station whose call letters were wbnx from 1931 to 1984 see wkdm . not to be confused with wbns tv . wbnx tv akron cleveland ohio united states city akron ohio branding wbnx tv the cw slogan tv now channels digital 30 uhf virtual 55 psip affiliations .1 the cw .2 the happy channel .3 movies .4 heroes & icons owner winston broadcasting network inc. first air date december 1 1985 ; 30 years ago 1985 12 01 call letters meaning winston broadcasting network owner former channel number s analog 55 uhf 1985 2009 former affiliations dt1 independent 1985 1997 the wb 1997 2006 fox kids 1994 2002 fox box 4kids tv 2002 2008 dt3 this tv 2012 2015 transmitter power 1000 kw height 331.2 m facility id 72958 transmitter coordinates 41 23 3.4 n 81 41 43.6 w 41.384278 n 81.695444 w 41.384278 ; 81.695444 coordinates 41 23 3.4 n 81 41 43.6 w 41.384278 n 81.695444 w 41.384278 ; 81.695444 licensing authority fcc public license information profile cdbs website wbnx.com wbnx tv virtual channel 55 uhf digital channel 30 is a cw affiliated television station serving cleveland ohio united states that is licensed to akron . the station is owned by the winston broadcasting network a subsidiary of ernest angley ministries . 1 wbnx maintains studio facilities located in suburban cuyahoga falls and its transmitter is located in the cleveland suburb of parma . contents 1 history 1.1 prior history of channel 55 1.2 early days 1.3 fox kids and other shows 1.4 wb affiliation 1.5 cw affiliation 2 digital television 2.1 digital channels 2.2 analog to digital conversion 3 programming 4 on air staff 4.1 notable personalities and alumni 5 references 6 external links history edit prior history of channel 55 edit uhf analog channel 55 in northeast ohio was originally allocated to akron as wcot tv . the license was awarded to rex humbard in the late 1970s . the plan was for the station to sign on by 1981 with christian programming being broadcast for two thirds of the day and some family oriented entertainment programming a third of the day . construction on the station began in 1978 but ran out of funding and was on hold by 1980 . the secular programming that was to air on the station was sold to a new station wclq channel 61 now wqhs dt and the plan to build wcot was abandoned in 1981 . in 1982 humbard sold the construction permit to winston broadcasting a subsidiary of ernest angley ministries . construction of the station resumed in 1983 . early days edit wbnx tv first signed on the air on december 1 1985 as a secular for profit independent station . 2 the wbnx call letters were previously used by a radio station in new york city on 1380 am now wkdm until 1984 . before wbnx signed on its owner ernest angley bought humbard s television production facilities in cuyahoga falls to start the new station and later bought humbard s cathedral of tomorrow complex the current grace cathedral . the unfinished concrete tower which still stands behind grace cathedral was originally intended to hold wcot s transmission tower . that tower was never purchased or used by wbnx but is owned by krieger communications and used for cellular phone transmissions . 3 the station then branded as wbnx tv55 carried a general entertainment format with classic sitcoms dramas westerns low budget movies syndicated game shows cartoons and a twice daily airing of station owner angley s religious talk variety show the 90 and 9 club . 1 during this time wbnx aimed its programming at family audiences and imposed censoring standards that were similar to that used by the family channel nick at nite and other kids and teens oriented cable channels . 4 wbnx s original transmitter was located on snowville road in brecksville which was originally used by wkyc tv channel 3 in its earlier days . the old technology for the transmitter forced wbnx to broadcast its audio feed in monaural rather than in stereo . in 2000 wbnx built a new transmitter and tower in parma becoming the tallest television broadcast tower in the cleveland market . 5 fox kids and other shows edit in september 1994 wjw tv channel 8 and woio tv swapped network affiliations with fox network going to wjw and cbs affiliation going to woio as part of a groupwide affiliation deal between fox and wjw s then owner new world communications . 6 however wjw just like other fox stations owned by new world declined to carry the fox kids block . wbnx tv acquired the local rights to carry fox kids programming instead along with syndicated programs that got displaced from the two stations as part of the affiliation shakeup . 7 wbnx became home to the largest fox kids club in the country ; besides carrying fox kids channel 55 also aired syndicated children s programs and eventually added competing children s program lineup kids wb when the wb moved to the station in september 1997 ; because of this the station promoted itself at one point as cleveland s kids superstation the only other station to carry the same children s programming inventory as wbnx was phoenix s wb affiliate kasw . cable providers throughout northeast ohio began to carry wbnx around this time . the lineup during this period included more contemporary children s shows sitcoms movies and dramas . wbnx tv s censoring standards adapted to the newer contractual air as is programming formats . wb affiliation edit on september 1 1997 wbnx tv affiliated with the wb television network assuming the affiliation from wuab which carried the network s primetime programming from the network s january 11 1995 launch as a secondary affiliation ; the station then branded itself as wb 55 . after becoming a wb affiliate wbnx tv continued to grow and eventually took the overall ratings lead above wuab by 2004 . from 1998 to 2004 wbnx approached cleveland late night icon the ghoul portrayed by ron sweed to host the station s friday night later on sunday nights towards the end of the program s run movie showcase . 