| Tulsa, Oklahoma | |
|---|---|
| Branding | KWHB TV-47 |
| Channels | Digital: 48 (UHF) Virtual: 47 (PSIP) |
| Affiliations | LeSEA |
| Owner | LeSEA Broadcasting Corporation (LeSEA Broadcasting of Tulsa, Inc.) |
| First air date | 1985 |
| Call letters' meaning | World Harvest Broadcasting |
| Former callsigns | KTCT (1985-1986) |
| Former channel number(s) | Analog: 47 (UHF, 1985-2009) |
| Former affiliations | independent (1985-1995) The WB (1995-1999) |
| Transmitter power | 29 kW |
| Height | 460 m |
| Facility ID | 37099 |
| Website | www.kwhb.com |
KWHB, virtual channel 47, is a television station in Tulsa, Oklahoma and is an owned-and-operated station of the LeSEA network. The station runs a schedule of Christian programming along with a few hours of secular general entertainment daily.
The station broadcasts its digital signal on UHF channel 48, using its former analog channel assignment of 47 as its virtual channel via PSIP. On cable, KWHB can be seen on channel 7 in standard definition on Cox Tulsa.
The station originally signed on the air in 1985 as Christian television station KTCT. They were owned by Coit Drapery and Cleaners inc. They ran programming from the PTL television network full-time. This included shows like The PTL Club, Heritage Village USA, 100 Huntly Street, Kenneth Copeland, Jerry Falwell, Jimmy Swaggart, Richard Roberts, and many others. KTCT was believed to stand for "Tulsa Christian Television". The station suffered financial problems early on and had cut back to about 6 hours a day by the end of 1985. The station was put up for sale at that time. The owners though wanted to sell it to a Christian religious broadcaster. Soon after Le Sea Evangelistic Ministries (also known as World Harvest Ministries) headed by the late Lester Sumerall along with his sons and based out of South Bend, Indiana would purchase the station.
They kept some of the PTL programming and added shows like 700 Club, Le Sea Alive, Lester Sumerall Teaches, Dwight Thompson, and many other religious shows. By 1987 they also added family entertainment programming weekday afternoons from 2 to 7 p.m. and Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.. They also began accepting commercial advertising at that point.
In 1988, when Channel 41 went dark they picked up a few of the cartoons from that station. Over the years some of the shows ran included Ozzie & Harriet, Mister Ed, Little Rascals, Dennis The Menace (both the animated and sitcom), Brady Bunch, I Love Lucy, Andy Griffith, The Jetsons, Yogi & Friends, DuckTales, Family Ties, Cosby Show, and many others. Though the station ran a decent amount of general entertainment programming TV Guide failed to include this station in its listings throughout their existence. The reason is unknown because in other markets TV Guide included stations that are full-time Christian stations.
In 1995, KWHB picked up affiliations of the Kids WB programming as well as family oriented prime time WB shows. They did not run shows that were too suggestive in content, however. As a result, The WB only had an affiliate for children's shows and not a primary affiliate in Tulsa for several years.
In 1998, Acme Communications signed WB 19 KWBT on and at that point, Kids' WB! and the few WB shows airing on KWHB moved there making KWHB an independent again.
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