WBNX-TV

For the New York City radio station which used this call sign from 1931 to 1984, seeWKDM.

WBNX-TV

Akron–Cleveland, Ohio United States
City	Akron, Ohio
Channels	Digital:17 (UHF) Virtual:55
Branding	WBNX TV 55
Programming
Affiliations	55.1:Independent for others, see§ Subchannels
Ownership
Owner	Ernest Angley Ministries (Winston Broadcasting Network, Inc.)
History
Founded	January 30, 1984
First air date	December 1, 1985(1985-12-01)
Former channel number(s)	Analog:55 (UHF, 1985–2009) Digital:30 (UHF, 2002–2009)
Former affiliations	Independent (1985–1997) The WB(1997–2006) Fox Kids(1994–2002) Fox Box/4Kids TV (2002–2008) The CW(2006–2018)
Call signmeaning	Winston Broadcasting Network (a nod to station founder Ernest Winston Angley)
Technical information
Licensing authority	FCC
Facility ID	72958
ERP	505 kW
HAAT	357.4 m (1,173 ft)
Transmitter coordinates	41°23′2″N81°41′43″W
Links
Public license information	Public file LMS
Website	www.wbnx

WBNX-TV(channel 55) is anindependenttelevision stationlicensed toAkron, Ohio,United States, serving theClevelandarea. The station is owned by the Winston Broadcasting Network subsidiary of locally basedErnest Angley Ministries,operating as a for-profit arm of the company.WBNX-TV's studios are located on State Road in suburbanCuyahoga Falls,in a building which also houses Winston Broadcasting's television production facilities. The station's transmitter is located inParma, Ohio.

WBNX is one of a few for-profit U.S. television stations owned by a religious institution (most U.S. TV stations owned by religious institutions are affiliated with non-profitreligious broadcastingnetworks).

History

Early days

Original logo for WBNX used from 1985 to 1996

WBNX-TV first signed on the air on December 1, 1985, as a secular for-profitindependent station.Before WBNX signed on, its owner Ernest Angley purchased fellow televangelistRex Humbard's television production facilities in Cuyahoga Falls to start the new station, and later purchased Humbard'sCathedral of Tomorrowcomplex (the current Grace Cathedral). The unfinished concrete tower which still stands behind Grace Cathedral was originally intended to hold the transmission tower of WCOT, for which Humbard had previously held a construction permit on the channel 55 frequency (the station never made it to air, and its authorization was deleted by theFederal Communications Commission(FCC) in 1976).The concrete tower was never purchased or used by WBNX, but is owned by Krieger Communications and used for cellular phone transmissions.

The station, then branded as "WBNX TV55", carried a general entertainment format with classicdramas,westerns,low-budgetfilms,syndicated game shows, and a twice daily airing of station owner Angley's religious talk/variety showThe 90 and 9 Club.During this time, WBNX aimed its programming at family audiences (with the slogan "We are family and we show it!" ) and imposed censoring standards that were similar to that used byThe Family Channel,Nick at Niteand other kids and teens' oriented cable channels.In November 1986 when cross-town WCLQ 61 was sold to theHome Shopping Network,WBNX picked up thecartoonsand classic sitcoms previously on WCLQ. By 1988, WBNX gradually began runninginfomercialsmuch of the broadcast day. By 1990, WBNX was running paid programming half the broadcast day, low budget syndicated programming about1⁄4of the day and religious shows a few hours a day.

WBNX's original transmitter was located on Snowville Road inBrecksville, Ohio,which was originally used byWKYC-TV(channel 3) in its earlier days. The old technology for the transmitter forced WBNX to broadcast its audio feed in monaural rather than in stereo. In 2000, WBNX built a new transmitter and tower in Parma, becoming the tallest television broadcast tower in the Cleveland market.

Fox Kids

WBNX moved to become a major player in Cleveland television in September 1994, when it overhauled its programming lineup to include a mix of classic sitcoms, movies and cartoons as well as a couple hours of religious shows each day; infomercials were also relegated to overnight time slots at that time. WBNX also acquired a few syndicated programs that got displaced fromWJW(channel 8) andWOIO(channel 19) throughan affiliation shakeupspurred by an agreement between then-Foxnetwork parentNews CorporationandNew World Communications,in which the market's Fox affiliation shifted over to WJW (which had been affiliated with CBS for nearly 40 years) and the CBS affiliation went to WOIO (which had been a Fox charter affiliate since the network launched in October 1986).

When WJW and WOIO swapped networks on September 3, 1994, WBNX acquired the local rights to theFox Kidsprogramming block.Like other New World stations affected by the affiliation agreement, WJW decided to not air the Fox Kids block upon joining Fox, choosing instead to air newscasts and syndicated programs weekdays, and infomercials and local real estate programs on weekends. WBNX also inherited the northeast Ohio iteration of the Fox Kids Club from WOIO; under channel 55's stewardship, WBNX's Fox Kids Club grew into the largest Fox Kids Club.

At that same time, WJW reached a news share arrangement with WBNX that allowed the latter to air tape-delayed rebroadcasts of WJW's 10 p.m. newscast each night at 11 pm; WBNX continued to air these rebroadcasts until September 1996. The station also expanded its distribution, increasing its carriage on local cable providers throughout northeast Ohio (including within the adjacentYoungstownmarket). Channel 55's programming lineup during this period included more contemporary children's programs, sitcoms, drama series and movies; in addition, WBNX's content standards adapted to contractually airing syndicated programs containing profanity, sexual content and violence as is (with the only editing being that made by distributors to fit designated running times and to censor content not compliant with FCC decency standards). These changes would boost the station, with WBNX eventually surpassing WUAB in the ratings.

