WWHB-CA

Infobox_Broadcast
call_letters = WWHB-CA
station_
station_slogan =
station_branding =
analog = 48 (UHF)
digital = WTVX-DT 50.2 (UHF)
affiliations = Azteca América
founded = 1988
location = Stuart/West Palm Beach, Florida
callsign_meaning = Named for former owner William H. Brothers
owner = Four Points Media Group
licensee = West Palm Beach Television Licensee Corporation
former_callsigns = W19AQ (1989-1998)
WINQ-LP (1998-2002)
former_affiliations = Independent
effective_radiated_power =
homepage = [http://www.wwhbtv.com wwhbtv.com]

WWHB-CA is an Azteca América affiliate in West Palm Beach, Florida, but actually licensed to Stuart. It is owned by the Four Points Media Group and is a sister station to WTVX and WTCN-CA. It broadcasts on UHF channel 48 as a class-A (a form of low-power broadcasting) television station. This is Four Points's first and, so far, only, Spanish-language station.

Due to its low-power status, WWHB does not currently broadcast a digital signal of its own. However, there is a digital signal of WWHB which is offered on WTVX's second digital subchannel.

History

WWHB began as W19AQ (known on-air as WAQ), a station that began broadcasting as channel 19 in West Palm Beach in October, 1988. [ "2 South Florida Media Markets Are Heading In Opposite Directions", by David Altaner, "Ft. Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel", October 30, 1988] The original owner was Palm Beach Broadcasting, led by William B. O'Donnell. WAQ had hoped to become an ABC affiliate when WPEC dropped ABC for CBS at the end of 1988 ["Fledgling Television Station Looks To Link With Network" by Ken Bohannon, "Miami Herald", August 13, 1988] , but instead the affiliation went to WPBF ["ABC Shocks Stations Network To Affiliate With Unproven Ch. 25", by Bill Kelley, "Ft. Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel", October 19, 1988.] According to the Sun-Sentinel, WAQ's initial programming consisted of "morning cartoons (Beverly Hills Teens); old, public domain (and often silent) movies (Bachelor in Paradise, The Pickwick Papers); vintage TV series (The Man from U.N.C.L.E.); sports (Notre Dame football, Florida Marlins baseball); and music (Hit Video USA, which ran from 1 to 6 a.m.)." ["With Nervy Resolve, Tiny New TV Station Hits The Air Monday", by Bill Kelley, "Sun-Sentinel", September 15, 1988] The station also later carried Howard Stern's original syndicated television program, and taped-delayed races from the Palm Beach Kennel Club. ["Never On Sunday No Longer Applies", by Craig Dolch, "The Palm Beach Post", July 16, 1990]

The station struggled to pay its bills ["Troubled Channel 19 Struggling To Find Its Niche" by Amy Driscoll, "The Palm Beach Post", January 7, 1990] and after declaring bankruptcy in 1991, the license was transferred from the O'Donnell family's company, Palm Beach Broadcasting, to Main Street TV of Carle Place, New York. ["WAQ-TV Buyers Sue Over Licence Transfer", "The Palm Beach Post", January 23, 1991] In 1996, Adelphia Cable removed WAQ from its channel lineup because of "continuing problems with the picture quality," and once again the station filed for bankruptcy. ["WAQ is History on Cable", by Bob Betcher, "Stuart News", February 29, 1996] ["WINQ: Low Power, High Hope To Restore Small TV Station", by Marguerite M. Plunkett, "The Palm Beach Post", July 19, 1998] By this point the station was airing home shopping programming, old black and white movies, a local bowling show, and the Cliff Dunn Show, which was simulcast on a local radio station WBPR. [WAQ-TV Hanging In there", by Bob Betcher, "Stuart News", May 29, 1996] The loss of cable caused station revenue to drop from $303,315 in 1995 to only $24,995 in 1996. Station advertising rates dropped from $95 for a 30 second spot to as low as $5.

After losing nearly $7 million in 1996, the station changed call letters to WINQ-LP and its studios were moved to the suburb of Lake Park. The station was sold to William B. Turner in 1999 for $875,000 including $175,000 in debt. ["Lake Park Television Station Sold", "The Palm Beach Post", May 14, 1999] Martin County businessman Bill Brothers purchased the station in 2002 and moved the licence to Stuart. ["Area To Get First All-Spanish Television Station", by Bob Betcher, "Fort Pierce Tribune (FL)", October 8, 2002] . In 2005, Viacom bought WWHB and sister station WTCN Channel 43 from Brothers for $7.7 million. ["WTCN's Brothers Cashes Out As Viacom Beefs Up Station", by Bob Betcher, "Stuart News", April 17, 2005] Viacom moved the studios back to West Palm Beach and improved the station's signal. ["WTCN Moving To West Palm, Likely Will Become WB Station", by Bob Betcher, "Stuart News"/"Port St. Lucie News", June 26, 2005] .

On February 7, 2007, CBS agreed to sell seven of its smaller-market stations to Cerberus Capital Management, L.P., for $185 million. Cerberus then formed a new holding company for the stations, Four Points Media Group, who took over the operation of the stations through local marketing agreements in late-June 2007. [http://keyetv.com/info/local_story_062222649.html] The deal closed on January 10, 2008. Although the URL for the WWHB website has not changed since the sale to Four Points, it now redirects to a separate section of WTVX's website. As of February 25, 2008, the station is now being operated out of Four Points' hub station KUTV in Salt Lake City, Utah.

External links

* [http://www.wwhbtv.com/ Official website]
*Azteca América
*TVQ|WWHB

References