View source for WFTY-DT

{{Short description|Television station in Smithtown, New York}}
{{good article}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2025}}
{{About|the television station in Smithtown, New York|the Washington, D.C., television station formerly called WFTY|WDCW}}
{{Infobox television station
| callsign = WFTY-DT
| digital = 23 ([[UHF]])
| virtual = 67
| affiliations = {{ubl|'''67.1:''' [[True Crime Network]]|'''[[WFUT-DT|67.2]]:''' [[UniMás]]|'''[[WXTV-DT|67.3]]:''' [[Univision]]|''for others, see {{Section link||Subchannels}}''}}
| owner = [[TelevisaUnivision]]
| licensee = Univision New York [[LLC]]
| location = [[Smithtown (CDP), New York|Smithtown, New York]]
| country = United States
| airdate = {{Start date and age|1973|11|18|p=y|br=y}}
| callsign_meaning = Telefutura New York (former name for UniMás)
| sister_stations = {{hlist|[[WFUT-DT]]|[[WXTV-DT]]|[[WADO]]|[[WXNY-FM]]}}
| former_callsigns = {{ubl|WSNL-TV (1973–1987)|WHSI (1987–1998)|WHSI-TV (1998–2002)|WFTY (2002–2003)|WFTY–TV (2004–2009)}}
| former_channel_numbers = '''Analog:''' 67 (UHF, 1973–2009)
| former_affiliations = {{ubl|[[Independent station|Independent]] (1973–1975; 1979–1986)|[[Dark (broadcasting)|Dark]] (1975–1979)|[[Wometco Home Theater]] (1980–1985)|[[HSN]] (1986–2001)|[[American Independent Network|AIN]] (2001–2002)|Telefutura/UniMás (2002–2017; now on 67.2)}}
| erp = 655 [[kW]]
| haat = {{convert|219|m|ft|0|abbr=on}}
| facility_id = 60553
| coordinates = {{coord|40|53|23|N|72|57|11|W|type:landmark_scale:2000}}
| licensing_authority = [[FCC]]
}}
'''WFTY-DT''' (channel 67) is a [[television station]] licensed to [[Smithtown (CDP), New York|Smithtown, New York]], United States, serving [[Long Island]] and owned by [[TelevisaUnivision]]. Its main channel broadcasts the [[True Crime Network]]; it also rebroadcasts the main channels of its New York City–area [[Univision]] and [[UniMás]] stations, [[WXTV-DT]] (channel 41) and [[WFUT-DT]] (channel 68), from its transmitter in [[Middle Island, New York]].

Channel 67 was originally assigned to [[Patchogue, New York]], where television producer Theodore Granik obtained the construction permit for a new TV station in September 1968. Granik envisioned a group of [[ultra high frequency]] (UHF) stations carrying public affairs programming, but he died in 1970 with channel 67 unbuilt. The permit was acquired by the Suburban Broadcasting Corporation, which believed it could fill a void in providing news, sports, and entertainment programming from and for Long Island. On this basis, WSNL-TV began broadcasting on November 18, 1973. As much as 70 percent of its lineup consisted of live, local programming, ranging from local news and sports to children's and cooking shows and a Long Island–set soap opera. The station struggled to build a viewer and advertiser base owing to reception difficulties—lampooned so frequently by ''[[Newsday]]'' writer [[Marvin Kitman]] that he was sued—and economic troubles. It left the air on June 20, 1975, and filed for bankruptcy the next year.

In 1978, [[CanWest]] Capital Corporation, a Canadian company whose U.S. subsidiary Universal Subscription Television was in the [[subscription television]] (STV) business, paid off all of Suburban's debts in exchange for the rights to broadcast STV programming on channel 67. CanWest then entered into a joint venture with [[Wometco Enterprises]], majority owner of channel 68 and operator of the [[Wometco Home Theater]] (WHT) STV service that served the New York City area and northern New Jersey. Beginning in June 1980, WSNL-TV began providing WHT on Long Island. Wometco terminated the joint venture in 1981 and became the sole owner of channel 67. At its peak, WHT served more than 111,000 subscribers and was the fourth-largest STV system in the nation.

