WWHB-CD

WWHB-CD, virtual channel 48 (UHF digital channel 33), is a low-powered, Class A Azteca América-affiliated television station licensed to Stuart, Florida, United States, serving the Gold and Treasure Coasts of South Florida. Owned by the Sinclair Broadcast Group, it is a sister station to West Palm Beach-licensed CBS affiliate WPEC (channel 12), Fort Pierce-licensed CW affiliate WTVX (channel 34), and Palm Beach-licensed Class A MyNetworkTV affiliate WTCN-CD (channel 43). The four stations share studios on Fairfield Drive in Mangonia Park, Florida (with a West Palm Beach postal address); WWHB-CD's transmitter is located in unincorporated Martin County (southwest of Hobe Sound) on the Jonathan Dickinson State Park boundary. On cable, the station is available on Comcast Xfinity channel 21 (in Martin, Palm Beach, Okeechobee, and southern St. Lucie counties) and channel 24 (in Indian River and northern St. Lucie counties), as well as on digital channel 611.

WWHB-CD
Stuart/West Palm Beach, Florida
United States
CityStuart, Florida
ChannelsDigital: 33 (UHF)
Virtual: 48 (PSIP)
BrandingAzteca 48
Programming
Affiliations48.1: Azteca América
48.2: Charge! (O&O)
48.3: Stadium (O&O)
Ownership
OwnerSinclair Broadcast Group
(WTVX Licensee, LLC)
Sister stationsbroadcast: WPEC, WTVX, WTCN-CD
cable: Fox Sports Florida, Fox Sports Sun[1]
History
First air date1988 (1988)
Former call signsW19AQ (1989–1998)
WINQ-LP (1998–2002)
WTCN-CA (2002–2003)
WWHB-CA (2003–2019)
Former channel number(s)Digital:
48 (UHF, until 2019)
Former affiliationsIndependent (1988–2002)
Call sign meaningNamed for former owner William H. Brothers
Technical information
Licensing authorityFCC
Facility ID63557
ERP15 kW
HAAT292.5 m (960 ft)
Transmitter coordinates27°1′32″N 80°10′41.9″W
Translator(s)WTVX-DT 34.2 (UHF) Fort Pierce
Links
Public license informationProfile
LMS
Websiteazteca48.com

Due to WWHB's Class A status, the station's low-powered directional antenna pattern prevents it from reaching Vero Beach (to the north) and Boca Raton (to the south). To expand the broadcasting radius, WWHB is simulcast in standard definition on WTVX's second digital subchannel (UHF channel 20.2 or virtual channel 34.2 via PSIP) from a transmitter, southwest of Palm City and I-95/SR 9, in unincorporated Martin County.

History

The original WWHB was licensed to channel 3 in Indianapolis, Indiana to the department store company William H. Block Co. in 1947. It had changed call letters by 1949.

WWHB began broadcasting on January 11, 1991 as an independent with the call sign W16AR. It was located on UHF channel 16 and was licensed to Stuart.[2] Retired businessman August Gabriel began the station with $200,000 and three employees.[3][4] From October 1996 until February 1997, it briefly produced a local morning show known as Good Morning Treasure Coast that was hosted by Tom Teter. Ed Birchfield also briefly hosted a 7 p.m. Treasure Coast News program from February to July 1997.[5][6]

The station moved to UHF channel 15 in 2001 and then to UHF channel 14 in 2002.[7] It added a translator on UHF channel 53 in order to reach West Palm Beach.[8] At some point , the station received the present calls of WTCN-CA and switched to UHF channel 43. This aired from a transmitter at the western boundary of Johnathan Dickinson State Park in Martin County southwest of Jupiter Island. The call letters were originally used by two stations in Minneapolis–St. Paul, Minnesota that are now WCCO-TV and KARE.

Martin County businessman Bill Brothers purchased the station in 2001. It was Bill Brothers who revitalized the station creating the first Hispanic language local television service for the West Palm Beach market. Rebuilding the broadcasting facilities together with his sister station WTCN, WWHB served the Treasure Coast's rapidly growing Hispanic population.[9] In 2005, Viacom bought WWHB and sister station WTCN Channel 43 from Brothers for $7.7 million.[10] Viacom moved the studios back to West Palm Beach and improved the station's signal.[11]

WWHB's logo, 2007-2012

On February 7, 2007, CBS agreed to sell seven of its smaller-market stations to Cerberus Capital Management, L.P., for $185 million.[12] Cerberus then formed a new holding company for the stations, Four Points Media Group, which took over the operation of the stations through local marketing agreements in late-June 2007. The deal closed on January 10, 2008. Although the URL for the WWHB website has not changed since the sale to Four Points, it now redirects to a separate section of WTVX's website. As of February 25, 2008, the station is now being operated out of Four Points' hub station KUTV in Salt Lake City, Utah.

On September 8, 2011, Sinclair Broadcast Group announced its intent to purchase Four Points from Cerberus Capital Management for $200 million; Sinclair began managing the stations, including WWHB-CA, under local marketing agreements following antitrust approval.[13] The deal with Sinclair acquiring Four Points was completed on January 3, 2012.[14]

Digital television

Digital channels

The station's digital signal is multiplexed:

Channel Video Aspect PSIP Short Name Programming[15]
48.11080i16:9WWHBMain WWHB-CD programming / Azteca América
48.2480iCHARGECharge!
48.3StadiumStadium
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References
  1. Miller, Mark K. (August 23, 2019). "Sinclair Closes $10.6B Disney RSN Purchase". TVNewsCheck. NewsCheckMedia. Retrieved August 23, 2019.
  2. Owner Signing Off at Local TV station, by Bob Betcher, 'Stuart News', June 5, 1996
  3. Stuart TV Pushing For Cable Access by Paul D. Martin, The Palm Beach Post, May 12, 1991
  4. August Gabriel, by Nisha Pulliam, The Palm Beach Post, August 30, 1993
  5. 'Stuart's WTCN Moves Its Daily Show to Evenings', by Bob Betcher, 'Stuart News', February 2, 1997
  6. Lack of Local Sponsors Drives Local Newscast Off Air, by Bob Betcher, Stuart (FL) News, July 8, 1997
  7. Stuart's WTCN on the move again - to Channel 14 by Bob Betcher, Stuart News/Port St. Lucie News, May 26, 2002
  8. Stuart's WTCN Has Expanded Into PB County, Fort Pierce (FL) Tribune, August 15, 2001
  9. "Area To Get First All-Spanish Television Station", by Bob Betcher, Fort Pierce Tribune (FL), October 8, 2002
  10. "WTCN's Brothers Cashes Out As Viacom Beefs Up Station", by Bob Betcher, Stuart News, April 17, 2005
  11. "WTCN Moving To West Palm, Likely Will Become WB Station", by Bob Betcher, Stuart News/Port St. Lucie News, June 26, 2005
  12. "CBS Corporation Completes Sale of Local TV Stations to Cereberus". Archived from the original on January 20, 2008. Retrieved October 26, 2018.
  13. "Sinclair Buys Four Points Media For $200M". tvnewscheck.com. Retrieved October 26, 2018.
  14. "Sinclair Closes Four Points Media Acquisition". TVNewsCheck. January 3, 2012. Retrieved January 3, 2012.
  15. RabbitEars TV Query for WWHB-CD
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