WRDE-LD

WRDE-LD, virtual channel 31 (UHF digital channel 26), is a low-powered NBC-affiliated television station licensed to Salisbury, Maryland, United States. Owned by Draper Holdings Business Trust, it is sister to dual CBS/Fox affiliate WBOC-TV (channel 16) and Georgetown, Delaware-licensed low-powered Telemundo affiliate WBOC-LD (channel 42), as well as five radio stations.[2] All of the outlets share studios on North Salisbury Boulevard in Salisbury; WRDE-LD's transmitter is located in Laurel, Delaware.

WRDE-LD
Salisbury, Maryland/Dover, Delaware
United States
CitySalisbury, Maryland
BrandingWRDE NBC Coast TV
WRDE Coast TV News (newscasts)
My Cozi TV (on LD2)
SloganDelmarva's Own NBC Station
Coverage You Can Count On (newscasts)
ChannelsDigital: 26 (UHF)
Virtual: 31 (PSIP)
TranslatorsWRUE-LD 19 (UHF) Salisbury, MD (CP)[1]
Affiliations31.1: NBC
31.2: Cozi TV/MyNetworkTV
42.2: Telemundo
OwnerDraper Holdings Business Trust
LicenseeWBOC, Inc.
First air dateMay 5, 2004 (2004-05-05)
(in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware; license moved to Salisbury in 2019)
Call sign meaningRehoboth Beach, DElaware
Sister station(s)TV: WBOC-TV, WBOC-LD, WSJZ-LD, WRUE-LD
Radio: WBOC-FM, WCEM-FM, WTDK, WCEM, WAAI[2]
Former call signsW59DZ (2004–2005)
WRDE-LP (2005–2009)
Former channel number(s)Analog:
59 (UHF, 2004–2009)
Digital:
31 (UHF, 2009–2019)
Former affiliations
Transmitter power15 kW
Height248.3 m (815 ft)
ClassLD
Facility ID168021
Transmitter coordinates38°42′14.8″N 75°11′59.3″W
38°30′18″N 75°38′36″W (application)
Licensing authorityFCC
Public license informationProfile
CDBS
Websitewww.wrde.com

History
Former logo when the station was a primary MyNetworkTV affiliate & a secondary Retro Television Network affiliate.

Early history

The station first signed on the air as W59DZ on May 5, 2004; originally licensed to Rehoboth Beach, Delaware and broadcasting on UHF channel 59, it operated at a low power, before upgrading its signal in 2005; that year, the station changed its call letters to WRDE-LP. Initially, the station ran a scroll with the callsign and city of license as a station identification, in order to meet the deadline for Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approval to keep the station's license. The station's original transmitter was located at the Nassau Valley Vineyards, directly off of DE 1 (Coastal Highway) by the Nassau Bridge. The station was originally an affiliate of Urban America Television; it changed its affiliation to America One after UATV ceased operations on May 1, 2006; WRDE-LP began airing programming from MyNetworkTV and the Retro Television Network on November 1, 2007. Then in early 2014, the RTN programming blocks were replaced with Cozi TV. The MyNetworkTV line-up shifted to 31.2 in June 2014 when NBC programming debuted on 31.1.

Originally, it planned to broadcast its digital signal from the Nassau Valley tower, but station officials decided instead to install its digital transmitter at a tower southwest of Lewes, that is also used by radio station WGMD (92.7 FM). (The station's over-the-air signal reaches as far north as Milford; as far east as Cape May, New Jersey; as far south as Ocean City, Maryland; and as far west as Seaford.) In October 2008, WRDE-LP was added on the digital cable tiers of local cable providers, including Comcast.

NBC affiliation

On April 23, 2014, it was announced that WRDE would become an NBC affiliate in June of that year. Station president Bob Backman approached NBC for an affiliation agreement after watching one of the out-of-market NBC affiliates on cable a few years earlier, dissatisfied at the lack of local news coverage focusing on the Delmarva region.[3][4] The switch gave the Delmarva Peninsula market not only its first full-time NBC affiliate, but also its first major network affiliate based in Delaware (the market's other network affiliates originate from and are licensed to Salisbury, Maryland—including ABC affiliate WMDT and CBS/Fox affiliate WBOC-TV). The only Delaware-licensed station in the market was Seaford-licensed PBS member station WDPB, which operates as a satellite of Philadelphia's WHYY-TV.

Delmarva had been one of the few markets in the country that still lacked full service from the Big Three networks. With the affiliation switch, the station rebranded as "WRDE-NBC Coast TV," and moved the MyNetworkTV and Cozi TV affiliations to a new shared second digital subchannel. This brought NBC programming back to eastern Maryland and southern Delaware for the first time since WMDT dropped its secondary affiliation with NBC in 1992. For the 22 years that followed, cable and satellite systems had to rely on NBC's affiliates in Baltimore (WMAR-TV until January 1995, then WBAL-TV), Philadelphia (KYW-TV until September 1995, then network-owned WCAU), Hagerstown (WHAG-TV, which is now an independent station), and Norfolk (WAVY-TV) in order to carry the network's programming.

