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WPTV-TV
CityWest Palm Beach, Florida
Channels
BrandingWPTV
Programming
Affiliations
Ownership
Owner
WFLX, WHDT
History
First air date
August 22, 1954
(70 years ago) (1954-08-22)
Former call signs
  • WJNO-TV (1954–1956)
  • WPTV (1956–2010)
Former channel number(s)
  • Analog: 5 (VHF, 1954–2009)
  • Digital: 55 (UHF, 1999–2009)
Call sign meaning
West Palm Beach (or Phipps Family) Television (former owner)
Technical information[1]
Licensing authority
FCC
Facility ID59443
ERP50 kW
HAAT386.3 m (1,267 ft)
Transmitter coordinates26°35′21.2″N 80°12′42.8″W / 26.589222°N 80.211889°W / 26.589222; -80.211889 (WPTV-TV)
Translator(s)WHDT 5.11 Stuart
Links
Public license information
Websitewww.wptv.com

WPTV-TV (channel 5) is a television station in West Palm Beach, Florida, United States, affiliated with NBC. It is owned by the E. W. Scripps Company alongside Stuart-licensed news-formatted independent station WHDT (channel 9); Scripps also provides certain services to Fox affiliate WFLX (channel 29) under a shared services agreement (SSA) with Gray Media. The stations share studios on South Australian Avenue in downtown West Palm Beach (mailing address says Banyan Boulevard, also known as 1st Street); WPTV-TV's transmitter is located in Lake Worth along US 441/SR 7.

History

[edit]

In 1952, channel 5 was allocated to West Palm Beach by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). Two groups applied. One was WJNO (1230 AM), a West Palm Beach radio station that had been waiting for the FCC to lift its multi-year freeze on new television station licenses to make an application.[2] The other was Palm Beach Television, a consortium that counted Theodore Granik—creator of The American Forum of the Air—among its stockholders.[3][4] On November 4, 1953, the two groups combined their bids, ending the contest and receiving a construction permit. Palm Beach Television changed its name to WJNO-TV, Inc., and joined forces with WJNO to put the new station on the air.[5]

WJNO-TV began broadcasting on August 22, 1954. Frank Folsom, president of the Radio Corporation of America, put the station formally on air and launched a two-hour dedication that included appearances from stars Dorothy Sarnoff, Vaughn Monroe, Eddy Arnold, Lou Monte, and Paul Gilbert.[6][7] It was an affiliate of NBC. Studios were in Palm Beach at the Palm Beach Playhouse.[8] The studio had previously functioned as the greenhouse of the Royal Poinciana Hotel.[9] WJNO-TV was the first VHF television station in the city, which already had a UHF outlet: WIRK-TV on channel 21, which started in September 1953.[10] WTVJ in Miami, whose signal also covered the Palm Beaches, dropped its remaining NBC programming a month later.[11] West Palm Beach gained a second VHF station, WEAT-TV (channel 12, now WPEC), in 1955; it was an ABC affiliate. WIRK-TV folded in 1956, and channel 5 aired some CBS programs.[12]

In 1956, WJNO-TV, Inc. sold the station to John H. Phipps, owner of WCTV serving Tallahassee.[12] When the sale closed in November, channel 5 changed call signs to WPTV.[13] Phipps sold the station for $2 million in 1961 to Scripps-Howard Broadcasting, making it the fourth Scripps-Howard television station.[14][15]

