In March 1980, Viacom purchased its second broadcast TV station, a CBS affiliate serving the Capital District of New York. By October 1981, it swapped network affiliations with one of the world’s first color TV stations, with WAST-13 becoming WNYT.
The NBC affiliate serving Albany-Schenectady-Troy has been the market’s NBC affiliate ever since, and a Hubbard Broadcasting property since a June 1996 asset swap that gave WTOG-44 in Tampa-St. Petersburg to Viacom in exchange of WNYT and WHEC-10 in Rochester, N.Y.
Today, WNYT serves New York’s capital region with a digital VHF signal. Hubbard wants it to move to a more powerful digital UHF signal, while keeping its PSIP. Before such a decision is made at the FCC, it is seeking public comment on the request.