The death of Wometco majority owner [[Mitchell Wolfson]] in 1983 triggered a [[leveraged buyout]] by [[Kohlberg Kravis Roberts]] (KKR). As subscriptions declined due to rising cable [[market penetration|penetration]], Wometco sold off the WHT business but kept channels 68 and 67, which began broadcasting a music video service known as U68 on June 1, 1985. U68 was a locally programmed competitor to [[MTV]] with a more eclectic mix of music. The stations were put on the market in December 1985 because KKR executed a second leveraged buyout, this time of [[Storer Communications]], and chose to retain Storer's cable systems in northern New Jersey and Connecticut over WWHT and WSNL-TV. The two stations were sold to the [[Home Shopping Network]] (HSN) as part of its foray into broadcasting; renamed WHSE and WHSI, they broadcast home shopping programming for the next 15 years. While an attempt by company owner [[Barry Diller]] to convert the stations to general-entertainment independents was slated as late as 2000, Diller ultimately sold WHSE and WHSI and other [[USA Broadcasting]] stations to Univision in 2001. Many of these stations formed the backbone of Telefutura (now UniMás), which launched in January 2002, at which time WHSE and WHSI became WFUT and WFTY.

==WSNL-TV==
===Prehistory===
On August 22, 1964, Theodore Granik applied for a construction permit for channel 75 in [[Patchogue, New York]], with the channel assignment soon changed to 67 after the [[Federal Communications Commission]] (FCC) overhauled television allocations nationally.<ref name="hc">{{Cite web|url=https://enterpriseefiling.fcc.gov/dataentry/api/download/attachment/fe70800b-c440-1196-11d3-9b429f8d63cd|title=History Cards for WFTY-DT|publisher=[[Federal Communications Commission]]}}</ref> Granik, who had produced the long-running ''[[The American Forum of the Air]]'' on radio and television, envisioned the Patchogue channel as one of seven stations nationwide specializing in public affairs programming.<ref name="Dail640904">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-news-granik-plans-7-uhf-tv-public/135880461/|date=September 4, 1964|page=64|first=Ben|last=Gross|title=Granik Plans 7 UHF-TV Public Service Stations|newspaper=Daily News|location=New York, New York |via=Newspapers.com|access-date=November 30, 2023|archive-date=November 30, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231130201438/https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-news-granik-plans-7-uhf-tv-public/135880461/|url-status=live}}</ref><!-- Fri --> Long Island Video also filed for channel 67;<ref name="News670811">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/newsday-nassau-edition-lis-first-tv-s/135881074/|date=August 11, 1967|page=5|title=LI's First TV Station Is Given an OK|newspaper=Newsday |via=Newspapers.com|access-date=November 30, 2023}}</ref><!-- Fri -->  Medallion Pictures acquired the company and became the applicant,<ref name="News660627">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/newsday-nassau-edition-fcc-sets-li-hea/135883441/|date=June 27, 1966|page=5A|first=Murray|last=Frymer|title=FCC Sets LI Hearing Date|newspaper=Newsday |via=Newspapers.com|access-date=November 30, 2023}}</ref><!-- Mon --> but it agreed to withdraw in exchange for the costs it had incurred in seeking channel 67, granting Granik the permit in September 1968.<ref name="Post680822">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-post-standard-fcc-approves-televisio/135881092/|date=August 22, 1968|page=5|title=FCC Approves Television Permit|newspaper=The Post-Standard|location=Syracuse, New York|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=November 30, 2023}}</ref><!-- Thu -->{{r|hc}}

Granik never built channel 67. He died on September 21, 1970.<ref>{{cite news|title=Theodore Granik, Moderated Debates on Radio, Television|page=C5|date=September 23, 1970|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|id={{ProQuest|147922507}} }}</ref> His death scuttled plans for channel 67 and [[WDCW|channel 50 in Washington, D.C.]]; the estate left no money to start the Washington station, which declared bankruptcy.<ref>{{cite news|date=May 27, 1971|title=Channel 50 In Bankruptcy|page=C13|id={{ProQuest|148049498}}|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=New D.C. permittee has financial troubles |url=https://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1971/1971-05-31-BC.pdf |work=Broadcasting |date=May 31, 1971 |id={{ProQuest|1014526632}} |page=39 |access-date=March 14, 2019 |archive-date=May 28, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220528174525/https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1971/1971-05-31-BC.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> On March 19, 1971, Granik Broadcasting Corporation filed to sell the permit to the Suburban Broadcasting Corporation. Suburban was a consortium of New York–area investors, including some from Long Island as well as [[Percy Sutton]], the president of [[Manhattan Borough]].<ref name="News710702">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/newsday-suffolk-edition-group-seeks-to/116262782/|date=July 2, 1971|page=23|title=Group Seeks to Build TV Station on LI|first=Knut|last=Royce|newspaper=Newsday |via=Newspapers.com|access-date=November 30, 2023}}</ref><!-- Fri -->

