WNBJ-LD
{{Short description|Television station in Jackson, Tennessee}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2024}}
{{Infobox television station
| callsign = WNBJ-LD
| city =
| country = United States
| logo = 245px
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| branding = {{ubl|NBC 39; 39 News|West Tennessee's CW 39 (on LD2)[http://static.wixstatic.com/media/569337_9ca7d8f7f73c414da7fdd5a749aca19f~mv2.png The Official Logo of WNBJ-LD2]|My H&I 39 (on LD3)[https://static.wixstatic.com/media/569337_ecf20c7c9c4b4d05937a77104d8326a2~mv2.png Website Footer Graphic Featuring The Alternate Black-Lettered Logos of WNBJ-LD & WNBJ-LD2 And The Official Logo of WNBJ-LD3]}}
| digital = 16 (UHF)
| virtual = 39
| subchannels =
| translators =
| affiliations = {{ubl|39.1: NBC|39.2: CW+|39.3: H&I/MNTV}}
| location = Jackson, Tennessee
| owner = Coastal Television Holdings
| licensee = CTT License LLC
| operator =
| founded = February 22, 2011
| airdate = {{ubl|{{Start date and age|2014|10|06}} (on Dish Network)|{{Start date and age|2014|11|06}} (Over-the-air)}}
| callsign_meaning = NBC for Jackson
| sister_stations =
| former_callsigns = W16DE-D (CP, 2011–2014)
| former_affiliations =
| former_channel_numbers =
| erp = 15 kW
| haat = {{convert|78.5|m|ft|0|abbr=on}}
| class = LD
| facility_id = 185218
| coordinates = {{coord|35|36|11.3|N|88|47|52.2|W|type:_region:_source:enwiki}}
| licensing_authority = FCC
| website = {{ubl|{{URL|https://www.wnbjtv.com/}}|{{URL|https://www.yourcwtv.com/partners/westtennessee/index.php|"West Tennessee's CW 39" (LD2)}}}}
}}
WNBJ-LD (channel 39) is a low-power television station in Jackson, Tennessee, United States, affiliated with NBC and The CW Plus. The station is owned by Coastal Television Holdings, and maintains studios on North Highland Avenue and a transmitter near the corner of Commerce and Iselin streets, both in downtown Jackson.
History
Plans for an NBC affiliate in Jackson originated with the 2011 acquisition of former TBN repeater W35AH channel 35[http://mmtconline.org/lp-pdf/LPTV%20Comments%20121710.pdf FCC document: "COMMENTS OF LPTV ENTREPRENEURS", December 17, 2010.] from the Minority Media and Television Council (an organization designed to preserve equal opportunity and civil rights in the media) by New Moon Communications, as part of a package deal that also included former TBN repeaters in Dothan, Alabama; Jonesboro, Arkansas; and Ottumwa, Iowa. Of the four stations, only the Dothan station became NBC, but under different owners, as WRGX-LD. KJNE-LP in Jonesboro was sold to Waypoint Media, LLC of Meridian, Mississippi, owners of Fox/CBS affiliate KJNB-LD (and eventually became a satellite of that station),{{cite web|url=http://classictvmoark.blogspot.com/2015/08/cbs-makes-debut-in-northeast-arkansas.html|title=Three Rivers Association for Classic TV|first=Michael|last=Buhler|publisher=}} while the licenses in Ottumwa (KUMK-LP){{cite web|url=http://northpine.com/broadcast/archive/news0314.html|title=Broadcasting News-March 2014|publisher=}} and Jackson (whose transmitter would be re-called WZMC-LP) would later be canceled, with the Jackson station canceled in July 2013.[https://cdbs.recnet.com/corres/?doc=42605 "Request for Cancellation of License, WZMC-LP, Jackson, TN, Facility Id. 68047", July 30, 2013.]
The history of WNBJ-LD originates with the station's construction permit granted in 2011, under the call sign W16DE-D. The current WNBJ-LD call letters replaced their previous translator-style call sign on July 9, 2014.
