WMOR-TV

Last updated

WMOR-TV
ATSC 3.0 station
WMOR.svg
City Lakeland, Florida
Channels
Branding
  • MOR (spelled out)
  • MeTV Tampa Bay (on DT2)
Programming
Affiliations
Ownership
Owner
Orlando: WESH, WKCF
History
FoundedJanuary 11, 1984
First air date
April 24, 1986(37 years ago) (1986-04-24)
Former call signs
  • WTMV (1986–1996)
  • WWWB (1996–1999)
Former channel number(s)
Call sign meaning
"More TV" (former branding)
Technical information [2]
Licensing authority
 FCC
Facility ID 53819
ERP 1,000 kW
HAAT 459 m (1,506 ft)
Transmitter coordinates 27°49′10.8″N82°15′38″W / 27.819667°N 82.26056°W / 27.819667; -82.26056
Links
Public license information
Website www.mor-tv.com

WMOR-TV (channel 32) is an independent television station licensed to Lakeland, Florida, United States, serving the Tampa Bay area. Owned by Hearst Television, the station maintains studios on Hillsborough Avenue in east Tampa, and its transmitter is located in Riverview. Master control and some internal operations are based at the studios of Orlando NBC affiliate WESH (channel 2) on North Wymore Road in Eatonville.

Contents

WMOR-TV is the only television station owned by Hearst that is not affiliated with any major broadcast network, as well as the only Hearst station that does not maintain a news department. Despite Lakeland being WMOR-TV's city of license, the station has no physical presence there.

History

The station first signed on the air on April 24, 1986, as WTMV; branded as "V-32", it originally maintained an all-music video format. The station's owner and general manager was Dan Johnson, former mayor of St. Petersburg Beach, who previously owned the old WXCR-FM classical music radio station in nearby Safety Harbor. [3] [4] [5] [6] The station originally operated from studio facilities located on South Florida Avenue/SR 37 on the south side of Lakeland, with its transmitter near Mulberry in southwestern Polk County.

After a brief period of broadcasting from its transmitter in Mulberry, WTMV relocated its studio operations to its present-day studios in Tampa in 1988. The facility had been a former headend office for Group W Cable's Hillsborough County system. Around this time, it transitioned to a conventional general entertainment format, filling a void left by WFTS-TV's switch to Fox. It aired a schedule of off-network and syndicated sitcoms and dramas, game shows, movies and cartoons. It also picked up several network programs from ABC, NBC and CBS that Tampa Bay's Big Three affiliates (WTSP channel 10 (now with CBS), WFLA-TV channel 8, and WTVT channel 13 (now with Fox)) as well as those from Orlando (WFTV channel 9, WESH, WCPX (now WKMG-TV), channel 6) chose to preempt.

WTMV became Tampa Bay's WB affiliate when that network launched on January 11, 1995, branding itself as "WB 32". By that point, it ran cartoons (such as Scooby-Doo , Biker Mice from Mars , Captain Planet and the Planeteers , The Jetsons and The Flintstones ), sitcoms (such as Doogie Howser, M.D. , Blossom , The Wonder Years and Too Close for Comfort ), talk shows (such as The Richard Bey Show ), reality shows (such as Check It Out!) and movies. Johnson sold the station to Hearst Television in 1996, [7] with the station's callsign being changed to WWWB-TV (in reference to its affiliation with The WB) following the finalization of the purchase on September 18.

WMOR logo, used from 1999 to 2008. WMORTV.png
WMOR logo, used from 1999 to 2008.
WMOR logo, used from 2008 to 2011. Tv32.png
WMOR logo, used from 2008 to 2011.

In September 1999, WWWB lost its WB affiliation to WTTA (channel 38), as a result of a larger nationwide deal between The WB and the Sinclair Broadcast Group's UPN affiliates and independent stations (Kansas City sister station KCWB also lost its WB affiliation to a Sinclair station, KSMO-TV, now owned by Gray Television) one year earlier. WWWB changed its call letters to WMOR-TV on September 1 that year and rebranded itself as "More TV 32"—a moniker also adopted by its Kansas City sister (now known as KCWE). In August 2008, the "More TV 32" branding was dropped for the simplified "TV 32". On April 4, 2011, the station's on-air brand was changed to "MOR". To distance itself from the earlier "More TV" branding, the station spells out "MOR", instead of saying it as a word; however, it's still inferred as "more", through its slogan, "Just Can't Get Enough? Get MOR!".

