| |
|---|---|
| Channels | |
| Programming | |
| Affiliations | |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | Western Family Television, Inc. |
| History | |
First air date | April 16, 1994 |
Last air date | July 13, 2021 (27 years, 88 days)(License canceled August 4, 2021) |
Former call signs | W30BF (1994–2001) |
Call sign meaning | Wicked Good Television[1] |
| Technical information[2] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 39663 |
| ERP | 33.7 kW |
| Transmitter coordinates | 44°40′39.00″N68°45′13.00″W / 44.6775000°N 68.7536111°W /44.6775000; -68.7536111 (WCKD-LP) |
| Links | |
Public license information | LMS |
WCKD-LP (channel 30) was alow-power television station licensed to bothBangor andDedham, Maine, United States. Its signal originated from atransmitter inEast Eddington, Maine.
WCKD-LP went on the air April 16, 1994, as W30BF, carryingPBS programming as part ofMaine Public Television Plus, the state's secondary public television network.[3][4] Cuts in federal funding led to the elimination of MPT Plus on June 30, 1996;[5] W30BF then became a repeater of Maine Public Television's primary service[6] until 1999, when James McLeod, owner ofPax affiliateWBGR-LP (channel 33), bought the station.[7] McLeod was not able to put enough resources into the station, however, and in late 2000 he signed alocal marketing agreement with Rockfleet Broadcasting, owner ofABC affiliateWVII-TV (channel 7), who relaunched the station in February 2001 as WCKD-LP, aUPN affiliate that also carriedFox Sports telecasts. Previously, Bangor viewers received UPN on cable via Boston'sWSBK-TV.[1][8] WCKD's schedule also included a 10 p.m. newscast produced by WVII.[1]
WCKD-LP announced in September 2001 that it would become a fullFox affiliate that October, afterWPXT inPortland (which had long been carried on Bangor cable) announced that it would switch toThe WB. However, UPN informed the station that it not only could not drop the network before the expiration of its contract in December 2005, but that WCKD-LP was not allowed to preempt UPN programming for Fox Sports' weeknight telecasts;[9] as a result, on October 7, the same day that WPXT switched affiliations,Adelphia Communications replaced WCKD-LP withFoxnet,[10] though the station was reinstated (with Foxnet moving to another channel) a month later.[11] During this period, UPN programming remained available on Adelphia via WSBK, which it had continued to carry.[11] Although WCKD-LP remained with UPN,[11] its association with Fox Sports also continued, allowing the station to airSuper Bowl XXXVI.[12]
After Rockfleet Broadcasting acquired W22BU (channel 22) from MS Communications in 2003, it changed that station's call letters toWFVX-LP and, on April 13, affiliated it with Fox. WFVX then inherited WCKD-LP's cable carriage and its syndicated and local programming (which by this time also included a morning talk show,So Goes the Nation, in addition to the 10 p.m. newscast; for brief period,So Goes the Nation was simulcast on both stations), forcing the station to air Pax programming (shared withWBGR-LP) outside of UPN's programming hours.[13] Control of WCKD-LP reverted to James McLeod in August 2003, after WVII ended its local marketing agreement with the station; for a time afterward, WCKD-LP served as a temporary simulcast of WBGR.[14] These moves again made WSBK-TV the default UPN affiliate on Adelphia's Bangor systems.[13] WCKD-LP eventually became aJewelry Television affiliate. In 2006, the station became aTBN affiliate, even though TBN already owned a repeater (W36CK) in the market.
In 2007, James McLeod sold WCKD-LP to Western Family Television.[15] Soon afterward, the station joined one of TBN's sister networks, JCTV (which Western Family affiliates most of its stations with). JCTV rebranded as JUCE TV on January 1, 2014.[16]
WCKD-LP's license was canceled by theFederal Communications Commission (FCC) on August 4, 2021, due to the station not obtaining a license to convert to digital operations by the July 13 deadline.