WORA-TV


WORA-TV, virtual channel 5, branded on-air as ABC Puerto Rico, is an ABC-affiliated television station licensed to Mayagüez, Puerto Rico. The station is owned by Telecinco, Inc. WORA-TV's studios are located at the Guanajibo Building in Mayagüez, and its transmitter is located at Monte del Estado in Maricao.
WRFB in Carolina operates as a full-time satellite of WORA-TV, serving San Juan and eastern Puerto Rico.

History

Founded by Alfredo Ramírez de Arellano y Bártoli in 1955, WORA-TV was the first television station on Puerto Rico's west coast and the third station islandwide after WKAQ-TV and WAPA-TV. The station was named for then-sister station WORA radio, which one year later was joined by WORA-FM, the first FM broadcaster on the west coast. During its early years, the station produced its own programming, but its schedule eventually shifted toward infomercials, possibly due to the lack of interest from local businesses in advertising on television. In 1969, WORA-TV became a repeater station for WRIK-TV, airing their programming on the west coast of the island.
In 1979, WORA-TV entered into an affiliation agreement with San Juan-based WAPA-TV, ending its run as a locally-run independent station. After that, most television stations on the island's western coast followed suit. By joining with economically stronger stations from the San Juan market, market divisions on the island ended.
In 1985, WORA-TV changed its affiliation agreement to WKAQ-TV, and on January 1, 1995, it began a new affiliation agreement with WLII.
On September 19, 2014, it was announced that WORA would become an ABC affiliate on November 1, 2014, replacing low-power station WPRU-LP, carrying the network on a subchannel branded as ABC 5.
On January 1, 2015, WORA-TV again become a semi-satellite of WKAQ-TV on channel 5.1. Univision programming moved to WOLE-DT channel 12, on the same date. On March 9, 2015, WORA's third digital subchannel added VIVE, which broadcasts series from Televisión Española.
On June 27, 2019, WORA-TV announced that will end an affiliation agreement with WKAQ-TV by December 31, leaving Telemundo without a western affiliate after more than four years. Later, :es:Hemisphere Media Group|Hemisphere Media Group, the owners of WAPA-TV, announced that Telemundo would air on a subchannel of WNJX-TV by January 1, 2020. On December 18, WORA-TV announced that it will move ABC programming to the station's primary channel on January 1.
On July 1, 2019, VIVE switched to a simulcast of the 24H news channel from TVE.

Digital television

Digital channels

The station's digital signal is multiplexed:
ChannelVideoAspectPSIP Short NameProgrammingStations
5.11080iABC-PRMain WORA-TV programming / ABCWORA-TV,
WRFB,
W05DA-D,
W05DB-D,
W29EE-D
5.2720pVIVE-TVVIVE Televisión / 24HWORA-TV,
WRFB,
W05DA-D,
W05DB-D,
W29EE-D
5.31080iMEGA-TVMega TV / WTCVWORA-TV
5.4720pABC-PRMain WORA-TV programming / ABCW05CY-D
5.5720pVIVE-TVVIVE Televisión / 24HW05CY-D

ChannelVideoAspectPSIP Short NameProgrammingStations
10.1720pABC-PRMain WORA-TV programming / ABCW10BG-D
10.2720pVIVE-TVVIVE Televisión / 24HW10BG-D

Analog-to-digital conversion

WORA-TV shut down its analog signal, over VHF channel 5, on June 12, 2009, the official date when full-power television stations in the United States transitioned from analog to digital broadcasts under federal mandate. The station's digital signal remained on its pre-transition UHF channel 29. Through the use of Program and System Information Protocol, digital television receivers display the station's virtual channel as its former VHF analog channel 5.

Translator stations

WORA-TV can be seen across Puerto Rico on the following stations:
City of licenseCallsignChannel
CarolinaWRFB5.1
FajardoW05DA-D5.1
MayagüezW05CY-D5.4
MayagüezW10BG-D10.1
PonceW05DB-D5.1
San LorenzoW29EE-D5.1

Programming

In addition to ABC network programming, WORA-TV airs some local shows, mostly on Sunday afternoons.

News operation

WORA-TV had a small news division branded as WORA-TV Noticias, which aired during WKAQ-TV's Telenoticias news broadcasts on WORA-DT1. These 15 to 30 minute news segments focus on events happening in and around Mayagüez and Puerto Rico's west coast. On June 28, 2019, WORA-TV laid off 19 employees. This caused the closing of the entire news department and the newscasts has been canceled.
Currently, WORA-TV, airs a simulcast of WABC-TV's Eyewitness News. The station does not air local newscasts in English. The local programs, Punto Final, Primetime and Más con Milly broadcast in the evening.

Local programs produced by WORA-TV