Delaware city threatens to oppose WHYY license renewal
City officials in Wilmington, Del., say they will oppose the FCC license renewal of Philadelphia-based WHYY-TV.
On the FCC’s books, the channel is assigned to Wilmington, but WHYY based its tri-state service in up the river in Philadelphia and assuaged Delaware’s grievance for 46 years by airing a daily news program about the neighboring state, which has no TV station based on its soil.
The relationship soured in July, when the station stopped producing Delaware Tonight. It replaced the show with a weekly newsmag, First State, and said it would boost Delaware news on WHYY-FM and on its website. WHYY also said it would dispose of its Wilmington facility and find something more affordable.
Delaware officials say they don’t mean to be antagonistic but indicate they are at least peeved. John Rago, a spokesman for Wilmington Mayor James M. Baker, said, “There are a lot of people in Delaware who are disappointed in Channel 12,” according to the Philadelphia Inquirer. Delaware Gov. Jack Markell remarked earlier this year that WHYY’s curtailed coverage “raises significant questions about their commitment to Delaware.”
WHYY news chief Chris Satullo told the Delaware News Journal that the station has interviewed Wilmington officials multiple times recently. “The whole notion that we're not fulfilling our obligation to covering Wilmington news is not true ...,” he said.
Web page posted Dec. 15, 2009
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