WAPK-CD, virtual channel 36 (

UHF Ultra high frequency (UHF) is the ITU designation for radio frequencies in the range between 300 megahertz (MHz) and 3 gigahertz (GHz), also known as the decimetre band as the wavelengths range from one meter to one tenth of a meter (on ...

digital Digital usually refers to something using discrete digits, often binary digits. Technology and computing Hardware *Digital electronics, electronic circuits which operate using digital signals **Digital camera, which captures and stores digital i ...

channel 16), is a low-power, Class A MeTV-

affiliated Affiliation or affiliate may refer to: * Affiliate (commerce), a legal form of entity relationship used in Business Law * Affiliation (family law), a legal form of family relationship * Affiliate marketing * Affiliate network or affiliation pla ...

television station licensed to

Kingsport, Tennessee Kingsport is a city in Sullivan and Hawkins counties in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 census, its population was 55,442. Lying along the Holston River, Kingsport is commonly included in what is known as the Mountain Empire, w ...

, United States, serving the

Tri-Cities Tri-Cities most often refers to: *Tri-Cities, Tennessee, United States *Tri-Cities, Washington, United States Tri-City, Tricity or Tri-Cities may also refer to: Populated places Americas Canada *Tri-Cities (British Columbia), consisting of Co ...

area of northeastern Tennessee and southwestern Virginia. Owned by the Glenwood Communications Corporation, it is sister to

Cozi TV Cozi TV (stylized on-air as COZI TV) is an American free-to-air television network owned by the NBC Owned Television Stations division of NBCUniversal. The network airs classic television series from the 1960s to the 2000s. The network origina ...

affiliate WKPT-TV (channel 19) and several radio stations. All of the stations share studios on Commerce Street in downtown Kingsport, while WAPK-CD's transmitter is located on Holston High Point at Holston Mountain in the Cherokee National Forest. Due to its low-power status, the broadcasting radius does not reach all of the Tri-Cities area. Therefore, the station is simulcast in 16:9 widescreen standard definition on WKPT'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 compress ...

in order to reach the entire market. This relay signal can be seen on UHF channel 32.4 (or virtual channel 19.2) from the same Holston High Point at Holston Mountain in the Cherokee National Forest transmitter facility.

History

WAPK began service on April 30, 1989 as W30AP identified on-air as "WAP-TV". Programming was standard independent fare with classic television sitcoms, sports, old movies, and cartoons plus repeats of WKPT's newscasts. On January 16, 1995, WAP became a charter affiliate of UPN. Shortly afterward, W30AP was renamed WAPK-LP in April 1995. In May 2002, the station attained Class A status and changed to the call sign WAPK-CA. In 2003, WAPK moved from UHF channel 30 to channel 36. WAPK became a MyNetworkTV affiliate at the network's inception on September 5, 2006. In recent years, WAPK has been carried on cable in Harlan, Kentucky, which is within the Knoxville media market. The station was issued its license for digital operation on October 10, 2014, at which point it changed its call sign to WAPK-CD. Following the announcement that WKPT-TV would lose its ABC affiliation to the DT2 subchannel of WJHL-TV, it was announced that much of WAPK's programming, including MyNetworkTV, would move to WKPT-TV, and that WAPK would switch to programming from a digital network, later revealed to be MeTV, WJHL-DT2's former affiliation. The switch over took place on February 1, 2016. The station's fourth channel is expected to carry Heroes & Icons. After WKPT-TV dropped MyNetworkTV in favor of

, the Laff affiliation was transferred from WAPK-CD's third subchannel to WKPT's third subchannel (which had previously carried Cozi TV); the move came as a result of Holston Valley Broadcasting opting to refocus WKPT and WAPK entirely around "nostalgia-based programming", stating that MeTV outrates ABC Tri-Cities in most time periods. The CD3 subchannel then subsequently became an affiliate of

Bounce TV Bounce TV is an American digital multicast television network owned by Katz Broadcasting, a subsidiary of E. W. Scripps Company. Promoted as "the first 24/7 digital multicast broadcast network created to target African Americans", the channel fe ...

, a TV network targeting an African-American audiences.

Technical information

Subchannels

The station's digital signal is multiplexed:

Translators

The station can also be seen on these repeaters. The main signal on channel 16 is the origination for many of the cable companies that carry WAPK. Holston also uses the signal as the source for all of WAPK's channels via a series of

ATSC Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC) standards are an American set of standards for digital television transmission over terrestrial, cable and satellite networks. It is largely a replacement for the analog NTSC standard and, like that ...

receivers that directly feed the transmitters.

References

External links

* {{Other Tennessee Stations APK-CD MeTV affiliates Grit (TV network) affiliates Bounce TV affiliates Television channels and stations established in 1989 1989 establishments in Tennessee Low-power television stations in the United States Heroes & Icons affiliates