WNEO and WEAO

WNEO:Alliance–Youngstown, Ohio WEAO:Akron–Canton, Ohio United States
Channels for WNEO	Digital: 29 (UHF) Virtual: 45
Channels for WEAO	Digital: 24 (UHF), shared withWRLM Virtual: 49
Branding	PBS Western Reserve
Programming
Affiliations	45.1, 49.1:PBS 45.2, 49.2: Fusion 45.3, 49.3:FNX
Ownership
Owner	Western Reserve Public Media (Northeastern Educational Television of Ohio, Inc.)
History
First air date	WNEO: May 30, 1973 (52 years ago) (1973-05-30) WEAO: September 21, 1975 (50 years ago) (1975-09-21)
Former call signs	WNEO: WNEO-TV (1973–1990)
Former channel number	WNEO: Analog: 45 (UHF, 1973–2008) Digital: 46 (UHF, 2003–2008), 45 (UHF, 2008–2020) WEAO: Analog: 49 (UHF, 1975–2009) Digital: 50 (UHF, 2004–2019)
Call sign meaning	WNEO: Northeastern Ohio WEAO: Eastern Ohio
Technical information[1][2]
Licensing authority	FCC
Facility ID	WNEO: 49439 WEAO: 49421
ERP	WNEO: 465 kW WEAO: 191 kW
HAAT	WNEO: 251.1 m (824 ft) WEAO: 294.6 m (967 ft)
Transmitter coordinates	WNEO:40°54′23.2″N80°54′39.3″W / 40.906444°N 80.910917°W /40.906444; -80.910917 (WNEO) WEAO:41°4′58.5″N81°38′1.6″W / 41.082917°N 81.633778°W /41.082917; -81.633778 (WEAO)
Links
Public license information	WNEO: Public file LMS WEAO: Public file LMS
Website	www.pbswesternreserve.org

WNEO (channel 45) is anon-commercial educationaltelevision station licensed toAlliance, Ohio, United States. It is simulcast full-time oversatellite stationWEAO (channel 49) inAkron, Ohio. Both aremember stations ofPBS and jointly brand asPBS Western Reserve. WNEO is theYoungstown market's PBS station of record, while WEAO provides theCleveland market with a second choice for PBS programming alongside the market's primary PBS station,WVIZ (channel 25).

WNEO and WEAO are owned by Northeastern Educational Television of Ohio, which is a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation (and formerly a consortium of theUniversity of Akron,Kent State University andYoungstown State University). The two stations operate from studios on Kent State's campus inKent,^[3] northeast of Akron and roughly west of Youngstown. WNEO's transmitter is located inSalem, while WEAO's transmitter is based inCopley Township.

WNEO also operatesW13DP-D, alow-power digitaltranslator in Youngstown, which serves low-lying areas in theMahoning Valley that are not covered from the main WNEO signal. The translator signed on asanalog W58AM in May 1980, converted to digital as W44CR-D in November 2009, and moved to its current channel in November 2019.^[4]

WNEO first signed on the air on May 30, 1973.^[5] It was originally intended to serve all of Northeast Ohio from Youngstown to Cleveland. Itscity of license, Alliance, is split between both major markets in the region. Most of the city is inStark County, which is in the Cleveland market; a small portion is inMahoning County, which includes Youngstown. However, it was later decided to reorient WNEO to serve Youngstown and sign on a satellite station to serve Akron and Cleveland. That station, WEAO, signed on the air more than two years later on September 21, 1975.^[6] Prior to WEAO's sign-on, the channel 49 allocation in the Cleveland–Akron market was occupied by Akron-basedWAKR-TV from 1953 to 1967, when that station moved to UHF channel 23. WNEO and WEAO were jointly branded as PBS 45 & 49 until late 2008 when they changed their on-air branding to "Western Reserve PBS", as part of the parent organization's overall branding change to Western Reserve Public Media in 2008.^[7]

The stations' signals aremultiplexed:

WNEO and WEAO carriedCreate on digital channels 45.3 and 49.3 and theOhio Channel on digital channels 45.4 and 49.4 until August 2007, when the two subchannels were removed to make room for their high definition feeds. The analog simulcast of WNEO/WEAO remained on digital channels 45.2 and 49.2 until the June 12, 2009, digital transition, when they were replaced with Western Reserve PBS Fusion, a local service which aired concerts and music-related programs until August 1, 2009, at which point it switched to a mix of local programming; WNEO/WEAO then addedMHz Worldview to digital channels 45.3 and 49.3 on June 13.^[10] WNEO and WEAO carriedV-Me on digital channels 45.4 and 49.4 on September 19, 2009. The channel was discontinued in April 2017.

WNEO ended regular programming on its analog signal, overUHF channel 45, on November 19, 2008. Two days later on November 21, the station's digital signal relocated from its pre-transition UHF channel 46 to channel 45 for post-transition operations.^[11]

WEAO ended regular programming on its analog signal, over UHF channel 49, 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 remained on its pre-transition UHF channel 50, usingvirtual channel 49.^[11]

• Official website
• Station history

• 1973 establishments in Ohio
• Alliance, Ohio
• Classic Arts Showcase affiliates
• First Nations Experience affiliates
• Kent State University
• Kent, Ohio
• PBS member stations
• Television channels and stations established in 1973
• Television stations in Youngstown, Ohio
• University of Akron
• Youngstown State University

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