After closing on the purchase of the permit from Granik's estate, Suburban unveiled its plans for channel 67, which was given the [[call signs in North America|call sign]] WSNL-TV (for [[Suffolk County, New York|Suffolk County]] and [[Nassau County, New York|Nassau County]] counties on Long Island). Suburban's principals believed Long Island was underserved by television, being part of the New York television market. In 1969, an educational station, [[WLIW (TV)|WLIW]], began broadcasting from [[Garden City, New York|Garden City]], but there was no commercial outlet. Company president David H. Polinger noted the presence of two daily newspapers and 20 radio stations on Long Island but no locally focused TV station.{{r|NYT731111}} Polinger brought Long Island broadcast experience, having built radio stations in [[Lake Success, New York|Lake Success]] and [[Babylon (village), New York|Babylon]].<ref name="News731118">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/newsday-nassau-edition-theyre-turned/135882888/|date=November 18, 1973|page=II:3|first=Leo|last=Seligsohn|title=They're Turned On For LI To Tune In|newspaper=Newsday |via=Newspapers.com|access-date=November 30, 2023}}</ref><!-- Sun -->

Channel 67 planned a schedule heavy on live programs, with as much as 70 percent of the schedule being live, ranging from news and high school sports to a live soap opera.<ref name="News711217">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/newsday-nassau-edition-commercial-tv-f/135882731/|date=December 17, 1971|page=11A|first=Thomas|last=Collins|title=Commercial TV for LI: A step closer|newspaper=Newsday |via=Newspapers.com|access-date=November 30, 2023}}</ref><!-- Fri --><ref name="News730117">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/newsday-nassau-edition-lis-own-soaps/135882778/|date=January 17, 1973|page=11A|first=Howard|last=Schneider|title=LI's own soaps, talk shows: Ch. 67|newspaper=Newsday |via=Newspapers.com|access-date=November 30, 2023}}</ref><!-- Wed --> Films and syndicated programming rounded out the lineup.<ref name="Long731213">{{cite news|date=December 13, 1973|title=New Television Station Begins LI-Oriented Telecasts In Color|url=https://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071025/1973-12-13/ed-1/seq-13.pdf|newspaper=The Long Island Advance|location=Patchogue, New York|page=13|access-date=June 12, 2016|archive-date=August 8, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160808043021/http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071025/1973-12-13/ed-1/seq-13.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> Construction of studios near the corner of the [[Long Island Expressway]] and Veterans Highway in [[Central Islip]], near [[Hauppauge]], began in April 1973.{{r|News730117}}<ref name="News730408">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/newsday-nassau-edition-new-li-tv-stati/135883525/|date=April 8, 1973|page=35|title=New LI TV Station Dedicated|newspaper=Newsday |via=Newspapers.com|access-date=November 30, 2023}}</ref><!-- Sun --> The {{convert|18000|ft2|m2}} building featured two studios to handle the station's large local program output.<ref>{{Cite news|work=Back Stage|id={{ProQuest|963054977}}|title=Station Production Trend Continues As WSNL Takes Plunge |first=Tom|last=Tolnay|date=July 19, 1974|pages=3, 22}}</ref>

