WTLH
| |
|---|---|
| City | Bainbridge, Georgia |
| Channels | |
| Programming | |
| Affiliations |
|
| Ownership | |
| Owner |
|
| Operator | Sinclair Broadcast Group(select engineering functions viaLMA) |
| WTWC-TV,WTLF | |
| History | |
| Founded | March 21, 1985 |
First air date | February 12, 1989 |
Former channel number(s) |
|
Call signmeaning | "Tallahassee" (alsoIATA airport codeforTallahassee International Airport) |
| Technical information[2] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 23486 |
| ERP | 560kW |
| HAAT | 600 m (1,969 ft) |
| Transmitter coordinates | 30°40′50.3″N83°58′20.6″W/ 30.680639°N 83.972389°W |
| Links | |
Public license information | |
WTLH(channel 49) is atelevision stationlicensed toBainbridge, Georgia,United States, serving theTallahassee, Florida–Thomasville, Georgiamarketas an affiliate ofHeroes & Icons.It is owned by New Age Media, which provides certain services toCWaffiliateWTLF(channel 24) under alocal marketing agreement(LMA) with MPS Media,LLC.Sinclair Broadcast Group,owner of dualNBC/FoxaffiliateWTWC-TV(channel 40), provides some engineering functions for both stations under a master service agreement and also programs WTLF.
WTLH, WTLF and WTWC-TV share studios on Deerlake South inunincorporatedLeon County, Florida,northwest ofBradfordville(with a Tallahasseepostaladdress); WTLH's transmitter is located in unincorporatedThomas County, Georgia,southeast ofMetcalf,along the Florida state line.
History[edit]
WTLH began on February 12, 1989, airing ananalogsignal on UHF channel 49; the station immediately became Tallahassee's Fox affiliate. Originally owned by New South Television, it was put into receivership due to owner Timothy Brumlik's arrest on money-laundering charges. In 1990, it was sold to Paul Lansat ofSinger Island,Florida. In 1994, the station was sold to Pegasus Broadcasting. On June 15, 1998,WFXUinLive Oak, Floridawas established as a full-timesatelliteof WTLH in order to improve its coverage on the eastern side of themarket.Since Tallahassee did not have enough stations to legally permit aduopoly,WFXU was technically owned by L.O. Telecast but operated by Pegasus through a local marketing agreement.
That station was sold to KB Prime Media in 1999 and became wholly owned by Pegasus in 2002. The sale was ultimately approved because the company helped fund WFXU's construction.[3][4]In April of that year, WFXU became a separate station after becoming the area's firstUPNaffiliate. Since its signal was not nearly strong enough to cover the entire market, WTLF in Tallahassee was established as a full-time satellite. That station was one of the first in the United States to sign-on as a digital-only outlet with no analog counterpart.
On January 24, 2006,The WBand UPN announced the networks would end broadcasting and merge. The new combined service would be called The CW. The letters would represent the first initial of its corporate parents:CBS(the parent company of UPN) and theWarner Bros.unit ofTime Warner.It was made public April 24 that WTLH would create a new second digital subchannel to become Tallahassee's CW affiliate. The plan was later modified in August to make WFXU/WTLF the primary CW affiliates and have a simulcast provided on WTLH-DT2. This took effect when the network premiered on September 18, 2006.
Pegasus declaredbankruptcyin June 2004 over a dispute withDirecTV(then co-owned with Fox byNews Corporation) over marketing of thedirect broadcast satelliteservice in rural areas. The station group was sold in August 2006 to private investment firm CP Media, LLC ofWilkes-Barre, Pennsylvaniafor $55.5 million.[5]Eventually, CP Media formed a new broadcasting company known as New Age Media.
The company purchased WTLH at the end of March 2007 but sold WFXU separately to Budd Broadcasting.[6]The latter dropped CW programming soon afterward leaving WTLF as Tallahassee's sole CW affiliate with the simulcast of that station continuing on WTLH-DT2. On February 17, 2009, WTLH shut-off its analog signal on UHF channel 49 and became digital-exclusive on UHF channel 50.