Throughout 2014, as WRDE began its affiliation with NBC, the station's cable coverage was expanded beyond Comcast to reach Mediacom, DirecTV and Dish Network customers in Sussex County, Delaware and Dorchester, Somerset, Wicomico and Worcester counties in Maryland. Most of the station's viewership comes via cable and satellite.

In October 2016, WRDE-LD was purchased by SagamoreHill Broadcasting from Price Hill Television.[5][6]

On August 21, 2018, it was announced that WRDE would be sold to the Draper Holdings Business Trust, pending approval by the FCC; this would make WRDE a sister station to dual CBS/Fox affiliate WBOC-TV (channel 16).[7] The sale was completed on January 1, 2019.[8]

In the spring of 2019, a simulcast of WRDE began being broadcast on WBOC-LD on channel 31.3 and on WSJZ-LD on channel 31.4.[9]

On December 31, 2019, WRDE-LD moved from its Lewes, Delaware transmitter to a transmitter located in Laurel, Delaware. During this move WRDE moved from digital UHF channel 31 to UHF channel 26 and a simulcast of WBOC-LD was added, broadcasting on channel 42.2.

WRDE has a construction permit to build a translator in Salisbury proper, WRUE-LD (channel 19).[1]

Digital television

Digital channels

The station's digital signal is multiplexed:

Channel Video Aspect PSIP Short Name Programming[10]
31.11080i16:9WRDE-HDMain WRDE programming / NBC
31.2480iCOZICozi TV & MyNetworkTV
42.21080iTelemunSimulcast of WBOC-LD / Telemundo

Programming

Syndicated programming on WRDE-LD includes RightThisMinute, Extra, TMZ on TV, and Access Hollywood. The latter two also include their live counterparts. In addition, the station carries Major League Baseball games from the Philadelphia Phillies via fellow NBC affiliate WCAU-TV in Philadelphia. Until 2019, WRDE-LD aired college basketball, baseball and football games from the Atlantic Coast Conference through the Raycom Sports syndication service ACC Network.

In addition to NBC programming, WRDE-LD operates the Delmarva market's Cozi TV affiliate on its LD2 subchannel. On weeknights, WRDE-LD2 also carries programs from the MyNetworkTV programming service, filling in programming for all time slots outside of the MyNetworkTV programming schedule with the Cozi TV schedule.[11]

News operation

With the switch to NBC, WRDE launched a news department—consisting of half-hour evening newscasts at 6:00 and 11:00 p.m.[12][3][13]

In 2016, the station added a 5 p.m. newscast, WRDE News Live at 5, anchored by Anne Imanuel and Mark Edwards.

Prior to WBOC's acquisition, the station's newscasts were anchored by staff in Little Rock, Arkansas at the studios of the Independent News Network. From Spring 2019 to Fall 2019, WRDE simulcast WBOC's 6 and 11 p.m. newscasts while a new news operation was built.

On Wednesday, October 30, 2019, WRDE launched its newscasts anchored from studios in Milton, Delaware and directed from WBOC's facilities in Salisbury, Maryland. Currently, the station airs the news at 5:30, 6 and 11 p.m. on weekdays and 6 and 11 p.m. on weekends.

See also

References
  1. "Digital TV Market Listing for WRUE-LD". RabbitEars.info. Retrieved July 14, 2018.
  2. "Home". WBOC Radio. Retrieved 2019-07-11.
  3. Bleiweis, Jon (April 25, 2014). "Rehoboth TV station to become NBC affiliate". The News Journal. Retrieved May 12, 2014.
  4. "Delaware Beach Community Gets NBC Affiliate". Broadcasting & Cable. April 24, 2014. Retrieved May 12, 2014.
  5. https://apps.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-341622A1.pdf
  6. https://apps.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-344826A1.pdf
  7. Holland, Liz (August 21, 2018). "WBOC parent company to acquire WRDE". Salisbury Daily Times. Gannett Company. Retrieved August 21, 2018.
  8. "Consummation Notice", CDBS Public Access, Federal Communications Commission, 3 January 2019, Retrieved 3 January 2019.
  9. "WRDE Now Available Over-the-Air in HD". Retrieved 2019-06-17.
  10. RabbitEars TV Query for WRDE-LD
  11. "Get Cozi TV". CoziTV.com. Retrieved 25 September 2018.
  12. "Meet Delaware's New NBC Affiliate". Multichannel News. Retrieved 24 April 2014.
  13. "NBC comes to Delmarva". The Daily Times. April 26, 2014. Retrieved May 12, 2014.
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