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|---|---|
| City | West Palm Beach, Florida |
| Channels | |
| Branding | CBS 12 |
| Programming | |
| Affiliations |
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| Ownership | |
| Owner |
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| WTVX, WTCN-CD, WWHB-CD | |
| History | |
First air date | January 1, 1955 |
Former call signs | WEAT-TV (1955–1974) |
Former channel number(s) | Analog: 12 (VHF, 1955–2009) |
| ABC (1955–1989) | |
Call sign meaning | "Photo Electronics Corporation" |
| Technical information[1] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 52527 |
| ERP | 160 kW |
| HAAT | 309 m (1,014 ft) |
| Transmitter coordinates | 26°35′19.7″N 80°12′28.7″W / 26.588806°N 80.207972°W |
| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Website | cbs12 |
WPEC (channel 12) is a television station in West Palm Beach, Florida, United States, affiliated with CBS. It is owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group alongside Fort Pierce–licensed CW affiliate WTVX (channel 34) and two low-power, Class A stations: MyNetworkTV affiliate WTCN-CD (channel 43) and WWHB-CD (channel 48). The stations share studios on Fairfield Drive in Mangonia Park (with a West Palm Beach postal address); WPEC's transmitter is located southeast of Wellington, Florida.
The third TV station built in West Palm Beach and second-oldest in operation, channel 12 began as WEAT-TV on January 1, 1955. It was the ABC affiliate under several owners, including RKO General and land developer John D. MacArthur. In 1974, the station was acquired by Photo Electronics Corporation, headed by Alexander W. Dreyfoos, Jr. The station adopted its current call sign and expanded its news operation, but it continued to remain locked in second place in local news ratings behind NBC affiliate WPTV.
In order to compensate for an affiliation switch in Miami that would leave CBS with a coverage shortfall in Broward County, south of the market but within WPEC's signal area, CBS induced WPEC to switch from ABC to CBS in January 1989. While Broward viewers turned to WPEC for CBS programming for a time, the station failed to woo them for news viewership. Dreyfoos sold WPEC in 1995 to Freedom Communications; it became the company's flagship television property. Freedom sold its stations to Sinclair in 2011; Sinclair simultaneously acquired WTVX and the two low-power stations from Four Points Media Group. Under Sinclair's ownership, the station has slipped from second to third in news ratings.
- ^ "Facility Technical Data for WPEC". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.