WBNA
Encyclopedia
WBNA is an affiliate of the Ion Television network, located in Louisville, Kentucky
and broadcasting over digital channel 8. WBNA is owned by Evangel World Prayer Center, an Assemblies of God
(Pentecostal) megachurch in Louisville. On Louisville area cable systems, the station has a uniform channel slot on Channel 21 on both the dominant Comcast
and Insight
systems.
With the exception of CW affiliate WBKI's main signal on digital channel 19 (PSIP 34) (and not counting its low-power Channel 28 signal to serve Louisville proper), WBNA is the only full-power broadcaster in the Louisville market whose tower is not located at the Kentuckiana tower farm in Floyds Knobs, Indiana
. WBNA instead transmits from a tower 15 miles (24.1 km) directly south of Louisville, off Oakcrest Drive in Shepherdsville
. The station is also only one of two Louisville stations to broadcast in the digital era on a VHF channel, along with WHAS-TV
(Channel 11).
.
However, WBNA felt chagrin at The WB's decision to pick up several programs that offended the fundamentalist and Pentecostal sensibilities of channel 21's viewership, such as nighttime soap Savannah
, Charmed
, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Unhappily Ever After
. WBNA aired syndicated or religious programming instead in these time slots. The WB soon regretted its decision to affiliate with a conservative religious station, and it began looking for a new affiliate in Louisville. In 1997, Campbellsville
-based WGRB (channel 34, now WBKI) previously the Fox affiliate for the southern portion of the Louisville market, switched to The WB. At the same time, it announced plans to build a new tower (activated in 2000) that would not only improve its coverage in Louisville, but give it at least grade B coverage in most of Kentucky. At the end of the 1997-98 season, The WB yanked its affiliation from WBNA, leaving channel 34 to become the sole WB affiliate for Louisville. WBNA then became a charter affiliate of the new family-friendly PAX TV network, later i and now Ion, in September 1998.
WBNA is unusual in that the station is only affiliated with Ion Television, rather than being owned by the network. Nearly all Ion stations are owned and operated by ION Media Networks
. This may be due to Evangel's ownership and commitment to the network, and the fact that the station is licensed to Louisville itself rather than an outer ring suburb as is the usual case with Ion stations. Because of this, WBNA is free to program additional networks on its bandwidth (as described below) rather than being beholden to the master Ion schedules.
Digital channels>
Channel
Display
Programming
21.1
720p
main WBNA programming / Ion
21.2
480i
qubo
21.3
480i
GOD TV
/The Light
21.4
480i
RTV Louisville
Unlike many of Ion Television's owned and operated stations which only carry the three Ion-transmitted networks, WBNA also carries Daystar and GOD TV affiliations on additional subchannels
since it only affiliates with Ion. Daystar programming was previously carried on WBNA-DT1 during overnight and some daytime hours in place of Ion's paid programming and programs such as the weekend Knife Show series.
In late July 2009, WBNA replaced the Ion-provided feed of the Worship Network on 21.4 with a Retro Television Network
digital subchannel.
In October 2009 WBNA launched "The Light" on their DT6 subchannel, which features local church services and other worship programming intermixed within the Daystar schedule, especially periods where Daystar airs over 21.1.
Several changes occurred in late April 2011 in order to accommodate WBNA upgrading 21.1 to broadcast in 720p high definition, with programming from both Daystar and ION Life (and thus subchannels 21.5 and 21.6) being dropped and programming from The Light and GOD TV being merged together on 21.3. GOD TV and The Light programming now airs on 21.1 in hours where Daystar programming previously aired, while in some early afternoon hours 21.1 carries RTV programming.
, digital television receivers display WBNA's virtual channel
as 21.
Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kentucky, and the county seat of Jefferson County. Since 2003, the city's borders have been coterminous with those of the county because of a city-county merger. The city's population at the 2010 census was 741,096...
and broadcasting over digital channel 8. WBNA is owned by Evangel World Prayer Center, an Assemblies of God
Assemblies of God
The Assemblies of God , officially the World Assemblies of God Fellowship, is a group of over 140 autonomous but loosely-associated national groupings of churches which together form the world's largest Pentecostal denomination...
(Pentecostal) megachurch in Louisville. On Louisville area cable systems, the station has a uniform channel slot on Channel 21 on both the dominant Comcast
Comcast
Comcast Corporation is the largest cable operator, home Internet service provider, and fourth largest home telephone service provider in the United States, providing cable television, broadband Internet, and telephone service to both residential and commercial customers in 39 states and the...
and Insight
Insight Communications
Insight Communications is the 13th largest multiple system operator in the United States with approximately 692,000 customers in the three contiguous states of Kentucky, Indiana and Ohio...
systems.
With the exception of CW affiliate WBKI's main signal on digital channel 19 (PSIP 34) (and not counting its low-power Channel 28 signal to serve Louisville proper), WBNA is the only full-power broadcaster in the Louisville market whose tower is not located at the Kentuckiana tower farm in Floyds Knobs, Indiana
Floyds Knobs, Indiana
Floyds Knobs is a small unincorporated town in Lafayette Township, Floyd County, Indiana. Historically a farming community on the outskirts of New Albany, it has since become a bedroom community for Louisville, Kentucky, containing subdivisions, farms, small shopping centers and churches, and...
. WBNA instead transmits from a tower 15 miles (24.1 km) directly south of Louisville, off Oakcrest Drive in Shepherdsville
Shepherdsville, Kentucky
As of the census of 2000, there were 8,334 people, 3,177 households, and 2,363 families residing in the city. The population density was 791.3 people per square mile . There were 3,402 housing units at an average density of 323.0 per square mile...
