WPTZ

WPTZ, channel 5, is an NBC-affiliated television station located in Plattsburgh, New York, USA. WPTZ is owned by the broadcasting subsidiary of the Hearst Corporation, and has its studios on Television Drive in Plattsburgh and transmitter located on Mount Mansfield in Vermont. It also serves as the default NBC affiliate in the Carthage/Watertown market since it does not have an NBC affiliate of its own.

All of WPTZ's programming can also be seen over semi-satellite station WNNE (channel 31), which is licensed to Hartford, Vermont and serves the Upper Connecticut River Valley region of Vermont and New Hampshire.

History

The station signed on the air on December 8, 1954 as WIRI, licensed to the hamlet of North Pole, New York. It was owned by the Great Northern Broadcasting Company along with WIRY radio (1340 AM). The station's first studio facilities were located on Cornelia Street/Route 3 in Plattsburgh. and transmitter on Terry Mountain in Peru, New York. The station has been a primary NBC affiliate since its inception; it carried secondary affiliations with ABC until 1968 when WVNY (channel 22) signed-on, and with DuMont until that network ceased operations in 1956.