WWJS

Last updated

WWJS
City Hickory, North Carolina
Channels
Programming
Affiliations
Ownership
Owner Family Worship Center Church, Inc. [1]
History
First air date
February 14, 1968(55 years ago) (1968-02-14)
Former call signs
WHKY-TV (1968–2023)
Former channel number(s)
  • Analog: 14 (UHF, 1968–2009)
  • Digital: 40 (UHF, until 2019)
Independent (1968–2023)
Call sign meaning
 Jimmy Swaggart
Technical information [2]
Licensing authority
 FCC
Facility ID 65919
ERP
  • DTS1: 1,000 kW
  • DTS2: 260 kW
HAAT
  • DTS1: 256 m (840 ft)
  • DTS2: 161 m (528 ft)
Transmitter coordinates
Links
Public license information

WWJS (channel 14) is a religious television station licensed to Hickory, North Carolina, United States, owned and operated by the Sonlife Broadcasting Network. It serves the northwestern corner of the Charlotte media market, a region locally referred to as "The Unifour". WWJS' primary transmitter is located on Bakers Mountain in southwestern Catawba County, with a secondary transmitter in the unincorporated area of Newell in northeastern Mecklenburg County (just northeast of the Charlotte city limits).

Contents

History

The station first signed on the air on February 14, 1968, as WHKY-TV, a sister station to WHKY radio (1290 AM), owned by Long Communications of Hickory. During the 1980s, WHKY-TV aired Major League Baseball games from the Cincinnati Reds; it also had a secondary affiliation with NBC, carrying some programs that were preempted by the Charlotte market's primary NBC affiliate, WPCQ-TV (channel 36, now WCNC-TV). [3]

For most of its first quarter-century on the air, WHKY-TV primarily targeted the Unifour. In 2002, WHKY-TV installed two new antennas: one for its digital signal and one which replaced its older analog antenna. The latter antenna's installation helped to increase WHKY-TV's analog signal coverage into the far northern corner of Mecklenburg County. As a result, the station was granted a must-carry claim, allowing it to be added to Time Warner Cable's systems in the Charlotte area; the station also began identifying as "Hickory–Charlotte" in its on-air legal identifications.

In 2004, WHKY-TV boosted its analog transmitter's power to 2 million watts. In June 2006, the station began to be carried on Dish Network and DirecTV's Charlotte area local station lineups, expanding its reach to cover two million people in North and South Carolina. The station's digital transmitter was relocated to Bakers Mountain in the fall of 2011, with its effective radiated power increasing to 950,000 watts (equivalent to 4.75 million watts in analog); the station also launched a fill-in translator, whose transmitter is located just north of Charlotte (near the Charlotte Motor Speedway).

On February 15, 2023, it was announced that WHKY-TV would be sold to Baton Rouge, Louisiana–based Family Worship Center Church, led by pastor Jimmy Swaggart, for $12 million. [1] [4] The sale was completed on April 25; [5] the station changed its call sign to WWJS on June 7, 2023. [6] Long Communications retained WHKY radio and its FM translator, as well as the WHKY call sign.

The deal resulted in main-channel coverage of Swaggart's Sonlife Broadcasting Network throughout the Charlotte market, which is a hub of major televangelism organizations, including Swaggart's longtime rivals, the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and Jim Bakker's PTL, now INSP; it was previously carried as a subchannel of both WJZY and WMYT-TV before their 2020 sale to Nexstar Media Group.

Programming

Prior to the sale to Sonlife, WHKY-TV's schedule consisted primarily of locally-produced religious and entertainment shows, as well as paid programming. In addition, a weekday local newscast aired twice a day at 5:30 and 10 p.m. and was known for its rundown of crime news and wanted fugitive notices within Hickory and Catawba County. The station featured only one syndicated show, MGM Television's Personal Injury Court . [7]

Technical information

Subchannels

The station's signal is multiplexed:

Subchannels of WWJS [8]
Channel Res. Aspect Short nameProgramming
14.1 720p 16:9 WWJSTV Sonlife
14.2 480i This This TV
14.3Comet Comet
14.4SCRIPPS Scripps News
14.5Defy Defy TV
14.6RevFt Infomercials
14.7TBD. TBD

