WMBC-TV
Encyclopedia
WMBC-TV, virtual channel
63, is an independent television station licensed to Newton, New Jersey
, USA
, serving the New York City
metropolitan area
. Founded and owned by the Mountain Broadcasting Corporation (whose initials serve as the station's call letters), the station's studios are located in West Caldwell, New Jersey
, with its transmitter
located in Lake Hopatcong, New Jersey.
The station's lineup consists of brokered ethnic programs, a weekday one-hour newscast (composed mainly of repackaged CNN
stories), infomercial
s and children's programs to satisfy the Federal Communications Commission
's "educational/informational
" requirements.
s, led by the Reverend Sun Young Joo of Wayne, New Jersey
. The group secured a construction permit from the FCC to build channel 63 in 1987, and the station began operations on April 26, 1993, with a Christian religious format, running mostly programs from FamilyNet
. Later in 1993 they also began running public domain movies and film shorts from Main Street TV, along with FamilyNet programs.
In 1996, when New York City-owned WNYC-TV became WBIS-TV (now WPXN-TV
) and dropped its ethnic, foreign-language television program
ming, WMBC-TV would pick up many hours of such offerings. WMBC also dropped FamilyNet and Main Street TV as well and began to air more infomercials and religious shows directly from ministries. By 1997, it ran a blend of religion and infomercials during the day and ethnic shows by night and on Saturdays. It was also running several hours a week of educational kids shows, and producing a local newscast by then.
In August 1998, WMBC ran Bloomberg News from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Weekdays. By December 2000, it was running infomercials before noon and Bloomberg News, noon to 5 p.m. In September 2002, it dropped Bloomberg News and by then had the format it runs today.
The station has an extremely weak analog over-the-air signal in New York City but is carried on most of the cable systems in that market, including Time Warner Cable
and Cablevision. Its signal was dropped from DirecTV
's New York City local stations package on December 31, 2005; however, DirecTV resumed carriage of it in early 2009.
:
WMBC-TV also has a Mobile DTV feed of subchannel 63.1, broadcasting at 0.92 Mbit/s. This is the lowest bitrate of any New York City television station mobile feed.
On February 17, 2009, the station ended its analog transmissions on UHF channel 63 and continued broadcasting over the air exclusively on its digital channel 18.
Virtual channel
In telecommunications, a logical channel number , also known as virtual channel, is a channel designation which differs from that of the actual radio channel on which the signal travels....
63, is an independent television station licensed to Newton, New Jersey
Newton, New Jersey
Newton is a town in Sussex County, New Jersey, United States. As of the United States 2000 Census, the town population was 8,244. It is the county seat of Sussex County....
, USA
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, serving the New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
metropolitan area
New York metropolitan area
The New York metropolitan area, also known as Greater New York, or the Tri-State area, is the region that composes of New York City and the surrounding region...
. Founded and owned by the Mountain Broadcasting Corporation (whose initials serve as the station's call letters), the station's studios are located in West Caldwell, New Jersey
West Caldwell, New Jersey
West Caldwell is an township located in the West Essex area in northwestern Essex County, New Jersey. It is located approximately west of Manhattan and six miles northwest of Newark...
, with its transmitter
Transmitter
In electronics and telecommunications a transmitter or radio transmitter is an electronic device which, with the aid of an antenna, produces radio waves. The transmitter itself generates a radio frequency alternating current, which is applied to the antenna. When excited by this alternating...
located in Lake Hopatcong, New Jersey.
The station's lineup consists of brokered ethnic programs, a weekday one-hour newscast (composed mainly of repackaged CNN
CNN
Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
stories), infomercial
Infomercial
Infomercials are direct response television commercials which generally include a phone number or website. There are long-form infomercials, which are typically between 15 and 30 minutes in length, and short-form infomercials, which are typically 30 seconds to 120 seconds in length. Infomercials...
s and children's programs to satisfy the Federal Communications Commission
Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, created, Congressional statute , and with the majority of its commissioners appointed by the current President. The FCC works towards six goals in the areas of broadband, competition, the spectrum, the...
's "educational/informational
E/I
E/I, which stands for "educational and informative," refers to a type of children's television programming shown in the United States. The Federal Communications Commission requires that every full-service Terrestrial television station in the U.S. show at least three hours of these television...
" requirements.
History
Mountain Broadcasting was founded in 1985 by a group of Korean AmericanKorean American
Korean Americans are Americans of Korean descent, mostly from South Korea, with a small minority from North Korea...
s, led by the Reverend Sun Young Joo of Wayne, New Jersey
Wayne, New Jersey
Wayne is a Township in Passaic County, New Jersey, United States, located less than from midtown Manhattan. As of the United States 2000 Census, the township had a total population of 54,069....
