View source for WPCB-TV

{{short description|TV station in Greensburg, Pennsylvania}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=December 2024}}
{{Infobox television station
| callsign               = WPCB-TV
| city                   = Greensburg, Pennsylvania
| logo                   =
| branding               = Cornerstone Network
| digital                = 28 ([[UHF]])
| virtual                = 40
| subchannels            =
| translators            = [[WKBS-TV]] 47 [[Altoona, Pennsylvania|Altoona]]
| affiliations           = {{ubl|'''40.1:''' [[Cornerstone TV]]|''for others, see {{section link||Subchannels}}''}}
| network                =
| country                = United States
| founded                =
| airdate                = {{start date and age|1979|4|15|p=y}}
| last_airdate           =
| location               = [[Greensburg, Pennsylvania|Greensburg]]–[[Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania]]
| callsign_meaning       = Western Pennsylvania Christian Broadcasting (original name of company)
| former_callsigns       =
| former_channel_numbers = {{ubl|'''Analog:''' 40 (UHF, 1979–2009)|'''Digital:''' 50 (UHF, 2003–2019)}}
| owner                  = [[Cornerstone Television|Cornerstone Television, Inc.]]
| licensee               =
| sister_stations        =
| former_affiliations    =
| erp                    = 530 [[kW]]
| haat                   = {{convert|278|m|ft|0|abbr=on}}
| class                  =
| facility_id            = 13924
| coordinates            = {{nowrap|{{coord|40|23|34|N|79|46|53|W|type:landmark_scale:2000}}}}
| licensing_authority    = [[FCC]]
| website                = {{URL|https://www.ctvn.org/}}
}}
'''WPCB-TV''' (channel 40) is a [[television station]] licensed to [[Greensburg, Pennsylvania]], United States, serving the [[Pittsburgh]] area as the [[Flagship (broadcasting)|flagship]] of the [[religious broadcasting|religious]] network [[Cornerstone Television]]. Cornerstone originates most of its programs from this station. WPCB-TV's studios and transmitter are co-located on Signal Hill Drive in [[Wall, Pennsylvania]].
'''[[WKBS-TV]]''' (channel 47) in [[Altoona, Pennsylvania|Altoona]] operates as a full-time [[Broadcast relay station#Satellite stations|satellite]] of WPCB.
==History==
In the 1960s, Rev. Russ Bixler was visiting the [[Virginia Beach]] area and came across [[independent station]] [[WYAH-TV]], which was running an all-Christian format. Bixler came to visit the [[Christian Broadcasting Network]] studios, meeting [[Pat Robertson]] and [[Jim Bakker]]. Concluding that Pittsburgh needed a similar station, Bixler applied for the channel 22 license in the 1970s, but lost to Commercial Radio Institute, a forerunner of [[Sinclair Broadcast Group]] in 1975, who would launch that station as [[secular]] independent [[WPNT|WPTT-TV]] in 1978. Bixler then applied for a license on channel 40, and was granted a [[construction permit]] for that channel in 1976.
After several hurdles, Bixler was able to get the needed equipment and was able to sell a few hours a day of programming time to Christian organizations. WPCB-TV finally began operations on [[Easter Sunday|April 15]], 1979. The station was initially on the air for 15 hours a day, and within a year expanded to a 24-hour schedule. Programming consisted of several runs a day of the two-hour edition of the ''[[PTL Club]]'', the 90-minute edition of ''[[The 700 Club]]'', several other shows produced by CBN for the [[History of Freeform (TV channel)#CBN Satellite Service/Cable Network|CBN Cable]] channel, a few children's educational and religious shows, [[televangelists]] like [[Jimmy Swaggart]], [[Rex Humbard]], [[Oral Roberts]] and [[Jerry Falwell]], and some local church programs. The station also produced a local variety talk and music show, ''Getting Together''. WPCB-TV's programming remains entirely Christian-oriented to this day. From before their sign on, when a person phones the station, the receptionists answer "Jesus Loves You TV 40".
