Jump to content

WAMI-DT

Add links
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Redirected fromWAMI-TV)

WAMI-DT
CityHollywood, Florida
Channels
BrandingUniMás Miami
Programming
Affiliations
Ownership
Owner
WLTV-DT,WAMR-FM,WRTO-FM
History
First air date
August 10, 1988
(36 years ago)(1988-08-10)
Former call signs
  • WYHS (1988–1992)
  • WYHS-TV (1992–1998)
  • WAMI-TV (1998–2009)
Former channel number(s)
  • Analog:69 (UHF, 1988–2009)
  • Digital:47 (UHF, until 2018)
Call signmeaning
Miami
Technical information[1]
Licensing authority
FCC
Facility ID60536
ERP1,000 kW
HAAT297 m (974 ft)
Transmitter coordinates25°59′10″N80°11′36.3″W/ 25.98611°N 80.193417°W/25.98611; -80.193417
Links
Public license information
WebsiteUniMás

WAMI-DT(channel 69) is atelevision stationlicensed toHollywood, Florida,United States, serving as theMiami-area outlet for the Spanish-language networkUniMás.It isowned and operatedbyTelevisaUnivisionalongsideUnivisionstationWLTV-DT(channel 23). The two stations share studios known as "NewsPort" (a converted studio facility that also housesNoticias Univision) on Northwest 30th Terrace inDoral;WAMI-DT's transmitter is located inPembroke Park, Florida.

WAMI is one of twocommercialtelevision stations with acity of licenseinBroward County,the other beingTelemundostationWSCV(channel 51), licensed toFort Lauderdale.The station also serves as thede factoUniMás outlet for theWest Palm Beachmarket.

History

[edit]

Prior to being used by a full-power station, the channel 69 allocation was occupied by W69AA, a translator forWCIX(channel 6). The analog channel 6 transmitter was located inHomesteadbecause of station spacing restrictions tochannel 6inOrlando;W69AA and two other translators, all commissioned in 1972, provided WCIX programming to areas in Broward County and Boca Raton.[2]As applications proceeded on the full-power allotment, W69AA was displaced; it went silent and returned as W58BU, a translator ofWTVJ,on March 10, 1994.[3]

Early years

[edit]

In 1981, four applications were received for a full-power television station on channel 69, from Whitco Broadcasters; Family Television 69, owned by Hialeah pastor Adib Eden, Sr.; Golden East Broadcasters; and Christian Media of Florida.[4]In April, the FCC selected Whitco over the other applicants, saying that Christian Media of Florida's three pastor owners would not be able to balance ministry and station operations; Whitco offered $111,000 to its competitors to end the proceeding.[5]

Whitco, owned by Eddie Whitehead and Thomas Coates, proposed the first African-American-owned television station in South Florida, aimed at the same audience.[6]The construction permit took the call letters WDEM and secured space on the new tower being built byGuy Gannett CommunicationsinPembroke Park.[7]

An attempt to sell a majority stake in the construction permit to an investor group that sought to program channel 69 as a Spanish-language station fell through in early 1985.[8]On February 19, 1987, the Home Shopping Network (HSN) announced that it was acquiring a majority stake in WDEM,[9]with the option to buy the facility outright upon completion for $10 million.[10]

WAMI first signed on the air on August 10, 1988, as WYHS-TV. Before the station launched, WYHS-TV simulcast audio fromWHYI-FM(Y-100) with live telecasting views of Miami before signing on. When it signed on, WYHS-TV carried programming from the Home Shopping Network. Two months later, HSN's broadcasting division, Silver King Communications, acquired the remainder of the station.[11]The primary purpose of these stations was to force carriage of HSN on cable providers in eachmarketthrough theFederal Communications Commission'smust-carryprovisions asQVCwas taking away a large slice of HSN's audience as several providers had held an ownership interest in QVC, but not HSN. Eventually, Silver King Communications acquired an ownership interest in theUSA Network,and as a result, later becameUSA Broadcasting,the broadcast arm of media companyUSA Networks, Inc.In the fall of 1997, channel 69 began carryingFox Kidsprogramming, after it was dropped by the market'sWBaffiliate WDZL (channel 39, later WBZL and nowWSFL-TV), which acquired the block in 1993 after Fox affiliateWSVN(channel 7) decided to stop carrying Fox's children's programming.

