WWHB-CD explained

Callsign:WWHB-CD
City:Stuart, Florida
Branding:TBD 48
Digital:33 (UHF)
Virtual:48
Atsc3:yes
Owner:Sinclair Broadcast Group
Licensee:WTVX Licensee, LLC
Location:StuartWest Palm Beach, Florida
Country:United States
Callsign Meaning:Named for former owner William H. Block
Erp:15 kW
Haat:292.50NaN0
Class:CD
Facility Id:63557
Licensing Authority:FCC

WWHB-CD (channel 48) is a low-power, Class A television station licensed to Stuart, Florida, United States, serving the West Palm Beach area with programming from the digital multicast network TBD. It is owned and operated by Sinclair Broadcast Group alongside CBS affiliate WPEC (channel 12), CW affiliate WTVX (channel 34), and Class A MyNetworkTV affiliate WTCN-CD (channel 43). The stations share studios on Fairfield Drive in Mangonia Park, Florida (with a West Palm Beach postal address), while WWHB-CD's transmitter is located southwest of Hobe Sound, Florida.

WWHB-CD is the ATSC 3.0 (Next Gen TV) transmitter for West Palm Beach, hosting its main subchannel and the four major network stations. In exchange, its subchannels are broadcast on four full-power stations in the market.

History

WWHB began broadcasting on January 11, 1991, as an independent station with the call sign W16AR. It was located on UHF channel 16 and was licensed to Stuart.[1] Retired businessman August Gabriel began the station with $200,000 and three employees.[2] [3] It changed its call sign to WTCN-LP in 1995. 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.[4] [5]

The station moved to UHF channel 15 in 2001 (when it converted to Class A and changed its calls to WTCN-CA in February of that year) and then to UHF channel 14 in 2002.[6] It added a translator on UHF channel 53 in order to reach West Palm Beach.[7] On January 15, 2003, the station changed its calls to the current WWHB-CA and switched to UHF channel 48. This aired from a transmitter at the western boundary of Johnathan Dickinson State Park in Martin County southwest of Jupiter Island.

Martin County businessman Bill Brothers purchased the station in 2001. It was 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.[8] In 2005, Viacom bought WWHB and sister station WTCN (channel 43) from Brothers for $7.7 million.[9] Viacom moved the studios back to West Palm Beach and improved the station's signal.[10]

On February 7, 2007, CBS agreed to sell seven of its smaller-market stations to Cerberus Capital Management, L.P., for $185 million.[11] 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.[12] 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]

On January 1, 2023, WWHB-CD switched to TBD programming after Azteca América ceased operations, sharing the affiliation with WTCN-CD's third digital subchannel.

Subchannels

Channel! scope = "col"
Res.AspectShort nameProgrammingATSC 1.0 host
48.1WWHB WTVX
48.2CHARGE WPEC
48.3STADIUM The NestWFLX
48.4REWIND WPBF
Channel! style="background-color: #bdbdff" scope = "col"
Res.AspectShort nameProgramming
5.11080p 16:9 WPTV NBC (WPTV-TV)
12.1WPEC CBS (WPEC)
25.1WPBF ABC (WPBF)
29.1720p WFLX Fox (WFLX)
48.11080p WWHB-CD TBD

Notes and References

  1. News: Owner signing off at local TV station. June 5, 1996. B3. Bob. Betcher. The Stuart News. Stuart, Florida. Newspapers.com. June 5, 2022.
  2. News: Stuart TV pushing for cable access. May 12, 1991. 1B, 4B. Paul D.. Martin. The Palm Beach Post. West Palm Beach, Florida. Newspapers.com. June 5, 2022.
  3. News: People to Watch: August Gabriel. August 30, 1993. 3D. Nisha. Pulliam. The Palm Beach Post. West Palm Beach, Florida. Newspapers.com. June 5, 2022.
  4. News: Stuart's WTCN moves its daily show to evenings. February 2, 1997. TVPastime 1, 5. Bob. Betcher. The Stuart News. Stuart, Florida. Newspapers.com. June 5, 2022.
  5. News: Lack of sponsors drives local newscast off air. July 8, 1997. C2. Bob. Betcher. The Stuart News. Stuart, Florida. Newspapers.com. June 5, 2022.
  6. News: Stuart's WTCN on the move again—to Channel 14. May 26, 2002. TVPastime 5. Bob. Betcher. The Stuart News. Stuart, Florida. Newspapers.com. June 5, 2022.
  7. News: Stuart's WTCN has expanded into PB County. August 15, 2001. D8. Bob. Betcher. The Stuart News. Stuart, Florida. Newspapers.com. June 5, 2022.
  8. News: Area to get first all-Spanish television station. October 8, 2002. A1. Bob. Betcher. St. Lucie News Tribune. Fort Pierce, Florida. Newspapers.com. June 5, 2022.
  9. News: WTCN's Brothers cashes out as Viacom beefs up station. April 17, 2005. TVPastime 5. Bob. Betcher. The Stuart News. Stuart, Florida. Newspapers.com. June 5, 2022.
  10. News: WTCN moving to West Palm, likely will become WB station. June 26, 2005. TVPastime 5. Bob. Betcher. The Stuart News. Stuart, Florida. Newspapers.com. June 5, 2022.
  11. Web site: CBS Corporation Completes Sale of Local TV Stations to Cereberus . https://web.archive.org/web/20080120141428/http://www.cbscorporation.com/news/prdetails.php?id=2903 . dead . January 20, 2008 . October 26, 2018.
  12. News: CBS 42 History. https://web.archive.org/web/20070807100524/http://keyetv.com/info/local_story_062222649.html. June 6, 2007. August 7, 2007. CBS 42.
  13. Web site: Sinclair Buys Four Points Media For $200M . tvnewscheck.com . September 8, 2011 . October 26, 2018.
  14. News: Sinclair Closes Four Points Media Acquisition. January 3, 2012. TVNewsCheck. January 3, 2012.