WHDT (channel 9), branded on-air as Florida 24 Network or FL24, is a news-formatted

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

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 ...

licensed to

Stuart, Florida Stuart is a city in and the seat of Martin County, Florida, United States. Located on Florida's Treasure Coast, Stuart is the largest of four incorporated municipalities in Martin County. The population is 17,425 according to the 2020 United State ...

, United States, serving the

West Palm Beach West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sunset, Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic languages, German ...

area. It is owned by the

E. W. Scripps Company The E. W. Scripps Company is an American broadcasting company founded in 1878 as a chain of daily newspapers by Edward Willis "E. W." Scripps and his sister, Ellen Browning Scripps. It was also formerly a media conglomerate. The company is he ...

alongside

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 ...

affiliate

WPTV-TV WPTV-TV (channel 5) is a television station in West Palm Beach, Florida, United States, affiliated with NBC. It is owned by the E. W. Scripps Company alongside Stuart-licensed news-formatted independent station WHDT (channel 9); Scripps al ...

(channel 5); Scripps also provides certain services to

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 ...

affiliate

WFLX WFLX (channel 29), branded on-air as Fox 29, is a television station in West Palm Beach, Florida, United States, affiliated with the Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox network. It is owned by Gray Television, which maintains a shared services agree ...

(channel 29) under a

shared services Shared services is the provision of a service by one part of an organization or group, where that service had previously been found, in more than one part of the organization or group. Thus the funding and resourcing of the service is shared and th ...

agreement (SSA) with

Gray Television Gray Television, Inc. is an American publicly traded television broadcasting company based in Atlanta, Georgia. Founded in 1946 by James Harrison Gray as Gray Communications Systems, the company owns or operates 180 stations across the United St ...

. The stations share studios on South Australian Avenue in downtown West Palm Beach ( mailing address says Banyan Boulevard, also known as 1st Street), while WHDT's transmitter is located near

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

west of

US 441 U.S. Route 441 (US 441) is a auxiliary route of U.S. Route 41. It extends from US 41 in Miami, Florida to US 25W in Rocky Top, Tennessee. Between its termini, US 441 travels through the states of Florida, Georgia, North ...

/ SR 7. However,

master control Master control is the technical hub of a broadcast operation common among most over-the-air television stations and television networks. It is distinct from a production control room (PCR) in television studios where the activities such as switc ...

and some internal operations are based at the studios of sister

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

affiliate

WRTV WRTV (channel 6) is a television station in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States, affiliated with ABC and owned by the E. W. Scripps Company. The station's studios are located on Meridian Street north of downtown Indianapolis, and its transmit ...

History

The station was founded on May 25, 2000; WHDT became the first

digital television Digital television (DTV) is the transmission of television signals using digital encoding, in contrast to the earlier analog television technology which used analog signals. At the time of its development it was considered an innovative advanc ...

station in the United States, following a ruling by the

Federal Communications Commission The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains jurisdiction ...

(FCC) that the station could provide primary over-the-air service using only a digital signal. On June 1, 2001, the station conducted the first over-the-air broadcast using a progressive high definition format operating at 720p/60 fps, with custom-designed 35 mm frame-transfer cameras. WHDT established the legal precedent requiring local

cable Cable may refer to: Mechanical * Nautical cable, an assembly of three or more ropes woven against the weave of the ropes, rendering it virtually waterproof * Wire rope, a type of rope that consists of several strands of metal wire laid into a hel ...

systems to carry the primary programming of all digital television stations in both high definition format and in standard definition

analog Analog or analogue may refer to: Computing and electronics * Analog signal, in which information is encoded in a continuous variable ** Analog device, an apparatus that operates on analog signals *** Analog electronics, circuits which use analog ...

format. It is the first television station to have its high definition and standard definition feeds carried on cable providers under the FCC's digital "

must-carry In cable television, governments apply a must-carry regulation stating that locally licensed television stations must be carried on a cable provider's system. North America Canada Under current CRTC regulations, the lowest tier of service on ...

" rules. The station originally operated as the first broadcast partner of the

Deutsche Welle Deutsche Welle (; "German Wave" in English), abbreviated to DW, is a German public, state-owned international broadcaster funded by the German federal tax budget. The service is available in 32 languages. DW's satellite television service con ...