On September 25, 2013, New Age Media announced that it would sell most of its stations to the Sinclair Broadcast Group. In order to comply withFederal Communications Commission(FCC) ownership restrictions, since Sinclair already owns WTWC, its partner companyCunningham Broadcastingplanned to acquire the WTLH license but Sinclair was slated to operate the station (as well as WTLF, which would have been acquired by another sidecar operation,Deerfield Media) throughshared services agreements.[7][8]
On October 31, 2014, New Age Media requested the dismissal of its application to sell WTLH;[9]the next day, Sinclair purchased the non-license assets of WTLH and WTLF and began operating them through amaster service agreement.[10][11]OnNew Year's Day2015, Sinclair moved the Fox affiliation to WTWC's second subchannel. At that point, MeTV programming moved from its third digital subchannel to its main channel; the simulcast of WTLF continues on its second subchannel.
On April 30, 2018, WTLH switched toHeroes & Icons,after MeTV left to affiliate with WFXU and the seconddigital subchannelofWCTV.[1]
Technical information[edit]
Subchannels[edit]
The station's signal ismultiplexed:
| Channel | Res. | Aspect | Short name | Programming |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 49.1 | 1080i | 16:9 | H&I | Heroes & Icons[1] |
| 49.2 | CW | The CW(WTLF) | ||
| 49.3 | 480i | Comet | Comet |
Repeaters[edit]
In addition to its main signal, WTLH can also be seen on twolow-powerClass AdigitalrepeatersservingValdosta, Georgia:
| Station | City of license | Channel (RF/VC) |
ERP | HAAT | Facility ID | Transmitter coordinates | Transmitter location | Public license information |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| WBFL-CD | Valdosta, Georgia | 13 (VHF) 13 |
2kW | 103 m (338 ft) | 48763 | 30°40′9″N83°19′31″W/ 30.66917°N 83.32528°W | onMadisonHighway/GA 31betweenunincorporatedClyattville, Georgiaand Florida state line | Public file LMS |
| WBVJ-CD | Valdosta, Georgia | 35 (UHF) 35 |
1.5 kW | 84 m (276 ft) | 23487 | 30°58′14″N83°17′12″W/ 30.97056°N 83.28667°W | unincorporated northernLowndes County, GeorgiabetweenHahiraandMoody Air Force Base | Public file LMS |
References[edit]
- ^abc"Where to Watch".H&I Network Limited Partnership.RetrievedApril 30,2018.
- ^"Facility Technical Data for WTLH".Licensing and Management System.Federal Communications Commission.
- ^"Application Search Details (1)".CDBS Public Access.Federal Communications Commission.RetrievedJuly 25,2010.
- ^McConnell, Bill (April 2, 2002)."Pegasus wins OK for Tallahassee TV pair".Broadcasting & Cable.RetrievedJuly 25,2010.
- ^"WDSI FOX61 Bought By CP Media, LLC".The Chattanoogan.August 9, 2006.RetrievedJuly 24,2010.
- ^"WFXU, this Budd's for you".Television Business Report.November 28, 2006.RetrievedJuly 25,2010.
- ^Haber, Gary (September 25, 2013)."Sinclair Broadcast Group to pay $90M for eight New Age Media TV stations".Baltimore Business Journal.RetrievedSeptember 25,2013.
- ^"Sinclair To Buy 8 New Age Stations for $90M".TVNewsCheck.September 25, 2013.RetrievedSeptember 25,2013.
- ^Kirkpatrick, Daniel A. (October 31, 2014)."Re: New Age Media of Tallahassee License, LLC…"(PDF).CDBS Public Access.Federal Communications Commission.RetrievedNovember 15,2014.
- ^"Sinclair Reports Third Quarter 2014 Financial Results"(PDF)(Press release). Baltimore:Sinclair Broadcast Group.November 5, 2014. Archived fromthe original(PDF)on November 29, 2014.RetrievedNovember 15,2014.
- ^"Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc. Form 10-Q".sbgi.edgarpro.com.November 10, 2014. Archived fromthe originalon January 7, 2016.RetrievedNovember 15,2014.
- ^"RabbitEars TV Query for WTLH".RabbitEars.info.