WDCO-CD

Last updated

WDCO-CD
City Woodstock, Virginia
Channels
BrandingTBD Washington D.C.
Programming
Affiliations TBD
Ownership
Owner
History
FoundedApril 30, 1985
First air date
September 30, 1985(39 years ago) (1985-09-30)
Former call signs
  • W10AZ (1985–1994)
  • WAZT-LP (1994–2002)
  • WAZT-CA (2002–2015)
  • WAZT-LD (2015)
  • WAZT-CD (2015–2017)
Former channel number(s)
  • Analog: 10 (VHF, 1985–2015)
  • Digital: 45 (UHF, 2015–2019)
Religious Independent (1985–2018)
Jewelry TV (2018–2020)
Technical information [1]
Licensing authority
 FCC
Facility ID 57905
Class CD
ERP 15 kW
HAAT 151.2 m (496 ft)
Transmitter coordinates 38°56′24.2″N77°4′52.5″W / 38.940056°N 77.081250°W / 38.940056; -77.081250 (WDCO-CD)
Links
Public license information
WIAV-CD
ATSC 3.0 station
Translator of WDCO-CD
  • Washington, D.C.
Channels
History
FoundedAugust 23, 1989
First air date
September 26, 1994(30 years ago) (1994-09-26)
Former call signs
  • W58BR (1989–1996)
  • WIAV-CA (1996–2008) [2]
  • WIAV-LD (2008–2015)
Former channel number(s)
  • Analog: 58 (UHF, 1994–2010)
  • Digital: 44 (UHF, 2008–2017)
Call sign meaning
AsiaVision (former owner)
Technical information [3]
Licensing authority
 FCC
Facility ID 168063
Class CD
ERP 48 kW
HAAT 151.2 m (496 ft)
Transmitter coordinates 38°56′24.2″N77°4′52.5″W / 38.940056°N 77.081250°W / 38.940056; -77.081250
Links
Public license information

WDCO-CD (channel 10) is a low-power, Class A television station licensed to Woodstock, Virginia, United States, serving the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area with programming from the digital multicast network TBD. Owned and operated by Sinclair Broadcast Group, it is sister to ABC affiliate WJLA-TV (channel 7) and local cable channel WJLA 24/7 News. WDCO-CD's transmitter is located in Ward Circle in Washington's northwest quadrant.

Contents

Co-owned and co-located WIAV-CD (channel 58), licensed to Washington, relays WDCO-CD's TBD programming in the new ATSC 3.0 broadcasting standard.

History

Shenandoah Valley religious broadcaster

Logo used until 2009. WAZT.jpg
Logo used until 2009.

The station has operated since September 30, 1985, when it was put on the air as a religious independent station by Ruarch Associates, LLC (its original calls were W10AZ, with the WAZT calls, introduced in 1994, apparently being derived from it), and once had a radio sister station, WAZR in nearby Harrisonburg.

The WAZT network offered some programming from Cornerstone and other religious networks, but it generally did not show them in-pattern with those networks, and it also broadcast some secular syndicated programming and classic television shows.

WAZT once broadcast a local newscast at 5:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. Monday through Friday (entitled News 10), but this was discontinued on December 26, 2005. In January 2006, WAZT began airing CBN's NewsWatch program.

Ruarch sold WAZT to JLA Media & Publications (no relation to WJLA-TV) in 2006. Jones Broadcasting acquired the station out of Chapter 7 bankruptcy in 2011. [4]

In 2012, Jones Broadcasting reached a deal to buy the struggling and bankrupt Danville-based independent WEFC-TV, located in the larger Roanoke–Lynchburg market, with plans to move operations to Roanoke and make it the new group flagship. [5] The sale fell through in the spring of 2013, with Liberty University buying the station instead; [6] Jones then sold the WAZT group of stations to Venture Technologies Group that December.

Venture immediately began moving WAZT and its sister stations to the far larger Washington, D.C., television market. At the time, WAZT transmitted from a hill near Toms Brook, Virginia. After agreeing to purchase the WAZT network, Venture obtained a construction permit to move the station's analog signal to the WZRV tower near Front Royal, Virginia. Later in 2014, it filed for a digital signal at a new transmitter site near The Plains, Virginia, which signed on in March 2015. [7] Venture also purchased Washington-based WIAV-CD in 2014, which expanded the network's footprint into the city proper. [8]

After spending most of its time as a religious broadcaster branded as simply "WAZT", the station and its relays changed to the branding "Faith Television Network" under Venture's ownership.