In the early 1960s, WPTV made two efforts to improve its signal and expand its coverage area. When Phipps filed to sell the station to Scripps-Howard, WPTV also filed to move its transmitter from Lake Park to a site near US 441 and Lantana Road in Lake Worth, with a new, 1,031-foot (314 m) tower.[14] The proposed relocation, as well as a similar application by WEAT-TV, alarmed the Miami stations, who feared an incursion by WPTV and WEAT-TV into areas of Broward and Dade counties that previously were only to receive the three commercial stations in Miami.[16] The FCC approved the tower in February 1962,[17] and WPTV began broadcasting from the site that September.[18] Not long after, WPTV made a second and more controversial tower proposal. It proposed building a 2,000-foot (610 m) tower at Boca Raton, further south than the Lake Worth site. This would have been the tallest television tower in Florida.[19] Despite securing support from the Palm Beach County school board and Florida Atlantic University, both of which planned new educational TV stations, the new tower posed a further threat to the Miami TV stations by extending a city-grade picture further south into south Broward and Dade.[20] It also faced an uphill battle obtaining federal approval. The FCC and Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) had issued policies that required broadcasters seeking to build towers over 2,000 feet in height to overcome what Broadcasting magazine called "a virtual ban".[21] The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association opposed the tower plan, which it believed to create "an unacceptable hazard to air navigation",[22] while six Miami and Fort Lauderdale stations objected to the increased competition and potential to hurt the development of UHF telecasting in South Florida.[23][24] Miami NBC affiliate WCKT also objected to the potential overlap of stations carrying NBC programming.[25] The application remained pending until WPTV moved to dismiss it in 1968.[26]

By the end of the 1960s, WPTV had outgrown the former greenhouse in Palm Beach; Jerry Renninger of The Palm Beach Post-Times described the studio as "dark" and "crowded" and the newsroom as "a narrow, corridor-like room", and the building was developing structural problems.[9] In 1969, WPTV purchased a waterfront plot of land across the Intracoastal Waterway in West Palm Beach, at the west end of the Flagler Memorial Bridge.[27][28] Ground on the 20,000-square-foot (1,900 m2) facility was broken in August 1970,[29] and WPTV moved operations at the end of May 1971.[9]

During the 1960s and into the early 1970s, WPTV's evening news team of news director and anchor Bill Gordon, sports director and anchor Buck Kinnaird, and weather anchor Tony Glenn were number one in the Nielsen ratings. Sometime in the mid-1970s, WPTV adopted the "circle 5" logo that was used for many years by sister station WEWS-TV in Cleveland. In 1976, WPTV began operating the market's first live mobile news van, as well as the first color weather radar. It remained an NBC affiliate throughout the South Florida network switches of January 1989. West Palm Beach is one of the markets unaffected by the 1994–96 television realignments and eventually the ABC/Scripps deal[30][31] (one of the third, along with KSHB-TV and KJRH-TV) in order to protect WPBF, which agreed to keep the ABC affiliation (WPTV would not have been beneficial to ABC, as WPBF was a UHF station—in contrast, WPTV was a VHF station).[32][33]

In 1999, it added a new Harris analog transmitter to improve its signal. The station also built a new 1,325-foot (404 m) transmitter tower. This also gave WPTV a city-grade signal in the northern half of Broward County, including Fort Lauderdale. Its signal in most of Broward County was Grade B, not city grade. The upgrade came several years after the NBC owned-and-operated station WTVJ in Miami moved from channel 4 at a transmitter on the Broward and Miami-Dade county line to channel 6 from a transmitter near Homestead.

On March 16, 2001, the station moved from its facilities on Flagler Drive to a larger, newer, and more advanced complex at Banyan Boulevard and 1st Street on the city's west side, approaching Clear Lake. The building's exteriors were used to depict the exteriors of the fictional television station seen during the second season of the NBC sitcom Good Morning, Miami. WPTV's "Circle 5" logo used today is a variation of the one used by WEWS-TV; that station resurrected its version of the logo in January 2007 albeit in a slightly different form from the one used by WPTV.

On March 11, 2011, WPTV entered into a shared services agreement with Raycom Media, then-owner of Fox affiliate WFLX (channel 29). Under the arrangement, WPTV provides technical, promotional, and website operations for WFLX, although Raycom (and now Gray) continues to handle programming responsibilities for that station and conduct all advertising sales. Around June 1, 2011, WFLX moved its operations from its facilities on West Blue Heron Boulevard in Riviera Beach to WPTV's studios. It is unclear if the former will completely vacate its building.[34][35][36][37]

News operation

[edit]

WPTV broadcasts 44 hours of locally produced newscasts each week (with seven hours each weekday and 4+1⁄2 hours each on Saturdays and Sundays).

