WWTD-LP
Encyclopedia
WWTD-LD is a low-powered digital television station
in Washington, D.C.
, broadcasting locally on channel 14. The station is owned by DC Broadcasting, Inc. which itself is wholly owned by Syncomm Media and Christopher Blair of Denver, Colorado
.
The station was granted its initial construction permit in 1990. At the time, it was owned by one Robert E. Kelly of Annandale, Virginia
, and was licensed to Annapolis, Maryland
with the callsign W63BP. The station never made it to air; the permit, initially scheduled to expire in January 1991, was extended multiple times through 1995. At that point, the FCC denied a further request for extension, the permit expired, and the station was deleted from the FCC database. The construction permit was again applied for and granted in 2001, at which point the station actually began broadcasting. The station went silent again in 2004, and Kelly sold it the following year to DC Broadcasting, its current owners. During this time, the station was moved onto channel 49 and into Washington itself.
Channel 49 went back on the air in 2006. It was the flagship station of the WUFO TV Network, which was on the air for nine months during 2007-2008. The network was funded and programmed by Mike Gravino. The WUFO TV Network aired an eclectic mix of "alternative knowledge" programming, including information about UFO's, crop-circles, alternative history, new science, alternative religion, environmental and social activism, human potential and sci-fi, until 10 August 2008, when the network stopped over-the-air broadcasts.
WWTD-LP was then leased to Allbritton Communications Company
, who turned it into an analog relay of local ABC
affiliate WJLA in late October 2008. However, that lease and the ABC transmissions ended on February 9, 2009. After WJLA's lease on WWTD expired, WWTD was made dark.
Before the digital transition, WWTD-LP was granted a construction permit for a corresponding digital signal on channel 38. The station was later displaced by WMAR to channel 14, as any low-powered station must move if a full-powered station wants its channel allocation. A digital signal on that channel was signed-on on July 19, 2011, using PSIP to display on receivers as channels 49.1 to 49.4.
Television station
A television station is a business, organisation or other such as an amateur television operator that transmits content over terrestrial television. A television transmission can be by analog television signals or, more recently, by digital television. Broadcast television systems standards are...
in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
, broadcasting locally on channel 14. The station is owned by DC Broadcasting, Inc. which itself is wholly owned by Syncomm Media and Christopher Blair of Denver, Colorado
Denver, Colorado
The City and County of Denver is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Denver is a consolidated city-county, located in the South Platte River Valley on the western edge of the High Plains just east of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains...
.
The station was granted its initial construction permit in 1990. At the time, it was owned by one Robert E. Kelly of Annandale, Virginia
Annandale, Virginia
Annandale is a census-designated place in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. The population was 41,008 at the 2010 census, down from 54,994 in 2000 due to the splitting off of the western part of it to form Wakefield and Woodburn CDP's.-Geography:...
, and was licensed to Annapolis, Maryland
Annapolis, Maryland
Annapolis is the capital of the U.S. state of Maryland, as well as the county seat of Anne Arundel County. It had a population of 38,394 at the 2010 census and is situated on the Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the Severn River, south of Baltimore and about east of Washington, D.C. Annapolis is...
with the callsign W63BP. The station never made it to air; the permit, initially scheduled to expire in January 1991, was extended multiple times through 1995. At that point, the FCC denied a further request for extension, the permit expired, and the station was deleted from the FCC database. The construction permit was again applied for and granted in 2001, at which point the station actually began broadcasting. The station went silent again in 2004, and Kelly sold it the following year to DC Broadcasting, its current owners. During this time, the station was moved onto channel 49 and into Washington itself.
Channel 49 went back on the air in 2006. It was the flagship station of the WUFO TV Network, which was on the air for nine months during 2007-2008. The network was funded and programmed by Mike Gravino. The WUFO TV Network aired an eclectic mix of "alternative knowledge" programming, including information about UFO's, crop-circles, alternative history, new science, alternative religion, environmental and social activism, human potential and sci-fi, until 10 August 2008, when the network stopped over-the-air broadcasts.
WWTD-LP was then leased to Allbritton Communications Company
Allbritton Communications Company
The Allbritton Communications Company is an owner of television stations and other media, based in Arlington, Virginia. All of its stations are affiliated with ABC after signing an affiliation agreement in 1997.-Currently owned:...
, who turned it into an analog relay of local ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
affiliate WJLA in late October 2008. However, that lease and the ABC transmissions ended on February 9, 2009. After WJLA's lease on WWTD expired, WWTD was made dark.
Before the digital transition, WWTD-LP was granted a construction permit for a corresponding digital signal on channel 38. The station was later displaced by WMAR to channel 14, as any low-powered station must move if a full-powered station wants its channel allocation. A digital signal on that channel was signed-on on July 19, 2011, using PSIP to display on receivers as channels 49.1 to 49.4.