WB affiliation

logo used from 1997 to 2003 during the station's WB affiliation

On September 1, 1997, WBNX-TV took over as the Cleveland-area affiliate ofThe WB Television Network,assuming the rights fromWUAB-TV(channel 43). The station, accordingly, changed its branding to "WB 55". The WB affiliation also resulted in WBNX adding theKids' WBlineup, so with having both Fox Kids and Kids' WB, channel 55 promoted themselves at that time as being "Cleveland's Kids Superstation".

After becoming a WB affiliate, WBNX-TV continued to grow and eventually took the overall ratings lead above WUAB by 2004; WBNX consistently ranked in the top 11 of all WB affiliates in the country and was the No. 1 WB affiliate in overall ratings among the 19 largest television markets during the November 2005 sweeps ratings period.In 1998, WBNX approached Cleveland late night iconThe Ghoul(portrayed byRon Sweed) to host the station's Friday night (later on Sunday nights, towards the end of the program's run) movie, until WBNX discontinued its relationship with Sweed in 2004.In September 2003, the station changed its on-air branding to "WBNX-TV, Cleveland's WB," de-emphasizing the station's Channel 55 allocation.

CW affiliation

WBNX's logo during the CW era, used from September 18, 2006, to July 13, 2018.

On January 24, 2006, UPN parent companyCBS Corporationand WB network parentTime Warnerannounced that they would dissolve the two networks to createThe CW Television Network,a joint venture between the two media companies that initially featured programs from its two predecessor networks as well as original first-run series developed for The CW.Nearly one month after the CW launch announcement, on February 22, 2006, News Corporation announced the launch ofMyNetworkTV,a network operated byFox Television Stationsand its syndication divisionTwentieth Televisionthat was created to primarily serve as a network programming option (in lieu of converting to a general entertainment independent format) for UPN and WB stations that were left out of The CW's affiliation deals.Following the announcement, both WBNX and WUAB were in the running to become Cleveland's affiliate of the new network.

On March 1, in a joint announcement by CBS Corporation and the Winston Broadcasting Network, WBNX was confirmed as The CW's Cleveland affiliate. Since the network chose its charter stations based on which of them among The WB and UPN's respective affiliate bodies was the highest-rated in each market, WBNX was chosen to join The CW over WUAB as it had been the higher-rated of the two stations at the time of the agreement's signing. Six days later on March 7, as part of an affiliation agreement that included two other Raycom-owned stations, WUAB was confirmed to be the Cleveland market's MyNetworkTV affiliate.WBNX remained a WB affiliate until the network ceased operations on September 17, 2006; when the station affiliated with The CW upon that network's debut on September 18, WBNX began branding as "WBNX, The CW," and adopted a newwordmarklogo consisting solely of the WBNX-TV call letter and the CW network logo design.

On April 30, 2007, WBNX began broadcasting CW network programming inhigh definitionand 5.1 stereosurround sound.

Return to independence

On July 11, 2018,Raycom Mediaand CBS Corporation announced that it signed a long-term deal in which WUAB would become the CW affiliate in Cleveland, with WBNX 55.1 becoming independent, effective July 16. The last CW network program to air on WBNX wasChicken Soup for the Soul's Hidden Heroes(part of the network'sOne Magnificent Morningblock) at 10:30 a.m.ETon July 14. WBNX formally became an independent station on July 16, with CW network programming being replaced with syndicated programs already on channel 55's schedule.WBNX continues its affiliation withMovies!andHeroes & Iconson its third and fourth subchannels.

Subchannel history

WBNX-DT2

WBNX-DT3's former logo.

On October 11, 2010, WBNX's seconddigital subchanneldebuted as an independent station (branded asThe Happy Channel) airingreligious/family-oriented programming, such as Ernest Angley Ministries-produced programs such asThe 90 & 9 Club,The Ernest Angley Hourand thegospel musicseriesSing, Sing, Sing, Come on Let's Sing,along with other select family programs.On January 1, 2022, channel 55.2 switched to the classic game show networkBuzzr(though a small amount of religious programing remains on the schedule, preempting a few game shows).

WBNX-DT3

On March 20, 2012, WBNX activated a new subchannel, which six days later became the new Cleveland affiliate ofThis TV,which had previously been carried on WUAB until that station's affiliation contract with the network expired.On March 23, 2015, WBNX replaced This TV with theMovies!network.

WBNX-DT4

In November 2015, it was announced that WBNX would become an affiliate of theHeroes & Iconsnetwork. The network is carried on 55.4, which was activated on December 30, 2015.

WBNX-DT5 and DT6

In November 2018, it was announced that WBNX would become an affiliate for bothStart TVand Decades on 55.5 and 55.6, respectively.Both channels were launched on December 1, 2018. On November 1, 2022, Decades—since rebranded asCatchy Comedy—moved over toWOCV-CD35.1, which was purchased byWeigel Broadcastingback in June. With no replacement network lined up, 55.6 was deactivated. In Spring 2024, 55.6 was reactivated, carrying the classic-oriented Binge TV network.

Notable alumni

• Ernest Angley
• Ron Sweed(The Ghoul)

Technical information

Subchannels

The station's signal ismultiplexed:

Subchannels of WBNX-TV

Channel	Res.	Aspect	Short name	Programming
55.1	1080i	16:9	WBNX-HD	Main WBNX-TV programming
55.2	480i		Buzzr	Buzzr
55.3			Movies!	Movies!
55.4			H&I	Heroes & Icons
55.5			StartTV	Start TV
55.6			Binge	Binge TV

Analog-to-digital conversion

WBNX-TV shut down its analog signal, overUHFchannel 55, 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 30,usingvirtual channel55.

External links

• Official website
• Cleveland.ThisTV- Official This TV Cleveland website