WBNX-TV
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| WBNX-TV | |
|---|---|
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| Cleveland, Ohio | |
| City of license | Akron, Ohio |
| Branding | WBNX, Cleveland's CW |
| Channels | Analog: 55 (UHF) |
| Affiliations | The CW |
| Owner | Winston Broadcasting Network, Inc. |
| First air date | December 1, 1985 |
| Call letters’ meaning | Winston Broadcasting Network (owner) |
| Former affiliations | independent (1985-1997) The WB (1997-2006) |
| Transmitter Power | 5000 kW (analog) 1000 kW (digital) |
| Height | 356 m (analog) 331.2 m (digital) |
| Facility ID | 72958 |
| Transmitter Coordinates | |
| Website | www.wbnx.com |
WBNX-TV is the CW television affiliate serving the Cleveland, Ohio television market broadcasting on channel 55 (analog) and channel 30 (digital). It brands itself as "WBNX, The CW". The studios are located in Cuyahoga Falls and the transmitter is in Parma, although it is licensed to Akron. It is owned by the Winston Broadcasting Network, a subsidiary of the Ernest Angley ministry. WBNX was the WB Television Network affiliate in the Cleveland market from 1997 until September 17, 2006 and consistently ranked in the top 11 of all WB affiliates and was the #1 WB affiliate in overall ratings among the top 19 DMA (designated market areas) during the November 2005 ratings sweep period. Source: TV Week, article 1/30/06 [2]
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[edit] History
[edit] Pre-WBNX Years
UHF analog channel 55 was originally allocated to Akron as WCOT-TV,[3]. The license was awarded to Rex Humbard in the late 1970's. WCOT never aired and in 1985 Rex Humbard sold the construction permit to Winston Broadcasting, a subsidiary of Ernest Angley Ministries. WBNX-TV went on the air Dec. 1, 1985 as a secular for-profit broadcast station. (Also see WCOT).
[edit] Early Days
UHF analog channel 55 signed on the air as WBNX-TV on December 1, 1985. Before this time, the call letters "WBNX" were used by two radio stations in New York: An AM station broadcasting at 1380 kHz[4], and an early FM station broadcasting at 47.5 MHz[5]. (This was before the allocation of the current FM band.) The AM station was the New York affiliate of the Amalgamated Broadcasting System. For more on these stations, see WBNX (radio) and WBNX-FM.
Before WBNX signed on, its owner Ernest Angley bought Humbard's television production facilities in Cuyahoga Falls to start the new station, and later bought Humbard's Cathedral of Tomorrow complex (the current Grace Cathedral). The unfinished concrete tower which still stands behind Grace Cathedral was originally intended to hold WCOT's transmission tower. That tower was never purchased or used by WBNX, but is owned by Krieger Communications and used for cellular phone transmissions.
WBNX's original transmitter was located on Snowville Road in Brecksville, Ohio, which was originally used by WKYC back in its earlier days. The old technology for the transmitter forced WBNX to broadcast mono sound. In 2000, WBNX built a new transmitter and tower in Parma, Ohio. It is the tallest television broadcast tower in the Cleveland area.
WBNX-TV began as a general entertainment independent station with dramas, cartoons, game shows and a few religious programs. The religious shows included Ernest Angley's 90 and 9 Club. Secular shows included a lot of public domain movies, low budget syndicated dramas, and a few classic sitcoms. The station spent little money on programming and was profitable.
In November 1986 when WCLQ 61 flipped to Home Shopping, WBNX picked up Channel 61's programming. It added cartoons, a few more classic sitcoms, movies, and dramas. Still, ratings were very low; WBNX was way behind WUAB and WOIO, with the latter becoming a Fox affiliate.
By 1989, WBNX had added more infomercials to the lineup, and the children's programming was barter syndicated. It also ran fewer hours of religious shows and increased the amount of paid infomercial programming on the station. The paid programming and increasing commercials kept WBNX profitable.
[edit] Fox Kids and More Entertainment
In 1994, the market's CBS affiliation moved to WOIO, and Fox prime time shows moved to WJW. However, none of the syndicated shows and kids shows previously shown on WOIO moved to WJW, and a decent amount of programming was now available for WBNX as a result.
In the fall of 1994, WBNX took the Fox Kids programming, other syndicated cartoons, a number of off-network sitcoms, and movies. Its WBNX Kids Club grew into the largest FOX Kids Club in the eastern United States and second largest in the country. The station was now running about 19 hours a day of entertainment programs, along with a couple hours of religious shows. Cable systems throughout Northeast Ohio were now carrying WBNX. The lineup included cartoons, sitcoms, movies, and dramas. The Fox Kids programming, now known as 4Kids TV, is still seen on WBNX on Sunday mornings. The station cut back infomercials to almost none.
