WBXZ-LP

WBXZ-LP
Buffalo, New York
United States
Branding 56 WBXZ Buffalo
Slogan Buffalo's Superstation
Channels Digital: 17 (UHF)
Virtual: 56 (PSIP)
Subchannels 56.1 Cozi TV
56.2 retrotv
56.3 Rev'n
56.4 Independent
56.5 Corner Store TV
56.6 Heartland
56.7 Buzzr
Affiliations Cozi TV (2014–present)
Owner Steven Ritchie
First air date September 3, 1993
Call letters' meaning We're The BoX Z (former affiliation)
Former callsigns W56DS (1997–1998)
Former channel number(s) Analog:
56 (1993–2009)
Former affiliations The Box/MTV2, HSN (unknown–2014), Tuff TV
Transmitter power 15 kW
Class LD
Facility ID 14317
Transmitter coordinates 42°52′48″N 78°52′36″W / 42.88000°N 78.87667°W / 42.88000; -78.87667
Website http://www.wbxztv.com

WBXZ-LP is a low-power television station in Buffalo, New York, broadcasting locally on channel 17 as an affiliate of Cozi TV. It broadcast on channel 56 analog until it had to vacate that frequency when the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) removed it from the broadcast spectrum. It used to be an affiliate of The Box, from which the station gets its call sign. The station is owned by Steven Ritchie, a local retired police officer[1] who acquired the station from Craig Fox in December 2013.[2]

The station used to air on channel 56. After the digital transition, the station moved to analog channel 17 (the channel had been held by WBUF-TV from 1953 to 1959 and WNED-TV from 1959 to 2009) through a Special Temporary Authority approved by the FCC. The station returned to virtual channel 56 upon digital conversion, at which point it also planned to add several digital subchannels from Luken Communications, among them being Retro Television Network, PBJ and Heartland.[2] WBXZ-LP returned to the air April 17, 2014 with test programming; on May 2, the station indicated it was having trouble securing a carriage agreement with Luken (mainly because Ritchie could not fit the necessary large satellite dish onto the One Seneca Tower where the station's transmitter is located but also in part due to Luken's financial problems) and was seeking other options.[3] As of 2014, the station was carrying Cozi TV on 56.1 and "Throwback TV" (a locally programmed independent station programming mostly public domain series, infomercials and other assorted low-cost syndicated programs) is carried on 56.2 (later moved to 56.4). Retro and a new Luken subchannel known as Rev'n would be added to WBXZ-LP on December 1, 2014. A hardware upgrade will allow WBXZ-LP to carry up to eight subchannels in the near future.

References

  1. ↑ No byline (June 2, 2014). Law enforcement bids farewell to K9 Officer Steven Ritchie. WIVB-TV. Retrieved June 2, 2014.
  2. 1 2 Pergament, Alan (December 30, 2013). Lockport policeman plans new low power TV channels. The Buffalo News. Retrieved December 30, 2013.
  3. ↑ Pergament, Alan (June 4, 2014). Retired Lockport officer's TV station is on the air. The Buffalo News. Retrieved June 4, 2014.

External links


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