View source for WFDC-DT

{{Short description|Television station in Arlington, Virginia}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2024}}
{{Infobox television station
| callsign = WFDC-DT
| city = Arlington, Virginia
| logo = Univision Washington DC 2019.png
| logo_upright = 1
| image = WMDO-CD-WFDC-DT4 (2021).svg
| image_upright = .8
| branding = Univision Washington D.C.
| digital = 15 ([[UHF]]), shared with [[WDCW]]<ref name=wdcwwfdc>{{cite web|title=Modification of a Licensed Facility for DTV Application|url=https://enterpriseefiling.fcc.gov/dataentry/public/tv/draftCopy.html?displayType=html&appKey=25076ff35dbecefc015dc83369bd02d7&id=25076ff35dbecefc015dc83369bd02d7&goBack=N|website=FCC.gov|access-date=August 31, 2017}}</ref>
| virtual = 14
| affiliations = {{ubl|'''14.1:''' [[Univision]]|'''14.4:''' [[UniMás]]|''for others, see {{Section link||Subchannels}}''}}
| airdate = {{start date and age|1993|4|3}}
| location = {{ubl|[[Arlington, Virginia]]|[[Washington, D.C.]]}}
| country = United States
| callsign_meaning = "Telefutura District of Columbia"
| former_callsigns = {{ubl|WTMW (1993–2001)|WFDC (2001–2003)|WFDC-TV (2004–2009)}}
| former_channel_numbers = {{ubl|'''Analog:''' 14 (UHF, 1993–2009)}}
| owner = [[TelevisaUnivision]]
| licensee = UniMas D.C. [[LLC]]
| former_affiliations = {{ubl|[[HSN]] (1993–1997)|[[America's Store]] (1997–May 1999)|Military Channel (May–June 1999)|Panda Shopping Network (June–December 1999)|[[American Independent Network|AIN]] (December 1999–2001)|Renaissance Network (2001–2002)|TeleFutura (2002–2005)}}
| erp = 1,000 [[kW]]
| haat = {{convert|227|m|ft|0|abbr=on}}
| facility_id = 69532
| coordinates = {{coord|38|56|24|N|77|4|54|W|type:landmark_scale:2000}}
| licensing_authority = [[FCC]]
| website = {{URL|https://www.univision.com/local/washington-dc-wfdc}}
}}

'''WFDC-DT''' (channel 14) is a [[television station]] licensed to [[Arlington, Virginia]], United States, broadcasting the Spanish-language [[Univision]] and [[UniMás]] networks to the [[Washington, D.C.]], area. [[Owned and operated]] by [[TelevisaUnivision]], the station maintains studios on [[Constitution Avenue]] near the [[United States Capitol|Capitol Building]], and a transmitter in the [[Tenleytown]] section of Washington's [[Northwest, Washington, D.C.|northwest quadrant]].

==History==

===Prior history of channel 14 in Washington===
{{main|WOOK-TV}}
Channel 14 first signed on as WOOK-TV on March 5, 1963, as the first television station in the country aimed at the [[African-American]] demographic. WOOK's claim to fame was their teen-oriented dance show called ''[[Teenarama]]'', which featured big-name acts such as [[James Brown]] and [[Marvin Gaye]]. In 1968, the station changed its call letters to WFAN-TV to match its co-owned radio station at [[WBIG-FM|100.3 FM]]. From 1968 to 1972, channel 14 was the sister station to [[WMET-TV]] (channel 24) in [[Baltimore]]. Both stations were owned by United Broadcasting. On February 12, 1972, WFAN-TV went dark after accumulating financial difficulties and due to license hearings affecting its sister stations.<ref name="wook">{{cite web |last1=Richards |first1=K.M. |title=WOOK-TV/14, Washington, D.C. |url=https://uhfhistory.com/articles/wook.html |website=History of UHF Television |access-date=June 20, 2019 }}</ref>