===Live and local for Long Island===
WSNL-TV began broadcasting to Long Island on November 18, 1973.<ref name="News731119">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/newsday-nassau-edition-ch-67-lis-fi/135882302/|date=November 19, 1973|pages=4A, [https://www.newspapers.com/article/newsday-nassau-edition-ch-67/135882336/ 5A]|first=Leo|last=Seligsohn|title=Ch. 67: LI's First Commercial TV Station Is Born|newspaper=Newsday |via=Newspapers.com|access-date=November 30, 2023}}</ref><!-- Mon --> It represented a $4&nbsp;million investment by Suburban Broadcasting.<ref>{{Cite news|page=47|title=Long Island's New WSNL-TV Gears Up In Toughest Market|first=Frank|last=Meyer|date=April 10, 1974|work=Variety|id={{ProQuest|1505777275}}}}</ref> Programming included ''The Fairchilds'', a soap opera featuring a family that moved from California to [[Oyster Bay (hamlet), New York|Oyster Bay]]; the amateur variety show ''Toast of Long Island''; a late-night variety show, ''Long Island Tonight''; ''Chef Nicola'', a live cooking show; ''Black Metamorphosis'', a public affairs program; exercise program ''Trim and Slim''; children's programs ''Captain Ahab'' and ''Ahab and Friends''; and sports coverage and two daily editions of ''67 Action News''.<ref name="News730921">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/newsday-nassau-edition-theres-a-trend/135882805/|date=September 21, 1973|pages=3A, [https://www.newspapers.com/article/newsday-nassau-edition-a-trend-for-eve/135882831/ 36A]|first=Leo|last=Seligsohn|title=There's A Trend For Everyone|newspaper=Newsday |via=Newspapers.com|access-date=November 30, 2023}}</ref><!-- Fri --><ref name="NYT731111">{{cite news|first=Jane|last=Chekenian|date=November 11, 1973|title=Channel 67 to Go on Air Next Sunday|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1973/11/11/archives/channel-67-to-go-on-air-next-sunday-need-for-station-cited-a-daily.html|newspaper=The New York Times|access-date=June 8, 2017|archive-date=November 7, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171107115646/http://www.nytimes.com/1973/11/11/archives/channel-67-to-go-on-air-next-sunday-need-for-station-cited-a-daily.html?_r=0|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="News731219">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/newsday-nassau-edition-the-marvin-kitm/135882398/|date=December 19, 1973|page=180|title=M-m-m-m...|first=Marvin|last=Kitman|author-link=Marvin Kitman|newspaper=Newsday |via=Newspapers.com|access-date=November 30, 2023}}</ref><!-- Wed --> Syndicated programs included ''[[The Phil Donahue Show]]''.<ref name="pullout">{{Cite news|date=November 18, 1973|type=Advertising pullout|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/newsday-nassau-edition-wsnltv-channel/136064716/|work=Newsday|pages=1, [https://www.newspapers.com/article/newsday-nassau-edition-is-long-island/136064658/ 2/3]|title=WSNL-TV Channel 67 UHF is Long Island's own...and it's really something to watch!|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref>

The principal operating challenge for WSNL-TV was that it was an [[ultra high frequency]] (UHF) station. The quality of the station's local programming and many viewers' trouble tuning it in became regular fodder for [[Marvin Kitman]], the television critic and satirist for Long Island's daily ''[[Newsday]]''. Over the course of 1974, Kitman published several columns making light of channel 67's poor signal—hobbled by installation difficulties—and production values. In April, Kitman wrote,<ref name="News740417">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/newsday-nassau-edition-the-marvin-kitm/127368335/|date=April 17, 1974|page=67A|first=Marvin|last=Kitman|author-link=Marvin Kitman|title=The Marvin Kitman Show: New directions|newspaper=Newsday |via=Newspapers.com|access-date=November 30, 2023}}</ref><!-- Wed -->

{{blockquote|The morning of March 6, a large crane went to the site of a leading cultural landmark on Long Island, the Ch. 67 transmitter and antenna off the expressway in Central Islip. The riggers turned the tower in a new direction. Since then, there have been bitter complaints from the Russian trawler fleet. ... By twisting the antenna very early that morning in March, Ch. 67 may have damaged the [[détente]].}}

Kitman ran a survey asking for readers' comments on WSNL-TV's reception and programming in February 1974.<ref name="News740217">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/newsday-nassau-edition-testing-ch-67/135883823/|date=February 17, 1974|page=II:7|first=Marvin|last=Kitman|author-link=Marvin Kitman|title=Testing Ch. 67's visible impact|newspaper=Newsday |via=Newspapers.com|access-date=November 30, 2023}}</ref><!-- Sun --> Based on the survey, Kitman published "ratings" for the station's various local programs.<ref name="News740509">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/newsday-nassau-edition-news-is-tops-wi/135883911/|date=May 9, 1974|pages=108A, [https://www.newspapers.com/article/newsday-nassau-edition-news-is-tops/135883887/ 107A]|first=Marvin|last=Kitman|author-link=Marvin Kitman|title=News is tops with Ch. 67 viewers|newspaper=Newsday |via=Newspapers.com|access-date=November 30, 2023}}</ref><!-- Thu --> He also published alleged reader comments as to the station's receivability. A man from [[Far Rockaway]] told Kitman, "Yes, I saw Channel 67. In ''[[TV Guide]]''."<ref name="News740707">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/newsday-nassau-edition-getting-ch-67/135882948/|date=July 7, 1974|page=II:7|first=Marvin|last=Kitman|author-link=Marvin Kitman|title=Getting Ch. 67's audience in focus|newspaper=Newsday |via=Newspapers.com|access-date=November 30, 2023}}</ref><!-- Sun -->  In response, Suburban Broadcasting filed a $15&nbsp;million lawsuit in [[New York Supreme Court]] against Kitman and ''Newsday'' in November 1974, claiming a "willful and malicious effort to mortally injure" WSNL-TV's chances as a "viable advertising medium".<ref>{{Cite news|title=Kitman 'Canards' Are Suit-Able, Long Island UHFer Decides |page=38|work=Variety|date=November 20, 1974|id={{ProQuest|1401275291}} }}</ref>

