WBNX-TV (channel 55) is a television station licensed to Akron, Ohio, United States, serving as the Cleveland market's outlet for The CW. It is owned by Nexstar Media Group alongside Fox affiliate WJW (channel 8); Nexstar's Tegna subsidiary owns NBC affiliate WKYC (channel 3). WBNX-TV and WJW share studios on Dick Goddard Way northeast of downtown Cleveland; WBNX-TV's transmitter is located in suburban Parma, Ohio.
Interest for the channel 55 frequency in Akron dates back to 1968, when televangelist Rex Humbard obtained a permit for which he sought to operate "WCOT-TV" as an extension of his Cathedral of Tomorrow ministry. Despite lofty plans, which included a proposed concrete tower intended to house his station's studios and transmitter mast, the tower was not finished, his station was never built, and the permit was deleted. Another bidding process for a channel 55 license began in 1980 and was awarded to Akron-Rhema Television, but after Akron-Rhema ran out of money during construction, Ernest Angley agreed to operate the station using Humbard's former television studios, which Angley had previously acquired.
Signing on as independent WBNX on December 1, 1985, Angley purchased the station outright in early 1987 under the "Winston Broadcasting Network" name and operated it as a for-profit arm of his ministry. WBNX originally featured a mixture of classic sitcoms, movies, and Angley's religious programs, then picked up Fox Kids in 1994, The WB in 1997, and The CW in 2006. The CW disaffiliated from WBNX in 2018 amidst various financial issues and personal allegations made against Angley, who died in 2021. Sold to WJW owner Nexstar in early 2025, WBNX reclaimed the CW affiliation and added local newscasts produced by WJW. WBNX converted to broadcasting with the ATSC 3.0 standard in July 2026.
Prior history of channel 55 in Akron
In March 1951, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), in the middle of a self-imposed freeze on issuing television licenses while studying future ultra high frequency (UHF) channel allocations, proposed three new UHF channels for Akron, Ohio: channels 49, 55, and 61, with channel 55 designated for non-commercial educational television (ETV) usage. Channel 49 was the first to be used when WAKR-TV signed on in 1953, but the proposed ETV channel was tied up in an impasse between Akron University and Kent State University. The FCC reassigned the channel 55 allocation to commercial use on August 1, 1966, after granting WAKR-TV's petition to move channels from 49 to 23; in the process, the channel 49 allocation took the ETV designation.
Rex Humbard, a televangelist headquartered in Cuyahoga Falls at the Cathedral of Tomorrow complex, filed paperwork with the FCC in May 1967 to operate a station on channel 55. Humbard and his family settled in Akron full-time in 1952, and began using television the following year, holding a timeslot on WAKR-TV when it launched; his ministry was originally located in a former movie theater, which was sold to WAKR for TV and radio studios. Humbard was not a stranger to the application process, having previously applied for a radio station in Massillon, Ohio. The FCC awarded Humbard the permit in June 1968, which was assigned the WCOT-TV call sign; plans for WCOT included a heavy emphasis on religious programs in prime time and live hoedown dances, along with a January 1969 sign-on. The launch was delayed until the fall of 1969, with Humbard's son, Rex Humbard Jr., now overseeing WCOT-TV.
While no tangible progress was made on the station, Humbard filed paperwork in April 1970 to adjust WCOT-TV's antenna height to and power output to over 1 million watts. A former Shoppers Fair building next to the Cathedral was renovated into a buffet restaurant and television studio, with an above-ground walkway constructed between it and the Cathedral. The building would also house WCOT's studios. Cuyahoga Falls City Council agreed in August 1970 to upgrade the substation servicing the Cathedral to accommodate WCOT-TV and any additional development. Humbard Jr. promised a September 1971 sign-on to Bill Barrett of the Cleveland Press, saying WCOT would feature "... lots of good clean entertainment, no shoddy movies".
Inspired by the design of Husky Oil's headquarters in Calgary, Alberta, Humbard filed paperwork with Northampton Township's zoning board in May 1971 to construct a concrete tower, including a revolving restaurant, television studio and observation deck, along with a cross-shaped transmitter mast for WCOT-TV; if completed, the structure would have been the tallest in Ohio. The design was likened by Press columnist Harriett Peters to Caesars Palace and had an estimated cost of $4 million. Earlier in the year, Humbard purchased the former Mackinac College by taking out a $2 million loan. While Humbard previously associated with the Teamsters for lending purposes, including for the Shoppers Fair renovations and walkway construction, he had satisfactory credit with area banks, with one bank providing $750,000 in startup money.
Groundbreaking for the tower took place in September 1971 despite an injunction filed by an area resident. WSLR radio also sued to halt construction under concerns that their broadcast signal would be adversely affected in Akron; the suit was dismissed. A delay in construction took place during WSLR's court filing, mostly for adjustments to the antenna design. Humbard's television studio, dubbed "Cathedral Teleproductions", was completed and opened to the public in November 1971, with executives comparing it favorably to NBC's Burbank studios as among the best in the country. Despite this, Northampton Township noted the tower was not connected to water or sewer lines.