Channel 14 was back on the air in 1976 in the form of translator W14AA, relaying [[VPM Media Corporation|Central Virginia Educational Television Corporation]]'s [[WNVT]] from [[Annandale, Virginia]].<ref name="wapo">{{cite news|last1=Digilio|first1=Alice|title=WNVT tries for more clarity|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1977/02/17/wnvt-tries-for-more-clarity/68d05857-1012-4caf-9dde-ddcea92a9324/|newspaper=Washington Post|date=February 17, 1977}}</ref> CVETC attempted to have the full-powered channel 14 allocation moved to Fairfax, but this request caused controversy among [[District of Columbia]] elected officials and other interested applicants who argued that the city was under-served by local television.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Darling |first1=Lynn |title=Area Groups Compete for Channel 14 |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1978/05/22/area-groups-compete-for-channel-14/7730af90-6fa2-4319-9d27-e41df9c9c007/ |newspaper=Washington Post |date=May 22, 1978}}</ref> CVETC accepted the allocation of channel 56 to Fairfax as a compromise, and upon the sign-on of [[WNVC]] in June 1981 W14AA was no longer necessary.<ref name="bc1">{{cite news|title=In brief|url=https://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1976/1976-12-27--Combined-BC.pdf|work=[[Broadcasting & Cable|Broadcasting]]|date=December 27, 1976|page=20}}</ref><ref name="wook" /> CVETC received special approval to broadcast [[United States Congress|Congressional]] hearings in the interim; later in the year, the station was sold to Los Cerezos Television Co., who converted it to an affiliate of the [[Spanish International Network]] (Univision's predecessor). This station moved to channel 48 in 1989 and is today [[WMDO-CD]].<ref>{{cite web|title=WMDO-CD Facility Data|url=https://fccdata.org/?pn=35654&facid=38437|website=FCCData}}</ref>

===WFDC station history===
In 1985, the channel 14 allocation was awarded to Theodore M. White's Urban Broadcasting Corporation. The plan was to enter the market of general independent stations, dominated by [[WTTG]] (channel 5) and [[WDCA]] (channel 20) and soon to be joined by [[WDCW|WFTY]] (channel 50); [[Milton Grant]], who founded WDCA, consulted White on programming acquisition. Although the station claimed to the ''[[Washington Post]]'' it was aiming to start operations in the spring of 1986, legal wrangling continued among competing applicants delayed sign-on.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Carmody |first1=John |title=THE TV COLUMN |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1985/12/26/the-tv-column/4f6e9ecf-dfb2-4039-8fc4-18ba20e6c59e/ |newspaper=Washington Post |date=December 26, 1985}}</ref>

It was a further seven years before WTMW signed on April 3, 1993, as a Home Shopping Network ([[HSN]]) affiliate.<ref>{{cite news |title=[TV studio maintenance engineer] |url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1993/BC-1993-02-22.pdf |work=Broadcasting |date=February 22, 1993 |page=52}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=WFDC-DT Facility Data |url=https://fccdata.org/?lang=en&pn=180149&facid=69532 |website=FCCData}}</ref> [[Barry Diller]]'s Silver King Broadcasting, predecessor to HSN's broadcasting arm, [[USA Broadcasting]], had taken a 45% stake in the station in 1989 in order to keep it afloat.<ref name="findlaw">{{cite web |title=In re: Urban Broadcasting Corporation |url=https://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-4th-circuit/1313617.html |website=Findlaw |date=March 11, 2005}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=McConnell |first1=Chris |title=Silver King faces more hurdles at the FCC |url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1996/BC-1996-06-17.pdf |work=Broadcasting |date=June 17, 1996 |page=24}}</ref> Urban Broadcasting filed for [[Chapter 11]] [[Bankruptcy in the United States|bankruptcy]] less than two years later, on July 3, 1995.<ref name="casetext">{{cite web |title=In re Urban Broadcasting Corp., Case No. 95-12919-SSM Chapter 11 |url=https://casetext.com/case/in-re-urban-broadcasting-corp-3 |website=casetext.com}}</ref>

