WRBU
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| WRBU | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| East Saint Louis, Illinois / St. Louis, Missouri | |
| Branding | My46 St. Louis |
| Channels | 46 (UHF) analog, 47 (HDTV, UHF) digital |
| Affiliations | My Network TV |
| Owner | Roberts Broadcasting |
| Founded | August 13, 1987 |
| Call letters meaning | W Roberts Broadcasting UPN (former affiliation) |
| Former callsigns | WVCL-TV (1987-89) WHSQ-TV (June-September 1989) WHSL-TV (September 1989-2003) |
| Former affiliations | HSN (1987-2003) UPN (2003-06) |
| Website | www.my46stl.com |
WRBU is the My Network TV television affiliate for the St. Louis, Missouri area. It is licensed to East Saint Louis, Illinois. WRBU is owned and operated by Roberts Broadcasting and operates on channel 46. WRBU-DT (WRBU's digital channel) operates on channel 47. The station does not broadcast in stereo. However, WRBU-DT broadcasts in stereo.
The channel's call letters since January 2003, WRBU, reflect the owner and the former television network: Roberts Broadcasting (RB) and UPN (U).
[edit] History
The station debuted on August 13, 1987 as WVCL-TV. Itshowed the Home Shopping Network 24 hours per day. It changed its call letters to WHSQ-TV briefly in 1989 before becoming WHSL-TV later in the year.
WHSL added UPN prime time programming in the Fall of 2002. On April 1, 2003, the station became a full UPN affiliate and added sitcoms, syndicated talk shows and reality shows to fill out the schedule. Until this switch, St. Louis had been the largest television market without a full UPN affiliate.
In early 2006, UPN announced it was merging with the WB to form the CW network, and in St. Louis, this new network had already signed an agreement with KPLR, the former WB, to be their affiliate. Incidentally, in mid-2006, WRBU announced that it would affiliate with MyNetworkTV.
WRBU's transmitter is located in Jefferson County, Missouri (near Antonia, Missouri) at 38 23 18 North, 90 29 16 West. Antenna Height Above Average Terrain (HAAT) is 345 meters/1132 feet; the antenna structure itself is 250 meters/800 feet above ground level. East St. Louis is the official city-of-license. WRBU's digital signal on Channel 47 has an Effective Radiated Power (ERP) of only 109 kilowatts (KW), making reception problematic over much of the metropolitan area. WRBU's analog signal has an ERP of 5 million watts (MW).
In September, all UPN programming was dropped for the new My Network affiliate, and My46 TV was born. Initially, the network aired nothing but serialized dramas taken directly from Latin American soap operas. These "telenovellas" ran 5 to 6 nights per week (the 6th night was a recap). Eventually, they began to give way to cheaper programming like reality television shows and movies which had broader appeal and were not being hit-listed by advertisers for their racy content.
[edit] Logo gallery
 WRBU's UPN 46 "The U" logo from January 2003 to September 2006. |
WRBU's My 46 logo since September 2006. |
[edit] External links
|
KTVI 2 (Fox) - KMOV 4 (CBS) - KSDK 5 (NBC) (NBC WX+ on DT2) - WSIU 8 (PBS) - KETC 9 (PBS) - KPLR 11 (The CW) (The Tube on DT2) - K33GU 33 / K16FE 16 / K22HG 22 (TBN) - KNLC 24 (FamilyNet) - KEFN-CA 28 (EWTN) - W29CI 29 (3ABN) - KDNL 30 (ABC) - WRBU 46 (MNTV) - W50CH 50 (REL) - KUMO 51 (RTN) - KPTN-LP 58 (HSN) - KDTL-LP 64 (DS) |
|||
| Local cable television channels | |||
|
WTVO-DT 16.2 (Rockford) - WRBU 46 (East St. Louis/St. Louis, MO) - WCFN 49 (Springfield) - WPWR 50 (Gary, IN/Chicago) - WAOE 59 (Peoria) |
|
| See also: ABC, CBS, CW, Fox, NBC, PBS and Other Stations in Illinois | |
WRBJ 34 (Magee / Jackson) - WRBU 46 (East St. Louis/St. Louis, MO) - WZRB 47 (Columbia)
