WBEK-CA

WBEK-CA is a low-power television station in Augusta, Georgia (United States), broadcasting locally on UHF channel 16 as an affiliate of America One. As an affiliate of America One, the station carries old sitcoms, black and white western movies, paid programming, and independent productions to fill up its time slots.

History

The license for W67BE was first granted on March 28, 1985, airing, at first, a collection of grainy black-and-white cowboy movies, infomercials, syndicated (and not well known) shows and series such as 'Sewing with Nancy.' It later became the first Augusta Fox Broadcasting Company affiliate before the emergence of WFXG in the early 1990s. The station would eventually re-make itself, and on January 2, 1995 the station became WBEK-LP, an affiliate of The WB. During this period, the station was known locally as "The WB on WBEK 67".

In 1999, WBAU, a local affiliate of The WB 100+, signed on, appearing on cable systems in the Augusta area; as a result, WBEK lost its WB affiliation. The station then became an affiliate of UPN, and for a few years sold advertising on WBAU, before it went to WRDW (this changed hands once more before The WB 100+ was replaced with The CW Plus). In 2000, the station moved to its present channel location, channel 16.

After the affiliation switch, the station attempted to maintain its status as a "top" local affiliate. The station's move to channel 16 had come with a loss in power, and viewership began to decline. The station picked up a secondary affiliation with America One during this period. In 2004, the station lost the UPN affiliation to WRDW's digital subchannel 31.2 (UPN Augusta).

See also

• Media in Augusta, Georgia

External links

• WBEK website
• Query the FCC's TV station database for WBEK