As part of WTMW's plan to emerge from bankruptcy, it agreed to begin broadcasting HSN's secondary network [[America's Store]] in 1997. A further dispute arose over this agreement. WTMW was originally licensed with an [[effective radiated power]] of 2,880 [[Watt|kilowatt]]s. While testing its signal before sign-on, it was discovered that WTMW caused interference to local [[land mobile]] radio operations, and the filters required to reduce out-of-band transmissions necessitated a permanent reduction in power to 2,541&nbsp;kW. However, the [[Federal Communications Commission]] (FCC) granted WTMW authorization to sign on with 1,440&nbsp;kW, half of the original power. There were further issues with the transmitting equipment due to failed [[klystron]]s; bankruptcy proceedings revealed WTMW broadcast for a "substantial amount of time" at just 360&nbsp;kW, or one-eighth of the original power. HSN's agreement with WTMW required it to broadcast at its full authorized power to receive compensation from the network; over HSN's objections that Urban Broadcasting was not capable of remedying the transmitter issues, the court found that it was and allowed the agreement to stand. After emerging from bankruptcy, WTMW claimed that its interpretation of the contract set the power requirement at 1,271&nbsp;kW (i.e., half of 2,541), and not 1,440&nbsp;kW, which triggered another lawsuit with HSN over which was correct.<ref name="casetext" /><ref name="fccr">{{cite web |title=USA Broadcasting, Inc., and Univision Communications, Inc. |url=https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/FCC-04-42A1.pdf |publisher=Federal Communications Commission}}</ref>

The lawsuits over the affiliation contract were decided in HSN's favor, and on May 10, 1999, White removed America's Store programming due to non-payment and began broadcasting the Military Channel without warning. Irate viewers flooded local cable companies, who were not aware of the change themselves, with phone calls.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Jackson |first1=David Vail |title=War Gear's Surprise Attack on Local Cable |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1999/05/18/war-gears-surprise-attack-on-local-cable/14070b9f-cc81-41ef-a9ef-126a7a75c96c/ |newspaper=Washington Post |date=May 18, 1999}}</ref> The Military Channel, similar in programming but unrelated to [[Discovery Communications]]' [[American Heroes Channel|later cable channel of the same name]], had broadcast to just one million cable homes since 1993, but underwent aggressive expansion through satellite carriage and [[leased access]] to cable networks starting in 1998. When this did not deliver viewers, the network spent most of 1999 beset by financial trouble; WTMW was its only documented over-the-air affiliate. After several deals to rescue its operations fell through, the Military Channel went dark for good in July.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Redding |first1=Rick |title=Military Channel shooting for deal with A&E |url=https://www.bizjournals.com/louisville/stories/1999/07/26/story1.html |work=Louisville Business Journal |date=July 26, 1999}}</ref> WTMW left the network early on June 12. White said to the ''Post'' that the military programming was deeply unpopular, and "people seemed to want shopping back on our channel." Shopping returned by way of the cable-based Panda Shopping Network, which had been newly acquired by pay-per-view operator [[TVN Entertainment Corporation]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=de Moraes |first1=Lisa |title=Overstuffing the Magazine Rack |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1999/06/17/overstuffing-the-magazine-rack/13d4fa8a-beb6-40da-b897-c2143638daaa/ |newspaper=Washington Post |date=June 17, 1999}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Dempsey |first1=John |title=TVN rings up two buys toward cable commerce |url=https://variety.com/1999/biz/news/tvn-rings-up-two-buys-toward-cable-commerce-1117503078/ |work=Variety |date=June 15, 1999 |language=en}}</ref>

