WLXI

Last updated
WLXI
City Greensboro, North Carolina
Channels
Programming
Affiliations43.1: TCT
Ownership
Owner
History
First air date
March 5, 1984(39 years ago) (1984-03-05)
Former channel number(s)
  • Analog: 61 (UHF, 1984–2009)
  • Digital: 43 (UHF, until 2018)
  • 25 (UHF, 2018–2019)
  • 20 (UHF, 2019–2023)
  • Ind. (1984–1985)
  • TBN (1985–2007)
Call sign meaning
"LXI" = Roman numeral 61 (former analog channel)
Technical information
Licensing authority
 FCC
Facility ID 54452
ERP 1,000 kW
HAAT
  • 500 m (1,640 ft)
Transmitter coordinates
Links
Public license information
Website www.tct.tv

WLXI (channel 43) is a television station licensed to Greensboro, North Carolina, United States, owned and operated by and broadcasting Tri-State Christian Television (TCT). WLXI shares a transmitter on Sauratown Mountain with WUNL-TV; the signal reaches the entire Piedmont Triad area. Programs are fed to the transmitter from the TCT studio center in Marion, Illinois; WLXI maintained studios on Patterson Street in Greensboro until TCT ended local operations nationally in June 2018. [2]

Contents

WLXI went on the air in 1984 and originally aired music videos. This lasted for under 18 months until converting to religious programming.

History

UHF channel 61 was first assigned to Greensboro in the 1960s, but no application was made for it until 1979, when Consolidated Broadcasting Corporation filed with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), to build it. It originally proposed a low-power facility operating on the former tower of WFMY-TV. Consolidated's principals included Eugene Johnston, a Greensboro attorney, and two lawyers from Winston-Salem. [3] The FCC granted the construction permit on July 28, 1981, but before going on air, Johnston exited most of his share in the business as a result of having been elected to Congress in 1980. [4] At that time, it was hoped that WLXI would be in service by midyear from a tower used by WQMG and studios that a decade earlier had housed WUBC (channel 48), a short-lived UHF outlet. [4]

However, it would be another two years, as Consolidated opted instead to build studios near Kernersville. By February 1983, Consolidated had decided instead to format the station as an all-music video outlet. [5] Under this format, WLXI began broadcasting on March 5, 1984, with an airstaff of local video jockeys (VJs); the first program manager left within a week of signing on. [6] Despite difficulties attracting advertisers to the format and turnover of the entire initial staff (including on-air and sales employees), ownership claimed to have found stable footing by November. [7] A stunt in which the station played "This is the Life" by "Weird Al" Yankovic for 18 straight hours attracted national press attention. [8]

This was not enough to save the station's format as Billy Satterfield of Winston-Salem took over ownership. On July 1, VJ Todd Yohn walked off the job after playing "Take This Job and Shove It" by Johnny Paycheck after hearing rumors that WLXI had been sold; these rumors suggested a religious broadcaster would be channel 61's new operator. [9] Another VJ resigned the next day, with Jay Johnson telling viewers he was leaving "because I feel like the station won't exist very much longer". [10] WLXI experienced no further staff changes for the rest of July, but on August 1, another VJ and a receptionist were fired by Satterfield. VJ Erin Spencer told the News & Record that Satterfield said to her, "You shouldn't be doing this. It's the devil's work. Think of those 7- and 8-year-olds who are watching and being influenced. Video music is the work of the devil." [11]

The next day, Satterfield confirmed the station would switch to Christian programming in a gradual manner and that he had met with executives of the Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN). [12] TBN then bought WLXI from Satterfield for $300,000 and a $1.4 million loan to cover station debts. [13] The full conversion to TBN programming took place in September 1985 ahead of the network closing on the sale in February. [14] [15]

In 1989, TBN put WLXI and KNAT-TV in Albuquerque, New Mexico, up for sale; one possible reason was that cable systems in the area had dropped WLXI in 1986 for not having a measurable audience. [16] Two years later, it sold WLXI to Tri-State Christian Television of Marion, Illinois, for $1.9 million, giving TCT its first station in the South. [17] In April 2007, TCT pulled TBN programming from its stations in favor of programming supplied by the company.

