KWWF
 | |
| Waterloo, Iowa | |
|---|---|
| City | Waterloo, Iowa |
| Branding | KWWF |
| Channels | Digital: 22 (UHF) |
| Affiliations | Defunct |
| Owner |
Stratus Media Holdings, LLC (Waterloo Television Group, LLC) |
| First air date | December 1, 2002 |
| Last air date | August 2, 2013 |
| Former channel number(s) |
Analog: 22 (UHF, 2002–2009) |
| Former affiliations |
LeSEA (2002–2004) UPN (2004–2006) RTN (2006–2008) Independent (2008–2009) Untamed Sports TV (2009–2013) |
| Transmitter power | 70 kW |
| Height | 197.3 m |
| Facility ID | 81595 |
| Transmitter coordinates | 42°24′35″N 92°5′10″W / 42.40972°N 92.08611°W |
| Website | www.kwwf-tv.com |
KWWF was a television station licensed to Waterloo, Iowa and broadcasting on UHF channel 22. Its transmitter was located near Walker, Iowa.
History
KWWF signed on December 1, 2002, with a format of infomercials, home shopping, and reruns that were in the public domain. It then began rebroadcasting religious programs from LeSEA Broadcasting.
Equity Broadcasting bought the station in the summer of 2004 and quickly made it a general entertainment station. KWWF affiliated with UPN on September 13, 2004, and the station soon gained carriage on cable systems throughout the market. Under Equity ownership, the station's master control was located in Little Rock, Arkansas, then transmitted via the Galaxy 18 satellite to the transmitter and area cable systems via satellite.
In 2006, with the end of UPN, KWWF became an affiliate of Equity Broadcasting's own Retro Television Network to fill the gaps left by the end of UPN programming. However, in 2008, most RTN programming was removed from KWWF and moved to a digital subchannel of KWWL. KWWF became an independent station, carrying various syndicated programs as well as a handful of Equity-produced live shows, which were also aired on many RTN stations.
KWWF was sold at auction to Valley Bank on April 16, 2009.[1] Valley Bank, in turn, filed to sell KWWF to an ownership group connected to Fusion Communications that August.[2]
Because it was granted an original construction permit after the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) finalized the DTV allotment plan on April 21, 1997,[3] the station did not receive a companion channel for a digital television station. Instead, at the end of the digital TV conversion period for full-service stations, KWWF was required to turn off its analog signal and turn on its digital signal (called a "flash-cut").
As of December 2008, this station was scheduled to go dark in 2009. According to the station's DTV status report, "On December 8, 2008, the licensee's parent corporation filed a petition for bankruptcy relief under chapter 11 of the federal bankruptcy code... This station must obtain post-petition financing and court approval before digital facilities may be constructed. The station will cease analogue broadcasting on February 17, 2009, regardless of whether digital facilities are operational by that date. The station will file authority to remain silent if so required by the FCC."[4]
While the DTV Delay Act extended this deadline to June 12, 2009, Equity applied for an extension of the digital construction permit in order to retain the broadcast license in case the station went dark. New buyers Fusion Communications were able to build a temporary digital site near Walker to meet the deadline. At the end of analog broadcasting on June 12, 2009, KWWF transitioned from the old Equity facility to Fusion's Iowa master control facility and continued to provide a signal to cable systems. From that point on, KWWF was affiliated with Untamed Sports TV. KWWF's satellite feed was still available on Anik F3 C-Band as of November 2010. Although the station transmitted in 720p, Untamed Sports has never maintained a high definition programming feed, and all programming on the station was carried in standard definition.
In 2012, Fusion Communications was acquired by Stratus Media Holdings.[5] KWWF ceased broadcasting on August 2, 2013 due to financial difficulties; on August 8, 2013, the station's owners filed a Notification of Suspension of Operations / Request for Silent STA with the FCC.[6][7] On March 14, 2014, Stratus surrendered KWWF's license to the Federal Communications Commission,[8] which canceled it a week later.[9]
References
- ↑ "Takers found for 60 Equity stations". Television Business Report. April 18, 2009. Retrieved April 20, 2009.
- ↑ "Equity Media props spin again". Television Business Report. September 9, 2009. Retrieved September 11, 2009.
- ↑ http://www.transmitter.com/FCC97115/chanplan.html
- ↑ FCC DTV status report
- ↑ Seyler, Dave (January 10, 2012). "Stratus ups its status with Fusion acquisition". Television Business Report. Retrieved August 11, 2013.
- ↑ Federal Communications Commission: Notification of Suspension of Operations / Request for Silent STA for KWWF, August 8. 2013.
- ↑ Sood, Kiran (August 9, 2013). "Waterloo television station KWWF goes dark". The Gazette. Retrieved August 11, 2013.
- ↑ Mack, Wayne D. (March 14, 2014). "Re: Waterloo Television Group LLC…" (PDF). CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved April 1, 2014.
- ↑ "Station Search Details". CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved April 1, 2014.