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WUVP-DT
WUVP-DT (channel 65) is a television station licensed to Vineland, New Jersey, United States, broadcasting the Spanish-language Univision network to the Philadelphia area. It is owned and operated by TelevisaUnivision alongside Wildwood, New Jersey–licensed True Crime Network affiliate WMGM-TV (channel 40) and low-power, Class A UniMás station WFPA-CD (channel 28). The stations share studios on North Delsea Drive in Newfield, New Jersey, north of Vineland, with additional offices in Center City, Philadelphia. Through a channel sharing agreement with CW O&O WPHL-TV (channel 17), WUVP-DT transmits using WPHL-TV's spectrum from a tower in the Roxborough section of Philadelphia.
Channel 65 was originally established as WRBV, one of the first Black-owned stations in the United States, in 1981. A protracted and expensive construction process with multiple legal battles prompted it to be placed in receivership just five months after going on air. It continued as an independent under receivership and another owner until 1986, when it was sold to the Home Shopping Network. Univision acquired the station in 2002 as part of its purchase of USA Broadcasting.
On June 14, 1978, the Renaissance Broadcasting Corporation of Willingboro, headed by former New Jersey Public Television employee Donald McMeans, applied for a construction permit for channel 65 in Vineland. A construction permit for WRBV was granted on February 1, 1979, making Renaissance just the second Black-owned group to receive a TV station permit; the only other such station was Detroit's WGPR-TV.
From the outset, there were doubters. One was a Vineland city councilor, Si Solazzo, who called the company "a little shaky" after McMeans opted not to partner with the city to land a $1.6 million grant to finance the station. However, the grant deal got over the hump. With financing lined up, McMeans then attempted to secure a network affiliation. However, ABC showed no interest in bringing an affiliation to South Jersey, and McMeans instead signed a deal to broadcast the subscription television (STV) service of Wometco Home Theater. After the FCC agreed to waive its rule only permitting one STV station in each market in exchange for a promise of local programming in the 7 p.m. hour, ground was broken on the Vineland facilities in March 1980.
The construction did not go smoothly, either. In one day in September, a court order halted construction on the tower in Waterford Township, New Jersey—25 miles (40 km) southeast of Philadelphia—because the township claimed Renaissance had not filed for the appropriate building permits and raised environmental objections to the site in the Pine Barrens, and the company discovered an error in the contract relating to the federal grant that threatened to leave construction incomplete. The New Jersey Pinelands Commission threatened to revoke its permit to build the tower.
By late October, with all of the permitting issues for the tower solved, construction was moving, and McMeans eyed a January air date. Even then, there were still hurdles. Vandalism was noted at the construction site. One morning, workers arrived to find a note pinned in a tree warning, "Hey, nigger, this tower is not up yet" and a bullet hole in a piece of equipment; a firebomb was also set off. WRBV finally began broadcasting on July 13, 1981. Outside of WHT hours, it offered reruns and local news, with four mobile units purchased to cover South Jersey and the state government in Trenton.
People would have been overwhelmingly happy to see this station in South Jersey if we were white. But what can I do? I can't jump in a can of paint.
However, even before launching, the legal fees and added costs associated with the prolonged construction had prompted McMeans to reduce the number of jobs at channel 65. Even after the station finally got on air, the financial picture did not clear up for Renaissance Broadcasting. The company missed loan payments to its primary lender, Girard Bank, and to the city of Vineland, with McMeans citing cash flow problems. The TelePrompTer Corporation cable systems resisted carrying the station—even in Vineland itself, where it had to by law—because it feared competition from WHT, opting to wait for an expansion of channel capacity to add WRBV. McMeans then sued all 20 cable systems in the channel 65 coverage area.
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WUVP-DT
WUVP-DT (channel 65) is a television station licensed to Vineland, New Jersey, United States, broadcasting the Spanish-language Univision network to the Philadelphia area. It is owned and operated by TelevisaUnivision alongside Wildwood, New Jersey–licensed True Crime Network affiliate WMGM-TV (channel 40) and low-power, Class A UniMás station WFPA-CD (channel 28). The stations share studios on North Delsea Drive in Newfield, New Jersey, north of Vineland, with additional offices in Center City, Philadelphia. Through a channel sharing agreement with CW O&O WPHL-TV (channel 17), WUVP-DT transmits using WPHL-TV's spectrum from a tower in the Roxborough section of Philadelphia.
Channel 65 was originally established as WRBV, one of the first Black-owned stations in the United States, in 1981. A protracted and expensive construction process with multiple legal battles prompted it to be placed in receivership just five months after going on air. It continued as an independent under receivership and another owner until 1986, when it was sold to the Home Shopping Network. Univision acquired the station in 2002 as part of its purchase of USA Broadcasting.
On June 14, 1978, the Renaissance Broadcasting Corporation of Willingboro, headed by former New Jersey Public Television employee Donald McMeans, applied for a construction permit for channel 65 in Vineland. A construction permit for WRBV was granted on February 1, 1979, making Renaissance just the second Black-owned group to receive a TV station permit; the only other such station was Detroit's WGPR-TV.
From the outset, there were doubters. One was a Vineland city councilor, Si Solazzo, who called the company "a little shaky" after McMeans opted not to partner with the city to land a $1.6 million grant to finance the station. However, the grant deal got over the hump. With financing lined up, McMeans then attempted to secure a network affiliation. However, ABC showed no interest in bringing an affiliation to South Jersey, and McMeans instead signed a deal to broadcast the subscription television (STV) service of Wometco Home Theater. After the FCC agreed to waive its rule only permitting one STV station in each market in exchange for a promise of local programming in the 7 p.m. hour, ground was broken on the Vineland facilities in March 1980.
The construction did not go smoothly, either. In one day in September, a court order halted construction on the tower in Waterford Township, New Jersey—25 miles (40 km) southeast of Philadelphia—because the township claimed Renaissance had not filed for the appropriate building permits and raised environmental objections to the site in the Pine Barrens, and the company discovered an error in the contract relating to the federal grant that threatened to leave construction incomplete. The New Jersey Pinelands Commission threatened to revoke its permit to build the tower.
By late October, with all of the permitting issues for the tower solved, construction was moving, and McMeans eyed a January air date. Even then, there were still hurdles. Vandalism was noted at the construction site. One morning, workers arrived to find a note pinned in a tree warning, "Hey, nigger, this tower is not up yet" and a bullet hole in a piece of equipment; a firebomb was also set off. WRBV finally began broadcasting on July 13, 1981. Outside of WHT hours, it offered reruns and local news, with four mobile units purchased to cover South Jersey and the state government in Trenton.
People would have been overwhelmingly happy to see this station in South Jersey if we were white. But what can I do? I can't jump in a can of paint.
However, even before launching, the legal fees and added costs associated with the prolonged construction had prompted McMeans to reduce the number of jobs at channel 65. Even after the station finally got on air, the financial picture did not clear up for Renaissance Broadcasting. The company missed loan payments to its primary lender, Girard Bank, and to the city of Vineland, with McMeans citing cash flow problems. The TelePrompTer Corporation cable systems resisted carrying the station—even in Vineland itself, where it had to by law—because it feared competition from WHT, opting to wait for an expansion of channel capacity to add WRBV. McMeans then sued all 20 cable systems in the channel 65 coverage area.