WJYS

WJYS

Hammond, Indiana/Chicago, Illinois
City of license	Hammond, Indiana
Channels	Digital: 36 (UHF) Virtual: 62 (PSIP)
Affiliations	Independent
Owner	Oxford Media Group
First air date	March 2, 1991
Call letters' meaning	W Jesus Your Savior or We're Joyfully Your Station
Former channel number(s)	Analog: 62 (1991-2009)
Transmitter power	145 kW (digital)
Height	510 m (digital)
Facility ID	32334
Transmitter coordinates	41°52′44″N 87°38′10″W (digital)
Website	www.wjys.tv

WJYS is an independent television station serving the Chicago, Illinois metropolitan area that is licensed to Hammond, Indiana. It broadcasts a standard definition digital signal on UHF channel 36 (or virtual channel 62.1 via PSIP) from a transmitter located atop the Willis Tower in the Chicago Loop. Owned by Oxford Media Group, WJYS maintains studios located in Tinley Park, Illinois. The station can also be seen on RCN channel 10, WOW! channel 13, Comcast Xfinity channel 17 in the suburbs (channel varies by location), 18 in Chicago and AT&T U-verse channel 62. The station's programming primarily features religious programming, along with paid programming (including long-form direct response and turnkey automobile dealer programs, programs advertising local businesses and other infomercials). WJYS carries some locally-produced programming, some of which (such as JBTV) that have a hard time getting distribution, can pay to air for on-air promotion in order to gain a potential viewer base.

Digital television

Channel	Format	Aspect	Programming
62.1	480i	4:3	main WJYS programming
62.2			WEDE-CA
62.4			PRISM (partial simulcast of 62.1)

WJYS' digital signal is multiplexed and the station leases its digital subchannels to other networks. Channel 62.2/36.2 is leased to First United Inc. who owns WEDE-CA, a low-power station in the Chicago market. WEDE-CA currently airs a 24-hour independent network called My Christian TV, which is also carried on Comcast Xfinity digital channel 386.

Channel 62.4/36.4 is labeled PRISM and carries the same programming as 62.1 on a two-hour delay with a small, increasing schedule of multi-cultural programs in Spanish, Chinese and Polish including TV Polnews.

History

In the early 1990s, WEHS (channel 60, then-owned by the Home Shopping Network) tried to buy WJYS, which was also operating as a 24-hour-a-day shopping channel. However, FCC regulations at the time did not permit duopolies, and the sale never went through. In January 1995, WGBO (channel 66) was sold without programming to Univision, which flipped that station to a Spanish-language format. Most of WGBO's stronger shows would move over to former Univision affiliate WCIU-TV (channel 26), which would also switch to a general entertainment format. WJYS, at the same time also competed as a general market station, picking up barter shows. These shows included Laverne & Shirley, The Odd Couple, Little House on the Prairie, Gunsmoke, Highway to Heaven and Matlock, along with older movies and anime programming. By 1997, WJYS was running infomercials and religious programming most of the day and by 2000, most of the entertainment shows were gone from the station. Today, the station offers both religious and secular paid programming, as well as some entertainment programs.

Unlike the analog transmitter once located in Tinley Park, WJYS-DT has a transmitter atop the Willis Tower on channel 36. It allows larger coverage and has subchannels.[1] The WJYS signal during the analog television era reached approximately 7.5 million people in the Chicago metropolitan area, expanding to nearly 11 million households across Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin and Michigan following the June 2009 digital television transition as its digital transmitter facilities on Willis Tower replicated the coverage area of the major broadcast stations in the market.

External links

• Official site
• Query the FCC's TV station database for WJYS
• BIAfn's Media Web Database -- Information on WJYS-TV