WNJU
{{good article}}
{{Short description|Television station in Linden, New Jersey}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2025}}
{{Infobox television station
| name =
| callsign = WNJU
| city = Linden, New Jersey
| logo = Telemundo 47 (2018).svg
| logo_size = 200px
| logo_alt = The Telemundo network logo, a T with two circular overlapping components. To the right and under the T, the number 47. Beneath it, in a sans serif, the word Telemundo.
| branding = Telemundo 47
| digital = 35 (UHF), shared with WNBC
| virtual = 47
| subchannels =
| translators =
| affiliations = {{ubl|47.1: Telemundo|47.2: TeleXitos}}
| owner = Telemundo Station Group
| licensee = NBC Telemundo License LLC
| location = {{ubl|Linden, New Jersey|New York, New York}}
| country = US
| airdate = {{Start date and age|1965|05|16|p=y}}
| last_airdate =
| sister_stations = WNBC
| former_callsigns = WNJU-TV (1965–1988)
| former_channel_numbers = {{ubl|Analog: 47 (UHF, 1965–2009)|Digital: 36 (UHF, until 2019)|Translator: 62 W62AA}}
| former_affiliations = {{ubl|Independent (1965–1987)|NetSpan (secondary, 1984–1987)}}
| erp = 575 kW
| haat = {{convert|496|m|ft|0|abbr=on}}
| facility_id = 73333
| coordinates = {{nowrap|{{coord|40|42|46.8|N|74|0|47.3|W|type:landmark_scale:2000|display=inline, title}}}}
| licensing_authority = FCC
| website = {{URL|https://www.telemundo47.com/}}
}}
WNJU (channel 47) is a television station licensed to Linden, New Jersey, United States, serving as the Telemundo outlet for the New York City area. It is one of two flagship stations of the Spanish-language network (the other being WSCV in Miami–Fort Lauderdale). WNJU is owned and operated by NBCUniversal's Telemundo Station Group alongside NBC flagship WNBC (channel 4). WNJU's studios are located inside NBC's corporate headquarters at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in Midtown Manhattan; its former studios, located on Fletcher Avenue in Fort Lee, New Jersey, are used as WNJU and WNBC's New Jersey news bureau. Through a channel sharing agreement with WNBC, the two stations transmit using WNJU's spectrum from an antenna atop One World Trade Center.
Conceived to replace WNTA-TV as northern New Jersey's commercial station and to provide specialty ethnic programming in the tri-state area, WNJU began broadcasting on May 16, 1965. It was the first new commercial TV station for the New York City area in 16 years. Within months, 60 percent of its programming was in Spanish. The station was acquired by Screen Gems in 1970; Screen Gems also owned WAPA-TV in San Juan, Puerto Rico, with which channel 47 shared programming. WNJU's program lineup, which catered to the tastes of the Puerto Ricans and Dominicans in the tri-state area, often outperformed the Spanish International Network and its mostly Mexican shows in the local ratings. The studio sold the station in 1979 to a consortium headlined by Norman Lear and Jerry Perenchio, but plans to convert to subscription television operation were scrapped.
In 1984, WNJU became a part of a second Spanish-language television network, NetSpan. After Reliance Capital, which had bought Spanish-language TV stations in Los Angeles and Miami, acquired the station, it became a charter owned-and-operated station of Telemundo upon its launch on January 12, 1987. At the same time, channel 47 began producing local Spanish-language newscasts. NBC bought Telemundo in 2002 and relocated WNJU to its former facility in Fort Lee.
History
=Early years=
On December 17, 1962, the New Jersey Television Broadcasting Company was granted a construction permit by the Federal Communications Commission to build a new commercial television station on a channel 47 allocation that belonged to New Brunswick.{{Cite web|url=https://enterpriseefiling.fcc.gov/dataentry/api/download/attachment/2dfbebe8-e828-e2f3-b7e1-85e5f750845c|title=History Cards for WNJU|publisher=Federal Communications Commission}}{{efn|A television station could be placed in any city within {{convert|15|mi|km|sp=us}} of the actual allocation, as Linden is to New Brunswick.}} Edwin Cooperstein, the president of the permittee and director of radio and television at Fairleigh Dickinson University and who had been the head of WNTA-TV (channel 13) when it was a commercial outlet, had proposed the station a year earlier, to transmit from a tower in the New Jersey Meadowlands.{{Cite news |date=December 28, 1961 |title=Belleville Man Aims to Raise $600,000 for New TV Station |page=17 |work=The Herald-News |via=Newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/86289887/ |access-date=October 1, 2021 |archive-date=October 2, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211002034836/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/86289887/belleville-man-aims-to-raise-600000/ |url-status=live }} FDU influence was also felt in the company's ownership: it was primarily owned by Henry Becton (son of Maxwell Becton, co-founder of Becton Dickinson) and Fairleigh Dickinson Jr. (son of Fairleigh S. Dickinson Sr., founder of Fairleigh Dickinson University and also the co-founder of Becton Dickinson).{{Cite news |date=June 16, 1969 |title=Columbia acquires fifth TV station |id={{ProQuest|1014519512}} |page=62 |work=Broadcasting |url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1969/1969-06-16-BC.pdf |access-date=October 1, 2021 |archive-date=March 8, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308035107/https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1969/1969-06-16-BC.pdf |url-status=live }}
