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WMDO-CD
WMDO-CD (channel 47) is a low-power, Class A television station in Washington, D.C., affiliated with LATV. It is owned by Entravision Communications alongside Silver Spring, Maryland–licensed Merit Street affiliate WJAL (channel 68).
The station first signed on the air as W14AA on UHF channel 14 in 1976. First owned by Central Virginia Educational Television Corporation, it rebroadcast the signal of PBS member station WNVT from a transmitter in Arlington, Virginia. WNVT's transmitter was located in Independent Hill, Virginia, and was difficult to receive in the built-up parts of the Washington metropolitan area.
As Washington's original channel 14, WFAN-TV, had gone dark in 1972, CVETC attempted to have the vacant full-power allocation moved to Fairfax. This stoked controversy, as channel 14 was the last available commercial allocation assigned to Washington. Several competing groups and District of Columbia Mayor Walter E. Washington contested CVETC's application, arguing that Washington was under-served by local television and that the channel should possibly be reserved for a minority-owned station. The request was denied, but channel 56 was allocated to Fairfax as a compromise. CVETC took this allocation and began building what was to become WNVC instead, rendering W14AA unnecessary. CVETC used the translator to broadcast Congressional hearings until WNVC went on the air June 6, 1981.
Meanwhile, Los Cerezos Television Co. signed on station KA2XEH on channel 56 on June 29, 1980. The station relayed the programming of the Spanish International Network (SIN, as Univision was then known) via a satellite feed of flagship KWEX-TV in San Antonio, Texas. At the time, television translators were limited to the same rules as commercial FM translators and could only repeat a station's signal received over-the-air. As part of an FCC trial, SIN signed on two of these "satellators" under experimental licenses, denoted by the "2X" in the callsign. With the FCC's rules relaxed, Los Cerezos purchased W14AA in July 1981, and SIN programming was on the air soon afterward. Los Cerezos later made two failed attempts to move W14AA to Wheaton, Maryland, where its radio station WMDO (1540 AM) was already located. The license for KA2XEH was deleted effective October 1, 1981, as its channel 56 allocation had been given to WNVC.
On November 1, 1988, as the full-powered channel 14 allocation had been awarded to what would become WTMW, W14AA moved to channel 48 and received the new call sign of W48AW. The call letters were changed to WMDO-LP on February 1, 1995. In October 1998, WMDO-LP moved to channel 30, in order to allow NBC owned-and-operated station WRC-TV to launch its digital signal on channel 48. On March 20, 2001, the station changed its call letters to WMDO-CA to reflect an upgrade to Class A status.
The WMDO callsign derives not from a former or planned affiliation with competing Spanish-language network Telemundo, but from co-ownership by Los Cerezos with WMDO radio. The pair was broken up in 1999, when the television station was sold to Entravision.
In 2001, Entravision purchased Hagerstown, Maryland–based English-language independent station WJAL (channel 68), intending to move it into Washington to replace WMDO-CA, although they were unsuccessful at the time. In November 2003, WMDO-CA moved to channel 47 so that WNVT could sign on its digital signal on channel 30; Entravision complained that WMDO-CA lost 45 per cent of its audience because of the weaker signal.
On January 1, 2006, Entravision entered into a 16-year joint sales agreement (JSA) with Univision Communications, owner of then-TeleFutura affiliate WFDC-DT (channel 14). Under the agreement, the Univision affiliation for the Washington market was passed to WFDC in return for Entravision handling its operation and advertising sales. WMDO-CD joined TeleFutura (since renamed to UniMás) on the same day. The agreement expired on December 31, 2021; WFDC-DT retained the Univision affiliation after that date.
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WMDO-CD
WMDO-CD (channel 47) is a low-power, Class A television station in Washington, D.C., affiliated with LATV. It is owned by Entravision Communications alongside Silver Spring, Maryland–licensed Merit Street affiliate WJAL (channel 68).
The station first signed on the air as W14AA on UHF channel 14 in 1976. First owned by Central Virginia Educational Television Corporation, it rebroadcast the signal of PBS member station WNVT from a transmitter in Arlington, Virginia. WNVT's transmitter was located in Independent Hill, Virginia, and was difficult to receive in the built-up parts of the Washington metropolitan area.
As Washington's original channel 14, WFAN-TV, had gone dark in 1972, CVETC attempted to have the vacant full-power allocation moved to Fairfax. This stoked controversy, as channel 14 was the last available commercial allocation assigned to Washington. Several competing groups and District of Columbia Mayor Walter E. Washington contested CVETC's application, arguing that Washington was under-served by local television and that the channel should possibly be reserved for a minority-owned station. The request was denied, but channel 56 was allocated to Fairfax as a compromise. CVETC took this allocation and began building what was to become WNVC instead, rendering W14AA unnecessary. CVETC used the translator to broadcast Congressional hearings until WNVC went on the air June 6, 1981.
Meanwhile, Los Cerezos Television Co. signed on station KA2XEH on channel 56 on June 29, 1980. The station relayed the programming of the Spanish International Network (SIN, as Univision was then known) via a satellite feed of flagship KWEX-TV in San Antonio, Texas. At the time, television translators were limited to the same rules as commercial FM translators and could only repeat a station's signal received over-the-air. As part of an FCC trial, SIN signed on two of these "satellators" under experimental licenses, denoted by the "2X" in the callsign. With the FCC's rules relaxed, Los Cerezos purchased W14AA in July 1981, and SIN programming was on the air soon afterward. Los Cerezos later made two failed attempts to move W14AA to Wheaton, Maryland, where its radio station WMDO (1540 AM) was already located. The license for KA2XEH was deleted effective October 1, 1981, as its channel 56 allocation had been given to WNVC.
On November 1, 1988, as the full-powered channel 14 allocation had been awarded to what would become WTMW, W14AA moved to channel 48 and received the new call sign of W48AW. The call letters were changed to WMDO-LP on February 1, 1995. In October 1998, WMDO-LP moved to channel 30, in order to allow NBC owned-and-operated station WRC-TV to launch its digital signal on channel 48. On March 20, 2001, the station changed its call letters to WMDO-CA to reflect an upgrade to Class A status.
The WMDO callsign derives not from a former or planned affiliation with competing Spanish-language network Telemundo, but from co-ownership by Los Cerezos with WMDO radio. The pair was broken up in 1999, when the television station was sold to Entravision.
In 2001, Entravision purchased Hagerstown, Maryland–based English-language independent station WJAL (channel 68), intending to move it into Washington to replace WMDO-CA, although they were unsuccessful at the time. In November 2003, WMDO-CA moved to channel 47 so that WNVT could sign on its digital signal on channel 30; Entravision complained that WMDO-CA lost 45 per cent of its audience because of the weaker signal.
On January 1, 2006, Entravision entered into a 16-year joint sales agreement (JSA) with Univision Communications, owner of then-TeleFutura affiliate WFDC-DT (channel 14). Under the agreement, the Univision affiliation for the Washington market was passed to WFDC in return for Entravision handling its operation and advertising sales. WMDO-CD joined TeleFutura (since renamed to UniMás) on the same day. The agreement expired on December 31, 2021; WFDC-DT retained the Univision affiliation after that date.