WWBI-LP

Infobox_Broadcast
call_letters = WWBI-LP
"(A Class-A Station)"
station_
station_slogan =
station_branding =
analog = 27 (UHF)
digital = none
other_chs = W14CK 47 (UHF, Newport, Vermont)
affiliations = ION
founded = 1992
location = Plattsburgh, New York / Burlington / Montreal
callsign_meaning = Derived from old translator calls "W27BI"
former_callsigns = W27BI
effective_radiated_power = 44.7kW
owner = SMC Communications
former_affiliations = Independent (1992-1995, briefly again in 1999)
UPN (1995-1999)
Pax/i (now ION) (1999-2005)
Daystar (2005-2006) | homepage =

WWBI-LP (channel 27) is a low-power television station in Plattsburgh, New York. The station is owned and operated by SMC Communications.

The station is licensed as Class A, even though the calls list it as an "-LP"; this is the case with many other stations licensed prior to 1999, when the FCC began to assign the "-CA" suffix for Low Power-Class A licenses.

The station is translated on W14CK Newport, Vermont, which transmits at 11.6 kW from Jay Peak, which was added in 1997. It is also temporarily being rebroadcasted on a full-power station, WCWF channel 40 in Saranac Lake, New York. It can be seen on Comcast Burlington channel 8 and Charter Plattsburgh channel 10.

Since mid 2007, WWBI's signal has been off the air. It is unknown if and when it will sign on again.Fact|date=May 2008

Viewership in Quebec

Usually, the main WWBI signal only reaches the international border, though many in the Montreal area have managed to pull the signal in, with varying results. (Its W14CK translator does extend into Quebec's Estrie region, although this is mainly farmland and backcountry).

It is expected the channel 27 signal will no longer be available in the areas of Quebec far from the border by mid 2008, when it will be cancelled out by the French Télé-Québec network; its flagship, CIVM, will commence digital broadcasting on channel 27, from atop Mount Royal in Montreal. It is not known how CIVM's signal would affect WWBI's signal in WWBI's immediate viewing area.

History

WWBI signed on in 1992 with an independent format. The station originally had plans to become the Fox affiliate for Burlington, Vermont and Montreal, but negotiations failed and the station adopted the UPN affiliation in the mid-1990s. However, affiliation changes in 1999 meant that the station lost UPN to WBVT, and the station initially went independent before switching to ION (then known as PAX). [ [http://www.bostonradio.org/nerw/nerw-990528.html North East RadioWatch: May 28, 1999 ] ]

The station was sold to the "Word of God Religious Fellowship" in the fall of 2005, and began running Daystar programming as an LMA by the end of the year. There was originally word that the station would run Daystar programming part time while keeping some ION programming as part of the schedule, however, by at least as of January 2006, it changed over to full-time Daystar (religious) programming. Following this WWBI was replaced by the ION satellite feed on local cable systems [ [http://www.fybush.com/NERW/2006/060619/nerw.html#vt NorthEast Radio Watch by Scott Fybush ] ] , who were never obligated to carry WWBI in the first place since it is a low power station.

In October 2006, however, WWBI's sale to Daystar had fallen through; as a result, the station once again returned to programming from the ION network and returned to local cable systems by mid November 2006. [ [http://www.fybush.com/NERW/2006/061016/nerw.html#vt NorthEast Radio Watch by Scott Fybush ] ]

On the Vidéotron cable system in Montreal, WWBI was "seen" on its "Illico" digital service between January 2004 and July 2005, but, citing "technical difficulties", was the national Pax satellite feed instead. These problems were never corrected, and WWBI was withdrawn from the service by orders from the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission.

WWBI's former home destroyed

On June 6, 2006, WWBI's former studio, the Hotel Holland in Rouses Point, New York, was destroyed in a fire. The Hotel Holland was used for WWBI's studios back in the days when they were an independent station and UPN affiliate, and, when the fire occurred, was used as storage for broadcasting equipment after relocating their studios. [ [http://www.fybush.com/NERW/2006/060619/nerw.html#vt NorthEast Radio Watch by Scott Fybush ] ]

ee also

* List of television stations in Vermont

Footnotes

References

*cite web
url = http://www.geocities.com/tvhatton/champ-local/wwbi.html
title = WWBI (Daystar)
work = TV Hat
accessdate = 2005-12-30

External links

*TVQ|WWBI
*TVQ|W14CK
* [http://www.geocities.com/tvhatton/champ-local/wwbi.html WWBI at TVHat]
* [http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=1034602399684523696 WWBI-LP's on-air identification, at Google Video]