WNBJ-LD

WNBJ-LD

Jackson, Tennessee
United States
Branding NBC 39 (general)
NBC 39 News (newscasts)
West Tennessee’s CW 39 (LD2)[1]
Slogan NBC For Mid-West Tennessee
Dare To Defy (LD2)
Channels Digital: 16 (UHF)
Virtual: 39 (PSIP)
Affiliations 39.1: NBC & Stadium
39.2: CW+[2][3]
Owner SagamoreHill Broadcasting
(SagamoreHill of Jackson, LLC)
Founded February 22, 2011
First air date October 2, 2014 (2014-10-02)
(on Dish Network)
November 6, 2014 (2014-11-06)
(Over-the-air)
Call letters' meaning W NBC for Jackson
Former callsigns W16DE-D (2011–2014) (construction permit)
Transmitter power 15 kW
Height 79 m (259 ft)[4]
Class LD
Facility ID 185218
Transmitter coordinates 35°36′11.3″N 86°47′52.2″W / 35.603139°N 86.797833°W / 35.603139; -86.797833
Licensing authority FCC
Public license information: Profile
CDBS
Website wnbjtv.com
wnbjtv.com/cw39 (LD2)

WNBJ-LD, virtual channel 39 (UHF digital channel 16), is a low-powered NBC/CW+-affiliated television station licensed to Jackson, Tennessee, United States. The station is owned by SagamoreHill Broadcasting. WNBJ's studios are located on North Highland Avenue, and its transmitter is located near the corner of Commerce and Iselin streets, both in downtown Jackson.

Within the Jackson television market, the station is currently available over the air on channel 39.1 or on Dish Network channel 6 and DirecTV channel 5, and on local cable systems, such as Jackson Energy Authority (JEA) Broadband on channel 4 (basic) or in high definition on channel 188.[5][6]

History

Plans for an NBC affiliate in Jackson originated with the 2011 acquisition of former TBN repeater W35AH channel 35[7] from the Minority Media and Television Council (an organisation 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),[8] while the licenses in Ottumwa (KUMK-LP)[9] and Jackson (whose transmitter would be re-called WZMC-LP) would later be cancelled, with the Jackson station cancelled in July 2013.[10]

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.[11][12] 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 in November 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.[13]

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.[6]

WNBJ was the second television station in the Jackson market to sign on exclusively in digital, about eight to nine months after WYJJ-LD.

The station's original owners terminated WNBJ-LD's outsourcing agreement with Waypoint and sold WNBJ-LD outright to SagamoreHill Broadcasting in April 2016.[14]

On August 6, 2018, a 720p HD feed (branded as "West Tennessee's CW 39") of The CW's national CW Plus service was added to subchannel 39.2, succeeding cable-only "WBJK" as the CW Plus affiliate for the Jackson, Tennessee market.

Digital television

Digital channels

The station's digital channel is multiplexed:

Channel Video Aspect PSIP Short Name Programming [15]
39.11080i16:9NBC39Main WNBJ-LD programming / NBC
39.2720pTBAWest Tennessee’s CW 39[2][3]

Programming

General programming

Syndicated programming on WNBJ-LD includes The Doctors, Rachael Ray, The Wendy Williams Show, Inside Edition, Family Feud, Divorce Court and Who Wants to Be a Millionaire among others.

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".[16][17] 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.

News operation

WNBJ's news operation launched August 28, 2017.[18] WNBJ-LD currently airs 7½ hours of local newscasts, all weekdays at 6 p.m., 9 p.m. (on DT2) and 10 p.m.

Lon Tegels, a 30-year veteran at various television stations, including WXXV-TV in Biloxi, Mississippi, is WNBJ's first news director. Reporters on the news team include Jackson Overstreet and Camila Rueda.[19]

Sports programming

WNBJ serves as the Jackson affiliate of Sinclair Broadcast Group's American Sports Network for college sports, though as with all major network affiliates carrying ASN, NBC's sports schedule takes preference over ASN. WNBJ also served as the affiliate for the Raycom Sports-operated ACC Network during the 2014–15 season.[20] In 2015, the station lost ACC Network to MyNetworkTV/Antenna TV affiliate WYJJ-LD, the Jackson market’s other low-powered commercial station. WNBJ, as an NBC affiliate, is also home to Sunday Night Football.

Coverage area

WNBJ is a low-powered television station with 15,000 watts of power; the station's signal will give 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 DMA consists of viewers living in Carroll, Chester, Gibson, Hardin, Henderson, and Madison counties in West Tennessee. WNBJ's signal would also cover parts of Crockett, Hardeman, Haywood, northern Fayette, and McNairy counties in the Memphis market. 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

  1. ↑ The Official Logo Of WNBJ-LD2
  2. 1 2 Staff, WNBJ (August 6, 2018). "WNBJ launches West Tennessee's CW 39". wnbjtv.com. Waypoint Media. Retrieved August 6, 2018.
  3. 1 2 Miller, Mark K. (August 6, 2018). "WNBJ Jackson Launches CW On Subchannel". TVNewsCheck. NewsCheckMedia. Retrieved August 6, 2018.
  4. ↑ Antenna Height Above Average Terrain Calculations -- Results
  5. ↑ Jackson Energy Authority - JEA/EPlus Broadband Cable TV Listings November 25, 2014.
  6. 1 2 EPlus Broadband Cable Channel Line Up Retrieved November 25, 2014
  7. ↑ FCC document: "COMMENTS OF LPTV ENTREPRENEURS", December 17, 2010.
  8. ↑ Michael Buhler. "Three Rivers Association for Classic TV".
  9. ↑ "Broadcasting News-March 2014".
  10. ↑ "Request for Cancellation of License, WZMC-LP, Jackson, TN, Facility Id. 68047", July 30, 2013.
  11. ↑ YouTube.
  12. ↑ "RabbitEars.Info".
  13. ↑ Thomas, David (October 1, 2014). "NBC affiliate WNBJ channel 39 Arrives in Jackson". The Jackson Sun. Retrieved June 12, 2015.
  14. ↑ https://licensing.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/forms/prod/cdbsmenu.hts?context=25&appn=101725706&formid=905&fac_num=185218
  15. ↑ http://www.rabbitears.info/market.php?request=station_search&callsign=WNBJ-LD#station
  16. ↑ "Security Check Required".
  17. ↑ "Security Check Required".
  18. ↑ WNBJ now airs local news of its own, thanks to I.N.N.
  19. ↑ Yusuf, Omar (September 6, 2017). "NBC's Jackson affiliate WNBJ 39 now airing local newscasts". Greenville Online. Retrieved September 19, 2017.
  20. ↑ "ACC Network Has Expanded National Reach ACCNetwork84US.pdf" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-10-09. Retrieved 2015-01-08.
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