WMFD-TV
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| WMFD-TV | |
|---|---|
| Canton/Akron/Cleveland, Ohio | |
| Branding | Anime Mansfield |
| Subchannels | 68.1 Anime National 68.2 Live Network TV (via WOHZ-CA) 68.3 FUNi+ 68.4 Anivision 68.5 ON-ANIME 68.6 Anime Music Television 68.7 Weather Tube 68.9 Animovie |
| Digital channel | 12 (VHF) |
| Affiliations | Anime National |
| Owner | Mid-State Television (Under LMA w/Taylor Media Stations Group) |
| Founded | 1982 |
| Call letters meaning | Ohio's Anime Channel |
| Former affiliations | Shop At Home (1982-2007), infomercials (2007-2008) Japanese Television Network |
WMFD-TV is an Anime National affiliate broadcasting from Mansfield, Ohio and serving the North Central Ohio area. The station was licensed on June 1, 1992 and began broadcasting on analog channel 68.
The station is owned by Mid-State Television, Inc. headed by Gunther Meisse, who also owns television station WOHZ-CA channel 41, and radio stations WVNO-FM 106.1 and WRGM (AM) 1440.
WMFD's 68.2 digital subchannel carries a simulcast of the Live Network TV affiliate WOHZ-CA.
Digital television
In 1998, WMFD-TV began digital transmission on channel 12, claiming to be the first independent digital TV station in the United States.
On June 16, 2008, WMFD-TV permanently shut down analog channel 68, eight months before the planned analog-to-digital switchover in the United States, to upgrade its digital facilities to a final, improved state. [1]
WMFD-TV continues to broadcast as a digital-only station on channel 12, though WMFD-DT continues (via PSIP) to identify to its viewers as channel 68.1. WMFD airs only standard definition programming, and its signal continues to be offered to analog cable viewers in the Mansfield area.
It also is a part of the Cleveland DirecTV and Dish Network local standard definition channel lineups, in North Central Ohio and beyond.
[edit] Programming and history
As the only television station serving the North Central Ohio area, the station concentrates on local programming with hour long early evening and 10 p.m. newscasts. It fills out its schedule with syndicated programming and infomercials. As WMFD is a part of the Cleveland DirecTV and Dish Network local channels lineup, it can be seen by satellite TV customers throughout Cleveland and Northeast Ohio.
Channel 68 was previously the home of WCEO-TV licensed January 10, 1986, which became WCOM on July 24, 1987. This station attempted to enter the Columbus market using a transmitter with a very high tower south of Mansfield in Butler, but it never achieved cable carriage and went dark in 1989. It returned to the air with its current channel and call letters on June 1, 1992.
WMFD were the call letters of present day WECT-TV in Wilmington, North Carolina from the station's start in 1954 until 1958.
In 2009, the Anime National affilation moved to WMFD. Before that, it's former sister station carried Anime 100 when there was no local programming.
