WTCT (channel 27) is a religious

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 Marion, Illinois, United States, serving the Paducah– Cape Girardeau–

Harrisburg Harrisburg is the capital city of the Pennsylvania, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, Dauphin County. With a population of 50,135 as of the 2021 census, Harrisburg is the List of c ...

television market A media market, broadcast market, media region, designated market area (DMA), television market area, or simply market is a region where the population can receive the same (or similar) television and radio station offerings, and may also incl ...

as the

flagship station In broadcasting, a flagship (also known as a flagship station or key station) is the broadcast station which originates a television network, or a particular radio or television program that plays a key role in the branding of and consumer loyalt ...

of the locally based Tri-State Christian Television (TCT) network. WTCT's transmitter is located near

Goreville, Illinois Goreville is a village in Johnson County, Illinois, United States. The population was 1,049 as of the 2010 census, up from 938 at the 2000 census. Geography Goreville is located in northwestern Johnson County at (37.553212, -88.972783). It is b ...

. The national feed of TCT via WTCT is available on

DirecTV DirecTV (trademarked as DIRECTV) is an American multichannel video programming distributor based in El Segundo, California. Originally launched on June 17, 1994, its primary service is a digital satellite service serving the United States. It ...

channel 377.

History

The station signed on the air in August 1981 as

independent station An independent station is an independent radio or terrestrial television station which is independent in some way from broadcast networks. The definition of "independence" varies from country to country, reflecting governmental regulations, market ...

WDDD-TV. In 1984, the station's call letters were changed to WTCT and became a TBN station in 1986 along with a few independent stations that switched to the religious network during that year. The station also carried business news programming from the Financial News Network after the late movie each weeknight before sign-off until 1985. In 2007, the station became a TCT

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 ...

Technical information

Subchannels

The station's digital signal is multiplexed:

Analog-to-digital conversion

WTCT 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 27, on June 12, 2009, the official date in which 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 17. Through the use of PSIP, 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 27.

Former translators

WTCT previously broadcast on low-power translators in Paducah, Kentucky on W54AE (channel 54), in Cape Girardeau, Missouri on KCGI-CA (channel 45), and in Sikeston, Missouri on K54CA (channel 54); these translators ceased operation around 2010.

References

External links

Tri-State Christian Television
Television channels and stations established in 1981 1981 establishments in Illinois Television stations in the Paducah–Cape Girardeau–Harrisburg market Tri-State Christian Television affiliates Laff (TV network) affiliates Bounce TV affiliates {{Illinois-tv-station-stub