On July 9, 2012, WMOR's parent company Hearst Television became involved in a dispute with Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks, leading to WMOR being pulled from Bright House and temporarily replaced with HBO Family on the main WMOR channel and This TV, with InfoMás in Estrella TV's slot. [8] The substitutions lasted until July 19, 2012, when a new carriage deal was reached between Hearst and Time Warner Cable. [9] [10]

Sports programming

WWWB/WMOR was the original television broadcaster of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays when it began Major League Baseball play in 1998. Before that, as WTMV, it showed occasional telecasts of Toronto Blue Jays games, including Nolan Ryan's seventh career no-hitter in 1991, to accommodate the Tampa Bay area's unique population of Canadian snowbirds in the days before MLB Extra Innings and MLB.tv came to prominence. [11]

WMOR currently serves as the local over-the-air broadcaster of ESPN Monday Night Football games involving the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, airing simulcasts of ESPN-televised games (Hearst holds a 20% ownership stake in ESPN; the network's remaining ownership interest is held by The Walt Disney Company), and the company has right of first refusal for simulcasts of ESPN's NFL telecasts in a team's home market. WMOR, along with WFTS which airs the Buccaneers' preseason and Thursday Night Football games (the latter through Amazon Prime Video), are the only Tampa Bay stations that air selected Buccaneers games without having weekly NFL coverage: the team's local preseason and NBC appearances air on WFLA-TV, their CBS appearances air on WTSP and their Fox appearances air on WTVT.

WMOR announced on March 9, 2017, that they would be the Tampa Bay Rowdies' exclusive broadcast partners for the upcoming United Soccer League season. All USL home games were broadcast live and in prime time on channel 32.2 thisTV Tampa Bay. [12]

Technical information

Subchannels

Subchannels provided by WMOR-TV (ATSC 1.0) [1]
Channel Res. Aspect Short nameProgrammingATSC 1.0 host
32.1 1080i 16:9 WMOR-TV Independent WFTS-TV
32.2 480i MeTV MeTV WTSP
32.3Estrell Estrella TV WTVT

This TV was added to digital subchannel 32.2 in March 2009. It was followed by the launch of Estrella TV in September 2009 on subchannel 32.3. [13] On September 26, 2019, MeTV was added to subchannel 32.2, replacing This TV. [14]

ATSC 3.0 lighthouse

Subchannels of WMOR-TV (ATSC 3.0) [1]
Channel Res. Aspect Short nameProgramming
8.1 1080p 16:9 WFLA NBC (WFLA-TV) Action lock 2 - orange.svg
10.1 WTSP CBS (WTSP) Action lock 2 - orange.svg
13.1 720p WTVT Fox (WTVT)
28.1 WFTS ABC (WFTS-TV) Action lock 2 - orange.svg
32.11080pWMOR Independent Action lock 2 - orange.svg
  Subchannel broadcast with digital rights management

Analog-to-digital conversion

WMOR-TV shut down its Mulberry analog transmitter, over UHF channel 32, on June 12, 2009, as part of the federally mandated transition from analog to digital television. [15] The station's digital signal, originating from the market's antenna farm in Riverview, remained on its pre-transition UHF channel 19, using virtual channel 32.

Former repeaters

Prior to the end of analog broadcasting for full-power stations in the United States, WMOR operated four repeaters in the Tampa Bay area. Its analog transmitter was located farther east than the other major Tampa Bay stations because of FCC rules requiring a station to provide a city-grade signal to its city of license—in this case, Lakeland, which is 56 miles (90 km) east of St. Petersburg and 34 miles (55 km) east of Tampa. Hence, the repeaters were necessary to reach as much of the most-populated areas as possible. This was not as much of a problem for the station from the 1990s onward, as cable gained greater penetration in the area. The station's former translators were:

The translators were shut down between September 2000 and June 2009, as WMOR's digital signal operates at a full million watts—equivalent to 5 million watts for an analog transmitter—and is more than sufficient to cover the entire market. WMOR's digital transmitter is also located at the market's antenna farm in Riverview, in central Hillsborough County, where all of the market's television stations except Sarasota-based WWSB have their transmitters, further making the repeaters redundant.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WTTA</span> The CW-owned station in St. Petersburg, Florida