The station has long been the dominant news station in the Gold and Treasure Coasts, regularly beating crosstown rivals WPEC and WPBF in Nielsen ratings. This was in large part due to the presence of Jim Sackett, the station's main anchor from 1978 until his retirement in 2011. Following the May 2009 sweeps period, WPTV retained its title as the most-watched television station in the state of Florida based on sign-on to sign-off household ratings in metered markets. On August 4, 2007, it became the first station in South Florida to air its local newscasts in high definition. The upgrade resulted in the debut of a new graphics package and weather set with advanced HD equipment.

Along with its main studios, the station operates a bureau in the Stuart News building on South Federal Highway/US 1. WPTV also contracts with the Capitol News Service in Tallahassee to maintain two reporters in a bureau near the State Capitol. In addition to NBC News, the station is a CNN affiliate. WPTV operates a one million watt weather radar called "VIPIR 5" at its transmitter site. This is similar to the "CBS 12 StormTrac" system used by WPEC except that the rival gets delayed data from the National Weather Service.

The news department has been recognized with three regional Edward R. Murrow awards in the past seven years. In 2001, the station won for its continuing coverage of the 2000 presidential vote controversy in Palm Beach County. In 2003, WPTV was recognized in the news documentary category for a story on the desperate conditions in Haiti. In April 2008, it was recognized for excellence again in the documentary category for an hour-long primetime special on Medicare fraud produced by its "Contact 5" investigative unit. WPTV is one of many channels that air consumer reports from John Matarese of sister station ABC affiliate WCPO-TV in Cincinnati. The station outsourced its sports department to ESPN Radio affiliate WEFL (760 AM) on January 1, 2010.[38][a] On January 11, 2010, WPTV became the first to air its weekday morning show at 4:30 with the new thirty-minute block known as Today on 5: First at 4:30.

It was announced October 22, 2010, that WFLX would end a news share agreement with Freedom Communications-owned WPEC on December 31. On January 1, 2011, WPTV established a new partnership with WFLX and begin producing a two-hour weekday morning show and nightly hour-long prime time newscasts. These shows originated from a secondary set at WPTV's facilities until July 23, 2021, when WPTV debuted a new set that is now shared with WFLX. The new partnership with WFLX required the addition of more than a dozen new personnel. The station claims that this is the first time a Scripps-owned station has produced news for a station not owned by the company,[39][40][41][42][43] but this is not true; WXYZ-TV in Detroit produced a 10 p.m. newscast for then-UPN O&O WKBD-TV from 2002 to 2004 after that station (which produced newscasts for WWJ-TV) shut down its news department.

Technical information

[edit]

Subchannels

[edit]

The station's signal is multiplexed:

Subchannels of WPTV-TV[44]
Channel Res. Aspect Short name Programming
5.1 1080i 16:9 WPTV-TV NBC
5.2 480i IONPLUS Ion Plus
5.3 LAFF Laff
5.4 Ion Ion Television
5.5 GET Get
5.6 QVC2 QVC2
5.7 Shop LC Shop LC

WPTV-TV previously carried a 24-hour local weather channel, known as the VIPIR Plus Channel, on WPTV-DT2. Programming consisted of forecasts and live radar. This had been part of NBC Weather Plus from 2004 until 2008. On September 6, 2011, WPTV-DT2 became an affiliate of the Live Well Network; it was replaced by MeTV on April 21, 2014.[45] WPTV re-aired its weekday noon newscast on this channel from 1 to 2 p.m.; this re-broadcast was discontinued when LWN was replaced with MeTV.

Analog-to-digital conversion

[edit]

WPTV-TV discontinued regular programming on its analog signal, over VHF channel 5, at 5:45 a.m. on June 12, 2009, the official date on which full-power television stations in the United States transitioned from analog to digital broadcasts under federal mandate.[46] The station's digital signal relocated from its pre-transition UHF channel 55, which was among the high band UHF channels (52–69) that were removed from broadcasting use as a result of the transition, to VHF channel 12 (used by WPEC for analog operations).[47][48] Digital television receivers display the station's virtual channel as its former VHF analog channel 5.

