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| City | Cocoa, Florida |
| Channels | |
| Programming | |
| Affiliations |
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| Ownership | |
| Owner |
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| History | |
First air date | August 6, 1982 (1982-08-06) |
Former call signs | WTGL-TV (1982–2007) |
Former channel numbers |
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| Technical information[1] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 24582 |
| ERP | 900kW |
| HAAT | 494 m (1,621 ft) |
| Transmitter coordinates | 28°35′12.6″N81°4′57.5″W / 28.586833°N 81.082639°W /28.586833; -81.082639 |
| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Website | www |
WHLV-TV (channel 52) is areligious television station licensed toCocoa, Florida, United States, serving theOrlando area as anowned-and-operated station of theTrinity Broadcasting Network (TBN). The station's transmitter is located in unincorporatedBithlo, Florida.
WHLV-TV formerly operated from studios located within the TBN-ownedHoly Land Experience, a Christian theme park which closed in 2020. One year earlier in 2019, theFederal Communications Commission (FCC) abolished the "Main Studio Rule", which required full-service television stations like WHLV-TV to maintain facilities in or near their communities of license.[2]
The station was founded August 16, 1982, as WTGL-TV by Good Life Broadcasting (WTGL stands for "The Good Life"). The station was initially a blend of family-type general entertainment programming such as classiccartoons,westerns, classicsitcoms and oldmovies, as well as Christian programming.
WTGL was at a severe disadvantage, since it was licensed inBrevard County. As a result, even though its transmitter was located as close to Orlando as possible while staying within 15 miles (24 km) of Cocoa (as required byFederal Communications Commission regulations of the time), Orlando only got a grade B signal. The market's second-largest city,Daytona Beach, barely got any signal at all. As a result, WTGL began dropping most of its secular programming by 1984, and by 1985 became an affiliate of theClearwater-basedChristian Television Network, becoming the network's second station alongside flagshipWCLF in Clearwater. In the mid-1990s, a small amount of entertainment programming was added. The station would end its affiliation with CTN in the late 1990s, but it continued to operate as a predominantly religious station, changing its affiliations to theTotal Living Network andFaith TV.
On December 12, 2000, after the FCC began to permitduopolies, Good Life Broadcasting signed on a second station, WLCB-TV (channel 45). WLCB aired a mix of Christian shows,public domain movies, public domain episodes of some shows, as well as low budget classic sitcoms, sports shows, and lifestyle programming. WTGL continued on with a mostly Christian format.
On September 28, 2006, it was announced that WTGL-TV had been sold to theTrinity Broadcasting Network.[3] Good Life Broadcasting continued to control the original WTGL's master control operations. The two stations shared a studio at the corner of Michigan Street andI-4 in Orlando until June 2007, when then-WLCB and the master control for what was then WTGL moved to the former studios ofWKCF inLake Mary.[4]
In August 2007, WTGL's calls were changed to its current calls, WHLV-TV. This made the WTGL callsign available to the former WLCB, which officially took theWTGL calls in mid-September 2007.
Under the previous ownership of Good Life Broadcasting, then-WTGL-TV applied for a digital signal on channel 53, but the request was dismissed on account of the station's license being put up for sale (Good Life Broadcasting effectively moved the intellectual unit of the original WTGL-TV to what was then WLCB-TV, which today bears the WTGL call sign).
On January 22, 2009, WHLV's analog transmitter experienced a tube failure—the same problem which reduced the analog signal of WKCF to 60 percent of its authorized power. Unlike most other TBN owned-and-operated stations (which went digital exclusive on April 16, 2009), WHLV continued operating its analog transmitter at half of its licensed power underspecial temporary authority until the June 12 changeover date. On that day, WHLV activated its post-transition channel 51 digital transmitter afterWOGX in nearbyOcala, Florida, ceased analog transmissions on that channel.
In June 2009, channels 52.2–52.5 were initially added to the digital lineup, but for unknown reasons the channels remained dark and carried no actual programming until August 15, 2010, when they finally began to pass TBN multiplex programming. At that point, master control was turned over to TBN. Since then, the station, like most other TBN O&Os, has essentially been a pass-through for automated TBN programming.
The station's signal ismultiplexed:
| Channel | Res. | Aspect | Short name | Programming |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 52.1 | 720p | 16:9 | TBN HD | TBN |
| 52.2 | Merit | Merit TV | ||
| 52.3 | 480i | Inspire | TBN Inspire | |
| 52.4 | 4:3 | ONTV4U | OnTV4U (infomercials) | |
| 52.5 | 16:9 | POSITIV | Positiv |
TBN-owned full-power stations permanently ceased analog transmissions on April 16, 2009.[5]
WHLV-TV shut down its analog signal, overUHF channel 52, on June 12, 2009, the official date on which full-power television stations in the United Statestransitioned from analog to digital broadcasts under federal mandate. The station's digital signal continued to broadcasts on its pre-transition UHF channel 51,[6][7] usingvirtual channel 52.
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