Suburban's lawsuit against Kitman coincided with a retrenchment. Channel 67 had been in talks for a loan from [[Franklin National Bank]], but the bank became insolvent and was closed in October 1974.<ref name="NYT750622">{{cite news |last=Abrams |first=John |date=June 22, 1975 |title=Channel 67 Suspends Televising Indefinitely |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1975/06/22/archives/brooklyn-pages-channel-67-suspends-televising-indefinitely.html |newspaper=The New York Times |access-date=October 7, 2017 |archive-date=October 7, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171007121413/http://www.nytimes.com/1975/06/22/archives/brooklyn-pages-channel-67-suspends-televising-indefinitely.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="News741009">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/newsday-suffolk-edition-franklin-natio/136062197/|date=October 9, 1974|pages=3, [https://www.newspapers.com/article/newsday-suffolk-edition-franklin-bank/136062229/ 4]|first=Avery|last=Hunt|title=Franklin National Is Bankrupt, International Group Takes Over|newspaper=Newsday |via=Newspapers.com|access-date=November 30, 2023}}</ref><!-- Wed --> The station's first election night coverage was almost affected by strike action among 12 unionized news employees.<ref name="News741106">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/newsday-nassau-edition-pact-reached-at/135884013/|date=November 6, 1974|page=30|title=Pact Reached at Ch. 67|newspaper=Newsday |via=Newspapers.com|access-date=November 30, 2023}}</ref><!-- Wed --> In October, WSNL laid off Oren Palenik, host of a women's program, and other hosts and increased its reliance on syndicated shows and films.<ref name="News741217">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/newsday-nassau-edition-for-one-woman/135884027/|date=December 17, 1974|page=5|first=Ed|last=Lowe|title=For One Woman, the Show Is Over|newspaper=Newsday |via=Newspapers.com|access-date=November 30, 2023}}</ref><!-- Tue --> The news programming was reduced to hourly news updates in January 1975, part of a reduction in local programming from 40 hours a week to just eight or nine hours and accompanying a layoff of one-fifth of the station's staff.<ref name="News750111">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/newsday-nassau-edition-channel-67-layi/136061575/|date=January 11, 1975|page=6|title=Channel 67 Laying Off 20% of Staff|newspaper=Newsday |via=Newspapers.com|access-date=November 30, 2023}}</ref><!-- Sat --> In addition to filing suit against Kitman, Suburban sued equipment manufacturer [[RCA]] and tower fabricator Stainless Inc. for improper initial installation of the antenna. The company also sought new investors.<ref name="News750124">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/newsday-nassau-edition-from-lis-ch-6/135883049/|date=January 24, 1975|pages=3A, [https://www.newspapers.com/article/newsday-nassau-edition-at-lis-ch-67/135883073/ 6A]|title=From LI's Ch. 67, Reorganization And a Major Change in Focus|newspaper=Newsday |via=Newspapers.com|access-date=November 30, 2023}}</ref><!-- Fri --> In one last miscue, the station gave up its rights to telecast [[New York Cosmos (1970–1985)|New York Cosmos]] soccer just two weeks before [[Pelé]] signed with the team.{{r|NYT750622}}

