WHNO

Infobox_Broadcast
call_letters = WHNO
city =
station_
station_slogan =
station_branding =
analog = 20 (UHF)
digital = 21 (UHF)
other_chs =
affiliations = LeSEA
network =
founded =
airdate = October 20, 1994
location = New Orleans, Louisiana
callsign_meaning = World
Harvest
New
Orleans
former_callsigns =
former_channel_numbers =
owner = LeSEA Broadcasting Corporation
licensee = LeSEA Broadcasting of New Orleans, Inc.
sister_stations =
former_affiliations =
effective_radiated_power = 3720 kW (analog)
300 kW (digital)
HAAT = 275 m (analog)
254 m (digital)
class =
facility_id = 37106
coordinates = coord|29|55|13.1|N|90|1|28.6|W|type:landmark_scale:2000
homepage = [http://www.whno.com/ www.whno.com]

WHNO is a television station in New Orleans, Louisiana, broadcasting locally on channel 20 as a LeSEA owned-and-operated station. As an affiliate of LeSEA, the station airs mostly Christian programming along with a small amount of secular family programming.

History

The channel 20 allocation was at first occupied by WJMR-TV (now WVUE) in 1958 around the time it was still seeking different channel numbers before finally settling on channel 8 in 1970. Since then the construction permit of channel 20 dates back to the 1970's. The permit changed hands many times over the years. Other construction permits for Channels 38 and 49 were dropped in and signed on, while channel 20 remained vacant. In 1991, Le Sea Broadcasting finally purchased the construction permit and began building the station.

The station went on the air on Monday, October 10, 1994. They signed on with Christian programs during the week until 2 p.m. Then from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m., the station ran a mix of classic sitcoms, westerns, and family drama shows. After 7 p.m., WHNO would run Christian programming through the night. On Saturday, the station ran some outdoor shows and low budget films from 11 a.m. to about 7 p.m. After that the station ran only Christian programs. Sunday would be all Christian programming. The station still offers this format today. As in the other markets LeSEA had stations in, the station declined to take the open UPN affiliation at the network's 1995 launch, allowing WUPL to launch with that network. Because of WWL-TV's long time preference for local news in the morning, Channel 20 carried the CBS Morning News from 1998-2002, and in 2000, began to program Christian paid programming in some off-peak hours.

Hurricane Katrina

WHNO's studios sustained damage following Hurricane Katrina. The station was off the air but offered the the LeSEA satellite feed to cable systems and satellite providers. In November Channel 20 returned to the air carrying this feed as well. On December 3, 2005, WHNO resumed a local schedule and advertising.

External links

* [http://www.whno.com/ Official site]
* [http://www.lesea.com/ LeSEA]
*TVQ|WHNO
*BIA|WHNO|TV|TV
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