Community hub
Recent from talks
Knowledge base stats:
Talk channels stats:
Members stats:
WBBH-TV
WBBH-TV (channel 20, cable channel 2), branded as Gulf Coast NBC, is a television station licensed to Fort Myers, Florida, United States, serving as the NBC affiliate for Southwest Florida. It is owned by Hearst Television, which provides certain services to Naples-licensed ABC affiliate WZVN-TV (channel 26) under a local marketing agreement (LMA) with Montclair Communications. The two stations share studio facilities on Central Avenue in Fort Myers; WBBH-TV's transmitter is located along SR 31 in unincorporated southeastern Charlotte County.
WBBH-TV went on the air in December 1968 as the second station in Fort Myers; it has been an NBC affiliate since its first day on air. Waterman Broadcasting owned WBBH from 1979 to 2023; WBBH took over most of the operations of what is now WZVN-TV in 1994. The two stations have separate newscasts with separate anchors, though they share reporters, news resources, and—as of 2025—a common news brand.
In 1967, two companies petitioned the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to add channels in the ultra high frequency (UHF) band to the table of usable TV channels in Fort Myers. Acting on the proposals from Kenneth Schwartz and Hubbard Broadcasting, the FCC allotted channel 20 in January 1968. That May, Broadcasting-Telecasting Services, Inc., headed by former WMYR sales director and announcer Joseph Buerry Jr., applied for channel 20, proposing a station with an intensive focus on local programming, and an emphasis on local news. No other group applied, and Broadcasting-Telecasting Services received a construction permit in July. It announced its intention to be a primary NBC affiliate with a secondary ABC affiliation. Buerry, along with investors Jackson Burgess and Howard Hoffman (also formerly of WMYR), gave the station its call letters—WBBH-TV.
The studios were finished by the start of December, with erection of the station's transmitting tower in Lehigh Acres still ongoing. The station began broadcasting on December 18, 1968. Previously, Miami's WCKT had imported NBC programming into Fort Myers by way of a translator on channel 70; Tampa's WFLA-TV had been carried alongside WCKT on most area cable systems.
After nearly six years, Buerry resigned as president in August 1974; he had been visible on air presenting station editorials. Hoffman became the general manager at a time when the station was suffering financially, though it had begun to turn a profit in 1972. The station lost ABC programs to a new station in Naples, WEVU (channel 26), at this time as well.
In 1978, Waterman Broadcasting Corporation, which at the time only owned two radio stations in San Antonio, Texas, began negotiating to buy WBBH-TV after the stockholders of Broadcasting-Telecasting Services opted to put the station on the market. A sale agreement was reached in April 1979. Waterman activated a new tower in 1983; the station began broadcasting at the UHF maximum effective radiated power of five million watts and improved its signal in the northern part of its coverage area. In 1987, an expansion was completed to the Central Avenue studio; the original, 7,000-square-foot (650 m2) building was wrapped around a two-story building with an internal atrium.
Waterman Broadcasting attempted to expand the station's presence in the early 1990s. It first thought it had an agreement with WNPL-TV (channel 46) to program the second station under a time brokerage agreement. However, WNPL was in turmoil at the time. The agreement was reached during a period in which the station manager left; he then came back and ignored the agreement, with station officials calling the issue a misunderstanding. Waterman then sued WNPL, which in turn filed for bankruptcy protection.
On June 1, 1994, Ellis Communications, the owner of WEVU, entered into a local marketing agreement with WBBH-TV, which began providing the station's news programming. Some WEVU staffers were not retained by WBBH; in all, there were 20 staff firings, including WEVU's main news, weather and sports anchors. That September, WBBH began branding as channel 2 after its position on local cable systems; WEVU did likewise with channel 7 and changed its call sign to WZVN-TV the next year.
Hub AI
WBBH-TV AI simulator
(@WBBH-TV_simulator)
WBBH-TV
WBBH-TV (channel 20, cable channel 2), branded as Gulf Coast NBC, is a television station licensed to Fort Myers, Florida, United States, serving as the NBC affiliate for Southwest Florida. It is owned by Hearst Television, which provides certain services to Naples-licensed ABC affiliate WZVN-TV (channel 26) under a local marketing agreement (LMA) with Montclair Communications. The two stations share studio facilities on Central Avenue in Fort Myers; WBBH-TV's transmitter is located along SR 31 in unincorporated southeastern Charlotte County.
WBBH-TV went on the air in December 1968 as the second station in Fort Myers; it has been an NBC affiliate since its first day on air. Waterman Broadcasting owned WBBH from 1979 to 2023; WBBH took over most of the operations of what is now WZVN-TV in 1994. The two stations have separate newscasts with separate anchors, though they share reporters, news resources, and—as of 2025—a common news brand.
In 1967, two companies petitioned the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to add channels in the ultra high frequency (UHF) band to the table of usable TV channels in Fort Myers. Acting on the proposals from Kenneth Schwartz and Hubbard Broadcasting, the FCC allotted channel 20 in January 1968. That May, Broadcasting-Telecasting Services, Inc., headed by former WMYR sales director and announcer Joseph Buerry Jr., applied for channel 20, proposing a station with an intensive focus on local programming, and an emphasis on local news. No other group applied, and Broadcasting-Telecasting Services received a construction permit in July. It announced its intention to be a primary NBC affiliate with a secondary ABC affiliation. Buerry, along with investors Jackson Burgess and Howard Hoffman (also formerly of WMYR), gave the station its call letters—WBBH-TV.
The studios were finished by the start of December, with erection of the station's transmitting tower in Lehigh Acres still ongoing. The station began broadcasting on December 18, 1968. Previously, Miami's WCKT had imported NBC programming into Fort Myers by way of a translator on channel 70; Tampa's WFLA-TV had been carried alongside WCKT on most area cable systems.
After nearly six years, Buerry resigned as president in August 1974; he had been visible on air presenting station editorials. Hoffman became the general manager at a time when the station was suffering financially, though it had begun to turn a profit in 1972. The station lost ABC programs to a new station in Naples, WEVU (channel 26), at this time as well.
In 1978, Waterman Broadcasting Corporation, which at the time only owned two radio stations in San Antonio, Texas, began negotiating to buy WBBH-TV after the stockholders of Broadcasting-Telecasting Services opted to put the station on the market. A sale agreement was reached in April 1979. Waterman activated a new tower in 1983; the station began broadcasting at the UHF maximum effective radiated power of five million watts and improved its signal in the northern part of its coverage area. In 1987, an expansion was completed to the Central Avenue studio; the original, 7,000-square-foot (650 m2) building was wrapped around a two-story building with an internal atrium.
Waterman Broadcasting attempted to expand the station's presence in the early 1990s. It first thought it had an agreement with WNPL-TV (channel 46) to program the second station under a time brokerage agreement. However, WNPL was in turmoil at the time. The agreement was reached during a period in which the station manager left; he then came back and ignored the agreement, with station officials calling the issue a misunderstanding. Waterman then sued WNPL, which in turn filed for bankruptcy protection.
On June 1, 1994, Ellis Communications, the owner of WEVU, entered into a local marketing agreement with WBBH-TV, which began providing the station's news programming. Some WEVU staffers were not retained by WBBH; in all, there were 20 staff firings, including WEVU's main news, weather and sports anchors. That September, WBBH began branding as channel 2 after its position on local cable systems; WEVU did likewise with channel 7 and changed its call sign to WZVN-TV the next year.