WDCO-CD

WDCO-CD
Woodstock, Virginia
United States
Channels Digital: 45 (UHF)
(to move to 24 (UHF))
Virtual: 10 (PSIP)
Subchannels 10.1 Jewelry Television
Translators (see article)
Owner Local Media TV
(WMTM, LLC)
First air date October 1985 (1985-10)
Former callsigns W10AZ (1985–1994)
WAZT-LP (1994–2002)
WAZT-CA (2002–2015)
WAZT-CD (2015–2017)
Former channel number(s) 10 (VHF analog, 1985–2015)
Former affiliations Religious Independent (1985–2018)
Transmitter power 4.8 kW
Height 234 m (768 ft)
Class CD
Facility ID 57905
Transmitter coordinates 38°52′19.50″N 77°41′55.00″W / 38.8720833°N 77.6986111°W / 38.8720833; -77.6986111 (WDCO-CD)
Licensing authority FCC
Public license information: Profile
CDBS
Website faithtelevision.net

WDCO-CD, virtual channel 10 (UHF digital channel 45), is a low-powered, Class A Jewelry Television-affiliated television station serving the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia in the United States. The station is licensed to Woodstock, Virginia, but has a transmitter located near The Plains, Virginia, in the Washington, D.C. television market.

History

Logo used until October 2008.

The station has operated since October 1985, when it was put on the air as a religious independent station by Ruarch Associates, LLC (its original calls were W10AZ, with the WAZT calls, introduced in 1994, apparently being derived from it), and once had a radio sister station, WAZR (93.7 FM; that station is now owned by iHeartMedia with a contemporary format).[1]

The WAZT network offered some programming from Cornerstone and other religious networks, but it generally did not show them in-pattern with those networks, and it also broadcast some secular syndicated programming and classic television shows.

WAZT once broadcast a local newscast at 5:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. Monday through Friday (entitled News 10), but this was discontinued on December 26, 2005. In January 2006, WAZT began airing CBN's NewsWatch program.

Ruarch sold WAZT to JLA Media & Publications (no relation to Washington's ABC affiliate WJLA-TV, owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group) in 2006. Jones Broadcasting acquired the station out of Chapter 7 bankruptcy in 2011.[2]

Jones Broadcasting sold the group of stations to WMTM, LLC in December 2013. WMTM immediately began moving WAZT to the Washington, D.C. television market. At the time, WAZT transmitted from a hill near Toms Brook, Virginia. After agreeing to purchase the WAZT network, WMTM obtained a construction permit to move the station's analog signal to the WZRV tower near Front Royal, Virginia. Later in 2014, it filed for a digital signal at its current transmitter site near The Plains, Virginia, which signed on in March 2015.[3] WMTM also purchased WIAV-CD in 2014, which expanded the network's footprint into the city of Washington, D.C.[4]

After spending most of its time as a religious broadcaster branded as simply "WAZT", the station and its relays changed to the branding "Faith Television Network" under WMTM, LLC's ownership.

WAZT-CD's callsign was changed to WDCO-CD on October 11, 2017. On the same day, Winchester repeater WAZW-CD became WAZT-CD.[5] As a result of the Federal Communication Commission's 2016–17 spectrum reallocation incentive auction, channels 24 and 30 became available in the Washington market. WDCO-CD has applied to move to channel 24 from the WJFK-FM tower in Merrifield, Virginia, which would place it firmly in the Washington market.[3] The new WAZT-CD has received a construction permit to relocate to Blue Ridge Mountain in Bluemont, Virginia, which would also move it into the Washington market.[6]

On January 24, 2018, Faith Television Network announced it would cease broadcasting. All four remaining stations in the network became full-time affiliates of Jewelry TV on January 31.[7]

Relays

As WDCO operates at low-power, it uses relays to expand its signal to additional areas. The relay network, which at one time covered the Shenandoah Valley from Winchester to Staunton, now consists of two stations.

