WOSB

**WOSB** (digital channel 27, virtual channel 44) is a MyNetworkTV-affiliated television station serving the Providence, Rhode Island television market. WOSB is owned and operated by Atlantic South Communications and is licensed to New Shoreham on Block Island.

## History

WOSB first signed on as **WKDX** on April 13, 1987. The station was originally owned by Block Island Radio, a consortium of local investors that also owned a few radio stations on the island. WKDX was originally a low-budget independent station, running a slate of public domain content (including movies, cartoons, and old sitcom reruns), copious amounts of religious programs, and various barter and brokered programs.

WKDX struggled immensely during its early days due to a mediocre signal, lack of compelling programs, and Block Island Radio's new found financial troubles. In January 1988, WKDX picked up a secondary affiliation with the Home Shopping Network (HSN) and initially only ran that network's programming in the overnight hours. By the spring, WKDX began airing HSN programming during late morning and midday hours as well as all day on Saturdays. HSN took up almost all of the station's Sunday schedule by July, save for a few hours of religious programs in the morning. In February 1989, WKDX dropped all of its other program offerings and began running HSN 24 hours a day. Block Island Radio reached a deal to sell WKDX to Silver King Broadcasting, then the broadcast arm of HSN, the same year.

In May 1994, WKDX was acquired by Rose Communications. The station would continue on as an HSN affiliate until Rose signed an affiliation deal in which a number of its non-"Big Four" television stations, including WKDX, would become charter affiliates of The WB Television Network. At that point, the station would introduce some lower-tier syndicated fare to the schedule and slowly decrease the amount of HSN-provided content. WKDX also significantly boosted its effective radiated power, giving it a sufficient enough signal footprint that was much closer to major television stations in Providence. WKDX changed its call letters to **WOSB** in August 1995 to reflect its WB affiliation (**O S** for "Ocean State" in between **W B**, as in The WB Television Network). At this point, HSN programming was limited to late night and overnight hours during the week but still ran most of the day on weekends. Otherwise, WOSB added more movies, cartoons, off-network reruns to its schedule as well as some religious, public service, and barter programming. HSN was removed from the station for good by the end of the year, though the WOSB's weekend schedule would still heavily consist of other home shopping content (namely infomercials) for many more years. WOSB was purchased by current owner Atlantic South Communications (then known as GV Media Properties) in 1999. Over the course of the next few years, WOSB began dropping syndicated cartoons and picked up more talk and reality shows.

After it was announced that The WB and competitor network UPN would shut down, WOSB announced it would affiliate with the upcoming MyNetworkTV when it launched on September 5, 2006.

## Digital Television

 44.2
 44.3
 44.4
 44.5

WOSB broadcasts its main programming in 1080i rather than MyNetworkTV's native 720p format.

WOSB's broadcasts are digital-only as of June 11, 2009.

## Former Logos

WOSB's first logo as a WB affiliate (1995-2002; an earlier variant featured the former WKDX call letters)WOSB's final logo as a WB affiliate (2002-2006)