View source for WWTO-TV

{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2023}}
{{short description|Television station in Naperville, Illinois}}
{{distinguish|WTWO|WTTO}}
{{Infobox television station
| callsign               = WWTO-TV
| city                   = Naperville, Illinois
| logo                   =
| branding               = 
| digital                = 32 ([[ultra high frequency|UHF]]), shared with [[WLPD-CD]]
| virtual                = 35
| subchannels            = 
| translators            = 
| affiliations           = {{ubl|'''35.1:''' [[Trinity Broadcasting Network|TBN]]|''for others, see {{section link||Subchannels}}''}}
| owner                  = [[Trinity Broadcasting Network]]
| licensee               = Trinity Broadcasting of Texas, Inc.
| location               = [[Naperville, Illinois|Naperville]]–[[Chicago]], Illinois
| country                = United States
| airdate                = {{start date and age|1986|12|12}}<ref name="bc-vs-tcf">For the 1986 air date, the ''Broadcasting and Cable Yearbook'' says December 1, while the ''Television and Cable Factbook'' says December 5.</ref><ref name="da990307">[http://www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/Cable/Orders/1999/da990307.txt DA-99-307: Memorandum Option and Order]: Jones Cable TV Fund 12-A, Ltd./Jones Cable TV Fund 15-A, Ltd. and TCI of Illinois, Inc. and its Affiliates.  For Modification of the ADI of Station WWTO-TV, LaSalle, Illinois.  CSR-5314-A and CSR-5315-A. [[Federal Communications Commission]]. February 5, 1997. Retrieved September 29, 2009.</ref> ''(in [[LaSalle, Illinois]]; license moved to Naperville in 2017)''
| last_airdate           = 
| callsign_meaning       = "Wide World of Tomorrow"{{Citation needed|date=September 2009}}
| sister_stations        = [[WLPD-CD]]
| former_channel_numbers = {{ubl|'''Analog:''' 35 ([[Ultra high frequency|UHF]], 1986–2009)|'''Digital:''' 10 ([[very high frequency|VHF]], until 2017), 35 (UHF, 2017–2019)}}
| former_affiliations    = 
| erp                    = 15 [[kilowatt|kW]]
| haat                   = {{convert|373.1|m|ft|0|abbr=on}}
| facility_id            = 998
| coordinates            = {{nowrap|{{coord|41|53|56.1|N|87|37|23.2|W|type:landmark_scale:2000|display=inline, title}}}}
| licensing_authority    = [[Federal Communications Commission|FCC]]
| website                = {{URL|https://www.tbn.org/}} 
}}

'''WWTO-TV''' (channel 35) is a [[religious television station]] licensed to [[Naperville, Illinois]], United States, serving as the [[Chicago]] area outlet for the [[Trinity Broadcasting Network]] (TBN). It is [[sister station|sister]] to [[Plano, Illinois|Plano]]-licensed [[TBN Inspire]] station [[WLPD-CD]] (channel 30). Through a [[frequency sharing|channel sharing]] agreement, the two stations transmit using WLPD-CD's spectrum from an antenna atop the [[John Hancock Center]].

Although WWTO-TV is licensed as a full-power station, it shares spectrum with WLPD-CD, whose low-power signal only covers the immediate Chicago area. Therefore, WWTO-TV relies on [[cable television|cable]] carriage to reach the entire market.

