The station's signal is relayed across Puerto Rico through two full-power satellite stations: WTIN-TV (digital channel 14, virtual channel 4) in Ponce and WNJX-TV (digital channel 31, virtual channel 4) in Mayagüez. WTIN-TV also broadcasts two subchannels simulcast from WKAQ-TV, including its Telemundo programming, using virtual channels 2.11 and 2.21.
History
WAPA-TV began broadcasting on May 1, 1954, as the second television station to be licensed to Puerto Rico. Its callsign is a partial abbreviation of the station's original owners, the now-defunct Asociación de Productores de Azúcar, or Puerto Rico Sugar Grower's Association. During its earliest years, the station was affiliated with NBC, ABC, DuMont, and the CMQ Television Network.[3]
WAPA-TV's "Open 4" logo in a 1980 newspaper advertisement for Decisión '80. The "Open 4" logo in this ad was used from 1968 to 1986, and again from 1996 to 1998.
The station was the first in the U.S. territory to transition to color unceremoniously in 1966, followed by WKAQ-TV in 1968. Popularly known in Puerto Rico by its assigned channel number, Canal Cuatro, the station was also known by its animated cartoon mascot during the 1970s and 1980s, a bongo-playing cat (known commonly as el gato de WAPA in Spanish) and therefore its slogan was Por el cuatro como el gato (colloquially "on four (legs) like the cat"), which rhymes in its original Spanish. Similarly, another station promo used the phrase, Hasta el gato, te-ve el cuatro and the cat itself was alternately known as el Gato de Cuatro.
Like other mascots, El Gato was seen in different situations in different on-air promos. Besides playing the bongos, he would also play the drums and was seen in one station ID as a matador. Another promo had him interacting with a cat seen in a Telemundo ad. El Gato would also sometimes be accompanied by his wife and children (one boy and one girl), where they appeared flying in a helicopter shaped like the channel's "4" logo and celebrated the holidays while playing musical instruments.
WAPA-TV's competitors include WKAQ-TV (Telemundo), WLII (Univision affiliate station Teleonce) and PBS member station WIPR-TV. WAPA-TV and WKAQ-TV have battled for the title of Puerto Rico's most-watched television station since the 1950s, with WLII entering the battle in the mid-1980s.
During the 1980s and early 1990s, the station became very successful by mixing American shows translated to Spanish with locally produced sitcoms such as Cuqui, Cara o Cruz, Entrando por la Cocina, Carmelo y Punto and Barrio Cuatro Calles. However, it still trailed behind WKAQ-TV as the second most-watched Puerto Rican station. In the early 1990s, WAPA rebranded itself with the slogans WAPA'lla! (a catchy slang variation of Vamos pa'lla, or "Let's go!") and WAPA, aqui con la gente ("WAPA, here with the people"). These slogans were accompanied by a catchy musical score and vivid, colorful graphics depicting the channel's logo. In 1994, WAPA was the first television station in Puerto Rico to use high-end graphic animations to animate a new logo, created and animated by Pixel Light Studios of New York City. This gave the station a very "American" on-air appearance. The logo, although graphically pleasing, was slowly dropped in favor of the classical number 4 logo. High end graphics were later dropped altogether for cheaper, in-house graphics.
In 1997, under the helm of former Univision executive Miguel Banojian, WAPA-TV achieved its biggest increases in viewership ever. During Banojian's tenure, the network produced more local programming than ever before, increasing its local news programming, and broadcasting several sporting events including Serie del Caribe (the Caribbean edition of the U.S. baseball World Series) and World Boxing Championship events produced in partnership (since the early 1980s) with Don King (WAPA would also sometimes broadcast fights promoted by King's rival Bob Arum and other promoters like Bob Andreoli).
In 1998, WAPA again rebranded itself with a new name and logo; Televicentro (a brand that was used previously during the 1970s and 1980s). It also regained its position as a major Puerto Rican television station, mainly due to its new focus on locally produced programming. Its new slogan, Como tú, boricua ("Like you, Puerto Rican"—a nod to the longtime colloquial nickname for Puerto Ricans) highlighted the fact that it was the only local commercial station remaining in Puerto Rico that was programmed locally. Despite the new name, local residents still referred to the station as either el cuatro or simply "WAPA". That same year, former WKAQ-TV general manager Joe Ramos was named president of WAPA-TV.
