WSWB - History

History

The station first signed-on June 3, 1985 with the calls WOLF-TV as the first Independent outlet in Northeastern Pennsylvania. A few days later, it added WWLF-TV in Hazleton as a full-time satellite. This channel was intended to improve WOLF-TV's coverage in the southern part of the market because its transmitter is farther north than the other major stations in the area. After a little more than a year as an Independent, WOLF-TV became a charter affiliate of Fox on October 6, 1986. Two years later, WILF-TV in Williamsport was launched as a second full-time satellite to improve coverage in the western and northern parts of the market.

In 1993, WOLF-TV's original owner Scranton TV Partners merged with Pegasus Communications. The latter immediately sought permission to move either the analog UHF channel 38 or channel 56 transmitters to the Northeastern Pennsylvania tower farm on Penobscot Knob. The move would help improve its signal that only provided Grade B coverage to much of the southern part of the market. Ultimately, Pegasus was allowed to move the WWLF transmitter.

On November 1, 1998, Pegasus activated the new analog channel 56 transmitter while moving the WOLF-TV call letters and Fox affiliation to that channel. Meanwhile, this station became a WB affiliate under new calls WSWB. This call sign was chosen because they could have meant "Scranton's WB" for its affiliation or the area it serves Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. Originally, this channel was given the WSWB calls in 1981 but it were changed to WOLF-TV before the station went on-the-air in 1985. WILF in Williamsport remained as a full-time satellite.

At the time of the switch, WSWB also picked up a secondary affiliation with UPN. It showed select programming from the network on Saturday nights (since there were no shows from The WB) without the branding. At 8 the station would air America's Next Top Model and at 9 would be WWE Friday Night SmackDown. Whenever America's Next Top Model was in repeats, WSWB would air Veronica Mars instead. All UPN programming in pattern was also available on cable in the area via WWOR-TV from New York City, WPSG from Philadelphia, and WLYH-TV from Harrisburg.

On January 24, 2006, Warner Bros. Television and CBS announced that the WB and UPN networks would cease broadcasting and combine to form a new network called The CW Television Network. On February 22, News Corporation announced that it would start up another new network called MyNetworkTV. This service, which would be sister to Fox, 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.

On May 1, 2006, it was made public WILF would be a separate station and become the area's charter MyNetworkTV affiliate. Also at that point, it became known that WSWB would affiliate with The CW. This was due to both UPN and The WB being offered on the main station. Since there was a limitation of WILF's signal in the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre area, it was also announced that it would be added to a new third digital subchannel of WOLF-TV. WILF changed its call sign to the current WQMY on July 7 to reflect the upcoming affiliation change. MyNetworkTV launched September 5 and that station introduced its first logo. As a WSWB full-time satellite, it did not have one. WSWB began airing The CW on September 18.