WPCB-TV

Last updated

WPCB-TV
City Greensburg, Pennsylvania
Channels
BrandingCornerstone Network
Programming
Affiliations
Ownership
Owner Cornerstone Television, Inc.
History
First air date
April 15, 1979(45 years ago) (1979-04-15)
Former channel number(s)
  • Analog: 40 (UHF, 1979–2009)
  • Digital: 50 (UHF, 2003–2019)
Call sign meaning
Western Pennsylvania Christian Broadcasting (original name of company)
Technical information [1]
Licensing authority
 FCC
Facility ID 13924
ERP 530 kW
HAAT 278 m (912 ft)
Transmitter coordinates 40°23′34″N79°46′53″W / 40.39278°N 79.78139°W / 40.39278; -79.78139
Translator(s) WKBS-TV 47 (6 VHF) Altoona
Links
Public license information
Website www.ctvn.org

WPCB-TV (channel 40) is a television station licensed to Greensburg, Pennsylvania, United States, serving the Pittsburgh area as the flagship of the religious network Cornerstone Television. Cornerstone originates most of its programs from this station. WPCB-TV's studios and transmitter are co-located on Signal Hill Drive in Wall, Pennsylvania.

Contents

WKBS-TV (channel 47) in Altoona operates as a full-time satellite of WPCB.

History

In the 1960s, Rev. Russ Bixler was visiting the Virginia Beach area and came across independent station WYAH-TV, which was running an all-Christian format. Bixler came to visit the Christian Broadcasting Network studios, meeting Pat Robertson and Jim Bakker. Concluding that Pittsburgh needed a similar station, Bixler applied for the channel 22 license in the 1970s, but lost to Commercial Radio Institute, a forerunner of Sinclair Broadcast Group in 1975, who would launch that station as secular independent WPTT-TV in 1978. Bixler then applied for a license on channel 40, and was granted a construction permit for that channel in 1976.

After several hurdles, Bixler was able to get the needed equipment and was able to sell a few hours a day of programming time to Christian organizations. WPCB-TV finally began operations on April 15, 1979. The station was initially on the air for 15 hours a day, and within a year expanded to a 24-hour schedule. Programming consisted of several runs a day of the two-hour edition of the PTL Club , the 90-minute edition of The 700 Club , several other shows produced by CBN for the CBN Cable channel, a few children's educational and religious shows, televangelists like Jimmy Swaggart, Rex Humbard, Oral Roberts and Jerry Falwell, and some local church programs. The station also produced a local variety talk and music show, Getting Together. WPCB-TV's programming remains entirely Christian-oriented to this day. From before their sign on, when a person phones the station, the receptionists answer "Jesus Loves You TV 40".

Over the decades, owing to holding a license to operate a commercial television station, WPCB-TV has received countless offers from commercial broadcasters wanting to convert the station into a conventional independent station, but has flatly refused them each time. However, in 1998, Cornerstone attempted to buy the license for non-commercial station WQEX (channel 16), which would have required a sale of the channel 40 license. Paxson Communications made an offer to buy channel 40; if the deal went through, it would have been relaunched as a Pax TV owned-and-operated station under the call letters WKPX-TV. [2] However, at that time the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) did not deem WPCB-TV's religious programming as educational, and Cornerstone's application was withdrawn in 2000; channel 40 was then taken off the market. [3] In 2002, the FCC reversed its position (WQEX was converted into a commercial license later that year; in 2011, it was sold to Paxson's successor, Ion Media Networks, and now carries programming from Pax TV's successor Ion Television as WINP-TV).

Russ Bixler died in 2000, and Ron Hembree, who hosted a program on WPCB-TV, took over as the station's president. Hembree died in June 2010.

Technical information

Subchannels

The station's signal is multiplexed:

Subchannels of WPCB-TV [4]
Channel Res. Aspect Short nameProgramming
40.1 1080i 16:9 WPCB Cornerstone
40.2 720p CourtTV Court TV
40.3The365 The365
40.4 480i Quest Quest
40.5 4:3 GetTV Get
40.6DEFY Defy
40.716:9OUTLAW Outlaw
40.84:3PFFCPittsburgh's Faith & Family Channel

Analog-to-digital conversion

WPCB-TV shut down its analog signal, over UHF channel 40, 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 continued to broadcasts on its pre-transition UHF channel 50, [5] [6] using virtual channel 40.

Related Research Articles

WPXN-TV is a television station in New York City, serving as the local Ion Television outlet. Owned and operated by the Ion Media subsidiary of the E. W. Scripps Company, the station maintains offices on Seventh Avenue in Midtown Manhattan and transmits from atop One World Trade Center.

WVCY-TV is a religious independent television station in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States, owned by locally based VCY America, Inc. The station's studios are located on West Vliet Street in Milwaukee. Through a channel sharing agreement with Fox owned-and-operated station WITI, WVCY-TV transmits using WITI's spectrum from an antenna on East Capitol Drive in Shorewood.

WYPX-TV is a television station licensed to Amsterdam, New York, United States, serving the Capital District as an affiliate of Ion Television. Owned by Inyo Broadcast Holdings, the station has offices on Charles Boulevard in Guilderland, and its transmitter is located in the Helderberg Escarpment in New Scotland.

WZPX-TV is a television station licensed to Battle Creek, Michigan, United States, serving as the Ion Television affiliate for West Michigan. Owned by Inyo Broadcast Holdings, the station maintains offices on Horizon Drive in Grand Rapids and a transmitter on South Norris Road in Orangeville Township.

