WGBC (channel 30) is a
television station
A television station is a set of equipment managed by a business, organisation or other entity, such as an amateur television (ATV) operator, that transmits video content and audio content via radio waves directly from a transmitter on the earth ...
in
Meridian, Mississippi
Meridian is the List of municipalities in Mississippi, seventh largest city in the U.S. state of Mississippi, with a population of 41,148 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census and an estimated population in 2018 of 36,347. It is the count ...
, United States, affiliated with
Fox
Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush'').
Twelve sp ...
and
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...
. It is owned by Coastal Television Broadcasting Company
LLC
A limited liability company (LLC for short) is the US-specific form of a private limited company. It is a business structure that can combine the pass-through taxation of a partnership or sole proprietorship with the limited liability of a ...
, which provides certain services to
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainmen ...
affiliate
WMDN
WMDN (channel 24) is a television station in Meridian, Mississippi, United States, affiliated with CBS. It is owned by Big Horn Television, which maintains a local marketing agreement (LMA) with Coastal Television Broadcasting Company LLC, ...
(channel 24) under a
local marketing agreement
In North American broadcasting, a local marketing agreement (LMA), or local management agreement, is a contract in which one company agrees to operate a radio or television station owned by another party. In essence, it is a sort of lease or tim ...
(LMA) with Big Horn Television. The two stations share studios and transmitter facilities on Crestview Circle, in
unincorporated Unincorporated may refer to:
* Unincorporated area, land not governed by a local municipality
* Unincorporated entity, a type of organization
* Unincorporated territories of the United States, territories under U.S. jurisdiction, to which Congress ...
Lauderdale County, south of Meridian. Together, WGBC and WMDN are known as "The Meridian Family of Stations."
History
The first channel 30 to operate in Meridian began broadcasting as WCOC-TV in 1954. It was owned by the Crystal Oil Company along with WCOC radio (910 AM, now
WMOG). The station had hoped to pick up the
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainmen ...
affiliation for the area due to its radio sister's long affiliation with
CBS Radio
CBS Radio was a radio broadcasting company and radio network operator owned by CBS Corporation and founded in 1928, with consolidated radio station groups owned by CBS and Westinghouse Broadcasting/Group W since the 1920s, and Infinity Broadc ...
. However, the network ended up affiliating with
WTOK-TV
WTOK-TV (channel 11) is a television station in Meridian, Mississippi, United States, affiliated with American Broadcasting Company, ABC, MyNetworkTV and The CW Plus. The station is owned by Gray Television, and maintains studios on 23rd Avenu ...
on the more powerful
VHF
Very high frequency (VHF) is the ITU designation for the range of radio frequency electromagnetic waves (radio waves) from 30 to 300 megahertz (MHz), with corresponding wavelengths of ten meters to one meter.
Frequencies immediately below VHF ...
channel 11. This resulted in WCOC going
dark
Darkness, the direct opposite of lightness, is defined as a lack of illumination, an absence of visible light, or a surface that absorbs light, such as black or brown.
Human vision is unable to distinguish colors in conditions of very low lum ...
after only a few months on the air, as it began telecasting on April 7, 1954 and signed off on August 1. WCOC attempted to relocate to
Pachuta in order to broadcast on VHF channel 7, but the channel allocation eventually went to
WDAM-TV
WDAM-TV (channel 7) is a television station licensed to Laurel, Mississippi, United States, serving the Hattiesburg, Mississippi, Hattiesburg area as an affiliate of NBC and American Broadcasting Company, ABC. Owned by Gray Television, the stati ...
when said channel relocated from channel 9 to 7.
The analog channel 30 allotment remained dark until
WLBT
WLBT (channel 3) is a television station in Jackson, Mississippi, United States, affiliated with NBC. It is owned by Gray Television, which also operates American Spirit Media–owned Fox affiliate WDBD (channel 40) and Vicksburg-licensed MyNet ...
in
Jackson
Jackson may refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Jackson (name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the surname or given name
Places
Australia
* Jackson, Queensland, a town in the Maranoa Region
* Jackson North, Q ...
filed for a new station to serve eastern Mississippi in December 1980; a construction permit was issued on September 14, 1981. The station took to the air on June 2, 1982, as WLBM-TV, a low-powered
semi-satellite
A broadcast relay station, also known as a satellite station, relay transmitter, broadcast translator (U.S.), re-broadcaster (Canada), repeater (two-way radio) or complementary station (Mexico), is a broadcast transmitter which repeats (or tran ...