In September 2004, WAPA-TV became the first Puerto Rican station, and the seventh television station in the U.S. (including territories) to become a satellite-distributed superstation. WAPA America can be seen in the U.S. mainland through DirecTV and Dish Network, and on various cable television providers including Xfinity, Spectrum, Verizon FiOS and Optimum, but this is not the first time WAPA-TV has had any presence in the United States. In 1968, WAPA-TV had WNJU-TV (Channel 47) not only as its sister station but also as its affiliate, predating WAPA America by decades. WNJU-TV was owned by Screen Gems before selling it in 1984 to a consortium that would launch the NetSpan network, later evolving into Telemundo.
On October 19, 2006. LIN TV announced that it had entered into an agreement to sell its Puerto Rico television operations to InterMedia Partners for $130 million in cash.[4] The sale was completed on March 30, 2007.
On December 17, 2007, the station changed its branding from Televicentro to wapa, in all lowercase letters. Following the rebrand, the station began developing a new format, changing its jingle and redesigning their website.[5][6] WAPA-TV signed an agreement with Miss Puerto Rico Universe to produce a reality show titled Por la corona, which debuted on August 15, 2008, where the public is able to select which five of the participants move directly to the pageant's semifinal via text messaging votes.[7]
On January 23, 2013, InterMedia Partners announced that it would merge WAPA-TV and WAPA America, along with its stake in Cinelatino, with the shell corporation Azteca Acquisition Corporation (which is not associated with the Mexican-based Azteca group or the Azteca América network) to form Hemisphere Media Group. 73% of the new company is owned by InterMedia.[8]
On December 1, 2017, WAPA-TV named Javier Maynulet Montilla as president and general manager, succeeding Ramos, who spent 20 years at the station until his retirement on April 27, 2018.
On November 9, 2020, WAPA-TV named Jorge Hidalgo as president and general manager of the station effective January 1, 2021, after Javier Maynulet left the station after two years.[9] Hidalgo currently serves as a Senior Vice President of Operations for Hemisphere Media Group.
Outages
On December 3, 2015, WAPA-TV along with WIPR-TV went off-air, due to a transmitter outage at Cerro La Santa in Cayey. The station was still watchable on Liberty, Dish Network, DirecTV and Claro TV. The transmitter was repaired and placed back on air on December 10, 2015. Repairs were made by WAPA's engineering department.
On September 20, 2017, the main transmission tower of WAPA-TV was destroyed during Hurricane Maria. This caused the station to be off-air for two days until they began transmitting through Univision-owned stations WSTE-DT (until October 30) and WLII-DT (until November 17; which was owned by Univision at the time) from their transmitter in Aguas Buenas. Since November 18, the station then began transmitting its main programming (virtual channel 4.1) through station WKAQ-TV and WAPA Deportes (4.2) through WIPR-TV.
On October 28, 2018, one year after going dark, WAPA-TV returned to the air from its new transmitter installed at the WKAQ-TV tower location, broadcasting with High Quality Doble Data HD. Repairs caused by the old transmitter equipment were made by the engineering department.
DirecTV-WAPA carriage dispute
On May 4, 2018, Hemisphere Media Group became involved in a retransmission consent dispute with DirecTV, resulting in WAPA-TV's removal from DirecTV's Puerto Rico channel lineup.[10] The station was restored on June 14, 2018, after the two sides came to a new agreement.[11]
Dish-WAPA carriage dispute
On October 24, 2019, at 7 p.m., Hemisphere Media Group became involved in a retransmission consent dispute with Dish Network, resulting in WAPA-TV's removal from Dish's Puerto Rico channel lineup. The station was restored on December 17, 2019, after the two sides came to a new agreement.
