According to Inc.com, Paul Engle and Barbara Ciric have run WPSJ, their low-power television station near Philadelphia, since 1986.
Low-power television, or LPTV, stations tend not to be carried on cable or satellite networks but are available to viewers who choose to hook their TVs up to antennas or rabbit ears.
These stations’ livelihood is local fare, such as high school sports and city politics. At its height in 2005, WPSJ took in $400,000 in ad revenue and a percentage of sales on the Shop At Home Network, which it aired overnight.
Digital transmission vastly increases the station’s range. It also offers new business possibilities, such as broadcasting pay-per-view movies, transmitting content to digital billboards, sending TV signals to mobile phones, and slicing up its spectrum to sell capacity to other TV stations.
WPSJ, relegated to a broadcast backwater in recent years, is now poised for solid growth. That may be a good buying opportunity for a media company or another operator willing to invest in developing new businesses.
Photo by Photofunia.