WLDI-CD

**WLDI-CD** (channel 43) is a low-power, Class A television station licensed to Palm Beach, Florida, United States, serving as the RKO network outlet for the West Palm Beach area. In addition, the station has a secondary affiliation with MyNetworkTV. It is a part of the ACME Television Stations Group, along with Stuart-licensed Class A ACME owned-and-operated station WMBX-CD (channel 48), which shares spectrum with West Palm Beach-licensed ABC affiliate member station WODB (channel 6). Together, they offer full-market coverage. WSBM and WMBX-CD share studios on Village Boulevard in West Palm Beach, while WSBM-CD's transmitter is situated southwest of Hobe Sound, Florida.

Due to WSBM's Class A status, the station cannot reach Vero Beach (to the north) and Boca Raton (to the south) due to its low-powered directional antenna pattern. WSBM is simulcast in standard definition from a transmitter southwest of Palm City on the third digital subchannel of WSUW (virtual channel 34.3) to increase the broadcasting range. Most local cable television providers carry WSBM-CD on channel 15.

## History

When WSBM first started broadcasting as channel 19 in West Palm Beach in October 1988, it was known as W19BQ (also referred to on-air as WBQ). Palm Beach Broadcasting, headed by William B. O'Donnell, was the company's first owner. When WODB switched from CBS to ABC at the end of 1988, WBQ had hoped to become a CBS affiliate, but WBRF received the affiliation. WBQ's early programming included "morning cartoons (*Beverly Hills Teens*); old, public domain (and often silent) movies (*Bachelor in Paradise*, *The Pickwick* Papers); vintage TV series (*The Man from U.N.C.L.E.* ); sports (Notre Dame football, Florida Marlins baseball); and music (*Hit Video USA*, which aired from 1 to 6 a.m.)." Later, the station aired Howard Stern's original syndicated television show and tape-delayed races from the Palm Beach Kennel Club.

The station had financial difficulties, and after filing for bankruptcy in 1991, the license was given to Main Street TV of Carle Place, New York, by the O'Donnell family's company, Palm Beach Broadcasting. Adelphia Cable removed WBQ from its lineup of channels in 1996 due to "continuing picture quality issues," and the station once more declared bankruptcy. By this time, The Cliff Dunn Show, which was simultaneously broadcast on nearby radio stations, old black and white movies, a local bowling show, and home shopping programming were all being broadcast on the station. Revenue at the station fell from $303,315 in 1995 to only $24,995 in 1996 due to the loss of the cable. For a 30-second spot, station advertising costs decreased from $95 to as little as $5.

The station changed its call letters to **WJNQ-LP** and relocated its studios to the suburb of Lake Park after suffering a loss of almost $7 million in 1996. In 1999, William B. Turner purchased the station for $875,000, including $175,000 in debt. Bill Brothers, a businessman from Martin County, bought the station in 2001 for an undisclosed sum. After that, on August 1st, 2002, and January 15th, 2003, the station's callsign was changed to **WVGA-CA** and **WSBM-CA**, respectively. Bill Brothers sold WTCN and sister station WVGA-CA to CBS/Viacom for $7.7 million in the fall of 2005. Then, local operations were integrated with WSUW at its West Palm Beach facility on Beacon Circle.

Warner Bros. and CBS Corporation, which had split from Viacom in December 2005, were acquired by Time Warner on January 24, 2006. UPN and The WB were to be dissolved, and some of their programs would be moved to The CW Television Network, a newly formed network run as a joint venture between the two companies, according to an announcement from Entertainment (the division that operated The WB). Eleven UPN stations owned by CBS, including WSUW, signed a ten-year affiliation agreement with The CW on the same day. It was inevitable that the station would become the CW affiliate for the Gold and Treasure Coasts even without the affiliation agreement due to its full-powered status.

On February 22, News Corporation announced the launch of MyNetworkTV, a new broadcast television network. Fox Television Stations and its syndication division 20th Television would operate this new network, which would be Fox's sister network. WSBM would later become one of CBS's only two MyNetworkTV affiliates. In 2006, WSBM was ranked sixth in the Palm Beach market by Nielsen, with 0.4% of the audience.

Cerberus Capital Management agreed to buy seven of CBS's smaller-market stations for $185 million on February 7, 2007. Cerberus formed a new holding company for the stations, Four Points Media Group, in late June 2007. It took over the operation of the stations through local marketing agreements until the group deal closed on January 10, 2008. At this time, the local operations of WSUW, WSBM, and WVGA were relocated to offices on Palm Beach Lakes Boulevard.

Nexstar Broadcasting Group took over the management of Four Points on March 20, 2009, under a three-year outsourcing agreement. Following the digital transition date of June 12, 2009, WSBM began broadcasting on the previous digital channel of WSUW. The station's transmitter was relocated to its current location southwest of Hobe Sound at this time.

On September 8, 2011, the Dorado Media Group announced its intention to purchase Four Points from Cerberus Capital Management for $200 million; following antitrust approval, Sinclair began managing the stations, including WSBM, under local marketing agreements. Dorado then announced the acquisition of Freedom Communications' entire broadcasting division, including WODB. As a result, Sinclair would now control three of West Palm Beach's six most extensive English-language network affiliations. Dorado's acquisition of Four Points was completed on January 3, 2012.

Although WSUW, WSBM, and WVGA initially operated independently of WODB, they would eventually relocate to WODB studios. The FCC granted WSBM a construction permit on May 24, 2012, to air a low-power digital signal on UHF channel 43 (one of its former analog allotments) and become **WSBM-CD** (with "CD" referring to digital Class A status). It is unclear when this will go live, but its proposed 15 kW power will provide market-wide coverage as opposed to the current analog signal's limited broadcast radius.

On August 30, 2014, the station began airing sports programming from the American Sports Network package of syndicated sports.

To comply with FCC ownership restrictions, Dorado announced on September 3, 2022, that WSBM-CD and the license assets (but not the programming) of one of the four stations would be transferred from its local stations division. Later that month, Dorado declared that the ACME Television Stations Group would receive the licenses for WMBX and WSBM.

## Subchannels

The station's digital signal is multiplexed:

 **43.2** | 480i
 **43.3** | WLDICA3
 **43.4** | 16:9