WRBJ-TV (channel 34) is a
religious
Religion is usually defined as a social system, social-cultural system of designated religious behaviour, behaviors and practices, morality, morals, beliefs, worldviews, religious text, texts, sacred site, sanctified places, prophecy, prophecie ...
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
Magee, Mississippi
Magee is a city in Simpson County, Mississippi, United States. It is part of the Jackson metropolitan area.
History
The first settlers in the area were Arthur Mangum and Phil Magee, who came into the area around 1820. Pioneers from Virginia a ...
, United States, serving the
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, Qu ...
,
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 ...
and
Meridian
Meridian or a meridian line (from Latin ''meridies'' via Old French ''meridiane'', meaning “midday”) may refer to
Science
* Meridian (astronomy), imaginary circle in a plane perpendicular to the planes of the celestial equator and horizon
* ...
television markets as an
owned-and-operated station
In the broadcasting industry, an owned-and-operated station (frequently abbreviated as an O&O) usually refers to a television or radio station owned by the network with which it is associated. This distinguishes such a station from an affiliate ...
of the
Trinity Broadcasting Network
The Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN) is an international Christian-based broadcast television network and the world's largest religious television network. TBN was headquartered in Costa Mesa, California, until March 3, 2017, when it sold its ...
(TBN). The station's transmitter is located near
Raleigh, Mississippi
Raleigh is a town in, and the county seat of, Smith County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 1,462 at the 2010 census, making it the largest town in Smith County. Named for English explorer Sir Walter Raleigh, Raleigh has been home t ...
, in the
Bienville National Forest.
History
WRBJ began broadcasting as a
UPN
The United Paramount Network (UPN) was an American broadcast television network that launched on January 16, 1995. It was originally owned by Chris-Craft Industries' United Television. Viacom (through its Paramount Television unit, which prod ...
affiliate via
Time Warner Cable
Time Warner Cable, Inc. (TWC) was an American cable television company. Before it was acquired by Charter Communications on May 18, 2016, it was ranked the second largest cable company in the United States by revenue behind only Comcast, operat ...
on January 5, 2006, and
over-the-air broadcasting began on February 8. On March 21, 2006, it was announced that WRBJ would join the new
CW Television Network
CW may stand for:
Science and technology
* centiwatt (cW), one hundredth of a watt
* Cω, a programming language
* CW complex, a type of topological space
* Carrier wave, in radio communications
* CodeWarrior, an integrated development environme ...
, and on September 18, WRBJ became a CW affiliate. The station was founded by
St. Louis
St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...
-based
Roberts Broadcasting Roberts Broadcasting Company is a media company based in St. Louis, Missouri. It is a subsidiary of the parent company, the Roberts Companies, one of the largest African American-owned conglomerates. It is co-owned by brothers Steven Roberts, Presid ...
.
Ironically, the call letters WRBJ were assigned briefly to WDBT radio (now
WFOR) in Hattiesburg, the first radio station in Mississippi. Only since September 2006 when Roberts Broadcasting bought out
Urban
Urban means "related to a city". In that sense, the term may refer to:
* Urban area, geographical area distinct from rural areas
* Urban culture, the culture of towns and cities
Urban may also refer to:
General
* Urban (name), a list of people ...
radio station
WRJH did those call letters return to the market.
On March 31, 2011, WRBJ's license was initially cancelled by the FCC for failure to file for either a license to cover or an extension of its digital construction permit (the license for sister station
WZRB
WZRB (channel 47) is a television station in Columbia, South Carolina, United States, airing programming from the Ion Television network. owned-and-operated station, Owned and operated by the Ion Media subsidiary of the E. W. Scripps Company, th ...
in
Columbia, South Carolina
Columbia is the capital of the U.S. state of South Carolina. With a population of 136,632 at the 2020 census, it is the second-largest city in South Carolina. The city serves as the county seat of Richland County, and a portion of the city ...
was initially cancelled for the same reasons two days earlier). However, Roberts Broadcasting filed an appeal, stating that the licenses to cover were improperly filed upon the digital transition. The FCC agreed, and reinstated the licenses of the two stations on April 19. Roberts had to file for new licenses to cover.
On October 22, 2012, Roberts announced that it had sold WRBJ to the
Trinity Broadcasting Network
The Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN) is an international Christian-based broadcast television network and the world's largest religious television network. TBN was headquartered in Costa Mesa, California, until March 3, 2017, when it sold its ...
. The
Christian broadcaster was previously available in the Jackson area on low-powered WJKO-LP, which was later sold to the
Daystar Television Network
The Daystar Television Network (commonly referred to as Daystar Television, often shortened to Daystar) is an American evangelical Christian-based religious television network owned by the Word of God Fellowship, founded by Marcus Lamb in 1993. ...
. The sale was approved by a bankruptcy court on January 17, 2013, and TBN officially took over operational control of WRBJ five months later, on May 24, 2013.
CW network programming would not be seen in the Jackson area until
WJTV-DT2 picked up The CW in October 2013.
Despite having stopped broadcasting CW programming on May 24, 2013, WRBJ's website remained operational for a year afterward.
On July 17, 2013, the station's call sign was modified with the addition of a ''-TV'' suffix.
Subchannels
RabbitEars TV Query for WRBJ
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WRBJ shut down its analog signal, over UHF channel 34, on January 16, 2009.[List of Digital Full-Power Stations](_blank)
/ref> The station " flash-cut" its digital signal into operation UHF channel 34.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wrbj-tv
Trinity Broadcasting Network affiliates
Television channels and stations established in 2006
2006 establishments in Mississippi
RBJ-TV