News operation
Although the local marketing agreement between WSEE-TV and WICU-TV was established in 2002, the actual beginning of newscast consolidation between the two did not start until WSEE-TV actually moved into WICU's studios. WSEE-TV aired the final newscast from its separate Peach Street studios on May 28, 2009. With the challenges of moving, this station went without local news for nearly four days while technical and logistical arrangements were finalized.
When it resumed broadcasts, WSEE-TV's weeknight news at 11 p.m. was recorded while it broadcast live on WSEE-DT2 at 10 p.m.
After WSEE-TV moved its operations into the State Street facility, the existing studio set was split in two, allowing each station's newscast to look unique.
For one year starting in March 2009, a special feed of WSEE-DT2 (incorrectly identified on-air as "WBEP-DT2 Northwest Pennsylvania CW") was aired in the portions of Cattaraugus County, New York, served by Atlantic Broadband. This special feed replaced the first run of the prime time news at 10 p.m. with a replay of WICU-TV's weeknight show seen earlier at 6 p.m. The practice was performed to compensate for the fact that WICU-TV is not seen on Atlantic Broadband (whereas WSEE-TV and WSEE-DT2 both are). Without explanation, "WBEP-DT2" was discontinued in March 2010, and Cattaraugus County viewers began receiving the same WSEE-DT2 feed as viewers in Pennsylvania including the WSEE-TV-produced 10 p.m. newscast.
Originally, WSEE-TV's sixty-minute weekday morning show Mornings Live was recorded at 4 a.m. and then aired in the 6 o'clock a.m. hour. It retained the show's branding (as made obvious by the lack of current conditions during weather forecasts) despite the actual operation. During the 2012–13 season, following the national trend toward 4 a.m. newscasts, Mornings Live was actually seen "live" from 4 to 5 a.m. on WSEE-DT2 in addition to being taped for its later showing on WSEE-TV.[11][12]
Until January 2013, this station's weeknight news at 6 p.m. was usually recorded during the mid-afternoon. The studios were unable to air two live broadcasts at the same time until a second high-definition production control room was added. Sister station WICU-TV airs a midday show weekdays at 12:30 p.m. following WSEE-TV's long-running noon newscast. On weekends, the two stations jointly produce local news at 6 and 11 p.m. These shows are known as Weekends Now. The WSEE-TV news department also produces a weekly public affairs program The Insider, which airs weekends Sunday morning on WSEE-TV.
During the week, WSEE-TV and WICU-TV maintain talent for news and sports that generally appear on one station. Most video footage and content is shared, coming from the same newsroom. In cases of breaking news, severe weather, or election coverage, the two simulcast newscasts and occasionally include the CW subchannel as well. On weekday mornings, WSEE-DT2 provides a simulcast of the first hour of WICU's 12 News Today at 5 p.m. and the NBC affiliate's midday show at 12:30 p.m.. It also aired the nationally syndicated broadcast The Daily Buzz from 6 to 9 p.m. with other CW Plus stations.
Along with their sister station WICU-TV, WSEE-TV upgraded newscasts to high definition in November 2012. The Newswatch branding was dropped after 28 years to coincide with the switch. WSEE's newscasts were rebranded as SEE News.
In September 2015, Lilly Broadcasting announced that WICU-TV and WSEE-TV would no longer produce separate morning and evening newscasts as of October 12; the two stations now simulcast newscasts in these time periods. The stations' executive vice president, John Christianson, said that the WICU and WSEE newscasts were seen by viewers to have been essentially the same newscast with different anchors.[13]
WSEE signed a shared services agreement with Jamestown, New York–based The WNY Media Company (doing business as WNY News Now) in July 2021.[14]
- Al Benedict – news anchor
- Micah Johnson – reporter and news anchor (1984–1985)
- Lloyd Newell – primary news anchor (1984–1986)
- Dave Price – reporter (1997)
- Steve Scully[15]
- John Stehr – news anchor and reporter (1980)[16]
