WTBY-TV
| Poughkeepsie - New York, New York | |
|---|---|
| City of license | Poughkeepsie, New York |
| Channels | Digital: 27 (UHF) Virtual: 54 (PSIP) |
| Subchannels | (see article) |
| Affiliations | TBN |
| Owner | Trinity Broadcasting Network (Trinity Broadcasting of New York, Inc.) |
| First air date | April 6, 1981 |
| Call letters' meaning | Trinity Broadcasting (the station's owner) New York |
| Former callsigns | WFTI-TV (1981-1983) |
| Former channel number(s) | Analog: 54 (UHF, 1981-2008) |
| Former affiliations | Independent (1981-1983) |
| Transmitter power | 800 kW |
| Height | 357.7 m (1,174 ft) |
| Class | DT (Digital Television) |
| Facility ID | 67993 |
| Transmitter coordinates | 41°29′20″N 73°56′53″W / 41.48889°N 73.94806°W |
| Licensing authority | FCC |
| Public license information: | Profile CDBS |
| Website | www.tbn.org |
WTBY-TV, channel 54, is a television station licensed to Poughkeepsie, New York, USA. WTBY is owned and operated by Trinity Broadcasting Network, and broadcasts TBN programming to the Hudson Valley region of New York state. The station is licensed within the New York City television market.
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History[edit]
The station signed on April 6, 1981 as WFTI-TV as the most powerful 5 million watt dual polarized station in the New York City DMA. The station was initially owned by Family Television, Inc., founded by Keith Houser in 1979, and headquartered in the Poughkeepsie Plaza Mall on U.S. Route 9 in the city of Poughkeepsie. WFTI's early programming including reruns of The Lone Ranger and The Cisco Kid, and the station originated coverage of West Point Academy sports (except the Army-Navy college football game). Family TV also originated Valley Magazine a nightly 30 minute program with interviews of local celebrities, such as James Cagney.
After Irving Trust the station's sole banking source experienced financial problems and prematurely called the station's loan in 1982 (Irving Trust was ultimately shut down by the Federal Reserve), Family TV sold the station to Trinity Broadcasting in June 1982,[1] though the sale would not be completed until over a year later, July 1983. Trinity then changed the call letters to the present WTBY and moved the station's studios to the village of Fishkill. In 2007, when TBN opened its New York City facility in the former Century Center for the Performing Arts, near Union Square, WTBY's studio/office operations were moved there. The station maintains its transmitter on Beacon Mountain, near Beacon, New York.
While Poughkeepsie is part of the New York City television market, WTBY's reduced power over-the-air signal is only viewable in the northern fringes of the area. The station is carried on the two main cable systems in New York City (Cablevision and Time Warner Cable), but it is not available on DirecTV or Dish Network's New York City local feeds; only the national version is available. Most of the station's viewership is in the Albany/Schenectady/Troy market; until 2010, WTBY operated two translators in that market (W52DF channel 52 to reach Albany and the Capital District, and W47CM on channel 47 to reach Glens Falls and the Adirondacks); both stations ceased broadcasting due to declining support, which has been attributed to the digital transition, with W52DF shutting down March 13[2] and W47CM shutting down one month later.[3] W52DF's license, along with 43 other silent TBN repeaters, was canceled on December 1, 2011 for remaining silent over a year.[4]
Local programming[edit]
Locally-produced programs include versions of TBN's flagship program Praise the Lord and Joy in Our Town, a public affairs program. WTBY also carries programs produced by local pastors, notably A.R. Bernard of Christian Cultural Center, and Floyd H. Flake of the Greater Allen A. M. E. Cathedral of New York.
Digital television[edit]
This station's digital signal, like most other full-service TBN owned-and-operated stations, carries five different TBN-run networks.
| Channel | Video | Label | Programming |
|---|---|---|---|
| 54.1 | 480i | TBN | Main TBN programming |
| 54.2 | TCC | The Church Channel | |
| 54.3 | JCTV | JCTV | |
| 54.4 | Enlace | Enlace USA | |
| 54.5 | SOAC | Smile of a Child TV |
TBN-owned full-power stations permanently ceased analog transmissions on April 16, 2009.
WTBY-TV, however, shut off its analog channel 54 signal on October 1, 2008. The shutdown initially caused the station to be dropped from at least one cable TV system (Service Electric Cable TV of New Jersey) due to difficulty in receiving the signal at the cable headend. Service Electric replaced it with the national TBN service.
WTBY elected to keep RF channel 27 permanently for digital operation during the first round of digital channel elections in February 2005.
References[edit]
- ^ "Changing Hands." Broadcasting. June 21, 1982, pg. 73
- ^ "Notification of Suspension of Operations / Request for Silent STA". CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. April 16, 2010. Retrieved April 19, 2010.
- ^ "Notification of Suspension of Operations / Request for Silent STA". CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. May 14, 2010. Retrieved May 17, 2010.
- ^ "Re: Applications for Assignment of License…" (PDF). CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. November 30, 2011. Retrieved December 3, 2011.
External links[edit]
- TBN website
- Query the FCC's TV station database for WTBY
- Query the FCC's TV station database for W52DF
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