WAZT-CD's callsign was changed to WDCO-CD on October 11, 2017. On the same day, Winchester repeater WAZW-CD became WAZT-CD. [9] On January 24, 2018, Faith Television Network announced it would cease broadcasting. All four remaining stations in the network became full-time affiliates of Jewelry Television on January 31. [10]

Move-in to Washington

As a result of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC)'s 2016–17 spectrum reallocation incentive auction, channels 24 and 30—occupied by WNVC and WNVT, respectively—became available in the Washington market in 2018. WDCO-CD applied to take over WNVC's channel 24 facilities at its tower in Merrifield, Virginia, which would place it firmly in the Washington market, while WIAV-CD applied to move to channel 30. After WNVC was unable to find a channel-sharing partner and went off the air, it sold the tower and transmitter building. Left without a transmission site, WDCO-CD moved to temporary low-powered facilities shared with WIAV-CD at the WRC-TV (channel 4) tower in northwest Washington, and reapplied to permanently build there. [7]

The new WAZT-CD later relocated from Winchester to Blue Ridge Mountain in extreme southern Jefferson County, West Virginia, near the Virginia–West Virginia state line but also within the Washington market. After an additional "hop" to a tower in Leesburg, Virginia, this license was also moved into Washington proper and sold to Weigel Broadcasting, who operates it as WDME-CD. [11]

On June 25, 2020, Venture Technologies Group filed an agreement with the FCC to sell WDCO-CD and WIAV-CD to Sinclair Broadcast Group for $8.5 million. [12] [13] The sale was completed on October 15, [14] making them Sinclair's second and third properties in the Washington market, alongside WJLA-TV. On the same day, WDCO-CD and WIAV-CD flipped to Sinclair's TBD multicast network. WAZT-CD was not included in the sale and continued to air Jewelry TV programming; it was later sold to Weigel Broadcasting and is now WDME-CD.

Sinclair's express intention for the purchase of the two stations was to convert WIAV-CD to Washington's first ATSC 3.0 broadcaster. WDCO-CD is to continue ATSC 1.0 service and honor the existing channel-sharing agreement with UniMás affiliate WMDO-CD (channel 47). [15] [16] To clear the way for ATSC 3.0 conversion work, WMDO-CD switched its channel-share from WIAV-CD to WDCO-CD at the end of 2020. [17]

Sinclair subsequently commenced ATSC 3.0 operation over WIAV-CD on March 25, 2021. [18]

WDCO-CD and WIAV-CD satisfy the requirement that Class A stations broadcast at least three hours per week of locally produced programming by airing WJLA's weekday 5 and 6 p.m. newscasts on a two-hour delay from 7 to 8:30 p.m. [19] The entire TBD schedule remains available on streaming and over-the-air on WJLA-DT4 and Baltimore's WUTB.

Former translators

WDCO-CD formerly operated five other relays:

WAZT-CD

WAZC-LP

WAZC-LP went on the air on March 29, 1988, as W16AA, a translator for Charlottesville's NBC affiliate, WVIR-TV owned by Rockingham County with a transmitter on Massanutten Peak. In 1998, it was sold to Ruarch and moved to Luray. On November 5, 2004, WJAL in Hagerstown, Maryland, received the allocation for its digital signal, resulting in WAZC-LP being forced to move to channel 35 on March 31, 2006. A construction permit for WAZC-LD on channel 35 expired in June 2010 without being built. This station was not included in the 2013 sale to Venture and later went off the air. Its license was cancelled by the FCC on October 2, 2020. [20]

WAZM-CA

WAZM-CA signed on for the first time on December 26, 1996 (as W25CC, later W25AZ) and was a relay for Staunton and Waynesboro. In April 2012, Jones Broadcasting sold this station to Gray Television, who converted it to digital CBS/Fox affiliate WSVF-CD in October of that year.