WTMW became an affiliate of the [[American Independent Network]], which primarily broadcast reruns of old [[sitcom]]s and [[infomercial]]s, on December 20 of the same year.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Hughes |first1=Dave |title=Channel 14 Goes AIN |url=http://dcrtv.com/mediaw09.html |website=DCRTV |date=December 20, 1999}}</ref> Without the fixed income from its HSN affiliation, however, Urban Broadcasting filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy again in August 2000.<ref name="findlaw" /> Concurrently in December, Univision Communications bought all of USA Broadcasting's over-the-air stations including its 45% stake in WTMW.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Stern |first1=Christopher |title=Univision to Buy Diller TV Stations |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/business/2000/12/08/univision-to-buy-diller-tv-stations/6800d8ab-2e55-481b-9f6b-1f222d223699/ |newspaper=Washington Post |date=December 8, 2000}}</ref>

After two years with AIN, WTMW switched to the locally-based "Renaissance Network" around its launch on January 15, 2001, which provided the same general-entertainment format mixed with current affairs and politics programming with conservative viewpoints.<ref>{{cite web |title=A Rebirth in Television |url=http://www.renaissancenetwork.com/pr011801.shtml |website=Renaissance Network |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010422055020/http://www.renaissancenetwork.com/pr011801.shtml |archive-date=April 22, 2001 |date=January 15, 2001}}</ref> This was short-lived, as Univision Communications purchased WTMW outright along with the rest of Urban Broadcasting's assets in an April 2001 bankruptcy auction.<ref name="findlaw" /><ref name="fccr" /> Univision already had an established Washington affiliate, [[Entravision Communications]]' WMDO-CA, so the rechristened WFDC instead became a charter affiliate of Univision's new secondary network [[TeleFutura]], now known as UniMás, on January 14, 2002.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Hughes |first1=Dave |title=Telefutura Coming To Channel 14 |url=http://dcrtv.com/mediaw11.html |work=DCRTV |date=August 1, 2001 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180411174438/http://dcrtv.com/mediaw11.html |archive-date=April 11, 2018}}</ref>

This arrangement presented the obvious deficiency of Univision's primary network remaining on a low-powered station that was not subject to [[must-carry]] rules. On [[New Year's Day|January 1]], 2006, Univision Communications entered into a 16-year [[joint sales agreement]] (JSA) with Entravision, in which Entravision agreed to cede the market's Univision affiliation to WFDC in return for taking over its operation and advertising sales. WMDO-CA switched networks to TeleFutura on the same day. WMDO-CD and WFDC were to remain with their respective networks until the agreement's expiration on December 31, 2021. The Univision affiliation continued on WFDC at the agreement's expiration; UniMás moved to WFDC's fourth digital subchannel on the same day after WMDO-CD lost transmitting facilities and went silent.<ref>{{cite web|title=Entravision-UCI Joint Sales Agreement, January 1, 2006|url=https://enterpriseefiling.fcc.gov/dataentry/api/download/attachment/25076ff35e13fe99015e144d288c000b|website=FCC LMS}}</ref><ref>{{cite press release |author=Entravision Communications Corporation |title=Entravision Communications Corporation Announces New Television Agreements with Univision |url=https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/entravision-communications-corporation-announces-new-television-agreements-with-univision-300531531.html |website=www.prnewswire.com |access-date=March 23, 2021 |language=en}}</ref>

==News operation==
After switching from TeleFutura to Univision, the station continued its news department. It broadcast six hours of news on weekdays and two hours of news on the weekends. On September 30, 2012, {{lang|es|Buenos Días DC}}, the first Spanish morning news show in the Washington market, debuted. The show was produced by Silvana Quiroz, who is also the anchor sharing cameras with co-anchor Nestor Bravo. The morning news magazine ran from 6 a.m. to 7 a.m. On April 19, 2014, a weekend newscast debuted at 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. and ran through October 2015 and was similar to the weekday schedule. On March 1, 2014, the Univision Washington team was replaced. Anchor Mario Sol and sports anchor Oscar Burgos were laid off. Maria Rosa Lucchini, the 6 p.m. anchor, was promoted to White House correspondent; months later, she resigned. Claudia Uceda, the 11 p.m. anchor, was switched to reporter, and months later, resigned to work as a freelancer for the Univision network. [[Tsi-Tsi-Ki Félix]] replaced the entire team, leaving only Fanny Gutierrez, who at the time was on maternity leave, and months later, resigned from her duties. Edwin Pitti, who was hired as a reporter, was promoted to [[White House]] correspondent.

