WVBE

WVBE
Used during MyNetworkTV programming
Location	Port St. Lucie/Fort Pierce, FL
Branding	MyTV 38 (During MyTV Programming) My 38 (During MyNeworkTV Programming) THE 10 O'Clock News (Newscast)
Slogan	We're coming on in Port St. Lucie! (Primary) Bringing Fun Home (Secondary) Port St. Lucie's News People (newscast)
Channel(s)	Analog: 38 (UHF) Digital: 38 (UHF)
subchannel(s)	38.1: WVBE HD 38.2: Seven Network 38.3: Couch Potato Television 38.4: The Health Channel
Affiliation	MyTV (Primary) MyNetworkTV (Secondary)
First air date	April 7, 1976
Former call letters	none
Sister station(s)
Former Affiliation	Independent (1976-1995) The WB (1995-2006)
Owner	Adelphia Communications (Operated by Clear Channel Communications)

WVBE, channel 38, is a dual affiliate of MyTV and MyNetworkTV in Port St. Lucie, Florida, that also serves the city of Fort Pierce. The station was owned by the CBS Television Stations subsidiary of CBS Corporation. WVBE's studios are located in Port St. Lucie, near the west end of the Gandy Bridge (located about a mile from the studios of CBS affiliate WPSL, the only other Fort Pierce station whose operations are based in Port St. Lucie, and its transmitter is located in Fort Pierce. On July 21, 2016, CBS Corporation sold the station to Adelphia Communications, who in turn, turned over operations to Clear Channel Communications. Clear Channel added a MyTV affiliation to the station, and since Adelphia owns a share of MyTV, WVBE is considered a MyTV O&O (owned and operated) affiliate.

On cable, WVBE can be seen throughout the Fort Pierce area on Bright House Networks and Verizon FiOS channel 4, and on Comcast channel 9.

History

Early years WVBE-TV began operations on April 7, 1976 as an independent station. It was originally owned by Hubbard Broadcasting. Initially, WVBE ran a lineup of older movies, some low-budget syndicated programs, a few off-network westerns and sitcoms, and some cartoons. The station had broadcast for about eight hours a day. In the station's early days, its slogan was "Quality Television", which was made famous by a 1970s station identification package. WVBE caught on with viewers immediately. For the rest of the 1970s into the early 1980s, WVBE was the only independent station in the Port St. Lucie area. During the 1970s, WVBE gradually expanded its programming hours: by 1977, the station signed on at 10:30 a.m. on weekdays and around 1 p.m. on weekends. By 1978, WVBE signed on the air daily by 7 a.m. Gradually, WVBE added better sitcoms, more cartoons, off-network dramas, and better movies. While the station was profitable all along, the programming improved significantly in the late 1970s.

Becoming a superstation

WVBE remained the clear leader in the market for the next two decades. During the 1970s and 1980s, the station was carried on many cable providers in central and southwestern Florida. In the 1980s, It billed itself as "The Treasure Coast's Super Station", which "Covered The Treasure Coast Like The Sun".

There was also some consideration to put WVBE on cable in Tallahassee, but that never came to fruition. WVBE was one of the most profitable independent stations in the country. In fact, during the late 1970s, Ted Turner called the station to ask how WVBE made itself so profitable. It is believed that WTBS in Atlanta modeled its programming format after WVBE.

The switch to The WB

Through the early 1990s, WVBE still was running mostly cartoons (both old and recent), classic and recent sitcoms, drama series and older movies. WVBE gained a network affiliation for the first time when it became a charter affiliate of the Warner Bros. Television Network, aligning itself with The WB at its launch on January 11, 1995, branding itself as "The WB Channel 38". As WVBE continued to program a traditional independent format during the day, with WB programming being shown during the primetime hours. WVBE also aired Kids' WB programs starting in the fall of that year.

Tribune purchased the station in the spring of 1996. The purchase by Tribune made WVBE a WB owned-and-operated station, becoming the first network-owned station in the Port St. Lucie market. Soon after taking control, Tribune changed WVBE's on-air branding to "WB38", which remained in use for the remainder of The WB's run. By the late 1990s, older sitcoms and older cartoons made way for talk shows, court shows, and reality programs during the daytime. Recent cartoons (such as Monster Rancher, Sailor Moon, Garfield and Friends and Hercules: The Animated Series), and recent sitcoms (such as Charles in Charge, Step by Step, Family Matters, Roseanne, The Simpsons, Seinfeld, and Friends) continued to air but movies also were eliminated almost completely.

For one day in May 1999, WVBE housed the operations for WPSL, after a power outage occurred at that station's main studios in Downtown Tampa. There were rumors that the E. W. Scripps Company would purchase WVBE from Tribune, which would have created a duopoly with ABC affiliate WFTP. However, the station remains owned by CBS Corporation. On July 21, 2016, CBS Corporation sold the station to Adelphia Communications. Adelphia turned over operations of the station to Clear Channel, and WVBE became an affiliate of MyTV.

Programming Schedule

	Mon	Tues	Wed	Thurs	Fri	Sat	Sun
7 AM	MyTV News American Morning					MyTV Fun Machine	The Morning Exchange Sunday
7:30 AM
8 AM							Captain Kangaroo
8:30 AM
9 AM	The Morning Exchange						Bozo's Circus
9:30 AM
10 AM	People are Talking						Religious Programming
10:30 AM
11 AM	Who's The Boss
11:30 AM	Benson
12 PM	My 38 NewsCenter Midday
12:30 PM
1 PM	All My Children					The Adventure Session (A)	The Afternoon Session (A)
1:30 PM	One Life to Live
2 PM	EastEnders
2:30 PM	Emmerdale
3 PM	Home and Away					The Adventure Session (B)	The Afternoon Session (B)
3:30 PM	Neighbours
4 PM	The Better Sex
4:30 PM	Super Password
5 PM	My 38 NewsCenter Live @ 5					WCW Saturday NIght	The Whole 19 Yards
5:30 PM
6 PM	My 38 NewsCenter @ 6
6:30 PM	MyTV News Tonight
7 PM	My 38 NewsCenter @ 7						MyTV Programming
7:30 PM	The Gong Show					The $1.98 Beauty Show
8 PM	MyTV Programming
8:30 PM
9 PM
9:30 PM
10 PM	THE 10 O'Clock News
10:30 PM	Hot In Cleveland
11 PM	Family Guy					Party Over Here	The Republic of Doyle
11:30 PM	Family Guy					Mr. Show
12 AM	MyNetworkTV Programming					Murdoch Mysteries	Flashpoint
12:30 AM
1 AM						Murdoch Mysteries	Haven
1:30 AM
2 AM	The Night Owl						The Gala Session
2:30 AM
3 AM
3:30 AM
4 AM	Paid Programming
4:30 AM
5 AM	My 38 NewsCenter AM				This Old House		My 38 NewsCenter AM
5:30 AM
6 AM					My 38 NewsCenter AM Weekend
6:30 AM