WBBH-TV went on the air in December 1968 as the second station in Fort Myers; it has been an NBC affiliate since its first day on air. Waterman Broadcasting owned WBBH from 1979 to 2023; WBBH took over most of the operations of what is now WZVN-TV in 1994. It has generally fought CBS affiliate WINK-TV for first place in local news ratings.
In 1967, two companies petitioned the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to add channels in the ultra high frequency (UHF) band to the table of usable TV channels in Fort Myers. Acting on the proposals from Kenneth Schwartz and Hubbard Broadcasting, the FCC allotted channel 20 in January 1968.[4] That May, Broadcasting-Telecasting Services, Inc., headed by former WMYR sales director and announcer Joseph Buerry Jr., applied for channel 20, proposing a station with an intensive focus on local programming,[5] and an emphasis on local news. No other group applied, and Broadcasting-Telecasting Services received a construction permit in July. It announced its intention to be a primary NBC affiliate with a secondary ABC affiliation.[6] Buerry, along with investors Jackson Burgess and Howard Hoffman (also formerly of WMYR[6]), gave the station its call letters—WBBH-TV.[2]
The studios were finished by the start of December, with erection of the station's transmitting tower in Lehigh Acres still ongoing.[7] The station began broadcasting on December 18, 1968. Previously, Miami's WCKT had imported NBC programming into Fort Myers by way of a translator on channel 70; Tampa's WFLA-TV had been carried alongside WCKT on most area cable systems.[8][9]
After nearly six years, Buerry resigned as president in August 1974; he had been visible on air presenting station editorials.[10][a] Hoffman became the general manager at a time when the station was suffering financially, though it had begun to turn a profit in 1972.[13] The station lost ABC programs to a new station in Naples, WEVU (channel 26), at this time as well.[14]
In 1978, Waterman Broadcasting Corporation, which at the time only owned two radio stations in San Antonio, Texas, began negotiating to buy WBBH-TV after the stockholders of Broadcasting-Telecasting Services opted to put the station on the market. A sale agreement was reached in April 1979.[15] Waterman activated a new tower in 1983; the station began broadcasting at the UHF maximum effective radiated power of five million watts and improved its signal in the northern part of its coverage area.[16] In 1987, an expansion was completed to the Central Avenue studio; the original, 7,000-square-foot (650 m2) building was wrapped around a two-story building with an internal atrium.[17]
Waterman Broadcasting attempted to expand the station's presence in the early 1990s. It first thought it had an agreement with WNPL-TV (channel 46) to program the second station under a time brokerage agreement.[18] However, WNPL was in turmoil at the time. The agreement was reached during a period in which the station manager left; he then came back and ignored the agreement, with station officials calling the issue a misunderstanding.[19] Waterman then sued WNPL, which in turn filed for bankruptcy protection.[20]
On June 1, 1994, Ellis Communications, the owner of WEVU, entered into a local marketing agreement with WBBH-TV, which began providing the station's news programming.[21] Some WEVU staffers were not retained by WBBH;[22] in all, there were 20 staff firings, including WEVU's main news, weather and sports anchors.[23] That September, WBBH began branding as channel 2 after its position on local cable systems; WEVU did likewise with channel 7 and changed its call sign to WZVN-TV the next year.[24][25]
Ellis Communications merged with Raycom Media in 1996; under a deal previously made by Ellis, WZVN-TV's license was sold to Montclair Communications, which continued the LMA with WBBH. Montclair was founded by Lara Kunkler, station manager for WBBH and WZVN and the goddaughter of Bernie Waterman, owner of Waterman Broadcasting.[26] The deal allowed a once-unprofitable station to become profitable.[27][28] In 2001, Waterman attempted to merge with Montclair by way of a stock swap.[29] However, instead of allowing the deal, the FCC let the application languish;[30] at one point, it ordered it unwound by 2004.[28]
Waterman Broadcasting announced on April 5, 2023, that it would sell WBBH-TV to Hearst Television, the first sale of the station in 44 years. The $220 million[31]: 20 deal marked the sale of the company's last media property after having been founded in 1956.[1] Company executives cited Edith Waterman's desire to sell the station before her 100th birthday.[32] The sale was completed on June 30;[33] Hearst would also continue programming WZVN-TV on Montclair's behalf.[31]: 14
WINK-TV (channel 11), which had been the only local station prior to channel 20 signing on the air, remained the news leader in the market until 1974, when WBBH rose to the top and provided serious competition for WINK.[34] However, by the early 1980s, it had slipped behind WINK, though it was well ahead of WEVU, whose news ratings were typically anemic.[35] Beginning in January 1994, WBBH experimented with producing newscasts for air on local cable systems' local origination channels: these included 7 p.m., 10 p.m., and midnight broadcasts branded as the Eyewitness News Network.[36][37]