WTTA is a television station licensed to St. Petersburg, Florida, United States, serving as the Tampa Bay area's local outlet for The CW. It is owned and operated by The CW's majority owner, Nexstar Media Group, alongside Tampa-licensed NBC affiliate WFLA-TV and Sarasota-based low-power MyNetworkTV affiliate WSNN-LD. WTTA and WFLA-TV share studios on South Parker Street in downtown Tampa; through a channel sharing agreement, the two stations transmit using WFLA-TV's spectrum from a transmitter in Riverview, Florida.

WNAB is a television station in Nashville, Tennessee, United States, affiliated with the digital multicast network Dabl. It is owned by Tennessee Broadcasting, which maintains an outsourcing agreement with Sinclair Broadcast Group, owner of dual Fox/CW affiliate WZTV and MyNetworkTV affiliate WUXP-TV, for the provision of certain services. The stations share studios on Mainstream Drive along the Cumberland River; WNAB's transmitter is located along I-24 in Whites Creek.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KMTR</span> NBC/CW affiliate in Eugene, Oregon

KMTR is a television station in Eugene, Oregon, United States, affiliated with NBC and The CW Plus. It is owned by Roberts Media, LLC, which maintains a shared services agreement (SSA) with Sinclair Broadcast Group, owner of CBS affiliate KVAL-TV, for the provision of certain services. The two stations share studios on Blanton Road in Eugene, where KMTR's transmitter is also located. KMTR maintained separate facilities on International Court in Springfield, Oregon, until 2020 when the station relocated to KVAL's building; master control and some internal operations for KMTR were based at the KVAL studios.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WBKI-TV (1983–2017)</span> TV station in Campbellsville, Kentucky

WBKI-TV was a television station licensed to Campbellsville, Kentucky, United States, which served the Louisville area. Last owned by LM Communications, LLC, it was most recently affiliated with The CW. LM Communications maintained a local marketing agreement (LMA) with Block Communications, owner of Fox affiliate WDRB and Salem, Indiana–licensed MyNetworkTV affiliate WMYO, for the provision of certain services. WBKI-TV's transmitter was located in Raywick, Kentucky. In 2014, all of WBKI-TV's operations were consolidated at WDRB and WMYO's shared studio facility on West Muhammad Ali Boulevard in downtown Louisville. Previously, WBKI-TV maintained separate studios at the Wright Tower on Dutchmans Lane in Louisville's Bowman section, while the WDRB/WMYO facilities only housed WBKI-TV's master control and some internal operations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WXSP-CD</span> MyNetworkTV affiliate in Grand Rapids, Michigan

WXSP-CD is a low-power, Class A television station licensed to Grand Rapids, Michigan, United States, serving West Michigan as an affiliate of MyNetworkTV. It is owned by Nexstar Media Group alongside Grand Rapids–licensed NBC affiliate WOOD-TV and Battle Creek–licensed ABC affiliate WOTV. The stations share studios on College Avenue Southeast in the Heritage Hill section of Grand Rapids, while WXSP-CD's transmitter is located in Walker. Another repeater station licensed to Grand Rapids, WOLP-CD, utilizes and is co-located with WOOD-TV's transmitter southwest of Middleville.

XHDTV-TDT is a television station in Tecate, Baja California, Mexico, affiliated with Milenio Televisión and serving the Tijuana–San Diego international metropolitan area. The station's license and transmitter are owned by Mexican company Televisora Alco, which is 40% owned by station operator Entravision Communications; XHDTV is a sister station to Entravision-owned Univision affiliate KBNT-CD, UniMás affiliate KDTF-LD and Azteca América affiliate XHAS-TDT. All four stations share studios on Ruffin Road in the Kearny Mesa section of San Diego, California, United States; XHDTV's transmitter is located on Cerro Bola, within the municipality of Tecate. Despite no longer carrying American content, XHDTV continues to be carried on channel 13 by San Diego Cox systems on the U.S. side of the market; the station is also carried in Tijuana on Izzi channel 49.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WESH</span> NBC affiliate in Daytona Beach, Florida