==History==
{{Expand section|date=September 2009|1986–present}}
The first station to broadcast on UHF channel 35 licensed to [[LaSalle, Illinois|LaSalle]] went on the air on November 7, 1957, as '''WEEQ''', a [[broadcast relay station#Satellite stations|satellite station]] of [[WEEK-TV]] in [[Peoria, Illinois|Peoria]].<ref name="bc1960">{{cite book | url = http://www.davidgleason.com/Broadcasting%201960%20Yearbook%20Page%20Range%20Guide_files/1-100%20Broadcasting%20Yearbook%201960.pdf#page=39 | title = 1960 Broadcasting Yearbook | page = A-39 | publisher = [[Broadcasting Publications, Inc.]] | location = [[Washington, D.C.]] | year = 1960 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.dougquick.com/othertelevisionhistory2.html | title = Other Television History | last = Quick | first = Doug | date = March 13, 2009 | access-date = September 29, 2009 | location = [[Vermilion County, Illinois]] | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20101216123237/http://dougquick.com/othertelevisionhistory2.html | archive-date = December 16, 2010 | url-status = dead }}</ref> WEEK and WEEQ were acquired by a company related to [[Kerr-McGee]], but sold off after Senator [[Robert S. Kerr]]'s death.<ref>{{cite book | chapter-url = http://tulsatvmemories.com/tvthesi4.html | title = The History and Development of Television in Tulsa, Oklahoma | chapter = Chapter 4: KVOO | last = Corarito | first = Gregory | year = 1967 | publisher = [[University of Tulsa]], Graduate School }}  Thesis cites ''Tulsa Tribune'' of December 5, 1957, as its reference for Kerr-McGee adding some stations.</ref> The sale, approved by the [[Federal Communications Commission]] on July 13, 1966, was for $3,088,650 (${{Formatnum:{{Inflation|US|3088650|1966|r=-2}}}} adjusted for inflation) and transferred the stations to Mid-America Television Co., owned by [[Kansas City Southern Industries]].<ref>{{cite book | url = http://www.davidgleason.com/Archive%20BC-YB/1967/A%20TV%20Broadcasting%20Yearbook%201967-2.pdf#page=94 | title = 1967 Broadcasting Yearbook | page = A-96 | publisher = [[Broadcasting Publications, Inc.]] | location = [[Washington, D.C.]] | year = 1967 }}</ref> The station still appeared in the 1973 ''Broadcasting Yearbook'' but not the 1974 edition.

===Late 1980s===
WWTO-TV began broadcasting operations in early December 1986 and was originally licensed to All American TV (not to be confused with [[All American Television|an unrelated television syndication company of a similar name]]), owned by evangelists [[Nicky Cruz]] and [[Sonny Arguinzoni]]. The station's first chief engineer and general manager was Glen Dingley, who would oversee the building of its studios and transmitter before returning to [[Houston]] in 1990.<ref name="bc-vs-tcf"/><ref name="da990307"/>

Until November 13, 2017, WWTO-TV's transmitter<ref>[https://enterpriseefiling.fcc.gov/dataentry/api/download/attachment/25076f91604b519a01604c99c2000a73 WWTO-TV, Naperville, Illinois - Status of Operation]</ref> was located in [[Deer Park Township, LaSalle County, Illinois|Deer Park Township]], [[LaSalle County, Illinois|LaSalle County]] (near [[Starved Rock State Park]]) and maintained studios on East Stevenson Road in [[Ottawa, Illinois|Ottawa]]. From Deer Park, the station also served the [[Peoria, Illinois|Peoria]] and [[Rockford, Illinois|Rockford]] markets over-the-air.

==Technical information==

===Subchannels===
{{#section:WLPD-CD|subs}}
===Former translators===
WWTO rebroadcast its signal on translators throughout Northern and Central Illinois; however, due to financial strains endured by TBN, these translators were shut down in early 2010.

