KWWE-LD
KWWE-LD, virtual and UHF digital channel 19, is a low-powered primary MyNetworkTV and secondary MeTV-affiliated television station licensed to Lake Charles, Louisiana, United States. Owned by Waypoint Media, it is a sister station to low-powered CBS affiliate KSWL-LD (channel 17). The two stations share studios on West Prien Lake Road in Lake Charles and transmitter facilities at the KTSR tower in Westlake.
 | |
| Lake Charles, Louisiana United States | |
|---|---|
| Branding | My 19 Lake Charles |
| Channels | Digital: 19 (UHF) Virtual: 19 (PSIP) |
| Subchannels | 19.1: MyNetworkTV/MeTV 19.2: CBS 19.3: Telemundo |
| Owner | Waypoint Media (sale to SagamoreHill Broadcasting pending) |
| Licensee | Lake Charles Television, LLC |
| Founded | February 22, 2011 |
| First air date | March 2017 |
| Sister station(s) | KSWL-LD |
| Former call signs | K19JB-D (2011–2017) |
| Transmitter power | 15 kW |
| Height | 163.5 m (536 ft) |
| Facility ID | 184601 |
| Transmitter coordinates | 30°13′16.4″N 93°18′40.9″W |
| Licensing authority | FCC |
| Public license information | Profile CDBS |
History
Although granted a construction permit by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on February 22, 2011, the station did not make it to air for another six years or so. The permit was granted under the assigned callsign of K19JB-D. It was originally owned by DTV America of Sunrise, Florida.
DTV America, which have launched several low-powered television stations in several other markets providing multicast network programming throughout the mid 2010s, initially planned to launch a MyNetworkTV/DrTV hybrid station on UHF channel 19 as they held a construction permit under a callsign of K19JB-D, but it never went on the air.
Those plans were canceled indefinitely in February 2017 when the permit for K19JB-D was sold to Lake Charles Television, LLC, a unit of Waypoint Media, which signed on CBS affiliate KSWL-LD in the same month.[1]
The callsign was changed to the current KWWE-LD on February 7, 2017. The following month, KWWE-LD signed-on as the area's first MyNetworkTV affiliate, but instead of DrTV, some syndicated programming surrounded the network's primetime schedule. Prior to this, KADN-DT3 in Lafayette (and its sister station and now-NBC affiliate KLAF-LD prior to that) served as the market's default MyNetworkTV affiliate. KWWE-LD's sign-on also left ABC as the only major network not available on a local outlet in the Lake Charles area (Lafayette's KATC-TV and/or Beaumont, Texas-based KBMT served as Lake Charles' default ABC affiliates until August 31, 2017 when Fox affiliate KVHP launched an ABC affiliate on its DT2 subchannel[2]).
In addition to MyNetworkTV programming, KWWE-LD also serves as the Lake Charles market's MeTV affiliate, filling in programming for all time slots outside of the MyNetworkTV programming schedule with the MeTV schedule.[3] Initially shown by itself on its LD2 subchannel, MeTV programming has since moved to KWWE-LD's main channel and was replaced on LD2 with a simulcast of KSWL-LD. In 2019, the station added Telemundo to its third subchannel.
Digital television
References
- "Lake Charles gets a local CBS television station". AmericanPress.com. Archived from the original on 2017-02-20. Retrieved 2017-02-19.
- Miller, Mark (23 August 2017). "KVHP Launching ABC Feed On Subchannel". TVNewsCheck. Retrieved 24 August 2017.
- "Where to Watch MeTV In Lake Charles". © 2018 MeTV National Limited Partnership. Retrieved September 25, 2018.
- Digital TV Market Listing for KWWE-LD