. The group secured a construction permit from the FCC to build channel 63 in 1987, and the station began operations on April 26, 1993, with a Christian religious format, running mostly programs from FamilyNet
FamilyNet
FamilyNet is a broadcast television network owned by ComStar Media Fund and based in Atlanta, Georgia. The network was founded in 1979 as the National Christian Network, and took the name FamilyNet in 1988 under the ownership of Jerry Falwell. The channel was acquired by InTouch Ministries in...
. Later in 1993 they also began running public domain movies and film shorts from Main Street TV, along with FamilyNet programs.
In 1996, when New York City-owned WNYC-TV became WBIS-TV (now WPXN-TV
WPXN-TV
WPXN-TV, which broadcasts on channel 31 in New York City, is the flagship station of the Ion Television network, formerly known as Pax TV and i.-Municipal ownership:...
) and dropped its ethnic, foreign-language television program
Television program
A television program , also called television show, is a segment of content which is intended to be broadcast on television. It may be a one-time production or part of a periodically recurring series...
ming, WMBC-TV would pick up many hours of such offerings. WMBC also dropped FamilyNet and Main Street TV as well and began to air more infomercials and religious shows directly from ministries. By 1997, it ran a blend of religion and infomercials during the day and ethnic shows by night and on Saturdays. It was also running several hours a week of educational kids shows, and producing a local newscast by then.
In August 1998, WMBC ran Bloomberg News from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Weekdays. By December 2000, it was running infomercials before noon and Bloomberg News, noon to 5 p.m. In September 2002, it dropped Bloomberg News and by then had the format it runs today.
The station has an extremely weak analog over-the-air signal in New York City but is carried on most of the cable systems in that market, including Time Warner Cable
Time Warner Cable
Time Warner Cable is an American cable television company that operates in 28 states and has 31 operating divisions...
and Cablevision. Its signal was dropped from DirecTV
DirecTV
DirecTV is an American direct broadcast satellite service provider and broadcaster based in El Segundo, California. Its satellite service, launched on June 17, 1994, transmits digital satellite television and audio to households in the United States, Latin America, and the Anglophone Caribbean. ...
's New York City local stations package on December 31, 2005; however, DirecTV resumed carriage of it in early 2009.
Digital television
The station's digital signal is multiplexedMultiplexing
The multiplexed signal is transmitted over a communication channel, which may be a physical transmission medium. The multiplexing divides the capacity of the low-level communication channel into several higher-level logical channels, one for each message signal or data stream to be transferred...
:
| Subchannel | Name | Video | Aspect Aspect ratio The aspect ratio of a shape is the ratio of its longer dimension to its shorter dimension. It may be applied to two characteristic dimensions of a three-dimensional shape, such as the ratio of the longest and shortest axis, or for symmetrical objects that are described by just two measurements,... |
Programming |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 63.1 | WMBC DT | 480i 480i 480i is the shorthand name for a video mode, namely the US NTSC television system or digital television systems with the same characteristics. The i, which is sometimes uppercase, stands for interlaced, the 480 for a vertical frame resolution of 480 lines containing picture information; while NTSC... |
4:3 | main WMBC-TV programming |
| 63.2 | MBN | A South Korea South Korea The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south... n news channel as of October 2010 (Previously carried CBS SK) |
||
| 63.3 | CGN-TV | CGNTV (Christian Global Network Television) | ||
| 63.4 | SinoVSN | SinoVision SinoVision SinoVision was launched in 1990 as a Chinese language television program provider serving the Chinese-American community in New York City and parts of Long Island, northeastern Pennsylvania, Upstate New York, southern Connecticut, and northern New Jersey with news, and a variety of entertainment... (previously carried MHTV) |
||
| 63.5 | NTDTV | New Tang Dynasty Television New Tang Dynasty Television New Tang Dynasty Television is a television broadcaster based in New York City, with correspondents in over 70 cities worldwide. The company was founded by Falun Gong practitioners... (previously carried KBS World KBS World KBS World is a name of Korean Broadcasting System's international broadcasting service. It consists of KBS World Radio and a KBS World television channel.- History :... ) |
||
| 63.6 | WMBC DT6 | Azteca America Azteca América Azteca América is a broadcast television network marketed toward Spanish-speaking families residing in the United States. As a rapidly-growing Spanish language network, Azteca América now reaches 89% of the Hispanic households in the U.S., operating in sixty-two markets nationwide. Wholly owned by... |
||
| 63.7 | WDNJ | audio simulcast of WDNJ-FM | ||
| 63.8 | KCBN | audio simulcast of Korean Christian Broadcasting Network |
WMBC-TV also has a Mobile DTV feed of subchannel 63.1, broadcasting at 0.92 Mbit/s. This is the lowest bitrate of any New York City television station mobile feed.
On February 17, 2009, the station ended its analog transmissions on UHF channel 63 and continued broadcasting over the air exclusively on its digital channel 18.
See also
- List of independent television stations in the U.S.
- List of television stations in New Jersey
- List of United States over-the-air television networks
External links
- wmbctv.com, station's official website