KWCE-LP (channel 27) is a defunct low-power

analog Analog or analogue may refer to: Computing and electronics * Analog signal, in which information is encoded in a continuous variable ** Analog device, an apparatus that operates on analog signals *** Analog electronics, circuits which use analo ...

television station A television station is a set of equipment managed by a business, organisation or other entity, such as an amateur television (ATV) operator, that transmits video content and audio content via radio waves directly from a transmitter on the ear ...

Alexandria, Louisiana Alexandria is the ninth-largest city in the state of Louisiana and is the parish seat of Rapides Parish, Louisiana, Rapides Parish, Louisiana, United States. It lies on the south bank of the Red River of the South, Red River in almost the ex ...

, United States, which operated from 2000 to 2021. In its latter years, it was owned by

Cox Media Group CMG Media Corporation (doing business as Cox Media Group) is an American media conglomerate principally owned by Apollo Global Management in conjunction with Cox Enterprises, which maintains a 29% minority stake in the company. The company pri ...

as an affiliate of

MeTV MeTV, an acronym for Memorable Entertainment Television, is an American broadcast television network owned by Weigel Broadcasting. Marketed as "The Definitive Destination for Classic TV", the network airs a variety of classic television program ...

; it had common ownership with ABC affiliate KLAX-TV (channel 31). KWCE-LP's operations were last housed at KLAX-TV's studios on England Drive/ LA 498 in Alexandria; the station's transmitter was located on Bayou Maria Road in Pineville. KWCE-LP did not broadcast a digital signal of its own, and there were no plans to convert the station's signal to digital. In addition, the analog station's low-power signal contour was limited to the immediate Alexandria area. Therefore, in order to reach the entire market, KWCE-LP was

simulcast Simulcast (a portmanteau of simultaneous broadcast) is the broadcasting of programmes/programs or events across more than one resolution, bitrate or medium, or more than one service on the same medium, at exactly the same time (that is, simult ...

widescreen Widescreen images are displayed within a set of aspect ratios (relationship of image width to height) used in film, television and computer screens. In film, a widescreen film is any film image with a width-to-height aspect ratio greater than t ...

standard definition Standard-definition television (SDTV, SD, often shortened to standard definition) is a television system which uses a resolution that is not considered to be either high or enhanced definition. "Standard" refers to it being the prevailing sp ...

on KLAX-TV's second

digital subchannel In broadcasting, digital subchannels are a method of transmitting more than one independent program stream simultaneously from the same digital radio or television station on the same radio frequency channel. This is done by using data compressi ...

, which eventually became its permanent over-the-air conduit. Cox Media Group surrendered KWCE-LP's

broadcast license A broadcast license is a type of spectrum license granting the licensee permission to use a portion of the radio frequency spectrum in a given geographical area for broadcasting purposes. The licenses generally include restrictions, which vary ...

to the

Federal Communications Commission The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains jurisd ...

(FCC) for cancellation on February 1, 2021. The former KWCE-LP continues under KLAX-TV's license.

History

Plans for a new TV station in Central Louisiana occurred in the early 1990s. Tiger Eye Broadcasting of

Miami, Florida Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at th ...

held the license for K36DS. In mid-2000,

state representative A state legislature is a legislative branch or body of a political subdivision in a federal system. Two federations literally use the term "state legislature": * The legislative branches of each of the fifty state governments of the United Sta ...

Woody Jenkins Louis Elwood Jenkins Jr., known as Woody Jenkins (born January 3, 1947), is a newspaper editor in Baton Rouge and Central City, Louisiana, who served as a member of the Louisiana House of Representatives from 1972 to 2000 and waged three unsuc ...

purchased K36DS and launched it as Alexandria's first standalone

UPN The United Paramount Network (UPN) was an American broadcast television network that launched on January 16, 1995. It was originally owned by Chris-Craft Industries' United Television. Viacom (through its Paramount Television unit, which pr ...

affiliate; prior to 2000, UPN's programming was carried on a secondary basis by KLAX-TV. The station went by the

call letters In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign (also known as a call name or call letters—and historically as a call signal—or abbreviated as a call) is a unique identifier for a transmitter station. A call sign can be formally assign ...

