WVEN-TV (channel 43) is a

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 ea ...

licensed to

Melbourne, Florida Melbourne is a city in Brevard County, Florida, United States. It is located southeast of Orlando. As of th2020 Decennial Census there was a population of 84,678. The municipality is the second-largest in the county by both size and population. ...

, United States, broadcasting the Spanish-language

Univision Univision () is an American Spanish-language free-to-air television network owned by TelevisaUnivision. It is the United States' largest provider of Spanish-language content. The network's programming is aimed at the Latino public and include ...

network to the

Orlando Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures re ...

area. It is owned and operated by

TelevisaUnivision TelevisaUnivision (formerly known as Univision Communications) is a Mexican-American media company headquartered in New York and Mexico City, which owns the American Spanish language broadcast network Univision. 45% of the company is held by the ...

alongside low-power, Class A

UniMás UniMás (, stylized as ''UNIMÁS'', and originally known as TeleFutura from its launch on January 14, 2002, to January 6, 2013) is an American Spanish free-to-air television network owned by TelevisaUnivision. The network's programming, which i ...

outlet

WRCF-CD WRCF-CD (channel 29) is a low-power, Class A television station in Orlando, Florida, United States, broadcasting the Spanish-language UniMás network. It is owned and operated by TelevisaUnivision alongside Melbourne-licensed Univision outlet ...

(channel 29). Both stations share studios on Douglas Avenue in

Altamonte Springs Altamonte Springs is a suburban city in central Florida in Seminole County, Florida, United States, which had a population of 46,231 at the 2020 United States Census. The city is in the northern suburbs of the Greater Orlando, Orlando–Kissimmee ...

, while WVEN-TV's

transmitter In electronics and telecommunications, a radio transmitter or just transmitter is an electronic device which produces radio waves with an antenna. The transmitter itself generates a radio frequency alternating current, which is applied to the ...

is located in

unincorporated Unincorporated may refer to: * Unincorporated area, land not governed by a local municipality * Unincorporated entity, a type of organization * Unincorporated territories of the United States, territories under U.S. jurisdiction, to which Congress ...

Bithlo, Florida Bithlo is a census-designated place and an unincorporated community in Orange County, Florida, United States. The population was 8,268 at the 2010 census, up from 4,626 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Orlando–Kissimmee Metropolitan St ...

History

The station was assigned on February 9, 1987 with the

call sign In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign (also known as a call name or call letters—and historically as a call signal—or abbreviated as a call) is a unique identifier for a transmitter station. A call sign can be formally ass ...

of WLSY. On December 10 of that year, the call sign was changed to WAYQ. In 1988, Beach TV Partners signed on WAYQ at channel 26 as a

simulcast Simulcast (a portmanteau of simultaneous broadcast) is the broadcasting of programmes/programs or events across more than one resolution, bitrate or medium, or more than one service on the same medium, at exactly the same time (that is, simul ...

of Melbourne's

WAYK WAYK (105.9 FM) is an American contemporary Christian music station in the Louisville, Kentucky, metropolitan area. It is a WAY-FM Network owned-and-operated station. 105.9 FM was initially a construction permit with the call letters WVSL in ...

, giving them a signal in Daytona Beach. In early August 1990, owner Beach Television Partners based in

Vero Beach Vero Beach is a city in and the seat of Indian River County, Florida, United States. Vero Beach is the second most populous city in Indian River County. Abundant in beaches and wildlife, Vero Beach is located on Florida's Treasure Coast. It is thi ...

filed for

Chapter 11 Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code (Title 11 of the United States Code) permits reorganization under the bankruptcy laws of the United States. Such reorganization, known as Chapter 11 bankruptcy, is available to every business, wheth ...

reorganization over an inability to renegotiation loan payment schedule. At the time, the station was only carried part-time on CableVision of Central Florida, Orlando's major cable system. WAYK was affiliated with the Beach TV investor, Harry Handley, who founded the Star Television Network. The network launched in September 1990 only to close down on January 14, 1991. In 1992, WAYK and WAYQ were both sold to Robert Rich, who changed their format to feature more

paid programming Paid or PAID may refer to: * ''Paid'' (1930 film), an American film starring Joan Crawford * ''Paid'' (2006 film), a Dutch film *''Personality and Individual Differences'', a journal See also * Paide Paide is a town in Estonia and the ...