NotiCentro (a Spanish translation of NewsCenter) is the name of WAPA-TV's news division; the station presently broadcasts 44 hours of locally produced newscasts each week (with eight hours each weekday and two hours each on Saturdays and Sundays). The news operation began in 1967 with Cuban-born Evelio Otero as the sole anchorman for the 6p.m. newscast. Soon after, Carlos Ruben Ortiz joined the news staff for the 6p.m. broadcast. Otero remained alone on camera, until his departure from WAPA in 1980 to take the senior editor position at the Voice of America in Washington. Ortiz shared the anchor slot at 6p.m. with then newcomer Guillermo José Torres, a former radio announcer born in Juana Diaz who has since become the longest standing news anchor on the island, with a career spanning 43 years (Torres retired on August 5, 2013). The format predated the NewsCenter format which became popular on NBC affiliates in the 1970s.
In its beginnings, NotiCentro 4 ran for only fifteen minutes in the afternoon, with a half-hour edition at 10p.m.; there was also a weekend edition. Eventually, the program's running time was increased to a full hour. After Otero's departure, New York City–born William "Bill" Pérez became WAPA's news director (Torres held the post for a while, but eventually asked to serve only as a news anchor). In the late 1970s, Enrique Cruz, Luz Nereida Vélez, Sylvia Gómez, Luis Rigual, Cyd Marie Fleming, José Esteves, Luis Francisco Ojeda and others joined the news department.
In 1980, NotiCentro 4 inaugurated a new studio. In 1981, Pedro Rosa Nales joined the team. In 1982, Enrique Cruz, also known as "Kike Cruz", replaced Torres as show director. In 1983, Rigual died, and was replaced as main sports anchor by Rafael Bracero. Bobby Angleró joined the team of reporters as Bracero's main helper in 1983, the same year that the Coquí Satellite was inaugurated by the station. Coquí Satellite helped the station deliver breaking news quicker, and helped deliver the news on occasions such as the Challenger explosion, when Torres interrupted Ángela Meyer on her Chanita Gobernadora comedy section to break the news to the public only minutes after it had happened.
In the early 2000s, WAPA-TV began using a helicopter for newsgathering called SuperCóptero ("SuperChopper"). The SuperCóptero had mostly been used to report on traffic conditions in the metropolitan area on the 4 and 5p.m. newscasts. WAPA-TV was the only local station to have a helicopter, but regular use of the SuperCóptero was soon discontinued due to budget cuts; WAPA now only uses the helicopter for special events such as elections and breaking news coverage.
NotiCentro ran a local cable channel, WAPA Tiempo, which featured weather forecasts for Puerto Rico 24 hours a day. Originally named El Canal del Tiempo (its name changed to avoid confusion with The Weather Channel cable network), it could be seen on all three cable companies then serving Puerto Rico at the time (OneLink Communications, Choice Cable TV, and Liberty Puerto Rico; all of them now merged as the latter); it was also broadcast on WAPA-TV digital subchannel 4.3. WAPA Tiempo was discontinued on September 1, 2012, due to WAPA Deportes (subchannel 4.2) upgrading to Full HD resolution to broadcast MLB postseason games; the channel was also dropped from Liberty cable.
WAPA-TV uses the same logo for NotiCentro (formerly NotiCentro 4), only changing the word WAPA to NotiCentro. The music package previously used for the newscast was "News Authority" by 615 Music and has been used since 2004. In the past, the station used "WNDU 1986 News Theme", "Turn to News", "Newswatch 24", "News One" and "Impact" among others. NotiCentro now uses the same music for all its segments and bumpers except for its news résumé En Una Semana ("In One Week"), which used the NotiCentro 4 graphics and music package from 1999 but now uses the current graphics and music package. Since 2012, WAPA-TV uses the "Truth" music package by 615 Music with "Truth V1" from 2012 to 2017, and "Truth V2" since 2017 for all newscasts.
On May 20, 2019, NotiCentro expanded to 1+1⁄2 hours beginning at 4p.m., renaming itself as NotiCentro Edición Estelar, with Normando Valentín serving as an anchor for the early evening newscast. Valentín has been with the station since 2003, and was morning anchor from 2008 to 2019. On February 3, 2020, Katiria Soto returns to WAPA-TV after five years working at WXTV-DT in New York, this time as a co-anchor of the 4 p.m. newscast.
