WBFS-TV

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WBFS-TV Channel 33 is the UPN affiliate in Miami, Florida, owned by the CBS Corporation. Its programming lineup consists of first-run syndicated talk shows, court shows, reality shows, local news, off-network sitcoms, UPN programming and movies. It also runs children's programming on weekends.

The station also airs CBS programs for Miami if sister station WFOR-TV needs to pre-empt for breaking news coverage and has been known to air Miami Dolphins games that air on CBS if the game is postponed due to weather (usually hurricanes).

History

WBFS-TV debuted on December 1, 1984 as an independent station under the ownership of Grant Broadcasting. Before then, the channel 33 frequency had been occupied by a low-power translator for independent station WCIX, whose main signal on channel 6 could not be received very well in Broward County.

The station ran numerous off-network classic TV sitcoms from the 1950s, 60s and 70s along with a number of cartoons. It also ran some off-network drama shows and some westerns were shown on Saturdays.

WBFS soon made a name for itself in South Florida for its slick on-air look. It billed itself "Florida's Super Station" (a moniker that Tampa Bay's WTOG-now sister to WBFS-also gave itself around the same time) and frequently used CGI graphics of near-network quality. WBFS' sister stations, WGBS-TV in Philadelphia and WGBO-TV in Chicago, adopted a similar look.

Unfortunately, while the station was profitable, Grant overextended himself buying programming for his stations. After Christmas in 1986, he filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The pressure came from his debt with Viacom, which owned the distribution rights for half of Grant's shows.

In January 1987, a deal was made to cut back the runs of each of the shows the stations own and pay some reduced prices. The station continued to do well considering its problems and scored a major coup by becoming the on-air home of the brand-new Miami Heat of the NBA in 1988 as well as the first on-air home of the Florida Marlins of Major League Baseball in 1993. Still, in 1989, Grant Broadcasting was put into receivership due to the fact it could not get out of debt. Combined Broadcasting, a company consisting of executives from the program distributors that Grant owed, took over WBFS and its sister stations.

The company pumped a lot of money into WBFS and WGBS, but ran primarily barter programming on WGBO. In 1994, Combined sold WBFS and WGBS (now WPSG) to Paramount Stations Group-who sold its original Philadelphia station, WTXF-TV, to FOX Broadcasting. (WGBO went to Univision, who entered the deal after its then-affiliate in Chicago, WCIU-TV, refused to drop non-Spanish shows, thus angering Univision).

Under Paramount ownership, WBFS became a UPN affiliate at the network's sign-on in January 1995. The station has been known as UPN 33 since then. It had acquired more recent off-network sitcoms over the years. It began to add more first-run syndicated talk and reality shows. It began to cut back on children's programming from 1998 on. By 2002 it was only running a morning kids block.

In 2000, Paramount's parent company, Viacom merged with CBS, making WBFS a sister station to CBS O&O WFOR -- which (in ironic fashion) is the former "WCIX", and had (at one point) used channel 33 as a repeater before WBFS signed on. In another ironic twist, Viacom had been one of Grant's former creditors -- and was actually once the syndication arm of CBS. Soon after the merger, WBFS began to air newscasts produced by WFOR. When WAMI submitted to Telefutura, WBFS picked up a few shows including Fox Kids (which by then was only offered on Saturdays). Today WBFS still runs Fox's 4Kids TV which WSVN doesn't run. UPN also ended the kids block in the Fall of 2003.

Today, WBFS is owned and operated by the CBS Corporation, which was the result of the Viacom/CBS split.

Becoming a My Network TV affiliate

It seemed possible that WBFS would launch an expanded primetime newscast, similar to what already airs on KCAL (and what has been announced for KTXA and WSBK), but because of the recent My Network announcement this will not happen in the near future.

Logos

.54 billion USD (2005) | Employees: Unknown at this time. | Stock Symbol: NYSE: [CBS] | Website: [www.cbscorporation.com]