WESH is a television station licensed to Daytona Beach, Florida, United States, serving the Orlando area as an affiliate of NBC. It is owned by Hearst Television alongside Clermont-licensed CW affiliate WKCF. The two stations share studios on North Wymore Road in Eatonville ; WESH's transmitter is located near Christmas, Florida.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WISC-TV</span> CBS affiliate in Madison, Wisconsin

WISC-TV is a television station in Madison, Wisconsin, United States, affiliated with CBS and MyNetworkTV. It is the flagship television property of locally based Morgan Murphy Media, which has owned the station since its inception. WISC-TV's studios are located on Raymond Road in Madison, and its transmitter is located on South Pleasant View Road in Madison's Junction Ridge neighborhood.

KSCW-DT is a television station in Wichita, Kansas, United States, affiliated with The CW. It is owned by Gray Television alongside Hutchinson-licensed CBS affiliate KWCH-DT. The two stations share studios on 37th Street in northeast Wichita; KSCW-DT's transmitter is located in rural northeastern Reno County.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WFQX-TV</span> Fox/CW affiliate in Cadillac, Michigan

WFQX-TV is a television station licensed to Cadillac, Michigan, United States, serving the northern Lower and eastern Upper peninsulas of Michigan as an affiliate of Fox and The CW Plus. It is owned by Cadillac Telecasting Company, which maintains a shared services agreement (SSA) with 910 Media Group, owner of Cadillac-licensed CBS affiliate WWTV, channel 9, for the provision of certain services. Both stations share studios on Broadcast Way in Cadillac, while WFQX-TV's transmitter is located on 130th Avenue in unincorporated Osceola County, just northeast of Tustin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WKCF</span> CW affiliate in Clermont, Florida

WKCF is a television station licensed to Clermont, Florida, United States, serving the Orlando area as an affiliate of The CW. It is owned by Hearst Television alongside Daytona Beach–licensed NBC affiliate WESH. The two stations share studios on North Wymore Road in Eatonville ; WKCF's transmitter is located in unincorporated Bithlo, Florida.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WQCW</span> CW affiliate in Portsmouth, Ohio

WQCW, branded on air as Tri-State's CW, is a television station licensed to Portsmouth, Ohio, United States, serving as the CW affiliate for the Charleston–Huntington, West Virginia market. It is one of two commercial television stations in the market licensed outside West Virginia. WQCW is owned by Gray Television alongside Huntington-licensed NBC affiliate WSAZ-TV. The two stations share studios on 5th Avenue in Huntington; WQCW's transmitter is located on Barker Ridge near Milton.

WSPF-CD, virtual channel 35, is a low-power, Class A television station serving Tampa, Florida, United States that is licensed to St. Petersburg as an owned-and-operated station of Tri-State Christian Television (TCT). WSPF-CD maintains studio facilities located on North Dale Mabry Highway in Tampa, and its transmitter located in Riverview, Florida.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WVEA-TV</span> Univision TV station in Tampa, Florida

WVEA-TV is a television station licensed to Tampa, Florida, United States, broadcasting the Spanish-language Univision and UniMás networks to the Tampa Bay area. Owned and operated by TelevisaUnivision, WVEA-TV maintains studios in the Westlake Corporate Center office park in Tampa, and its transmitter is located on an antenna farm in Riverview, Florida.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WENY-TV</span> ABC/CBS/CW affiliate in Elmira, New York

WENY-TV is a television station in Elmira, New York, United States, affiliated with ABC, CBS and The CW Plus. Owned by Lilly Broadcasting, the station has studios on Old Ithaca Road in Horseheads, and its transmitter is located on Higman Hill in Corning.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WNNE</span> CW affiliate in Montpelier, Vermont

WNNE, branded The Valley CW, is a television station licensed to Montpelier, Vermont, United States, serving the Burlington, Vermont–Plattsburgh, New York market as an affiliate of The CW Plus. It is owned by Hearst Television alongside Plattsburgh-licensed NBC affiliate WPTZ. WNNE and WPTZ share studios on Community Drive in South Burlington, Vermont, with a secondary studio and news bureau on Cornelia Street in Plattsburgh; through a channel sharing agreement, the two stations transmit using WPTZ's spectrum from an antenna on Vermont's highest peak, Mount Mansfield.