Channel 47 in Linden was a backup plan: the company had previously asked for the assignment of channel 14 to Newark, the city of license of WNTA-TV, arguing that the conversion of WNTA-TV to noncommercial WNET effectively gave all seven VHF stations to New York City.{{Cite news |date=January 18, 1962 |title=UHF Channel Sought For TV in Newark |page=3 |work=Asbury Park Evening Press |agency=Associated Press |via=Newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/86290315/uhf-channel-sought-for-tv-in-newark/ |access-date=October 1, 2021 |archive-date=October 2, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211002034835/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/86290315/uhf-channel-sought-for-tv-in-newark/ |url-status=live }} Even before filing for the permit, New Jersey Television Broadcasting had set up in the Mosque Theater (now Newark Symphony Hall) at 1020 Broad Street in Newark, WNTA-TV's former home, which included a {{convert|10000|ft2|m2|adj=on|sp=us}} studio that was the largest at any non-network TV station in the United States;{{Cite news |last=Mackin |first=Tom |date=April 1965 |title=Television Returns to New Jersey |work=New Jersey Business}} it announced it would use the former WNTA-TV transmitter site in West Orange and stocked its staff with several channel 13 veterans.{{Cite news |date=June 25, 1962 |title=Cooperstein Ready to Apply For TV Construction Permit |page=17 |work=The Herald-News |via=Newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/86290398/cooperstein-ready-to-apply-for-tv-constr/ |access-date=October 1, 2021 |archive-date=October 2, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211002034836/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/86290398/cooperstein-ready-to-apply-for-tv/ |url-status=live }} When the permit was issued, Cooperstein announced that the station would launch in late 1963.{{Cite news |date=December 19, 1962 |title=FCC Okays TV Station at Linden |page=32 |work=Paterson Evening News |agency=United Press International |via=Newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/86290493/fcc-okays-tv-station-at-linden/ |access-date=October 1, 2021 |archive-date=October 2, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211002034836/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/86290493/fcc-okays-tv-station-at-linden/ |url-status=live }}
However, within a month of obtaining the permit, the new WNJU-TV decided on an Empire State Building site for its transmitter, which was approved by the FCC in April 1964.{{r|hc}} Cooperstein felt that this would be necessary to have picture quality parity with the New York stations.{{r|mackin}} It had settled on a program format of shows for New Jersey audiences during the day and specialty ethnic programs at night.{{Cite news |last=Colt III |first=Thomas C. |date=May 1, 1964 |title=U.H.F. Rule Adds 70 Channels |pages=1, [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/86291000/uhf-rule-adds-70-channels/ 13] |work=The Record |via=Newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/86290961/uhf-rule-adds-70-channels/ |access-date=October 1, 2021 |archive-date=October 2, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211002034836/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/86290961/uhf-rule-adds-70-channels/ |url-status=live }} In March 1965, the station revealed a schedule with 19 hours a week of Spanish-language programming and another seven hours for Black audiences.{{Cite news |last=Davis |first=Leslie |date=March 11, 1965 |title=New TV Station Will Stress News of N.J., Ethnic Groups |page=32 |work=The Herald-News |via=Newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/86291103/new-tv-station-will-stress-news-of-nj/ |access-date=October 1, 2021 |archive-date=October 2, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211002034837/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/86291103/new-tv-station-will-stress-news-of/ |url-status=live }}
WNJU-TV signed on the air on May 16, 1965, as the first commercial UHF station in the New York television market and the first new commercial service for the area in 16 years.{{Cite news |last=Gross |first=Ben |date=May 17, 1965 |title=New UHF Station Opens; A Different TV Concept |page=25 |work=Daily News|location=New York |via=Newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/86291181/new-uhf-station-opens-a-different-tv-co/ |access-date=October 1, 2021 |archive-date=October 2, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211002034837/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/86291181/new-uhf-station-opens-a-different-tv/ |url-status=live }} Channel 47's schedule included New Jersey programs as well as Spanish-language, Black, Jewish, and Italian programs, but even within three months of launch, sixty percent of WNJU-TV's broadcast hours consisted of Spanish-language output.{{Cite news |last=Rosenfelder |first=Reuven |date=August 19, 1965 |title=Channel 47, After First 3 Months, Figures That Time Is on Its Side |page=7 |work=The Herald-News |via=Newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/84794751/ |access-date=October 1, 2021 |archive-date=October 2, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211002034843/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/84794751/channel-47-after-first-3-months/ |url-status=live }} Outside of these programs, during the mid-1960s, the station broadcast a live and locally produced teenage dance show called Disc-O-Teen, hosted by John Zacherle; bullfights; and a folk music program, Rainbow Quest, hosted by Pete Seeger.{{Cite news |date=May 12, 1966 |title=Newark TV Station Decides To Keep Bullfight Program |page=27 |work=The Nutley Sun |via=Newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/86293500/newark-tv-station-decides-to-keep-bullfi/ |access-date=October 1, 2021 |archive-date=October 2, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211002034838/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/86293500/newark-tv-station-decides-to-keep/ |url-status=live }} The station also broke ground when it accepted advertising for Puerto Rican rum; since most television stations (but not channel 47) subscribed to the Code of Good Practice of the National Association of Broadcasters, it was the first hard liquor ad seen on American television.{{Cite news |last=Maksian |first=George |date=May 25, 1966 |title=Around the Dials: Ch. 47 to Air Likker Spiels |page=108 |work=Daily News|location=New York |via=Newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/86293570/ch-47-to-air-likker-spiels/ |access-date=October 1, 2021 |archive-date=October 2, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211002034906/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/86293570/ch-47-to-air-likker-spiels/ |url-status=live }}