WAMI 69

[edit]
WAMI logo; originally showing "Miami", it was later modified to incorporate the channel number.

On June 8, 1998, at 6 a.m., channel 69 became anindependent station;the station also changed its call letters to WAMI-TV. The relaunch of channel 69 was known as the "Birth of a Station",[12]where a soon-to-be mother was giving birth to the "Miami" thought-bubble station logo (the entire day before, the channelstuntedwith the picture of asonogramof the new logo as a lead into the introduction). Immediately after that sketch, real-time traffic and weather reports were shown. The revamped station adopted a general entertainment format with a strong focus on locally produced programs including a daily news program calledThe Times;the sports discussion showSportsTown;Generation ñ,a program targeted at bilingual, 2nd generation Latinos in the U.S.; the lifestyle programsOcean Drive(which was based on the magazine of the same name) andTen's(which was also broadcast onDallassister stationKSTR-TVfrom 1999 to 2001); the dance programBarcode;an alternative lifestyle program calledKenneth's Frequency;and the talk showOut Loud,which was hosted by Bill Teck and produced by Miami producer and media personalityPaul Bouche.The station's programming was mostly aimed at teenagers and young adults between the ages of 16 and 34. The format heavily took after the groundbreakingCITY-TVin Toronto, which carried a similar mix of syndicated shows and movies with locally-produced programming.

WAMI repackaged the Fox Kids block, incorporating it into the live, locally produced interactive children's showWAMI on Miami.The hosts of that program would hold up a "WAMI" hand sign, holding up both hands, making "L" shapes, and crossing their hands together to form a "W", shouting; "Wami, baby!" to its on-air audience. Children would show up at WAMI-sponsored Fox Kids/Power Rangersevents that were held throughoutMiami-Dadeand Broward counties, mimicking their favoriteWAMI on Miamion-air host. Another pickup for the station wasPolitically Incorrect with Bill Maher,which had not been cleared by the area's ABC affiliate,WPLG.[citation needed]

The station soon began to heavily incorporate local remote interstitials that were broadcast live. WAMI-TV often shot its interstitials, "live" at remote locations all over Miami-Dade and Broward counties, with the WAMI interstitial host often literally pulling passers-by off the streets to read the cue cards announcing the programs that would be shown on the station during the next hour. Another short program not seen on most other USA-owned stations was the topical programLips,featuring a pair of ruby red lips in front of a black background, teasing the day's stories or issues, a concept that was thought to be inspired byThe Rocky Horror Picture Show.[13]

WAMI-TV prominently used the on-air station "bug" or WAMI station ID logo, a variation of the WAMI "thought bubble"; thestation IDgraphic would flash on the lower part of the screen, at the top, and bottom of the hour, or each time a program returned from commercial break, and then fade out. WAMI's vice president of promotions ordered that the logo bug remain on-screen during its programs, around the clock, and to give it a translucent appearance so that it was seen constantly. WAMI also featured "WAMI-cams", which were three to five-second on-air spots that were used to fill airtime, usually catching a glimpse ofSouth Beachstreet life, scenic views, or interesting goings-on in Miami, followed a "pop" sound and the appearance of the WAMI "thought bubble" graphic. The rest of WAMI-TV's programming schedule was supplemented with some first-run syndicatedrealityandtalk shows,syndicated reruns of networksitcoms,movies (under theWAMI Movie Palacebanner),cartoonsand a fewreligious programs.

By December 1998, after only six months on the air, WAMI-TV had outbidUPNowned-and-operated stationWBFS-TV(channel 33) and WB affiliate WBZL to land an exclusive six-year contract for the local television rights toMajor League Baseballgames from theFlorida Marlins.WAMI had also procured the rights to broadcastMiami HeatNBAgames prior to the station's relaunch.[14]