[edit] The WB Network Years
In 1997, the station became affiliated with The WB Network, taking what had been previously a secondary affiliation on WUAB. Then, in 2006 WUAB lost its affiliation with UPN when the owners of The WB and UPN decided to merge into one network, The CW. Both WUAB and WBNX were in the running for the coveted affiliation with the new network, when after a few weeks The CW announced they had chosen WBNX as its Cleveland affiliate [6]. WBNX has continued to grow and has taken the overall ratings lead above WUAB since 2004 (source: Broadcasting & Cable). Today, WBNX offers first-run primetime shows from The CW, cartoons from Kids' WB and 4Kids TV and first-run syndicated shows. It now identifies on-air as WBNX The CW, and was the last Cleveland television station to air cartoons weekday afternoons, as Kids' WB is now seen only on Saturday mornings. WBNX is one of the few broadcast stations in the United States which has both Kids' WB (Saturdays) and 4Kids TV (Sundays); one of the others is KASW.
WBNX pre-screens some programming to edit out profanities and scenes that would be questionable in light of FCC standards. The only exceptions are CW network programming and syndicated programs which they contractually must air "as is". WBNX is one of the few network affiliates in the country that seldom pre-empts its primetime network programming for sporting events. WBNX also airs the least amount of infomercials of any broadcast station in Northeast Ohio, averaging less than 20 half hour infomercials per week. In comparison, WUAB airs over 90 half hour infomercials per week. [7] [8]
In 1999, the MDA switched its Labor Day weekend live broadcast of The Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon from WJW to WBNX. The Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon has remained on WBNX, which has received national accolades for its video productions.
WBNX broadcasts from the tallest antenna tower in the Cleveland television market and with the most power wattage. WBNX leases out additional tower space to Cleveland area radio stations.
[edit] The CW Television Network
On March 1, Winston Broadcasting officials and The CW confirmed that WBNX would affiliate with the new network in the fall.[9] [10] On September 18, 2006, WBNX became The CW Television Network affiliate in the Cleveland/Akron, Ohio market.
On April 30, 2007, WBNX began broadcasting in high definition and 5.1 surround sound stereo. WBNX broadcasts on digital channel 30. WBNX has three digital subchannels. Currently, channel 55.1(30.1) WBNX-DT1 is active as the high definition channel. 55.2(30.2) may be used as a digital simulcast of the SDTV broadcast of WBNX to give cable and satellite companies a digital SD version of WBNX. The third channel, 55.3(30.3) is known as "WBNX-3" and is not currently active.
[edit] WBNX's treatment of Digital On-screen Graphics
Like many television channels, a digital on-screen graphic or "bug" is used to identify a television channel. To keep the television viewing area on the screen from being crowded with bugs, WBNX will usually place "WBNXHD" (for fullscreen programming) or "WBNX-HD" (for widescreen programming) above the "CW" bug during network programing. During programing that contains the "E/I" bug, WBNX will place an opaque bug over the network or syndicator-supplied E/I bug with the words "WBNXHD The CW" and "E/I" combined, so viewers won't see two bugs in different corners of the screen. For Kids WB/4Kids programming, the local bug is used and is placed in the bottom-left corner of the screen, unless the current program displays the E/I bug. (An example of a WBNX E/I logo is on this page.) Sometimes if these bugs are not aligned correctly, they may be adjusted while being displayed. WBNX currently uses an instant appear effect for the logo.
[edit] Logos
 The fine text at the top says: "We are family and we show it." (from sign on in 1985-1996) |
 Used in a "Fox 55 Kids Club" commercial in 1995. |
 "Cleveland's Independent." (1996-1997) |
 WBNX's first "WB" logo- the last logo showing the "55" channel number. |
 WBNX's second "WB" logo, with Michigan J. Frog. This logo might have been used until The CW affiliation, but was possibly replaced due to the death of the frog.[1] |
 WBNX's final "WB" logo, used until September 2006 |
 WBNX's first CW Logo. (2006 - 2007) |
 WBNX's current CW logo after their conversion to HD. (2007 - Present) |
[edit] External links
- WBNX
- Query the FCC's TV station database for WBNX-TV
- BIAfn's Media Web Database -- Information on WBNX-TV
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