WRDW-CD
| Augusta, Georgia United States |
|
|---|---|
| Channels | Digital: 16 (UHF) Virtual: 16 (PSIP) |
| Affiliations | Youtoo America |
| Owner | Gray Television (Gray Television Licensee, LLC) |
| Founded | March 28, 1985 |
| Call letters' meaning | taken from sister station WRDW-TV |
| Sister station(s) | WRDW-TV |
| Former callsigns | W67BE (1985-1995) WBEK-LP (1995-2001) WBEK-CA (2001-2015) WBEK-CD (May-October 2015) |
| Former channel number(s) | Analog: 67 (1987-2001) 16 (2001-2015) |
| Former affiliations | Independent (1985-1986, 1991-1995) Fox (1986-1991) The WB (1995-1999) UPN (1999-2004) America One (2004-2015) |
| Website | www.wbek.com |
WRDW-CD is a low-power television station in Augusta, Georgia (United States), broadcasting locally on UHF channel 16 as an affiliate of Youtoo America. As an affiliate of America One, the station carries old sitcoms, black and white western movies, paid programming, and independent productions to fill up its time slots.
Contents
History
The license for W67BE (the call letters reflected its original location on UHF channel 67) was first granted on March 28, 1985, airing, at first, a collection of grainy black-and-white cowboy movies, infomercials, syndicated (and not well known) shows and series such as 'Sewing with Nancy.' It later became Augusta's first Fox affiliate before the emergence of WFXG (channel 54) in 1991. The station would eventually re-make itself, and on January 2, 1995 the station became WBEK-LP, an affiliate of The WB. During this period, the station was known locally as "The WB on WBEK 67".
In 1999, WBAU, a local affiliate of The WB 100+, signed on, appearing on cable systems in the August area; as a result, WBEK lost its WB affiliation. The station then became an affiliate of UPN, and for a few years sold advertising on WBAU, before these rights went to WRDW-TV (channel 12; this changed hands once more before The WB 100+ was replaced with The CW Plus). In 2001, WBEK moved to its present channel location, channel 16, and obtained class A status (modifying its call sign to WBEK-CA).
After the affiliation switch, the station attempted to maintain its status as a "top" local affiliate. The station's move to channel 16 had come with a loss in power, and viewership began to decline. The station picked up a secondary affiliation with America One during this period. In 2004, the station lost the UPN affiliation to WRDW's digital subchannel 31.2 (UPN Augusta). In 2015, the station converted to digital broadcasting and became WBEK-CD.
On August 27, 2015, longtime owner AVN agreed to sell WBEK-CD to Gray Television, owner of WRDW-TV, for $550,000. The sale did not include the station's existing cable carriage on Comcast or the WBEK call letters;[1] Gray thus applied to change the station's call letters to WRDW-CD.[2] The sale was completed on October 27, 2015,[3] at which time the call sign change to WRDW-CD took effect.[4]
See also
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References
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