* '''W19CX''' in [[Sterling, Illinois|Sterling]]–[[Dixon, Illinois|Dixon]] ''(formerly W52BI; [[Dark (broadcasting)|off-air]] as of March 29, 2010)''<ref name="fcc-w19cxdark">{{cite web|url=http://licensing.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/forms/prod/prefill_and_display.pl?Application_id=1365766&Service=TX&Form_id=910&Facility_id=1006|title=Notification of Suspension of Operations / Request for Silent STA|date=April 28, 2010|work=CDBS Public Access|publisher=[[Federal Communications Commission]]|access-date=April 29, 2010}}</ref>
* '''W22AJ''' in [[Arlington Heights, Illinois|Arlington Heights]] ''(formerly W64CQ; off-air as of April 13, 2010)''<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://licensing.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/forms/prod/prefill_and_display.pl?Application_id=1368700&Service=TX&Form_id=910&Facility_id=68061|title=Application View ... Redirecting}}</ref>
* '''W25CL''' in [[Rockford, Illinois|Rockford]] ''(off-air as of March 26, 2010)''<ref name="fcc-w25cldark">{{cite web|url=http://licensing.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/forms/prod/prefill_and_display.pl?Application_id=1365565&Service=TX&Form_id=910&Facility_id=988|title=Notification of Suspension of Operations / Request for Silent STA|date=April 27, 2010|work=CDBS Public Access|publisher=[[Federal Communications Commission]]|access-date=April 28, 2010}}</ref>
* '''W29BG''' in [[Decatur, Illinois|Decatur]] ''(off-air as of March 25, 2010)''<ref name="fcc-w29bgdark">{{cite web|url=http://licensing.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/forms/prod/prefill_and_display.pl?Application_id=1365221&Service=TX&Form_id=910&Facility_id=67930|title=Notification of Suspension of Operations / Request for Silent STA|date=April 26, 2010|work=CDBS Public Access|publisher=[[Federal Communications Commission]]|access-date=April 27, 2010}}</ref>
* '''W34DL''' in [[Champaign, Illinois|Champaign]] ''(off-air as of April 13, 2010)''<ref name="fcc-w34dldark">{{cite web|url=http://licensing.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/forms/prod/prefill_and_display.pl?Application_id=1369021&Service=TX&Form_id=910&Facility_id=68045|title=Notification of Suspension of Operations / Request for Silent STA|date=May 13, 2010|work=CDBS Public Access|publisher=[[Federal Communications Commission]]|access-date=May 14, 2010}}</ref>
* '''W40BY''' in Chicago ''(formerly W68DO; now [[WESV-LD]])''
* '''W50DD''' in [[Peoria, Illinois|Peoria]] ''(formerly W41BO; off-air as of March 26, 2010)''<ref name="fcc-w50dddark">{{cite web|url=http://licensing.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/forms/prod/prefill_and_display.pl?Application_id=1365552&Service=TX&Form_id=910&Facility_id=994|title=Notification of Suspension of Operations / Request for Silent STA|date=April 27, 2010|work=CDBS Public Access|publisher=[[Federal Communications Commission]]|access-date=April 28, 2010}}</ref>
* '''W51CT''' in [[Bloomington, Illinois|Bloomington]] ''(off-air as of March 28, 2010)''<ref name="fcc-w51ctdark">{{cite web|url=http://licensing.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/forms/prod/prefill_and_display.pl?Application_id=1365701&Service=TX&Form_id=910&Facility_id=1007|title=Notification of Suspension of Operations / Request for Silent STA|date=April 28, 2010|work=CDBS Public Access|publisher=[[Federal Communications Commission]]|access-date=April 29, 2010}}</ref>
* '''W51DT''' in [[Galesburg, Illinois|Galesburg]] ''(formerly W50BY; off-air as of April 13, 2010)''<ref name="fcc-w51dtdark">{{cite web|url=http://licensing.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/forms/prod/prefill_and_display.pl?Application_id=1369104&Service=TX&Form_id=910&Facility_id=1013|title=Notification of Suspension of Operations / Request for Silent STA|date=May 14, 2010|work=CDBS Public Access|publisher=[[Federal Communications Commission]]|access-date=May 17, 2010}}</ref>

W19CX would later be sold to [[Get After It Media|Luken Communications]], the parent company of [[Retro TV|Retro Television Network]], under the licensee name "Digital Networks - Midwest".<ref>[https://licensing.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/forms/prod/cdbsmenu.hts?context=25&appn=101459161&formid=910&fac_num=1006 FCC application: "Notification of Suspension of Operations / Request for Silent STA" for W19CX]</ref>

W22AJ would later be sold to one of the owners of [[KAXT-CD]] in [[San Jose, California]], under the licensee name of "Chicago 22, [[Limited liability company|LLC]]".<ref>[https://licensing.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/forms/prod/cdbsmenu.hts?context=25&appn=101490383&formid=346&fac_num=68061 FCC application: "APPLICATION FOR AUTHORITY TO CONSTRUCT OR MAKE CHANGES IN A LOW POWER TV, TV TRANSLATOR OR TV BOOSTER STATION" for W22AJ]</ref> The callsign was changed to '''WRJK-LP''' on January 18, 2013.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://licensing.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/pubacc/prod/call_hist.pl?Facility_id=68061&Callsign=WRJK-LP|title = Call Sign History}}</ref>

