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Contents

   



(Top)
 


1 History  





2 Technical information  



2.1  Subchannels  





2.2  Analog-to-digital conversion  







3 References  





4 External links  














WPCB-TV







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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 


WPCB-TV
  • United States
  • CityGreensburg, Pennsylvania
    Channels
  • Virtual: 40
  • BrandingCornerstone Network
    Programming
    Affiliations
  • for others, see § Subchannels
  • Ownership
    OwnerCornerstone Television, Inc.
    History

    First air date

    April 15, 1979 (45 years ago) (1979-04-15)

    Former channel number(s)

    • Analog: 40 (UHF, 1979–2009)
  • Digital: 50 (UHF, 2003–2019)
  • Call sign meaning

    Western Pennsylvania Christian Broadcasting (original name of company)
    Technical information[1]

    Licensing authority

    FCC
    Facility ID13924
    ERP530 kW
    HAAT278 m (912 ft)
    Transmitter coordinates40°23′34N 79°46′53W / 40.39278°N 79.78139°W / 40.39278; -79.78139
    Translator(s)WKBS-TV 47 (6VHF) Altoona
    Links

    Public license information

  • LMS
  • Websitewww.ctvn.org

    WPCB-TV (channel 40) is a television station licensed to Greensburg, Pennsylvania, United States, serving the Pittsburgh area as the flagship of the religious network Cornerstone Television. Cornerstone originates most of its programs from this station. WPCB-TV's studios and transmitter are co-located on Signal Hill Drive in Wall, Pennsylvania.

    WKBS-TV (channel 47) in Altoona operates as a full-time satellite of WPCB.

    History[edit]

    In the 1960s, Rev. Russ Bixler was visiting the Virginia Beach area and came across independent station WYAH-TV, which was running an all-Christian format. Bixler came to visit the Christian Broadcasting Network studios, meeting Pat Robertson and Jim Bakker. Concluding that Pittsburgh needed a similar station, Bixler applied for the channel 22 license in the 1970s, but lost to Commercial Radio Institute, a forerunner of Sinclair Broadcast Group in 1975, who would launch that station as secular independent WPTT-TV in 1978. Bixler then applied for a license on channel 40, and was granted a construction permit for that channel in 1976.

    After several hurdles, Bixler was able to get the needed equipment and was able to sell a few hours a day of programming time to Christian organizations. WPCB-TV finally began operations on April 15, 1979. The station was initially on the air for 15 hours a day, and within a year expanded to a 24-hour schedule. Programming consisted of several runs a day of the two-hour edition of the PTL Club, the 90-minute edition of The 700 Club, several other shows produced by CBN for the CBN Cable channel, a few children's educational and religious shows, televangelists like Jimmy Swaggart, Rex Humbard, Oral Roberts and Jerry Falwell, and some local church programs. The station also produced a local variety talk and music show, Getting Together. WPCB-TV's programming remains entirely Christian-oriented to this day. From before their sign on, when a person phones the station, the receptionists answer "Jesus Loves You TV 40".

    Over the decades, owing to holding a license to operate a commercial television station, WPCB-TV has received countless offers from commercial broadcasters wanting to convert the station into a conventional independent station, but has flatly refused them each time. However, in 1998, Cornerstone attempted to buy the license for non-commercial station WQEX (channel 16), which would have required a sale of the channel 40 license. Paxson Communications made an offer to buy channel 40; if the deal went through, it would have been relaunched as a Pax TV owned-and-operated station under the call letters WKPX-TV.[2] However, at that time the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) did not deem WPCB-TV's religious programming as educational, and Cornerstone's application was withdrawn in 2000; channel 40 was then taken off the market.[3] In 2002, the FCC reversed its position (WQEX was converted into a commercial license later that year; in 2011, it was sold to Paxson's successor, Ion Media Networks, and now carries programming from Pax TV's successor Ion TelevisionasWINP-TV).

    Russ Bixler died in 2000, and Ron Hembree, who hosted a program on WPCB-TV, took over as the station's president. Hembree died in June 2010.

    Technical information[edit]

    Subchannels[edit]

    The station's signal is multiplexed:

    Subchannels of WPCB-TV[4]
    Channel Res. Aspect Short name Programming
    40.1 1080i 16:9 WPCB Cornerstone
    40.2 720p CourtTV Court TV
    40.3 Bounce Bounce TV
    40.4 480i Quest Quest
    40.5 getTV GetTV
    40.6 4:3 PFFC Pittsburgh's Faith & Family Channel

    Analog-to-digital conversion[edit]

    WPCB-TV shut down its analog signal, over UHF channel 40, on June 12, 2009, the official date on which full-power television stations in the United States transitioned from analog to digital broadcasts under federal mandate. The station's digital signal continued to broadcasts on its pre-transition UHF channel 50,[5][6] using virtual channel 40.

    References[edit]

    1. ^ "Facility Technical Data for WPCB-TV". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
  • ^ Owen, Rob (July 15, 1999). "Pax TV wants to be on the air in Pittsburgh, not up in the air". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved February 2, 2012.
  • ^ "WQEX deal falls apart".
  • ^ RabbitEars TV Query for WPCB
  • ^ "DTV Tentative Channel Designations for the First and Second Rounds" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on August 29, 2013. Retrieved March 24, 2012.
  • ^ CDBS Print
  • External links[edit]


    Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=WPCB-TV&oldid=1197698390"

    Categories: 
    1979 establishments in Pennsylvania
    Bounce TV affiliates
    Court TV affiliates
    Get (TV network) affiliates
    Quest (American TV network) affiliates
    Religious television stations in the United States
    Television channels and stations established in 1979
    Television stations in Pittsburgh
    Hidden categories: 
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    Use mdy dates from January 2024
    Pages using gadget WikiMiniAtlas
    Articles using infobox television station
    Official website different in Wikidata and Wikipedia
     



    This page was last edited on 21 January 2024, at 15:59 (UTC).

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