WBON-LD is a digital low power

television station A television station is a set of equipment managed by a business, organisation or other entity, such as an amateur television (ATV) operator, that transmits video content and audio content via radio waves directly from a transmitter on the earth ...

serving portions of east-central

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...

, including the Lexington area. Licensed to

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, ...

with a transmitter near

Waco Waco ( ) is the county seat of McLennan County, Texas, United States. It is situated along the Brazos River and I-35, halfway between Dallas and Austin. The city had a 2020 population of 138,486, making it the 22nd-most populous city in the st ...

, the station is owned by Wallingford Broadcasting, Inc. The station's digital signal is broadcast on digital

VHF Very high frequency (VHF) is the ITU designation for the range of radio frequency electromagnetic waves (radio waves) from 30 to 300 megahertz (MHz), with corresponding wavelengths of ten meters to one meter. Frequencies immediately below VHF ...

channel 9. It shares a broadcast tower with co-owned FM stations

WCYO WCYO (100.7 FM) is a radio station broadcasting a country music format. Licensed to Irvine, Kentucky, United States, the station serves Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Ric ...

and

WLFX WLFX (106.7 FM) is a radio station broadcasting a mix of Soft AC and AC formats. Licensed to Berea, Kentucky, United States, the station serves the Richmond area and southern parts of the Lexington area. The station is currently owned by Wa ...

History

Originally licensed in East Bernstadt, Kentucky in 1991 as W09BZ, the station began life on November 29, 1993 as an America One affiliate, but also providing programming from the Trinity Broadcasting Network on a secondary basis. For its first 20+ years on the air, the station was owned by Andrea and Joey Kesler, the latter of which was a former WKYH-TV weatherman and sportscaster. The station's callsign was changed to WOBZ-LP in 2000. The station then became affiliated with

Urban America Television Urban America Television (UATV) was an over-the-air television broadcast network in the United States targeted towards Black Americans. According to the company's website, the network had 70 affiliate stations. UATV claimed to have had a reach o ...

in 2001, and stayed with that network until that network closed in 2006."ps2"
WOBZ-TV 9. Archived from th

October 9, 2004. Retrieved October 10, 2019. It switched to the

Retro Television Network Retro TV (stylized as retrotv), formerly known as Retro Television Network, is an American broadcast television network owned by Get After It Media. The network mainly airs classic television sitcoms and drama series from the 1950s through th ...

as its affiliated network, but also launched a DT2 subchannel to carry Frost Great Outdoors programming. The station's DT3 subchanel aired programming from

Luken Communications Get After It Media, formerly known as Luken Communications and Reach High Media Group, is a privately owned American broadcast holding company, based in Chattanooga, Tennessee, which owns or operates around 80 television stations in the United St ...

-owned Tuff TV beginning in the early 2010s, along with Jewelry Television programming during the overnight hours. Upon the station's conversion to

digital Digital usually refers to something using discrete digits, often binary digits. Technology and computing Hardware *Digital electronics, electronic circuits which operate using digital signals **Digital camera, which captures and stores digital i ...

in 2010, the station's replaced the -LP suffix in their callsign with -LD to become WOBZ-LD.

Tower collapse

On January 29, 2008, the tower used by WOBZ-LP and radio station WJJA-LP collapsed during a storm. The station continued to be seen on London cable and over the internet. Station management hoped to build a new tower by April of that year, which they did.

New affiliation and ownership

In 2016, the station's main digital subchannel became an affiliate of

Buzzr Buzzr is an American digital terrestrial television, digital broadcast television network owned by Fremantle North America, a unit of the Fremantle (company), Fremantle subsidiary of RTL Group. The network serves as an outlet for the extensive li ...

, featuring FremantleMedia’s classic

game show A game show is a genre of broadcast viewing entertainment (radio, television, internet, stage or other) where contestants compete for a reward. These programs can either be participatory or Let's Play, demonstrative and are typically directed b ...

library. In 2018, the station was sold to its current owner, Wallingford Broadcasting.

Relocation to Richmond

Under new ownership, the station applied with the FCC to relocate its studio and transmission facilities to

in early 2019. It was granted a construction permit in February 2019 to relocate as well as to upgrade its signal power to 3,000 watts. On July 11 of the same year, the station’s callsign changed to the current WBON-LD. The move was completed in April 2020 and the station now operates under full license to cover from Richmond as WBON-LD.

Digital television

Digital channels

The station's digital channel is multiplexed. The station’s subchannel lineup is currently listed as follows:

Locally-based programming

In addition to network programming, WBON-LD currently provides local programming, including

KHSAA The Kentucky High School Athletic Association (KHSAA) has been the governing body of the U.S. state of Kentucky high-school athletics since 1917. It is located in Lexington. Sports The organization sanctions competition in the following sports ...

-sanctioned high school football and basketball games, a daily local newscast called "LIVE at FIVE" along other locally produced & seasonal programming, and some syndicated programming, some of which is compliant of the FCC's children's television programming requirements. In the 2000s as WOBZ-LP/LD, the station was the southeastern Kentucky home to Ohio Valley Wrestling originating from WBKI-TV in Louisville.

Logos

Wobz.jpg, Logo used from 2005 to 2010

References

External links

Official homepage
{{Other Kentucky Stations 1993 establishments in Kentucky Buzzr affiliates Low-power television stations in Kentucky Laurel County, Kentucky Television channels and stations established in 1993 BON-LD Richmond, Kentucky