palm Television in order to comply with FCC ownership regulations regarding network affiliates. However, WATM is still managed by WWCP under a local marketing agreement as Peak Media feared that if allowed to operate separately both stations would be put in jeopardy of going dark. On February 17, 2009, the original date for the analog television shutdown and digital conversion, WATM remained on its pre-transition channel number, 24. The station shut down analog transmissions and began broadcasting exclusively in digital. However, through the use of PSIP, digital television receivers display its virtual channel as 23.

The digital conversion significantly improved WATM's coverage in the market. Previously, it had been plagued for most of its history by its weak 708,000 watt analog signal. The station's signal was marginal at best even in Altoona, five miles from the transmitter. It only provided Grade B coverage of Johnstown and State College, and most viewers in this vast market could only watch it on cable. However, with the station's digital transmitter licensed for a full one million watts(the equivalent to five million watts for an analog UHF transmitter) WATM gained a coverage area comparable to the other major stations in the market. Additionally, the station was picked up on WWCP's digital subcarrier, and carries an HD simulcast of WWCP on one of its subchannels. In November 2010 it was announced that Horseshoe Curve Communications would acquire Peak Media's assets including WWCP and its 14 year old agreement to operate WATM. In February 2011 WATM added a third channel to their lineup in the form of an SD feed of ThisTV.