WAZF-CD

WAZF-CD signed on for the first time on June 7, 1994, as W28AZ, becoming WFAZ-CA on October 19, 2000, and WAZF-CA on January 5, 2001. This station was licensed to Front Royal, Virginia, and in the analog era broadcast on channel 28 from the same Winchester tower as then-WAZW-CA; WAZF-CA's signal was pointed toward Front Royal while WAZW-CA's was pointed toward Charles Town, West Virginia. On March 13, 2014, this station signed on a digital signal on UHF channel 20 (virtual channel 28.1) from a transmitter on Short Hill Mountain southeast of Harpers Ferry, West Virginia. WAZF-CD's license was sold for $513,526 in the spectrum reallocation auction, and was taken off the air on August 3, 2017. [21] [22]

WAZH-CD

WAZH-CD which was founded on January 4, 1989, as W24AZ, signed on for the first time on April 16, 1992, and on October 5, 2000, it briefly took the callsign WWAZ-CA before becoming WAZH-CA on January 5, 2001. Although its callsign implied it was to be the relay for Harrisonburg, in the analog era it broadcast from a ridge above Basye with a directional signal pointed at Mount Jackson. After the digital transition, the new WAZH-CD moved to Signal Knob near Strasburg, which was the same location as then-WAZW-CD. [23] The station operated on UHF channel 14 and virtual channel 24.1. Venture sold WAZH-CD's channel 14 allocation for $12,042,490 in the spectrum reallocation auction, missed the subsequent deadline to reach a channel-sharing agreement with another Harrisonburg station, and elected to surrender the license on April 23, 2018. [24] [21] [25]

Subchannels

Subchannel of WDCO-CD [26]
Channel Res. Aspect Short nameProgramming
10.1 1080i 16:9 WDCO TBD
Subchannels of WIAV-CD (ATSC 3.0) [27]
Channel Res. Aspect Short nameProgramming
58.1 1080p 16:9 WIAV TBD
58.524/7MMT WJLA 24/7 News

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WBFF</span> Television station in Baltimore

WBFF is a television station in Baltimore, Maryland, United States, affiliated with Fox and MyNetworkTV. It is one of two flagship stations of Sinclair Broadcast Group, alongside ABC affiliate WJLA-TV in Washington, D.C. Sinclair maintains a local marketing agreement (LMA) with Cunningham Broadcasting, owner of CW affiliate WNUV, and a shared services agreement (SSA) with Deerfield Media, owner of TBD affiliate WUTB.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WSYT</span> Fox affiliate in Syracuse, New York

WSYT is a television station in Syracuse, New York, United States, affiliated with the Fox network and owned by Imagicomm Communications. The station's studios are located on James Street/NY 290 in Syracuse's Near Northeast section, and its transmitter is located near Maple Grove, a hamlet of Otisco.

WATC-DT is a religious independent television station in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. Owned by Carolina Christian Broadcasting, the station maintains studios on Enterprise Drive in Norcross, and its transmitter is located on Sweat Mountain in northeastern Cobb County, near the Cherokee County line.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WJLA-TV</span> ABC affiliate in Washington, D.C.

WJLA-TV is a television station in Washington, D.C., affiliated with ABC. It is one of two flagship stations of Sinclair Broadcast Group, and is also sister to Woodstock, Virginia–licensed low-powered, Class A TBD station WDCO-CD and local cable channel WJLA 24/7 News. WJLA-TV's studios are located on Wilson Boulevard in the Rosslyn section of Arlington, Virginia, and its transmitter is located in the Tenleytown neighborhood of northwest Washington.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WHUT-TV</span> PBS member station in Washington, D.C.

WHUT-TV is the secondary PBS member television station in Washington, D.C. The station is owned by Howard University, a historically black college, and is sister to commercial urban contemporary radio station WHUR-FM (96.3). WHUT-TV's studios are located on the Howard University campus, and its transmitter is located in the Tenleytown neighborhood in the northwest quadrant of Washington.

WMDO-CD is a low-power, Class A television station in Washington, D.C., affiliated with LATV. It is owned by Entravision Communications alongside Silver Spring, Maryland–licensed Merit Street affiliate WJAL.

