WPCT

For the former WPCT in Putnam, Connecticut, see WINY.

WPCT (channel 46) is a television station in Panama City Beach, Florida, United States, which broadcasts information for local tourists. Owned by Beach TV Properties, Inc., the station maintains transmitter facilities on Warner Avenue (off Front Beach Road) just east of Panama City Beach.

WPCT

Panama City Beach, Florida United States
Channels	Digital: 33 (UHF) Virtual: 46
Branding	Beach TV
Programming
Affiliations	46.1: Tourist Info for others, see § Subchannels
Ownership
Owner	Beach TV Properties, Inc.
Sister stations	WPFN-CD
History
Founded	July 2, 1986
First air date	April 3, 1989 (36 years ago) (1989-04-03)
Former call signs	W46AN (1986–1996)
Former channel number(s)	Analog: 46 (UHF, 1989–2009) Digital: 47 (UHF, 2000–2018)
Former affiliations	Independent (1989–1995) UPN (1995–1998)
Call sign meaning	W Panama City Television
Technical information[1]
Licensing authority	FCC
Facility ID	4354
ERP	160 kW
HAAT	72 m (236 ft)
Transmitter coordinates	30°10′53.4″N 85°46′48″W
Links
Public license information	Public file LMS

History

The station was founded on July 2, 1986, and began broadcasting on April 3, 1989. It was originally an independent station before becoming the UPN affiliate for the Panama City market on January 16, 1995. It aired tourist information during the overnight hours and carried some syndicated talk shows, drama series, movies, and off-network sitcoms during the day outside of prime time network programming until 1998, when UPN was dropped in favor of 24-hour tourist info programming.

Technical information

Subchannels

The station's signal is multiplexed:

Subchannels of WPCT^[2]

Channel	Res.	Aspect	Short name	Programming
46.1	720p	16:9	WPCT-DT	Tourist Info
46.2	480i		OUTSIDE	[Blank]
46.3			DEFY	Ion Plus
46.4			Start	Start TV
46.5			GETTV	Get
46.6			NEWSMAX	Newsmax2
46.7			BUZZR	Buzzr

Analog-to-digital conversion

WPCT shut down its analog signal, over UHF channel 46, on February 17, 2009, the original target date on which full-power television stations in the United States were to transition from analog to digital broadcasts under federal mandate (which was later pushed back to June 12, 2009). The station's digital signal remained on its pre-transition UHF channel 47,^[3] using virtual channel 46.