WZBJ is a television station licensed to Danville, Virginia, United States, serving the Roanoke–Lynchburg market as an affiliate of MyNetworkTV. It is owned by Gray Television alongside Roanoke-licensed CBS affiliate WDBJ. WZBJ and WDBJ share studios on Hershberger Road in northwest Roanoke; through a channel sharing agreement, the two stations transmit using WDBJ's spectrum from an antenna on Poor Mountain in Roanoke County.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KHBS</span> ABC/CW affiliate in Fort Smith, Arkansas

KHBS is a television station in Fort Smith, Arkansas, United States, affiliated with ABC and The CW Plus. It is simulcast full-time over satellite station KHOG-TV in Fayetteville. Owned by Hearst Television and jointly branded as "40/29", the two stations maintain studios on Ajax Avenue in Rogers, with a secondary studio and news bureau on North Albert Pike Avenue/North 42nd Street in Fort Smith. KHBS' transmitter is located on Cavanal Hill in northwestern Le Flore County, Oklahoma, while KHOG-TV's transmitter is based near Ed Edwards Road in rural northeastern Washington County, Arkansas, just southeast of the Fayetteville city limits.

In broadcasting, digital subchannels are a method of transmitting more than one independent program stream simultaneously from the same digital radio or television station on the same radio frequency channel. This is done by using data compression techniques to reduce the size of each individual program stream, and multiplexing to combine them into a single signal. The practice is sometimes called "multicasting".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WMYT-TV</span> MyNetworkTV affiliate in Rock Hill, South Carolina

WMYT-TV is a television station licensed to Rock Hill, South Carolina, United States, serving the Charlotte, North Carolina area as an affiliate of MyNetworkTV. It is the only major commercial television station in the Charlotte market to be licensed to a community in South Carolina. WMYT-TV is owned by Nexstar Media Group alongside Belmont, North Carolina–licensed Fox affiliate WJZY. Both outlets share studios on Performance Road in unincorporated northwestern Mecklenburg County ; through a channel sharing agreement, the stations transmit using WJZY's spectrum from an antenna near Dallas, North Carolina, along the Catawba River.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Digital TV Market Listing for WMOR". RabbitEars.Info. Retrieved January 26, 2017.
  2. ↑ "Facility Technical Data for WMOR-TV". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
  3. ↑ "WXCR   A History". radioyears.com. Retrieved December 28, 2019.
  4. ↑ "Dan L. Johnson". Tampa Bay Times . November 2, 2017. Retrieved December 28, 2019.
  5. ↑ Marshall, Janet (September 2, 1998). "Seminole residents: Tower a nuisance". St. Petersburg Times .
  6. ↑ Webb, Tedd. "Bob Hughes". Where are they now?. Retrieved December 28, 2019.
  7. ↑ "Hearst Corp. to buy Florida TV Station.(Business).", Albany Times Union . November 1, 1995. (February 18, 2011).
  8. ↑ "Tampa Bay Times: "Hearst dispute with Bright House pulls WMOR-Ch. 32 and digital THIS TV off Tampa Bay cable system", July 10, 2012". Archived from the original on December 14, 2013. Retrieved February 1, 2014.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  9. ↑ "Nexttv | Programming| Business | Multichannel Broadcasting + Cable | www.nexttv.com". NextTV. August 12, 2023.
  10. ↑ "WMOR-Ch. 32 returns to Bright House Networks in Tampa Bay as Hearst resolves dispute with cablers". November 1, 2012. Archived from the original on November 1, 2012.
  11. ↑ Re-broadcast of Toronto Blue Jays vs. Texas Rangers, 1991, on MLB Network July 2, 2009
  12. ↑ "Hearst Television Station Group in Tampa Bay Inks Exclusive Promotional & Broadcast Partnership with Tampa Bay Rowdies". mor-tv.com. March 8, 2017. Retrieved March 11, 2017.
  13. ↑ "Estrella TV Coming Soon". WMOR-TV32. Archived from the original on June 30, 2012.
  14. ↑ "Where to Watch MeTV". MeTV.
  15. ↑ "DTV Tentative Channel Designations for the First and Second Rounds" (PDF). fcc.gov. Federal Communications Commission. Archived from the original (PDF) on August 29, 2013.
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.