WSTE-DT

Ponce–San Juan–Aguada– Arecibo–Mayagüez, Puerto Rico
City	Ponce, Puerto Rico
Channels	Digital: 7 (VHF) Virtual: 7
Branding	Teleisla
Programming
Affiliations	7.1:Independent Univision (alternate) 7.2:WIPR-TV
Ownership
Owner	TelevisaUnivision (WSTE,LLC)
History
First air date	February 2, 1958 (67 years ago) (1958-02-02)
Former call signs	WRIK-TV (1958–1979) WLUZ-TV (1979–1987) WSTE (1987–2009)
Former affiliations	Repeater ofWKAQ-TV (1958–1969) Hipodromo Camarero (2013–2020) Simulcast ofSistema TV (2018–2019)
Call sign meaning	Siete = Spanish for seven
Technical information[1]
Licensing authority	FCC
Facility ID	60341
ERP	see§ Transmitter facilities
HAAT	see§ Transmitter facilities
Transmitter coordinates	see§ Transmitter facilities
Links
Public license information	Public file LMS

WSTE-DT (channel 7), brandedTeleisla, is aSpanish-languageindependent television station licensed toPonce, Puerto Rico. Owned byTelevisaUnivision, the station maintains studios on Calle Carazo inGuaynabo. To provide island-wide coverage, WSTE maintains a network of five transmitter sites, located atCerro Maravilla in Ponce,^[2] at Cerro La Marquesa inAguas Buenas, at Cerro Canta Gallo inAguada, onHighway 22 inArecibo, and at the Monte del Estado inSan Germán.

The station first signed on as WRIK-TV on February 2, 1958, after receiving theFCC permit to go on the air on channel 7.^[3] It was the first television station in Ponce, and the fourth in Puerto Rico, afterWKAQ-TV,WAPA-TV (both were established four years earlier), andWORA-TV (established three years earlier). It was owned byAlfredo Ramírez de Arellano. Its news director was Manuel Morales-Flores, with Felix Suria as production manager and Edmund Reid as its chief engineer. The station maintained a transmitter—originally located at El Vigía^[4]—and studios at the Edificio Darlington—the first high-rise building in Ponce,^[b] completed in 1952.^[5] Two years later,^[4] the transmitter was relocated to theHotel Ponce Intercontinental.^[6]

WRIK-TV operated as aSpanish-languageindependent station; it carried some 18 daily programs, including news,movies,cartoons, andsoap operas, among others.^[7] One notable show, airing in the late afternoons, wasEl Show de Tío Carlitos. In 1964, the station's staff had expanded to include president George A. Mayoral, general manager William Cortada, commercial manager and news directorLuis A. "Wito" Morales, promotional manager Monsita M. Diaz, and chief engineer Americo Cintron.^[8] The transmitter was relocated atopCerro Maravilla in 1967.^[4]

In 1969, Ramírez de Arellano announced the sale of 80 percent of WRIK-TV toUnited Artists Corporation for a reported $7 million.^[9] Under United Artists, WRIK began operating from color-equipped studios in Ponce andSan Juan^[10] and rebranded as "Rikavisión".^[3] The station's logo was arooster. From San Juan, the station broadcastEl Show deTito Rodriguez for two seasons; the station also producedAhi Va Eso (withAwilda Carbia,Jacobo Morales andNorma Candal),Contigo Anexo 3 (which included a youngLou Briel),Showtime (withWilkins),Las Caribelles,El Show de Carol Myles, and children's showRikalandia (hosted bySandra Zaiter). One notable 1971 show wasMaría, withLucy Boscana.^[11] The station continued some programming from Ponce, including local newscasts. Itsnews anchor was Rafael L. Torres, in whose name the Southern Puerto Rico Chamber of Commerce later created an Excellence in Journalism award.

In 1978, twopro-independence activists attempted to blow up the WRIK-TV transmitter tower at Cerro Maravilla in an effort to call attention to their cause. Their plan was discovered by police and the two young men wereambushed by police at the peak during their operation. They were arrested and then murdered by the police while still in their custody at the peak.^[12]

In 1979, WRIK-TV was acquired by Puerto Rican producerTommy Muñiz, owner of AM radio stationWLUZ (or Radio Luz); its callsign was subsequently changed to WLUZ-TV (branded as "Teleluz") on March 28, 1979.^[4]

Programs shown during this era included a continuation of Sandra Zaiter's children's show and live, low-budgetprofessional boxing telecasts from around Puerto Rico on Saturday nights. Boxers who fought on Teleluz frequently includedJulian andRafi Solis,Felix Trinidad Sr. andVictor Callejas. A series of these fight programs, fourteen in total, were held at Estudios Teleluz from 1979 to 1980, usually on Monday or Wednesday nights.^[13]

Financial troubles forced Muñiz to sell the station toMalrite Communications Group for $1.3 million in 1985.^[14] In 1987, the station was rebranded as SuperSiete,^[3] and on February 18, 1987, the station changed its call letters to WSTE.

