WPBI-LD

Channels
Branding
  • News: Star City News
  • LD1: Fox 16 Lafayette
  • LD2: NBC 16 Lafayette
  • LD3: ABC 35 Lafayette
Programming
Affiliations
Ownership
Owner
  • Coastal Television Broadcasting Company LLC
  • (CTI License LLC)
WPBY-LD
History
FoundedFebruary 22, 2011 (2011-02-22)
First air date
October 25, 2016 (2016-10-25)
Former call signs
W16DB-D (2011–2016)
Former channel number(s)
Digital: 16 (UHF, 2016–2019)
Call sign meaning
Purdue Boilermakers, Indiana
Technical information[1]
Licensing authority
FCC
Facility ID194193
ERP15 kW
HAAT54.4 m (178 ft)
Transmitter coordinates40°24′8.13″N 86°50′59.03″W / 40.4022583°N 86.8497306°W / 40.4022583; -86.8497306
Links
Public license information
LMS
WebsiteStarCityTV.com

WPBI-LD (channel 16) is a low-power television station in Lafayette, Indiana, United States, affiliated with Fox and NBC. It is owned by Coastal Television Broadcasting Company LLC alongside ABC affiliate WPBY-LD (channel 35). Both stations share studios on South 18th Street in Lafayette,[2] while WPBI-LD's transmitter is located on McCarty Lane on the city's east side; the signal is oriented to the northwest.[3]

History

The station's construction permit was issued by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on February 22, 2011, under the call sign of W16DB-D. The station's call sign was changed back and forth between WPBH-LD and WPBI-LD in August and October 2016 until October 18, 2016, when WPBI was settled upon.[4] WPBI-LD started airing on October 25, 2016. The station signed on from the start as the Lafayette area's Fox affiliate, with NBC being launched on the second subchannel.[5] Prior to the launch of WPBI-LD its owner, Lafayette TV LLC purchased four Lafayette market radio stations from Artistic Media Partners Inc.[6]

WPBI-LD's two subchannels are the first Fox and NBC affiliates ever based in the Lafayette market; before the station signed on, Indianapolis television stations WXIN and WTHR served as the default Fox and NBC affiliates for Lafayette via cable and satellite. Cable television providers Comcast Xfinity and Metronet began carrying WPBI in November 2016.[7] Despite discontinuing carriage of Indianapolis-based Fox and NBC affiliates, satellite television provider DirecTV has said it plans to carry WPBI-LD and WPBI-LD2 but has not announced its timetable for doing so.[8]

From 1953 until WPBI's 2016 launch, WLFI-TV had been the only "Big Three" (ABC, CBS and NBC—or, including Fox, "big four") network television broadcaster in the Lafayette market.

Sale to Coastal Television

In July 2021, Waypoint announced that it would sell nine of its television stations, including WPBY-LD and WPBI-LD, to Cumming, Georgia–based Coastal Television for $36.9 million. The sale was completed on January 4, 2022.[9]

Programming

Sports programming

WPBI-LD carries select Purdue Boilermakers football games via Fox College Football, and since 2023 via Big Ten Saturday Night on NBC. Some non-conference Purdue games may also air on ABC.

WPBI-LD2 blacks out NBC's live broadcast of the Indianapolis 500 to prevent Indianapolis market viewers from driving to Lafayette to see the race, and airs it on tape delay along with WTHR.

News operation

After beginning local weather coverage on January 1, 2017,[7] WPBI aired its inaugural Star City News broadcast on May 29, 2017.[10] WPBI presently broadcasts 7½ hours of local newscasts each week, all on weekdays. The newscasts air at 6:00 and 11:00 p.m. on NBC 16 and at 10:00 p.m. on Fox 16.[11][12] The 6 p.m. newscast is exclusive to WPBI-LD2, while the 11 p.m. newscast also simulcasts on WPBY-LD.[10][13]

Chris Morisse Vizza, a 10-year veteran of WLFI-TV, is WPBI's first news director. Sarah Blakely is the station's inaugural news anchor, broadcasting from a Media Gateway-owned studio in Little Rock, Arkansas, airing segments from Lafayette-based Vizza.[14][15] Blakely also anchors similar newscasts on sister station KJNB-LD in Jonesboro, Arkansas.[16]

Radio tie-ins of the newscasts are planned for WSHY, WBPE, WYCM, and WAZY-FM.[17]

Subchannels

The station's digital signal is multiplexed:

Subchannels of WPBI-LD[4]
Channel Res. Aspect Short name Programming
16.1 720p16:9WPBIFox
16.2 1080iWPBI-2NBC
16.3 720pWPBI-3ABC (WPBY-LD)
  Simulcast of subchannels of another station

References

  1. ↑ "Facility Technical Data for WPBI-LD". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
  2. ↑ "FCCInfo Facility Search Results".
  3. ↑ "RabbitEars.Info". RabbitEars.Info. August 26, 2011. Retrieved August 14, 2019.
  4. 1 2 "Digital TV Market Listing for WPBI-LD". RabbitEars.Info. Retrieved August 14, 2019.
  5. ↑ Wilkins, Ron (October 26, 2016). "Fox, NBC stations broadcasting in town". Journal & Courier. Retrieved October 29, 2016.
  6. ↑ McGowan, Dan (October 27, 2016). "Lafayette Radio, TV Landscapes Shaking Up". Inside INdiana Business. Retrieved August 14, 2019.
  7. 1 2 "WPBI will offer local news service". Jconline.com. November 18, 2016. Retrieved August 14, 2019.
  8. ↑ "DirecTV issues continue for subscribers". Jconline.com. February 14, 2017. Retrieved August 14, 2019.
  9. ↑ Jacobson, Adam (January 4, 2022). "Coastal Completes Its Waypoint Radio/TV Purchase | Radio & Television Business Report". Retrieved July 18, 2023.
  10. 1 2 "WPBI begins news broadcast, launches ABC affiliate". Jconline.com. May 30, 2017. Retrieved August 14, 2019.
  11. ↑ "Spectrum.net". Tv.twcc.com. Retrieved August 14, 2019.
  12. ↑ "Spectrum.net". Tv.twcc.com. Retrieved August 14, 2019.
  13. ↑ "Star City News". Star City Broadcasting. May 9, 2019. Retrieved August 14, 2019.
  14. ↑ "WPBI bursts onto local TV news scene | City & State". purdueexponent.org. June 1, 2017. Retrieved August 14, 2019.
  15. ↑ "Sarah Blakely - LONG POST!! Hello!! It's been a little..." Facebook. May 26, 2017. Retrieved August 14, 2019.
  16. ↑ New Jonesboro TV news launched Monday night
  17. ↑ "WPBI-TV plans weather, news broadcasts". Jconline.com. December 28, 2016. Retrieved August 14, 2019.
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