| Callsign: | WBPA-LD |
| Location: | Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania |
| Country: | United States |
| Digital: | 12 (VHF) |
| Virtual: | 12 |
| Owner: | Venture Technologies Group |
| Founded: | January 14, 1988 |
| Callsign Meaning: | WB PennsylvaniA (from stint as WB affiliate) |
| Former Callsigns: | W29AH (1989–June 1995) WTWB-LP (June-December 1995) WBPA-LP (December 1995–2020) |
| Former Channel Numbers: | Analog: 29 (UHF, 1989–2004) 30 (UHF, 2005–2019) |
| Erp: | 15 kW |
| Facility Id: | 10185 |
| Coordinates: | 40.4462°N -79.9639°W |
| Licensing Authority: | FCC |
WBPA-LD (channel 12) is a low-power television station in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States, affiliated with Rev'n. The station is owned by Venture Technologies Group.
On January 14, 1988, the Federal Communications Commission granted a construction permit to Channel 29 Associates of Calabasas, California—owned by Venture founder Lawrence Rogow—for a new low-power TV station on channel 29 at Pittsburgh, W29AH. The station began test broadcasts on September 28, 1989, airing programming from the Video Jukebox Network.[1]
After five years of running music videos, channel 29 found a new calling in January 1995, when The WB launched. W29AH was intended to serve as one half of a simulcast with Johnstown's WTWB-TV channel 19, filling the largest missing market gap for the new network.[2] W29AH became WTWB-LP on June 1, 1995, and WBPA-LP on December 15. Channels 19 and 29 became the new UPN affiliate in 1998 when that network's former outlet, WPTT channel 22, switched to The WB (with WTWB-TV becoming WNPA); they briefly were independents due to lawsuits surrounding that station's change.[3] [4]
Venture sold channel 19 to the Paramount Stations Group late in 1998, making it a network owned-and-operated station and splitting it from WBPA-LP.[5] For several months, the two continued simulcasting.[6] In the early 2000s, WBPA-LP moved to channel 30.
In 2012, Venture sought to build digital facilities for WBPA-LP on channel 6, utilizing hybrid analog-digital technology to turn it into a "Franken-FM" station with audio on 87.7 MHz. The FCC denied this proposal on technical grounds with the standard that the company proposed for WBPA and a station in Lubbock, Texas.[7]
WBPA-LP was displaced during the repack by Class A station WPTG-CD and applied to move to channel 12 and convert to digital. The station went silent to allow WPTG-CD to move in 2019, but delays from the COVID-19 pandemic, the availability of transmitter installers, and a contracted electrician's foot operation set the reconstruction of WBPA back enough that Venture had to apply for a waiver to avoid automatic license cancellation.[8] The facility was completed in late October, when a license to cover was filed.[9]
The station's digital signal is multiplexed:
| Res. | Aspect | Short name | Programming | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12.1 | 480i | REVN | Main WBPA-LD programming / Rev'n | |
| 12.2 | ACTION | The Action Channel | ||
| 12.3 | FAM | The Family Channel | ||
| 12.4 | ACE | Ace TV | ||
| 12.5 | RNTV | Right Now TV | ||
| 12.6 | YTA TV | YTA TV | ||
| 12.7 | AMGTV | AMGTV | ||
| 12.8 | Fun Roads | Fun Roads TV | ||
| 12.10 | WxNatn | WeatherNation TV | ||
| 12.11 | AmVoice | Real America's Voice | ||
| 12.12 | NewsNet | NewsNet |