Notes

[edit]
  1. ^ The relationship with ESPN Radio ended December 31, 2023; all ESPN Radio branding has since been removed from sports segments airing on WPTV.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Facility Technical Data for WPTV-TV". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
  2. ^ "WJNO To Seek Television Permit: Long Delay Seen". The Palm Beach Post. West Palm Beach, Florida. May 9, 1952. pp. 1, 3. Retrieved August 3, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ "Corporation Plans Television Outlet In Palm Beaches". The Palm Beach Post-Times. West Palm Beach, Florida. May 4, 1952. p. 1. Retrieved August 3, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ "West Palm Beach Station Asks TV". The Tampa Daily Times. Tampa, Florida. Associated Press. July 18, 1952. p. 1. Retrieved August 3, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ "Channel 5 TV Permit Granted To WJNO-TV, Inc". The Palm Beach Post. West Palm Beach, Florida. November 5, 1953. pp. 1, 3. Retrieved August 3, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ "Stars Help Celebrate Premiere: West Palm's WJNO-TV in Debut". The Miami Herald. Miami, Florida. August 23, 1954. p. 2-C. Retrieved August 3, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ "W. Palm Beach Station Makes Bow In TV Field". Miami Daily News. Miami, Florida. August 23, 1954. p. 12-A. Retrieved August 3, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ "WJNO-TV Will Start Telecasting Here On Next Sunday: Program Over Channel 5 To Start At 1 PM". The Palm Beach Post-Times. West Palm Beach, Florida. August 15, 1954. p. 28. Retrieved August 3, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ^ a b c Renninger, Jerry (May 30, 1971). "Channel 5: The End Of An Era". The Palm Beach Post-Times. West Palm Beach, Florida. p. H1. Retrieved August 3, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ "TV Station At West Palm Starts Test". The Miami Herald. Miami, Florida. September 1, 1953. p. 7. Retrieved August 3, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ^ "New Time, Network Shift: Miami Must Change TV Viewing Habits". Miami Daily News. Miami, Florida. September 26, 1954. p. 1-A. Retrieved August 3, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ a b "WJNO Reports TV Station Sold". The Palm Beach Post. West Palm Beach, Florida. August 11, 1956. p. 16. Retrieved August 3, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ^ "West Palm TV Changes Letters". Miami Daily News. Miami, Florida. November 6, 1956. p. 13B. Retrieved August 3, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. ^ a b "Channel 5 Sale Approval Awaits FCC". The Palm Beach Post. West Palm Beach, Florida. September 9, 1961. p. 1. Retrieved August 4, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. ^ "FCC Okays WPTV Sale To Scripps". The Palm Beach Post. West Palm Beach, Florida. December 15, 1961. p. 1. Retrieved August 4, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. ^ Anderson, Jack E. (November 2, 1961). "Palm Beach County TV Alarms Stations Here". The Miami Herald. Miami, Florida. p. 5-F. Retrieved August 4, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  17. ^ "FCC Approves New TV Tower Transmitter". The Palm Beach Post. West Palm Beach, Florida. February 15, 1962. p. 24. Retrieved August 4, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  18. ^ "Palm Beach Ch. 12 on Air Today". The Miami Herald. Miami, Florida. September 28, 1962. p. 7-D. Retrieved August 4, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  19. ^ Margolis, Jon (January 22, 1965). "Tower Hits Clouds: FAU Snubs 2,000-Ft.-Tall 'Gift'". The Miami Herald. Miami, Florida. p. 1-B (Palm Beach). Retrieved August 4, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  20. ^ Giltmier, Jim (January 27, 1965). "Channel 5's Aces: PB School Board, FAU". The Miami Herald. Miami, Florida. p. 2-B (Palm Beach). Retrieved August 4, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  21. ^ "FAA joins FCC in tower rule: Virtual ban on more than 2,000 feet follows rule first adopted year ago". Broadcasting. July 18, 1966. p. 56. ProQuest 1014494083.
