| WTPB | |
|---|---|
| File:WTPB current logo.png | |
|
Location |
Texaville, Ohio |
|
Branding |
WTPB 28 |
|
Slogan |
Your Life-Long Learning Station in Texaville. |
|
Channel(s) |
Digital: 28 (VHF) |
|
Subchannel(s) |
WTPB HD 28.1 |
|
Affiliation |
PBS (1999-present) |
|
First air date |
July 21, 1967 |
|
Owner |
Texavillian Museum of Education |
|
Former channel number |
Analog: 28 (UHF) (1967-2009) |
|
Former affiliation(s) |
Independent (1967-1988) |
|
Licensing authority |
|
WTPB, virtual and UHF digital channel 28, is a PBS member television station licensed to Texaville, Ohio, United States. The station is owned by the Texavillian Museum of Education.
History[]
Roots as an independent station[]
What is now known as WTPB traces back to July 21, 1967, when Kaiser Broadcasting created an independent station with the callsign, WTXK-TV (standing for "TeXaville Kaiser"). The station ran a general entertainment format, similar to most other Kaiser-owned television stations, plus newscasts at day, noon, and night.
In 1977, when Kaiser merged with Field Communications in Chicago, Illinois, WTXK-TV became part of Field's line of television stations at the time, joining its sister stations, WFLD in Chicago, and WKBS-TV in Philadelphia. Having sold most of its television stations to other broadcast companies, except for WKBS-TV, which instead signed-off, Field sold WTXK-TV to Taft Broadcasting.
As a Disney Network station[]
On September 9, 1988, WTXK-TV became a charter member of the fledgeling Disney Network at the time the network was introduced. However, the station still advertised itself as an independent, as the Disney Network only aired programming on Fridays and Saturdays, and did not air a whole week's worth of programming until 1991. Walt Disney Television Stations assumed full control of the station in early 1993, thus making it an owned-and-operated station.
Current reign as a PBS station[]
On October 1, 1998, Walt Disney Television Stations (now part of the newly-formed Disney Broadcasting Alliance), having seen the wane on the station's viewership, announced that they would sell WTXK-TV to Tribune Broadcasting. Concurrently, the station was donated to the Texavillian Museum of Education, which had no choice but to run it as a Disney Network affiliate for a few months.
WTXK-TV's transition from the Disney Network to PBS began in January 1999, after the Museum of Education obtained control of the station. At midnight, on January 11, 1999, WTXK-TV dropped all references to the Disney Network's schedule, and signed-off for the final time; instead, repeats of Hill Street Blues, Knight Rider, and Miami Vice filled the Disney Network's primetime slots. Shortly afterward, the station's Disney Network-era website became a farewell website, when Disney Broadcasting Alliance employees replaced the entire website with a graphic of Disney characters saying farewell to WTXK-TV. A new website for its membership with PBS (www.wtpb.org) was created, which declared the new sign-on date for the station to be on February 1, 1999. Former PBS outlet WTVD-TV (Channel 12) consequently switched to being a Disney Network affiliate, thanks to the dissolution of WTXK-TV.
Ownership history[]
- 1967-77 - Kaiser Broadcasting
- 1977-83 - Field Communications
- 1983-93 - Taft Broadcasting
- 1993-99 - Walt Disney Television Stations (Disney Broadcasting Alliance)
- 1999-present - Texavillian Museum of Education
Sign-off history[]
Final sign-off (as a Disney Network affiliate, January 1999)[]
April Fool's stunts[]
During its years as a Disney Network station, WTPB did several April Fool's stunts.
1993 stunt[]
1994 stunt[]
1995 stunt[]
On April 1, 1995, WTXK-TV did an April Fool's stunt by displaying headshots from Johnathan Taylor Thomas, Zachery Ty Bryan, and Taran Noah Smith, the three boys of Home Improvement, for 24 hours straight. This was done, just to surprise people with HI coming to the station in syndication that September.
1996 stunt[]
Logo and ident history[]
Videos[]
| Television stations in Texaville, Ohio |
|---|
| WTMD-TV 2 (indie; defunct)
WTGS-TV 3 (ABC) |