Station City of license Channels
RF / VC		 First air date Callsign meaning Former callsigns ERP HAAT Facility ID Transmitter coordinates Public license information
WAZT-CD Woodstock 46 (UHF)
(to move to 20 (UHF))
48 (PSIP)		 1989 AZ Television W48AZ (1989–1999)
WAZW-LP (1999–2000)
WAZW-CA (2000–2014)
WAZW-CD (2014–2017)		 15 kW
10.1 kW (CP)		 407 m (1,335 ft) 168449 38°57′36.30″N 78°19′51.00″W / 38.9600833°N 78.3308333°W / 38.9600833; -78.3308333 (WAZT-CD) Profile
CDBS
WIAV-CD Washington, D.C. 44 (UHF)
(shared with WMDO-CD;
to move to 30 (UHF))
58 (PSIP)		 1989 AsiaVision
(former owner)		 W58BR (1989–1996)
WIAV-CA (1996–2011)[8]
WIAV-LD (2011–2013)		 12 kW
15 kW (CP)		 144 m (472 ft)
154.8 m (508 ft) (CP)		 168063 38°56′24″N 77°4′53″W / 38.94000°N 77.08139°W / 38.94000; -77.08139 (WIAV-CD)
38°56′24.2″N 77°4′52.5″W / 38.940056°N 77.081250°W / 38.940056; -77.081250 (CP)		 Profile
CDBS

Defunct

WDCO-CD formerly operated four other relays:

WAZC-LP went on the air in 1988 as W16AA, a translator for WVIR-TV owned by Rockingham County with a transmitter on Massanutten Peak. In 1998, it was sold to Ruarch and moved to Luray. In 2006, WAZC-LP was forced to vacate channel 16 as WJAL in Hagerstown, Maryland received the allocation for its digital signal. A construction permit for WAZC-LD on channel 35 expired in June 2010 without being built. This station was not included in the 2013 sale to WMTM and is off the air, although its license has not yet been canceled.[9]

WAZM-CA was the Staunton/Waynesboro relay, having signed on in 1996 as W25CC. In 2012, Jones Broadcasting sold this station to Gray Television, who converted it to digital CBS/Fox affiliate WSVF-CD.

WAZF-CD signed on in 1989 as W28AZ. This station was licensed to Front Royal, Virginia, but in the digital era broadcast a signal on UHF channel 20 (virtual channel 28.1) from a transmitter on Short Hill Mountain southeast of Harpers Ferry, West Virginia. WAZF-CD's license was sold for $513,526 in the spectrum reallocation auction. WMTM did not pursue a channel-sharing agreement, and WAZF-CD was taken off the air on August 3, 2017.[10][11]

WAZH-CD signed on in 1989 as W24AZ, briefly taking the callsign WWAZ-CA before becoming WAZH-CA in 2001. WAZH-CA was ostensibly the relay for Harrisonburg, but in the analog era broadcast from a ridge above Basye with a directional signal pointed at Mount Jackson. After the digital transition, the new WAZH-CD moved to Signal Knob near Strasburg, which was the same location as WAZT-CD.[12] The station operated on UHF channel 14 and virtual channel 24.1. WMTM, LLC sold WAZH-CD's channel 14 allocation for $12,042,490 in the spectrum reallocation auction. WAZH-CD indicated it would continue over-the-air operations by sharing the channel of another station, but received a three-month extension of its deadline to leave the air, to April 23, 2018, as it had difficulty finding a channel-sharing partner. Despite the extension, WMTM missed the February 22 deadline (60 days prior to the off-air date) to reach a channel-sharing agreement and file for a construction permit, and elected not to ask for additional time.[13][10] WAZH-CD's license was surrendered on April 23.[14]

References

  1. ↑ "harrisonburg" | iHeartRadio
  2. ↑ Seyler, Dave (October 28, 2011). "Transactions: 10-31-11". Television Business Report. Retrieved May 27, 2012.
  3. 1 2 "Facility No. 57905 Record". FCCData.
  4. ↑ "WIAV-CD Facility Data". FCCData.
  5. ↑ "Facility No. 168449 Record". FCCData.
  6. ↑ "RabbitEars TV Query for WAZT-CD".
  7. ↑ "Celebrating 32 years and saying goodbye". Faith Television Network. 24 January 2018.
  8. ↑ "Engineering STA". Federal Communications Commission.
  9. ↑ "WAZC-LP Facility Data".
  10. 1 2 FCC Broadcast Television Spectrum Incentive Auction — Auction 1001 Winning Bids
  11. ↑ "DWAZF-CD Facility Data". FCCData.
  12. ↑ "DWAZH-CD Facility Data". FCCData.
  13. ↑ "Legal STA".
  14. ↑ "Cancellation Application". FCC LMS.
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