The station experienced limited success at the time using colorful motion graphics and a new logo as well as major advertising in newspapers, and televising popular Americansitcoms of the time, such asThe Fresh Prince of Bel-Air andThe Simpsons, along with majorHollywood movies. It also was acknowledged for itschildren's showEl Show de Burbujita y Bolillo, produced byMilly Cangiano, and itsSaturday morning cartoons. Around this time, one of Puerto Rico's longest-running shows,No te Duermas with Antonio SánchezEl Gangster, began airing on channel 7 as well. WSTE also produced a successful game show,La Hora de Oro withHector Marcano and Sánchez, and two family-oriented sitcoms,Maripili andEl Cuartel de la Risa. SuperSiete also broadcast five daily news segments namedNoticapsulas (literal translation: news capsules) anchored by Doris Torres.

In 1991, Malrite boughtWLII-TV and WSUR-TV and sold WSTE to Siete Grande Television, Inc., owned by Florida entrepreneur Jerry Hartman. WSTE was then branded as "El Nuevo SuperSiete" ("The New SuperSeven"). During the 1990s, WSTE was rebranded as "Tele-Isla" during prime time hours. Due to the failure of the new programming, and the lack of full island coverage by WLII at the time, WSTE began re-broadcasting WLII's prime time programming mainly for the western and central areas of Puerto Rico.

In 1995, WLII entered into an affiliation agreement with WORA-TV. This created a conflict with the FCC, as WLII's programming was being rebroadcast by two different stations across the island; WLII and WSTE in the north,WSUR-TV and WSTE in the south, and WSTE,WNJX-TV and WORA-TV in the west. During this time, the channel proudly showed its coverage channels on its "ident", as 11-9-7-5-22. After admonishment by the FCC, WLII dropped WSTE and WNJX-TV coverage.

After that point (sometime in 1995) and to this day, the station mostly airsinfomercials and locally-produced advertisements for car dealerships. The station airedhorse racing fromHipodromo Camarero from 2013 to 2020.

On March 23, 2007, Siete Grande Television, Inc. announced it would sell WSTE toUnivision Communications.^[15] The sale was approved by the FCC on October 11, 2007. On June 23, 2009, the station's call letters were revised to WSTE-DT.^[16]

The channel's SuperSiete "ident" animation, logo, and name survived for over 25 years, dating back to 1987. A new logo with the Teleisla branding was introduced a few months before the FCC-mandateddigital transition date of June 12, 2009. On January 2, 2012, WSTE-DT introduced a new logo in the form of a four-colorclover (orange representing morning, green representing afternoon, violet representing weekend, and blue representing nightly programming). The station also expanded its broadcast day to 1:00 a.m. On November 1, 2012,Dish Network began carrying WSTE-DT on channel 12. In early 2016, WSTE-DT expanded its broadcast schedule to 24 hours a day, adding the health programHablando de Salud from 1 to 7 a.m.

The station's digital signal is multiplexed:

WSTE shut down its analog signal, overVHF channel 7, at noon on June 12, 2009, the official date on 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 VHF channel 8 to channel 7 for its post-transition operations.^[17]

To effectively cover all of Puerto Rico, WSTE used booster-type translator facilities across the island prior to the analog shutdown. In order for this booster system to work without any interference, WSTE's main transmitter had to be kept silent. The Ponce area was thus served from an auxiliary station transmitting at 100 kW. WSTE now uses a five-site, digitaldistributed transmission system to cover the island as the booster system had done before it.

• A history of television in Puerto RicoArchived at WayBack Machine of January 15, 2008.
• WRIK-TV's (Rikavision's) rooster logo in 1976Archived at WayBack Machine on February 24, 2011.
• WRIK-TV at Edificio Raluan Darlington, Calle Marina, Ponce

• 1958 establishments in Puerto Rico
• Independent television stations in the United States
• Television channels and stations established in 1958
• Television stations in Ponce, Puerto Rico

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