WAMI-DT

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WAMI-DT
FCC
Facility ID60536
ERP1,000 kW
HAAT297 m (974 ft)
Transmitter coordinates25°59′10″N 80°11′36.3″W / 25.98611°N 80.193417°W / 25.98611; -80.193417
Links
Public license information
WebsiteUniMás

WAMI-DT (channel 69) is a

owned and operated by TelevisaUnivision alongside Univision station WLTV-DT (channel 23). The two stations share studios known as "NewsPort" (a converted studio facility that also houses Noticias Univision) on Northwest 30th Terrace in Doral; WAMI-DT's transmitter is located in Pembroke Park, Florida
.

WAMI is one of two

West Palm Beach
market.

History

Prior to being used by a full-power station, the channel 69 allocation was occupied by W69AA, a translator for

Orlando; W69AA and two other translators, all commissioned in 1972, provided WCIX programming to areas in Broward County and Boca Raton.[2] As applications proceeded on the full-power allotment, W69AA was displaced; it went silent and returned as W58BU, a translator of WTVJ, on March 10, 1994.[3]

Early years

In 1981, four applications were received for a full-power television station on channel 69, from Whitco Broadcasters; Family Television 69, owned by Hialeah pastor Adib Eden, Sr.; Golden East Broadcasters; and Christian Media of Florida.[4] In April, the FCC selected Whitco over the other applicants, saying that Christian Media of Florida's three pastor owners would not be able to balance ministry and station operations; Whitco offered $111,000 to its competitors to end the proceeding.[5]

Whitco, owned by Eddie Whitehead and Thomas Coates, proposed the first African-American-owned television station in South Florida, aimed at the same audience.

Pembroke Park.[7]

An attempt to sell a majority stake in the construction permit to an investor group that sought to program channel 69 as a Spanish-language station fell through in early 1985.[8] On February 19, 1987, the Home Shopping Network (HSN) announced that it was acquiring a majority stake in WDEM,[9] with the option to buy the facility outright upon completion for $10 million.[10]

WAMI first signed on the air on August 10, 1988, as WYHS-TV. Before the station launched, WYHS-TV simulcast audio from

USA Networks, Inc. In the fall of 1997, channel 69 began carrying Fox Kids programming, after it was dropped by the market's WB affiliate WDZL (channel 39, later WBZL and now WSFL-TV), which acquired the block in 1993 after Fox affiliate WSVN
(channel 7) decided to stop carrying Fox's children's programming.

WAMI 69

WAMI logo; originally showing "Miami", it was later modified to incorporate the channel number.

On June 8, 1998, at 6 a.m., channel 69 became an

CITY-TV
in Toronto, which carried a similar mix of syndicated shows and movies with locally-produced programming.

WAMI repackaged the Fox Kids block, incorporating it into the live, locally produced interactive children's show WAMI on Miami. The hosts of that program would hold up a "WAMI" hand sign, holding up both hands, making "L" shapes, and crossing their hands together to form a "W", shouting; "Wami, baby!" to its on-air audience. Children would show up at WAMI-sponsored Fox Kids/

Politically Incorrect with Bill Maher, which had not been cleared by the area's ABC affiliate, WPLG.[citation needed
]

The station soon began to heavily incorporate local remote interstitials that were broadcast live. WAMI-TV often shot its interstitials, "live" at remote locations all over Miami-Dade and Broward counties, with the WAMI interstitial host often literally pulling passers-by off the streets to read the cue cards announcing the programs that would be shown on the station during the next hour. Another short program not seen on most other USA-owned stations was the topical program Lips, featuring a pair of ruby red lips in front of a black background, teasing the day's stories or issues, a concept that was thought to be inspired by The Rocky Horror Picture Show.[13]

WAMI-TV prominently used the on-air station "bug" or WAMI station ID logo, a variation of the WAMI "thought bubble"; the

cartoons and a few religious programs
.

By December 1998, after only six months on the air, WAMI-TV had outbid

NBA games prior to the station's relaunch.[14]

By late 1999, WAMI had grown into its role as the "

Tampa
.

Sale to Univision and switch to a Spanish-language format

Due to financial problems that USA Networks began facing in 2000, the company began looking to divest some of its assets. USA Broadcasting, as one of these assets, was considered for divestiture as part of a deal to help USA Networks repair its financial footing. In 2001, the remaining entertainment units of USA Broadcasting were sold to

Univision Communications outbid its competition in a close race. The sale was finalized on January 3, 2002.[16]

On January 14, 2002, WAMI-TV became a charter owned-and-operated station of Univision's fledgling Spanish-language secondary network, Telefutura (which rebranded as UniMás eleven years later on February 7, 2013). WPXM-TV (channel 35) and West Palm Beach sister station WPXP-TV acquired the rights to the Marlins telecasts (which were now produced by Fox Sports), which aired through the Florida Marlins Television Network, eventually dropping them in 2005 after Pax TV relaunched as i: Independent Television (the rights to Marlins and Heat telecasts are held by Sun Sports, now Bally Sports Sun).

In late 2009, most Univision-owned television stations, including WAMI and sister station WLTV, upgraded their main digital signals to transmit programming in 1080i high definition. TeleFutura's sister network Univision became the last major over-the-air television network in the United States to begin offering high definition programming on December 31, 2009.