WJLA 24/7 News is an American regional cable news television channel in Washington, D.C., operated by ABC-affiliated station WJLA-TV owned by the Sinclair Broadcast Group. The channel provides 24-hour news coverage primarily focused on Washington, northern Virginia, and suburban areas of Maryland within the Washington metropolitan area. The channel shares studio facilities and offices with WJLA-TV and the Rosslyn-based Circa News in Arlington, Virginia. WJLA 24/7 News reaches more than 1.2 million cable television households within the D.C metropolitan area.

WNVT is a non-commercial educational television station licensed to Spotsylvania Courthouse, Virginia, United States, serving the Richmond metropolitan area. The station's transmitter is located in the Richmond suburb of Bon Air in Chesterfield County. WNVT is operated in a pair with Culpeper-licensed WNVC, which serves the Charlottesville area from a transmitter atop Carters Mountain. The two stations are owned by Richmond-based VPM Media Corporation, and broadcast programming from World Channel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WZDC-CD</span> Telemundo TV station in Washington, D.C.

WZDC-CD is a Class A television station in Washington, D.C., serving as the market's outlet for the Spanish-language network Telemundo. It is owned and operated by NBCUniversal's Telemundo Station Group alongside NBC outlet WRC-TV. WZDC-CD and WRC-TV share studios and transmitter facilities on Nebraska Avenue in the Tenleytown neighborhood of northwest Washington.

WUTB is a television station in Baltimore, Maryland, United States, airing programming from the digital multicast network TBD. It is owned by Deerfield Media, which maintains a shared services agreement (SSA) with Sinclair Broadcast Group, owner of Fox/MyNetworkTV affiliate WBFF, for the provision of certain services. Sinclair also operates CW affiliate WNUV under a separate local marketing agreement (LMA) with Cunningham Broadcasting. However, Sinclair effectively owns WNUV as the majority of Cunningham's stock is owned by the family of deceased group founder Julian Smith. The stations share studios on 41st Street off the Jones Falls Expressway in the Woodberry neighborhood of north Baltimore. Through a channel sharing agreement, WUTB and WBFF transmit using the latter station's spectrum from an antenna adjacent to the studios.

KMTW is a television station licensed to Hutchinson, Kansas, United States, serving the Wichita area as an affiliate of the digital multicast network Dabl. It is owned by the Mercury Broadcasting Company, which maintains a local marketing agreement (LMA) with Sinclair Broadcast Group, owner of dual Fox/MyNetworkTV affiliate KSAS-TV, for the provision of certain services. Both stations share studios on North West Street in northwestern Wichita, while KMTW's transmitter is located in rural southwestern Harvey County.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Allbritton Communications</span> American media company

The Allbritton Communications Company was an American media company. Based in Arlington, Virginia, Allbritton was the leading subsidiary of Perpetual Corporation, a private holding company owned by the family of company founder and former Riggs Bank president Joe L. Allbritton. Joe’s son, Robert L. Allbritton, was the Chairman and CEO of Allbritton Communications from 2001 to 2014. He is currently the owner of Capitol News Company, the parent company of political newspaper and website Politico.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KFTU-DT</span> UniMás TV station in Douglas, Arizona

KFTU-DT is a television station licensed to Douglas, Arizona, United States, serving as the Tucson market's outlet for the Spanish-language network UniMás. It is owned and operated by TelevisaUnivision alongside Green Valley–licensed Univision outlet KUVE-DT. The two stations share studios on Forbes Boulevard in Tucson; KFTU's transmitter is located on Juniper Flats Road northwest of Bisbee.

WWHB-CD 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, CW affiliate WTVX, and Class A MyNetworkTV affiliate WTCN-CD. The stations share studios on Fairfield Drive in Mangonia Park, Florida, while WWHB-CD's transmitter is located southwest of Hobe Sound, Florida.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WVIR-CD</span> WVIR-TV translator in Charlottesville, Virginia

WVIR-CD is a low-power, Class A television station in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States. It is a translator of dual NBC/CW+ affiliate WVIR-TV which is owned by Gray Television. WVIR-CD's transmitter is located on Carters Mountain south of Charlottesville; its parent station maintains studios on East Market Street in downtown.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WVTX-CD</span> TV station in Bridgeport, Ohio (1998–2017)

WVTX-CD was a low-power, Class A television station licensed to Bridgeport, Ohio, United States, serving the Wheeling, West Virginia–Steubenville, Ohio market. WVTX-CD, along with its transmission facilities, were owned by OTA Broadcasting, LLC, a company owned by Michael Dell's MSD Capital, which also owned 11 other Class A television stations. WTRF's owner, Nexstar Media Group, programmed WVTX under a time brokerage agreement.