. The two stations' callsigns were respectively changed to WIRB and WNTO on .

WVEN

In 1996, the two stations were split up with

Paxson Communications Ion Media (formerly known as Paxson Communications Corporation and Ion Media Networks) was an American broadcasting company that owned and operated over 71 television stations in most major American markets (through its television stations group ...

acquiring WIRB (whose call letters would be changed to the present day

WOPX-TV WOPX-TV (channel 56) is a television station licensed to Melbourne, Florida, United States, broadcasting the Ion Television network to the Orlando area. Owned and operated by the Ion Media subsidiary of the E.W. Scripps Company, the station maint ...

), while WNTO was purchased by

Entravision Communications Entravision Communications Corporation is an American media company based in Santa Monica, California. Entravision primarily caters to the Spanish-speaking Hispanic community and owns television and radio stations and outdoor media, in several o ...

. On , WVEN became the station's call sign and the station also affiliated with Univision. On December 4, 2017, as part of a channel swap made by Entravision Communications, WVEN and sister station

WOTF WOTF-TV (channel 26) is a television station licensed to Daytona Beach, Florida, United States, serving the Orlando area as an affiliate of the digital multicast network Grit. The station is owned by Entravision Communications, and has a tran ...

swapped channel numbers, with WVEN moving from digital channel 49 and virtual channel 26 to digital and virtual channel 43. On October 13, 2021, Univision announced it would take over operation of WVEN and WOTF, as well as

Tampa Bay Tampa Bay is a large natural harbor and shallow estuary connected to the Gulf of Mexico on the west-central coast of Florida, comprising Hillsborough Bay, McKay Bay, Old Tampa Bay, Middle Tampa Bay, and Lower Tampa Bay. The largest freshwater ...

Univision affiliate

WVEA-TV WVEA-TV (channel 50) is a television station licensed to Tampa, Florida, United States, broadcasting the Spanish-language Univision and UniMás networks to the Tampa Bay area. Owned and operated by TelevisaUnivision, WVEA-TV maintains studios ...

, effective January 1, 2022, coinciding with the end of licensing agreements on December 31, 2021.

News operation

WVEN produces evening newscasts at 6 and 11 p.m. newscast under the ''Noticias Univision Florida Central'' (formerly ''Noticias Univision Orlando'' until 2010), along with local news updates that are broadcast on weekday mornings during Univision's morning news program ''

Despierta América "Despierta" (English: ''Wake Up'') was the first single from Edurne's debut album, '' Edurne''. Gustav Efraimsson Gustav Efraimsson (born 1980) is a Swedish songwriter and music producer.

'' under the title ''Despierta Orlando''. WVEN previously partnered with now-former sister radio station WNUE-FM (which has since been sold to Radio Training Network in mid-2021, now airing a non-commercial Christian AC format), which provided them with news briefs and breaking news events as they warranted.

Technical information

Subchannels

The station's digital signal is

multiplexed In telecommunications and computer networking, multiplexing (sometimes contracted to muxing) is a method by which multiple analog or digital signals are combined into one signal over a shared medium. The aim is to share a scarce resource - a ...

Analog-to-digital conversion

WVEN-TV ended programming on its analog signal, on

UHF Ultra high frequency (UHF) is the ITU designation for radio frequencies in the range between 300 megahertz (MHz) and 3 gigahertz (GHz), also known as the decimetre band as the wavelengths range from one meter to one tenth of a meter (on ...

channel 26, on June 12, 2009, as part of the federally mandated transition from analog to digital television.List of Digital Full-Power Stations
/ref> The station's digital signal continued to broadcast on its pre-transition UHF channel 49. Through the use of

PSIP The Program and System Information Protocol (PSIP) is the MPEG (a video and audio industry group) and privately defined program-specific information originally defined by General Instrument for the DigiCipher 2 system and later extended for the AT ...

, digital television receivers display the station's

virtual channel In most telecommunications organizations, a virtual channel is a method of remapping the ''program number'' as used in H.222 Program Association Tables and Program Mapping Tables to a channel number that can be entered via digits on a receiver's ...

as its former UHF analog channel 26.

References

External links

{{Major U.S. TV O-O Stations VEN-TV VEN-TV Univision network affiliates GetTV affiliates Bounce TV affiliates Ion Mystery affiliates Quest (American TV network) affiliates Television channels and stations established in 1988 1988 establishments in Florida Melbourne, Florida