WBNB-TV is the former CBS

CBS

CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...

 affiliate for the U.S. Virgin Islands, broadcasting from a 316 kW transmitter in Charlotte Amalie, on the island of Saint Thomas

Saint Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands

Saint Thomas is an island in the Caribbean Sea and with the islands of Saint John, Saint Croix, and Water Island a county and constituent district of the United States Virgin Islands , an unincorporated territory of the United States. Located on the island is the territorial capital and port of...

.

History

WBNB was the first television station in the Virgin Islands

Virgin Islands

The Virgin Islands are the western island group of the Leeward Islands, which are the northern part of the Lesser Antilles, which form the border between the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean...

, starting operations in 1961. Starting in 1960, newspaper announcements proudly announced that the station would be affiliated with CBS and NBC

NBC

The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...

, and would also carry programs from National Educational Television

National Educational Television

National Educational Television was an American non-commercial educational public television network in the United States from May 16, 1954 to October 4, 1970...

.

WBNB's studios and transmitter were destroyed in 1989 by Hurricane Hugo

Hurricane Hugo

Hurricane Hugo was a classical, destructive and rare Cape Verde-type hurricane which struck the Caribbean islands of Guadeloupe, Montserrat, St. Croix, Puerto Rico and the USA mainland in South Carolina as a Category 4 hurricane during September of the 1989 Atlantic hurricane season...

, and the owners (Brisette Broadcasting) could not afford to rebuild. Benedek Broadcasting

Benedek Broadcasting

Benedek Broadcasting is a former television broadcaster, who owned and operated 22 network-affiliated television stations throughout the United States, all affiliated with major television networks, serving mainly small and medium-size markets. The company was founded in the late 1970s by A...

, who acquired Brisette the following year, opted to turn in WBNB's license to the FCC for cancellation, instead of rebuilding the facilities.

CBS programming returned to the USVI in 2001, via WVXF

WVXF

WVXF is a Live Well Network-affiliated, full service television station in St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands transmitting over digital channel 17. The station is owned by LKK Group and is branded as Live Well Caribbean....

, channel 17, though switched to TV2 (Virgin Islands)

TV2 (Virgin Islands)

TV2 is a CBS-affiliated cable-only TV channel available on Innovative Cable TV in the United States Virgin Islands. TV2 picked up the CBS network on July 13, 2009, just two weeks after WVXF, the area's previous CBS affiliate, switched from CBS to This TV...

in 2009.

Newscast titles

• News and Views (1961–1966)
• Channel 10 Color News (1966-1970s)
• Channel 10 News (1978-c.1980)
• NewsScene (c. 1981)
• The Scene Today (early 1980s)
• NewsCenter 10 (1983–1989)