WLFT-CD,
virtual and
UHF digital channel 30, is a
low-powered,
Class A flagship
SonLife
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 ...
-
affiliated 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 eart ...
serving
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Baton Rouge ( ; ) is a city in and the capital of the U.S. state of Louisiana. Located the eastern bank of the Mississippi River, it is the parish seat of East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana's most populous parish—the equivalent of counties ...
, United States that is
licensed
A license (or licence) is an official permission or permit to do, use, or own something (as well as the document of that permission or permit).
A license is granted by a party (licensor) to another party (licensee) as an element of an agreeme ...
to
Baker. The station is owned by Jimmy Swaggart's Family Worship Center. The station's transmitter is located in
Interstate 10 near Siegen Lane across from TopGolf.
The station originally had its studios at 13567 Plank Road in
Baker, Louisiana; however, once sold to Red Stick Broadcasting, WLFT's studios moved to downtown Baton Rouge at 334 North 3rd Street.
History
WLFT started as Cox cable channel 4, with programming from the
Pax
Pax or PAX may refer to:
Peace
* Peace (Latin: ''pax'')
** Pax (goddess), the Roman goddess of peace
** Pax, a truce term
* Pax (liturgy), a salutation in Catholic and Lutheran religious services
* Pax (liturgical object), an object formerly ki ...
network in 1998. It also broadcast local
religious
Religion is usually defined as a social- cultural system of designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relates humanity to supernatur ...
programming on cable channel 17 and over the air on channel 52, as "WLFT/2". It was launched by the Bethany World Prayer Center under their company Touch Family Broadcasting, and the call sign originally stood for Lifeline Family Television after Bethany's flagship program. Other call acronyms used during the era of Touch Family Broadcasting included Louisiana Family Television and later Local Free TV until 2019 when it stop using a slogan.
In 2002, WLFT converted to all-religious programming and Pax was moved to cable channel 14 (now on 70), as a direct network feed. The station also aired some programming from
FamilyNet. In November of that year, WLFT-CA launched its new tower, allowing the station to increase its signal strength and reach more homes in communities like
Hammond,
Gonzales,
New Roads
New Roads (historically french: Poste-de-Pointe-Coupée) is a city in and the parish seat of Pointe Coupee Parish, Louisiana, United States. The center of population of Louisiana was located in New Roads in 2000. The population was 4,831 at the ...
and
St. Francisville.
In fall 2005, WLFT-CA would relocate from channel 52 (where the signal wasn't as strong) to channel 30.
In July 2011, the station converted to digital and began to carry programming from
MeTV
MeTV, an acronym for Memorable Entertainment Television, is an American broadcast television network owned by Weigel Broadcasting. Marketed as "The Definitive Destination for Classic TV", the network airs a variety of classic television program ...
during the late-afternoon through early morning hours.
In the fall of 2011, the station launched a second HD subchannel, 30.2, which carried MeTV's entire lineup.
WLFT launched a third subchannel on October 3, 2012, which carried
The Country Network
The Country Network is an American cable, streaming and broadcast television network that specializes in broadcasting country music videos and exclusive original music-based content; its playlist of videos extends from the 1990s through the pres ...
(present-day Zuus Country). One year later, on October 2, 2013, Zuus Country was removed in favor of
TV Scout
Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, e ...
. TV Scout was removed in July 2014 in favor of
GetTV
getTV is an American digital multicast television network owned by the Sony Pictures Television Networks subsidiary of Sony Pictures Television. Originally formatted as a movie-oriented service, the network has since transitioned into a genera ...
, which remained on channel 30.3 until late June 2017 before being replaced with the
Home Shopping Network on July 1, 2017. On January 1, 2019, the Home Shopping Network was removed, and WLFT became a charter affiliate for
NewsNet
NewsNet (stylized as NEWSnet) is an American news-oriented free-to-air television network and newscast production company owned by Bridge News, LLC, which itself is owned by Bridge Media Networks. The network is structured to broadcast a tigh ...
, airing the network on this subchannel.
In August 2013, the station added the
African-American
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ensl ...
centered
Soul of the South Network
Soul of the South Television (sometimes referred to as SSN TV) is an African-American-focused regional broadcast network owned by SSN Media Group, LP. It primarily broadcasts in the Southern United States and secondarily in other high African-Ame ...
to its fourth subchannel. On September 14, 2016, WLFT brought
Antenna TV
Antenna TV is an American digital television network owned by Nexstar Media Group. The network's programming consists of classic television series, primarily sitcoms, from the 1950s to the 1990s. Antenna TV's programming and advertising operati ...
programming to Baton Rouge on channel 30.4.