World Television Service. WHDT was one of three stations operated by WHDT World Television Service (DE), a business unit of Marksteiner AG. The station's two translators, WHDT-CD in

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

(now WLPH-CD) and WHDT-LD in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

are notable as those stations were the first and second digital translators to be authorized by the FCC. WHDT-CD has a longer history than its full-power cousin. The station was first licensed as W25AL on September 21, 1987. In 1989, it was moved to

Coral Springs Coral Springs, officially the City of Coral Springs, is a city in Broward County, Florida, United States. The city is located approximately northwest of Fort Lauderdale. As of the 2020 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 134,394. It is a ...

as W55BO, which functioned as a translator of Miami

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 Entertainm ...

owned-and-operated station WCIX (channel 6, now

WFOR-TV WFOR-TV (channel 4) is a television station in Miami, Florida, United States, airing programming from the CBS network. It is owned and operated by the network's CBS News and Stations division alongside independent station WBFS-TV (channel 3 ...

on channel 4). Ownership of the station was transferred to Günter Marksteiner in 1996. The station continued to carry a full schedule of CBS programming until 1997, when it was relocated to North Miami and began digital translator operations for WHDT in December 2001. In January 2014, the call sign was changed to WLPH-CD, and in March, the station was sold to LocusPoint Networks. In August 2010, WHDT became the first high-definition affiliate of 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 ...

. The network's classic television programming was aired up-converted to 16:9 HD format as opposed to being remastered from the original film masters. On October 27, 2011, WHDT announced that it would disaffiliate from RTV and begin carrying programming from

WeatherNation TV WeatherNation TV (branded on-air as simply WeatherNation) is an American broadcast, digital streaming, cable, and satellite television network owned by WeatherNation, Inc, a subsidiary of Performance One Media and ultimately owned by Robert J. ...

; it switched to WeatherNation on the weekend of October 29. On June 15, 2012, WHDT launched

The Auto Channel The Auto Channel (TACH) is an American automotive and transportation themed television network and Internet entity that was founded in 1995. TheAutoChannel.com is based in Louisville, Kentucky and the television network is based in West Palm Beach ...

(TACH-TV), a full high-definition broadcast service dedicated to automobile enthusiasts.
''The Auto Channel Launches TACH-TV Broadcast Television Network'', June 15, 2012. From July 13 to December 31, 2015, WHDT carried

SonLife Broadcasting Network Jimmy Lee Swaggart (; born March 15, 1935) is an American Pentecostal televangelist, gospel music recording artist, pianist, and Christian author. His television ministry, which began in 1971, and was originally known as the “Camp Meeting Ho ...

(SBN), the Christian television network of Jimmy Swaggart Ministries. On April 1, 2016, the station affiliated with Gun TV upon that network's launch the same day. Gun TV ceased operations in January 2017 and was subsequently dropped by the station. On January 15, 2017, the station added the educational series

TED Talks TED Conferences, LLC (Technology, Entertainment, Design) is an American-Canadian non-profit media organization that posts international talks online for free distribution under the slogan "ideas worth spreading". TED was founded by Richard Sau ...

to its nightly lineup. On December 3, 2018, it was announced that WHDT would be sold to the

for $25 million. The sale was completed on April 4, 2019.

Programming

Prior to 2019, WHDT produced high definition program content for

syndication Syndication may refer to: * Broadcast syndication, where individual stations buy programs outside the network system * Print syndication, where individual newspapers or magazines license news articles, columns, or comic strips * Web syndication, ...

and for broadcast. Its programming included evening news and weather, documentaries,

independent film An independent film, independent movie, indie film, or indie movie is a feature film or short film that is produced outside the major film studio system, in addition to being produced and distributed by independent entertainment companies (or, i ...

s, classical music concerts, equestrian sports, automotive news and motorsport programs, aviation, fishing, cooking, travel and syndicated entertainment shows. The station maintains a full high definition schedule, including

paid programming Paid or PAID may refer to: * ''Paid'' (1930 film), an American film starring Joan Crawford * ''Paid'' (2006 film), a Dutch film *''Personality and Individual Differences'', a journal See also * Paide Paide is a town in Estonia and the ...

