WSTE-DT (channel 7), branded Univision Puerto Rico, is a television station licensed to Ponce, Puerto Rico, serving as the U.S. territory's outlet for the Spanish-language networks Univision and UniMás. Owned and operated by TelevisaUnivision, the station maintains studios on Calle Carazo in Guaynabo. To provide island-wide coverage, WSTE maintains a network of five transmitter sites, located at Cerro Maravilla in Ponce,[1] at Cerro La Marquesa in Aguas Buenas, at Cerro Canta Gallo in Aguada, on Highway 22 in Arecibo, and at the Monte del Estado in San Germán.
History
WRIK-TV
The station first signed on as WRIK-TV on February 2, 1958, after receiving the FCC permit to go on the air on channel 7.[2] It was the first television station in Ponce, and the fourth in Puerto Rico, after WKAQ-TV, WAPA-TV (both were established four years earlier), and WORA-TV (established three years earlier). It was owned by Alfredo Ramírez de Arellano. Its news director was Manuel Morales-Flores, with Felix Suria as production manager and Edmund Reid as its chief engineer. The station maintained a transmitter—originally located at El Vigía[3]—and studios at the Edificio Darlington—the first high-rise building in Ponce, completed in 1952.[4] Two years later, the transmitter was relocated to the Hotel Ponce Intercontinental.[5]
WRIK-TV operated as a Spanish-language independent station; it carried some 18 daily programs, including news, movies, cartoons, and soap operas, among others.[6] One notable show, airing in the late afternoons, was El Show de Tío Carlitos. In 1964, the station's staff had expanded to include president George A. Mayoral, general manager William Cortada, commercial manager and news director Luis A. "Wito" Morales, promotional manager Monsita M. Diaz, and chief engineer Americo Cintron.[7] The transmitter was relocated atop Cerro Maravilla in 1967.
Rikavisión
In 1969, Ramírez de Arellano announced the sale of 80 percent of WRIK-TV to United Artists Corporation for a reported $7 million.[8][9] Under United Artists, WRIK began operating from color-equipped studios in Ponce and San Juan[10] and rebranded as "Rikavisión".[2] The station's logo was a rooster. From San Juan, the station broadcast El Show de Tito Rodriguez for two seasons; the station also produced Ahi Va Eso (with Awilda Carbia, Jacobo Morales and Norma Candal), Contigo Anexo 3 (which included a young Lou Briel), Showtime (with Wilkins), Las Caribelles, El Show de Carol Myles, and children's show Rikalandia (hosted by Sandra Zaiter). One notable 1971 show was María, with Lucy Boscana.[11]
Cerro Maravilla incident
In 1978, two pro-independence activists attempted to blow up the WRIK-TV transmitter tower at Cerro Maravilla in an effort to call attention to their cause. Their plan was discovered by police and the two young men were ambushed by police at the peak during their operation. They were arrested and then murdered by the police while still in their custody at the peak.[12]
Teleluz (1979–1987)
In 1979, WRIK-TV was acquired by Puerto Rican producer Tommy Muñiz, owner of AM radio station WLUZ (or Radio Luz); its callsign was subsequently changed to WLUZ-TV (branded as "Teleluz") on March 28, 1979.
Programs shown during this era included a continuation of Sandra Zaiter's children's show and live, low-budget professional boxing telecasts from around Puerto Rico on Saturday nights. Boxers who fought on Teleluz frequently included Julian and Rafi Solis, Felix Trinidad Sr. and Victor Callejas. A series of these fight programs, fourteen in total, were held at Estudios Teleluz from 1979 to 1980, usually on Monday or Wednesday nights.[13]
SuperSiete / Teleisla (1987–2026)
Financial troubles forced Muñiz to sell the station to Malrite Communications Group for $1.3 million in 1985.[14] In 1987, the station was rebranded as SuperSiete,[2] and on February 18, 1987, the station changed its call letters to WSTE.[15] The sale process included an agreement where Pedro Muñiz assured that the employees retained their work spaces and was completed at a final investment of $6 million.[15] The station's transmitters were rearranged to cover the entire island, with the Cerro Maravilla facility being moved to Ponce and another being placed between Añasco and Rincón, with the new structure being inaugurated on February 22, 1987.[16]
The station experienced limited success at the time using colorful motion graphics and a new logo as well as major advertising in newspapers, and televising popular American sitcoms of the time, such as The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
Univision Puerto Rico (2026–present)
On March 19, 2026, it was announced that Teleisla would be rebranded as Univision Puerto Rico (the same branding TelevisaUnivision used when it owned WLII-DT). The rebranding also included the addition of newscasts from Noticiero N+ Univision and Primer Impacto during the early fringe time slot.[22]
On March 23, the rebranding became official when the Teleisla name and logo were retired from promotional spots and the on-screen watermark and replaced with the Unvision logo. As opposed to the previous version of Univision Puerto Rico, this iteration airs the entire afternoon block of programming live as it airs on the mainland with shows like Desiguales, Sientese Quien Pueda, El Gordo y la Flaca, Primer Impacto and Noticiero N+ Univision all airing live. The station does not have a news operation and instead will be airing Noticiero N+ Univision: Edicion Digital as a lead in for the national newscast.[23][24]
Technical information
Subchannels
The station's signal is multiplexed:
{{legend|#E6FFF7|Simulcast of subchannels of another station}}
Analog-to-digital conversion
WSTE shut down its analog signal, over VHF channel 7, at noon 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 relocated from its pre-transition VHF channel 8 to channel 7 for its post-transition operations.[25]
Transmitter facilities
To effectively cover all of Puerto Rico, WSTE used booster-type translator facilities across the island prior to the analog shutdown. In order for this booster system to work without any interference, WSTE's main transmitter had to be kept silent. The Ponce area was thus served from an auxiliary station transmitting at 100 kW. WSTE now uses a five-site, digital distributed transmission system
External links
- A history of television in Puerto Rico Archived at WayBack Machine of January 15, 2008.
- WRIK-TV's (Rikavision's) rooster logo in 1976 Archived at WayBack Machine on February 24, 2011.
- WRIK-TV at Edificio Raluan Darlington, Calle Marina, Ponce
References
- WSTE-DT: DTS SITE 2: BROADCAST AUXILIARY/REMOTE PICK-UP/STL. Accessed October 4, 2019.^
- PUERTO RICO. Museum of Broadcast Communications. Retrieved December 10, 2011.^
- (Guide to reading History Cards) History Cards for WSTE-DT