WUOA-LD

WUOA-LD

Birmingham, Alabama United States
City	Birmingham, Alabama
Channels	Digital: 28 (UHF) Virtual: 46[1]
Programming
Affiliations	(see below)
Ownership
Owner	HC2 Holdings (DTV America Corporation)
History
Founded	January 27, 1988
First air date	January 27, 1988; 34 years ago (1988-01-27) (original incarnation) July 1, 2016; 5 years ago (2016-07-01) (current incarnation)
Former call signs	W52AI (1988–1990) W53AZ (1990–1992) W51BY (1992–2003) W46DK (2003–2015) WUOA-LP (2015)
Former channel number(s)	Analog: 52 (UHF, 1988–1990) 53 (UHF, 1990–1992) 51 (UHF, 1992–2003) 46 (UHF, 2003–2015) Digital: 17 (UHF, 2016–2021)
Former affiliations	TBN (1988–2003) Independent/translator of WVUA-CA (2003–2015) This TV (2008–2015, partial via WVUA) Silent (2015–2016) Laff (2016–2019)
Call sign meaning	University of Alabama (previous owner)
Technical information
Licensing authority	FCC
Facility ID	990
ERP	10 kW
HAAT	213.2 m (699 ft)
Transmitter coordinates	33°29′4.8″N 86°48′25.2″W / 33.484667°N 86.807000°W / 33.484667; -86.807000
Links
Public license information	Profile LMS

WUOA-LD, virtual channel 46 (UHF digital channel 28), is a low-power television station licensed to Birmingham, Alabama, United States. The station is owned by HC2 Holdings. WUOA-LD's transmitter is located on Red Mountain on the south side of Birmingham.^[1]

History[]

The station began broadcasting in January 1988 as an owned-and-operated station of the Trinity Broadcasting Network. The station originally broadcast on UHF channel 52 under its original callsign W52AI. It became W53AZ in 1990 after moving the signal to UHF channel 53. Two years later, the station moved its signal again to channel 51 and changing the call letters to W51BY.^[1] It remained a TBN translator until 2003. In 2003, the station moved its signal to UHF channel 46, and changed the callsign again, this time to W46DK. It was purchased by the University of Alabama, whose communications department converted the station to a translator of the university-owned WVUA-CA.

In 2015, the station went silent as W46AY was obligated to be converted to digital as the digital TV transition deadline for low-power stations was scheduled for September 1 of that year. The station's callsign was changed to the original WUOA-LD. In Summer 2016, DTV America Corporation purchased the station and converted it into an affiliate of Katz Broadcasting-operated Laff network. This was the second DTV America-owned station to sign on in the state of Alabama (the first was MyNetworkTV/Doctor TV affiliate WDSF-LD which signed on in 2014). The station also launched second and third subchannels to run FremantleMedia's Buzzr network, and Laff’s sister network Escape, respectively.

Subchannels[]

References[]

External links[]

• BIAfn's Media Web Database — Information on WUOA-LD