WAPA-TV shut down its analog signal, over VHF channel 4, on June 12, 2009, the official date on which full-power television stations in the United States transitioned from analog to digital broadcasts under federal mandate. The station's digital signal remained on its pre-transition UHF channel 27,[14] using virtual channel 4.
Related Research Articles
WKAQ-TV is a television station in San Juan, Puerto Rico, serving as the U.S. territory's dual Telemundo and NBC outlet. It is owned and operated by the Telemundo Station Group subsidiary of NBCUniversal. WKAQ-TV's studios are located on Franklin Roosevelt Avenue in San Juan near Hiram Bithorn Stadium, and its transmitter is located on Cerro la Santa in Cayey near the Bosque Estatal de Carite mountain reserve.
WSTE-DT, branded on air as Teleisla, is a Spanish-language independent television station serving San Juan, Puerto Rico, that is licensed to Ponce. It is owned by TelevisaUnivision. The station maintains its studios on Calle Carazo in Guaynabo. To provide island-wide coverage, WSTE maintains a network of five transmitter sites, located at Cerro Maravilla in Ponce, at Cerro La Marquesa in Aguas Buenas, at Cerro Canta Gallo in Aguada, on Highway 22 in Arecibo, and at the Monte del Estado in San Germán.
WLII-DT, branded on-air as TeleOnce, is a television station licensed to Caguas, Puerto Rico, serving the U.S. territory as an affiliate of Univision and UniMás. Owned by Liberman Media Group, the station maintains studio facilities on Calle Carazo in Guaynabo, with additional studios at The Mall of San Juan. Its transmitter is located near the Bosque Estatal de Carite mountain reserve.
The media of Puerto Rico includes local radio stations, television stations and newspapers; for the majority of all these the language is Spanish. There are also three stations of the US Armed Forces Radio and Television Service.
Las Noticias TeleOnce is the flagship news program for Puerto Rican television network TeleOnce it is currently anchored by Celimar Adames Casalduc during its evening editions, Maricarmen Ortiz, Manuel Crespo Feliciano and Nuria Sebazco during the day editions and by Ricardo Curras and Shirlyan Odette during its night edition.
Luis Francisco Ojeda is a well-known Puerto Rican television, radio reporter and host, noted for his aggressive, uncompromising questioning. He spent 50 years on radio until his retirement in 2020.
Telenoticias Puerto Rico, more commonly known as just Telenoticias, is the flagship newscast for Telemundo owned-and-operated station WKAQ-TV in San Juan, Puerto Rico. It currently airs four editions on weekdays, a morning one anchored by Grenda Rivera, an 11 a.m. one anchored by Ivonne Solla Cabrera and Walter Soto León, a 4 p.m. edition anchored by Zugey Lamela, a 5 p.m. edition anchored by Jorge Rivera Nieves and Ivonne Solla Cabrera and a Nighttime newscast anchored by Jorge Rivera Nieves which airs either at 10 p.m. or 11 p.m. depending on the day of the week. Additionally, Telenoticias airs two editions on weekends with the 5 p.m. newscast anchored by Jeremy Ortiz and Soraida Asad Sanchez, Ortiz also anchors the weekend nighttime broadcast.
WORA-TV branded on-air as ABC Puerto Rico, is a television station in Mayagüez, Puerto Rico, affiliated with ABC and owned by Telecinco Media Holdings. WORA-TV's studios are located on Ponce de León Avenue in Santurce, with additional studios at the Guanajibo Building in Mayagüez. The station's transmitter is located at Monte del Estado in Maricao.
WOLE-DT is a television station licensed to Aguadilla, Puerto Rico, serving Mayagüez and the western part of the island as an affiliate of Univision and UniMás. It is a full-time satellite of San Juan–based WLII-DT, owned by Liberman Media Group. WOLE-DT's sales office is located in the Westernbank Building in downtown Mayagüez, and its transmitter is located at Monte del Estado in Maricao. Its parent station maintains studios on Calle Carazo in Guaynabo and has additional studios in Barrio Palmar in Aguadilla.
WIPR-TV is a non-commercial educational public television station in San Juan, Puerto Rico, owned by the Corporación de Puerto Rico para la Difusión Pública. Most of the channel's content is local programming. WIPR-TV's studios are located on Hostos Avenue in Hato Rey. Its transmitter is located at Cerro La Santa in Cayey near the Bosque Estatal de Carite mountain reserve.
