Technical Profile: WBQP-CD

TV Technical Profile: WBQP-CD

Channel:: 12
33 (CP)
Programming:: 12.1 - Independent, Local / The Grio TV // WNHT 4.1 Birmingham, AL
12.2 - 70s/80s/90s TV Network
12.3 - Retro TV
12.4 - Holyfield TV
12.5 - Nostalgia TV
12.6 - 40/50/60s TV Network
12.7 - Southern Soul Music TV
12.8 - Pensacola Urban Network
12.9 - YouToo America
12.10 - WHNE TV 3.9 Detroit / Newsnet
Transmitter Location:: [map] [street view] Located near the intersection of US-29 and West Jordan Street, just west of I-110, in Pensacola. Co-located with WDWR and several low power FM translators.
[map] [street view of existing tower site] Behind the Escambia County Sheriff's office, between North L and North H Streets and West Fairfield Drive and West Leonard Drive in Pensacola. (CP)
Power (ERP):: 3 kW
15 kW (CP)
Height Above Average Terrain (HAAT):: 315 feet
446 feet (CP)
Antenna:: Directional
Nondirectional (CP)
Other Information:: 48 dBu protected contour map, from the FCC.; [FCC]
[FCCdata]
[RabbitEars.info]; [Wikipedia]
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Owned By:: Vernon Watson / WBQP TV
History:: This station dates back to an original construction permit issued to Vernon Watson, for a new low power station on channel 12 in Pensacola, Florida. A license to cover for the station was filed in June 1992. Initially, it appears to have broadcast from someone's home in the Oakcliff Estates neighborhood in West Pensacola, operating from a very low antenna height and just 65 watts. From the beginning, the station has been black owned and operated, a rarity in low power broadcasting, and has always targeted the black community of the Florida panhandle.

Just a few months after signing on, the station sought a major modification to 113 watts from the same short tower in a residential area. That permit was granted in October 1992. A license to cover for that facility was granted in May 1993. The station quickly sought another change, granted in November 1993, to move to a new transmitter site with a taller tower and directional antenna for more coverage. A license to cover for that facility was filed in September 1995. The transmitter site (street view) was located behind the studios on 3101 North R Street in Pensacola, a block off West Fairfield Drive. Starting in the year 2000, the station apparently operated under a Special Temporary Authority, but because of a lack of data in the FCC system, it's unclear what issue it covered. Regardless, the STA was extension multiple times through 2001. In November of that year, the station was granted a permit to change to a different directional antenna, allowing for a boost to 2.89 kW of Effective Radiated Power. A license to cover for that facility was filed in December 2004.

The station filed an STA in February 2006, citing loss of the tower behind the studio due to an unspecified hurricane (likely Hurricane Dennis in July 2005, or Hurricane Katrina a few months later). The STA allowed the station to get back on the air from an (unspecified) location with a non-directional antenna to quickly restore service to the city. That STA would be extended multiple times until through the fall of 2008, when the station was granted a move to a utility tower off Industrial Boulevard in north-central Escambia County, just west of Car City off Pensacola Boulevard (US-29). This new location gave the station nearly full coverage of the Pensacola metro area, with 3 kW from nearly 400 feet above ground level.

The station flash cut to digital on RF channel 12 in August 2012, using the same tower but now with 2.26 kW, for even more coverage of the market. Early on, the station may have only operated with one or two subchannels.

In December 2020, the station was granted a permit to relocate to the WDWR radio tower near the corner of US-29 and West Jordan Street closer to downtown Pensacola. A license to cover for this facility was granted one year later, in December 2021. When it signed on, the station's coverage area was its biggest yet, reaching into Baldwin County, Alabama and Santa Rosa County, Florida. The station by now had also extended to 10 subchannels, airing various lower-tier networks and public domain programming, as well as airing music from WRNE 980. The station does seem to regularly experience technical issues, often having subchannels off the air for an extended period of time. They also have a tendency to rearrange networks on a whim, so any listings online are not guaranteed to be accurate.

In July 2022, the main WBQP-CD channel began being simulcast on the much more powerful WPAN-DT 53.4 subchannel. It was removed at the end of October 2023.

In late August 2024 the station filed a major modification permit to change to RF channel 33, with a boost in power to 15 kW. The application also includes dropping the directional antenna and relocating the transmitter site to the a tower near the intersection of West Fairfield Drive and North L Street near the Escambia County Sheriffs office. That permit was granted in early October 2024.