Call letters of the
UPN affiliate in
Orlando, Florida. WRBW (Rainbow) 65 began as just a simple
UHF station broadcasting old
sitcom reruns (such as
The Andy Griffith Show and
Gomer Pyle),
infomercials, and
cheap local access programming. Based at
Universal Studios, the station was so far off the map programming-wise that many local
cable companies didn't carry the channel on their lineups until the
FCC mandated that all
cable companies must carry local stations. WRBW joined cable lineups in the late 1990s.
Just prior to becoming a UPN affiliate WRBW loaded its schedule with Star Trek episodes. Most days it was possible to catch episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine in a row at most any time of the day. With the addition of Star Trek: Voyager in 1995 the station began calling itself "The Space Station" and began airing various Trek episodes even more heavily than before. When cable channel TNN bought the rights to Star Trek: TNG in 2000, TNG fell off the schedule, followed by DS9. The station dropped the space station slogan and theme and began calling itself UPN65, thus emphasizing the "strong" UPN lineup. In fact, as of September 2002 the nightly reruns of Star Trek: Voyager have been reduced to one showing per week, with UPN former goldenboy Star Trek: Enterprise airing twice a week. Other sci-fi syndicated offerings on the network include reruns of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, and Stargate SG-1.
The station began broadcasting Orlando Magic basketball games in 1999 as part of a multi-year agreement. Broadcast rights to nightly Florida Lottery games began soon after in an unrelated deal. Now boasting its UPNness, WRBW began heavy scheduling of syndicated programming that the other local affiliates in Orlando (such as FOX 35 and WB 18) either rejected or cast off from their own schedules. Pre- and Post-primetime programming now includes reruns of Dharma and Greg and Will And Grace. In 2002 WRBW was bought by FOX Broadcasting and became a sister station to WOFL FOX 35. The buyout was marked with a new logo for the aging station and new focus on the future.
References:
http://www.rogersimmons.com/tv/tv65.htm
http://www.upn65.tv