. The station is also only one of two Louisville stations to broadcast in the digital era on a VHF channel, along with WHAS-TV
WHAS-TV
WHAS-TV channel 11 is the ABC affiliated television station in Louisville, Kentucky. Owned by Belo Corporation, the station's transmitter is located in Floyd County, Indiana, near the community of Floyds Knobs...
(Channel 11).
History
The station signed on April 2, 1986 as an independent station offering mostly local and national religious programming. It gradually mixed in some secular programs as well, mostly old movies. In 1995, it became Louisville's charter affiliate of The WB NetworkThe WB Television Network
The WB Television Network is a former television network in the United States that was launched on January 11, 1995 as a joint venture between Warner Bros. and Tribune Broadcasting. On January 24, 2006, CBS Corporation and Warner Bros...
.
However, WBNA felt chagrin at The WB's decision to pick up several programs that offended the fundamentalist and Pentecostal sensibilities of channel 21's viewership, such as nighttime soap Savannah
Savannah (TV series)
Savannah is an American prime time television drama that ran from January 21, 1996 to February 24, 1997 on The WB. It was created by Constance M. Burge and produced by Aaron Spelling.-Plot:...
, Charmed
Charmed
Charmed is an American television series that originally aired from October 7, 1998, until May 21, 2006, on the now defunct The WB Television Network. The series was created in 1998 by writer Constance M...
, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Unhappily Ever After
Unhappily Ever After
Unhappily Ever After is an American sitcom that aired for 100 episodes on The WB network from January 11, 1995, to May 23, 1999, for a total of four and a half seasons...
. WBNA aired syndicated or religious programming instead in these time slots. The WB soon regretted its decision to affiliate with a conservative religious station, and it began looking for a new affiliate in Louisville. In 1997, Campbellsville
Campbellsville, Kentucky
Campbellsville is a city in Taylor County, Kentucky, United States. The population within city limits was 10,498 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Taylor County, and the home of Campbellsville University...
-based WGRB (channel 34, now WBKI) previously the Fox affiliate for the southern portion of the Louisville market, switched to The WB. At the same time, it announced plans to build a new tower (activated in 2000) that would not only improve its coverage in Louisville, but give it at least grade B coverage in most of Kentucky. At the end of the 1997-98 season, The WB yanked its affiliation from WBNA, leaving channel 34 to become the sole WB affiliate for Louisville. WBNA then became a charter affiliate of the new family-friendly PAX TV network, later i and now Ion, in September 1998.
WBNA is unusual in that the station is only affiliated with Ion Television, rather than being owned by the network. Nearly all Ion stations are owned and operated by ION Media Networks
ION Media Networks
ION Media Networks is an American television broadcasting company that owns and operates over 60 television stations in most major American markets. It is now a privately owned company.-History:...
. This may be due to Evangel's ownership and commitment to the network, and the fact that the station is licensed to Louisville itself rather than an outer ring suburb as is the usual case with Ion stations. Because of this, WBNA is free to program additional networks on its bandwidth (as described below) rather than being beholden to the master Ion schedules.
Digital television
The station's digital signal is multiplexed.720p
720p is the shorthand name for 1280x720, a category of High-definition television video modes having a resolution of 1080 or 720p and a progressive scan...
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...
Qubo
Qubo is a multi-platform children's television specialty channel endeavor operated as a joint venture between ION Media Networks, NBCUniversal, Nelvana, Scholastic Corporation, and Classic Media...
GOD TV
GOD TV is an international Christian television broadcaster that transmits the GOD Channel from Jerusalem.The network’s Free-to-air signal is carried via multiple satellites 24-hours-a-day providing programming at no charge to viewers. This ranges from Bible teaching to motivational seminars,...
/The Light
Retro Television Network
The Retro Television Network is a system of television stations that airs classic television shows as well as more recently produced programs...
Unlike many of Ion Television's owned and operated stations which only carry the three Ion-transmitted networks, WBNA also carries Daystar and GOD TV affiliations on additional subchannels
Digital subchannel
In broadcasting, digital subchannels are a means to transmit more than one independent program at the same time from the same digital radio or digital television station on the same radio frequency channel. This is done by using data compression techniques to reduce the size of each individual...
since it only affiliates with Ion. Daystar programming was previously carried on WBNA-DT1 during overnight and some daytime hours in place of Ion's paid programming and programs such as the weekend Knife Show series.
In late July 2009, WBNA replaced the Ion-provided feed of the Worship Network on 21.4 with a Retro Television Network
Retro Television Network
The Retro Television Network is a system of television stations that airs classic television shows as well as more recently produced programs...
digital subchannel.
In October 2009 WBNA launched "The Light" on their DT6 subchannel, which features local church services and other worship programming intermixed within the Daystar schedule, especially periods where Daystar airs over 21.1.
Several changes occurred in late April 2011 in order to accommodate WBNA upgrading 21.1 to broadcast in 720p high definition, with programming from both Daystar and ION Life (and thus subchannels 21.5 and 21.6) being dropped and programming from The Light and GOD TV being merged together on 21.3. GOD TV and The Light programming now airs on 21.1 in hours where Daystar programming previously aired, while in some early afternoon hours 21.1 carries RTV programming.
Analog-to-digital conversion
WBNA shut down analog transmissions on June 12, 2009. The station remained on its pre-transition channel 8. Through the use of PSIPProgram and System Information Protocol
The Program and System Information Protocol is the protocol used in the ATSC digital television system for carrying metadata about each channel in the broadcast MPEG transport stream of a TV station and for publishing information about television programs so that viewers can select what to watch...
, digital television receivers display WBNA's virtual channel
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....
as 21.