WBQC-CA

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WBQC-CA

Cincinnati, Ohio
Branding	WBQC Channel 38
Channels	38 analog, no digital
Affiliations	independent
Owner	Elliott B. Block
Founded	1994
Call letters meaning	WB (for former affiliation) Queen City (nickname for Cincinnati) or We're Block Communications Queen City
Former callsigns	W25AI
Former affiliations	The WB (1995-1998) NBC (1999-?) UPN (1998-2006)
Transmitter Power	140 kW/207m
Website	www.wbqc.com

WBQC-CA is an independent television station in Cincinnati, Ohio. The station broadcasts on channel 38. WBQC's offices are located in Golf Manor, Ohio. Its transmitter is located in Cincinnati. According to its website, WBQC was the first television station to be fully automated.^[1]

[edit] History

The station signed on in 1994 on channel 25 as low power TV station W25AI, running mostly infomercials. Since the WB network (which launched in January 1995) could not find a full power station in the Cincinnati area to run its programming, it affiliated with Channel 25. The station changed its call letters to WBQC-LP to reflect its new affiliation, and began to identify on-air as "WB 25".

UPN logo in 2001

The WB affiliation moved to WSTR-TV Channel 64 in 1998, and WBQC became a UPN affiliate (while keeping the same call letters).

Starting in 1999, the station served as a secondary NBC affiliate, carrying various sporting events WLWT didn't want as well as The Profiler and Sunset Beach.

WBQC had been pushing for inclusion on local cable and satellite lineups for many years. In 2005, the station moved from channel 25 to channel 38. It also became a Class A television station; while still a low-power station, Class A stations' allocations are protected so they are not displaced in order to make room for a full-power station's digital allocation. As a result, WBQC-CA has received additional cable carriage, and will also receive a digital allocation. (Channel 25 is now WOTH-LP, The Other Channel, which is affiliated with America One.)

UPN logo prior to July 2006

Effective September 2006, UPN and The WB will merge to form The CW Television Network, and WSTR, being a full-power station, seemed to be most likely to become CW's Cincinnati affiliate. On March 2, 2006, however, it was announced that WSTR would affiliate with My Network TV, Fox's new network launching at the same time.^[2]^[3] This seemingly opened the door for WBQC to potentially become the CW's Cincinnati affiliate, but on April 19 it was confirmed that The CW Television Network will be carried on one of the digital subchannels of Cincinnati's CBS affiliate, WKRC. WBQC will become an independent station^[4] when UPN ends in September.

By July 4, 2006 (in a stunt to promote their "Independence Day"), UPN network programming was moved out of primetime, and was replaced with marathons, and then a schedule of older off-network dramas and comedies. UPN aired overnight from 2am-4am early Tuesday morning-early Saturday morning until its closedown.^[4] The station then changed their logo, which has some elements of the Ohio State Flag.

With the launch of WKRC's CinCW digital subchannel, Time Warner Cable dropped WBQC on October 18 to carry CinCW full-time on Channel 20, and has also been dropped off from DirecTV's Cincinnati local stations package, though it continues to be carried as a digital channel on Insight Communications systems; in both cases CinCW has filled Channel 38's former channel slot.^[5] Station management for WBQC has stated they do not expect Time Warner Cable to reinstate them on their systems anytime soon.^[6]