In 1967, WNJU-TV went all-color and also became the first New York-area television station to automate its transmitter;{{Cite news |date=May 5, 1967 |title=Channel 47 Going Color |page=24 |work=The Morning Call |via=Newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/86293608/channel-47-going-color/ |access-date=October 1, 2021 |archive-date=October 2, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211002034837/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/86293608/channel-47-going-color/ |url-status=live }} it opted not to move to the World Trade Center when it was built for financial reasons.{{Cite news |date=June 12, 1967 |title=Trade Center move off for WNJU-TV |id={{ProQuest|1014499823}} |pages=62–63 |work=Broadcasting |url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1967/1967-06-12-BC.pdf |access-date=October 2, 2021 |archive-date=March 8, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308031225/https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1967/1967-06-12-BC.pdf |url-status=live }} In 1969, it added another type of specialty program to its diverse slate: daytime coverage of the stock markets.{{Cite news |date=November 25, 1968 |title=Wall Street Today Starts In March |page=A-12 |work=The Record |via=Newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/86293649/wall-street-today-starts-in-march/ |access-date=October 1, 2021 |archive-date=October 2, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211002034838/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/86293649/wall-street-today-starts-in-march/ |url-status=live }} That same year, however, Cooperstein resigned, citing a "basic policy difference" with the board of directors.{{Cite news |date=February 3, 1969 |title=Spanish TV Founder Resigns In Policy Feud |page=4 |work=Paterson News |agency=United Press International |via=Newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/86293663/spanish-tv-founder-resigns-in-policy-feu/ |access-date=October 1, 2021 |archive-date=October 2, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211002034908/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/86293663/spanish-tv-founder-resigns-in-policy/ |url-status=live }}
=Screen Gems ownership=
WNJU-TV was sold in the fall of 1970 for $8 million (a fairly high price for a UHF station in that time) to Screen Gems Broadcasting, a subsidiary of Columbia Pictures. Screen Gems was unusually suited for the station, as it owned WAPA-TV in San Juan, Puerto Rico.{{Cite news |last=Adams |first=Val |date=June 11, 1969 |title=Columbia Pix Buys Ch. 47 |page=131 |work=Daily News|location=New York |via=Newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/86293691/columbia-pix-buys-ch-47/}} In 1968, WNJU originated a program for WAPA-TV, which represented the first live satellite connection from New York to San Juan.{{Cite news |date=October 7, 1968 |title=WNJU-TV beams to P.R. |id={{ProQuest|1014536595}} |page=64 |work=Broadcasting |url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1968/1968-10-07-BC.pdf |access-date=October 1, 2021 |archive-date=March 8, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308044616/https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1968/1968-10-07-BC.pdf |url-status=live }}
In 1975, WNJU-TV received a short-term license renewal for only one year (instead of the then-customary three) for failure to abide by a previous pledge to limit commercials to 16 minutes per hour, which the station exceeded more than 16 percent of the time.{{Cite news |date=December 25, 1975 |title=Sanction Imposed On WNJU-TV For Ads |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1975/12/25/archives/sanction-imposed-on-wnjutv-for-ads.html |access-date=October 1, 2021 |issn=0362-4331}}
The station had evolved to carry mostly Spanish programming, along with some ethnic brokered programs that aired on weekends including shows in Japanese and Portuguese.{{Cite news |last=Adams |first=Val |date=June 19, 1975 |title=Now New York's Japanese Have Made-in-Japan TV |page=124 |work=Daily News|location=New York |via=Newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/86324515/now-new-yorks-japanese-have-made-in-jap/ |access-date=October 1, 2021}} Sales doubled from $2.2 million in 1976 to $4.4 million in 1978.{{Cite news |last=Warren |first=James |date=August 15, 1978 |title=Spanish-language television is growing and making money |page=7B |work=Miami News |via=Newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/86324830/spanish-language-television-is-growing-a/}} By focusing on the large Puerto Rican community in New York, WNJU was able to beat the Spanish International Network's WXTV (channel 41), with its comparatively more Mexican programming, in the ratings.{{Cite news |last=Langley |first=Roger |date=November 14, 1980 |title=For TV: Pan-Latino Newsmen Wanted |page=6A |work=The Times Herald |via=Newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/86324817/for-tv-pan-latino-newsmen-wanted/}}
=To STV or not to STV=