The reduction in local programming and personnel failed to turn the station's finances around. The station left the air on June 20, 1975, while signing a deal with a company to use the Central Islip studios for commercial and film production.<ref name="News750607">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/newsday-nassau-edition-channel-67-goin/135881261/|date=June 7, 1975|page=7|title=Channel 67 Going Off Air June 20|newspaper=Newsday |via=Newspapers.com|access-date=November 30, 2023}}</ref><!-- Sat --> The suspension was described as temporary, lasting just three months.<ref name="News750619">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/newsday-nassau-edition-wsln-tv-sic-s/136061651/|date=June 19, 1975|page=25|first=Barbara|last=Murray|title=WSLN-TV [sic] Set To Leave Air For 3 Months|newspaper=Newsday |via=Newspapers.com|access-date=November 30, 2023}}</ref><!-- Thu --> One broadcaster operating other UHF stations told ''[[The New York Times]]'' that Suburban failed to take its "VHF thinking" and translate it to the different economics of running a UHF television station.{{r|NYT750622}} The station lost an average of $255,931 for each of the 20 months it was in business.{{r|order|p=361}}

Suburban Broadcasting Corporation filed for bankruptcy in February 1976, listing assets of $3.9&nbsp;million and liabilities of $4.8&nbsp;million. Creditors were told that the station was about to become profitable when two of its three largest advertisers went out of business.<ref name="News760222">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/newsday-suffolk-edition-creditors-weig/135881321/|date=February 22, 1976|page=19|first=Mitchell|last=Freedman|title=Creditors Weigh Fate of Channel 67|newspaper=Newsday |via=Newspapers.com|access-date=November 30, 2023}}</ref><!-- Sun -->

===Subscription TV broadcasting===
On August 24, 1978, Suburban Broadcasting found a Canadian [[white knight]] to pay its $5&nbsp;million in debts. [[CanWest]] Capital Corporation provided the financing in a deal that saw CanWest's U.S. [[subscription television]] (STV) subsidiary, Universal Subscription Television, enter into a franchise agreement to provide pay broadcasting over WSNL-TV. CanWest, as a Canadian company, could not own stations outright, but it could provide them with subscription programming.<ref name="Glob800130">{{Cite news|page=B2|date=January 31, 1980|title=Canwest joins U.S. firm in bid for N.Y. market|work=[[The Globe and Mail]]|id={{ProQuest|386984288}} }}</ref> As part of the deal, channel 67 changed its [[city of license]] from Patchogue to Smithtown, where enough commercial, free TV stations were received to permit FCC licensing of an STV station.<ref name="News780805">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/newsday-nassau-edition-li-channel-67-t/135881334/|date=August 5, 1978|page=6|title=LI Channel 67 To Reopen, Offer Pay TV|first=Mitchell|last=Freedman|newspaper=Newsday |via=Newspapers.com|access-date=November 30, 2023}}</ref><!-- Sat --> The station began plans for reactivation in late 1979; in addition to subscription programming from Universal Subscription Television, WSNL-TV would air some local programming as a condition of its license.<ref name="News791016">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/newsday-li-tv-station-plans-comeback/136062611/|date=October 16, 1979|page=41|first=Brian|last=Moss|title=LI TV Station Plans Comeback|newspaper=Newsday|location=Melville, New York |via=Newspapers.com|access-date=November 30, 2023}}</ref><!-- Tue -->

