WBNX-TV (TV 55, Akron-Cleveland)

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Winston Broadcasting Network, Inc. was the Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio company behind WBNX-TV, Akron’s channel 55 and a familiar over-the-air resident of the Cleveland television market. WBNX signed on December 1, 1985, initially under Akron-Rhema Television; Ernest Angley incorporated Winston Broadcasting Network in 1986, and the company acquired the station in January 1987.

From studios at 2690 State Road in Cuyahoga Falls, TV 55 mixed vintage sitcoms, movies, children’s programming and locally produced religious shows. It was independent television with a particularly Northeast Ohio flavor: low-channel-number confidence, UHF resourcefulness, and enough schedule variety to make the remote-control button earn its keep.

The station joined The WB in 1997 and continued as the Cleveland-area CW affiliate after The WB and UPN combined in 2006. The CW affiliation moved away in 2018, returning WBNX to independent status. Winston Broadcasting’s long run ended when Nexstar acquired WBNX-TV’s assets for $22 million on January 31, 2025; the station returned to The CW on September 1, 2025.

Our WBNX-TV (TV 55, Akron-Cleveland) collection celebrates a scrappy Akron-licensed broadcaster whose signal reached far beyond its city of license. It’s for late-night movie surfers, after-school cartoon loyalists, WB-era devotees, and anyone who remembers when channel 55 could feel like its own eccentric little universe.