WAOE

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WAOE
Peoria, Illinois
United States
CityPeoria, Illinois
(to move to Oswego, Illinois[1])
ChannelsDigital: 10 (VHF)
Virtual: 59
BrandingWAOE 59
Programming
Affiliations59.1: Infomercials
59.2: TheGrio TV
59.3: VPOD TV
Ownership
OwnerVenture Technologies Group
(Four Seasons Peoria, LLC)
History
FoundedSeptember 8, 1995
First air date
July 5, 1999 (22 years ago) (1999-07-05)
Former channel number(s)
Analog:
59 (UHF, 1999–2008)
Digital:
39 (UHF, 2001–2020)
Analog/DT1:
UPN (1999–2006)
MyNetworkTV (2006–2020)
DT2:
Antenna TV (2009–2020)
DT3:
Light TV (until 2020; now on DT2)
Technical information
Licensing authority
FCC
Facility ID52280
ClassDT
ERP24 kW[2]
15 kW (DRT)
HAAT410.7 m (1,347 ft)[2]
120.4 m (395 ft) (DRT)
Transmitter coordinates41°16′54.6″N 88°56′11.1″W / 41.281833°N 88.936417°W / 41.281833; -88.936417[2]
40°38′53″N 89°33′26″W / 40.64806°N 89.55722°W / 40.64806; -89.55722 (DRT)
Translator(s)18 (UHF) Pekin
WCHU-LD 59 (7 VHF) Oakwood Hills/Chicago
W27EB-D 59 (27 UHF) Sugar Grove
WHOI-DT 59.1 (24.2 UHF) Peoria[3]
Links
Public license information
Profile
LMS
Websitewaoetv.com

WAOE, virtual channel 59 (VHF digital channel 10), is a television station licensed to Peoria, Illinois, United States, which primarily airs paid programming. The station is owned by Venture Technologies Group. WAOE's transmitter is located in Deer Park Township near Starved Rock State Park (in LaSalle County, part of the Chicago market).[4]

Due to WAOE's VHF signal and transmitter location, the station only provides rimshot coverage of Peoria and Bloomington–Normal, but its broadcast range extends into parts of the Chicago, Rockford and Quad Cities markets.[2][5] To address the shortfall in coverage in Peoria–Bloomington,[citation needed] WAOE is simulcast in widescreen standard definition on the fourth digital subchannel of Sinclair Broadcast Group-owned WHOI (channel 19)[3] from its transmitter on Springfield Road (along I-474) in East Peoria, a section of Groveland Township, Tazewell County. Instead of channel 19.4, WHOI-DT2 maps to channel 59.1.[3]

WAOE also operates a digital replacement translator on UHF channel 18, licensed to Pekin (with transmitter on High Point Lane near East Peoria), as well as translator WCHU-LD (channel 59) in Oakwood Hills, serving the Chicago metropolitan area.

History[]

Temporary logo featured in 2006 during transition from UPN to MyNetworkTV.
WAOE, My59 logo from 2006 to 2020.

The station signed on the air on July 5, 1999 as a UPN affiliate and aired an analog signal on UHF channel 59.[6] Originally, it was broadcast from studios on Fulton Street in Downtown Peoria.[7] In its early months, the station broadcast at a low power;[6] WAOE's signal would be upgraded in early 2000, allowing AT&T Cable to add the station to its lineup on February 22.[8] Before WAOE's launch, then-ABC affiliate WHOI (channel 19) had a secondary affiliation with UPN.[9]

On January 24, 2006, The WB and UPN announced the two networks would end broadcasting and merge to form The CW. On February 22, News Corporation announced it would start up another new network called MyNetworkTV. It was made public on March 15 that WAOE would become the market's MyNetworkTV outlet. Meanwhile, cable-only WB affiliate "WBPE" (operated by WHOI) became the area's CW station.[citation needed] In order to offer non-cable viewers access to The CW, WHOI added a new second digital subchannel to simulcast the new network. WAOE would officially join MyNetworkTV on September 5 while WHOI-DT2 started offering The CW 13 days later on the 18th.[citation needed]

On December 1, 2008, the station shut down its analog signal on UHF channel 59 and became digital-exclusive.[citation needed]

