WATM-TV (channel 23) is a television station licensed to Altoona, Pennsylvania, United States, serving as the ABC affiliate for the Johnstown–Altoona–State College market. It is owned by Palm Television, L.P., which maintains a local marketing agreement (LMA) with Cunningham Broadcasting, owner of Johnstown-licensed Fox affiliate WWCP-TV (channel 8), for the provision of certain services. Both stations, in turn, are operated under a time brokerage agreement (TBA) by Sinclair Broadcast Group, owner of Johnstown-licensed dual NBC/CW+ affiliate WJAC-TV (channel 6).
WATM-TV and WWCP-TV share studios on Lulay Street in the borough of Geistown (with a Johnstown postal address), and also operate advertising sales offices in Altoona (on East Walton Avenue/PA 764) and State College (on West Beaver Avenue/PA 26); master control and some internal operations are based at WJAC-TV's facilities on Old Hickory Lane in Upper Yoder Township (also with a Johnstown postal address). WATM-TV's transmitter is located on Lookout Road, in Logan Township, along the Cambria County line.
Since WATM-TV's signal is barely viewable in Johnstown, it is simulcast in high definition on WWCP-TV's second digital subchannel (8.2) from a transmitter along US 30/Lincoln Highway, in Ligonier Township, near the Somerset County line.
History
As WOPC
This station originally signed-on November 28, 1974, as WOPC, an ABC affiliate broadcasting in analog on UHF channel 38 at a power of 21,400 watts visual and 4,270 watts aural. It was owned by John Powley, who also owned WHGM-FM (now WQWY). Powley also served as station manager.
At the time, Altoona/State College and Johnstown were separate markets. The station was unable to afford a network feed, so for most of its history, engineers simply switched to and from the signal of WTPA-TV (now WHTM-TV) in Harrisburg. It was hampered by a very weak signal. Complicating matters, Scranton's WNEP-TV had long operated two outlying translators (one presently) in State College, the second-biggest city in the area.
Already struggling for viewership, WOPC moved to the stronger channel 23 in 1981 in an attempt to improve its signal. It was seriously undermined in 1982 when Johnstown and Altoona/State College were collapsed into a single market. The station's signal was all but unviewable in the western portion of the enlarged market. As a result, it wilted away with less than one percent of the market share a year later. For the next five years, the ABC affiliation in this vast market was split between three stations in neighboring markets: WHTM reaching Altoona, WNEP serving State College, and Pittsburgh's WTAE-TV covering Johnstown.
As WWPC-TV
In 1986, the owners of the market's newest station, WWCP-TV (channel 8), faced a problem. It had originally been slated to be a Pittsburgh station, but its owners petitioned the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to move the license to Johnstown. In their petition, WWCP's owners cited lower programming costs in the Johnstown–Altoona–State College market. They also cited possible interference with WJW in Cleveland.
The FCC granted the request on condition that WWCP build its transmitter in a location that would allow Pittsburgh to get a Grade B signal from the station. However, this meant channel 8 would be virtually unviewable in the eastern portion of the area. WWCP's owners solved this problem by buying the former WOPC-TV license from Powley on February 28, 1986, at a price of $1.03 million. Following aggressive over-the-air signal testing over the summer with WWCP, along with a power increase of 186,000 watts visual and 18,600 watts aural, the former WOPC became WWPC-TV, a satellite of WWCP, on October 13, 1986.
As WATM-TV
At the time, WHTM and WTAE both preempted moderate amounts of ABC programming and it soon became obvious that Johnstown/Altoona/State College needed its own affiliate. As a result, WWPC split from WWCP and became an ABC affiliate on August 27, 1988, under new calls, WATM-TV. The station was later sold to Palm Television in order to comply with FCC ownership regulations regarding network affiliates. However, WATM is still managed by WWCP under a local marketing agreement as Peak Media, channel 8's former owner, feared that if allowed to operate separately both stations would be put in jeopardy of going dark.