WTLW

WTLW, virtual channel 44 (VHF digital channel 4), is a religious/secular independent television station licensed to Lima, Ohio, United States. The station is owned by American Christian Television Services. WTLW's studios and transmitter are located on Baty Road northwest of the city.

Not to be confused with WLWT or WLTW.
WTLW
Lima, Ohio
United States
ChannelsDigital: 4 (VHF)
Virtual: 44 (PSIP)
BrandingWTLW 44
SloganYour Local Family Station
Programming
Affiliations44.1: Religious Independent
44.2: West Ohio Sports Network
Ownership
OwnerAmerican Christian Television Services, Inc.
Sister stationsWOIW-LD, WNHO-LD
History
First air dateJune 13, 1982 (1982-06-13)
Former channel number(s)Analog:
44 (UHF, 1982–2008)
Digital:
47 (UHF, 2008–2009)
44 (UHF, 2009–2019)
Call sign meaningWitnessing
The
Living
Word
Technical information
Licensing authorityFCC
Facility ID1222
ClassDT
ERP10 kW
HAAT207 m (679 ft)
Transmitter coordinates40°45′47″N 84°11′1″W
Links
Public license informationProfile
LMS
Websitewtlw.com
WOIW-LD
Translator of WTLW
Lima, Ohio
United States
ChannelsDigital: 17 (UHF)
Virtual: 44 (PSIP)
Brandingsee WTLW infobox
Slogansee WTLW infobox
Programming
Affiliations44.1: Religious Independent
44.2: WOSN
Ownership
OwnerAmerican Christian Television Services, Inc.
History
First air dateDecember 23, 1997 (1997-12-23)
Former call signsW61CZ (1997–2009)
W23DE-D (2009–?)
Former channel number(s)Analog:
61 (UHF, 1997–2009)
Digital:
23 (UHF, 2009–2019)
Technical information
Licensing authorityFCC
Facility ID74373
ClassLD
ERP15 kW
HAAT149.6 m (491 ft)
Transmitter coordinates40°45′47″N 84°11′1″W
Links
Public license informationProfile
LMS

WOIW-LD (virtual channel 44, UHF digital channel 17) in Lima operates as a translator of WTLW.

The station's owner should not be confused with the American Christian Television System, a defunct television network, or Associated Christian Television System, which owns WACX in Orlando, Florida.

History

WTLW has its roots in Christian radio station WTGN-FM, also in Lima. In 1976, WTGN solicited its listeners for seed money for a new television station. Before the station received FCC approval, however, WTGN opted not to own nor operate the new station, and the people behind the drive to get WTLW on the air decided to incorporate as American Christian Television Services, Inc.

The station chose a hangar at the former site of Lima Allen County Airport on Baty Road near Elida, northwest of Lima, to build a studio. The new studios, measuring 80 by 80 feet (24 by 24 m), was believed by the station founders to be the largest television studio in Northwest Ohio. The hangar was converted into a television studio in 1980, through the efforts of volunteers.

On June 13, 1982, WTLW signed on the air.

In 1988, the station expanded its focus from religious broadcasts to incorporate full length broadcasts of local high school basketball games. Eventually, football games were added as well. In the fall of 2010, WTLW launched a 24-hour all-sports network on its digital subchannel, 44.2. The station was called WOSN, standing for West Ohio Sports Network.

WOSN now covers 70 schools and several colleges and airs hundreds of full length sporting events throughout the year. WOSN is also home to several sports related shows - The Sports Report, Big Sports Weekend, Buckeye Insider and Marks Madness. The majority of games aired on WOSN are football and basketball games, but soccer, volleyball, tennis, swimming, softball, baseball, track, bowling and even Soap Box Derby racing have been featured.

As a result of the 600 MHz spectrum auction, WTLW was required to move to VHF 4. The station then moved a low-powered translator (WOIW-LD) to its main tower as a nested translator to broadcast on UHF 17 at 15 kW of power, and became the temporary originating station for its signals (with a PSIP of 44.1 and 44.2) while WTLW moved frequencies.

Digital television

Digital channels

The station's digital signal is multiplexed:

Channel Video Aspect PSIP Short Name Programming[1][2]
44.1720p16:9WTLWMain WTLW programming
44.2WOSN_DTWest Ohio Sports Network

Programming

WTLW runs infomercials and religious programming before 5 p.m.; and family dramas, first-run talk shows, family movies, local sports programming, and reality shows after 5 p.m.[3]

gollark: Hmm... two reds... probably not worth it for a CB xeno, unless values dropped.
gollark: AEONS DO THAT.
gollark: ```You want: Pink/Red/other BSA hatchlings```I got an offer of a 6d single Pink egg.
gollark: *or at least the hatchlings*
gollark: *kind of also wants them*

References
  1. RabbitEars TV Query for WTLW
  2. RabbitEars TV Query for WOIW-LD
  3. "Our Broadcast Schedule". WTLW.com. American Christian Television Services. Retrieved November 18, 2018.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.