Пуэрто-Рикодағы Телеарна: Тарихы мен дамуы

Independent TV station in Ponce, Puerto Rico

WSTE DT (channel 7), branded on air as Teleisla, is a Spanish language independent television station serving San Juan, Puerto Rico, that is licensed to Ponce. It is owned by TelevisaUnivision. The station maintains its studios on Calle Carazo in Guaynabo. To provide island wide coverage, WSTE maintains a network of five transmitter sites, located at Cerro Maravilla in Ponce, at Cerro La Marquesa in Aguas Buenas, at Cerro Canta Gallo in Aguada, on Highway 22 in Arecibo, and at the Monte del Estado in San Germán.

The station first signed on as WRIK TV on February 2, 1958, after receiving the FCC permit to go on the air on channel 7. It was the first television station in Ponce, and the fourth in Puerto Rico, after WKAQ TV, WAPA TV (both were established four years earlier), and WORA TV (established three years earlier). It was owned by Alfredo Ramírez de Arellano. Its news director was Manuel Morales Flores, with Felix Suria as production manager and Edmund Reid as its chief engineer. The station maintained a transmitter—originally located at El Vigía—and studios at the Edificio Darlington—the first high rise building in Ponce, completed in 1952. Two years later, the transmitter was relocated to the Hotel Ponce Intercontinental. WRIK TV operated as a Spanish language independent station; it carried some 18 daily programs, including news, movies, cartoons, and soap operas, among others. One notable show, airing in the late afternoons, was El Show de Tío Carlitos. In 1964, the station's staff had expanded to include George A. Mayoral, president, general manager William Cortada, commercial manager and news director Luis A. "Wito" Morales, promotional manager Monsita M. Diaz, and chief engineer Americo Cintron. The transmitter was relocated atop Cerro Maravilla in 1967.

In 1969, Ramírez de Arellano announced the sale of 80 percent of WRIK TV to United Artists Corporation for a reported $7 million. Under United Artists, WRIK began operating from color equipped studios in Ponce and San Juan and rebranded as Rikavisión. The station continued some programming from Ponce, including local newscasts. Its news anchor was Rafael L. Torres, in whose name the Southern Puerto Rico Chamber of Commerce later created an Excellence in Journalism award.

In 1978, two pro independence activists attempted to blow up the WRIK TV transmitter tower at Cerro Maravilla in an effort to call attention to their cause. Their plan was discovered by police and the two young men were ambushed by police at the peak during their operation. They were arrested and then murdered by the police while still in their custody at the peak.

In 1979, WRIK TV was acquired by Puerto Rican producer Tommy Muñiz, owner of AM radio station WLUZ (or Radio Luz); its callsign was subsequently changed to WLUZ TV (branded as "Teleluz") on March 28, 1979. Programs shown during this era included a continuation of Sandra Zaiter's children's show and live, low budgeted professional boxing telecasts from around Puerto Rico on Saturday nights. Boxers who fought on Teleluz frequently included Julian and Rafi Solis, Felix Trinidad Sr. and Victor Callejas.

Financial troubles forced Muñiz to sell the station to Malrite Communications Group for $1.3 million in 1985. In 1987, the station was rebranded as SuperSiete, The sale was approved by the FCC on October 11, 2007. On June 23, 2009, the station's call letters were revised to WSTE DT. The channel's SuperSiete "ident" animation, logo, and name survived for over 25 years, dating back to 1987. A new logo with the Teleisla branding was introduced a few months before the FCC mandated digital transition date of June 12, 2009. On January 2, 2012, WSTE DT introduced a new logo in the form of a four color clover (orange representing morning, green representing afternoon, violet representing weekend, and blue representing nightly programming). The station also expanded its broadcast day to 1:00 a. m. On November 1, 2012, Dish Network began carrying WSTE DT on channel 12. In early 2016, WSTE DT expanded its broadcast schedule to 24 hours a day, and adding the health program Hablando de Salud from 1:00 a. m. to 7:00 a. m.

To effectively cover all of Puerto Rico, WSTE used booster type translator facilities across the island prior to the analog shutdown. In order for this booster system to work without any interference, WSTE's main transmitter had to be kept silent. The Ponce area was thus served from an auxiliary station transmitting at 100 kW. WSTE now uses a five site, digital distributed transmission system to cover the island as the booster system had done before it. +WSTE DT's facilities City Channel(VC / RF) ERP HAAT Facility ID Transmitter coordinates Ponce7 7 (VHF)25 kW 60341 San Juan Mayagüez 10 kW Arecibo 2.1 kW San Germán 0.5 kW

+WSTE's old analog booster system Station Type City Channel ERP HAAT Facility ID Transmitter coordinatesWSTE Main (kept silent)Ponce7 (VHF) 18.6 kW 60341 Auxiliary 100 kW WSTE1Booster San Juan 2.0 kW 91770 WSTE2 Mayagüez 24.1 kW 91773 WSTE3 Arecibo 5.1 kW 91771