WBNX-TV

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WBNX-TV
Akron, Ohio / Cleveland, Ohio
Branding	WBNX, The CW Television Network
Channels	55 (UHF) analog, 30 (UHF) digital
Affiliations	The CW
Owner	Winston Broadcasting Network
Founded	December 1, 1985
Call letters meaning	Winston Broadcasting Network (owner)
Former affiliations	Independent (1985-1997) The WB (1997-2006)
Website	wbnx.com

WBNX-TV is a CW television affiliate serving the Cleveland television market broadcasting on channel 55. It presently bills itself as "WBNX, The CW Television Network". The studios are located in Cuyahoga Falls and the transmitter is in Parma, although it is licensed to Akron. It is owned by the Winston Broadcasting Network, an arm of the Ernest Angley ministry. WBNX was the WB Television Network affiliate in the Cleveland market from 1997 until September 17, 2006 and consistently ranked in the top 11 of all WB affiliates and was the #1 WB affiliate in overall ratings among the top 19 DMA (designated market areas) during the November 2005 ratings sweep period. Source: TV Week, article 1/30/06 [1]

Contents 1 History 1.1 Early plans for Channel 55 2 The CW 3 Digital On-screen Graphic 4 Logos 5 External links

[edit] History

WBNX-TV signed on the air on December 1, 1985. Before this time, the call letters "WBNX" were used by two radio stations in New York: An AM station broadcasting at 1380 kHz[2], and an early FM station broadcasting at 47.5 MHz[3]. (This was before the allocation of the current FM band.) The AM station was the New York affiliate of the Amalgamated Broadcasting System. For more on these stations, see WBNX (radio) and WBNX-FM.

WBNX-TV began as a general entertainment independent station with a lot of public domain movies, religious shows, low budget syndicated dramas, and a few old sitcoms. The station spent little on programming and was profitable.

In November 1986 when WCLQ 61 flipped to Home Shopping, WBNX picked up Channel 61's programming. It added cartoons, a few more old sitcoms, movies, and drama shows. Still, ratings were very low: WBNX was way behind WUAB and WOIO, even though the latter became a Fox affiliate.

By 1989, WBNX had added more infomercials to the lineup, and the children's programming was syndicated. It also ran fewer hours of religious shows and increased the amount of general entertainment programming on the station. The paid programming and increasing commercials kept WBNX in the black.

In 1994, the market's CBS affiliation moved to WOIO, and Fox prime time shows moved to WJW. However, a number of syndicated shows and kids shows previously shown on WOIO did not move to WJW, and a decent amount of programming was now available for WBNX as a result.

In the fall of 1994, WBNX took the Fox Kids programming, other syndicated cartoons, a number of off-network sitcoms, and movies. Its WBNX Kids Club grew into the largest FOX Kids Club in the eastern United States and second largest in the country. The station was now running about 19 hours a day of entertainment programs, along with a couple hours of religious shows. Cable systems throughout Northeast Ohio were now carrying WBNX. The lineup included cartoons, sitcoms, movies, dramas, and so on. The Fox Kids programming, now known as 4Kids TV, is still seen on WBNX on Sunday mornings.

In 1997, the station became affiliated with The WB Network, taking what had been previously a secondary affiliation on WUAB. Then, in 2006 WUAB lost it's affiliation with UPN when the owners of The WB and UPN decided to merge into one network, The CW. Both WUAB and WBNX were in the running for the coveted affiliation with the new network, when after a few weeks The CW announced they had chosen WBNX as it's Cleveland affiliate [4]. WBNX has continued to grow and has taken the overall ratings lead above WUAB since 2004 (source: Broadcasting & Cable). Today, WBNX offers first-run primetime shows from The CW, cartoons from Kids' WB and 4Kids TV and first-run syndicated shows. It now identifies on-air as WBNX, The CW Television Network, and was the last Cleveland television station to air cartoons weekday afternoons, as Kids' WB is now seen only on Saturday mornings. WBNX is one of the few broadcast stations in the United States which has both Kids' WB (Saturdays) and 4Kids TV (Sundays); one of the others is KASW.

WBNX pre-screens some programming to edit out profanities and scenes that would be questionable in light of FCC standards. The exceptions to this are as follows: CW network programming and syndicated programs which they contractually must air "as is". WBNX is one of the few network affiliates in the country that seldom pre-empts its primetime network programming for sporting events. WBNX also airs the least amount of infomercials of any broadcast station in Northeast Ohio, averaging less than 20 half hour infomercials per week. In comparison, WUAB airs over 90 half hour infomercials per week. [5] [6]

In 1999, the MDA switched its Labor Day weekend live broadcast of The Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon from WJW to WBNX. The Jerry Lewis Telethon has remained on WBNX, which has received national accolades for its video productions.

WBNX broadcasts from the tallest antenna tower in the Cleveland television market and with the most power wattage. WBNX leases out additional tower space to Cleveland area radio stations. In the fall/winter of 2006, WBNX is slated to begin broadcasting in high definition on digital Ch. 30 and will have completed the digital upgrades at its production facility.

On September 18, 2006, WBNX became The CW Television Network affiliate in the Cleveland/Akron, Ohio market.

[edit] Early plans for Channel 55

Channel 55 was originally allocated to Akron as WCOT-TV, a license which never went on the air. The WCOT construction permit was owned by Rex Humbard.

WBNX owner Angley bought Humbard's television production facilities in Cuyahoga Falls in 1986 to start the new station, and later bought the rest of Humbard's Cathedral of Tomorrow complex (the current Grace Cathedral). The unfinished concrete tower which still stands behind Grace Cathedral was originally intended to hold WCOT's transmission tower. That tower was never purchased or used by WBNX, but is owned by the Krieger family and used for cellular phone communications. WBNX's tower is located in Parma, Ohio.

[edit] The CW

In a major announcement, CBS Corporation and Time Warner announced on January 24, 2006, that they will close their respective UPN and WB networks and jointly launch the CW Network in September 2006. The network will be a 50-50 joint venture between the two companies.

On March 1, Winston Broadcasting officials and The CW confirmed that WBNX would affiliate with the new network in the fall.[7] [8]

[edit] Digital On-screen Graphic

Like many television channels, a digital on-screen graphic or tv bug is used to identify a tv station. To keep the tv viewing area from being crowded with bugs, WBNX usually places it's call letters "WBNX" above the "CW" bug durning network programing. Durning programing that contains the "E/I" bug, WBNX will place an opaque bug over the E/I bug with the words "WBNX The CW" and "E/I" conbined, so viewers won't see two bugs in different corners of the screen. For Kids WB/4Kids programing, the local bug is used and is placed in the bottom-left corner of the screen, unless the current program displays the E/I bug.

[edit] Logos

The fine text at the top says: "We are family and we show it." (from sign on in 1985-1996)	Used in a "Fox 55 Kids Club" commercial in 1995.	"Cleveland's Independent." (1996-1997)	WBNX's first "WB" logo- the last logo showing the "55" channel number.
WBNX's second "WB" logo, with Michigan J. Frog	WBNX's final "WB" logo, used until September 2006	WBNX's current CW Logo.

[edit] External links

• WBNX
• Query the FCC's TV station database for WBNX-TV