  22. ^ Van Gieson, John (December 14, 1965). "FAA Holding Hearing Today On Tower Plan". The Miami Herald. Miami, Florida. p. 2-B (Palm Beach). Retrieved August 4, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  23. ^ Ash, Agnes (December 16, 1965). "Sam Gyson Chief Miami Uncoverer; Format A Secret". The Miami News. Miami, Florida. p. 14A. Retrieved August 4, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  24. ^ "TV Tower Protested". Fort Lauderdale News. Fort Lauderdale, Florida. January 17, 1966. p. 2B. Retrieved August 4, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  25. ^ Rukenbrod, Joe (March 4, 1966). "TV Tower Battle Due Showdown". Fort Lauderdale News. Fort Lauderdale, Florida. p. 3E. Retrieved August 4, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  26. ^ "History Cards for WPTV". Federal Communications Commission.
  27. ^ "WPTV Buys Land For New Facility". The Miami Herald. Miami, Florida. March 7, 1969. p. 1-C (Palm Beach). Retrieved August 4, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  28. ^ "Lakefront Building Planned By WPTV". The Palm Beach Post-Times. West Palm Beach, Florida. March 8, 1969. p. 4. Retrieved August 4, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  29. ^ "Channel 5 Facility Launched". Fort Lauderdale News. Fort Lauderdale, Florida. August 8, 1970. p. 64. Retrieved August 4, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  30. ^ "COMPANY NEWS; TV Stations Shift to ABC". The New York Times. June 17, 1994. Retrieved October 21, 2012.
  31. ^ Foisie, Geoffrey (June 20, 1994). "ABC pre-empts CBS in Cleveland, Detroit" (PDF). Broadcasting & Cable. Cahners Business Information. Retrieved February 13, 2013 – via World Radio History. [permanent dead link]
  32. ^ "THE MEDIA BUSINESS; Scripps Deal With NBC". The New York Times. August 1, 1994.
  33. ^ "Keeping up with the affiliates". Broadcasting & Cable. August 1, 1994.
  34. ^ "Scripps and Raycom announce shared services agreement in West Palm Beach". Archived from the original on September 28, 2011. Retrieved September 19, 2023.
  35. ^ SCRIPPS AND RAYCOM ANNOUNCE SHARED SERVICES AGREEMENT IN WEST PALM BEACH
  36. ^ WPTV In Expanded SSA Deal With WFLX, TVNewsCheck, March 11, 2011.
  37. ^ Raycom, Scripps Take Next Step in West Palm Relationship, Broadcasting & Cable, March 11, 2011.
  38. ^ "WPTV Outsources Sports to ESPN Radio". Archived from the original on December 8, 2009. Retrieved September 19, 2023.
  39. ^ "WPTV to produce daily newscasts for WFLX". Archived from the original on September 28, 2011. Retrieved October 23, 2010.
  40. ^ "WPTV to Produce WFLX's News in West Palm". Archived from the original on October 4, 2012. Retrieved September 19, 2023.
  41. ^ "WPTV Takes over WFLX News in West Palm". October 22, 2010.
  42. ^ "WPTV, WFLX Announce Anchor Teams". November 29, 2010.
  43. ^ "WPTV AND WFLX announce anchor teams". Archived from the original on September 28, 2011. Retrieved November 30, 2010.
  44. ^ "RabbitEars TV Query for WPTV". RabbitEars.info. Retrieved June 30, 2024.
  45. ^ "Me-TV Adds WPTV West Palm Beach | TVNewsCheck.com". Archived from the original on March 28, 2014. Retrieved March 28, 2014.
  46. ^ "WPTV delays DTV switch |West Palm Beach, Boca Raton, Treasure Coast l…". Archived from the original on February 13, 2009. Retrieved February 10, 2009.
  47. ^ "DTV Tentative Channel Designations for the First and the Second Rounds" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on August 29, 2013. Retrieved March 24, 2012.
  48. ^ CDBS Print
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