In September 2014, it was confirmed that WNBJ would sign on as an NBC affiliate for the Jackson market.{{cite AV media|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iFQlmsKPFnk|title=YouTube|publisher=}}{{cite web|url=http://rabbitears.info/market.php?request=station_search&callsign=WNBJ|title=RabbitEars.Info|publisher=}} WMC-TV in Memphis or WSMV in Nashville were previously the default NBC affiliates for the Jackson area using a very strong antenna, or through cable television. Some of the far northern parts of the local media market (e.g. northern Gibson County north of Trenton) could pick up WPSD in Paducah, Kentucky until the DTV transition for full-power stations took place in 2009.
On October 6, 2014, WNBJ went on the air first via Dish Network channel 6 at 11:30 a.m. CDT. OTA followed on November 6, 2014, and Direct TV in January 2015. The station was signed-on by a local group known as Jackson TV, LLC, who then entered into an outsourcing agreement with Waypoint Media to allow Waypoint to operate the station.{{cite news | last = Thomas | first = David | title = NBC affiliate WNBJ channel 39 Arrives in Jackson | url = http://www.jacksonsun.com/story/money/business/columnists/2014/10/01/nbc-affiliate-wnbj-channel-arrives-jackson/16556887/ | newspaper = The Jackson Sun | date = October 1, 2014| accessdate = June 12, 2015}}
NBC was the last of the Big Four television networks to have a local outlet in Jackson. Currently, The Jackson Energy Authority's cable system still pipes in most of the major outlets in Memphis, including WMC-TV. CBS affiliate WTVF is the only Nashville-based media outlet offered on JEA's cable lineup, with WNBJ-LD replacing WSMV on cable channel 4.
WNBJ was the second television station in the Jackson market to sign on exclusively in digital, about eight to nine months after WYJJ-LD.
On February 23, 2016, the station's original owners agreed to merge WNBJ-LD's licensee with a subsidiary of SagamoreHill Broadcasting.{{cite web|url=http://licensing.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/forms/prod/prefill_and_display.pl?Application_id=1724046&Service=LD&Form_id=316&Facility_id=185218|title=Application for Consent to Assign Broadcast Station Construction Permit or License or to Transfer Control of Entity Holding Broadcast Station Construction Permit or License|publisher=Federal Communications Commission }} The merger was completed on April 1.{{cite web|url=http://licensing.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/forms/prod/prefill_and_display.pl?Application_id=1725706&Service=LD&Form_id=905&Facility_id=185218|title=Consummation Notice|publisher=Federal Communications Commission }}
In July 2021, Waypoint announced that it would sell nine of its television stations, including WNBJ-LD, to Cumming, Georgia—based Coastal Television for $36.9 million. The sale was completed on January 4, 2022.{{Cite web |last=Jacobson |first=Adam |date=January 4, 2022 |title=Coastal Completes Its Waypoint Radio/TV Purchase {{!}} Radio & Television Business Report |url=https://rbr.com/kalil-coastal-waypoint-bill-christian/ |access-date=July 18, 2023 |language=en-US}}
=Subchannel history=
==WNBJ-LD2 (CW+)==
==WNBJ-LD3 (H&I/MyTV)==
In September 2019, the MyNetworkTV affiliation in Jackson, Tennessee moved to a secondary affiliation alongside H&I on the third subchannel of WNBJ-LD after WYJJ-LD (channel 27) became a fully automated station and its parent company ended all of its local programming efforts on its stations.
Programming
=News operation=
WNBJ's news operation launched August 28, 2017, with newscasts produced by the Independent News Network in Little Rock, Arkansas, utilizing INN talent for all but local contributions.[https://changingnewscasts.wordpress.com/2017/09/01/wnbj-now-airs-local-news-thanks-inn/#more-4470 WNBJ now airs local news of its own, thanks to I.N.N.] Lon Tegels, a 30-year veteran at various television stations, including WXXV-TV in Biloxi, Mississippi, became WNBJ's first news director. Reporters on the news team included Jackson Overstreet and Camila Rueda.{{cite web|last=Yusuf|first=Omar|title=NBC's Jackson affiliate WNBJ 39 now airing local newscasts|url=http://www.greenvilleonline.com/story/news/local/2017/09/06/jackson-gets-second-local-newscast/635214001/|publisher=Greenville Online|date=September 6, 2017|accessdate=September 19, 2017}}
Waypoint Media purchased the Independent News Network's centralized news operation in June 2019 and renamed it to News Hub; News Hub was purchased by Coastal Television in July 2021.