WJAL is a television station licensed to Silver Spring, Maryland, United States, serving the Washington, D.C., area as an affiliate of Merit Street Media. Owned by Entravision Communications, it is sister to Washington-licensed LATV affiliate WMDO-CD. WJAL shares transmitter facilities with CBS affiliate WUSA on Wisconsin Avenue in the Tenleytown section of northwest Washington.

WWTD-LD is a low-power television station in Washington, D.C. The station is owned by DC Broadcasting, Inc., and is sister to WRZB-LD.

WDCN-LD, branded on air as DC 87.7FM, is a low-power television station licensed to Fairfax, Virginia, United States, serving the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area. Owned by Signal Above LLC, WDCN-LD markets itself as a conventional FM radio station, broadcasting Spanish contemporary hits.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WDME-CD</span> MeTV affiliate in Washington, D.C.

WDME-CD is a low-power, Class A television station in Washington, D.C., airing programming from the classic television network MeTV. Owned and operated by network parent Weigel Broadcasting, the station maintains a transmitter in Ward Circle in Washington's northwest quadrant.

References

  1. ↑ "Facility Technical Data for WDCO-CD". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
  2. ↑ "Engineering STA". Federal Communications Commission.
  3. ↑ "Facility Technical Data for WIAV-CD". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
  4. ↑ Seyler, Dave (October 28, 2011). "Transactions: 10-31-11". Television Business Report. Retrieved May 27, 2012.
  5. ↑ Seyler, Dave (March 15, 2012). "Court approves sale of Roanoke-Lynchburg indy". Television Business Report. Retrieved March 15, 2012.
  6. ↑ "Notification of Non-consummation". CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. April 15, 2013. Retrieved April 16, 2013.
  7. 1 2 "Facility No. 57905 Record". FCCData.
  8. ↑ "WIAV-CD Facility Data". FCCData.
  9. ↑ "Facility No. 168449 Record". FCCData.
  10. ↑ "Celebrating 32 years and saying goodbye". Faith Television Network. January 24, 2018.
  11. ↑ "RabbitEars TV Query for WAZT-CD".
  12. ↑ "Application for Consent to Assignment of Broadcast Station Construction Permit or License". CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. June 25, 2020. Retrieved June 27, 2020.
  13. ↑ Jacobson, Adam (June 26, 2020). "A Major Broadcast Player Snags D.C. LPTV Duo". Radio & Television Business Report.
  14. ↑ Consummation Notice
  15. ↑ "Sinclair Acquires two Class A TV stations in Washington, DC". www.prnewswire.com. Sinclair Broadcast Group. October 15, 2020.
  16. ↑ Kurz, Phil (January 7, 2021). "Broadcasters Eye ATSC 3.0 Rollout in 16 Additional Cities by End-of-Summer, Says Pearl TV". TVTechnology.
  17. ↑ "Modification of a License for Digital Class A TV Station Application". FCC LMS. December 24, 2020.
  18. ↑ "Modification of a License for Digital Class A TV Station Application (LMS File No. 119221)".
  19. ↑ "Q2 2024 WDCO-CD Programs and Issues Report" (PDF). FCC PIF.
  20. ↑ "WAZC-LP Facility Data".
  21. 1 2 FCC Broadcast Television Spectrum Incentive Auction — Auction 1001 Winning Bids
  22. ↑ "DWAZF-CD Facility Data". FCCData.
  23. ↑ "DWAZH-CD Facility Data". FCCData.
  24. ↑ "Legal STA".
  25. ↑ "Cancellation Application". FCC LMS.
  26. ↑ "Digital TV Listing for WDCO-CD". RabbitEars.Info. Retrieved April 17, 2020.
  27. ↑ "Digital TV Listing for WIAV-CD". RabbitEars.Info. Retrieved April 17, 2020.
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.