WHFT-TV

WHFT-TV, virtual channel 45 (UHF digital channel 28), is a TBN owned-and-operated television station licensed to Miami, Florida, United States and also serving Fort Lauderdale. The station is owned by the Trinity Broadcasting Network. WHFT's studios and transmitter are located at the Lake Trinity Estates complex on Pembroke Road in Pembroke Park (with a Hollywood mailing address).[2][3]

WHFT-TV
Miami/Fort Lauderdale, Florida
United States
CityMiami, Florida
ChannelsDigital: 28 (UHF)
Virtual: 45 (PSIP)
Programming
Affiliations45.1: TBN (O&O)
45.2: Hillsong Channel
45.3: Smile
45.4: Enlace
45.5: Positiv
Ownership
OwnerTrinity Broadcasting Network
(Trinity Broadcasting of Florida, Inc.)
History
First air date
1975 (1975)[1]
Former call signs
WFCB-TV (1975–1976)
Former channel number(s)
Analog:
45 (UHF, 1975–2009)
Digital:
46 (UHF, 2003–2019)
Independent (1975–1980)
Call sign meaning
World Harvest Florida Television
(after the broadcast ministry of the previous owner)
Technical information
Licensing authority
FCC
Facility ID67971
ERP701 kW
HAAT308 m (1,010 ft)
Transmitter coordinates25°59′35.3″N 80°10′26″W
Links
Public license information
Profile
LMS
Websitewww.tbn.org

History

The station first signed on the air in 1975 as WFCB-TV; it originally operated as a religious independent station that was owned by Florida Christian Television. The station aired programming for about five hours a day, running a few local church services, bible instruction programs, and programs from nationally known television evangelists. Florida Christian Television's owners were unable to keep the station solvent, so they put the station up for sale in early 1976, with a request to sell it to a Christian ministry.

LeSEA Broadcasting acquired the station in July 1976. The station's call letters were changed to WHFT-TV (standing for "World Harvest Florida Television"). Initially, the station's schedule expanded to about eight hours a day with the addition of more Christian programming, much of it added by LeSEA, along with televangelist programs such as The 700 Club. WHFT expanded its programming to about 18 hours a day in late August 1976. At that point, the station started carrying family-oriented general entertainment programming from 7:00 to 9:00 a.m. and 2:00 to 7:00 p.m. weekdays and Saturdays from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. (Sundays were reserved for religious programming). However, the station's conservative programming policies kept WHFT from making much headway against the market's dominant independent, WCIX (channel 6, now WFOR-TV on channel 4). Secular programs broadcast by the station at this time included Leave It to Beaver, The Little Rascals, Looney Tunes and Popeye animated shorts, The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show, the live-action sitcom version of Dennis the Menace, The Dick Van Dyke Show and The Brady Bunch.

The station was profitable at this time; however in 1980, the Trinity Broadcasting Network made a substantial offer to LeSEA to purchase WHFT; LeSEA agreed to the deal and sold the station to TBN. The sale included only the broadcast license, transmitter, real estate, and building facilities. The sale excluded programming assets, employment contracts, and sales commitments. On July 21, 1980, the intellectual local unit of WHFT was shut down. The station's secular program inventory was returned to distributors; some eventually moved to new stations WDZL (channel 39, now WSFL-TV) and WBFS-TV (channel 33), while others never found any takers among Miami's television stations. Since 1980, the station has been a straight simulcast of the national TBN feed with the exception of some local public affairs shows. Some of the religious programs that had aired on WHFT-TV under LeSEA ownership remained on the station as TBN had also carried these programs; other programs such as the PTL Club and The 700 Club were removed (however, TBN would acquire the rights to air The 700 Club a few years later).

Digital television

The station's digital signal is multiplexed:

Channel Video Aspect PSIP Short Name Programming
45.1720p16:9TBN HDMain TBN programming
45.2HillsngHillsong Channel
45.3480i4:3SMILESmile
45.4EnlaceEnlace
45.516:9PositivPositiv

TBN-owned full-power stations permanently ceased analog transmissions on April 16, 2009.[4] The station's digital signal continued to broadcasts on its pre-transition UHF channel 46.[5] Through the use of PSIP, digital television receivers display the station's virtual channel as its former UHF analog channel 45.

References
  1. The Broadcasting and Cable Yearbook says March 17, while the Television and Cable Factbook says February 1.
  2. Verified by Google Maps: 3300 Pembroke Road, Hollywood, FL 33021.
  3. Florida - About Us. Tbn.org. Retrieved on 2010-11-11.
  4. RabbitEars TV Query for WHFT
  5. "DTV Tentative Channel Designations for the First and the Second Rounds" (PDF). Retrieved 2012-03-24.
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