please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . november 2012 learn how and when to remove this template message wpcw jeannette pittsburgh pennsylvania united states branding pittsburgh s cw general kdka tv news on the cw newscasts slogan tv now channels digital 11 vhf virtual 19 psip subchannels 19.1 the cw 19.2 heroes & icons translators see below affiliations the cw 2006 present cbs alternate affiliate owner cbs corporation pittsburgh television station wpcw inc. first air date october 15 1953 1953 10 15 in johnstown moved to jeannette in 1997 call letters meaning we re pittsburgh s cw sister station s kdka kdka fm kdka tv wbzz wdsy fm former callsigns ward tv 1953 1972 wjnl tv 1972 1983 wfat tv 1983 1988 wptj 1988 1994 wbpa lp 1994 1997 wtwb tv 1997 1998 wnpa 1998 2006 former channel number s analog 56 uhf 1953 1970 19 uhf 1970 2009 digital 49 uhf 1998 2009 former affiliations primary cbs 1953 1982 independent 1982 1991 1994 1995 silent 1991 1994 the wb 1995 1998 upn 1998 2006 secondary abc 1953 1970 transmitter power 30 kw height 258.9 m facility id 69880 transmitter coordinates 40 29 38 n 80 1 9 w 40.49389 n 80.01917 w 40.49389 ; 80.01917 coordinates 40 29 38 n 80 1 9 w 40.49389 n 80.01917 w 40.49389 ; 80.01917 licensing authority fcc public license information profile cdbs website cwpittsburgh.cbslocal.com wpcw virtual channel 19 vhf digital channel 11 is a television station licensed to jeannette pennsylvania united states that serves as the cw owned and operated station for the pittsburgh television market . the station is owned by the cbs television stations subsidiary of cbs corporation as part of a duopoly with cbs station kdka tv channel 2 . the two stations share studio facilities at the gateway center in downtown pittsburgh ; wpcw s transmitter is located in the perry north section of pittsburgh . on cable wpcw is carried on comcast channels 15 channel 22 in bethel park standard definition and 808 high definition and verizon fios channel 3 . by way of extended cable coverage wpcw also serves as the default cw affiliate for the johnstown altoona state college television market since that area currently lacks a cw affiliate of its own even though cw affiliated superstation wpix in new york is also carried on comcast in state college . wpcw was a johnstown station for most of its history . contents 1 digital television 1.1 digital channel 1.2 analog to digital conversion 1.3 rebroadcasters 2 history 2.1 as ward tv 2.2 as wjnl tv 2.3 as wfat and wptj 2.4 decline and bankruptcy 2.5 return as wtwb tv 2.6 as wnpa 2.7 today 3 programming 4 newscasts 5 references 6 external links digital television edit digital channel edit this station s digital signal is multiplexed channel video aspect psip short name programming 1 19.1 1080i 16 9 wpcw 19 main wpcw programming the cw 19.2 480i wpcw19 .2 heroes & icons analog to digital conversion edit wpcw shut down its analog signal over uhf channel 19 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 relocated from its pre transition uhf channel 49 where its digital signal was originally slated to remain post transition to vhf channel 11 the former allocation of wpxi s analog signal . 2 through the use of psip digital television receivers display the station s virtual channel as its former uhf analog channel 19 . interference with cleveland ohio cbs affiliate woio that existed when both stations operated analog signals is no longer an issue as that station is broadcasting its digital signal on vhf channel 10 . in july 2009 the station applied with the fcc for a repeater digital signal on channel 27 in johnstown . 3 rebroadcasters edit wpcw is rebroadcast on wbpa lp in pittsburgh owned by venture technologies group llc from the days when it did not have a strong signal throughout the city . 4 wpcw has a construction permit to air a fill in digital translator in johnstown . callsign channel city of license transmitter location note wpcw 27 johnstown laurel hill state park along the somerset and westmoreland county line licensed wbpa lp 30 pittsburgh same as main signal has construction permit to operate digital signal on vhf channel 6 as wbpa ld from new transmitter in clinton history edit as ward tv edit wpcw signed on the air on october 15 1953 as ward tv on analog uhf channel 56 with studios on franklin street in downtown johnstown . the station was founded by central broadcasting with the licensee for the tv station under the name rivoli realty company separate from the radio station yet still co owned . the station operated at a power of 91 000 watts visual and 45 500 watts aural power which as it was later learned in these experimental days of uhf was rather low for such a station . it was co owned with ward radio 1490 am now wntj and 92.1 fm now wjht . the station was the area s cbs affiliate with a secondary abc affiliation . during the late 1950s it was also briefly affiliated with the nta film network . 