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|---|---|
| City | Holly Springs, Mississippi |
| Channels | |
| Programming | |
| Affiliations |
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| Ownership | |
| Owner |
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| WPGD-TV,WELF-TV | |
| History | |
First air date | September 1991 (33 years ago) (1991-09)[1] |
Former channel number(s) |
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| HSN (1991–1993) | |
Call sign meaning | "Buy" (artifact of unrealizedHSN affiliation) |
| Technical information[2] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 60830 |
| ERP | 950kW |
| HAAT | 317 m (1,040 ft) |
| Transmitter coordinates | 35°16′33″N89°46′38″W / 35.27583°N 89.77722°W /35.27583; -89.77722 |
| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Website | www |
WBUY-TV (channel 40) is areligioustelevision station licensed toHolly Springs, Mississippi, United States, serving theMemphis, Tennessee, area as anowned-and-operated station of theTrinity Broadcasting Network (TBN). The station's transmitter is located in theBrunswick section ofunincorporated northeastShelby County.
The station formerly operated from a studio located on Cazassa Road in the southeast section of Memphis. That facility was one of several closed by TBN in 2019 following theFederal Communications Commission (FCC)'s repeal of the "Main Studio Rule", which required full-service television stations like WBUY-TV to maintain facilities in or near their communities of license.[3]
WBUY-TV first signed on the air in September 1991,[4] with its original analog transmitter alongMS 309 north ofByhalia, Mississippi. It was built and signed on by Sonlight Broadcasting Systems, a broadcast ministry based inMobile, Alabama, and co-founded by television producerPaul Crouch Jr. and attorney and broadcasterJay Sekulow. All of Sonlight's stations were affiliated with TBN, which was co-founded by Paul Crouch Jr.'s parentsPaul Sr. andJan. As a TBN affiliate, WBUY carried most of the network's schedule while opting out at times to air alternate programming.
In 1997, WBUY was sold, along with the rest of Sonlight's stations, to All American TV (not to be confused withan unrelated television syndication company of a similar name), a minority-owned firm with close ties to TBN.[5] The sale to All American made the station a full-fledged affiliate of the network. WBUY became a TBN owned-and-operated station in 2000, when TBN purchased all of All American's stations.[6]
The station's original permittees intended for channel 40 to broadcast Home Shopping Network (HSN) programs to the Memphis market; the last three letters of the station'scall sign incidentally reflected this intended, but unrealized affiliation.
The station's signal ismultiplexed:
| Channel | Res. | Aspect | Short name | Programming |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 40.1 | 720p | 16:9 | TBN HD | TBN |
| 40.2 | Merit | Merit Street | ||
| 40.3 | 480i | 4:3 | Inspire | TBN Inspire |
| 40.4 | 16:9 | ONTV4U | OnTV4U (infomercials) | |
| 40.5 | POSITIV | Positiv |
TBN-owned full-power stations permanently ceased analog transmissions on April 16, 2009.[7]