WRGX-LD
 | |
| Dothan, Alabama United States | |
|---|---|
| Branding |
WRGX (general) WRGX News |
| Slogan | NBC For the Wiregrass |
| Channels |
Digital: 23 (UHF) & WTVY-DT 36.4 (UHF) Virtual: 23 (PSIP) & WTVY-DT 4.4 (PSIP) |
| Affiliations | NBC |
| Owner |
Gray Television (Gray Television Licensee, LLC) |
| First air date | June 1, 2013 (in previous incarnations since 1990) |
| Call letters' meaning | across (represented by X) the WiReGrass (service area) |
| Sister station(s) |
WTVY, WJHG-TV, WECP-LD, WCTV/WSWG |
| Former callsigns |
W29BB (1990–1992) W41BN (1992–2011) WDON-LP (2011–2013) |
| Former channel number(s) |
29 (UHF analog, 1990–1992) 41 (UHF analog, 1992–2011) |
| Former affiliations | TBN (1990–2011) |
| Transmitter power | 17.3 kW |
| Height | 480.1 m |
| Class | LD |
| Facility ID | 4152 |
| Transmitter coordinates | 31°13′39.0″N 85°21′10.0″W / 31.227500°N 85.352778°W |
WRGX-LD is the low-powered, NBC-affiliated television station for the Wiregrass Region of Southeastern Alabama and the Florida Panhandle. Licensed to Dothan, Alabama, it broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 23 from a transmitter in Bethlehem, Florida. Owned by Gray Television, the station is sister to CBS affiliate WTVY. The two outlets share studios on North Foster Street in Downtown Dothan.
In order to increase its off-air broadcasting reach, WRGX is simulcasted in standard definition on WTVY's fourth digital subchannel. This can be seen on UHF channel 36.4 (or virtual channel 4.4 via PSIP) from the same Bethlehem tower. On weekdays, WTVY produces two thirty-minute newscasts (at 4 and 5:30 p.m.) that are exclusive to WRGX. As a result, this station airs the NBC Nightly News taped delayed at 6 unlike most NBC outlets in the Central Time Zone.
The WRGX news programs broadcast from a secondary set at the North Foster Street facility. Although it features additional reporters from WTVY, this station maintains separate news anchors and a meteorologist. It does not simulcast any newscasts from WTVY.
History
The station originally signed-on as a Trinity Broadcasting Network-operated translator as W29BB on channel 29 in 1990; it was relocated to channel 41 and changed its call sign to W41BN in 1992. The station was sold through a donation to the Minority Media and Telecommunications Council on November 30, 2010. On June 28, 2011, New Moon Communications acquired the station from the MMTC in a group deal with three other low-power stations in Jackson, TN, Jonesboro, AR, and Ottumwa, IA for $12,004.
Concurrent with the purchase, New Moon signed an affiliation agreement with NBC for WDON and the three other stations, all of which were located in markets where the network was exclusively available through cable and satellite or through rimshot signal coverage from over-the-air affiliates in nearby markets.[1] The calls of the station was changed to WDON-LP on June 14, 2011.[2]
On January 3, 2013, New Moon Communications announced it was selling WDON-LP to Gray Television for $60,000.[3][4] Gray changed the call letters to WRGX-LD on April 13, 2013.[2][5] It became the NBC affiliate for the Dothan area when the station signed on-the-air on June 1, 2013.[6]
It is the first NBC affiliate that is licensed to the immediate Dothan market. Previously, the area had been one of the last markets in the United States without full service from the big three networks. Previously, Montgomery's WSFA and Panama City's WJHG-TV (the latter being a sister station to WRGX) provided decent signal coverage to some portion of the market.
WSFA had rimshot coverage and WJHG provided grade B signal service in Dothan proper and both had cable and satellite coverage across much of the market. With the station's relaunch as an NBC affiliate, WRGX took the place of both stations on many cable and satellite providers as the market’s main source for NBC programming.[6] Although cable and satellite providers are not normally required to carry low-power stations, Gray has the right to require area providers to carry WRGX as part of the retransmission consent compensation for carrying WTVY.
The station's launch effectively gave Dothan in-market affiliates of all six major commercial broadcast networks for the first time ever; these other affiliations are held by sister station WTVY (which in addition to being the CBS affiliate also holds affiliations with The CW, MyNetworkTV, and Me-TV). The area's other two network affiliates are Fox station WDFX-TV and ABC affiliate WDHN.
References
- ↑ New Moon Bringing NBC To 4 Small Markets, TVNewsCheck, June 28, 2011.
- 1 2 "Call Sign History". Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved June 1, 2013.
- ↑ Seyler, Dave (January 3, 2013). "Gray doubles in Dothan with LPTV". Television Business Report. Retrieved June 1, 2013.
- ↑ "Gray adds an LPTV in Dothan". Television Business Report. January 16, 2013. Retrieved June 1, 2013.
- ↑ "Federal Communications Commission Broadcast Station Construction Permit Digital Low Power Television/Television Translator" (PDF). Federal Communications Commission. April 13, 2013. Retrieved June 1, 2013.
- 1 2 Dothan getting NBC affiliate, Dothan Eagle, May 6, 2013.