WBPA-LD
{{Short description|Television station in Pittsburgh}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2025}}
{{Infobox television station
| callsign = WBPA-LD
| logo =
| image =
| location = Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
| country = United States
| branding =
| digital = 12 (VHF)
| virtual = 12
| subchannels =
| translators =
| affiliations = see {{section link||Subchannels}}
| owner = Venture Technologies Group
| founded = January 14, 1988
| airdate = {{start date and age|1989|9|28}}
| last_airdate =
| callsign_meaning = "WB Pennsylvania" (from stint as WB affiliate)
| sister_stations =
| former_callsigns = {{ubl|W29AH (1989–June 1995)|WTWB-LP (June-December 1995)|WBPA-LP (December 1995–2020)}}
| former_channel_numbers = Analog: 29 (UHF, 1989–2004), 30 (UHF, 2005–2019)
| former_affiliations = {{ubl|Video Jukebox Network (1989–1995)|The WB (1995–1997)|Independent (1997–1998)|UPN (1998–{{circa|2006}})}}
| erp = 3 kW
| haat = {{convert|169.3|m|ft|0|abbr=on}}
| facility_id = 10185
| class = LD
| coordinates = {{coord|40|26|46.2|N|79|57|50.2|W|type:landmark_scale:2000}}
| licensing_authority = FCC
| website =
}}
WBPA-LD (channel 12) is a low-power television station in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The station is owned by Venture Technologies Group.
History
On January 14, 1988, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) granted a construction permit to Channel 29 Associates of Calabasas, California—owned by Venture founder Lawrence Rogow—for a new low-power TV station on channel 29 at Pittsburgh, W29AH. The station began test broadcasts on September 28, 1989, airing programming from the Video Jukebox Network.{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/64501872/|title=Johnson agrees to seven-year WPXI contract|first=Ron|last=Weiskind|work=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette|page=22|date=December 7, 1989|accessdate=December 2, 2020}}
After five years of running music videos, channel 29 found a new calling in January 1995, when The WB launched. W29AH was intended to serve as one half of a simulcast with Johnstown's WTWB-TV channel 19, filling the largest missing market gap for the new network.{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/64501965/|title=Local stations air new network|date=January 19, 1995|accessdate=December 3, 2020|page=C-3|first=Ron|last=Weiskind|work=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette}} W29AH became WTWB-LP on June 1, 1995, and WBPA-LP on December 15. Channels 19 and 29 became the new UPN affiliate in 1998 when that network's former outlet, WPTT channel 22, switched to The WB (with WTWB-TV becoming WNPA); they briefly were independents due to lawsuits surrounding that station's change.{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/64502231/|accessdate=December 2, 2020|date=August 29, 1997|work=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette|title=TV station revamping programming, call letters|first=Barbara|last=Vancheri|page=A-11}}{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/64502446/|title='Voyager' warps to new local UPN affiliate|page=C-9|date=January 17, 1998|work=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette|accessdate=December 2, 2020}}
Venture sold channel 19 to the Paramount Stations Group late in 1998, making it a network owned-and-operated station and splitting it from WBPA-LP.{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/64502543/|title=Paramount Stations has purchased UPN's Pittsburgh affiliate, WNPA|work=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette|date=November 10, 1998|page=F-8|accessdate=December 2, 2020}} For several months, the two continued simulcasting.{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/64502612/|title=Risqué 'Happy Hour' debuts tonight on USA|page=D-9|date=April 3, 1999|work=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette|accessdate=December 2, 2020}} In the early 2000s, WBPA-LP moved to channel 30.
In 2012, Venture sought to build digital facilities for WBPA-LP on channel 6, utilizing hybrid analog-digital technology to turn it into a "Franken-FM" station with audio on 87.7 MHz. The FCC denied this proposal on technical grounds with the standard that the company proposed for WBPA and a station in Lubbock, Texas.{{Cite news |date=August 8, 2012 |title=Pittsburgh 'Franken-FM' Request Denied |language=en-US |url=https://www.radioworld.com/news-and-business/pittsburgh-frankenfm-request-denied |access-date=December 3, 2020}}
WBPA-LP was displaced during the repack by Class A station WPTG-CD and applied to move to channel 12 and convert to digital. The station went silent to allow WPTG-CD to move in 2019, but delays from the COVID-19 pandemic, the availability of transmitter installers, and a contracted electrician's foot operation set the reconstruction of WBPA back enough that Venture had to apply for a waiver to avoid automatic license cancellation.{{cite web|url=https://enterpriseefiling.fcc.gov/dataentry/public/tv/draftCopy.html?displayType=html&appKey=25076f91744bb0cc01748e003fda5e7d&id=25076f91744bb0cc01748e003fda5e7d&goBack=N|title=Request for Silent Authority of an Analog LPTV Station Application (LMS 121649)|date=September 14, 2020|accessdate=December 2, 2020}} The facility was completed in late October, when a license to cover was filed.{{cite web|url=https://enterpriseefiling.fcc.gov/dataentry/public/tv/draftCopy.html?displayType=html&appKey=25076ff37571d5ba01757256320c003c&id=25076ff37571d5ba01757256320c003c&goBack=N|title=License To Cover for LPTV Station Application (LMS 125159)|date=October 28, 2020|accessdate=December 2, 2020}}
Subchannels
The station's signal is multiplexed:
| class="wikitable"
|+ Subchannels of WBPA-LD{{cite web |title=WBPA-LD PITTSBURGH, PA |url=https://www.rabbitears.info/market.php?request=print_station&facility_id=10185 |website=RabbitEars|accessdate=April 21, 2025}} ! scope= "col" | Channel ! scope= "col" | Res. ! scope= "col" | Aspect ! scope= "col" | Short name ! scope= "col" | Programming |
| scope= "row" | 12.1
| rowspan=10|480i | rowspan=10| 16:9 | WBPA-LD | Rev'n |
|---|
| scope= "row | 12.2
| Action |
| scope= "row" | 12.3
| Family |
| scope= "row" | 12.4
| AceTV | Ace TV |
| scope= "row" | 12.5
| RightNw | Right Now TV |
| scope= "row" | 12.6
| YouToo | YTA TV |
| scope= "row | 12.7
| AMGTV | AMGTV |
| scope= "row" | 12.8
| FunRds | Fun Roads TV |
| scope= "row" | 12.10
| WXNatn |
| scope= "row" | 12.11
| AmVoice |