In 1978, Columbia Pictures applied for authority to broadcast subscription television (STV) programming on WNJU-TV, with the STV franchisee being National Subscription Television–New York, Inc., owned by Oak Communications and Chartwell Communications. These companies were the partners in the Los Angeles operation of ON TV, which had started in that city in 1977 and became the largest such operation in the United States; a pact in November 1978 gave the New York market to Chartwell to develop.{{Cite news |date=November 6, 1978 |title=Thinking big with over-the-air-pay |id={{ProQuest|1014699399}} |page=58 |work=Broadcasting |url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1978/1978-11-06-BC.pdf |access-date=October 1, 2021 |via=World Radio History |archive-date=March 8, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308030350/https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1978/1978-11-06-BC.pdf |url-status=live }} Concern was noted over the potential displacement of Spanish-language programming from prime time on channel 47, but the deal was approved.{{Cite news |date=October 9, 1978 |title=FCC tables decision on new pay station |id={{ProQuest|1014696116}} |page=34 |work=Broadcasting |url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1978/1978-10-09-BC.pdf |access-date=October 1, 2021 |archive-date=March 8, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308033628/https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1978/1978-10-09-BC.pdf |url-status=live }}{{Cite news |date=November 17, 1978 |title=WNJU-TV Gets Approval For Over-the-Air Pay-TV |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1978/11/17/archives/wnjutv-gets-approval-for-overtheair-paytv.html |access-date=October 1, 2021 |issn=0362-4331}}
Jerry Perenchio, one of the shareholders in Chartwell, and his Tandem Productions acquired 80 percent of WNJU-TV from Columbia Pictures in late 1979 for $5 million.{{Cite news |date=October 22, 1979 |id={{ProQuest|1014700545}} |title=For the Record |page=72 |work=Broadcasting |url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1979/BC-1979-10-22.pdf |access-date=October 1, 2021 |via=World Radio History |archive-date=March 8, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308044314/https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1979/BC-1979-10-22.pdf |url-status=live }} Chartwell gave the idea of bringing ON TV to New York serious thought; it pursued rights to the New York Yankees at a reported offer of $20 million a year and lost.{{Cite news |date=September 3, 1979 |title=In Brief |page=30 |work=Broadcasting |url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1979/BC-1979-09-03.pdf |id={{ProQuest|1014703410}} |via=World Radio History |access-date=October 1, 2021 |archive-date=March 8, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308043910/https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1979/BC-1979-09-03.pdf |url-status=live }} It also proposed using the multichannel audio capability of the STV system to present some programs in English and Spanish simultaneously.{{Cite news |last=Lopez |first=Alfredo |date=January 6, 1980 |title=WNJU to offer bilingual device |pages=A-31, [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/86342774/wnju-to-allow-viewer-to-choose-his-langu/ A-32] |work=The Record |via=Newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/86342702/wnju-to-offer-bilingual-device/}} A technical improvement also came in 1980, when WXTV and WNJU were approved to move to the World Trade Center.{{Cite news |date=June 8, 1980 |title=A victory for Spanish TV |page=A-29 |work=The Record |via=Newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/84799824/a-victory-for-spanish-tv/ |access-date=September 5, 2021 |archive-date=September 6, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210906015045/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/84799824/a-victory-for-spanish-tv/ |url-status=live }}
The idea of turning channel 47 into a subscription station was dropped in January 1981, with competition from Wometco Home Theater (which had operated in the tri-state area since 1977{{Cite news |last=Botta |first=Mike |date=October 20, 1979 |title=More pay-TV on UHF |page=D-10 |work=The Herald-News |via=Newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/56034780/ |access-date=October 1, 2021 |archive-date=October 2, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211002034944/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/56034780/the-herald-news/ |url-status=live }}), extensive cable penetration, and the station's existing ratings leadership over WXTV for Spanish-speaking audiences cited among the reasons for terminating the plans.{{Cite news |last=Botta |first=Mike |date=January 30, 1981 |title=Ch. 47 to remain free, ABC wants to charge |page=C-12 |work=The Herald News |via=Newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/61877365/ |url-status=live |access-date=October 26, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210313004232/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/61877365/ch-47-wants-to-remain-free-abc-wants/ |archive-date=March 13, 2021 }} Channel 47 continued to be Spanish-language, though other suitors made unsolicited offers, some of which would have ended that status. In 1985, Grant Broadcasting System made a $65 million offer for the station, which was rejected as far too low.{{Cite news |last=Woletz |first=Bob |date=April 2, 1985 |title=Dials flipped to UHF stations: A place for old shows and new investors |pages=Tuesday Business 1, [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/86323674/uhfs/ 8] |work=Daily News|location=New York |via=Newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/86323777/dials-flipped-to-uhf-stations-a-place-f/ |access-date=October 1, 2021 |archive-date=October 2, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211002034944/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/86323777/dials-flipped-to-uhf-stations-a-place/ |url-status=live }}
=NetSpan and Telemundo=
File:6.6.10CubanParadeUCByLuigiNovi10.jpg.|alt=Refer to caption]]
