# WPEN-LP

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**WPEN-LP** (channel 68) was a [low-power television station](/source/Low-power_television_station) licensed to [Hampton, Virginia](/source/Hampton,_Virginia), United States, which served the [Hampton Roads](/source/Hampton_Roads) television market. The station began broadcasting in 1985; it then changed call signs to WPEN-LP on March 20, 1995. During its time on the air, it was an [independent station](/source/Independent_station), then picking up an affiliation with [The Box](/source/The_Box_(American_TV_channel)), and later [MTV2](/source/MTV2), before signing off in 2002. WPEN-LP was not related to the [Philadelphia](/source/Philadelphia) radio station WPEN (now [WKDN](/source/WKDN_(AM))).

## History

Two of the three low-power television stations that became "WPEN" started as separate entities. The oldest was W68BI channel 68, originally licensed to [Driver](/source/Driver,_Virginia), which was authorized in 1985 as a rebroadcaster of the [Trinity Broadcasting Network](/source/Trinity_Broadcasting_Network) but instead came on the air in August 1989 as an owned-and-operated station of [Channel America](/source/Channel_America).[1] The second was W51BH "WBH", which went on the air from Gloucester on September 1, 1989. "WBH", owned by Lee Bowen, offered local news coverage focusing on the [Peninsula](/source/Virginia_Peninsula) and older syndicated fare.[2] Beyond its own affiliation with Channel America, local productions included high school sporting events.[3]

In 1994, Lockwood Broadcasting, an affiliate of rigging firm Lockwood Brothers, acquired "WBH" from Bowen and began operating it as "WPEN". It then bought W68BI; by this time, channel 51 programming included a country line-dance program and [Baltimore Orioles](/source/Baltimore_Orioles) baseball games.[4] Lockwood added a third low-power station, W62CN channel 62 at [Norfolk](/source/Norfolk,_Virginia), to reach homes in the southern portion of Hampton Roads, and the station was added to cable systems in the market.[5] Lockwood also reached a deal with [WVEC](/source/WVEC) to produce a 10 p.m. newscast for the station.[6] WPEN appeared in the Hampton Roads [Nielsen ratings](/source/Nielsen_ratings) in 1996—a first for a low-power station in a top-40 market.[7]

In late 1996, Lockwood acquired a full-power television station, [WJCB](/source/WPXV-TV) (channel 49).[8] The company planned to spend $1.5 million on an improved transmitter for channel 49 and new studio facilities and to move the syndicated inventory of WPEN to the full-power station.[9] However, Lockwood received an unsolicited offer from [Paxson Communications](/source/Ion_Media) to purchase the station for $14.75 million—twice what Lockwood had paid—and accepted the offer in late 1997.[10]

[Cox Communications](/source/Cox_Communications) cable opted to drop WPEN from its lineup in October 1998, a decision that Lockwood said "killed" the station[11] and deprived it of much of its viewership. As a result, the station dropped its independent local programming lineup and affiliated with [The Box](/source/The_Box_(American_TV_channel)), a music video network, beginning November 1 of that year.[12]

WPEN-LP and its translators filed to go [dark](/source/Dark_(broadcasting)) in February 2001. The licenses were deleted in September 2001 and April 2002.

## References

1. ["Low Power TV"](https://worldradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-Business/Annuals/Archive-BC-YB-IDX/90s-OCR-YB/1990-YB/1990-BC-YB-OCR-Page-0684.pdf). *Broadcasting Yearbook*. 1990. p. C-87. Retrieved November 11, 2020.

1. Pryweller, Joseph (August 19, 1989). ["New station brings good news to the Peninsula"](https://www.newspapers.com/clip/62460928/new-station-brings-good-news-to-the/). *Daily Press*. p. C1. Retrieved November 4, 2020.

1. Cooke, Robyne (November 1, 1990). ["Hometown television: Peninsula station meets needs of local market"](https://www.newspapers.com/clip/62572523/). *Daily Press*. p. Neighbors 22. Retrieved November 4, 2020.

1. Nicholson, David (July 30, 1994). ["96X strikes back after WNOR rocks their boat"](https://www.newspapers.com/clip/62571766/). *Daily Press*. p. D1. Retrieved November 4, 2020.

1. Nicholson, David. ["Hampton station wants to reach larger market"](https://www.newspapers.com/clip/62572154/). *Daily Press*. p. D1. Retrieved November 4, 2020.

1. Nicholson, David (October 14, 1995). ["WVEC, WPEN join forces with newscast"](https://www.newspapers.com/clip/39769611/wvec-wpen-join-forces-with-newscast/). *Daily Press*. p. D1. Retrieved November 4, 2020.

1. Nicholson, David (June 15, 1996). ["Regional Emmys makes WVEC-TV the big winner"](https://www.newspapers.com/clip/62572667/). *Daily Press*. p. D1. Retrieved November 4, 2020.

1. Nicholson, David (October 23, 1996). ["WPEN buys full-power TV station"](https://www.newspapers.com/clip/59939320/wpen-buys-full-power-tv-station/). *Daily Press*. p. B6. Retrieved November 2, 2020.

1. Nicholson, David (April 5, 1997). ["Lockwood buys WJCB, plans upgrade"](https://www.newspapers.com/clip/59939263/lockwood-buys-wjcb-plans-upgrade/). *Daily Press*. p. D1. Retrieved November 2, 2020.

1. Nicholson, David (October 5, 1997). ["Paxson snatches up WJCB-TV"](https://www.newspapers.com/clip/59939394/paxson-snatches-up-wjcb-tv/). *Daily Press*. pp. B8, [B9](https://www.newspapers.com/clip/59939406/wjcb/). Retrieved November 2, 2020.

1. Nicholson, David (October 10, 1998). ["WPEN burned by Cox decision to change lineup"](https://www.newspapers.com/clip/62462108/wpen-burned-by-cox-decision-to-change/). *Daily Press*. p. D1. Retrieved November 4, 2020.

1. Nicholson, David (October 30, 1998). ["WPEN will offer music videos"](https://www.newspapers.com/clip/62462120/). *Daily Press*. pp. C8, [C9](https://www.newspapers.com/clip/62462134/). Retrieved November 4, 2020.

## External links

- [Archive FCC Data for WPEN-LP from archive.org](https://web.archive.org/web/20010723135632/http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/tvq?call=WPEN-LP)
- [Archive FCC Data for W51BH from archive.org](https://web.archive.org/web/20010723133709/http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/tvq?call=W51BH)

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [WPEN-LP](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WPEN-LP) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WPEN-LP?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.