KPXN-TV is a television station licensed to San Bernardino, California, United States, serving as the Ion Television outlet for the Los Angeles area. It is owned and operated by the Ion Media subsidiary of the E. W. Scripps Company alongside Inglewood-licensed Scripps News station KILM. KPXN-TV and KILM share offices on West Olive Avenue in Burbank; Through a channel sharing agreement, the two stations transmit using KPXN-TV's spectrum from an antenna atop Mount Wilson.

WINP-TV is a television station in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States, airing programming from the Ion Television network. Owned and operated by the Ion Media subsidiary of the E. W. Scripps Company, the station maintains transmitter facilities in Pittsburgh's Oakland neighborhood.

The Cornerstone Television Network is a non-commercial Christian broadcast and satellite television network based in Wall, Pennsylvania, United States. Its founder was Russ Bixler. The network has 44 full-power and 57 low-power affiliate stations, 1 online affiliate station, and it is on the Glorystar satellite service.

WHPX-TV is a television station licensed to New London, Connecticut, United States, serving as the Ion Television affiliate for the Hartford–New Haven market. The station is owned by Inyo Broadcast Holdings, and maintains offices in New London and a transmitter on Rattlesnake Mountain in Farmington, Connecticut.

KPXE-TV is a television station in Kansas City, Missouri, United States, affiliated with Ion Television. Owned by Inyo Broadcast Holdings, the station maintains offices on Oak Street and Cleaver Boulevard in Kansas City, Missouri, and its transmitter is located in the city's Brown Estates section.

KOPX-TV is a television station in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States, affiliated with Ion Television. Owned by Inyo Broadcast Holdings, the station maintains offices on Railway Drive in north Oklahoma City, and its transmitter is located near 122nd Street on the city's northeast side.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WGGS-TV</span> Religious independent TV station in Greenville, South Carolina

WGGS-TV is a religious independent television station licensed to Greenville, South Carolina, United States, serving Upstate South Carolina and Western North Carolina. Owned by Carolina Christian Broadcasting, it is sister to Hendersonville, North Carolina–licensed low-power GEB America affiliate WDKT-LD. The two stations share studios on Rutherford Road in Taylors, South Carolina; WGGS-TV's transmitter is located at Paris Mountain State Park.

WPXC-TV is a television station licensed to Brunswick, Georgia, United States, broadcasting the Ion Television network to the Jacksonville, Florida, area. It is the only major commercial station in the Jacksonville market that is licensed in Georgia. The station is owned and operated by the Ion Media subsidiary of the E. W. Scripps Company, and has studios on Blythe Island Highway/State Route 303 in southwestern Brunswick; its transmitter is located in unincorporated southwestern Camden County, Georgia.

KLUZ-TV is a television station in Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States, broadcasting the Spanish-language Univision network to most of the state. It is owned by TelevisaUnivision, which maintains a local marketing agreement (LMA) with Entravision Communications, owner of UniMás affiliate KTFQ-TV, for the provision of certain services. The two stations share studios on Broadbent Parkway in northeastern Albuquerque; KLUZ-TV's transmitter is located in Rio Rancho.

WCPX-TV is a television station in Chicago, Illinois, United States, broadcasting the Ion Television network. The station is owned and operated by the Ion Media subsidiary of the E. W. Scripps Company, and maintains offices on Des Plaines and Van Buren streets in the Chicago Loop; its transmitter is located atop the Willis Tower.

WPXQ-TV is a television station licensed to Newport, Rhode Island, United States, broadcasting the Ion Television network to the Providence area. Owned and operated by the Ion Media subsidiary of the E. W. Scripps Company, it shares transmitter facilities with former sister station WLWC on Champlin Hill near Ashaway.

WXPX-TV is a television station licensed to Bradenton, Florida, United States, serving as the Tampa Bay area's Ion Television outlet. It is owned and operated by the Ion Media subsidiary of the E. W. Scripps Company alongside Tampa-licensed ABC affiliate WFTS-TV. WXPX-TV's studios are located on 66th Street North in Clearwater, and its transmitter is located in Riverview, Florida.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KTFF-DT</span> Television station in California, United States

KTFF-DT is a television station licensed to Porterville, California, United States, broadcasting the Spanish-language UniMás network to the Fresno area. It is owned and operated by TelevisaUnivision alongside Hanford-licensed Univision outlet KFTV-DT. The two stations share studios on Univision Plaza near the corner of North Palm and West Herndon avenues in northwestern Fresno; KTFF's transmitter is located on Blue Ridge in rural northwestern Tulare County.

WQPX-TV is a television station licensed to Scranton, Pennsylvania, United States, broadcasting the Ion Television network to Northeastern Pennsylvania. Owned and operated by the Ion Media subsidiary of the E. W. Scripps Company, the station has offices on Lackawanna Avenue in downtown Scranton, and its transmitter is located on Bald Mountain, northwest of Scranton and I-476.

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

WKBS-TV is a religious television station in Altoona, Pennsylvania, United States, owned and operated by Cornerstone Television. The station's transmitter is located in Logan Township.

References

  1. ↑ "Facility Technical Data for WPCB-TV". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
  2. ↑ Owen, Rob (July 15, 1999). "Pax TV wants to be on the air in Pittsburgh, not up in the air". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette . Retrieved February 2, 2012.
  3. ↑ "WQEX deal falls apart".
  4. ↑ "RabbitEars TV Query for WPCB". RabbitEars.info . Retrieved November 6, 2024.
  5. ↑ "DTV Tentative Channel Designations for the First and Second Rounds" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on August 29, 2013. Retrieved March 24, 2012.
  6. ↑ CDBS Print
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.