WSNL-TV returned to Long Island screens on December 15, 1979, after nearly {{frac|4|1|2}} years of silence, with a limited schedule of prime time programming during the week and daytime programs on weekends.<ref name="News791215">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/newsday-nassau-edition-ch-67-rides-ag/135884194/|date=December 15, 1979|page=II:28|title=Ch. 67 rides again|newspaper=Newsday |via=Newspapers.com|access-date=November 30, 2023}}</ref><!-- Sat --><ref>{{cite news|date=December 30, 1979|title=WSNL-TV Returns to Air On L.I. After 4 1/2 Years|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1979/12/30/archives/wsnltv-returns-to-air-on-li-after-4-years.html|newspaper=The New York Times|location=New York, New York|access-date=July 22, 2017|archive-date=November 7, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171107115754/http://www.nytimes.com/1979/12/30/archives/wsnltv-returns-to-air-on-li-after-4-years.html|url-status=live}}</ref> A month later, Suburban filed to sell the station to a new joint venture led by [[Wometco Enterprises]]. This sale meant that, instead of programming from Universal Subscription Television, WSNL would provide STV programming from [[Wometco Home Theater]] (WHT).<ref name="News800116">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/newsday-suffolk-edition-2-firms-seek-t/135881517/|date=January 16, 1980|page=47|first=Brian|last=Moss|title=2 Firms Seek to Buy Channel 67 Operator|newspaper=Newsday |via=Newspapers.com|access-date=November 30, 2023}}</ref><!-- Wed --> WHT had been operating in the New York market on channel 68 from [[Newark, New Jersey]], at this point known as [[WFUT-DT|WWHT]], since March 1, 1977;<ref name="Reco770426">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-record-pay-tv-goes-wireless/136063311/|date=April 26, 1977|page=A-18|first=Robert|last=Feldberg|title=Pay TV goes wireless|newspaper=The Record|location=Hackensack, New Jersey|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=November 30, 2023}}</ref><!-- Tue --> CanWest approached WHT because it was worried about the viability of a standalone STV service from WSNL.{{r|order|p=361}} From January 30 to June 2, 1980, channel 67 was out of service because of an electrical fire at its Central Islip studios;{{r|order|p=362}} the fire gutted the control room and burned so hot that a brick wall cracked.<ref name="News800131">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/newsday-suffolk-edition-fire-damage-pu/135881547/|date=January 31, 1980|page=31|title=Fire Damage Puts Ch. 67 Off the Air|newspaper=Newsday |first=Mitchell|last=Freedman|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 1, 2023}}</ref><!-- Thu --> The station began airing Wometco Home Theater after returning to the air.<ref>{{Cite news|work=The Film Journal|page=72|title=FCC Grants Wometco Control of WSNL-TV|date=January 15, 1981|id={{ProQuest|1017412119}} }}</ref> It also offered old movies and a nightly newscast.{{r|News800131}}<ref>{{cite news|date=June 19, 1986|title=L.I. no longer ignored by New York City news|url=http://fultonhistory.com/Newspaper4/Sayville%20NY%20Suffolk%20County%20News/Sayville%20NY%20Suffolk%20County%20News%201986%20Jan-Jun%201986%20Grayscale/Sayville%20NY%20Suffolk%20County%20News%201986%20Jan-Jun%201986%20Grayscale%20-%201001.pdf|newspaper=Suffolk County News|location=Sayville, New York|page=22|first=Karl|last=Grossman|access-date=June 22, 2016|archive-date=November 5, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211105065556/https://fultonhistory.com/Newspaper4/Sayville%20NY%20Suffolk%20County%20News/Sayville%20NY%20Suffolk%20County%20News%201986%20Jan-Jun%201986%20Grayscale/Sayville%20NY%20Suffolk%20County%20News%201986%20Jan-Jun%201986%20Grayscale%20-%201001.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>

The FCC approved of Wometco acquiring WSNL-TV in November 1980. Because channels 67 and 68 had overlapping signals, Wometco would operate WSNL-TV as a simulcast of WWHT with up to four and a half hours a week of its own programming.<ref name="order">{{Cite web|url=https://recnet.net/fccrecord/?id=ark:/67531/metadc770893|page=359|title=Memorandum Opinion and Order (83 FCC 2d 359)|date=November 18, 1980|publisher=[[Federal Communications Commission]]}}</ref> Wometco closed on the purchase in January 1981,<ref>{{Cite news|title=Wometco finalizes TV station buy|page=8|date=January 9, 1981|work=The Hollywood Reporter|id={{ProQuest|2598207355}} }}</ref> and in June, it bought out CanWest's interest in the joint venture and became the sole owner of WSNL while sharing ownership of WWHT with [[Blonder Tongue Labs|Blonder-Tongue Laboratories]].<ref>{{Cite news|date=June 18, 1981|work=The Hollywood Reporter|id={{ProQuest|2598184491}}|page=6|title=Wometco, Uni venture terminated}}</ref>

{{#section:WFUT-DT|shared}} <!--All of this material lives at the article for WFUT!-->

