WQE-TV (channel 4) is a television station licensed to Ecovale, Florescenda, serving as the NBC affiliate for the Ecovale area. It is one of three flagships of Flower Television (alongside CW affiliate KVCC [channel 6] in Victoria, CA; and Horizon affiliate KGAY [channel 11] in San Francisco).
Formerly owned by locally based Florescenda Broadcasting Company in 2019, the company merged with the Kattz family's TV asset to form the company. The station is owned alongside Horizon affiliate FUPN (channel 30).
History
Early years
WQE-TV began broadcasting on December 15, 1948, a month before station WEFD-TV (channel 2), in which they were delayed by 3 months due to technical issues. Among the first programs aired was the movie Life Could Be A Dream. The station was signed on by Kathrine Fletcher's Floresecenda Broadcasting Company, whom also owned WQE Radio (AM 1240) since 1938.
WQE was originally an ABC affiliate, sharing programming with CBS programming until WITO (channel 5) signed on in 1954. In 1962, WQE and WEFD swapped affiliations due to dissatisfaction from FBC, and the network having the lowest ratings at the time. Cox Media Group, owners of WEFD at the time, had good relations with the network and was satisfied with the affiliation. WQE did, however, continue to carry The Huntley-Brinkley Report until January 3, 1967, when ABC's own evening newscasts expanded to 30 minutes.
In December 1989, WQE was knocked off the air when a severe ice storm caused the collapse of the station's 2,000-foot (610 m) transmitter tower. Within hours, channel 4 cut a deal with the then-struggling independent station WNXF-TV (channel 41, now Univision O&O WUCX), allowing WQE to return to the air in only three hours. WNXF ran the entire WQE schedule during this time. The station's new, stronger tower was activated on October 25, 1990, at which point WNXF reverted to broadcasting its own programming.
In the early 1990s, WQE distributed its programming via C-Band satellite as part of the Primetime 24 package, reaching viewers in the United States for the first time, and in the Caribbean and Latin America, as well as the few rural areas where local over-the-air broadcast signals were not available. It was removed in the late 1990s, due to sports programming.
Station ownership declaring bankruptcy, sale to newly-formed Flower Television, & end of local ownership
On June 23rd, 2019, Florescenda Broadcasting Company declared bankruptcy, despite being the highest-rated television station in the market. Rosanna Fletcher, whom had owned the company at the time (Rosanna is still the manager of the station), stating financial issues as the main reason why. They didn't say if they would have to sell the company to another or not, but said it was a possibility.
Four months later, the company announced it would merge ownership with KVCC in Victoria, CA. Both stations announced the company would be called The Flower Television Company, Inc., in which they would also spin off their radio properties into The Waveform Radio Company, Inc. KVCC's owners would be the CEOs of the company, whilst WQE's owners would be COOs. The merge was completed on December 15th, ending local ownership of the station on their 71st anniversary.
Gallery
First variant of current logo used from 1993-1998
Digital logo (late 1990s)
Current variant of Olympics logo
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