respectively among the strongest affiliates of both CBS and NBC, even if their strength was shown more in Montreal than in Vermont. In contrast, WVNY has perennially been one of ABC's weakest affiliates. Besides the difficulties of being the youngest network affiliate in the market, it was a UHF station in an area that is very mountainous. UHF stations usually do not get good reception in rugged terrain. WVNY's last and most successful attempt at a separate news department was begun on August 9, 1999 with nightly newscasts at 6 and 11 branded as ABC 22 News. There were also weekday morning local news and weather cut-ins at :25 and :55 past the hour during World News This Morning (now America This Morning from 6 until 7, and Good Morning America from 7 until 9. However, due to financial troubles, production was shut down on September 12, 2003. This resulted in the termination of 25 news-related personnel. After WVNY moved into WFFF-TV's studios in 2005, Smith Media made an announcement that the company was planning to establish a joint news department for the two stations. On March 3, 2008, WFFF added a weeknight and Saturday broadcast at 7 on WVNY known as Fox 44 Local News on ABC. As a result, this station became first in the area to offer local news in the time slot. The move to launch the show was due in part to tough competition of newscasts at 6 seen on WCAX-TV and WPTZ. As is the case on WFFF-TV, the WVNY broadcasts are produced in high definition. The Saturday edition eventually moved to 6:30 which has been the case on Sundays from the start in order to accommodate ABC programming. On August 18, 2008, WFFF-TV began airing a two-hour weekday morning show called Fox 44 Local News This Morning. Included in the launch were local news and weather cut-ins on WVNY during its airing of Good Morning America. This occurs at :25 and :55 past the hour from 7 until 9, in which at those times the two stations simulcast each other. Eventually, an additional hour of the broadcast starting at 6 was added to WVNY and is known as ABC 22 This Morning. This station has since expanded the show to a traditional two hour morning newscast starting at 5. At some point in time, WVNY added nightly broadcasts at 6 and 11. Its