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WBBH-TV, virtual channel 20 (UHF digital channel 15), is a NBC-affiliated television station located in Fort Myers, Florida, United States. The station is owned by the Waterman Broadcasting Corporation; Waterman Broadcasting also operates ABC affiliate WZVN-TV (channel 26) under a local marketing agreement with owner Montclair Communications. The two stations share studio facilities located on Central Avenue in Fort Myers; WBBH's transmitter is located along SR 31 in unincorporated southeastern Charlotte County. The station is also available on CenturyLink and Comcast channel 2. There is a high definition feed provided on Comcast digital channel 432 and CenturyLink digital channel 1002. Known on-air as "''NBC 2''", the branding is derived from WBBH's primary cable position in the market on Comcast Xfinity and most other cable providers in the area. This practice stems in part from the area's exceptionally high cable penetration rate, which is one of the highest in the United States. ==History== The station first signed on the air on December 18, 1968 as WBBH-TV. Before its existence, NBC programming in the market was relegated to off-hours clearances through a secondary affiliation with CBS affiliate WINK-TV (channel 11). As the second television station in Southwest Florida (after WINK-TV), WBBH shared ABC programming with that station until WEVU (channel 26, now WZVN-TV) signed on the air on August 21, 1974. Founded by local businessmen, the station originally transmitted its signal from a tower in Lehigh Acres which increased to in 1983. Waterman Broadcasting purchased the station in 1978; the -TV suffix was removed from the call letters on October 16 of that year (the suffix was later bought back). The driving force behind the emergence of WBBH was Joe Buerry, who had worked as a sales manager and a DJ at WMYR radio. When the Federal Communications Commission assigned the channel 20 allocation to Fort Myers, Buerry put together a group of investors and filed for the construction permit. The station was granted to Buerry and his partners; Buerry ran the station for seven years taking it through its growth period, and successfully obtained the NBC affiliation with the help of NBC's regional manager Pier Mapes, who eventually became president of the network. WBBH became the ratings leader in the market under Buerry's management. After seven years, he left WBBH to become general manager at WEVU-TV. At that time, WEVU was losing revenue averaging at $25,000 a month. Buerry, because of his knowledge of the market, was able to turn the station around by the end of his first year as general manager. He ran WEVU until it was purchased by The Home News Publishing Company, which retained him as its general manager (Buerry left that station to run WVGS-TV in Valdosta, Georgia six years later). Two plaques listing Buerry's accomplishments at the Fort Myers Historical Society. In 1994, WEVU (by then owned by Ellis Communications) entered into a local marketing agreement with WBBH and moved into channel 20's Central Avenue facilities. At that time, both stations began identifying by their respective channel slots on local cable providers. Ellis Communications merged with Raycom Media in 1996 although due to Federal Communications Commission (FCC) ownership limits in effect at the time that barred common ownership of two television stations in the same market, WZVN's license was spun off to Montclair Communications, which continued the LMA with WBBH. It should be noted WBBH owner Waterman Broadcasting holds an investment interest in Montclair Communications, even though the two companies file separate financial reports with the Securities and Exchange Commission. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「WBBH-TV」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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