In late December 2015, Entravision canceled the morning newscasts of all of its stations in the United States (including {{lang|es|Buenos Días DC}}). The last show aired December 7, 2015.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mediamoves.com/2015/12/entravision-cancels-morning-newscasts-nationwide.html |title = Entravision cancels morning newscasts nationwide - Media Moves| date=December 5, 2015 }}</ref>

==Technical information==
===Subchannels===
<section begin=subs />
{| class="wikitable"
|+Subchannels of WFDC-DT and WDCW<ref name=rei>{{cite web|title=Digital TV Market Listing for WFDC-DT|url=http://www.rabbitears.info/market.php?request=station_search&callsign=WFDC-DT#station|website=[[RabbitEars.info]]|access-date=January 26, 2017}}</ref>
! scope = "col" | License
! scope = "col" | [[Digital subchannel#United States|Channel]]
! scope = "col" | [[Display resolution|Res.]]
! scope = "col" | [[Aspect ratio (image)|Aspect]]
! scope = "col" | Short name
! scope = "col" | Programming
|-
! rowspan = "4" scope = "row" style="border-right: 4px solid #60B0FF;" | WFDC-DT 
! scope = "row" | 14.1
| [[720p]] || [[16:9]] || WFDC-DT || [[Univision]]
|-
! scope = "row" | 14.2
| rowspan=2| [[480i]] || [[4:3]] || getTV || [[Get (TV network)|Get]]
|-
! scope = "row" | 14.3
| rowspan=4| 16:9 || GRIT || [[Grit (TV network)|Grit]]
|-
! scope = "row" | 14.4
| 720p || style="background-color: #f2d1de;"|UniMas || style="background-color: #f2d1de;"|[[UniMás]] [[File:4 rounded rect pink.svg|14px|alt=MPEG-4 video|link=MPEG-4 Part 2]]
|-
! rowspan = "3" scope = "row" style="border-right: 4px solid #0057AF;" | WDCW
! scope = "row" | [[WDVM-TV|25.1]] 
| 480i || style="background-color: #E6FFF7;"|WDVM-SD || style="background-color: #E6FFF7;"|[[WDVM-TV]] in [[standard-definition television|SD]] ([[Independent station|Independent]])
|-
! scope = "row" | 50.1 
| 720p || WDCW-DT || [[The CW]]
|-
! scope = "row" | 50.2 
| 480i || 4:3 || Antenna || [[Antenna TV]]
|}
{{legend|#f2d1de|Subchannel broadcast with [[MPEG-4 Part 2|MPEG-4 video]]}}
{{legend|#E6FFF7|Simulcast of subchannels of another station}}
<section end=subs />
===Analog-to-digital conversion===
WFDC shut down its analog signal, over [[UHF]] channel 14, on June 12, 2009, the official date on which full-power television stations in the United States [[Digital television transition in the United States|transitioned from analog to digital broadcasts]] under federal mandate. The station's digital signal continued to broadcasts on its pre-transition UHF channel 15,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-06-1082A2.pdf |title=DTV Tentative Channel Designations for the First and the Second Rounds |access-date=March 24, 2012 |archive-date=August 29, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130829004251/http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-06-1082A2.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> using [[virtual channel]] 14.

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* {{Official website|https://www.univision.com/local/washington-dc-wfdc}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Wfdc-Dt}}
[[Category:1993 establishments in Virginia]]
[[Category:Arlington County, Virginia]]
[[Category:Get (TV network) affiliates]]
[[Category:Grit (TV network) affiliates]]
[[Category:Spanish-language television stations in Washington, D.C.|FDC-DT]]
[[Category:Television channels and stations established in 1993]]
[[Category:Television stations in Washington, D.C.|FDC-DT]]
[[Category:UniMás affiliates]]
[[Category:Univision affiliates]]