W34DL, W51CT and W51DT would later be donated to the Minority Media and Television Council (MMTC);<ref>[http://mmtconline.org/lp-pdf/LPTV%20Comments%20121710.pdf FCC document: "COMMENTS OF LPTV ENTREPRENEURS", December 17, 2010.]</ref> however W34DL and W51CT would later be cancelled, due to inactivity for over one year.<ref name=fcc-tbndeletions>{{cite web|title=Re: Applications for Assignment of License…|url=https://cdbs.recnet.com/corres/?doc=29804|format=PDF|date=November 30, 2011|work=CDBS Public Access|publisher=[[Federal Communications Commission]]|access-date=December 3, 2011}}</ref> The current occupant of channel 34 in Champaign, '''W34EH-D''', is on a new license under a different owner,<ref>[http://transition.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/tvq?list=0&facid=184765 FCC records for W34EH-D]</ref> while W51DT is now '''WSIO-LD''' and owned by [[Get After It Media]], but has remained silent for nearly a decade.

W40BY would be purchased by [[Spanish language in the United States|Spanish-language]] broadcaster [[Liberman Broadcasting]], the parent of [[Estrella TV]] in February 2010, giving that network a station in Chicago. The sale was completed on December 6, 2010, with the call letters changed to [[WESV-LD]].

TBN let the licenses for W25CL, W29BG and W50DD lapse in 2013 after a failed 2012 attempt to sell those licenses to Regal Media, among many others.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20131202233742/https://licensing.fcc.gov/cdbs/CDBS_Attachment/getattachment.jsp?appn=101499020&qnum=5030&copynum=1&exhcnum=1 FCC document: "Asset Purchase Agreement: Trinity Christian Center Of Santa Ana, Inc. / Trinity Broadcasting Of Arizona, Inc. (Sellers) and Regal Media, Inc. (Buyer)]</ref>

==Cable carriage==
LaSalle lies at the far western end of its nominal Chicago [[media market]]. The [[Federal Communications Commission]] (FCC) declared many communities served by Chicago-area cable systems to be outside of WWTO-TV's designated market, and denied [[must-carry]] status. In 1997 ruling in favor of [[Time Warner Cable]], the FCC noted that "WWTO-TV has at best a minimal viewing presence in the Chicago ADI as a whole, and the communities are located approximately 65 to 70 miles from WWTO-TV. Furthermore, the station has never been carried on the cable system in question, offers no programming specifically for the relevant communities, and provides no over-the air signal coverage of the Communities."<ref>[http://www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/Cable/Orders/1997/da970545.txt DA-97-545: Memorandum Option and Order]: Time Warner Entertainment - Advance Newhouse Partnership, dba Time Warner Cable. Granted petition for special relief for modification of the television market of Station WWTO-TV, La Salle, Illinois. [[Federal Communications Commission]]. March 14, 1997. Retrieved September 29, 2009.</ref> The FCC made a similar ruling in 1999 concerning dozens of cable services in [[McHenry County, Illinois|McHenry]], [[DuPage County, Illinois|DuPage]], [[Lake County, Illinois|Lake]], [[Cook County, Illinois|Cook]], [[Kane County, Illinois|Kane]] and [[Will County, Illinois|Will]] counties in Illinois and [[Lake County, Indiana|Lake]], [[Porter County, Indiana|Porter]], [[LaPorte County, Indiana|LaPorte]] and [[Jasper County, Indiana|Jasper]] counties in [[Indiana]]. In that order, the FCC noted that "out of the 10 counties herein, the A.C. Nielsen 1997 County/Coverage Survey does not even list WWTO-TV and for the one where it is listed, Will County, only minimal viewership is recorded."<ref name="da990307"/> Even with the move of the station's transmitter to the John Hancock Center, [[Xfinity]] continues to source most of TBN's networks via their national feeds within the Chicago market, outside of must-carry situations where WWTO-DT1's signal must be utilized (the must-carry designation disallows TBN from asking for carriage of its subchannels).

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://www.tbn.org/publicfile/WWTO/ Public Files: WWTO] &mdash; station [[public file]] on TBN website

{{Chicago TV}}
{{Other Illinois Stations}}
{{TBN|state=collapsed}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wwto-Tv}}
[[Category:1986 establishments in Illinois]]
[[Category:LaSalle County, Illinois]]
[[Category:Merit TV affiliates]]
[[Category:Naperville, Illinois]]
[[Category:Television stations in Chicago|WTO-TV]]
[[Category:Trinity Broadcasting Network stations]]
[[Category:Television channels and stations established in 1986]]