As of 2018, WNBJ-LD aired 7½ hours of local newscasts, all weekdays at 6 p.m., 9 p.m. (on LD2[https://www.yourcwtv.com/partners/westtennessee/images/secC_39NEWS_AT_9.png A Promotional Advertisement For The 9PM Newscast Of WNBJ-LD2] December 30, 2018) and 10 p.m.
=Non-news programming=
WNBJ airs a program called Exit82. Produced locally by Red Art Studios, it is a "concert/interview" format show that features "popular and up-and-coming musical talent from the Jackson and surrounding areas" who "perform original music".{{cite web|url=https://www.facebook.com/exit82tv|title=Security Check Required|website=Facebook|publisher=}}{{cite web|url=https://www.facebook.com/pages/WNBJ-TV-Jacksons-NBC39/562344930562663|title=Security Check Required|website=Facebook|publisher=}} The program is named after I-40's interchange with US 45 in Jackson.
WNBJ also airs Harmony Road and Tennessee Gospel Show that showcases traditional and contemporary Christian music, and Vertical Descent, a local hunting show produced in Chester County.
Technical information
=Subchannels=
The station's digital signal is multiplexed:
| class="wikitable"
|+Subchannels of WNBJ-LD[http://www.rabbitears.info/market.php?request=station_search&callsign=WNBJ-LD#station RabbitEars TV Query for WNBJ-LD] ! scope="col" | Channel ! scope="col" | Res. ! scope="col" | Aspect ! scope="col" | Short name ! scope="col" | Programming |
| scope="row" | 39.1 |
|---|
| scope="row" | 39.2
| 720p || CW || The CW Plus{{cite web|url=http://www.wnbjtv.com/single-post/2018/08/06/WNBJ-launches-West-Tennessees-CW-39|title=WNBJ launches West Tennessee's CW 39|work=wnbjtv.com|publisher=Waypoint Media|date=August 6, 2018|accessdate=August 6, 2018}}
|
| scope="row" | 39.3
| 480i || Mynet || H&I & MyNetworkTV |
Coverage area
WNBJ is a low-power television station with 15,000 watts of power; the station's signal gives WNBJ a coverage area comprising most of the Jackson market, or 94,110 television households, and the far eastern portion of the Memphis market. The Jackson market consists of viewers living in Carroll, Chester, Gibson, Hardin, Henderson, and Madison counties in West Tennessee. WNBJ's signal also covers parts of Crockett, Hardeman, Haywood, northern Fayette, and McNairy counties in the Memphis market.{{Cite web|url=https://www.rabbitears.info/contour.php?appid=5a785d579c7f4a879cc1cf6212b6c0ea&site=1&dma=N&map=N&contour=Y&lppc=N&int=N&pop=N&incpop=&excpop=&z1=N&nrqz=N&lprw=N&head=Y&asrn=&extras=&cir=&circen=|title=RabbitEars Contour Map for WNBJ-LD|website=RabbitEars.info|accessdate=April 28, 2024}} Hardin County is the only area within WNBJ's home market that is out of its broadcast range, though it is possible for local cable systems to receive the signal by alternate means, such as a fiber-optic connection or via Dish or DirecTV.
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{Official website|https://www.wnbjtv.com/}}
- [https://www.yourcwtv.com/partners/westtennessee/index.php WNBJ-LD2 "West Tennessee's CW 39"]
{{Jackson TN TV}}
{{Tennessee TV}}
{{Coastal TV Broadcasting}}
Category:2014 establishments in Tennessee
Category:Heroes & Icons affiliates
Category:MyNetworkTV affiliates
Category:Television channels and stations established in 2014