WMNT-CA
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| WMNT-CA | |
|---|---|
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| Toledo, Ohio | |
| Branding | My 58 (for its cable television position) |
| Channels | 48 (UHF), cable 58 analog |
| Affiliations | MyNetworkTV America One |
| Owner | Matrix Broadcasting Group, LLC (Cornerstone Church) (Ralph Denune III, Receiver) |
| Founded | March 23, 1987 |
| Call letters meaning | W My Network TV (or Toledo) |
| Former callsigns | W48AP (1987-1996) WNGT-LP (1996-2006) |
| Former affiliations | Independent / FamilyNet 1989-1990 STAR Television Network 1990 |
| Transmitter Power | 11 kW/130.5 m |
| Class | Class-A |
| Website | www.wmnttv.com |
WMNT-CA channel 48 is a Low-power broadcasting TV station in Toledo, Ohio, and carries MyNetworkTV and America One for that market. The station is a Class-A operation. While the station broadcasts on channel 48, it is seen on Toledo's Buckeye CableSystem on channel 58, hence its moniker "My 58".
WMNT is owned by the Cornerstone Church, through its broadcasting arm, Matrix Broadcasting Group. However, its license is held by Ralph Denune III, who was appointed by the Lucas County Common Pleas Court to oversee the station when it was put under receivership in February 2005.
Its studios are located at a shopping center in Maumee, adjacent to the Cornerstone Church at the corner of Reynolds Road and Dussel Drive.
Contents |
[edit] History
The station was licensed as W48AP on March 23, 1987, with broadcasts commencing in March 1989 from studios and transmitters located at 716 North Westwood Avenue, in west Toledo. Initially, "HomeTown TV 48" carried a wide variety of locally-produced programming including a trivia quiz game show ("Trivia in Toledo" or "TnT", hosted by Jerry Millen); a current affairs and political program ("High Level Views" hosted by Chuck Schmitt); "Neighbor Talk," an interview-driven talk show hosted by general manager Bob Moore, and featuring local guests talking about topics ranging from political issues to hobbies; a nightly auction program featuring products from local merchants and hosted by Douglas Goff; broadcasts of entertainment acts from local fairs and festivals; a weekly autos and boats for sale program called "Wheels, Keels, and Deals" and a spin-off called "Homes for Sale" featuring local real property; a children's series called "Abracadabra" featuring games, activities, and ventriloquism; a variety show hosted by long-time actor and singer Johnny Ginger; local high school football and basketball games (several each week); as well as other specials and series. Programming during non-prime hours was initially provided by FamilyNet (now seen in Toledo on WLMB TV40), which featured classic movies and religious programs.
Despite the fact that TV48 was widely recognized as a pioneer of community-oriented LPTV, W48AP suffered initially in its bid for cable TV carriage as the local cablesystems did not generally grant LPTV stations space on their networks. This effectively relegated their signal to being viewed on "second TVs" and in the minority of households that did not subscribe to cable--which meant that getting advertising support was difficult. Exaccerbating the difficulties posed by lack of cable carriage, the local newspaper (The Toledo Blade, whose owners, Block Communications, also own the local cable system) refused to publish TV listings for TV48. TV48 bought small ads in the Sunday TV listings booklet, but was not able to list their programming alongside the other stations in the main listing section. This marginalization of TV48 led to not being able to survive the expense of producing dozens of hours of local programming each week, and by 1991 TV48 had dropped the "HomeTown TV48" moniker and resorted to full-time satellite-fed programming from the short-lived STAR Television Network (featuring classic TV shows from the 1940s through 1970s as well as reruns of old game shows), and then Channel America.
As a last-ditch effort to keep the TV48 signal on the air and producing a revenue stream, in 1992 TV48 began airing pay-per-view music videos from The Box full-time (with audio simulcast from local CHR radio station WTWR-FM during periods with no videos), which lasted until 1995. Station co-founder Robert S. "Bob" Moore managed the station from its beginning until 1995. W48AP-TV was then sold to its current owners, who affiliated the station with the then-new UPN network in 1995, and changed its call letters to WNGT-LP(New Generation Television) in 1996. After UPN ceased operations in September 2006, WNGT became a MyNetworkTV affiliate, and changed its call letters to WMNT-CA on September 15, 2006.
[edit] Problems
Under the current ownership, WMNT has experienced many technical broadcast problems, with outdated equipment and signal loss when switching VTR machines. The station also has satellite pixelation often, along with Windows menus popping up on-screen from automation.
And while the station was under control of its second (and current) owners Marty and Linda Miller (after purchase from the original founder, Bob Moore, in 1995), the station's studio at the National City Bank Building in downtown Toledo was often left unlocked and unattended; as a result, Denune, the court-appointed receiver, appointed the Cornerstone Church to operate the station, citing that, under the Millers, anyone could simply walk in and broadcast anything they want, with the licensee (Denune) getting all the blame. ([1])
Also, through September 2006, the station used the former 'silver shapes' UPN logo on-air, with the latest 'slanted circle' logo appearing only on the station's website.
[edit] Previous Logos
 WNGT's UPN48 logo from 1999, though the logo used on-air until September 2006. |
 WNGT's previous logo, which was used only on its website. |
[edit] External links
- WMNT's Official Website
- Michiguide's WMNT entry
- Toledo Free Press: Battle for UPN-48 heats up (Sept. 21, 2005)
- Toledo Blade: Low-power station produces a high-stakes drama (Mar. 25, 2007)
- Toledo Blade: Legal entaglements hamper WNGT-TV's future (Mar. 26, 2007)
- Query the FCC's TV station database for WMNT
| Local television stations
WTOL 11 (CBS) - WTVG 13 (ABC, News on DT2, The AccuWeather Channel on DT3) - W22CO 22 (TBN) - WNWO 24 (NBC, The Tube on DT2, WX+ on DT3) - WBGU 27 (PBS) - WGTE 30 (PBS) - WBTL 34 (AS) - WUPW 36 (Fox) - W38DH 38 (AS) - WLMB 40 (FamilyNet) - WMNT 48 (MNTV/A1) |
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Outlying Areas: |
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Local cable television stations |
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| See also: Broadcast television stations in the Detroit-Windsor, Lansing, Cleveland, Columbus, Lima, Fort Wayne and London Markets | ||
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WSYX-DT 6.2 (Columbus) - WOHL-CA 25 (secondary) (Lima) - WYTV-DT 33.2 (Youngstown) - WUAB 43 (Cleveland) - WRGT-DT 45.2 (Dayton) |
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| See also: ABC, CBS, CW, Fox, NBC, PBS and Other stations in Ohio | |
