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LPTV Station W18BG, Danville Goes Dark

M

Matt

Another casualty of DTV transition. W18BG in Danville is now dark, but very likely will return. Since its founding, it was a repeater of WLXI-TV in Greensboro, but the new station would be digital, and likely locally-programmed.

On March 10, 2009, Tri-State Christian TV filed an application with the Federal Communications Commission to transfer ownership of W18BG to Starnews Corporation of Martinsville, Virginia. On April 24, 2009, the FCC announced its approval of the transfer.

On June 4, 2009, Tri-State Christian TV took W18BG dark to satisfy the demands of Roanoke-based WDBJ, which had been assigned channel 18 for its digital conversion channel.

The sale to Starnews is apparently going to happen this coming week, and Starnews Corporation will take ownership of the license, CP, equipment and tower lease on White Oak Mountain.

The current Construction Permit gives Starnews until September to construct new transmission facilities for digital on channel 23. I'm not sure how the FCC handles CP's in the middle of a sale these days. I'm thinking that the sale would reset the clock to a full two years for construction, but since the analog channel is now dark the new facilities would have to be built before June of 2010 or Starnews would lose the license.

Later . . . .
 
Word has reached me that TCT and Star News closed on the sale today. Star News now owns a dark LPTV station in Danville with a CP to return as a digital LPTV.

Likely we will move on construction of this station sometime in the fall.

Later . . . .
 
Well, 10 1/2 months later we have done some major reworking of the former W18BG. Call letters are now WMDV-LP and the FCC just approved our construction permit for digital displacement to Ch. 45. Further, we have been approved to run the PSIP at Ch. 44 in order to avoid confusion with WXLV in Winston-Salem.

Build-out of the new transmitter facilities is scheduled to begin next week with test signals to follow in the first week of June. Full ERP for the station is 15 kw, with the major antenna lobe pointing to the southwest from the White Oak Mountain site.

I'll update everybody as we go along with this project.

Later . . . .
 
Lots of activity on White Oak Mountain.

The transmitter was delivered today, fully assembled and ready to air. All we need is the electrical system and an antenna on the tower and we will be ready for test transmissions. Look for it about Wednesday, May 26th.

Later . . . .
 
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