In 1970, Carlos Barba, a former Cuban TV star who had been WAPA-TV's general manager,{{Cite news |last=Parga |first=Beatriz |date=May 13, 1988 |title=El historial de triunfos de Carlos Barba |page=3C |work=El Nuevo Herald |via=Newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/86330038/ |lang=es |access-date=October 1, 2021 |archive-date=October 2, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211002034945/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/86330038/el-historial-de-triunfos-de-carlos-barba/ |url-status=live }} became the general manager of WNJU;{{Cite news |last=Sandomir |first=Richard |date=October 20, 1986 |title=Big Businesses Tuning In To Hispanic TV Stations |page=III:5 |work=Newsday |via=Newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/84804336/big-businesses-tuning-in-to-hispanic-tv/ |access-date=October 1, 2021 |archive-date=October 2, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211002034944/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/84804336/big-businesses-tuning-in-to-hispanic-tv/ |url-status=live }} he was promoted to president in 1980.{{Cite news |last=Niurka |first=Norma |date=September 29, 1982 |title=Los finalistas de la OTI |page=7 |work=El Miami Herald |via=Newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/86329355/los-finalistas-de-la-oti/ |lang=es |access-date=October 1, 2021 |archive-date=October 2, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211002034944/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/86329355/los-finalistas-de-la-oti/ |url-status=live }} In 1984, Barba led the creation of NetSpan, a second Spanish-language network to compete with SIN. NetSpan's founding affiliates were WNJU, ethnic independent KSCI-TV channel 18 for the Los Angeles market, and Chicago's WBBS-TV.{{Cite news |date=January 9, 1984 |title=Triumverate [sic] |page=18 |work=Broadcasting |id={{ProQuest|1014705818}} |url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1984/BC-1984-01-09.pdf |url-status=live |access-date=July 10, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308042525/https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1984/BC-1984-01-09.pdf |archive-date=March 8, 2021}} That same year, channel 47 relocated from Newark to a new one-story building in Teterboro,{{Cite news |last=Granville |first=Kevin |date=March 24, 1986 |title=Hispanic TV: profitable rivals |pages=A-1, [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/86330854/hispanic-tv-thriving/ A-16] |work=The Record |via=Newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/86330800/hispanic-tv-profitable-rivals/ |access-date=October 1, 2021 |archive-date=October 2, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211002034945/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/86330800/hispanic-tv-profitable-rivals/ |url-status=live }} and Barba hired a 22-year-old Nely Galán to be the station manager.{{Cite news |last=Prince |first=Dinah |date=May 13, 1985 |title=Only 23, she's television's Cuban Missile |page=29 |work=Daily News|location=New York |via=Newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/86329438/ |access-date=October 1, 2021 |archive-date=October 2, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211002034946/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/86329438/only-23-shes-televisions-cuban/ |url-status=live }}
ON TV folded in 1985, and on the way out, it made two major contributions to the launch of a second Spanish-language television network by selling Los Angeles-area KBSC-TV to Estrella Communications, a Reliance Capital-backed group that converted it to Spanish as KVEA, and Fort Lauderdale, Florida, station WKID to John Blair & Co., which relaunched it as Spanish-language WSCV. By 1986, KVEA had replaced KSCI (and WCIU-TV had entered in Chicago); the network offered three hours a day of programming plus specials.{{r|sandomir}} Reliance Capital Group, which also was in the process of buying WSCV, reached a deal to acquire WNJU-TV for $70 million in October 1986.{{Cite news |date=October 29, 1986 |title=COMPANY NEWS; Reliance Subsidiary To Buy WNJU-TV |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1986/10/29/business/company-news-reliance-subsidiary-to-buy-wnju-tv.html |access-date=October 1, 2021 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=June 25, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180625104146/https://www.nytimes.com/1986/10/29/business/company-news-reliance-subsidiary-to-buy-wnju-tv.html |url-status=live }} Two higher offers had been made by groups that would have converted channel 47 to English-language operation, both of which were shunned.{{Cite news |date=October 20, 1986 |title=Spanish TV station WNJU sold |page=B7 |work=The Journal-News |agency=Associated Press |via=Newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/86323832/spanish-tv-station-wnju-sold/ |access-date=October 1, 2021 |archive-date=October 2, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211002034945/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/86323832/spanish-tv-station-wnju-sold/ |url-status=live }}
With WNJU and WSCV now Reliance-owned, on January 12, 1987,{{Cite news |date=January 12, 1987 |title=Telemundo TV Network to Air Nationally Tonight |work=The Wall Street Journal}} NetSpan became Telemundo, supplying additional programming and national news programming.{{Cite news |last=Valle |first=Victor |date=February 25, 1987 |title=KVEA gains in Spanish-speaking market: A strong choice for Latino viewers |page=V:10 |work=Los Angeles Times |via=Newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/81215900/ |url-status=live |access-date=July 11, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210712044036/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/81215900/kvea-gains-in-spanish-speaking-market/ |archive-date=July 12, 2021 }} The station continued to air weekend programs in other languages into the 1990s, including Indian, Greek, Haitian and Pakistani programs.