Ive had this sign off in my memories for years. I grew up in Cleveland. I would watch Hogans Heroes which was the last show aired before ch 55 signed off. What great memories of a simpler time. This made my night finding this. Thank you so much for posting this.
The WBN in the call letters stand for the licensee, Winston Broadcasting Network. X is shorthand for Christ reflecting the fact that the owner Ernest Angley is a Christian with his own ministry, which produces some locally based religious programs on the station.
"TV55 now concludes its programming schedule. Portions of today's programs were pre-recorded. Programs broadcast on this station may not be used for any purpose except for exhibition at the time of broadcast on receivers of the type ordinarily used for home reception and in places where no admission, cover or mechanical operating charges are made. Broadcasting by authority of the Federal Communications Commission, TV55 transmits an effective radiated power of five million watts and operates on frequencies from 716 to 722 megahertz. WBNX TV55 is owned and operated by Winston Broadcasting Network. Our signal is transmitted from our tower in Parma and the studios are located at 2690 State Road Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio. WBNX TV55 now leaves the air but will return this morning with another full day of family television. The TV55 family bid you good night."
Ah, nice, I used to be able to watch this channel from Farrell, Pa as a young one (I live in the B-singal of the Cleveland/Pittsubrgh markets). Plus since WJW rejected fox kids for baywatch and the news, I watched this.
WBNX was one of the few stations in the country that aired both Pokemon and Digimon during the height of the shows' rivalry. The former initially aired through syndication then moved to the national WB network beginning with episode 41. The latter was provided by Fox Kids. So, those who liked both shows could tune into the same station for both of them. At one point they aired back-to-back weekday mornings on WBNX.
What year did WBNX stop signing off at night? I have several late night VHS recordings of WBNX from the early to mid 2000s and sign-offs were nowhere to be found on them. I know when I used to tape Maximum Exposure on weekends, that show would always be followed by infomercials rather than a sign-off. And now, 15 years later, the station doesn't even show infomercials at night anymore.
