Red Hook, NY, October XX……WYBN TV-14, the Capital Region’s family-owned and operated television station, will celebrate its 8th birthday Oct. 18, capping off a period of tremendous growth and recognition.
Since August of 2018, WYBN–owned by Cable Ad Net New York Inc. of Red Hook–relocated its tower and increased its reach; added NewsNet and Intelliweather programming; won its third broadcasting award and gained ground with the region’s top advertisers.
“This has been an incredible 14 months for WYBN, and an exciting eight years,” said Dan Viles, President and General Manager of WYBN. “We are thrilled that viewers and advertisers are increasingly making us part of their television plans. We have gone from a very local station eight years ago to a regional powerhouse today.”
WYBN signed on in 2011 as the first multi-format digital facility in New York’s Capital Region, with subchannels 14.1 through 14.8 available over the air to viewers who have “cut the cord” from cable. It broadcast from Windam Mountain until August 2018, when it moved its tower to the Helderberg Escarpment—the highest point in Albany County. This, along with a 100 percent new solid-state transmission plant, made WYBN’s eight channels of news, movies, game shows, classic television and more available to 1.1 million people in the greater Capital Region, an area stretching from Dutchess County north to Glens Falls and from Schoharie County into western New England.
“The new signal really got the attention of viewers,” Viles said. “We have been gratified to receive hundreds of calls, e-mails and Facebook messages from people from Lake George to Poughkeepsie, from Sharon Springs to Sharon, Conn. and points in between.”
Demographic information shows that WYBN viewers are 25 percent more likely to be small business owners or white-collar workers with large families who frequently dine out.
Advertisers have taken notice. In the past year, WYBN began booking orders from businesses in the Metropolitan Albany area for the first time. New insertion equipment enables the station to take every advertisement offered, and it now runs between 70,000 and 80,000 spots each month.
The campaign WYBN used to announce its move earned WYBN a prestigious Low Power Television and Translator Industry Award from the Advanced Television Broadcasting Alliance (ABTA). The award for Best Station Promotion Multi-Media Campaign recognized an effort that included on-air promotional spots, one sheets, newspaper advertising, trade advertising, electronic billboards and more.
Another big change came in January, when WYBN became an affiliate of NewsNet, the only 24/7 news channel focused on headlines. It follows a traditional wheel format, delivering national and international news, weather and sports headlines every half hour with breaks for local stories. The emphasis is on the facts rather than opinion and discussion.
“NewsNet offers an alternative to people who want to ‘cut the cord’ from cable but still have access to breaking news 24 hours a day, seven days a week,” Viles said.
Later that same month, the station began running high-quality local weather reports from Intelliweather between commercials across all eight of its channels.
In addition to NewsNet, on Channel 14.8, the current WYBN line-up includes Buzzr TV (14.1), Cozi TV (14.2), ThisTV (14.3); France24 (14.4); Rev’n (14.5), RetroTV (14.6), LATV and Action TV, (share 14.7).
For more information on TV-14, go to www.wybntv14.com