Until the end of 2014, WAOE was operated through a joint sales agreement by Granite Broadcasting, then-owner of NBC affiliate WEEK-TV (channel 25). It shared facilities with that station and WHOI (which was operated by WEEK-TV through a separate joint sales and shared services agreement). The Springfield Road studios of WEEK-TV and WHOI once handled some internal operations (such as the maintenance of programming logs) of another Four Seasons Broadcasting station, WBQD-LP (now WQAD-DT3); however, that station was actually controlled through a local marketing agreement with the Quad Cities' ABC affiliate WQAD-TV (owned at the time by Local TV; now owned by Tegna Inc.), and most of its operations were run from WQAD's studios in Moline.[citation needed] Quincy Newspapers announced on February 11, 2014 that it would acquire WEEK-TV from Granite Broadcasting. Quincy planned on continuing to provide services to WAOE,[10] but the JSA with Granite expired at the end of 2014.[citation needed]

In the spring of 2020, WAOE moved its transmitter to the former site of WWTO-TV near Oglesby, using WWTO's former VHF digital channel 10.[citation needed] On November 27, the station filed an application to move its city of license to Oswego, Illinois, in Kendall County (part of the Chicago market).[1]

Digital channels[]

The station's digital signal is multiplexed:

Channel Video Aspect PSIP short name Programming[11]
59.1 720p 16:9 WAOE-HD Infomercials
59.2 480i WAOE-LT TheGrio TV
59.3 720p VPOD VPOD TV

Newscasts[]

On June 5, 2006, WEEK-TV established a news share agreement with WAOE and began producing a weeknight-only prime time newscast for the then-UPN affiliate. Known as Primetime News at Nine, the newscast lasted for thirty minutes and competed with another half-hour production airing at the same time on Fox outlet WYZZ-TV (produced by CBS affiliate WMBD-TV). WYZZ once aired a weekend edition of its newscast but this was dropped. WAOE also provided a simulcast of the 5–7 a.m. portion of WEEK-TV's weekday morning show. In September 2006, the name was altered to News 25 at Nine on My59 to reflect WAOE's affiliation change to MyNetworkTV.

At some point in time after combining operations, WEEK-TV and WHOI became the first news department in the market to upgrade local newscast production to 16:9 enhanced definition widescreen. That's how the two stations produced newscasts until 2016. Although not truly high definition, the shows matched the aspect ratio of HD television screens. It is unknown if the WAOE broadcasts were included in the upgrade, however. After the JSA expired at the end of 2014, all WEEK-TV newscasts were dropped from WAOE.

Programming[]

Before the switch to paid programming, syndicated programming on WAOE included Family Guy, American Dad!, How I Met Your Mother, The Office, Judge Judy, and The Doctors among others; the latter two shows now air on WYZZ-TV.

Sports programming[]

From 2015 to 2019, WAOE carried Chicago Bulls, Blackhawks, and White Sox games produced by WGN Sports. The Cubs broadcasts were produced by Chicago's ABC O&O station WLS-TV. This was due to the fact that Cubs and White Sox games are no longer available on a national basis on cable and satellite providers via WGN America. For a number of years, WAOE also aired live telecasts of the St. Louis Cardinals when that team's games were carried locally by St. Louis' WB/CW affiliate KPLR-TV.

WAOE was also the longtime television home to the Illinois High School Association boys' basketball state finals and football championship games. These events moved to CW+ affiliate WEEK-DT3 in the 2019–20 season.

References[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b "Channel Substitution/Community of License Change". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission. November 27, 2020. Retrieved November 27, 2020.
  2. ^ Jump up to: a b c d "Amendment to a Modification of a DTV Station Construction Permit Application". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission. April 5, 2018. Retrieved February 11, 2019.
  3. ^ Jump up to: a b c Digital TV Market Listing for WHOI
  4. ^ "RabbitEars.Info".
  5. ^ RabbitEars Coverage Map for WAOE
  6. ^ Jump up to: a b "Channel still short on power: WAOE manager says negotiations under way for cable". Peoria Journal-Star. October 28, 1999. Retrieved January 3, 2016. (preview of subscription content)
  7. ^ "Four Seasons Broadcasting, LLC: Private Company Information". Bloomberg.
  8. ^ "Professional wrestling fans get television program". Peoria Journal-Star. February 22, 2000. Retrieved January 3, 2016. (preview of subscription content)
  9. ^ "Hotline". Peoria Journal-Star. October 13, 1999. Retrieved January 3, 2016. (preview of subscription content)
  10. ^ "Quincy Buying Stations From Granite, Malara". TVNewsCheck. February 11, 2014. Retrieved February 11, 2014.
  11. ^ Digital TV Market Listing for WAOE

External links[]

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