| Key West, Florida | |
|---|---|
| Branding | GenTV |
| Channels | Digital: 8 (VHF) |
| Translators | (see article) |
| Affiliations | none |
| Owner | Mapale, LLC (operated by Caracol TV) |
| First air date | May 26, 1996 |
| Call letters' meaning | GenTV |
| Former callsigns | WWFD (1996-2000) WWTU (2000-2002) WVIB (2002-2004) |
| Former channel number(s) | Analog: 8 (1996-2009) Digital: 12 |
| Former affiliations | CBS TeleNoticias Telemundo Internacional Network One |
| Transmitter power | 7 kW (digital) |
| Height | 55.9 m (183 ft) m (digital) |
| Facility ID | 27387 |
| Website | www.wgentv.com |
WGEN-TV is a Spanish-language television station in Key West, Florida, broadcasting locally on VHF channel 8 as a Spanish-language independent station under the GenTV branding. It is the full-power primary station of a network of low-power stations throughout the Miami, Florida market, including the Florida Keys.
Since December 2005,[1] WGEN has been controlled by Colombian broadcaster Caracol TV, which holds a 25% stake in the station's ownership, the maximum allowed by Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regulations regarding foreign ownership of broadcasting stations. Caracol is GenTV's primary program supplier; programming on WGEN includes Colombian and Brazilian telenovelas, a news program produced in Colombia, and a local version of Desafío 20.06, a reality show similar to Survivor. The current incarnation of the station launched on September 18, 2006.[2]
Prior to December 2005, WGEN was, under Sonia Broadcasting (which still holds an interest in the station[1]), co-owned with another Key West station, WDLP-TV channel 22 (now WSBS-TV).
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As of April 2008, GenTV's programming includes:
GenTV's programming is also well known for:
WGEN-TV has had several call sign changes over the years. This has caused some confusion, both among viewers and writers (though likely not as much as its former sister station, WSBS-TV).
Several broadcast translators repeat the station. From north to south, these are:
Florida Keys:
W21CL was established before 1979 as W65AP, until forced to move out of the 700MHz band by the DTV transition in the United States. W64AN was also established before 1979, as was W63AL, which was briefly W23BG from late 1990 to early 1991. WDLP-CA began in 1992 as W21BD, which was deleted in June 1994 after its permit expired, and restored the following December. In April 2003 it was upgraded and became WGEN-CA, then WDLP-CA the following month.
W49CL and WGEN-LP in Miami are both now listed as having parent station WSBS-TV in Key West, indicating that they may be leased to that station. Both are still owned by WGEN-TV owner Mapale, which does not show them on the GenTV website's map of stations. Their successors ("digital companion channels" in FCC terms) are W24DE-D and WGEN-LD respectively, and are both rebroadcasting WGEN-TV. (Unlike full-power stations, they are separate facilities, and as LPTV stations they are not required to simulcast the analog video on digital.)
W38AA in Marathon and W39AC in Key West are listed as having WSBS-TV as their primary station, though in the past they had retransmitted WFOR-TV from Miami. Their respective digital companion channels W08ED-D (under construction) and W12DI-D are shown as having WGEN-TV as the primary station, and 12.1 is shown on WGEN's map as an additional channel for Key West (though only analog 21 is shown for Marathon). Because Key West and even Marathon are well within the broadcast range of both WSBS and WGEN, it is unclear why this would be necessary (or in Key West, useful at all), given the total flatness of the terrain and water and the complete lack of other obstructions like tall buildings. The only advantage for WSBS is to continue to be seen on analog TV.
All translator stations are owned by Mapale (meaning roughly "map it") as they have always been.
Digital stations (ending in -D, -LD, or -CD) may use virtual channel 8.1 as the main station does, or may use their physical (RF) TV channels numbers as their virtual channel. The -CA or -CD suffixes indicate class A protection from other stations.
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