Newscasts and local programming

Univision owned-and-operated sister station WLTV produces an hour-long weekday morning newscast for WAMI called Noticias 23 Al Amanecer en UniMás Miami, which airs Monday through Fridays at 7 a.m. and is an extension of WLTV's two-hour morning newscast. In addition, that station produces a public affairs program called Ahora en Nuestra Comunidad, which airs on Saturday mornings at 6 a.m. on WAMI-DT with a rebroadcast on WLTV at 11:30 a.m.

Awards and nominations

WAMI-TV during its 2½ year run under USA Broadcasting ownership, received 18 Suncoast Regional

Emmy Awards and 22 Promax Awards
.

Notable former on-air staff

Technical information

Subchannels

The station's digital signal is

multiplexed
:

Subchannels of WAMI-DT[21]
Channel Res. Aspect Short name Programming
69.1 720p
16:9
 WAMI-DT UniMás
69.2 480i Bounce Bounce TV
69.3
4:3
 getTV Get
69.4 16:9 GRIT Grit
69.5 QUEST Quest
6.4 480i 16:9 Oxygen Oxygen (WTVJ-DT4)
  Broadcast on behalf of another station

Analog-to-digital conversion

WAMI ended programming on its analog signal, on

UHF channel 69, On June 12, 2009, the official date on which full-power television stations in the United States transitioned from analog to digital broadcasts under federal mandate. The station's digital signal continued to broadcast on its pre-transition UHF channel 47,[22] using virtual channel
69. Like all Univision-owned stations, it also retained the "-DT" suffix on their calls at the time of transition.

References

  1. ^ "Facility Technical Data for WAMI-DT". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
  2. ^ Anderson, Jack E. (April 1, 1972). "'Mini-Transmitters' Will Help Improve Channel 6's Picture". Miami Herald. p. 8-C. Retrieved March 30, 2020.
  3. ^ Zbar, Jeffery D. (June 13, 1994). "WCIX ads advise viewers on getting good reception". Sun-Sentinel. p. Weekly Business 14. Retrieved March 30, 2020.
  4. ^ Alexander Jr., Luther C. (November 3, 1981). "Four companies seek license to broadcast on new UHF channel". Miami Herald. p. 7BR. Retrieved March 31, 2020.
  5. ^ Sante, Mike (July 6, 1983). "Competitors for new television station give up". Miami Herald. p. 3BR. Retrieved March 31, 2020.
  6. ^ Sante, Mike (June 19, 1983). "New station to focus on blacks' TV image". Miami Herald. p. 1BR, 5BR. Retrieved March 31, 2020.
  7. ^ Thornton, Linda (October 11, 1984). "SHE aims to boost image and ratings". Miami Herald. p. 12D. Retrieved March 31, 2020.
  8. ^ Oppenheimer, Andres (June 13, 1985). "Channel 69 purchase in doubt". Miami Herald. p. 17C. Retrieved March 31, 2020.
  9. ^ "HSN calls off takeover bid for C.O.M.B." Miami Herald. February 20, 1987. p. 7C. Retrieved March 31, 2020.
  10. ^ "Last rites for HSN-C.O.M.B. merger" (PDF). Broadcasting. February 23, 1987. p. 97. Retrieved March 31, 2020.
  11. ^ "Changing Hands" (PDF). Broadcasting. October 24, 1988. p. 62. Retrieved March 31, 2020.
  12. ^ Littleton, Cynthia (June 8, 1998). "Diller puts WAMI on Miami". Variety. Archived from the original on September 20, 2021.
  13. ^ "The Legend of WAMI-TV". The Legend of WAMI-TV. March 13, 2009. Archived from the original on September 29, 2020. Retrieved March 13, 2009.
  14. ^ Paxman, Andrew (December 16, 1998). "WAMI nabs Marlins rights". Variety. Penske Media Corporation. Archived from the original on January 12, 2016. Retrieved May 3, 2008.
  15. ^ Fabrikant, Geraldine (May 3, 2008). "Diller's Latest Tele-Vision; First, a Network of Cubic Zirconium. Now, a Station of Lips and Hardbodies". The New York Times. New York, New York. Retrieved May 3, 2008.
  16. ^ "05-21-02 Federal Communications Commission Grants Clearance for Univision's Proposed Acquisition of USA Broadcasting". univision. January 28, 2009. Retrieved January 28, 2009.
  17. ^ "BNet USA Broadcasting Appoints Chris Sloan to Senior Vice President Creative Director in Charge of Promotions". BNet. May 3, 2008. Retrieved May 3, 2008.
  18. ^ "1999 Suncoast Regional Emmy Award Recipients". suncoast.emmyonline.org. March 13, 2009. Archived from the original on March 8, 2009. Retrieved March 13, 2009.
  19. ^ "2000 Suncoast Regional Emmy Award Nominees". suncoast.emmyonline.org. March 13, 2009. Archived from the original on February 12, 2007. Retrieved March 13, 2009.
  20. ^ a b "Award Winners-Promax, BDA. ..." promaxbda. March 13, 2009. Archived from the original on July 11, 2008. Retrieved March 13, 2009.
  21. ^ RabbitEars TV Query for WAMI
  22. ^ "DTV Tentative Channel Designations for the First and the Second Rounds" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on August 29, 2013. Retrieved March 24, 2012.

External links