By late 1999, WAMI had grown into its role as the "flagship station"of what was to become the USA Broadcasting Network, comprising thirteen stations scattered around the country in major U.S. cities, twelve of which were former HSN affiliates. All of these stations, which were owned byBarry Diller,were to gradually be converted to follow WAMI's format, called "CityVision".[15]The "CityVision" concept was based on Diller's theory that local programming was being ignored on most broadcast stations, and that the general public wanted a sense of what is going on in their communities on television. A scaled-down version of the format was adopted by USA Broadcasting-owned sister stations KHSX-TV in Dallas (which became KSTR-TV and rebranded as "K-Star 49" ), WHSH-TV inBoston(which became WHUB-TV and rebranded as "Hub 66"; it is nowWUTF-TV) and WHOT-TV inAtlanta(which rebranded as "Hotlanta 34"; it is nowWUVG-TV). The rest of the former HSN-affiliated stations owned by USA that were due to be converted were WHSE-TV (nowWFUT-DT) and WHSI (nowWFTY-DT) in the New York City market (whose calls were to be changed to WORX and rebranded as "The Works" upon the format change), WEHS (nowWXFT-DT) inChicago(which was to become WNDE and be rebranded as "Windy" ),WQHS-TVinCleveland,KHSC-TV (nowKFTR-DT) in Los Angeles (whose calls were to be changed to KLIK and be rebranded as "Click" ), WHSP (nowWUVP-DT) inPhiladelphia,WHSW (nowWUTB) inBaltimore,KHSH (nowKFTH-DT) inHoustonand WBHS (nowWFTT-DT) inTampa.

Sale to Univision and switch to a Spanish-language format

[edit]

Due to financial problems that USA Networks began facing in 2000, the company began looking to divest some of its assets. USA Broadcasting, as one of these assets, was considered for divestiture as part of a deal to help USA Networks repair its financial footing. In 2001, the remaining entertainment units of USA Broadcasting were sold toVivendi Universal,along with $10.3 billion worth of shares held by Barry Diller. The television stations were to be sold toThe Walt Disney Company,butUnivision Communicationsoutbid its competition in a close race. The sale was finalized on January 3, 2002.[16]

On January 14, 2002, WAMI-TV became a charter owned-and-operated station of Univision's fledgling Spanish-language secondary network, Telefutura (which rebranded asUniMáseleven years later on February 7, 2013).WPXM-TV(channel 35) and West Palm Beach sister stationWPXP-TVacquired the rights to the Marlins telecasts (which were now produced byFox Sports), which aired through the Florida Marlins Television Network, eventually dropping them in2005after Pax TV relaunched asi: Independent Television(the rights to Marlins and Heat telecasts are held by Sun Sports, nowBally Sports Sun).

In late 2009, most Univision-owned television stations, including WAMI and sister station WLTV, upgraded their main digital signals to transmit programming in1080ihigh definition.TeleFutura's sister network Univision became the last major over-the-air television network in the United States to begin offering high definition programming onDecember 31,2009.

Newscasts and local programming

[edit]

Univision owned-and-operated sister station WLTV produces an hour-long weekday morning newscast for WAMI calledNoticias 23 Al Amanecer en UniMás Miami,which airs Monday through Fridays at 7 a.m. and is an extension of WLTV's two-hour morning newscast. In addition, that station produces apublic affairsprogram calledAhora en Nuestra Comunidad,which airs on Saturday mornings at 6 a.m. on WAMI-DT with a rebroadcast on WLTV at 11:30 a.m.

Awards and nominations

[edit]

WAMI-TV during its 2½ year run under USA Broadcasting ownership, received 18 Suncoast RegionalEmmy Awardsand 22Promax Awards.

  • 1998: 7 Regional Emmys[17]
  • 1999: 6 Regional Emmys, 10 Promax Awards[18]
  • 2000: 5 Regional Emmys,[19]10 Promax Awards[20]
  • 2001: 2 Promax Awards[20]

Notable former on-air staff

[edit]

Technical information

[edit]

Subchannels

[edit]

The station's digital signal ismultiplexed:

Subchannels of WAMI-DT[21]
Channel Res. Aspect Short name Programming
69.1 720p 16:9 WAMI-DT UniMás
69.2 480i Bounce Bounce TV
69.3 4:3 getTV Get
69.4 16:9 GRIT Grit
69.5 QUEST Quest
6.4 480i 16:9 Oxygen Oxygen(WTVJ-DT4)
Broadcast on behalf of another station

Analog-to-digital conversion

[edit]

WAMI ended programming on its analog signal, onUHFchannel 69, On June 12, 2009, the official date on which full-power television stations in the United Statestransitioned from analog to digital broadcastsunder federal mandate. The station's digital signal continued to broadcast on its pre-transition UHF channel 47,[22]usingvirtual channel69. Like all Univision-owned stations, it also retained the "-DT" suffix on their calls at the time of transition.