In the wake of the WEVU LMA in 1994, equipment investments were made for the joint operation. WBBH–WZVN had the market's first Doppler weather radar installed in the mid-1990s, and in 1997, a studio expansion was completed allowing both stations to present simultaneous 11 p.m. newscasts.[38] The stations have dedicated anchors but share reporters;[39] during major hurricane coverage, the stations have often aired a single telecast using their combined news and weather resources.[40][41][42][43] Despite the shared resources, news viewership has tilted strongly toward WBBH—which continues to compete with WINK for first—over WZVN.[44][45]
In 2018, the Waterman stations cut back their sports department; weeknight sportscasts were eliminated, along with the position of sports director for WBBH-TV.[46] That same year, WBBH added a 3 p.m. newscast, giving it three and a half straight hours of local news leading into the NBC Nightly News.[47]
On October 31, 2002, WZVN-TV and WBBH-TV began broadcasting high-definition television, the first stations in the market to do so.[54] The conversion to digital required the construction of a new tower, as the 1983-built mast did not meet more stringent wind loading requirements.[55]
WBBH-TV discontinued regular programming on its analog signal, over UHF channel 20, on February 17, 2009, the original date on which full-power television stations in the United States were to transition from analog to digital broadcasts under federal mandate (which was later pushed back to June 12, 2009).[56][57] As part of the SAFER Act,[58] WBBH-TV kept its analog signal on the air until February 21 to inform viewers of the digital television transition through a loop of public service announcements from the National Association of Broadcasters. The station's digital signal remained on its pre-transition UHF channel 15, using virtual channel 20.[57]
WBBH-TV broadcast WZVN-TV from its transmitter between October 2019 and March 2020 while repack work was conducted on that station's own transmitter equipment.[59]
^"New TV Station On Air Tonight". News-Press. December 18, 1968. p. 3-A. Archived from the original on March 15, 2023. Retrieved March 15, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
^Melsek, Lee (October 17, 1976). "Pointing WEVU up the local ladder". News-Press. pp. Antenna 11, 13. Archived from the original on October 26, 2019. Retrieved October 25, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
^"New TV Station Opens". News-Press. p. 2-B. Archived from the original on October 26, 2019. Retrieved October 25, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
^Johnson, Barbara (April 11, 1979). "Accord reached on sale of WBBH". News-Press. p. 1A. Archived from the original on March 15, 2023. Retrieved March 15, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
^Cone, Clay W (August 19, 1993). "WBBH will manage Naples TV station". The Naples Daily News. Naples, Florida. p. 3B. Archived from the original on March 16, 2023. Retrieved March 16, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
^Rinker, Michael (September 28, 1993). "Parent of WNPL files for bankruptcy". The Naples Daily News. Naples, Florida. p. 1A, 3A. Archived from the original on March 16, 2023. Retrieved March 16, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
^Patterson, Demetrius (May 27, 1994). "WBBH taking over WEVU newscasts". News-Press. p. 1A. Archived from the original on October 26, 2019. Retrieved October 25, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
^Patterson, Demetrius (June 4, 1994). "Nervous tension grips WEVU staff". News-Press. p. 11A. Archived from the original on March 2, 2023. Retrieved October 25, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
^"Station Logos". News-Press. Fort Myers, Florida. September 14, 1994. p. 8A. Archived from the original on March 16, 2023. Retrieved March 16, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
^Strauss, Larry A. (October 18, 1995). "Out with WEVU, in with WZVN". News-Press. Fort Myers, Florida. p. 1D. Retrieved March 22, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
^Johnson, Peter G. (June 18, 1983). "Did personnel changes hurt WBBH?". News-Press. p. 1D, 2D. Archived from the original on March 16, 2023. Retrieved March 16, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
^"New 'Network' on channel 20". The Naples Daily News. Naples, Florida. December 17, 1993. p. 10D. Archived from the original on March 17, 2023. Retrieved March 17, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
^"News on cable". News-Press. Fort Myers, Florida. January 31, 1994. p. 1D. Archived from the original on March 17, 2023. Retrieved March 17, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
^"WBBH-TV". Broadcast Engineering. December 2002. GaleA95438854.
^Hughes, Neil (February 16, 2009). "Despite delay, digital D-Day looms". Port Charlotte Sun. p. P1, P4. Archived from the original on March 17, 2023. Retrieved March 17, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
