WOHL-CD

WOHL-CD

Lima, Ohio
United States
Branding ABC Lima (general)
Your News Now (newscasts)
CBS Lima (on DT2)
Slogan Your Hometown Lima Stations
Channels Digital: 35 (UHF)
Subchannels 35.1 ABC
35.2 CBS
Owner Block Communications
(West Central Ohio Broadcasting, Inc.)
Founded January 26, 1989 (1989-01-26)
Call letters' meaning OHio Lima
Sister station(s) WLIO, WLQP-LP, WLMO-LP
Former callsigns W67CA (1989–1995)
WOHL-LP (1995–2002)
WOHL-CA (2002–2009)
Former channel number(s) 67 (UHF analog, 1989–1995)
25 (UHF analog, 1995–2009)
Former affiliations Independent (January–October 1989)
Fox (October 1989–2009)
MyNetworkTV (secondary, 2006–2009)
Transmitter power 9 kW
Height 168 m
Class Class A digital
Facility ID 68549
Transmitter coordinates 40°44′51.0″N 84°7′55.0″W / 40.747500°N 84.131944°W / 40.747500; -84.131944
Website hometownstations.com

WOHL-CD is the Class A ABC-affiliated television station for Northwest Ohio licensed to Lima. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 35 from a transmitter at its studios on Rice Avenue in the city. The station can also be seen on Time Warner Cable channel 12. Owned by Block Communications, WOHL is sister to NBC affiliate WLIO and the two share studios. Syndicated programming on this station includes The Office, Law and Order: Special Victims Unit, Judge Mathis, and The Meredith Vieira Show among others.

Digital channels

Channel Video Aspect PSIP short name Programming
35.1 720p 16:9 WOHL-D1 Digital simulcast of WLQP-LP
35.2 WOHL-D2 Digital simulcast of WLMO-LP

History

The station signed-on January 26, 1989 with the calls W67CA. It aired an analog signal on UHF channel 67 from a transmitter west of Cridersville in Auglaize County. The low-powered outlet was initially an Independent but joined Fox on October 9. In 1995, the station changed frequencies to UHF channel 25 while adopting the call sign WOHL-LP.

W18BP launched on May 28, 1996 as a full-time repeater of this station. This was followed by another translator, W65DP, on September 22, 1998. W18BP broke off from the simulcast in 1999 and became low-powered UPN affiliate WLQP-LP (that station eventually joined ABC when UPN closed in 2006). W65DP would follow sut in 2002, becoming CBS affiliate WLMO-LP. Also that year, channel 25 upgraded to Class A status with the call sign WOHL-CA. All three stations maintained facilities on South Central Avenue in Downtown Lima.

On September 5, 2006, WOHL added MyNetworkTV as a secondary affiliate. It aired programming from the network Monday through Saturday nights from 11 until 1 the next the morning. Eventually, Saturday shows were dropped.

Despite being a low-power station, WOHL would, by 2007, outrate long-dominant WLIO in the primetime ratings.[1] This did not stop Fox from, later that year, entering into talks to move the network's programming to a WLIO subchannel, as despite WOHL's high ratings the network sought the increased reach of being on a full-power station. The talks led to WOHL suing in 2008 to block the talks; in a court testimony, WOHL owner Greg Phipps stated that "We won't be able to survive" if the station were stripped of its affiliation.[2] The dispute was settled on November 29, when Phipps' company, Metro Video Productions, announced it would sell its stations (WOHL, WLQP, and WLMO) to West Central Ohio Broadcasting, a subsidiary of WLIO owner Block Communications.[3] While Block assumed operational control of all three after the sale's completion, it was initially stated there would be no consolidation of newscasts or facilities with WLIO.[4] It was then stated some consolidation would take place with WOHL, WLQP, and WLMO being integrated into WLIO's studios on Rice Avenue.[5]

On June 12, 2009, a construction permit allowed WOHL to perform a "flash-cut" to digital and adopt the current calls WOHL-CD. It first operated its high definition digital signal on UHF channel 25, but due to possible interference with WRTV in Indianapolis, Indiana, the station moved to channel 35 for its digital operations.[6] The allotment previously served as WLIO's analog signal and virtual channel display through Program and System Information Protocol (PSIP). As a result, the virtual channel assignment was displaced since WOHL opted to use the same channel number as its actual frequency. Lima is one of the few markets where two of the largest stations are currently using not only the same virtual channel numbers as actual RF channels, but also virtual channel numbers different from former analog channel number assignments.

Soon after on September 28, WLQP and WLMO terminated analog operations. Programming was shifted to WOHL with CBS on a new second digital subchannel and began to be offered in high definition for the first time.[7][8] Programming from Fox and MyNetworkTV had moved that July to the second subchannel of WLIO. Currently, Time Warner Cable chooses instead to provide Toledo's WTVG high definition feed on digital channel 1013.

Newscasts

WLIO's one-hour weekday morning show at 6 is simulcasted on this station. WOHL and its CBS second digital subchannel simulcast WLIO's news weeknights at 6 and 11. Weekend evening broadcasts seen at 6 and 11 on that station are not simulcasted on the other services.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "A David vs. Goliath story in Ohio". Television Business Report. July 24, 2007. Retrieved June 16, 2013.
  2. ↑ "Affiliation fight in Ohio". Television Business Report. August 6, 2008. Retrieved December 1, 2008.
  3. ↑ "Phipps flips Lima low-power cluster". Television Business Report. November 29, 2008. Retrieved December 1, 2008.
  4. ↑ Sowinski, Greg (December 2, 2008). "WLIO owner buys Fox affiliate, other stations for $2.4 million". The Lima News. Retrieved December 2, 2008.
  5. ↑ Linkhorn, Tyrel (February 6, 2009). "Sale of WOHL to WLIO parent company complete". The Lima News. Retrieved March 29, 2009.
  6. ↑ http://licensing.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/forms/prod/prefill_and_display.pl?Application_id=1294962&Service=DC&Form_id=401&Facility_id=68549
  7. ↑ https://licensing.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/forms/prod/cdbsmenu.hts?context=25&appn=101336229&formid=910&fac_num=21476
  8. ↑ http://licensing.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/forms/prod/prefill_and_display.pl?Application_id=1359104&Service=TX&Form_id=910&Facility_id=21476
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 12/4/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.