WSTE-DT

WSTE-DT

Ponce/San Juan/Mayagüez/Arecibo, Puerto Rico
City	Ponce, Puerto Rico
Branding	Teleisla
Channels	Digital: 7 (VHF) Virtual: 7 (PSIP)
Subchannels	7.1 Independent Univision (secondary)
Translators	WSTE-DT1 7 Ponce WSTE-DT2 7 San Juan WSTE-DT3 7 Mayagüez WSTE-DT4 7 Arecibo
Affiliations	Independent (1958-present) Camarero Television
Owner	Univision Communications (WLII/WSUR License Partnership, G.P.)
First air date	February 2, 1958
Call letters' meaning	Siete (Spanish for seven)
Sister station(s)	WLII-DT WKAQ (AM) WKAQ-FM
Former callsigns	WRIK-TV (1958–1979) WLUZ-TV (1979–1987) WSTE (1987–2009)
Transmitter power	25 kW
Height	88 m
Facility ID	60341
Transmitter coordinates	18°2′45″N 66°39′15″W / 18.04583°N 66.65417°W / 18.04583; -66.65417
Website	http://puertorico.univision.com

WSTE-DT, channel 7, is an independent television station that is licensed to Ponce, Puerto Rico. The station is owned by Univision Communications, as part of a duopoly with Univision owned-and-operated station WLII-DT (channel 11) and is also sister to radio stations WKAQ (580 AM) and WKAQ-FM (104.7). WSTE and WLII-DT share studios located in Guaynabo, WSTE's transmitter is located in Mayagüez.

History

1958–1969

The station first signed on as WRIK-TV on February 2, 1958, after receiving the FCC permit to go on the air on channel 7.^[1] It was the first television station in Ponce, and the third in the island of Puerto Rico, after WKAQ-TV and WAPA-TV, both were established four years earlier. It was owned by Alfredo Ramírez de Arellano. Its news director was Manuel Morales-Flores, with Felix Suria as production manager and Edmund Reid as its chief engineer. It transmitted from the Darlington building on Calle Marina in Ponce.^[2] It transmission tower was located on Hotel Ponce Intercontinental.^[3] It operated as an independent station, as did all stations in Puerto Rico at that time.^[4] In 1964, the station's staff had expanded to include president George A. Mayoral, general manager William Cortada, commercial manager and news director Luis A. Wito Morales, promotional manager Monsita M. Diaz, and chief engineer Americo Cintron.^[5]

1969–1979

In 1969, David V. Picker, president of United Artists Corporation, and Alfredo Ramirez de Arellano, president of Ponce Television, announced that United Artists would gain control of WRIK-TV, together with its affiliate WORA-TV (channel 5) in Mayaguez. WRIK began operating from color-equipped studios in Ponce and San Juan.^[6] The station's slogan became "W-R-I-K Television Canal 7 Ponce: cubriendo a Ponce y San Juan" ("W-R-I-K Television Channel 7 Ponce: covering Ponce and San Juan"). In 1970, WRIK-TV was bought by United Artists and moved to San Juan, and rebranded as "Rikavisión".^[7] The station's logo was a rooster. From San Juan, the station broadcast El Show de Tito Rodriguez for two seasons; the station also produced Ahi Va Eso (with Awilda Carbia, Jacobo Morales and Norma Candal), Contigo Anexo 3, Showtime (with Wilkins), Las Caribelles, El Show de Carol Myles, and the legendary children's show, Rikalandia (hosted by Sandra Zaiter). One notable 1971 show was "María", with Lucy Boscana.^[8] The station continued some programming from Ponce, including local newscasts. Its news anchor was Rafael L. Torres, in whose name the Southern Puerto Rico Chamber of Commerce later created an Excellence in Journalism award.

Cerro Maravilla incident

In 1978, two pro-independence activists attempted to blow up the WRIK-TV transmitter tower at the Cerro Maravilla mountain peak in an effort to call attention to their cause. Their plan was discovered by police and the two young men were ambushed by police at the peak during their operation. They were arrested and then murdered by the police while still under their custody.

