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
ATSC 3.0 station
CityStuart, Florida
Channels
BrandingTBD 48
Programming
Affiliations
Ownership
Owner
History
FoundedMarch 8, 1984 (1984-03-08)
First air date
January 11, 1991
(33 years ago)
 (1991-01-11)
Former call signs
  • W16AR (1990–1995)
  • WTCN-LP (1995–2001)
  • WTCN-CA (2001–2003)
  • WWHB-CA (2003–2019)
Former channel number(s)
  • Analog: 16 (UHF, 1991–2001), 15 (UHF, 2001–2002), 14 (UHF, 2002–2003), 48 (UHF, 2003–2012)
  • Digital: 48 (UHF, 2012–2019)
Call sign meaning
Named for former owner William H. Block
Technical information[1]
Licensing authority
FCC
Facility ID63557
ClassCD
ERP15 kW
HAAT292.5 m (960 ft)
Transmitter coordinates27°1′32″N 80°10′41.9″W / 27.02556°N 80.178306°W / 27.02556; -80.178306
Translator(s)
Links
Public license information

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 edit

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.[2] Retired businessman August Gabriel began the station with $200,000 and three employees.[3][4] 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.[5][6]

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.[7] It added a translator on UHF channel 53 in order to reach West Palm Beach.[8] 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.[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]

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.[13] 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.[14] The deal with Sinclair acquiring Four Points was completed on January 3, 2012.[15]

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 edit

Subchannels provided by WWHB-CD (ATSC 1.0)[16]
Channel Res. Aspect Short name Programming ATSC 1.0 host
48.1 1080i 16:9 WWHB TBD WTVX
48.2 480i CHARGE Charge! WPEC
48.3 4:3 STADIUM The Nest WFLX
48.4 REWIND Rewind TV WPBF
Subchannels of WWHB-CD (ATSC 3.0)[16]
Channel Res. Aspect Short name Programming
5.1 1080p 16:9 WPTV NBC (WPTV-TV)
12.1 WPEC CBS (WPEC)
25.1 WPBF ABC (WPBF)  
29.1 720p WFLX Fox (WFLX)
48.1 1080p WWHB-CD TBD
  Subchannel broadcast with digital rights management

References edit

  1. ^ "Facility Technical Data for WWHB-CD". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
  2. ^ Betcher, Bob (June 5, 1996). "Owner signing off at local TV station". The Stuart News. Stuart, Florida. p. B3. Retrieved June 5, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ Martin, Paul D. (May 12, 1991). "Stuart TV pushing for cable access". The Palm Beach Post. West Palm Beach, Florida. p. 1B, 4B. Retrieved June 5, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ Pulliam, Nisha (August 30, 1993). "People to Watch: August Gabriel". The Palm Beach Post. West Palm Beach, Florida. p. 3D. Retrieved June 5, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ Betcher, Bob (February 2, 1997). "Stuart's WTCN moves its daily show to evenings". The Stuart News. Stuart, Florida. p. TVPastime 1, 5. Retrieved June 5, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ Betcher, Bob (July 8, 1997). "Lack of sponsors drives local newscast off air". The Stuart News. Stuart, Florida. p. C2. Retrieved June 5, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ Betcher, Bob (May 26, 2002). "Stuart's WTCN on the move again—to Channel 14". The Stuart News. Stuart, Florida. p. TVPastime 5. Retrieved June 5, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ Betcher, Bob (August 15, 2001). "Stuart's WTCN has expanded into PB County". The Stuart News. Stuart, Florida. p. D8. Retrieved June 5, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ^ Betcher, Bob (October 8, 2002). "Area to get first all-Spanish television station". St. Lucie News Tribune. Fort Pierce, Florida. p. A1. Retrieved June 5, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ Betcher, Bob (April 17, 2005). "WTCN's Brothers cashes out as Viacom beefs up station". The Stuart News. Stuart, Florida. p. TVPastime 5. Retrieved June 5, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ^ Betcher, Bob (June 26, 2005). "WTCN moving to West Palm, likely will become WB station". The Stuart News. Stuart, Florida. p. TVPastime 5. Retrieved June 5, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ "CBS Corporation Completes Sale of Local TV Stations to Cereberus". Archived from the original on January 20, 2008. Retrieved October 26, 2018.
  13. ^ "CBS 42 History". CBS 42. June 6, 2007. Archived from the original on August 7, 2007.
  14. ^ "Sinclair Buys Four Points Media For $200M". tvnewscheck.com. September 8, 2011. Retrieved October 26, 2018.
  15. ^ "Sinclair Closes Four Points Media Acquisition". TVNewsCheck. January 3, 2012. Retrieved January 3, 2012.
  16. ^ a b RabbitEars TV Query for WWHB-CD