WTBL-CD

Not to be confused with WTBL-LD.

WTBL-CD (channel 49) was a Class A television station in Lenoir, North Carolina, United States. It was primarily programmed as an independent station with some shows from FamilyNet. WTBL-CD was last owned by OTA Broadcasting, a company controlled by Michael Dell's MSD Capital. On cable, the station was carried on channel 13 in the Lenoir area. WLNN-CD in Boone provided its newscasts and other local programming for the station, and broadcast full-time on WTBL-CD's second digital subchannel.

WTBL-CD

Lenoir, North Carolina United States
Channels	Digital: 49 (UHF) Virtual: 49
Branding	WTBL Community Television
Programming
Affiliations	FamilyNet (1988–June 30, 2017) Independent (2017)
Ownership
Owner	OTA Broadcasting (OTA Broadcasting (CLT), LLC)
Sister stations	W21CK-D
History
Founded	March 11, 1988; 37 years ago (1988-03-11)
First air date	1989; 36 years ago (1989)
Last air date	October 25, 2017; 7 years ago (2017-10-25)
Former call signs	W53AO (1988–1995) WTBL-LP (1995–2012)
Former channel number(s)	Analog: 53 (UHF, 1989–2001), 49 (UHF, 2001–2012)
Technical information
Facility ID	54983
Class	CD
ERP	7 kW
HAAT	329 m (1,079 ft)
Transmitter coordinates	35°54′25″N 81°29′22.98″W

History

WTBL-CD started as W53AO, on channel 53. The station was mentioned in the April 1994 edition of Popular Communications magazine, in which it made mention of the station's attempt to be carried on the local cable television system.^[1]

On April 13, 2017, the FCC identified WTBL-CD would be compensated $8.2 million to go off-the-air as part of the spectrum auction.^[2] WTBL-CD ceased operations October 25, 2017;^[3] its license was surrendered on October 30.^[4]

Subchannels

The station's signal was multiplexed:

Subchannels of WTBL-CD

Channel	Res.	Aspect	Short name	Programming
49.1	480i	4:3	TBLTV	Main WTBL-CD programming
49.2				Simulcast of WLNN-CD