Only of the tower was erected during a 22-day span in November 1971 that included of reinforced concrete, managed by the M. W. Kellogg company. Cathedral staffers at this time promised a June 1, 1972, sign-on for WCOT-TV. Construction was halted in January 1972 and never resumed. While Cleveland-based Northern Ohio Bank agreed to provide a $5 million loan to Humbard for the tower, they did so under the stipulation that all financing be secured beforehand, but Humbard ordered construction to begin anyway; this forced the contractors to take out promissory notes from the Cathedral to be paid. Despite this, Humbard promised the tower would be finished in 90 days and WCOT-TV would sign on at the end of 1972. After a decade of cease and desist warnings by the state, Ohio Director of Commerce Dennis Shaul ordered in January 1973 a halt to all securities sales by the Cathedral, and along with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, jointly sued Humbard the following month, alleging the church was insolvent. The lawsuit forced the closure of Humbard's studio to all outside clients, with 40 people losing their jobs. The Cathedral was placed under state supervision with all assets frozen pending a plan to pay off $12.5 million in outstanding investments.
The FCC canceled the permit for WCOT-TV on August 27, 1976, due to its failure to be constructed over an eight-year span. This allowed WVIZ to sign on their Chagrin Falls translator over channel 55, which was activated the following year. M. W. Kellogg was not completely paid for their work on the tower until 1989, when the company sued Humbard for fraud. The unfinished concrete tower—derisively nicknamed "Rex's Erection" among local residents—was sold off in 1989 to Mike Krieger, an area businessman and grocer who initially considered completing it. Still in Krieger's ownership, the tower has since been used largely for cellular phone transmissions.
History Application and initial construction After canceling Humbard's WCOT-TV permit, the FCC reopened the bidding process for the channel 55 frequency in Akron. Four different groups—Rhema Television, Ebony Blackstar, Akron Telecasting Corp., and Ohio Telecasting Corp.—all filed applications between May and August 1980. Rhema, Greek for "the spoken word of God", intended to operate a full-time religious station, was composed of area clergy, laymen, and ministers, and was headed by a former Humbard associate. One of Rhema's principals, the Rev. Amer Shab, was a Born Again Christian who operated a Bible college, church, and retreat center in North Ridgeville, situated on the Ohio Turnpike between New York and Chicago. Ebony Blackstar was minority-controlled and planned to program for a Black audience, while Akron Telecasting's backers held a minority stake in Pittsburgh station WPGH-TV and sought a general independent format similar to WUAB, along with local news. Ohio Telecasting and Ebony Blackstar also included subscription television in their respective proposals, similar to existing independent/subscription hybrid WCLQ.
Summit Radio, the parent company of WAKR-TV, filed petitions with the FCC objecting to Rhema and Ohio Telecasting; while not explicitly stated, David Bianculli of the Akron Beacon Journal suggested Summit's opposition was due to WAKR-TV heavily featuring religious programming. Akron Telecasting and Rhema consolidated their bids to form Akron-Rhema and were awarded the permit by the FCC. Akron-Rhema's plans were ambitious: a local morning show aimed at housewives, local music shows and a quiz show alongside reruns of family-oriented programs. With only one full-time employee, their treasurer, Akron-Rhema planned to launch the station in early 1984, but by August 1983 had raised only $100,000 of the $500,000 needed for startup, while first-year expenses were estimated at $5 million. By the start of 1985, Akron-Rhema exhausted their operating funds completely.
Signing on under Ernest Angley management
Lacking the financial resources and facilities to operate the station, Akron-Rhema entered into a contractual agreement with Ernest Angley in December 1984 to provide both. Angley was no stranger to television: like Humbard, he had hosted programs at WAKR-TV as early as 1957, but started a weekly program in 1973 after claiming to be told to do by divine intervention. Gaining a reputation as a faith healer and a "Bible Belt Liberace", Angley's speech patterns were mimicked and parodied by comedians such as Robin Williams. Angley purchased much of the Cathedral's assets in early 1984, including Humbard's television studio, for $2 million, and announced the launch of a daily program on WDLI-TV weeks after Humbard's shows ended production. The nature of the purchase led the Beacon Journal to later state Angley "inherited" Humbard's ministry. The "WPSC" call sign assigned to the permit was changed to WBNX upon Akron-Rhema's request, but no reason was provided. A transmitter site was secured on the WWWE/WZAK tower in Brecksville; during the antenna's installation process, WWWE operated at reduced power from a backup tower.
Lou Spangler, executive director of Angley's ministry, was appointed to WBNX's programming board. Angley and Spangler were given full control over programming and refocused WBNX to have a mixture of family-friendly reruns, movies and Angley's daily show, The Ninety and Nine Club, much in the mold of the Christian Broadcasting Network. Spangler told the Beacon Journal that WBNX would launch "certainly ... by the end of the year ", but the station's viability was placed in doubt weeks prior to launch. The U.S. Supreme Court affirmed a lower court ruling that overturned the FCC's must-carry rule, prompting area cable companies to decline to carry WBNX, owing to its niche format. While the FCC reinstituted must-carry, the new rules were more lenient to cable systems. Spangler said, "we'll court [the cable companies] just like you'd court a lovely young lady you wanted", but none of the 20 cable systems that served Akron, including Warner Cable, agreed to pick up WBNX when the station took to the air on December 1, 1985.