WJKT

WJKT
Jackson, Tennessee
United States
Branding Fox 16 (general)
CW 30 News (newscasts)
Channels Digital: 39 (UHF)
Virtual: 16 (PSIP)
Subchannels 16.1 Fox
16.2 Escape
16.3 Laff
16.4 Grit
Owner Nexstar Broadcasting Group
(Nexstar Broadcasting, Inc.)
First air date April 10, 1985
Call letters' meaning We're JacKson, Tennessee
Sister station(s) WATN-TV, WLMT
Former callsigns WJWT (1985–1990)
WMTU (1990–2001)[1]
Former channel number(s) 16 (UHF analog, 1985-2009)
Former affiliations Independent (1985–1987)
PTEN (secondary, 1993–1995)
UPN (1995–2006)
The WB (secondary, 2003–2006)
TheCoolTV (on DT2, 2011–2012)
Bounce TV (DT2, 2012–2015)
Transmitter power 392 kW
Height 296 m
Class DT
Facility ID 68519
Transmitter coordinates 35°47′27.1″N 89°5′58.2″W / 35.790861°N 89.099500°W / 35.790861; -89.099500
Website www.localmemphis.com

WJKT is the Fox-affiliated television station for Western Tennessee that is licensed to Jackson. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 39 (or virtual channel 16.1 via PSIP) from a transmitter in Alamo.

Owned by Nexstar Broadcasting Group, the station maintains a local advertising sales office on Oil Well Road in Jackson. Master control and most internal operations for WJKT are based out of the studios of sister stations ABC affiliate WATN-TV and CW outlet WLMT at the Shelby Oaks Corporate Park in northeastern Memphis.

Fox station WHBQ-TV's over-the-air signal reaches areas just short of Jackson proper. However, that station is also carried on Jackson Energy Authority Broadband channel 13.

Digital channels

Channel Video Aspect PSIP short name Programming [2]
16.1 720p 16:9 WJKT-DT Main WJKT programming / Fox
16.2 480i 4:3 LivWell Escape
16.3 Laff
16.4 Grit

History

WJKT station signed-on April 10, 1985, as WJWT and was Jackson's third television station (after WDXI-TV now WBBJ-TV and WLJT). It was owned by MT Communications and aired on UHF analog channel 16. It was the area's first Independent and joined Fox for the first time in April 1987. After MT Broadcasting bought WCAY Nashville (renaming it WXMT) and buying WMKW (now WLMT) in Memphis, WMTU began mostly simulcasting WMKW/WLMT.

WJWT became WMTU on January 8, 1990, and during that year Fox pulled its affiliation from WLMT and gave it to WPTY-TV (now WATN-TV). However, WMTU retained its Fox affiliation, though outside of the network programming the two stations continued to simulcast. When Clear Channel Communications began programming WLMT in 1992, the LMA included WMTU as well.

The two stations became charter UPN affiliates on January 16, 1995. However, WMTU remained a primary Fox affiliate until its acquisition of WHBQ-TV in Memphis that November, at which point the station reverted to being a full semi-satellite of WLMT. To reflect its status as a Jackson station, channel 16 changed its calls to WJKT on September 17, 2001; around the same time, Clear Channel bought it and WLMT outright.

In 2003, programming from The WB moved from WPTY (where it was airing in a secondary nature during late night time slots) to WLMT/WJKT where it also aired out of pattern. The station's Jackson office, shared with local production company TotalReach Television, was damaged that May after a tornado struck the downtown Jackson area. Owned by Clear Channel Television, the local office was moved to a facility on Radio Road in Jackson shared with Jackson's Clear Channel Radio cluster (which were later sold to Forever Communications).

On January 24, 2006, The WB and UPN announced the two networks would cease broadcasting and merge to form The CW. WJKT declined to affiliate with The CW or MyNetworkTV, choosing instead to rejoin Fox on August 21. Meanwhile, WLMT began broadcasting The CW on September 18; it serves as the default over-the-air affiliate for Jackson, since cable-only The WB 100+ outlet "WBJK" joined The CW Plus. Clear Channel's television group, including WJKT, was purchased by Newport Television in 2008, local offices were relocated to Oil Well Road. Newport announced on July 19, 2012, that it would sell 12 of its stations, including WJKT, to Nexstar Broadcasting Group.[3] The sale was finalized on December 3.

From August 2011 until September 2012, the station carried TheCoolTV on its DT2 subchannel. After the expiration of Newport's deal to carry the network, a new deal was made to carry the Live Well Network, which was carried on WJKT-DT2 until mid-March 2013, when it was pulled due to Nexstar's common policy of not carrying any subchannel networks unless the need for a CW or MyNetworkTV subchannel is needed in the market. On June 1, 2013, WPTY, WLMT, and WJKT relocated to a new facility at Shelby Oaks Corporate Park in the northeast section of Memphis.[4]

Programming

General programming

Outside Fox network programming, syndicated programming on WJKT include but not limited to How I Met Your Mother, Two and a Half Men, Judge Judy, Kathy, and The Simpsons, among others.

Sports programming: past and present

Sports programming on WJKT includes all sports programming from Fox Sports, including the NFL on Fox (featuring the National Football Conference (NFC) road package). That includes any instance during the NFL regular season where the Tennessee Titans (who play in the American Football Conference (AFC)) host an NFC opponent. In addition to Fox’s NFL coverage, WJKT also broadcasts Tennessee Titans preseason games from the Titans Preseason Television Network, operated by Nashville area ABC affiliate WKRN.

From 1995 until 2009, WJKT broadcast syndicated Southeastern Conference college football and basketball games from Jefferson-Pilot/Lincoln Financial Sports (now Raycom Sports).[5] WJKT continued carrying SEC basketball, which was produced by ESPN Plus-operated SEC Network (later SEC TV) branding from 2009 until the end of the 2013-2014 season. ESPN’s pay-TV-exclusive SEC Network, which launched on August 14, 2014, was responsible for the cancellation of that syndicated sports package.

Newscasts

WJKT airs all national breaking news coverage from Fox News when conditions warrant as well as the network's weekly public affairs show. However, unlike most other Fox affiliates, it does not operate a local news department of its own. The station simulcasts WLMT's 45-minute newscast produced by WATN, as well as the fifteen-minute sports highlight program. Although most news coverage is presented focused on the greater Memphis area, WATN will cover the Jackson area during severe weather events such as tornado warnings. Despite being a Fox outlet, WJKT features national headlines coverage as provided through ABC NewsOne since it simulcasts an ABC-affiliated produced local news show from WLMT.

References

  1. ↑ http://oldtvguides.com/all_thumbs/16-wmtu%20%20%20jackson,%20tn%20%20%20356%20mi.html
  2. ↑ http://www.rabbitears.info/market.php?request=station_search&callsign=WJKT#station
  3. ↑ "Newport Sells 22 Station For $1 Billion". TVNewsCheck. July 19, 2012. Retrieved July 19, 2012.
  4. ↑ http://www.abc24.com/media/lib/10/4/b/6/4b63ab4e-6a4d-47fa-be4b-dda4c75d0fb7/NXST_Memphis_New_Facility_FINAL_5_3_13.pdf
  5. ↑ “JPsports.com”. Archived from the original January 14, 2006 via the Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine. Retrieved July 13, 2014. Editor’s note: Click on the Affiliates tab for the list of stations.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/30/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.