Previously, the second and fourth digital subchannels have been affiliated with Jewelry Television, which is shown at various times on the main channel. The network was used as a placeholder until the additions of RTV and My Family TV on those respective subchannels. On September 28, 2012, My Family TV was replaced with PBJ. In November 2012, WHKY-TV began transmitting its main channel in 720p high definition, and in 2014 the main channel began airing Jewelry Television in HD for portions of the day. On March 1, 2014, PBJ was replaced on digital subchannel 14.4 by Heartland (which originated as the broadcast incarnation of The Nashville Network in 2012). On July 1, 2014, This TV was added to the second subchannel, making WHKY the fourth station in the Charlotte market to carry it. On that same date, Retro TV was moved to the third subchannel, replacing Tuff TV. On January 5, 2021, SonLife began broadcast on subchannel 14.7, while Charge! was replaced by TBD. On July 1, 2021, Jewelry Television and Shop LC on 14.5 and 14.6 respectively were replaced with Defy TV and TrueReal.

Analog-to-digital conversion

WWJS (as WHKY-TV) shut down its analog signal, over UHF channel 14, on February 14, 2009, three days before the original date on which full-power television stations in the United States were to transition from analog to digital broadcasts under federal mandate. The station's digital signal remained on its pre-transition UHF channel 40, [9] [10] using virtual channel 14.

Related Research Articles

KCEB is a television station in Longview, Texas, United States, affiliated with Novelisima, a network airing Spanish-language soap operas. The station is owned by Innovate Corp. alongside Tyler-licensed low-power station KPKN-LD, both of which share RF channel 35.

WTVI is a PBS member television station in Charlotte, North Carolina, United States, owned by Central Piedmont Community College. The station's studios are located in the Chantilly-Commonwealth section of east Charlotte, and its transmitter is located in the unincorporated area of Newell in northeastern Mecklenburg County. It is the only public television station in North Carolina that is not operated by PBS North Carolina, and is one of three PBS member stations serving the Charlotte metropolitan area, along with PBS North Carolina's WUNG-TV in Concord and South Carolina Educational Television (SCETV)'s WNSC-TV in Rock Hill.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KFWD</span> Independent TV station in Fort Worth, Texas

KFWD is a television station licensed to Fort Worth, Texas, United States, serving the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. Owned by WRNN-TV Associates, it airs programming from ShopHQ. KFWD's offices are located in Coppell, and its transmitter is located in Cedar Hill, Texas.

WMFP is a television station licensed to Foxborough, Massachusetts, United States, serving the Boston area and primarily airing paid programming from OnTV4U. It is owned by WRNN-TV Associates alongside Norwell-licensed ShopHQ affiliate WWDP. Through a channel sharing agreement, the two stations transmit using WWDP's spectrum from a tower off Pleasant Street in West Bridgewater. WMFP's studios are located on Lakeland Park Drive in Peabody.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WJPX</span> América Tevé television station in San Juan, Puerto Rico

WJPX is a Spanish-language Independent television station licensed to San Juan, Puerto Rico. The station brands itself as América TeVé Puerto Rico.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WZME</span> Story Television station in Bridgeport, Connecticut

WZME is a television station licensed to Bridgeport, Connecticut, United States, serving as the New York City market's outlet for the diginet Story Television. It is owned and operated by network parent Weigel Broadcasting alongside Middletown Township, New Jersey–licensed MeTV station WJLP, and New York-licensed WNWT-LD. WZME maintains a primary transmitter on Booth Hill Road in Trumbull, Connecticut, with a secondary transmitter located at the Empire State Building in midtown Manhattan.

KBCB is a religious television station in Bellingham, Washington, United States, owned and operated by Tri-State Christian Television (TCT). The station's transmitter is located near Mount Constitution on Orcas Island.

WHNE-LD is a low-power television station in Detroit, Michigan, United States, affiliated with TheGrio TV. Owned and operated by Bridge Media Networks, the station has studios and transmitter located in Oak Park, Michigan.

WLFT-CD is a low-power, Class A religious television station licensed to Baker, Louisiana, United States, serving the Baton Rouge area as the flagship station of the Sonlife Broadcasting Network. The station is owned by Family Worship Center Church, and has its transmitter on Honore Lane southeast of Baton Rouge.

KPBN-LD, virtual and UHF digital channel 14, branded on-air as The Pelican, is a low-power Sonlife-affiliated television station licensed to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, United States. The station is owned by Pelican Broadcasting. On cable, the station is seen on AT&T U-verse on Cox Communications and Allen Cable. It is also available online at pelicansportstv.com

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WATM-TV</span> ABC affiliate in Altoona, Pennsylvania

WATM-TV is a television station licensed to Altoona, Pennsylvania, United States, serving as the ABC affiliate for the Johnstown–Altoona–State College market. It is owned by Palm Television, L.P., which maintains a local marketing agreement (LMA) with Cunningham Broadcasting, owner of Johnstown-licensed Fox affiliate WWCP-TV, for the provision of certain services. Both stations, in turn, are operated under a time brokerage agreement (TBA) by Sinclair Broadcast Group, owner of Johnstown-licensed dual NBC/CW+ affiliate WJAC-TV.

