Indianapolis, Indiana United States |
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Branding | WHMB TV 40 |
Slogan | WHMB 40 is Life Affirming |
Channels |
Digital: 20 (UHF) Virtual: 40 () |
Affiliations |
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Owner |
LeSEA Broadcasting Corporation (LeSEA Broadcasting of Indianapolis, Inc.) |
First air date | 1971 |
Call letters' meaning |
World Harvest Missionary Broadcasting |
Former callsigns | WURD (1971–1972) |
Former channel number(s) |
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Former affiliations | Religious Independent (1971–1972) |
Transmitter power | 163 kW |
Height | 302 m |
Facility ID | 37102 |
Transmitter coordinates | 39°53′39.6″N 86°12′21.3″W / 39.894333°N 86.205917°WCoordinates: 39°53′39.6″N 86°12′21.3″W / 39.894333°N 86.205917°W |
Licensing authority | FCC |
Public license information: |
Profile CDBS |
Website | www.whmbtv.com |
WHMB-TV, virtual channel 40 (UHF digital channel 20), is a LeSEA owned-and-operated television station located in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States. The station is owned by the LeSEA Broadcasting Corporation (also known as World Harvest Broadcasting). WHMB maintains studio facilities located on Greenfield Avenue in Noblesville, and its transmitter is located on Walnut Drive in northwestern Indianapolis. On cable, WHMB is available on Comcast Xfinity channel 9, Charter Spectrum channel 22 and AT&T U-verse channel 40 in standard definition and in high definition on Xfinity digital channel 1009 and Spectrum digital channel 1022.
The UHF channel 40 allocation in Indianapolis was originally occupied by WURD, which was founded by local minister Dr. Wendell Hansen. When it signed on as an independent station in 1971, WURD was one of the earliest religious television stations to sign on in the United States; the station broadcast only for a few hours during the evening hours, carrying a modest selection of local and syndicated religious programs.
The station was run on a very tight operational budget; its most crowning achievement was the installation of a microwave receiver, which allowed the station to carry live telecasts of Chicago White Sox baseball games from independent station WFLD (now a Fox owned-and-operated station) in Chicago; Dr. Hansen was so proud of this that he broadcast the receiver's installation live on the station. The success was short-lived as WURD ceased operations within a few months of its sign-on.