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WAPA-TV, virtual channel 4 (UHF digital channel 27), is an independent television station located in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The station is owned by Hemisphere Media Group, a joint venture between InterMedia Partners (which owns a 73% interest) and Azteca Acquisition Corporation (which owns 27%). WAPA-TV maintains studios at Avenida Luis Vigoreaux in Guaynabo, and its transmitter is located near the Bosque Estatal de Carite mountain reserve. The station's signal is relayed throughout Puerto Rico through two full-power satellite stations: WTIN-TV (channel 14) in Ponce and WNJX-TV (channel 22) in Mayagüez. ==History== WAPA-TV began broadcasting on May 1, 1954, as the second television station to be licensed to Puerto Rico. Its call letters are a partial abbreviation of the station's original owners, the now-defunct Asociación de Productores de Azúcar, or Puerto Rico Sugar Grower's Association. During its earliest years, the station was affiliated with NBC, ABC, DuMont, and the CMQ Television Network.〔(''Broadcasting Yearbook'', 1955. p. 333 )〕 The station was the first in the U.S. territory to transition to color unceremoniously in 1966, followed by WKAQ-TV in 1968. Popularly known in Puerto Rico by its assigned channel number, ''Canal Cuatro'', the station was also known by its animated cartoon mascot during the 1970s and 1980s, a bongo-playing cat (known commonly as ''el gato de WAPA'' in Spanish) and therefore its slogan was ''Por el cuatro como el gato'' (colloquially "on four (legs) like the cat"), which rhymes in its original Spanish translation. Similarly, another station promo used the phrase, ''Hasta el gato, te-ve el cuatro'' and the cat itself was alternately known as ''el Gato de Cuatro.'' Like other mascots, ''El Gato'' was seen in different situations in different on-air promos. Besides playing the bongos, he would also play the drums and was seen in one station ID as a matador. Another promo had him interacting with a cat seen in a Telemundo ad. El Gato would also sometimes be accompanied by his wife and children (one boy and one girl), where they appeared flying in a helicopter shaped like the channel's "4" logo and celebrated the holidays while playing musical instruments. WAPA-TV's competitors include WKAQ-TV (Telemundo), WLII (Univision Puerto Rico) and former PBS station WIPR-TV (now the independent public-broadcasting Puerto Rico TV). WAPA-TV and WKAQ-TV have battled for the title of Puerto Rico's most-watched television station since the 1950s, with WLII entering the battle in the mid-1980s. During the 1980s and early 1990s, the station became very successful by mixing American shows translated to Spanish with locally produced sitcoms such as ''Cuqui'', ''Cara o Cruz'', ''Entrando por la Cocina'', ''Carmelo y Punto'' and ''Barrio Cuatro Calles''. But it still trailed behind WKAQ-TV as the second most-watched Puerto Rican station. In the early 1990s, WAPA rebranded itself with the slogans "WAPA'lla!" (a catchy slang variation of "Vamos pa'lla", or "Let's go!") and "WAPA, aqui con la gente" ("WAPA, here with the people"). These slogans were accompanied by a catchy musical score and vivid, colorful graphics depicting the channel's logo. In 1994, WAPA was the first television station in Puerto Rico to use high-end graphic animations to animate a new logo, created and animated by Pixel Light Studios in New York City. This gave the station a very "American" on-air appearance. The logo, although graphically pleasing, was slowly dropped in favor of the classical number 4 logo. High end graphics were later altogether dropped for cheaper, in-house graphics. In 1997, under the helm of former Univision executive Miguel Banojian, WAPA-TV achieved its biggest increases in viewership ever. During Mr. Banojian's tenure, the network produced more local programming than ever before, increasing its local news programming, and broadcasting several sporting events including "Serie Del Caribe" (the Caribe edition of the U.S. baseball World Series) and World Boxing Championship events produced in partnership with Don King. In 1998, WAPA again rebranded itself with a new name and logo; "Televicentro" (a brand that was used previously during the 1970s and 1980s). It has also regained its position as a major Puerto Rican television station, mainly due to its new focus on locally produced programming. Its new slogan, "Como tú, boricua" ("Boricua like you"—a nod to the longtime colloquial nickname for Puerto Ricans) highlighted the fact that it was the only local commercial station remaining in Puerto Rico that was programmed locally. Despite the new name, local residents still referred to the station as either "el cuatro" or simply "WAPA". That same year, former WKAQ-TV general manager Joe Ramos was named president of WAPA-TV. In September 2004, WAPA-TV became the first Puerto Rican station, and the seventh television station in the U.S. (including territories) to become a satellite-distributed superstation. WAPA America can be seen in the U.S. mainland through DirecTV, and on various cable television providers including Comcast, RCN, Qwest and Cablevision. On October 19, 2006. LIN TV announced that it had entered into an agreement to sell its Puerto Rico television operations to InterMedia Partners for $130 million in cash.() The sale was completed on March 30, 2007. On December 17, 2007, the station changed its branding from ''Televicentro'' to ''wapa'', in lowercase letters. Following the rebrand, the station began a developing a new format, changing its jingle and redesigning their website. WAPA-TV signed an agreement with Miss Puerto Rico Universe to produce a reality show titled ''Por la corona'', which debuted on August 15, 2008, in which the public is able to select which five of the participants moving directly to the pageant's semifinal via text messaging votes. On January 23, 2013, InterMedia Partners announced that it would merge WAPA-TV and WAPA America, along with its stake in Cinelatino, with the shell corporation Azteca Acquisition Corporation (which is not associated with the Mexican-based Azteca group or the Azteca América network) to form Hemisphere Media Group. 73% of the new company will be owned by InterMedia. 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「WAPA-TV」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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