WHBF-TV
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| WHBF-TV | |
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| Rock Island - Moline, Illinois - Davenport - Bettendorf, Iowa |
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| Branding | CBS 4 RTN 4 (on DT2) |
| Slogan | News For The Quad Cities (News) CBS For The Quad Cities (General) |
| Channels | |
| Subchannels | 4.1 CBS 4.2 RTN |
| Affiliations | CBS |
| Owner | Citadel Communications (Coronet Communications Company) |
| Founded | July 1, 1950 |
| Call letters’ meaning | Where Historic Black Hawk Fought (a reference to Chief Black Hawk, whose tribe once occupied the area that is now the Quad Cities) |
| Former channel number(s) | Analog: 4 (1950-2009) Digital: 58 (2003-2009) |
| Former affiliations | ABC (secondary, 1950-1963) DuMont (secondary, 1950-1956) |
| Transmitter Power | 24.1 kW |
| Height | 409 m |
| Facility ID | 13950 |
| Transmitter Coordinates | 41°32′48.8″N 90°28′37.7″W / 41.546889°N 90.477139°W |
| Website | www.whbf.com |
WHBF-TV, channel 4, is a television station licensed to Rock Island, Illinois, which serves as the CBS affiliate for the Quad Cities television market (comprising Rock Island and Moline, Illinois, and Davenport and Bettendorf, Iowa). WHBF-TV is owned by Citadel Communications (no relation to the Citadel Broadcasting Corporation), with studios located in the Telco Building in downtown Rock Island, and transmitter located in Bettendorf.
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[edit] History
WHBF-TV signed on the air on July 1, 1950. It is the fifth-oldest surviving station in Illinois and the oldest outside Chicago. It was owned by the Potter family, publishers of the Rock Island Argus, along with WHBF radio (1270 AM, now WKBF; and 98.9 FM, now WLKU).
WHBF-TV has been a CBS affiliate since its inception, but carried secondary affiliations with ABC and the DuMont Television Network. After DuMont's demise in 1956, WHBF shared ABC programming with WOC-TV (channel 6, now KWQC-TV) until WQAD-TV (channel 8) signed on as an ABC affiliate in 1963. During the late 1950s, the station was also briefly affiliated with the NTA Film Network.[1]
The Potters broke up their media holdings in 1986, and the radio stations moved out of the Telco Building. Citadel bought it in the mid-1990s.
On January 29, 2007, WHBF-TV rebranded the station as CBS4. It also adopted a version of the circle logo. Coronet's other stations adopted a similar branding identity.
WHBF-TV was the first station in the area to use color radar, and now uses the state-of-the-art weather system known as ESP: Live. This allows the station to alert the Quad Cities about any potential weather hazards.
On Monday December 1, 2008, WHBF-TV launched an affiliation with Retro Television Network on its DT2 subchannel. Prior to this date, the station had been simulcasting its main programming in SDTV on the DT2 subchannel.
[edit] Ratings
WHBF was a solid-runner-up to rival WOC-TV until the mid-1970s, when it surged to first place. It lost the lead to WOC-TV around 1980. The station was able to hold up the number 2 spot for the first part of the 80's, until WQAD took that spot. Since then, WHBF has clearly been the 3rd ranked station in the Quad Cities market. WHBF has had a hard time keeping on-air talent. Jay Kidwell, CBS4's Sports Director, has currently been at the station the longest, since 2001. Jay is known for his energetic personality and is becoming the Quad Cities' favorite for local sports coverage.
[edit] Digital television
WHBF-DT broadcasts on digital channel 4.
Digital channels
| Channel | Name | Video | Aspect | Programming |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4.1 | WHBF-DT | 1080i | 16:9 | Main WHBF/CBS Programming |
| 4.2 | RTN 4 | 480i | 4:3 | Retro Television Network |
At 6:01am on Friday, June 12, 2009, WHBF-TV turned off its analog signal and moved digital broadcasts back to channel 4.[2][3] WHBF-TV is now one of the very few TV stations in the United States to broadcast its digital signal on a low VHF channel assignment, alongside sister station WOI-TV in Des Moines, Iowa and ABC O&O station WPVI-TV in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
[edit] HDTV
WHBF broadcasts all CBS Network programs in High Definition which are available from the network in HDTV.
Also, one Syndicated program on WHBF's schedule which is broadcast in HDTV is Entertainment Tonight, which is produced and distributed by CBS Television Distribution; a corporate sibling of the CBS Television Network under the CBS Corporation. This includes both the weeknight version at 6:30pm and the hour-long weekend version which airs locally on Sunday nights at 10:35 pm.
[edit] References
- ^ "Require Prime Evening Time for NTA Films", Boxoffice: 13, November 10, 1956, http://issuu.com/boxoffice/docs/boxoffice_111056-1
- ^ http://www.whbf.com/Global/story.asp?S=10446353
- ^ http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-06-1082A2.pdf
[edit] External links
- WHBF-TV website
- WHBF-DT2 "RTN 4"
- Query the FCC's TV station database for WHBF-TV
- The Unofficial Grandpa Happy Website
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