{{Cite news |last=Osby |first=Liv |date=October 23, 1990 |title=Immigrants' businesses offer bit of themselves |pages=A1, [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/86336972/business/ A4] |work=Daily Record |via=Newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/86337195/immigrants-businesses-offer-bit-of-them/ |access-date=October 2, 2021 |archive-date=October 2, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211002034953/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/86337195/immigrants-businesses-offer-bit-of/ |url-status=live }} During the 1990s and early 2000s, the station experimented with Spanish-language sports simulcasts, which included games of the Yankees, New York Knicks, and New York CityHawks.{{Cite news |last=Rivas |first=Josué R. |date=June 23, 1998 |title=Telemundo 47 transmite juegos en vivo en español |page=21 |work=El Diario La Prensa |id={{ProQuest|368405778}} = |lang=es}} However, local ratings fell as New York viewing habits fell more in line with national ones and Univision came to dominate in national and local programming.{{Cite news |last=Block |first=Valerie |date=March 1, 1999 |title=Spanish TV station primed |page=3 |work=Crain's New York Business |id={{ProQuest|219196870}} }}
In October 2001, NBC (then owned by General Electric) announced its acquisition of Telemundo and WNJU, creating a duopoly with WNBC;{{cite news |last1=McClellan |first1=Steve |title=NBC unveils Telemundo deal |url=https://www.nexttv.com/news/nbc-unveils-telemundo-deal-89824 |access-date=February 27, 2023 |work=Broadcasting & Cable |date=October 11, 2001 |language=en}} NBC would assume control in April 2002.{{cite news |last1=Clemens |first1=Luis |title=Telemundo Turns 20 |url=https://www.nexttv.com/news/telemundo-turns-20-293225 |access-date=February 27, 2003 |work=Multichannel News |date=January 12, 2007 |language=en}} The purchase led to a major overhaul of the on-air product at the network and the station. In 2004, WNJU relocated from Teterboro to the sixth floor at 2200 Fletcher Avenue in Fort Lee, occupying the former studios and offices of the NBC-owned CNBC cable network, which had moved to a state-of-the-art new studio complex in Englewood Cliffs; the space was more than twice the size of the Teterboro facility.{{Cite news |last=Davis Hudson |first=Eileen |date=November 1, 2004 |title=New York |pages=10–15 |work=Mediaweek |id={{ProQuest|213659295}} }}
After the September 11 attacks, WNJU was one of several stations that moved to the Alpine Tower provisionally. There was no space for a digital facility at the Empire State Building, so a permanent site in West Orange was used along with a secondary transmitter at 4 Times Square to improve signal levels in Queens and on Long Island.{{Cite news |last=Lung |first=Doug |date=September 8, 2021 |title=Restoring Over-the-Air TV in New York City After 9/11 |work=TV Tech |url=https://www.tvtechnology.com/news/restoring-over-the-air-tv-in-new-york-city-after-911 |access-date=October 1, 2021 |archive-date=September 10, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210910210315/https://www.tvtechnology.com/news/restoring-over-the-air-tv-in-new-york-city-after-911 |url-status=live }} However, channel 47's analog facility returned to the ESB.{{Cite news |last=Block |first=Valerie |date=December 16, 2002 |title=NBC's Telemundo comes up in world |page=3 |work=Crain's New York Business |id={{ProQuest|219127332}} }} On May 17, 2017, WNJU announced it would begin over-the-air nighttime transmission testing from One World Trade Center in the fourth week of May 2017, which they expected to commence seven to 10 days later; by the end of the year, WNJU and four other New York City-area TV stations began broadcasting from the new tower, which also inaugurated a channel sharing arrangement between WNBC and WNJU for reasons mentioned further below.{{Cite web |last=Kurz |first=Phil |date=May 18, 2017 |title=WNJU To Kick Off 1 WTC OTA Transmission |url=http://www.tvnewscheck.com/article/104216/wnju-to-kick-off-1-wtc-ota-transmission |access-date=May 23, 2017 |website=TVNewsCheck |publisher=NetNewsCheck Media, LLC |archive-date=August 25, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180825073759/https://tvnewscheck.com/article/104216/wnju-to-kick-off-1-wtc-ota-transmission/ |url-status=live }}{{Cite news |last=Marszalek |first=Diana |date=June 26, 2017 |title=WNJU New York Brings Broadcasting Back to World Trade Center |work=Radio World |url=http://www.radioworld.com/news-and-business/0002/wnju-new-york-brings-broadcasting-back-to-world-trade-center/339924 |access-date=June 27, 2017 |archive-date=July 1, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170701195736/http://www.radioworld.com/news-and-business/0002/wnju-new-york-brings-broadcasting-back-to-world-trade-center/339924 |url-status=live }}
On January 14, 2022, WNJU announced that it would move its studios into NBC's headquarters at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in Midtown Manhattan in late 2023, sharing the second floor space with WNBC; New York City was the last NBC–Telemundo duopoly market where the two networks' stations maintained separate facilities.{{Cite web|url=https://www.newscaststudio.com/2022/01/14/wnbc-wnju-combined-facility/|title=WNBC, WNJU set to move into together at 30 Rock|first=Michael P.|last=Hill|work=NewscastStudio|date=January 14, 2022|access-date=April 5, 2022}} In August 2022, NBCUniversal indicated that it would split Studio 3B, former home of NBC Nightly News and Today, between WNJU and WNBC.{{cite web |last1=Hill |first1=Michael P. |title=NBC News confirms plans to split Studio 3B into two spaces |url=https://www.newscaststudio.com/2022/08/09/nbc-studio-3b-split/ |website=newscaststudio.com |publisher=HD Media Ventures LLC |access-date=August 18, 2022 |date=August 9, 2022}} On May 31, 2025, beginning with the night's 6 p.m. newscast, WNJU started broadcasting from their new studios at 30 Rockefeller Plaza. WNJU's former studios remain in use as WNJU and sister station WNBC's New Jersey news bureau.