In 2017, Univision reached a deal with the Justice Network, a [[diginet]] focusing on true crime and law enforcement programming, and provided it carriage in 11 markets, including New York City.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nexttv.com/news/univision-rolling-out-justice-network-11-markets-168358|first=Diana|last=Marszalek|title=Univision Rolling Out Justice Network in 11 Markets|date=September 6, 2017|access-date=December 1, 2023|archive-date=May 28, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230528002215/https://www.nexttv.com/news/univision-rolling-out-justice-network-11-markets-168358|url-status=live}}</ref> Justice Network rebranded as [[True Crime Network]] in 2020.<ref>{{Cite news|first=Jon|last=Lafayette|url=https://www.nexttv.com/news/tegna-relaunching-justice-as-true-crime-net-with-streaming|date=August 26, 2020|access-date=December 1, 2023|title=Tegna Relaunching Justice as True Crime Net with Streaming|work=Broadcasting & Cable|archive-date=June 27, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220627114316/https://www.nexttv.com/news/tegna-relaunching-justice-as-true-crime-net-with-streaming|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Technical information==
{{Maplink|frame=yes|frame-height=240|frame-width=300|raw={{Wikipedia:Map data/WFUT and WFTY map}} |text=Coverage areas of WFUT–WXTV (red) and WFTY-DT (blue). WFUT–WXTV, from the [[Empire State Building]], serves New York City, the [[Hudson Valley]], and northern New Jersey. WFTY-DT, from Middle Island, serves much of the southern Connecticut coast and eastern Long Island. The signals overlap over southwestern Connecticut and west-central Long Island.}}
===Subchannels===
The station's signal is [[Multiplex (TV)|multiplexed]]:
{| class="wikitable"
|+Subchannels of WFTY-DT<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.rabbitears.info/market.php?request=station_search&callsign=WFTY|title=Digital TV Market Listing for WFTY|website=[[RabbitEars]]|access-date=September 28, 2023|archive-date=September 28, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230928040926/https://www.rabbitears.info/market.php?request=station_search&callsign=WFTY|url-status=live}}</ref>
! scope = "col" | [[Digital subchannel#United States|Channel]]
! scope = "col" | [[Display resolution|Res.]]
! scope = "col" | [[Aspect ratio (image)|Aspect]]
! scope = "col" | Short name
! scope = "col" | Programming
|-
! scope = "row" | 67.1
| [[480i]] || rowspan=7| [[16:9]] || CRIME || [[True Crime Network]]
|-
! scope = "row" | [[WFUT-DT|67.2]]
| rowspan=2| [[720p]] || style="background-color: #E6FFF7;"|WFUT-DT || style="background-color: #E6FFF7;"|[[UniMás]] ([[WFUT-DT]])
|-
! scope = "row" | [[WXTV-DT|67.3]]
| style="background-color: #E6FFF7;"|WXTV-DT || style="background-color: #E6FFF7;"|[[Univision]] ([[WXTV-DT]])
|-
! scope = "row" | 67.4
| rowspan=4| 480i || GRIT ||[[Grit (TV network)|Grit]]
|-
! scope = "row" | 67.5
| MYSTERY || [[Ion Mystery]]
|-
! scope = "row" | 67.6
| style="background-color: #f2d1de;"|ShopLC || style="background-color: #f2d1de;"|[[Shop LC]] [[File:4 rounded rect pink.svg|14px|alt=MPEG-4 video|link=MPEG-4 Part 2]]
|-
! scope = "row" | 67.7
| NVSN || [[Nuestra Visión]]
|}
{{legend|#E6FFF7|Simulcast of subchannels of another station}}
{{legend|#f2d1de|Subchannel broadcast with [[MPEG-4 Part 2|MPEG-4 video]]}}

===Analog-to-digital conversion===
WFTY ended regular programming on its analog signal, over [[UHF]] channel 67, on June 12, 2009, as part of the [[Digital television transition in the United States|federally mandated transition from analog to digital television]]. The station's digital signal remained on its pre-transition UHF channel 23, using [[virtual channel]] 67.<ref name="Analog to Digital">{{Cite web |date=May 23, 2006 |title=DTV Tentative Channel Designations for the First and Second Rounds |url=http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-06-1082A2.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130829004251/http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-06-1082A2.pdf |archive-date=August 29, 2013 |access-date=August 29, 2021 |publisher=Federal Communications Commission}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[WFUT-DT]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://www.univision.com/ Univision]
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LcP5NBcuoak YouTube WSNL-TV: A Remembrance]

{{NYC TV}}
{{Other New York Stations}}
{{New England TV}}
{{Univision Communications}}
{{Major U.S. TV O-O Stations}}

[[Category:1973 establishments in New York (state)]]
[[Category:Companies based in Bergen County, New Jersey]]
[[Category:Grit (TV network) affiliates]]
[[Category:Ion Mystery affiliates]]
[[Category:Mass media in Suffolk County, New York]]
[[Category:Nuestra Visión affiliates]]
[[Category:Television channels and stations established in 1973]]
[[Category:Television stations in New York City|FTY-DT]]
[[Category:True Crime Network affiliates]]
[[Category:UniMás affiliates]]
[[Category:Univision affiliates]]
[[Category:Wometco Enterprises]]