As of 2017, channel 30.1 primarily airs MeTV, some religious programming and
infomercials scattered throughout the day, and select programs from Antenna TV during
primetime and NewsNet from 6:30 AM to 8 AM every weekday with local news segments every half hour.
As of 2018, channel 30.1 (Cox 117) began carrying more original, local programming, especially a Thursday night lined up of original shows: A Better Life, Black & White, Let's Talk About Dogs, Kel's Cars and Colorado Xtreme. On June 28, 2021, WLFT lost its
MeTV
MeTV, an acronym for Memorable Entertainment Television, is an American broadcast television network owned by Weigel Broadcasting. Marketed as "The Definitive Destination for Classic TV", the network airs a variety of classic television program ...
affiliation to a subchannel of
MyNetworkTV
MyNetworkTV (unofficially abbreviated MyTV, MyNet, MNT or MNTV, and sometimes referred to as My Network) is an American commercial broadcast television syndication service and former television network owned by Fox Corporation, operated by its ...
affiliate
WBXH, and so it moved its
Antenna TV
Antenna TV is an American digital television network owned by Nexstar Media Group. The network's programming consists of classic television series, primarily sitcoms, from the 1950s to the 1990s. Antenna TV's programming and advertising operati ...
affiliation to its main channel, took channel 30.2 dark, and duplicated Antenna TV feed on 30.3 full time, and shifted its
NewsNet
NewsNet (stylized as NEWSnet) is an American news-oriented free-to-air television network and newscast production company owned by Bridge News, LLC, which itself is owned by Bridge Media Networks. The network is structured to broadcast a tigh ...
feed to 30.4.
On September 22, 2021, Touch Family Broadcasting sold the station to Red Stick Broadcasting, owned by WLFT station manager Lucas Fry and Kerry Denny. When this happened, Antenna TV disappeared from the station's main feed with its primary feed reverted to channel 30.4, Newsnet was moved back to 30.3, and the main channel aired a mixture of movies from
Soul of the South Network
Soul of the South Television (sometimes referred to as SSN TV) is an African-American-focused regional broadcast network owned by SSN Media Group, LP. It primarily broadcasts in the Southern United States and secondarily in other high African-Ame ...
, independent films produced and/or filmed in Louisiana, and other local and syndicated programming, including Newsnet during the morning hours. Red Stick Broadcasting also branded WLFT as "Live Festival Television," providing coverage of numerous festivals, parades, tailgating, and other events throughout South Louisiana. On November 1, 2021, WLFT simulcast its main feed in standard definition on the fourth subchannel of
Telemundo
Telemundo (; formerly NetSpan) is an American Spanish-language terrestrial television network owned by NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises, a division of NBCUniversal, which in turn is owned by Comcast. It provides content nationally with pr ...
station
KGLA, and it brought
Telemundo
Telemundo (; formerly NetSpan) is an American Spanish-language terrestrial television network owned by NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises, a division of NBCUniversal, which in turn is owned by Comcast. It provides content nationally with pr ...
programming to Baton Rouge for the first time by airing a standard definition simulcast (later upgraded to high definition by April 2022) of
KGLA on channel 30.2.
On October 3, 2022, Lucas Fry filed an application with the FCC to sell WLFT to Jimmy Swaggart's Family Worship Center. The FCC granted this licensure transfer on November 15, 2022. On December 5, 2022, WLFT's main channel began simulcasting Sonlife Broadcasting Network's programming.
[https://www.instagram.com/p/ClzBWW9DmRB/]
Digital channels
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 ...
:
WLFT 30 over-air broadcasts 4 channels:
* Channel 30.1, WLFT currently broadcasts Sonlife. 30.1 is also carried by Cox Cable in greater Baton Rouge on 117, Eatel in Ascension and Livingston on 130, and Eatel in Plaquemine on 35.
* Channel 30.2 carried full-time MeTV, a retro television network, until June 2021. The channel was dark until November 1, 2021 when KGLA's signal was simulcast on said channel.
* Channel 30.3 is full-time NewsNet, the first 24/7 over-the-air news network.
* Channel 30.4 is full-time Antenna TV, a retro television network.
WLFT also maintains a web site a
WLFT.comas well as a
Facebook
Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin Mosk ...
,
Twitter
Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
,
YouTube
YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...
, and
Instagram account.
References
External links
Official website*
{{Other Louisiana Stations
Television stations in Louisiana
Telemundo network affiliates
Antenna TV affiliates
Television channels and stations established in 1998
Low-power television stations in the United States
NewsNet affiliates