WMCN-TV

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WMCN-TV
200px
Atlantic City, New Jersey/Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
United States
City of license Atlantic City, New Jersey
Branding WMCN44
Slogan Tri-State Area's Independent TV Station
Channels Digital: 44 (UHF)
Virtual: 44 (PSIP)
Subchannels 44.1 WMCN-TV (Independent)
44.2 Tuff TV
Affiliations Independent
Owner Lenfest Broadcasting, LLC[1]
(WMCN License Holdings, LLC[2])
First air date May 29, 1981
Call letters' meaning Market
Connect
Network
Former callsigns WWAC-TV (1981–2003)[3]
Former channel number(s) Analog: 53 (UHF, 1981–2002)
Former affiliations Bounce TV (mid December 2014)
Transmitter power 200 kW
Height 212 m (696 ft)
AMSL: 241 m (791 ft)
Facility ID 9739
Transmitter coordinates Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found., Waterford, New Jersey
41 dBu Service contour
Licensing authority FCC
Public license information: Profile
CDBS
Website wmcn.tv

WMCN-TV, UHF digital channel 44, is an independent television station serving Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States that is licensed to Atlantic City, New Jersey. The station is owned by Lenfest Broadcasting, LLC. WMCN maintains studio facilities in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, and its transmitter is located in Waterford Works, New Jersey.

It is also carried throughout the market by DirecTV, Dish Network, Verizon FiOS and on most Comcast cable systems. WMCN is also carried on cable in Ocean County (part of the New York City television market) on Comcast channel 27 in standard definition, and on digital channel 794 in high definition.[4]

History

The station first signed on the air on May 29, 1981 as WWAC-TV, originally broadcasting on UHF channel 53.[5] The station changed its callsign to WMCN-TV in 2003. In 2009, the station was rebranded as "Get It On TV Philadelphia" to reflect its focus on the entire Philadelphia market, not just Atlantic City. Most of the station's programming consisted of infomercials, many of which were produced by WMCN for local companies. The remainder of WMCN's schedule is filled with several hours per week of regional faith-based telecasts as well as children's and community interest programming.

In 2011, WMCN obtained rights to broadcast games from the Philadelphia Soul, broadcasting a majority of their regular season games on the station.[6]

In 2012, the station was once again rebranded as "WMCN44," signaling a shift towards a more traditional independent station. WMCN also added several syndicated programs to its schedule, including Cold Case Files, Dog the Bounty Hunter and Punk'd. On September 10 of that year, WMCN announced that it would produce three new original weekly series: A New View, an issues-oriented show hosted by former WTXF-TV (channel 29) personality Dawn Strensland, Tolly's Awesome Friends, a series centered on noteworthy locals hosted by ex-WTXF sports director Don Tollefson, and Philly Sports Spotlight, a locally focused series hosted by former WPVI-TV (channel 6) sports anchor Phil Andrews.[7]

On December 4, 2014 voluntary assignment of license from Lenfest Broadcasting, LLC to WMCN License Holdings, LLC, which will have exactly the same ownership structure as Broadcasting.[8][9]

Digital television

Digital channels

Channel Video Aspect PSIP Short Name Programming[10]
44.1 720p 16:9 WMCN-HD Main WMCN-TV programming
44.2 480i 4:3 WMCN-SD Tuff TV[11]
Table data as of May 28, 2015

On August 22, 2011, WMCN announced that it would carry Bounce TV on digital subchannel 44.2 starting on September 26, 2011.[12]

On December 15, 2014, WMCN-TV lost its affiliation with Bounce TV; sub-channel 44.2 was temporarily replaced with SMPTE color bars. Just over 2 weeks later, on December 31 Soul of the South Network took over the frequency.

Analog-to-digital conversion

WMCN discontinued regular programming on its analog signal, over UHF channel 53, on October 2002. The station's digital signal began operating on UHF channel 44,[13] instead of its former UHF analog channel 53, which was among the high band UHF channels (52-69) that were removed from broadcasting use as a result of the digital television transition in 2009. WMCN was the first television station in the United States to receive permission from the Federal Communications Commission to discontinue its analog signal. The move to digital channel 44 was intended to provide better signal coverage of the Philadelphia market from a new transmitter location which would qualify for must-carry status on cable television in the metropolitan area.

References

  1. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ FCC Allows Early Analog Shutoff, TV Technology NewsBytes, October 10, 2002
  5. ↑ FCC grants Atlantic City station WWAC-TV request to turn off NTSC, Broadcast Engineering, October 11, 2002
  6. ↑ WMCN Channel 44 to carry Philadelphia Soul games, Philadelphia Business Journal, March 31, 2011
  7. ↑ Dawn Stensland, Don Tollefson, Phil Andrews launch new TV shows, Philly.com, September 10, 2012
  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ RabbitEars TV Query for WMCN
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ Bounce TV Adds 2 Cities Ahead Of Launch, Deadline.com, August 22, 2011.
  13. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

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