From 1993 to 2009, WLXI's signal was relayed on low-power translator station W18BG (channel 18, now WMDV-LD) in Danville, Virginia. In June 2009, that station was sold to the Star News Corporation (owners of WGSR-LD in that market) and stopped rebroadcasting WLXI's programming.

At the end of June 2018, TCT closed WLXI's local studio and ended its local programming with the FCC's repeal of the Main Studio Rule, and the station from then on would be programmed through TCT's default national schedule. [18]

Technical information

Subchannel

WLXI is broadcast as one subchannel on the shared multiplex.

Subchannel of WLXI on the WUNL-TV multiplex [19]
Channel Res. Aspect Short nameProgramming
43.1 1080i 16:9 WLXITCT

Analog-to-digital conversion

WLXI shut down its analog signal on June 12, 2009, as part of the FCC-mandated transition to digital television for full-power stations. [20] The station then adopted channel 43 as its virtual channel instead of 61.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trinity Broadcasting Network</span> International Christian television network

The Trinity Broadcasting Network is an international Christian-based broadcast television network and the world's largest religious television network. TBN was headquartered in Costa Mesa, California, until March 3, 2017, when it sold its highly visible office park, Trinity Christian City. The broadcaster retained its studios in nearby Tustin. Auxiliary studio facilities are located in Irving, Hendersonville, Gadsden, Decatur, Miami and Orlando, Tulsa and New York City. TBN has characterized itself as broadcasting programs hosted by a diverse group of ministries from Evangelical, traditional Protestant and Catholic denominations, non-profit charities, Messianic Jewish and Christian media personalities. TBN also offers a wide range of original programming, faith-based films, and political opinion commentary from various distributors.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WXLV-TV</span> ABC affiliate in Winston-Salem, North Carolina

WXLV-TV is a television station licensed to Winston-Salem, North Carolina, United States, serving as the ABC affiliate for the Piedmont Triad region. It is owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group alongside Greensboro-licensed MyNetworkTV affiliate WMYV. Both stations share studios on Myer Lee Drive in Winston-Salem, while WXLV-TV's transmitter is located in Randleman.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WOIO</span> CBS/MyNetworkTV affiliate in Shaker Heights, Ohio

WOIO is a television station licensed to Shaker Heights, Ohio, United States, serving the Cleveland area as an affiliate of CBS. It is owned by Gray Television alongside low-power Telemundo affiliate WTCL-LD and Lorain-licensed CW affiliate WUAB, the latter station transmitting over WOIO's full-power spectrum via a channel sharing agreement. WOIO, WUAB and WTCL-LD share studios on the ground floor of the Reserve Square building in Downtown Cleveland, with WOIO and WUAB sharing transmitter facilities at the West Creek Reservation in Parma.

WPPX-TV is a television station licensed to Wilmington, Delaware, United States, broadcasting the Ion Television network to the Philadelphia area. It is owned and operated by the Ion Media subsidiary of the E. W. Scripps Company and maintains offices on Main Street in Manayunk, with a transmitter in Roxborough, both sections of Philadelphia.

WQHS-DT is a television station in Cleveland, Ohio, United States, broadcasting the Spanish-language Univision and UniMás networks. Owned and operated by TelevisaUnivision, it is the only full-power Spanish-language television station in the state of Ohio. WQHS-DT's studios and transmitter are located on West Ridgewood Drive in suburban Parma.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WKBF-TV</span> TV station in Cleveland (1968–1975)

WKBF-TV was a television station that broadcast on channel 61 in Cleveland, Ohio, United States, from January 1968 to April 1975. Owned and operated by Kaiser Broadcasting as one of an eventual group of six stations, it was the first ultra high frequency (UHF) independent station to serve northeast Ohio and the last outlet constructed by the Kaiser chain during the 1960s to begin operations. Despite airing several high-profile local programs, Kaiser's efforts to establish itself in Cleveland never took root because of the establishment of a second independent outlet, WUAB, later that same year, as well as general stagnation in the Cleveland market. In April 1975, Kaiser shut WKBF-TV down and sold its programming inventory to WUAB in exchange for a minority stake in that station.