WJAL is a television station licensed to Silver Spring, Maryland, United States, serving the Washington, D.C. area as an affiliate of ShopHQ. Owned by Entravision Communications, it is sister to Washington-licensed low-power, Class A station WMDO-CD. WJAL shares transmitter facilities with CBS affiliate WUSA on Wisconsin Avenue in the Tenleytown section of northwest Washington.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WJFB</span> MeTV affiliate in Lebanon, Tennessee

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.

WIWN is a television station licensed to Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, United States, but primarily serving the Milwaukee area as an affiliate of Cozi TV. It is owned by CNZ Communications as sister to Milwaukee-licensed low-power, Class A station WMKE-CD. Both outlets share studios on West Stratton Drive in suburban New Berlin, while WIWN's transmitter is located on North Humboldt Boulevard in Milwaukee's Estabrook Park neighborhood.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KMCT-TV</span> Religious independent TV station in West Monroe, Louisiana

KMCT-TV is a religious independent television station licensed to West Monroe, Louisiana, United States. The station is owned by Carolina Christian Broadcasting through subsidiary KMCT Holdings, LLC. KMCT-TV's studios and transmitter are located on Parkwood Drive in West Monroe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WMYT-TV</span> MyNetworkTV affiliate in Rock Hill, South Carolina

WMYT-TV is a television station licensed to Rock Hill, South Carolina, United States, serving the Charlotte, North Carolina area as an affiliate of MyNetworkTV. It is the only major commercial television station in the Charlotte market to be licensed to a community in South Carolina. WMYT-TV is owned by Nexstar Media Group alongside Belmont, North Carolina–licensed Fox affiliate WJZY. Both outlets share studios on Performance Road in unincorporated northwestern Mecklenburg County ; through a channel sharing agreement, the stations transmit using WJZY's spectrum from an antenna in Dallas, North Carolina, along the Catawba River.

WPVS-LD is a low-power television station in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States. The station is owned by SagamoreHill Broadcasting. It had been licensed to Sheboygan until 2011.

KFVT-LD, virtual channel 34 is a low-powered television station that is licensed to and serving Wichita, Kansas. The station is owned by Sunrise, Florida-based DTV America, and operated by INNOVATE Corp. through a Local marketing agreement.

WJDE-CD is a low-power, Class A television station in Nashville, Tennessee, United States, affiliated with several digital multicast networks. Owned by the Word Broadcasting Network, the station has a transmitter off Interstate 65 at the corner of Dickerson Pike and Maplewood Trace. Master control and most internal operations are based at the studios of flagship station WBNA on Fern Valley Road in Okolona, a suburb of Louisville.

WKUW-LD is a low-power television station licensed to White House, Tennessee, United States, serving the Nashville television market. Owned by HC2 Holdings, it is a sister station to Bowling Green, Kentucky–licensed WCTZ-LD, which also serves Nashville. WKUW-LD's transmitter is located in Whites Creek, Tennessee, just off I-24 and Old Hickory Boulevard.

References

  1. 1 2 "WHKY TV Station to be Sold to Louisiana Ministry". WHKY.com. February 15, 2023. Retrieved February 15, 2023.
  2. ↑ "Facility Technical Data for WWJS". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
  3. ↑ The Charlotte Observer TV Week, December 18, 1983.
  4. ↑ "Assignments". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission. February 15, 2023. Retrieved February 16, 2023.
  5. ↑ "Notification of Consummation". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission. April 25, 2023. Retrieved April 25, 2023.
  6. ↑ "Form 380 - Transfer/Assignment Request". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission. April 25, 2023. Retrieved April 25, 2023.
  7. ↑ "WHKY TV Charlotte Main Channel Program Schedule June 2022" (PDF). WHKY.com. Retrieved May 4, 2022.
  8. ↑ RabbitEars TV Query for WWJS
  9. ↑ "DTV Tentative Channel Designations for the First and the Second Rounds" (PDF). Retrieved March 24, 2012.
  10. ↑ Svensson, Peter (February 17, 2009). "Hundreds of television stations cut analog signals". Google News. Associated Press.
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.