. Previously, NBC programming had been available to eastern Mississippi viewers on WTOK-TV part-time from 1953 until 1972 or on WHTV (now
WMDN
WMDN (channel 24) is a television station in Meridian, Mississippi, United States, affiliated with CBS. It is owned by Big Horn Television, which maintains a local marketing agreement (LMA) with Coastal Television Broadcasting Company LLC, ...
, channel 24) from 1972 to 1980. WLBM's studios caught fire on April 17, 1990, knocking the station off the air and leaving much of Eastern Mississippi without an over-the-air NBC affiliate. While the station originally was slated to return to the air, Civic Communications decided to close the station instead, a month later. Cable systems provided network programming from either
Hattiesburg
Hattiesburg is a city in the U.S. state of Mississippi, located primarily in Forrest County (where it is the county seat and largest city) and extending west into Lamar County. The city population was 45,989 at the 2010 census, with the populat ...
's WDAM-TV or WLBT for subscribers.
NBC returned to the
market
Market is a term used to describe concepts such as:
*Market (economics), system in which parties engage in transactions according to supply and demand
*Market economy
*Marketplace, a physical marketplace or public market
Geography
*Märket, an ...
when Global Communications brought the station back in business as WGBC in September 1991. Thus, Meridian became one of the last markets in the nation with a local full-time NBC affiliate. It entered into a
local marketing agreement
In North American broadcasting, a local marketing agreement (LMA), or local management agreement, is a contract in which one company agrees to operate a radio or television station owned by another party. In essence, it is a sort of lease or tim ...
(LMA) with CBS affiliate WMDN. In January 2008, local businessman Michael Reed bought WGBC and renewed the LMA with WMDN.
In late 2008, WGBC picked up the Fox affiliation for Meridian on its first digital subchannel with the
Retro Television Network
Retro TV (stylized as retrotv), formerly known as Retro Television Network, is an American broadcast television network owned by Get After It Media. The network mainly airs classic television sitcoms and drama series from the 1950s through th ...
(RTV) airing during non-network time periods. This change resulted in NBC moving to a new second digital subchannel in high definition while remaining on the analog signal. On January 5, 2009, "Fox Meridian" premiered on WGBC-DT1. Fox had previously aired on WTOK-DT2, while RTV was new to the market. The move allowed Fox programming to be offered in HD for the first time in the area.
This creative arrangement resulted in NBC being moved to a new second digital subchannel. It is a similar case to CBS affiliate
WAGM-TV
WAGM-TV (channel 8) is a television station in Presque Isle, Maine, United States, affiliated with CBS, Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox and The CW Plus. It is owned by Gray Television alongside Fort Kent, Maine, Fort Kent–licensed low-power br ...
in
Presque Isle, Maine
Presque Isle is the commercial center and largest city in Aroostook County, Maine, United States. The population was 8,797 at the 2020 Census. The city is home to the University of Maine at Presque Isle, Northern Maine Community College, Husso ...
, which also moved its original affiliation to a new second digital subchannel so that its main signal could join Fox. In fall 2010, WGBC's main signal had acquired enough first-run syndicated programming that Retro TV was dropped from the station, and took on a full-time branding of "Fox 30."
Programming
Syndicated programming
Syndicated programming on WGBC-DT1 includes ''
The People's Court
''The People's Court'' is an American arbitration-based reality court show, featuring an arbitrator handling small claims disputes in a simulated courtroom set. Within the court show genre, it is the first of all arbitration-based reality styl ...
'' among others. Syndicated programming on WGBC-DT2 includes ''
TMZ on TV
''TMZ on TV'' (also known as ''TMZ on Fox'' and simply as ''TMZ'' or ''TMZTV'') is an American syndicated entertainment and gossip news television show that premiered on September 10, 2007 (its major carriage is among television stations owned ...