KAIL is a religious television station in Fresno, California, United States, owned and operated by Tri-State Christian Television (TCT). The station's studios are located on North 11th Street in northern Fresno, and its transmitter is located in Meadow Lakes in rural northeastern Fresno County.

KNMT is a religious television station in Portland, Oregon, United States, owned and operated by the Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN). The station's transmitter is located in the Sylvan-Highlands section of the city, near the West Hills of Portland.

KNAT-TV is a religious television station in Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States, owned and operated by the Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN). The station's transmitter is located on Sandia Crest.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kaiser Broadcasting</span> Former American broadcasting company

The Kaiser Broadcasting Corp. was an American broadcast media company that owned and operated television and radio stations in the United States from 1957 to 1977.

WRAY-TV is a religious television station licensed to Wake Forest, North Carolina, United States, serving the Research Triangle region as an owned-and-operated station of Tri-State Christian Television (TCT). The station's transmitter is located on Terrells Mountain near Chapel Hill. WRAY-TV maintained studios on Expressway Drive in Wilson until TCT ended local operations in June 2018.

WJFB is a television station licensed to Lebanon, Tennessee, United States, broadcasting the classic television network MeTV to the Nashville area. Owned and operated by Weigel Broadcasting, the station maintains transmitter facilities in Whites Creek, Tennessee, just off I-24 and Old Hickory Boulevard.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nebraska Television Network</span> ABC affiliate in Kearney, Nebraska

The Nebraska Television Network (NTV) is the ABC affiliate for most of central and western Nebraska. It consists of two full-power stations—KHGI-TV in Kearney, with its transmitter near Lowell, and KWNB-TV in Hayes Center—as well as two low-power stations in McCook and North Platte. NTV is owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group, alongside Lincoln-licensed Fox affiliate KFXL-TV, and operates from studios on Nebraska Highway 44 east of Axtell, about 14 miles (23 km) south of Kearney, with a secondary studio and news bureau at the Conestoga Mall in Grand Island.

WTCT is a religious television station licensed to Marion, Illinois, United States, serving the Paducah–Cape Girardeau–Harrisburg television market as the flagship station of the locally based Tri-State Christian Television (TCT) network. WTCT's transmitter is located near Goreville, Illinois. The national feed of TCT via WTCT is available on DirecTV channel 377.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Smile (TV network)</span> American Christian childrens television network

Smile is an American Christian free-to-air television network owned and operated by the Trinity Broadcasting Network. The network is aimed at children aged 2-12 and offers a mixture of children's religious and family-oriented programming. The network was founded as the television branch of TBN's Smile of a Child ministry, created by TBN co-founder Jan Crouch.

WMCF-TV is a religious television station in Montgomery, Alabama, United States, owned and operated by the Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN). The station's transmitter is located near Sevenmile Creek, on the east side of Montgomery.

WMDV-LD is a low-power independent television station in Danville, Virginia, United States. Owned by the Star News Corporation, it is sister to fellow independent station WGSR-LD in Reidsville, North Carolina. WMDV-LD's transmitter is located atop White Oak Mountain south of Chatham, Virginia.

WGTW-TV is a television station licensed to Millville, New Jersey, United States, owned and operated by the Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN). It previously served the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, television market, but can now only be received over-the-air in Southern New Jersey. The station's transmitter is shared with True Crime Network affiliate WMGM-TV and is located along Avalon Boulevard in the Swainton section of Middle Township, New Jersey.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WLNM-LD</span> WILX-TV translator in Lansing, Michigan

WLNM-LD is a low-power television station in Lansing, Michigan, United States. It is a translator of Onondaga-licensed NBC affiliate WILX-TV which is owned by Gray Television. WLNM-LD's transmitter is located on River Street along the Red Cedar River southeast of Lansing; its parent station maintains studios on American Road in the city.

WUBC was a television station on channel 48 in Greensboro, North Carolina, United States. Originally owned by Piedmont Triad TV and later by WEAL, Inc., owner of Greensboro radio station WEAL, it broadcast from 1967 to 1970 as an independent station. It operated from studios at 1013 Warehouse Street and a transmitter at Summerfield. WUBC was ultimately a financial failure that forced WEAL into bankruptcy and led to an auction of that station five years later.