"KCLA", even though the official call sign remained K36DS; this practice was similar to Jenkins' Baton Rouge station, KBTR-LP, which went by "WBTR" in order to be in line with other Baton Rouge television stations. Despite the UPN affiliation, KCLA was unable to attain cable coverage in the Central Louisiana area. On March 1, 2002, Pollack/Belz Broadcasting purchased KCLA from Woody Jenkins, and the station gained cable carriage in the region. At the time, KCLA also aired programming from

America One America One was an American television network established in 1995 by USFR Media Group through its America One Television subsidiary.

and UATV on a secondary basis, similar to WBTR, but programming from those two networks soon disappeared after the acquisition. Pollack-Belz changed the call sign of the station to KWCE-LP in 2004. When UPN and

The WB The WB Television Network (for Warner Bros., or the "Frog Network", for its former mascot, Michigan J. Frog) was an American television network launched on terrestrial television, broadcast television on January 11, 1995, as a joint venture be ...

ceased operations in 2006, KWCE opted to become an affiliate of RetroTV, while

The CW ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in ...

went to

KBCA KBCA (channel 41) is a television station in Alexandria, Louisiana, United States, affiliated with the digital multicast network Heroes & Icons. The station is owned by Wilderness Communications, and broadcasts from a transmitter in Oakdale, ...

and

MyNetworkTV MyNetworkTV (unofficially abbreviated MyTV, MyNet, MNT or MNTV, and sometimes referred to as My Network) is an American commercial broadcast television syndication service and former television network owned by Fox Corporation, operated by its ...

affiliated with

Fox Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelv ...

affiliate

WNTZ WNTZ-TV (channel 48) is a television station licensed to Natchez, Mississippi, United States (which is technically part of the Jackson television market), but serving the Alexandria, Louisiana area as an affiliate of Fox and MyNetworkTV. The stati ...

on a secondary basis. The station also moved to channel 27 to avoid interference with nearby Fox affiliate

KARD A kard ( fa, کارد, kārd, knife) is the equivalent in the Persian language for knife. In the specialist jargon, Kard is considered a type of knife found in the Persianate societies like Persia, Turkey, Armenia and all the way to India. Mos ...

of Monroe, which broadcasts digitally on channel 36 and whose signal reaches much of the Alexandria market. When KLAX upgraded to high definition in 2012, KWCE was moved to a subchannel of channel 31 and affiliated with MeTV. Pollack/Belz Broadcasting agreed to sell KWCE-LP and KLAX-TV to Lost Coast Broadcasting, a subsidiary of

Northwest Broadcasting Northwest Broadcasting, Inc. was a television broadcasting company based in Okemos, Michigan, United States, a suburb of Lansing. The broadcasting group owned or operated twelve television stations in six markets, through subsidiaries such as Broad ...

, for $3.5 million on April 6, 2018. The sale was completed on August 31. In February 2019,

Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters Corporation. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency was est ...

reported that Apollo Global Management had agreed to acquire the entirety of Brian Brady's television portfolio, which it intends to merge with

(which Apollo is acquiring at the same time) and stations spun off from

Nexstar Media Group Nexstar Media Group, Inc. is an American publicly traded media company with headquarter offices in Irving, Texas; Midtown Manhattan; and Chicago, Illinois. The company is the largest television station owner in the United States, owning 197 tele ...

's purchase of

Tribune Broadcasting Tribune Broadcasting Company, LLC was an American media company which operated as a subsidiary of Tribune Media, a media conglomerate based in Chicago, Illinois. The group owned and operated television and radio stations throughout the United S ...

, once the purchases are approved by the FCC. In March 2019 filings with the FCC, Apollo confirmed that its newly-formed broadcasting group, Terrier Media, would acquire Northwest Broadcasting, with Brian Brady holding an unspecified minority interest in Terrier. In June 2019, it was announced that Terrier Media would instead operate as Cox Media Group, as Apollo had reached a deal to also acquire Cox's radio and advertising businesses. The transaction was completed on December 17."Cox Enterprises Announces Close of Cox Media Group Sale to Affiliates of Apollo Global Management"
prnewswire.com, 17 December 2019, Retrieved 17 December 2019.

References

{{Alexandria LA TV WCE-LP Television channels and stations established in 2000 2000 establishments in Louisiana Television channels and stations disestablished in 2021 2021 disestablishments in Louisiana Defunct television stations in the United States Defunct mass media in Louisiana