News operation
File:1877-NYP -1 250714 CPS (24146875270).jpg
WNJU launched its news operation in the mid-1980s, with 6 p.m. newscasts anchored by Jorge L. Ramos; an 11 p.m. edition followed in 1996.{{Cite news |last=Gómez |first=Javier |date=March 4, 1996 |title=Ahora la edición nocturna del canal 47 a las 11 |work=El Diario La Prensa |id={{ProQuest|368470001}} |lang=es}} In 1997, it launched a weekend edition of {{lang|es|Noticiero 47}}; a morning newscast called {{lang|es|Noticiero 47 Primera Edición}} followed in 2001.{{Cite news |last=Chang |first=Daniel |date=January 13, 2001 |title=And here now the news |pages=1E, [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/86337709/news-at-telemundos-about-growth/ 3E] |work=The Miami Herald |via=Newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/86337731/and-here-now-the-news/ |access-date=October 2, 2021 |archive-date=October 2, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211002034946/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/86337731/and-here-now-the-news/ |url-status=live }} However, due to company-wide cutbacks, WNJU pulled the plug on its morning, midday, and weekend newscasts in 2009.{{Cite news |last=Villafañe |first=Verónica |date=March 5, 2009 |title=Telemundo NY cancels newscasts, lays off staff |work=Media Moves |url=https://www.mediamoves.com/2009/03/telemundo-ny-cancels-newscasts-lays-off-staff.html |access-date=October 2, 2021 |archive-date=February 21, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160221083440/http://www.mediamoves.com/2009/03/telemundo-ny-cancels-newscasts-lays-off-staff.html |url-status=live }}
Weekend newscasts were restored in 2011, along with the launch of a new public affairs show, {{lang|es|Enfoque New York}}.{{Cite news |last=Szalai |first=Georg |date=August 8, 2011 |title=Telemundo Stations to Expand Local News Programming by 25% |language=en-US |work=The Hollywood Reporter |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/telemundo-stations-expand-local-news-220336/ |url-status=live |access-date=July 11, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210712044058/https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/telemundo-stations-expand-local-news-220336/ |archive-date=July 12, 2021}} In November 2012, a new morning newscast was introduced, called {{lang|es|Buenos Días, Nueva York}}.{{Cite news |last=Villafañe |first=Verónica |date=November 1, 2012 |title=Telemundo 47 launches Buenos Días New York |work=Media Moves |url=https://www.mediamoves.com/2012/11/telemundo-47-launches-buenos-dias-new-york.html |access-date=October 2, 2021 |archive-date=May 3, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150503103057/http://www.mediamoves.com/2012/11/telemundo-47-launches-buenos-dias-new-york.html |url-status=live }}
On September 18, 2014, Telemundo announced a new 5:30 p.m./4:30 p.m. newscast for all 14 of its owned-and-operated stations, including WNJU.{{Cite news |last=Villafañe |first=Veronica |date=September 18, 2014 |title=Telemundo adds new 30 min newscast at 14 local stations |language=en-US |work=Media Moves |url=https://www.mediamoves.com/2014/09/telemundo-to-hire-30-to-launch-local-newscasts-at-14-stations.html |url-status=live |access-date=July 11, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201130140053/https://www.mediamoves.com/2014/09/telemundo-to-hire-30-to-launch-local-newscasts-at-14-stations.html |archive-date=November 30, 2020}} In 2018, a noon newscast was added at 10 Telemundo stations, including WNJU.{{Cite news |last=Malone |first=Michael |date=January 8, 2018 |title=Telemundo Adds Local, National Newscasts in Noon Hour |work=Broadcasting & Cable |url=https://www.nexttv.com/news/telemundo-adds-local-national-newscasts-noon-hour-170946 |access-date=October 2, 2021 |archive-date=April 30, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210430054001/https://www.nexttv.com/news/telemundo-adds-local-national-newscasts-noon-hour-170946 |url-status=live }}
=Notable current on-air staff=
- Audris Rijo – on {{lang|es|Acceso Total}}
=Notable former on-air staff=
- John F. Bateman – host, Rutgers Football Highlights{{Cite news |date=April 3, 1965 |title=The New World of TV Entertainment on New Channel 47 atop Empire State Building |work=N. Y. Amsterdam News |url=http://www.mediafire.com/view/tl49wyvupnfoxu3/.jpg |access-date=August 13, 2019 |archive-date=May 3, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210503075151/http://www.mediafire.com/view/tl49wyvupnfoxu3/.jpg |url-status=live }}
- Brook Benton – host, The Brook Benton Show{{Cite magazine |date=May 7, 1965 |title=WNJU-TV Sets New Shows and Personalities |url=http://www.mediafire.com/view/yhbmv68c7jgusdw/.png |magazine=Back Stage |access-date=August 13, 2019 |archive-date=May 3, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210503075214/http://www.mediafire.com/view/yhbmv68c7jgusdw/.png |url-status=live }}