. On July 6, 2021, WHDT switched programming over from

Court TV Court TV is an American digital broadcast network and former cable television channel. It was originally launched in 1991 with a focus on crime-themed programs such as true crime documentary series, legal analysis talk shows, and live news cove ...

to a news-formatted independent station under Scripps' newly-launched statewide streaming news service known as the ''Florida 24 Network'' which includes syndicated programs (as of 2022) ''

AgDay ''AgDay'' is a syndicated daily half-hour television program presented in magazine format focusing on agriculture news, agribusiness, and country living. It generally airs in early morning timeslots on stations throughout the country and also ai ...

'', ''Business First A.M.'', ''

Live with Kelly and Ryan ''Live with Kelly and Ryan'' (or simply ''Live'') is an American syndicated morning talk show hosted by Kelly Ripa and Ryan Seacrest. Executive produced by Michael Gelman, the ''Live with...'' show formula has aired under various hosts since ...

'', ''

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 ...

'', ''

The Kelly Clarkson Show ''The Kelly Clarkson Show'' is an American daytime television variety talk show hosted by American singer Kelly Clarkson. It is produced and distributed by NBCUniversal Syndication Studios and features Clarkson interviewing celebrities and seg ...

'' and ''

Right This Minute ''Right This Minute'' (alternatively abbreviated as ''RTM'') was an American syndicated television program that debuted on September 12, 2011. Produced by MagicDust Television in conjunction with television station groups Cox Media Group, Gray ...

'' (the latter four also air in earlier timeslots on WPTV) as well as rebroadcasts of sister station WPTV's 6 a.m. (at 7 a.m.), weekend 7 a.m. (at noon; weekends only), 11 a.m. (at noon; weekdays only), weekend 6 p.m. (at 7 p.m.; weekends only), 7 p.m. (at 7:30 p.m.; weekdays only) and 11 p.m. (at 11:30 p.m.) newscasts. Court TV was later relocated to subchannel 9.2.

News operation

WHDT previously broadcast ten hours of locally produced news each week, exclusive of rebroadcast of news highlights on weekends. The station's ''WHDT World News'' aired each day at 5 and 11 p.m.; the weekend edition was a compilation of notable segments from the weekday broadcasts. The newscasts were produced by WHDT World Television Service, with offices in West Palm Beach, Miami, Boston,

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

Sacramento ) , image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250x200px , map_caption = Location within Sacramento ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

and

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

The hub newscasts originated from Boston and Chicago and featured local and national stories as well as extended interview segments, a brief weather segment from the

National Weather Service The National Weather Service (NWS) is an Government agency, agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government that is tasked with providing weather forecasts, warnings of hazardous weather, and other weathe ...

with a forecast for the West Palm Beach area, an entertainment segment ("Hollywood News"), and political, financial and science reports from contributing editors.

Technical information

Subchannels

As part of the

digital television transition The digital television transition, also called the digital switchover (DSO), the analogue switch/sign-off (ASO), the digital migration, or the analogue shutdown, is the process in which older analogue television broadcasting technology is conv ...

, UHF channels 52-69 were removed from the broadcast spectrum. Consequently, WHDT moved its digital signal from channel 59 to channel 42 after

WXEL-TV WXEL-TV (channel 42), is a PBS member television station serving West Palm Beach, Florida, United States that is licensed to Boynton Beach. Owned by South Florida PBS, it is a sister station to Miami-licensed flagship and fellow PBS member WPBT ...

shut off its analog signal on channel 42 on June 12, 2009. Because WXEL-TV continued to use its former analog channel number 42 as a

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 ...

, WHDT was assigned 9 as its new virtual channel. WHDT is assigned to RF channel 34 in the repacked UHF TV band following conclusion of the Incentive Spectrum Auction in early 2017.

Former translator

Until 2019, the station's programming was simulcast on

translator station 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 ...

WHDN-CD (channel 9) in

Naples, Florida Naples is a city in Collier County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the historical city (i.e. in the immediate vicinity of downtown Naples) was 19,115. Naples is a principal city of the Naples-Marco Island, Flori ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Whdt Television channels and stations established in 2000 HDT E. W. Scripps Company television stations 2000 establishments in Florida Independent television stations in the United States Court TV affiliates TrueReal affiliates Stuart, Florida