5 as wjnl tv edit on march 22 1971 jonel construction company bought ward am fm tv and changed their calls to wjnl am fm tv the following year doing business as cover broadcasting inc. having been issued a construction permit to do so in 1969 the television station then moved to the stronger uhf channel 19 and dropped abc programming . the channel move also brought a substantial transmitter power increase to 215 000 watts visual and 21 500 watts aural . it also left the franklin street studio for a new facility located on benshoff hill not too far from the transmitter atop cover hill in suburban johnstown . the radio stations moved to the benshoff hill location in 1977 after the franklin street studios were destroyed in a massive flood . even with the move to the stronger channel 19 and the authorized power increase the station was still plagued by a weak signal . most of western pennsylvania is a very rugged dissected plateau and at the time uhf stations usually did not get good reception in rugged terrain . in fact johnstown viewers got better signals from wfbg tv channel 10 in altoona and kdka tv in pittsburgh . after wfbg tv was sold in 1973 that station changed its callsign to wtaj tv in part to acknowledge its johnstown viewership its call letters stand for we re television in altoona and johnstown . as a result wjnl tv never thrived and was more or less a non factor in a market dominated by wjac tv channel 6 . it only stayed afloat because of the tremendous success of its fm sister an adult contemporary powerhouse . in 1982 the johnstown and altoona state college markets were collapsed into a single designated market area . cbs gave its affiliation in the newly enlarged market to altoona s wtaj tv as it already had a large viewership in johnstown . in contrast wjnl tv could not be seen at all in much of the eastern part of the market ; while altoona was just inside channel 19 s grade b contour state college was just outside it . as wfat and wptj edit as a result wjnl tv became an independent station . forced to buy an additional 19 hours of programming a day its ratings plummeted even further . it was sold on february 1 1983 to wfat incorporated a company headed by leon crosby a former owner of the original kemo tv now kofy tv in san francisco and renamed wfat tv . crosby also had an ownership interest in wpgh tv in neighboring pittsburgh from 1973 to 1978 in addition to serving as that station s president and general manager . under the direction of crosby who had gained a favorable reputation from successfully turning around failing stations the new wfat tv underwent a substantial number of transmitter renovations intended to overcome its ongoing stigma of poor signal reception in its own home market . the station s transmitter facility was moved from cover hill to pea vine hill a much higher summit atop laurel hill mountain in ligonier township just outside the cambria county border in neighboring westmoreland county ... about ten miles east of the cover hill location . with the move came its most powerful transmitter power increase yet to 1.6 million watts visual and 166 000 watts aural . this enabled the station to provide a grade b signal to pittsburgh s eastern suburbs introducing itself to viewers there for the very first time who were unaware that this station had been on the air for many years by this time . the signal finally provided a clear city grade signal to johnstown viewers but still had a problem attracting altoona viewers due to the mountainous terrain separating the two cities resulting in still poor reception . wfat ownership corrected this by signing on a vhf translator w12br in altoona which provided a grade b signal to altoona viewers . unfortunately the changes did little to improve its fortunes largely because the major pittsburgh independents were available on cable and a construction permit had just been issued for a new vhf station in johnstown which would become known as wwcp channel 8 when it signed on in 1986 . while wfat tv now had a highly competitive signal it still had a primitive on air look using art cards rather than cgi technology a character generator used since the ward tv years and substandard microphones . as crosby s formula of hiring young creative talent to produce local shows cheaply played a strong part in his turnarounds even this was no longer profitable as such shows were losing ground to syndicators now offering much cheaper alternatives that could be tailor made for specific markets . the very few locally produced programs wfat now had left were limited to discussion based talk shows limited to simple undecorated sets with little more than chairs and carpet . david smith and lee mack the former had been program director of wjnl radio served as the station s booth announcers . decline and bankruptcy edit the station was seriously undermined in 1986 when wwcp tv channel 8 signed on and having the advantage of a vhf signal took most of wfat s stronger shows . the station changed calls to wptj in 1988 and moved its studios to allen bill drive in the johnstown industrial park but saw no change in its fortunes . frequent transmitter problems often left the station off the air for extended periods of time . declaring chapter 11 bankruptcy wptj went off the air in 1991 but intended a return as soon as the station s financial turmoil could be worked out . unfortunately it was not to be as the station was so heavily in debt by this time and its owners were unable to formulate a reorganization plan that would allow the station continued operation and an emergence from bankruptcy protection . thus the owners chose to switch from chapter 11 to chapter 7 bankruptcy which mandated the liquidation of all assets thus removing any hope of returning the station to the air for the foreseeable future . return as wtwb tv edit meanwhile over in pittsburgh wbpa lp on analog uhf channel 29 signed on in 1994 as a low powered station owned by venture technologies group llc . it ran some abc and nbc shows that respectively wtae tv channel 4 and wpxi channel 11 pre