WBSF

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For the former Home Shopping Network affiliate in Melbourne, Florida, see WOTF-TV.
WBSF
Bay City, Michigan
Branding CW46 Mid Michigan
Channels 46 (UHF) analog,
WEYI-DT 30.2/25.2 (UHF) digital
Affiliations CW
Owner Barrington Broadcasting
Founded 2004
Call letters meaning W
Bay City
Saginaw
Flint
Former affiliations WB (2004-9/2006)
Website www.cw46online.com

WBSF (Channel 46) is the CW affiliate for the Flint-Saginaw-Bay City, Michigan television market. Formerly affiliated with The WB, it is operated in conjunction with the NBC affiliate for the region, WEYI, which carries WBSF on its digital signal, channel 30.2 (or 25.2).

Prior to WBSF's opening in 2004, WB programming was seen on WEYI in the early-2000s, mainly in the overnight periods. Before WEYI's involvement began, mid-Michigan had no WB service, other than from Chicago's WGN-TV, when they had WB programming nationwide, prior to 1999.

WBSF initially signed on its analog transmitter on September 13, 2006. However, WBSF has been seen on cable since 2004, and on WEYI's digital signal since that was activated. The station has also been the Detroit Pistons' Mid-Michigan home since the station's inception; Then-fellow WB affiliate WMYD Channel 20 in Detroit, along with WDIV "Local4", Detroit's NBC affiliate, became the flagship Pistons stations during the fall of 2004. (Until WBSF was formed, Mid-Michigan viewers watched Pistons games through another Detroit station, WKBD, still carried in the region.)

Like WDWB, WBSF was the last television station in its market to air cartoons on weekday afternoons. Since December 30, 2005, Kids' WB has been shown only on Saturday mornings, its daily block replaced by ER and 8 Simple Rules reruns starting on January 2, 2006 (ER was replaced on the WBSF schedule with What I Like About You reruns on June 5, 2006).

On cable, WBSF is available on channel 15 on Comcast in Flint. On Charter's Tri-Cities systems, it is seen on channel 17 in Saginaw, channel 10 in Bay City, channel 26 in Midland and channel 15 in Mount Pleasant.

With the merger of the WB and UPN to become CW, WBSF became the Flint-Saginaw-Bay City-Midland CW affiliate in the fall of 2006. Because of this, there's a chance that WKBD (which will be the only other analog over-the-air CW affiliate in Michigan) would be dropped from the market's cable systems, as both WBSF and WKBD would affiliate with CW (however, in the case of Midland, two CBS affilliates currently coexist on the same cable system, meaning both stations may coexist on Tri-Cities systems in the future). It was recently announced that WKBD will be dropped from Charter's Tri-Cities cablesystems, to make room for WNEM's My Network TV channel.

Also as a result, WBSF changed its nickname from "Mid Michigan's WB" to "CW46 Mid Michigan." However, its call letters will be unchanged, as the "B" in the call letters also stands for Bay City, the station's city of license. ("S" and "F" stand for Saginaw and Flint, respectively.)

Contents

[edit] Digital television

Because it was granted an original construction permit after the FCC finalized the DTV allotment plan on April 21, 1997 [1], the station did not receive a companion channel for a digital television station. Instead, on or before February 18, 2009, which is the end of the digital TV conversion period for full-service stations, WBSF will be required to turn off its analog signal and turn on its digital signal (called a "flash-cut").

For this reason, WBSF uses WEYI's digital signal for its digital broadcasts.

[edit] Previous Logos

[edit] See also

[edit] External links



Broadcast television in the Mid-Michigan (Flint / Saginaw / Bay City / Midland) market  (Nielsen DMA #66)

WNEM 5 (CBS/MNTV on DT2) - WJRT 12 (ABC) - WCMU 14 / WCML 6 (PBS) - WDCP 19 / WDCQ 35 (PBS) - WEYI 25 (NBC) - WFUM 28 (PBS) - WHNE-LP 32 (A1) - WBSF 46 (The CW) - W46CR 46 (3ABN) - WAQP 49 (TBN / TCT) - WXON 54 (Ind) - WSMH 66 (FOX) (The Tube on DT2)

Stations in adjoining markets that serve part of the Mid-Michigan market:

WWTV 9 (CBS, Cadillac) - WBKB 11 (CBS, Alpena)

Broadcast television available on cable only:

CBMT 6 (Montreal, CBC) - CBET 9 (Windsor, CBC) - WKBD 50 (Detroit, The CW )

Defunct Television Stations:

WTAC 16 (ABC / DuMont)