1979–1987

In 1979, WRIK-TV was acquired by Puerto Rican producer Tommy Muñiz, owner of AM radio station WLUZ (or Radio Luz); its callsign was subsequently changed to WLUZ-TV (branded as "Teleluz") on March 28, 1979.^[9] Financial troubles forced Muñiz to sell the station to Malrite Communications Group, which subsequently rebranded the station as "SuperSiete".^[10] On February 18, 1987, the station changed its call letters to WSTE.^[11] The station experienced limited success at the time using colorful motion graphics and a new logo as well as major advertising in newspapers, and televising popular American sitcoms of the time, such as The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and The Simpsons, along with major Hollywood movies. It also was acknowledged for its children's show El Show de Burbujita y Bolillo, produced by Milly Cangiano, and its Saturday morning cartoons. Around this time, one of Puerto Rico's longest-running shows, No te Duermas with Antonio Sánchez El Gangster, started airing on channel 7 as well. WSTE also produced a successful game show, La Hora de Oro with Hector Marcano and Sanchez, and two family-oriented sitcoms, Maripili and El Cuartel de la Risa. SuperSiete also broadcast 5 daily news segments named Noticapsulas (literal translation: news capsules) hosted by news reporter Doris Torres.

1987–present

In 1991, Malrite bought WLII-TV and WSUR-TV and sold WSTE to Siete Grande Television, Inc., owned by Florida entrepreneur Jerry Hartman. WSTE was then branded as "El Nuevo SuperSiete" ("The New SuperSeven"). During the 1990s, WSTE was rebranded as "Tele-Isla" during the primetime hours. Due to the failure of the new programming, and the lack of full island coverage of WLII at the time, WSTE started re-broadcasting WLII's primetime programming mainly for the western and central areas of Puerto Rico.

In 1995, WLII entered into an affiliation agreement with WORA-TV. This created a conflict with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), as WLII's programming was being rebroadcast by two different stations across the island; WLII and WSTE in the north, WSUR-TV and WSTE in the south, and WSTE, WNJX-TV and WORA-TV in the west. During this time, the channel proudly showed its coverage channels on its "ident", as 11-9-7-5-22. After admonishment by the FCC, WLII dropped WSTE and WNJX-TV coverage.

After that point (sometime in 1995) and until today, the station mostly airs infomercials, locally-produced advertisements for car dealerships and horse racing from Hipodromo Camarero.

On March 23, 2007, Siete Grande Television, Inc. announced it would sell WSTE to Univision Communications.^[12] The sale was approved by the FCC on October 11, 2007. On June 23, 2009, the station's call letters were revised to WSTE-DT.^[13]

The channel's SuperSiete "ident" animation, logo, and name survived for over 25 years, dating back to 1987. A new logo with the Teleisla branding was introduced a couple of months before the FCC-mandated digital transition date of June 12, 2009. On January 2, 2012, WSTE-DT introduced a new logo in the form of a four-color trebol (orange representing morning, green representing afternoon, violet representing weekend, and blue representing nightly programming). The station also expanded its broadcast day to 1 a.m. On November 1, 2012, Dish Network began carrying WSTE-DT to watch Teleisla on Channel 12.

Broadcasting

To effectively cover all of Puerto Rico, WSTE used booster-type translator facilities across the island prior to the analog shutdown. In order for this booster system to have worked without any interference, WSTE's main transmitter had to be kept silent. The Ponce area was thus served from an auxiliary station transmitting at 100 kW. WSTE now uses a four-site, digital distributed transmission system to cover the island as the booster system had done before it.

Digital television

Digital channels

The station's digital signal is multiplexed:

Analog-to-digital conversion

WSTE shut down its analog signal, over VHF channel 7, at noon on June 12, 2009, the official date in which full-power television stations in the United States transitioned from analog to digital broadcasts under federal mandate. The station's digital signal relocated from its pre-transition VHF channel 8 to channel 7 for its post-transition operations.^[15]

Transmitter facilities

WSTE-DT's facilities

WSTE's old analog booster system

References

External links

• Query the FCC's TV station database for WSTE
• BIAfn's Media Web Database -- Information on WSTE-TV
• Program Information for WSTE at TitanTV.com
• A history of television in Puerto Rico
• WRIK-TV's (Rikavision's) rooster logo in 1976
• WRIK-TV at Edificio Raluan Darlington, Calle Marina, Ponce