References

  1. ↑ "Modification of a License for DTV Application". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission. April 24, 2023. Retrieved April 24, 2023.
  2. ↑ "WNYB-TV ends local productions, station site is for sale". The Buffalo News . July 2, 2018. Archived from the original on July 2, 2018. Retrieved July 2, 2018.
  3. ↑ Kenion, Jerry (May 30, 1979). "Station Hopes For June". Greensboro Daily News. p. A12. Archived from the original on November 16, 2022. Retrieved November 16, 2022– via GenealogyBank.
  4. 1 2 Schlosser, Jim (February 2, 1982). "City's third TV station may be on air by summer". The Greensboro Record. p. B1. Archived from the original on November 16, 2022. Retrieved November 16, 2022– via GenealogyBank.
  5. ↑ Robinson, Sue (February 23, 1983). "TV station plans unusual concept". The Greensboro Record. p. B1. Archived from the original on November 16, 2022. Retrieved November 16, 2022– via GenealogyBank.
  6. ↑ Robinson, Sue (March 16, 1984). "VJs: Channel 61's music videos beamed out by 'communicators' pioneering new trade". The Greensboro Record. pp. B1, B2. Archived from the original on November 16, 2022. Retrieved November 16, 2022.
  7. ↑ Robinson, Sue (November 9, 1984). "Channel 61 hitting stride after having problems at start". Greensboro News & Record. p. B4. Archived from the original on November 16, 2022. Retrieved November 16, 2022– via GenealogyBank.
  8. ↑ James, Sheryl (March 1, 1985). "Video gimmick puts 61 centerstage". Greensboro News & Record. pp. C1, C3. Archived from the original on November 16, 2022. Retrieved November 16, 2022– via GenealogyBank.
  9. ↑ Robinson, Sue (July 2, 1985). "Channel 61 broadcaster walks off in a huff". Greensboro News & Record. p. B8. Archived from the original on November 16, 2022. Retrieved November 16, 2022– via GenealogyBank.
  10. ↑ "Second TV employee quits on the air". Greensboro News & Record. July 3, 1985. p. C7. Archived from the original on November 16, 2022. Retrieved November 16, 2022.
  11. ↑ Robinson, Sue (August 2, 1985). "Two more announcers leave Triad's music video station". Greensboro News & Record. p. D1. Archived from the original on November 16, 2022. Retrieved November 16, 2022.
  12. ↑ Robinson, Sue (August 3, 1985). "WLXI-TV chief announces switch to religious programs". Greensboro News & Record. p. D2. Archived from the original on November 17, 2022. Retrieved November 16, 2022.
  13. ↑ Robinson, Sue (August 23, 1985). "Sandra Hughes leaving PM Magazine for management". Greensboro News & Record. Archived from the original on January 10, 2023. Retrieved November 16, 2022.
  14. ↑ "On the flipside: trouble in music-video land" (PDF). Broadcasting. February 10, 1986. pp. 53, 56, 58. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2022-12-06. Retrieved 2022-11-16.
  15. ↑ "Public television supporters in N.C. first among states". Greensboro News & Record. March 27, 1986. p. B5. Archived from the original on November 16, 2022. Retrieved November 16, 2022– via GenealogyBank.
  16. ↑ Brown, Nick (March 29, 1989). "Ch. 61, sister station are put up for sale". Greensboro News & Record. p. A11. Archived from the original on January 10, 2023. Retrieved November 16, 2022.
  17. ↑ "For the Record" (PDF). Broadcasting. October 28, 1991. p. 76. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2022-12-01. Retrieved 2022-11-16.
  18. ↑ McLaughlin, Nancy (June 28, 2018). "WLXI, a longtime carrier of Christian programming, signs off". News & Record . Archived from the original on June 28, 2018. Retrieved June 28, 2018.
  19. ↑ "RabbitEars TV Query for WLXI". RabbitEars. Archived from the original on 2022-11-16. Retrieved 2022-11-16.
  20. ↑ "DTV Tentative Channel Designations for the First and Second Rounds" (PDF). Federal Communications Commission. May 23, 2006. Archived from the original (PDF) on August 29, 2013. Retrieved August 29, 2021.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.