 | |
| |
|---|---|
| City | Red Lion, Pennsylvania |
| Channels | |
| Branding | Lighthouse TV |
| Programming | |
| Affiliations | ReligiousIndependent |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | Sonshine Family Television Corp. |
| WBPH-TV | |
| History | |
First air date | April 28, 1979 (46 years ago) (1979-04-28) |
Former call signs | WGCB-TV (1979–2019) |
Former channel numbers |
|
Call sign meaning | Lancaster, York, Harrisburg |
| Technical information[2] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 55350 |
| ERP | 28.1kW |
| HAAT | 311.1 m (1,021 ft) |
| Transmitter coordinates | 40°18′58″N76°57′0″W / 40.31611°N 76.95000°W /40.31611; -76.95000 |
| Translator(s) | WLHY-LD (31, Lebanon–Harrisburg–York–Lancaster) |
| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Website | lighthousetv |
WLYH (channel 49) is areligiousindependent television station licensed toRed Lion, Pennsylvania, United States, serving theSusquehanna Valley region. Owned by Sonshine Family Television, it is asister station toBethlehem-basedflagshipWBPH-TV (channel 60). WLYH's studios are located on Windsor Road in Red Lion.[3] Through achannel sharing agreement withHarrisburg-licensedABC affiliateWHTM-TV (channel 27), the two stations transmit using WHTM-TV's spectrum from an antenna on a ridge north ofI-81 along theCumberland–Perry county line.
The channel 49 allocation in the Susquehanna Valley region was previously occupied by WNOW-TV, which was based inYork and was originally affiliated with theDuMont Television Network (and later theNTA Film Network).[4] It could not compete withWGAL-TV (channel 8) and eventually went off the air on June 1, 1958.
WLYH first signed on the air on April 28, 1979, as WGCB-TV.[5] It was the first completely new station to sign on in South Central Pennsylvania in 26 years. It was founded by John Harden Norris, an engineer forSinclair Oil and Refining Company, who left his position and joined his father to establish Red Lion Broadcasting in 1950, which also owned WGCB radio (1440 AM, nowWLCH, and 96.1 FM, nowWSOX; both now owned byCumulus Media). The Norrises signed on WGCB (AM) (standing for "the World for God, Christ and the Bible") in 1950, followed by WGCB-FM in 1958. In 1962, Norris launched short-wave radio stationWINB (originally standing for "World In Need of the Bible", now for "World International Broadcasters"), now the oldest commercial shortwave station in the United States (although the original transmitter failed in 1995, and it took until 1997 to resume full-power broadcasts).[6] At the time, Norris was the only individual in the U.S. to operate AM, FM, short-wave radio and television stations in one location, and under one ownership.
On November 27, 1964, the WGCB radio stations carried a 15-minute religious broadcast maligning journalistFred J. Cook that would spawn amonumental case that ended withSupreme Court's approval of theFairness Doctrine. The Court ruled that theFederal Communications Commission (FCC) could enforce the Fairness Doctrine, which prohibits broadcasters from using their monopoly on a broadcast frequency to monopolize discussion on controversial issues. Norris died on September 28, 2008, at the age of 82. The FCC granted a change in control for WGCB-TV on November 5, 2008, to the estate of John H. Norris.DirecTV ceased carriage of WGCB onJanuary 1, 2009.
For much of WGCB-TV's history, it operated as a religious independent station, carrying programs from varioustelevangelists. It was the only over-the-air source of non-network programming in the area untilWPMT (channel 43) relaunched as an independent in 1983. On August 17, 2009, WGCB-TV began carrying classic television series daily from 3 to 10 p.m. In 2012, WGCB-TV began carrying select programs from the classic television networkMeTV, which also began to be carried ondigital subchannel 49.2.
On September 19, 2012, NRJ TV (a company unrelated toEuropean broadcasterNRJ Radio) announced its intent to purchase WGCB-TV from Red Lion Television for $9 million;[7] the sale was completed on December 3.
On December 29, 2014, WGCB-TV stopped carrying MeTV programming (as WGAL-DT2 picked up that affiliation) and began carrying select programs from the classic television networkCozi TV, which also began to be carried ondigital subchannel 49.2.
NRJ TV agreed to sell WGCB-TV to Red Lion 49 Media,LLC for $2.5 million on August 29, 2017. The sale was approved by the FCC on December 8, 2017.[8]
In January 2019,Bethlehem, Pennsylvania–based Sonshine Family Television entered into alocal marketing agreement to operate channel 49;[9] the station's call sign was changed to WLYH, the former callsign forWXBU. The few secular shows that remain on the station are FCC-mandatededucational and informational programs for children on Saturday mornings.[10] On January 17, 2019, it was announced that Sonshine would purchase WLYH from Red Lion 49 Media for $2.7 million.[11][12][13] The sale was completed on May 9, 2019.[14]
| License | Channel | Res. | Aspect | Short name | Programming |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| WHTM-TV | 27.1 | 720p | 16:9 | WHTM-HD | ABC |
| 27.2 | 480i | ION | Ion Television | ||
| 27.3 | GRIT | Grit | |||
| 27.4 | Laff | Laff | |||
| WLYH | 49.1 | 720p | WLYH-HD | Religious independent |
As part of a channel sharing agreement with WHTM, the three subchannels (49.2Cozi TV, 49.3Charge!, 49.4Escape) were dropped.
WLYH (as WGCB-TV) discontinued regular programming on its analog signal, overUHF channel 49, on June 12, 2009, as part of thefederally mandated transition from analog to digital television.[16] The station's digital signal remained on its pre-transition UHF channel 30, usingvirtual channel 49.
WGCB sold its spectrum for $84 million in the2016–2017 FCC incentive auction and the station was to cease broadcasting on its current digital channel 90 days after it received payment from the FCC.[17] The station has a channel-sharing agreement withABC affiliateWHTM-TV.[18] Ironically, WHTM is currently owned by the former WLYH-TV's former ownerNexstar Media Group.
| Channel | Short name | Programming | |
|---|---|---|---|
| W16EJ-D | WLHY-LD | ||
| 16.2 | 31.2 | WHTM | ABC (WHTM) |
| 16.3 | 31.3 | WITF | PBS (WITF-TV) |
| 16.4 | 31.4 | WLYH | Lighthouse TV |
Two of WLYH's repeaters are currently broadcasting inATSC 3.0; they are currently the only ATSC 3.0 stations in the market.
Broadcast television stations by affiliation in the Commonwealth ofPennsylvania | ||
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Includes stations in out-of-state TV markets, but reaching a portion of Pennsylvania | ||
| ABC | ||
| CBS | ||
| Fox | ||
| NBC | ||
| The CW | ||
| Ion Television | ||
| Independent | ||
| PBS | ||
| Religious | ||
| Spanish | ||
| Other | ||
| ATSC 3.0 | ||
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