WPTA-DT2 - History

History

The station began in late-1998 alongside the launch of The WB 100+ and its cable-only affiliates. Since its was cable-exclusive, the channel used the "WBFW" calls in a fictional manner. It was managed and promoted by WPTA that was then wholly owned by the Granite Broadcasting Corporation. When that station was transferred to the Malara Broadcast Group in 2005, "WBFW" was as well.

On January 24, 2006, The WB and UPN announced the networks would end broadcasting and merge. The new combined service would be called The CW. The letters would represent the first initial of corporate parents CBS (the parent company of UPN) and the Warner Bros. unit of Time Warner. On February 22, News Corporation announced that it would start up another new network called MyNetworkTV as sister network to Fox. It would be operated by Fox Television Stations and its syndication division Twentieth Television. MyNetworkTV was created in order to give UPN and WB stations, not mentioned as becoming CW affiliates, another option besides becoming independent. It was also created to compete against The CW.

CBS affiliate WANE-TV offered UPN on a second digital subchannel. An announcement in March said "WBFW" would affiliate with The CW via The CW Plus (a similar operation to The WB 100+). WPTA decided to create a new second digital subchannel to simulcast "WBFW" and offer access to CW programming for over-the-air viewers. Meanwhile on September 5, WISE-TV moved NBC Weather Plus from its second digital subchannel in order for it to become the area's affiliate of MyNetworkTV. Weather Plus then began airing on WISE-DT3. On September 18, The CW debuted on "WBFW" which officially began using the WPTA-DT2 calls.