WXWZ-LD, branded on-air as MásTVPR, is a independent television station licensed to Guayama, Puerto Rico. The station is owned by the JB Media Group. WXWZ-LD serves Caguas and the entire central area. WXWZ-LD's programming was seen on Liberty Cable channel 22, OneLink Communications channel 121 and Choice Cable channel 27. WXWZ-LD produces over 40 hours of locally produced programming that includes: News, Sports and general entertainment. The station's studios are located at Degetau Avenue in Caguas with its transmitter located at Cerro La Santa in Cayey near the Bosque Estatal de Carite mountain reserve.
WKAQ is a commercial AM radio station in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Currently owned by WAPA Media Group, the station airs a Spanish language talk radio format. Its programming is repeated on WUKQ, which broadcasts on 1420 kHz in Ponce, and WYEL which broadcasts on 600 kHz in Mayagüez. The station was the first radio station to broadcast in Puerto Rico. According to Ernesto Vigoreaux, in the early days of music in Puerto Rico, the musicians would record music at the WKAQ radio station. WKAQ is the Puerto Rico primary entry point station for the Emergency Alert System.
WKAQ-FM along with its satellite WUKQ-FM are a pair of radio stations in Puerto Rico broadcasting a bilingual contemporary hit radio format. Licensed to San Juan, Puerto Rico, WKAQ-FM serves the eastern half of the island while WUKQ-FM, licensed to Mayagüez, Puerto Rico, serves the western half. The stations are currently owned by WAPA Media Group.
En La Mañana is a Puerto Rican breakfast television show that airs on TeleOnce. The show is a revival of the original breakfast show called Tu Mañana that aired on TeleOnce from 1991 to 2002 and in Univision Puerto Rico television network from 2002 to 2014. The original version of the show debuted on March 11, 1991, and was aired on weekday mornings. On October 14, 2014, the show was cancelled as part of a restructuring of Univision Puerto Rico's operations that included the closure of its news department. With the sale of WLII-DT from Univision to Liberman Media Group the new owners have announced they intend to revive Tu Mañana in 2023. The show's revival was officially announced on October 17, 2023, with a premiere date set for October 30, 2023. For the revival, the show's name was slightly tweaked from Your Morning to In The Morning
Hoy Día (Today) is an American Spanish-language morning television show broadcast by Telemundo. The show is broadcast from Telemundo Center in Miami, and is hosted by Penélope Menchaca, Andrea Meza, Lisette Eduardo, Daniel Arenas, Danilo Carrera and Carlos Calderon.
Mass media are the means through which information is transmitted to a large audience. This includes newspapers, television, radio, and more recently the Internet. Organizations that provide news through mass media in the Puerto Rico are collectively known as the news media in Puerto Rico.
WAPA Media Group is an American mass media and entertainment corporation that is a division of Hemisphere Media Group with headquarters in Guaynabo, Puerto Rico.
Jugando Pelota Dura is a Puerto Rican television talk show hosted by Ferdinand Perez. The program initially premiered on Sistema TV network in 2012 before moving on to Univision Puerto Rico in 2017 after the passing of Hurricane Maria left WMTJ unable to broadcast the show. The show shares its name from Perez's radio show Pelota Dura that airs on WUNO. The program primarily features coverage of political issues and headlines, along with discussion from a panel of analysts and political figures.
NotiCentro (NewsCenter) is the flagship news broadcast of Puerto Rican network WAPA which airs four times a day on weekdays and twice a day on weekends. Its main edition is anchored by Normando Valentín and Katiria Soto while Pedro Rosa Nales anchors the nighttime edition. Weekend anchoring duties belong to Felipe Gómez and Luisa Benítez, while weekday mornings are anchored by Jorge Gelpí Pagán and Mónika Candelaria.
↑ "Cambio de mando en WAPA TV". El Nuevo Dia (in Spanish). November 9, 2020. Archived from the original on November 10, 2020. Retrieved November 9, 2020.
2 Still on the air, but no longer carrying a dedicated news format.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
