WSVI

WSVI
Christiansted, U.S. Virgin Islands
Branding WSVI-TV Channel 8 (general)
News Channel 8 (newscasts)
Ion 8 VITN (alternate version)
Slogan The Virgin Islands Very Own
Channels Digital: 20 (UHF)
Virtual: 8 (PSIP)
Subchannels 8.1 Ion
Translators WFIG-LP 5 Charlotte Amalie
WZVI 21.1 Charlotte Amalie
Affiliations Ion (2016–present)
Owner Atlas News and Information Services Inc.
(Alpha Broadcasting Corporation [1])
First air date November 10, 1965 (1965-11-10)
Call letters' meaning WSVI: United States Virgin Islands
WFIG-LP: W-FIGgie Family (former owners)
Former channel number(s) Analog
8 (VHF, 1965–2009)
Former affiliations ABC (1965–2015)
Transmitter power 1.1 kW
Height 312 m
Class Full service
Facility ID 2370
Transmitter coordinates 17°45′13.7″N 64°47′54.5″W / 17.753806°N 64.798472°W / 17.753806; -64.798472
Licensing authority FCC
Public license information: Profile
CDBS
Website www.wsvi.tv

WSVI is an Ion Television-affiliated, full-power television station licensed to Christiansted, St. Croix, and serving as the network's affiliate for the entire insular area of the United States Virgin Islands. The station transmits over channel 20, and identifies as their former analog channel, channel 8, via PSIP. The station is owned by Atlas News and Information Services.

WSVI has a satellite, WZVI channel 21, in Charlotte Amalie, as well as an analog translator, WFIG-LP channel 5. WSVI serves as a flagship station of the Virgin Islands Television Network.

History

During its affiliation with ABC, WSVI signed off nightly at 2:00am AST (1:00 am AST March to November), but the station now carries a 24-hour schedule. During non-network programming time, WSVI carried paid programming, Caribbean Lottery drawings, some local arts and events programming, and their weeknight-only local newscasts, as the U.S. Virgin Islands receives other broadcast networks and superstations from the mainland United States via cable and satellite. The need for WSVI to maintain a full broadcast schedule of syndicated programming outside of network hours for island residents and tourists was thus negated, since the aforementioned stations usually contain that syndicated programming in their schedules. Under their Ion affiliation this is less obvious, though some local programs continue to be carried in some timeslots, pre-empting Ion programming.

The company has had multiple ownership changes. Antilles Broadcasting Corp. sold WSVI to Group III Inc. for US$4 million.[2] In April 2011, WSVI's former owner, the Figgie Family Equity Fund, agreed to sell the station to Atlas News and Information Services of Las Vegas, Nevada, pending FCC approval.[3][4]

Until December 31, 2015, WSVI was affiliated with ABC. The station told the Virgin Islands Daily News that it had declined to renew its contract with ABC at the beginning of 2016, although other local reports indicated ABC was threatening to remove its programming due to WSVI's low ratings and technical issues.[5][6] ABC then entered into an agreement with Lilly Broadcasting, which feeds CBS affiliate WSEE-TV to pay television vendors in the Caribbean with local weather inserts, to also provide its programming to region, via WENY-TV in Elmira, New York. ABC also stated to the Daily News that its programming would be seen on WCVI-TV, which claimed not to have knowledge of any arrangement at the time.[5] WCVI-TV now broadcasts Lilly Broadcasting's ABC feed on its second digital subchannel.

WSVI and WZVI's terrestrial signals have been off the air since Hurricane Maria struck the Virgin Islands on September 20, 2017. The Telecommunications Act of 1996 requires the stations' licenses be deleted after one year of continuous silence, although WSVI has applied for an extension through a hardship waiver granted by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to Caribbean stations affected by Maria and Hurricane Irma.[7]

Digital television

Digital channel

Channel Video Aspect PSIP Short Name Programming[8]
8.11080i16:9WSVI-TVMain WSVI programming / Ion

Analog-to-digital conversion

WSVI shut down its analog signal, over VHF channel 8, on June 12, 2009, the official date in which full-power television stations in the United States transitioned from analog to digital broadcasts under federal mandate. The station's digital signal remained on its pre-transition UHF channel 20.[9] Through the use of PSIP, digital television receivers display the station's virtual channel as its former VHF analog channel 8.

References

  1. ↑ https://stations.fcc.gov/station-profile/wsvi
  2. ↑ "Changing Hands". Broadcasting: The Newsmagazine of the Fifth Estate: 99. November 17, 1986.
  3. ↑ TV Newscheck: "Full-Power TV On St. Croix Goes For $350K", May 2, 2011
  4. ↑ FCC Document: "APPLICATION FOR CONSENT TO TRANSFER CONTROL OF ENTITY HOLDING BROADCAST STATION CONSTRUCTION PERMIT OR LICENSE" for WSVI, dated April 28, 2011.
  5. 1 2 Carlson, Suzanne (9 January 2016). "Where is ABC? 'Bachelor' fans want to know". Virgin Islands Daily News.
  6. ↑ McCarthy, John (1 January 2016). "David Lampel-Run WSVI-TV Channel Loses Its ABC Affiliation, Just In Time For The Bowl Game - Virgin Islands Free Press". Virgin Islands Free Press.
  7. ↑ "Request to Extend a Silent Authority of a DTV Station Application". FCC LMS.
  8. ↑ RabbitEars TV Query for WSVI
  9. ↑ "DTV Tentative Channel Designations for the First and the Second Rounds" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-08-29. Retrieved 2012-03-24.
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