History
WBFS-TV debuted on February 2, 1984 as an Independent under the ownership of Grant Broadcasting. Before then, the analog channel 33 frequency had been occupied by a low-power translator for competing independent WCIX (the predecessor to WFOR-TV) whose main signal on VHF channel 6 could not be received very well in Broward County. The station ran numerous off-network classic television sitcoms from the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s along with a number of cartoons. It also ran some off-network drama shows, classic western, and martial arts movies that were usually shown on Saturday afternoons.
WBFS soon made a name for itself in South Florida for its slick on-air look. It billed itself as "Florida's Super Station" (a moniker that Tampa Bay's WTOG also gave itself around the same time) and frequently used CGI graphics of near-network quality (similar graphics would implemented on WGBS-TV in Philadelphia and WGBO-TV in Chicago after Grant acquired those stations). The station was available on cable in the West Palm Beach area as well and identified as "Miami/Fort Lauderdale/West Palm Beach" until the 1990s.
However while the station itself turned a profit, Grant overextended itself buying programming for its stations. After Christmas in 1986, the company filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The pressure came from debt with Viacom which owned the distribution rights for half of Grant's shows. In January 1987, a deal was made to cut back the runs of the shows the stations owned and pay reduced prices.
Even with Grant's financial problems, WBFS continued to do well, and scored a major coup by becoming the on-air home of the brand-new Miami Heat of the NBA in 1988. It added Florida Marlins of baseball's National League and the Florida Panthers of the NHL in 1993. However, Grant Broadcasting was unable to get out of debt forcing the company into receivership in 1989. Combined Broadcasting, a company consisting of executives from the program distributors that Grant owed, took over WBFS and its sister stations. The company pumped a lot of money into WBFS and WGBS but ran primarily barter programming on WGBO. In 1994, Combined sold WBFS and WGBS (now WPSG) to Paramount Stations Group (which was soon acquired by former Grant creditor Viacom) who sold its original Philadelphia station, WTXF-TV, to Fox. Almost immediately, Paramount announced WBFS and WGBS would join the soon-to-be created UPN network. WGBO went to Univision who entered the deal after its then-affiliate in Chicago, WCIU-TV, refused to drop non-Spanish programming.
In January 1995, Paramount joined forces with Chris-Craft to create the then-new UPN network. Under Paramount ownership, WBFS became a UPN owned-and-operated station station at the network's inception on January 16, 1995. The station continued to refer to itself as "WBFS TV 33" for some time afterward, but soon rebranded to "UPN 33". It had acquired more recent off-network sitcoms over the years and soon began to add more first-run syndicated talk and reality shows. The station began to cut back on children programming, such as The Wacky World of Tex Avery, Pokémon, Sailor Moon, Mummies Alive!, and DuckTales from 1998 on. By 2002, the station was only running a morning kids block.
In 2000, Paramount's parent company Viacom merged with CBS making WBFS sister to CBS owned-and-operated WFOR, years after that station (as WCIX) shut down the channel 33 translator to make room for WBFS. As a result of the merger, WBFS moved into WFOR's facilities. When WAMI-TV became a Telefutura station, WBFS picked up a few of WAMI's former shows, including Fox Kids (the block, which was not carried on Fox affiliate WSVN, by then was only offered on Saturdays). WBFS continued to run what eventually became 4Kids TV until December 27, 2008. Its successor, Weekend Marketplace, does not air at all in the Miami market. UPN ended its kids block in Fall 2003. After Viacom and CBS split into two companies at the end of 2005, WBFS came under the ownership of CBS Corporation.
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