'', ''
Judge Mathis
''Judge Mathis'' is an American syndicated arbitration-based reality court show presided over by Judge Greg Mathis, a former judge of Michigan's 36th District Court and Black-interests motivational speaker/activist.
The courtroom series premi ...
'' and ''
The Wendy Williams Show
''The Wendy Williams Show'' (often shortened to ''Wendy'') is an American syndicated talk show created and hosted by Wendy Williams, and produced by Wendy Williams Productions, along with Perler Productions. The show is distributed by Debmar-Me ...
'' among others.
News operation
From 1991 until 1994, WGBC aired local newscasts during the week that were known as ''WGBC News 30''. This was the first attempt in the market to provide an alternative news source to WTOK. The broadcasts ended, though, after local businessman Alex Shields bought majority control of WGBC.
With WMDN's third launch in 1994, local newscasts weeknights at 6:00 and 10:00 p.m. were included on the station's schedule. It also aired an hour-long weekday morning show at 6:00 a.m. for a short period of time. Since the LMA existed between WMDN and WGBC at this point, the former began simulcasting newscasts on this station. As a result, the shows were branded as ''24/30 News''. The title changed to ''WMDN News'' when the broadcasts were subsequently dropped from WGBC's lineup. As was the case with WGBC's earlier attempt at operating a news department, WMDN was forced to shut down its own newscast production efforts in 2005, being unable to compete with WTOK and maintain consistent viewership.
A few years later, WGBC and WMDN began airing five-minute local weather cut-ins during the
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...
and
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainmen ...
national morning shows on weekdays. Although this would be discontinued, the two outlets continue to air a cut-in branded as ''The Morning Report'' with Angie Denney featuring a listing of community events. There is also a cooking segment seen during the update on Mondays known as ''Local Flavor''.
On September 20, 2015,
Waypoint Media
Waypoint Media is a confederation of holding companies that own and operate radio and television stations mostly in small cities in the United States. Primary owners of the various companies include Mike Reed, William Christian and Paige Christian ...
announced that WGBC would expand its news programming with the addition of a half-hour prime time newscast at 9:00 p.m.—the first such program in the Meridian market—to premiere on October 5. Despite maintaining an LMA with WMDN, the WGBC newscast was the only full-scale newscasts seen on the two stations, with WMDN continuing to only air news and weather cut-ins. This changed, however, on September 25, 2017, when WGBC-DT2 and WMDN launched 6:00 p.m. and 10:00 p.m. newscasts.
Technical information
Subchannels
The station's digital signal is
multiplexed
In telecommunications and computer networking, multiplexing (sometimes contracted to muxing) is a method by which multiple analog or digital signals are combined into one signal over a shared medium. The aim is to share a scarce resource - a ...
:
Analog-to-digital conversion
WGBC shut down its analog signal, over
UHF
Ultra high frequency (UHF) is the ITU designation for radio frequencies in the range between 300 megahertz (MHz) and 3 gigahertz (GHz), also known as the decimetre band as the wavelengths range from one meter to one tenth of a meter (on ...
channel 30, on June 12, 2009, the official date when full-power television stations in the United States
transitioned from analog to digital broadcasts under federal mandate. The station's digital signal remained on its pre-transition UHF channel 31.
Through the use of
PSIP
The Program and System Information Protocol (PSIP) is the MPEG (a video and audio industry group) and privately defined program-specific information originally defined by General Instrument for the DigiCipher 2 system and later extended for the A ...
, digital television receivers display the station's
virtual channel
In most telecommunications organizations, a virtual channel is a method of remapping the ''program number'' as used in H.222 Program Association Tables and Program Mapping Tables to a channel number that can be entered via digits on a receiver's ...
as its former UHF analog channel 30.
References
External links
WGBC "Fox 30" & WGBC-DT2 "NBC 30"
{{TV Stations Alabama
Television channels and stations established in 1982
1982 establishments in Mississippi
GBC
Fox network affiliates