WEAO Channel 49 has been off the air since 6:30 p.m. Thursday, due to technical difficulties.
The station said that the problem appears to involve an 800-ft. transmission line running between the station's Copley transmitter and its antenna. Sister station WNEO Channel 45, which serves Youngstown, was not affected.
The outtage also affects the high-definition signal Channel 49 (WEAO.1) plus three digital channels: Fusion (WEAO.2), MHz Worldview (WEAO.3) and V-me (WEAO.4).
Bill O'Neil, Western Reserve Public Media station manager, said engineering crews were working to correct the problem and resume transmission quickly. "We apologize to our viewers for this inconvenience," O'Neil said. Western Reserve Public Media is the umbrella organization for channels 45 and 49.