WLNY-TV

WLNY-TV
The words "New York 55" in a bold sans-serif font. "New York" is in black and "55" is in light blue.
Channels
BrandingNew York 55
Programming
Affiliations
Ownership
Owner
WCBS-TV
History
FoundedNovember 9, 1982 (1982-11-09)
First air date
April 28, 1985
(39 years ago) (1985-04-28)
Former call signs
  • WLIG (1985–1996)
  • WLNY (1996–2009)
Former channel number(s)
  • Analog: 55 (UHF, 1985–2005)
  • Digital: 57 (UHF, 2002–2009), 47 (UHF, 2009–2018), 27 (UHF, 2018–2019)
Call sign meaning
Long Island, New York[1]
Technical information[2]
Licensing authority
FCC
Facility ID73206
ERP1,000 kW
HAAT193.9 m (636 ft)
Transmitter coordinates40°53′50.3″N 72°54′54.2″W / 40.897306°N 72.915056°W / 40.897306; -72.915056
Links
Public license information
Websitewww.cbsnews.com/newyork/wlny/

WLNY-TV (channel 55), branded as New York 55, is an independent television station licensed to Riverhead, New York, United States, serving the New York City television market. It is owned by the CBS News and Stations group alongside CBS flagship WCBS-TV (channel 2). The two stations share studios within the CBS Broadcast Center on West 57th Street in Midtown Manhattan; WLNY-TV's transmitter is located in Ridge, New York. The station's over-the-air broadcast covers most of Long Island, but WLNY-TV is available on cable and satellite systems throughout the New York City market.

Channel 55 went on air on April 28, 1985, as WLIG. For its first 26 years of existence, it was owned by Long Island businessman Michael Pascucci; it primarily offered older movies and syndicated shows, though it also featured a 10 p.m. newscast. It spent seven years fighting with Cablevision of Long Island for a channel on the cable system, a battle which sapped the station of potential viewers and was only resolved with the reinstatement of must-carry regulations. Those rules allowed WLNY to gain access to cable systems throughout the New York area, even while its location at some distance from New York City enabled it to carry popular syndicated shows also sold to the New York stations. In 1993, the station reinstated its local news department, which by 2011 was airing one Long Island–focused newscast each night.

CBS agreed to purchase WLNY in 2011 and took control in 2012, dissolving its existing news division for newscasts from the Broadcast Center which vary between WCBS newscast extensions and shows which air nationwide on fellow CBS-owned independents, but have no Long Island-specific focus. In 2021, the Los Angeles Times revealed that the purchase came with a membership to the exclusive Sebonack Golf Club in Southampton, built by Pascucci, which CBS Television Stations president Peter Dunn treated as his own; another executive joked in a call that the acquisition of WLNY represented the purchase of a golf membership, not a TV station. This was among several allegations against Dunn that led to his termination from the company. WLNY currently offers morning and 8 p.m. newscasts from WCBS-TV.

  1. ^ Sanger, Elizabeth (December 2, 1996). "WLNY Adds Sports to Lineup". Newsday. p. C6. Retrieved December 3, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. ^ "Facility Technical Data for WLNY-TV". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.