WBUI

Infobox_Broadcast
call_letters = WBUI
city =
station_
station_slogan =
station_branding = Central Illinois' CW
analog = 23 (UHF)
digital = 22 (UHF)
other_chs =
affiliations = The CW
network =
founded =
airdate = May 1984 [The "Broadcasting and Cable Yearbook" says May 14, while the "Television and Cable Factbook" says May 13.]
location = Decatur/Springfield/Champaign/Urbana, Illinois
callsign_meaning = WB University of Illinois
former_callsigns = WFHL (1984-1998)
WPXU (1998-1999)
former_channel_numbers =
owner = GOCOM Media
licensee = GOCOM Media of Illinois, LLC
sister_stations = WRSP-TV / WCCU
former_affiliations = independent/religious (1984-1998)
Pax TV (1998-1999)
The WB (1999-2006)
effective_radiated_power = 1950 kW (analog)
253 kW (digital)
HAAT = 401 m (both)
class =
facility_id = 16363
coordinates = coord|39|56|56.2|N|88|50|13|W|type:landmark_scale:2000
homepage = [http://www.centralillinoiscw.com/ www.centralillinoiscw.com]

WBUI (Channel 23, Digital 22) is Central Illinois' CW, an affiliate of The CW Television Network in Central Illinois (including its city of license, Decatur, Illinois). The station is owned GOCOM Media, who purchased it from ACME Communications in 2007. The station transmitter is located in Oreana, Illinois, and distributes a signal that covers most of central Illinois, providing at least secondary coverage of most of the area around Champaign, Urbana, Springfield, Normal, and Peoria.

Programming

WBUI programming consists mainly of programming from The CW and syndicated fare such as "The Daily Buzz" and reruns of "Friends", "That 70s Show", and "The King of Queens". The station is also over-the-air home to select St. Louis Cardinals baseball broadcasts.

The station has a low power repeater WEIL-LP 54 in Effingham, IL.

History

WBUI's on-air run began in the early 1980s as WFHL, which was owned and operated by the local Foursquare Church. In 1997, it was sold to Paxson Communications, becoming WPXU. ACME Communications would acquire the station from Paxon in 1999 and change it to WB affiliate WBUI. (The WPXU call letters are now used by ION Media Networks' station in Jacksonville, North Carolina.)

In 2006, WBUI and other ACME-owned WB affiliates would join the new CW television network, the result of an amalgamation between the UPN and WB networks. WBUI would adopt the "Central Illinois' CW" branding in September 2006, when The CW launched.

On June 20,2007 GOCOM Media announced its intent to purchase WBUI from ACME Communications. [http://www.acmecommunications.com/pages/news_releases.html?d=121667] The sale was approved on September 14, 2007 by the Federal Communications Commission, which waived its duopoly rules for the sale. There was already an existing duopoly in the market, as Nexstar Broadcasting owns both WCIA and WCFN. The Champaign/Urbana/Springfield market doesn't have enough station owners to legally permit another duopoly under normal conditions. However, ACME claimed it was losing money on WBUI and couldn't find a buyer that didn't require a duopoly waiver. On October 25, GOCOM Media officially became the owner of WBUI. [http://www.acmecommunications.com/pages/news_releases.html?d=129751]

Logos and Towers

External links

* [http://www.centralillinoiscw.com/ WBUI Website]
*TVQ|WBUI
*BIA|WBUI|TV|TV
* [http://www.acmecommunications.com/pages/news_releases.html?d=121667 Press Release on WBUI's sale to GOCOM Media]
* [http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6478493.html Broadcasting & Cable article on the FCC's approval of the WBUI sale]

References