- Buck Canel – anchor, Spanish News and Sports
- Myer Feldman – host, Jewish Issues
- Hal Jackson – host, World of Entertainment
- Helen Meyner – Helen Meyner Program
- Jorge L. Ramos – anchor{{r|edicion}}
- Jackie Robinson – host, A Time to Talk
- Myrta Silva – host, {{lang|es|Una Hora Contigo}} (An Hour With You){{Cite news |date=December 27, 1965 |title=T.V. Queen Given Channel 47 Series |page=22 |work=The Morning Call |via=Newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/86293418/tv-queen-given-channel-47-series/ |access-date=October 1, 2021 |archive-date=October 2, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211002034946/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/86293418/tv-queen-given-channel-47-series/ |url-status=live }}
- Billy Taylor – host, Jazz in America{{Cite news |date=June 26, 1965 |title=Channel 47 Debuts Its 'Double Exposure' |work=N. Y. Amsterdam News |url=http://www.mediafire.com/view/m63eviio95q8ou4/.png |access-date=August 13, 2019 |archive-date=May 3, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210503075131/http://www.mediafire.com/view/m63eviio95q8ou4/.png |url-status=live }}
- Richard Voliva – host, High School Wrestling
- Zacherley – host, Disco-Teen
Technical information
=Subchannels=
| class="wikitable"
! scope = "col" | License ! scope = "col" | Channel ! scope = "col" | Res. ! scope = "col" | Aspect ! scope = "col" | Short name ! scope = "col" | Programming |
| rowspan = "2" scope = "row" style="border-right: 4px solid #c0141e;" | WNJU
! scope = "row" | 47.1 |
|---|
| scope = "row" | 47.2 |
| rowspan = "4" scope = "row" style="border-right: 4px solid #0260aa;" | WNBC
! scope = "row" | 4.1 | 1080i || WNBC || NBC |
| scope = "row" | 4.2
| rowspan=3|480i || COZI-TV || Cozi TV |
| scope = "row" | 4.3
| CRIMES || NBC American Crimes |
| scope = "row" | 4.4
| OXYGEN || Oxygen |
=Analog-to-digital conversion=
WNJU discontinued regular programming on its analog signal, over UHF channel 47, on June 12, 2009, as part of the federally mandated transition from analog to digital television.[https://web.archive.org/web/20130829004251/http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-06-1082A2.pdf List of Digital Full-Power Stations] The station's digital signal remained on its pre-transition UHF channel 36.{{Cite web |date=February 19, 2008 |title=DTV Transition Status Report |url=http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/forms/prod/cdbsmenu.hts?context=25&appn=101231307&formid=387&fac_num=73333 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210829203830/https://licensing.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/forms/prod/cdbsmenu.hts?context=25&appn=101231307&formid=387&fac_num=33894 |archive-date=August 29, 2021 |access-date=December 14, 2008 |website=FCC CDBS Database}}
On April 13, 2017, it was revealed that the over-the-air spectrum of sister station WNBC had been sold in the FCC's spectrum reallocation auction, fetching $214 million; WNBC would remain in operation, sharing broadcast spectrum with WNJU.{{Cite web |title=NBC Makes Over $480 Million From Auction |url=http://www.tvnewscheck.com/article/103245/nbc-makes-over-480-million-from-auction |access-date=April 13, 2017 |website=TVNewsCheck |date=April 13, 2017 |archive-date=July 30, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170730080515/http://www.tvnewscheck.com/article/103245/nbc-makes-over-480-million-from-auction |url-status=live }} The shared broadcast took effect on April 2, 2018. WNJU and WNBC later changed channels again to digital channel 35 on August 1, 2019.{{Cite web |title=How to Rescan Your Television to Receive NBC New York's Signal |url=https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/How-to-Rescan-Your-Television-to-Receive-NBC-New-York-Signal-460277243.html |access-date=May 3, 2018 |publisher=WNBC |date=November 27, 2017 |archive-date=March 27, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180327052812/https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/How-to-Rescan-Your-Television-to-Receive-NBC-New-York-Signal-460277243.html |url-status=live }}
Notes
{{notelist}}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{official website|https://www.telemundo47.com/}}
{{TV in New York City}}
{{Other New York Stations}}
{{TV Stations New Jersey}}
{{Other New England Stations}}
{{Other Pennsylvania Stations}}
{{NBCUniversal}}
{{Major U.S. TV O-O Stations}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wnju}}
Category:1965 establishments in New Jersey
Category:Companies based in Bergen County, New Jersey
Category:Former General Electric subsidiaries
Category:Telemundo Station Group
Category:Television channels and stations established in 1965