WBEN-TV
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Buffalo, New York/Niagara Falls, Ontario United States, Canada |
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| Branding | WIVB 4 (general) News 4 (newscasts) |
| Slogan |
We're 4 Buffalo (general) Western New York's News Leader (newscasts) |
| Channels |
Digital: 39 (UHF) (to share 32 (UHF) with WNLO) Virtual: 4 () |
| Affiliations | CBS (1949–present) |
| Owner |
Nexstar Media Group (Nexstar Broadcasting, Inc.) |
| First air date | May 14, 1948 |
| Call letters' meaning | We're IV (4) Buffalo (former analog channel number and current number) |
| Sister station(s) | WNLO |
| Former callsigns | WBEN-TV (1948–1977) |
| Former channel number(s) | 4 (VHF analog, 1948–2009) |
| Former affiliations |
NBC (1948–1954; secondary from 1949) ABC (secondary, 1948–1956) DuMont (secondary, 1948–1955) |
| Transmitter power | 790 kW |
| Height | 417 m |
| Facility ID | 7780 |
| Transmitter coordinates | 42°39′33″N 78°37′33.7″W / 42.65917°N 78.626028°W |
| Licensing authority | FCC |
| Public license information: |
Profile CDBS |
| Website | wivb |
WIVB-TV, UHF digital channel 39 (virtual channel 4), is a CBS-affiliated television station located in Buffalo, New York, United States. The station is owned by the Nexstar Media Group, as part of a duopoly with CW affiliate WNLO (channel 23). The two stations share studios on Elmwood Avenue in North Buffalo, and WIVB-TV's transmitter is located in Colden, New York. However, master control and some internal operations for both stations are based at hub facilities within sister station WISH-TV's North Meridian Street studios in Indianapolis, Indiana.
The station first signed on the air on May 14, 1948 as WBEN-TV. It is Buffalo's first television station, and is the fifth-oldest station in New York state. The station was originally owned by the Butler family, along with the Buffalo Evening News and WBEN radio (930 AM and 106.5 FM, now WTSS at 102.5). Its radio sister had been one of CBS Radio's first 16 affiliates when that network premiered in 1928, but by that point had switched networks to NBC Blue. Accordingly, channel 4 originally signed on as an NBC television affiliate, and with it aired The Howdy Doody Show, a show hosted by local native Bob Smith, who had spent the past few years at WBEN radio before departing for national television. WBEN-TV picked up CBS programming in January 1949, and has remained with that network ever since.
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