8 wbnx consistently ranked in the top 11 of all wb affiliates in the country and was the 1 wb affiliate in overall ratings among the 19 largest television markets during the november 2005 sweeps ratings period . 9 cw affiliation edit on january 24 2006 the warner bros. unit of time warner and cbs corporation announced that the two companies would shut down the wb and upn and combine the networks respective programming to create a new fifth network called the cw . 10 11 following the announcement both wbnx and wuab were in the running to become cleveland s affiliate of the new network . on march 1 2006 winston broadcasting and cw network management confirmed that wbnx would become the cleveland market s cw affiliate 12 13 as one of the first four strongest stations outside of the network s core tribune broadcasting and cbs television stations owned affiliate groups to join with the network . 14 wbnx affiliated with the cw when it officially debuted on september 18 2006 and began branding as wbnx the cw . on april 30 2007 wbnx began broadcasting cw network programming in high definition and 5.1 stereo surround sound . digital television edit digital channels edit channel video aspect psip short name programming 15 55.1 1080i 16 9 wbnx hd main wbnx tv programming the cw 55.2 480i 4 3 wbnx sd the happy channel 55.3 16 9 movies movies 55.4 heroes heroes & icons on october 11 2010 wbnx s second digital subchannel debuted as an independent station branded as the happy channel airing religious family oriented programming such as ernest angley ministries produced programs such as the 90 & 9 club the ernest angley hour and the gospel music series sing sing sing come on let s sing along with other select family programs . 16 digital channel 55.2 is currently available over the air and on select cable providers . on march 20 2012 wbnx activated a new subchannel which six days later became the new cleveland affiliate of this tv which had previously been carried on wuab until that station s affiliation contract with the network expired . 17 digital channel 55.3 is available over the air and on most cable providers in northeastern ohio including time warner cox cable massillon cable and others . 18 on march 23 2015 wbnx replaced this tv with the movies network . 19 in november 2015 it was announced that wbnx would become an affiliate of the heroes & icons network . the network is carried on 55.4 which was activated on december 30 2015 . 20 analog to digital conversion edit wbnx tv shut down its analog signal over uhf channel 55 on june 12 2009 the official date in which full power television stations in the united states transitioned from analog to digital broadcasts under federal mandate . the station s digital signal remained on its pre transition uhf channel 30 . 21 through the use of psip digital television receivers display the station s virtual channel as its former uhf analog channel 55 which was among the high band uhf channels 52 69 that were removed from broadcasting use as a result of the transition . programming edit in addition to carrying the entire cw network programming lineup syndicated programs broadcast on wbnx as of september 2015 update include divorce court mike and molly bones law & order criminal intent rules of engagement cougar town and friends . 22 in september 1994 after wjw became a fox affiliate the station made an arrangement with wbnx to air a rebroadcast of wjw s 10 00 p.m. newscast each night at 11 00 p.m. ; this continued until september 1996 . on air staff edit notable personalities and alumni edit ron sweed the ghoul 23 references edit a b wbnx ownership ernest angley.org wbnx info wbnx.com wbnx building and location way marking.com early wbnx logo and slogan wbnx tower fybush.com 1994 network shuffle boston radio.org fox kids on wbnx retro junk.com the ghoul premier tv week jan 30 2006 gilmore girls meet smackdown ; cw network to combine wb upn in cbs warner venture beginning in september cnnmoney.com january 24 2006 . upn and wb to combine forming new tv network the new york times january 24 2006 . cw signs first five outside affils broadcasting & cable march 1 2006 . the futon critic cw my network tv win affils broadcasting & cable march 5 2006 . station information wbnx schedule titan tv.com this tv on wbnx this tv.com movies tv network wbnx tv cleveland s cw where to watch movies tv network.com heroes and icons where to watch h & i dtv tentative channel designations for the first and second rounds pdf . retrieved 2012 03 24 . wbnx tv schedule . titan tv . broadcast interactive media llc . laurence j adkinson jr . ljajr.net . retrieved 2012 11 08 . external links edit official website cleveland.thistv.com official this tv cleveland website query the fcc s tv station database for wbnx tv biafn s media web database information on wbnx tv v t e television in northeast ohio including cleveland akron and canton reception may vary by location and some stations may only be viewable with cable television local stations wkyc 3.1 nbc 3.2 justice 3.3 wx radar wews tv 5.1 abc 5.2 cozi tv 5.3 laff wlfm lp 6 radio wjw 8.1 fox 8.2 antenna tv w16do d waoh cd 16.1 29.1 retro tv wdli tv 17.1 tbn 17.2 hillsong 17.3 smile juce 17.4 enlace 17.5 salsa woio 19.1 cbs 19.2 metv wqdi ld 20.1 estrella tv 20.2 accuweather 20.3 comet 20.4 asn 20.5 ontv4u 20.6 qvc plus wvpx