WDCN-LD

WDCN-LD, VHF digital channel 6, branded on air as La Nueva 87.7, is a low-powered television station licensed to Fairfax, Virginia, and serving the Washington metropolitan area. WDCN-LD markets itself as a conventional FM radio station, broadcasting Spanish-language contemporary hits.

This article is about the low-powered television station in Washington, D.C.. For the Nashville PBS member station that formerly used the call letters, see WNPT (TV).
WDCN-LD
ATSC 3.0 station
Channels
Ownership
OwnerSignal Above LLC
History
Founded1996 (1996)
Former call signs
W42BE (1996-2007)
W06CJ (2007-2008)
WDCN-LP (2008–2021)
Former channel number(s)
Analog:
42 (UHF, 1996-2007)
6 (VHF, 2007–2021)
Technical information
Facility ID20450
ERP3,000 watts
HAAT189.9 meters (623 ft)
Transmitter coordinates38.8745°N 77.223222°W / 38.8745; -77.223222
Radio station information
Frequency87.7 MHz
BrandingLa Nueva 87.7
Programming
FormatSpanish contemporary hits
Links
WebcastListen Live
WebsiteLaNueva87.com

WDCN-LD has its studios on Old Gallows Road in Tysons. The transmitter is on Lee Highway (U.S. Route 29) near Interstate 495 (The Capital Beltway) in Merrifield.[1]

History

Channel 6

In the analog television era, stations on television channel 6 broadcast an FM audio signal at 87.75 MHz which is receivable by ordinary FM radios. These stations, colloquially known as "Franken-FMs", took advantage of this fact and a loophole in Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regulations that only require a television station to broadcast some kind of video content, not that the video and audio content are related.[2]

Low-powered analog stations were exempt from the 2009 digital television transition, allowing WDCN-LP to continue operating as a Franken-FM. However, the later set a 2021 deadline for all low-powered stations to cease operating in analog. Several Franken-FMs proposed experimentally embedding an FM carrier at 87.7 MHz inside an ATSC 3.0 signal, which tests later showed to be technically feasible; the FCC is allowing this under special temporary authority, provided the stations broadcast at least one accompanying television service, and the FM and television signals have similar coverage.[3]

Switch to digital

WDCN-LP signed off on July 13, 2021, the day on which the FCC ended all analog television operation nationwide.[4] It restarted operations on October 5, 2021, carrying The Country Network and the embedded "La Nueva" FM signal.[5]

WDCN-LP previously simulcast on co-owned WOWZ-LP, another low-power channel 6 station, licensed to Salisbury, Maryland, and serving the Ocean City-Salisbury area. That station has since switched to a simulcast of WVES.[6]

Sports programming

From 2010 through 2012, WDCN-LP was the home for Spanish-language broadcasts of D.C. United soccer games. WDCN-LP carried all of the team's games, including those not broadcast on television.[7]

Since the 2019 NFL season, WDCN-LD is the flagship Spanish-language radio station of the NFL's Baltimore Ravens.[8]

Digital television
Subchannels of WDCN-LD[9]
Channel Video Aspect Short name Programming
6.1 1080p16:9WDCNThe Country Network

References
  1. FCCdata.org/WDCN
  2. "Welcome to Mega Media Group, Inc. - Recent News". Archived from the original on 2009-04-16. Retrieved 2009-04-14.
  3. "'Franken FM' In San Jose Gets Six Month Lease On Life; Other LPTVs Could Follow". Insideradio.com.
  4. WDCN-LP 87.7 Final Sign-Off
  5. "WDCN-LD Facility Data". FCCData.
  6. "Delmarva Country Station Rebrands... And Reverts After C&D - RadioInsight". 26 October 2017.
  7. "La Nueva 87.7 FM Returns as Official Spanish-Language Radio Partner". OurSports Central. 5 March 2012.
  8. Campbell, Colin (29 December 2019). "Spanish radio announcers bring soccer-style energy to NFL". Baltimore Sun/AP.
  9. "Digital TV Listing for WDCN-LD". RabbitEars.Info.


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