Over the decades, owing to holding a license to operate a commercial television station, WPCB-TV has received countless offers from commercial broadcasters wanting to convert the station into a conventional independent station, but has flatly refused them each time. However, in 1998, Cornerstone attempted to buy the license for non-commercial station WQEX (channel 16), which would have required a sale of the channel 40 license. Paxson Communications made an offer to buy channel 40; if the deal went through, it would have been relaunched as a Pax TV [[owned-and-operated station]] under the call letters WKPX-TV.<ref name=ppg-wkpxtv>{{cite news|last=Owen|first=Rob|title=Pax TV wants to be on the air in Pittsburgh, not up in the air|url=http://www.post-gazette.com/TV/19990715paxtv1.asp|access-date=February 2, 2012|newspaper=[[Pittsburgh Post-Gazette]]|date=July 15, 1999}}</ref> However, at that time the [[Federal Communications Commission]] (FCC) did not deem WPCB-TV's religious programming as educational, and Cornerstone's application was withdrawn in 2000; channel 40 was then taken off the market.<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.post-gazette.com/tv/20000120wqed1.asp| title = WQEX deal falls apart}}</ref> In 2002, the FCC reversed its position (WQEX was converted into a commercial license later that year; in 2011, it was sold to Paxson's successor, [[Ion Media Networks]], and now carries programming from Pax TV's successor [[Ion Television]] as [[WINP-TV]]).
Russ Bixler died in 2000, and Ron Hembree, who hosted a program on WPCB-TV, took over as the station's president. Hembree died in June 2010.
==Technical information==
===Subchannels===
The station's signal is [[multiplex (TV)|multiplexed]]:
{| class="wikitable"
|+Subchannels of WPCB-TV<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rabbitears.info/market.php?request=station_search&callsign=WPCB#station|title=RabbitEars TV Query for WPCB|website=[[RabbitEars.info]]|accessdate=November 6, 2024}}</ref>
! [[Digital subchannel#United States|Channel]]
! [[Display resolution|Res.]]
! [[Aspect ratio (image)|Aspect]]
! Short name
! Programming
|-
! scope = "row" | 40.1
| [[1080i]] || rowspan=4|[[16:9]] || WPCB || [[Cornerstone Television|Cornerstone]]
|-
! scope = "row" | 40.2
| rowspan=2|[[720p]] || CourtTV || [[Court TV]]
|-
! scope = "row" | 40.3
| The365 || [[The365]]
|-
! scope = "row" | 40.4
| rowspan=5|[[480i]] || Quest || [[Quest (American TV network)|Quest]]
|-
! scope = "row" | 40.5
| rowspan=2|[[4:3]] || GetTV || [[Get (TV network)|Get]]
|-
! scope = "row" | 40.6
| DEFY || [[Defy (TV network)|Defy]]
|-
! scope = "row" | 40.7
| 16:9 || OUTLAW || [[Outlaw (TV network)|Outlaw]]
|-
! scope = "row" | 40.8
| 4:3 || PFFC || Pittsburgh's Faith & Family Channel
|}
===Analog-to-digital conversion===
WPCB-TV shut down its analog signal, over [[UHF]] channel 40, on June 12, 2009, the official date on which full-power television stations in the United States [[Digital television transition in the United States|transitioned from analog to digital broadcasts]] under federal mandate. The station's digital signal continued to broadcasts on its pre-transition UHF channel 50,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-06-1082A2.pdf |title=DTV Tentative Channel Designations for the First and Second Rounds |format=PDF |access-date=March 24, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130829004251/http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-06-1082A2.pdf |archive-date=August 29, 2013 }}</ref><ref name="FCC Form 387-WPCB">[http://licensing.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/forms/prod/cdbsmenu.hts?context=25&appn=101231572&formid=387&fac_num=39746 CDBS Print<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> using [[virtual channel]] 40.
==References==
{{Reflist}}
{{Portal|Television}}
==External links==
*{{Official website|https://www.ctvn.org/}}
{{Pittsburgh TV}}
{{Other Pennsylvania Stations}}
{{West Virginia TV}}
{{Maryland TV}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wpcb-Tv}}
[[Category:1979 establishments in Pennsylvania]]
[[Category:Bounce TV affiliates]]
[[Category:Court TV affiliates]]
[[Category:Defy (TV network) affiliates]]
[[Category:Get (TV network) affiliates]]
[[Category:Quest (American TV network) affiliates]]
[[Category:Religious television stations in the United States]]
[[Category:Television channels and stations established in 1979]]
[[Category:Television stations in Pittsburgh]]