WVUP-CD

WVUP-CD (channel 45) is a low-power, Class A television station in Tallahassee, Florida, United States, owned and operated by the Christian Television Network (CTN). The station's studios are located on Capital Circle Northeast in Tallahassee, and its transmitter is located on Thomasville Road in northern Leon County, Florida, near the Georgia state line. WVUP-CD offers 24-hour religious programming, much of which is produced either locally or at the CTN home base in Clearwater, Florida.

The station went on the air in 1984 as W17AB and was one of the most successful low-power TV stations anywhere in the United States in the 1980s. However, the advent of a new full-power independent station led to its conversion to home shopping programs and then to local Christian programming. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, the station briefly returned to a general entertainment format as a UPN affiliate. However, its owner, Southern Nights Entertainment Corporation, was insufficiently capitalized. As a result, the station was sold at public sale in 2001 to The Note Capital Corporation. CTN then purchased it and returned it to the air with its Christian programming in 2003.

History

W17AB in the 1980s

UPN affiliation

W17AB emerged from its religious programming in October 1998 and began airing UPN. The network had not been seen in Tallahassee for more than a year since WGVP in Valdosta, Georgia, in the Tallahassee media market but not receivable in the city, had become its affiliate.[8] Southern Nights then acquired W17AB from Associated Christian Television System.[9]

Concurrently with this move, Southern Nights was leasing and attempting to buy WGVP. In September 1998, it had reached a deal, filed with the FCC, to buy 51 percent of that station for $3.65 million.[10] The deal hung at the FCC for 18 months before it granted approval in March 2000.[11] The call sign on W17AB changed to WVUP-LP on April 20, 2000.[12] Owing to financial complications, the Valdosta deal was not consummated, and the company's financial position deteriorated quickly. In September 2000, pursuant to early 1999 agreements between Southern Nights and WGVP owner Hutchens Communications, SNE auctioned its rights to purchase Hutchens to the highest bidder on the steps of the Lowndes County, Georgia, courthouse.[13] A secured creditor then forced the public sale of WVUP-LP itself in February 2001.[14]

In the wake of the sale, The Note Capital Corporation filed to assume the license of WVUP-LP.[15] However, the station was so desperate for cash that it ran programming from the American Collectibles Network, a home shopping service, outside of UPN program hours and had not reliably been on the air for two months. Comcast cable system managers also claimed that some evenings, home shopping aired instead of the UPN lineup; as a result, Comcast removed WVUP-LP from its system in early March 2001. Don Palmer, head of Southern Nights, claimed that the primary reason for its financial struggles was litigation resulting from the failed Valdosta station purchase in which the company sought to recover costs it incurred running WGVP.[16] UPN programs then turned up on a local cable channel in the interim,[17] though there was no over-the-air broadcast of the network until WTLF started in 2003.[18]

callsign	WVUP-CD
branding	CTN Tallahassee–Thomasville
city	Tallahassee, Florida
digital	30 (UHF)
virtual	45
affiliations	45.1: CTN for others, see
airdate	May 11, 1984
location	Tallahassee, Florida Thomasville, Georgia
country	United States
callsign meaning	Station was an affiliate of UPN in the early 2000s
owner	Christian Television Network
licensee	Christian Television Corporation, Inc.
former callsigns	W17AB (1984–2000) WVUP-LP (2000–2001) WVUP-CA (2001–2009)
former affiliations	Independent (1984–1989) HSN (1989) Religious (1989–1998) UPN (1998–2001)
erp	15 kW
haat	260.6 m
facility id	3032
class	CD
coordinates	30.57444°N, -84.2025°W
licensing authority	FCC
website	https://www.ctnonline.com/affiliate-stations/ctn-tallahassee-thomasville-wvup/

History

W17AB in the 1980s

UPN affiliation

CTN ownership

Subchannels

See also

References