References

[edit]
  1. ^"Facility Technical Data for WAMI-DT".Licensing and Management System.Federal Communications Commission.
  2. ^Anderson, Jack E. (April 1, 1972)."'Mini-Transmitters' Will Help Improve Channel 6's Picture ".Miami Herald.p. 8-C.RetrievedMarch 30,2020.
  3. ^Zbar, Jeffery D. (June 13, 1994)."WCIX ads advise viewers on getting good reception".Sun-Sentinel.p. Weekly Business 14.RetrievedMarch 30,2020.
  4. ^Alexander Jr., Luther C. (November 3, 1981)."Four companies seek license to broadcast on new UHF channel".Miami Herald.p. 7BR.RetrievedMarch 31,2020.
  5. ^Sante, Mike (July 6, 1983)."Competitors for new television station give up".Miami Herald.p. 3BR.RetrievedMarch 31,2020.
  6. ^Sante, Mike (June 19, 1983)."New station to focus on blacks' TV image".Miami Herald.p. 1BR,5BR.RetrievedMarch 31,2020.
  7. ^Thornton, Linda (October 11, 1984)."SHE aims to boost image and ratings".Miami Herald.p. 12D.RetrievedMarch 31,2020.
  8. ^Oppenheimer, Andres (June 13, 1985)."Channel 69 purchase in doubt".Miami Herald.p. 17C.RetrievedMarch 31,2020.
  9. ^"HSN calls off takeover bid for C.O.M.B."Miami Herald.February 20, 1987. p. 7C.RetrievedMarch 31,2020.
  10. ^"Last rites for HSN-C.O.M.B. merger"(PDF).Broadcasting.February 23, 1987. p. 97.RetrievedMarch 31,2020.
  11. ^"Changing Hands"(PDF).Broadcasting.October 24, 1988. p. 62.RetrievedMarch 31,2020.
  12. ^Littleton, Cynthia (June 8, 1998)."Diller puts WAMI on Miami".Variety.Archived fromthe originalon September 20, 2021.
  13. ^"The Legend of WAMI-TV".The Legend of WAMI-TV. March 13, 2009.Archivedfrom the original on September 29, 2020.RetrievedMarch 13,2009.
  14. ^Paxman, Andrew (December 16, 1998)."WAMI nabs Marlins rights".Variety.Penske Media Corporation.Archivedfrom the original on January 12, 2016.RetrievedMay 3,2008.
  15. ^Fabrikant, Geraldine (May 3, 2008)."Diller's Latest Tele-Vision; First, a Network of Cubic Zirconium. Now, a Station of Lips and Hardbodies".The New York Times.New York, New York.RetrievedMay 3,2008.
  16. ^"05-21-02 Federal Communications Commission Grants Clearance for Univision's Proposed Acquisition of USA Broadcasting".univision. January 28, 2009.RetrievedJanuary 28,2009.
  17. ^"BNet USA Broadcasting Appoints Chris Sloan to Senior Vice President Creative Director in Charge of Promotions".BNet. May 3, 2008.RetrievedMay 3,2008.
  18. ^"1999 Suncoast Regional Emmy Award Recipients".suncoast.emmyonline.org. March 13, 2009. Archived fromthe originalon March 8, 2009.RetrievedMarch 13,2009.
  19. ^"2000 Suncoast Regional Emmy Award Nominees".suncoast.emmyonline.org. March 13, 2009. Archived fromthe originalon February 12, 2007.RetrievedMarch 13,2009.
  20. ^ab"Award Winners-Promax, BDA...."promaxbda. March 13, 2009. Archived fromthe originalon July 11, 2008.RetrievedMarch 13,2009.
  21. ^RabbitEars TV Query for WAMI
  22. ^"DTV Tentative Channel Designations for the First and the Second Rounds"(PDF).Archived fromthe original(PDF)on August 29, 2013.RetrievedMarch 24,2012.
[edit]
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=WAMI-DT&oldid=1242310746"