Branding CuencavisionMAS TV Call letters' meaning Cuenca | First air date 1986 | |
Owner C&M Broadcasting Corporation | ||
WCEA-LD, virtual channel 58, is a Spanish language low-power television station serving the Boston market. The station is owned by C&M Broadcasting Corporation. WCEA is co-owned with El Planeta, a local Spanish language newspaper.
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History
WCEA was founded by Pedro Nicolas Cuenca in 1986 as W19AH, becoming WCEA-LP in 1995. It has always been a platform for local multicultural independent producers in the Boston market. The station also served as Boston's Telemundo affiliate in the early 1990s, before W32AY (now WBTS-LD) signed on in 1995.
Initially broadcasting on channel 19, WCEA was forced to vacate the channel to accommodate the digital signal of WGBH-TV. In 2002, it moved to channel 3 via special temporary authority, but its application for the channel was subsequently dismissed by the Federal Communications Commission due to objections from other Boston stations, AT&T Broadband, and RCN; soon thereafter, WCEA relocated to channel 58.
Since December 2010, Massachusetts Spanish TV Network (MAS TV) has partnered with WCEA to provide programming, including local newscasts at 6 a.m. and noon.
In the early 2010s, WCEA had two applications convert to digital operations on channels 44 and 45, with both specifying a transmitter location atop the John Hancock Tower; the station ultimately chose to build the channel 45 facility.