WPHY-CD

WPHY-CD, virtual channel 25, is a digital Class A television station serving Mercer County, New Jersey, portions of Hunterdon, Burlington, Middlesex, and Somerset Counties in New Jersey. The station is an affiliate of the Sonlife Broadcasting Network. It is the only independent television station to exclusively serve the residents of central New Jersey; however, its transmitter is located in the Chestnut Hill section of Philadelphia (Trenton is part of the Philadelphia television market).

WPHY-CD
Trenton, New Jersey
United States
ChannelsDigital: 22 (UHF)
Virtual: 25 (PSIP)
Programming
AffiliationsSonlife Broadcasting Network
Ownership
OwnerWRNN-TV Associates[1][2]
(RNN National, LLC)
Sister stationsWTVE
History
First air date1993 (1993)
Former call signsW25AW (1989–2012)
W50DZ-D (Jan–Nov 2012)[3]
Former channel number(s)Analog:
25 (UHF, 1993–2011)
Digital:
50 (UHF, 2011–2019)
Former affiliationsConus, CNN, America One, Youtoo America
Call sign meaningPHillY
Technical information
Licensing authorityFCC
Facility ID74464
ClassDC (Digital Class A)
ERP5.55 kW
HAAT127 m (417 ft)
AMSL: 189.7 m (622 ft)
Transmitter coordinates40°04′24″N 75°11′28″W
Links
Public license informationProfile
[http://transition.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/tvq?facid=74464 74464 LMS]

WPHY-CD is owned by WRNN-TV Associates, which also owns WTVE in Willow Grove, Pennsylvania and fellow independent WMCN-TV in Princeton, New Jersey in the Philadelphia television market.

History

The station first broadcast in 1993 on analog channel 25, and was originally assigned the call sign W25AW, though for much of its history it branded as "WZBN TV-25." The station's tower was located in Hamilton Township, Mercer County, New Jersey. The station's call sign became W50DZ-D in January 2012 after converting to digital broadcasting on channel 50; however, through the use of PSIP, digital television receivers display the station's virtual channel 25.

The station has received several awards from the Community Broadcasters Association for local service and programming.

With the creation of a statewide and regional cable news service owned by the cable companies, cable outlets threatened to pull WZBN off their systems in the late 1990s. Protests by viewers ensured the station remained on cable. WZBN has since expanded its reach with additional broadcasts on three competing cable systems (Verizon Fios, Cablevision, Comcast) in the area.

In 2012, the station's longtime owners, the Zanoni family, announced that they would sell W50DZ-D to NRJ TV LLC (a company unrelated to European broadcaster NRJ Radio), which already owned WTVE.[4] The station's local programming was discontinued on June 8, 2012;[5] the sale was completed a week later, on June 15, 2012.[6][7]

On November 1, 2012, NRJ TV changed W50DZ-D's call sign to WPHY-CD.[3] The WPHY call sign was previously used by two radio stations audible in the market; it was on 560 AM in Philadelphia for ten months in 1993-94, ending when that signal's heritage call sign WFIL became available and was reclaimed, and it was on 920 AM in Trenton from 2002 to 2008. In January 2014, Cablevision announced that it would drop WPHY from its Trenton-area systems on January 28 to accommodate a must-carry request from Me-TV affiliate KJWP (channel 2); WPHY's former channel 25 slot on Cablevision was taken by WCBS-TV from New York City, which lost its previous channel 2 slot on the system to KJWP.[8] In June 2016, the station began to carry Sonlife Broadcasting Network programming;[9] it had previously been affiliated with Youtoo America.

Sale to RNN

On December 9, 2019, it was announced that WRNN-TV Associates, owner of New York City-based WRNN-TV, secured a deal to purchase seven full-power TV stations and one Class A station (including WPHY-CD) from NRJ.[1] The sale was approved by the FCC on January 23,[2] and was completed on February 4, 2020 and would make WTVE and WPHY-CD sister stations to WMCN-TV.[10]

Notable former staff

References
  1. "RNN Reaches Agreement to Increase Permanent Distribution Platform to 28 Percent of the US With NRJ Purchase". Globe Newswire. December 9, 2019. Retrieved December 10, 2019.
  2. http://licensing.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/pubacc/prod/app_det.pl?Application_id=1813384
  3. "FCC Call Sign History - Facility ID 74464". FCC.gov. Federal Communications Commission.
  4. "NRJ adds to portfolio with Trenton NJ LPTV". Television Business Report. March 2, 2012. Retrieved March 3, 2012.
  5. "Mercer's WZBN-TV agrees to sell for $3.5 million". The Times. May 19, 2012. Retrieved May 29, 2012.
  6. "WPHY-CD - FCC Application Search Details - BALDTA-20120301ABB Assignment of License". FCC.gov. Federal Communications Commission. Accepted 2 February 2012; Granted 23 April 2012; Consummation 15 June 2012. Check date values in: |date= (help)
  7. "WPHY-CD - FCC 314 - APPLICATION FOR CONSENT TO ASSIGNMENT OF BROADCAST STATION CONSTRUCTION PERMIT OR LICENSE - BALDTA-20120301ABB". FCC.gov. Federal Communications Commission. Accepted 2 February 2012; Granted 23 April 2012; Consummation 15 June 2012. Check date values in: |date= (help)
  8. Davis, Mike (January 15, 2014). "Cablevision will switch CBS NY channel in Mercer, but will not remove it from dial". The Times. Retrieved January 27, 2014.
  9. "Children's Television Programming Report" (PDF). Public Inspection Files. Federal Communications Commission. July 7, 2016. Retrieved January 13, 2017.
  10. Consummation Notice
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