WJXT

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• Template:Infobox television channel
• Template:Infobox television station

WJXT is an independent television station serving Florida's First Coast that is licensed to Jacksonville. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 42 (virtual channel 4.1 via PSIP) from a transmitter in the city's Kilarney Shores section. Owned by Post-Newsweek Stations, WJXT maintains studios at 4 Broadcast Place on the southbank of the St. Johns River in Jacksonville. The station can also be seen on Comcast Xfinity channel 3 and AT&T U-verse channel 4. There is a high definition feed offered on Comcast Xfinity channel 437 and AT&T U-verse channel 1004. Syndicated programming on this station includes The Dr. Oz Show, Steve Harvey, Criminal Minds, The Big Bang Theory, Private Practice and 30 Rock.

History

As a CBS affiliate

The station signed on September 15, 1949 under the callsign WMBR-TV, becoming the second television station in Florida and the first station in the state that was licensed outside of Miami. It was co-owned alongside WMBR radio (1400 AM, now WZAZ; and 96.1 FM, now WEJZ). The station was a primary CBS affiliate, alongside secondary affiliations with the DuMont Television Network, NBC and ABC. In 1953, the Washington Post Company purchased the television and radio station cluster. WMBR dropped the DuMont affiliation upon the network's 1955 shut down. Although its only competition in the Jacksonville market came from UHF station WJHP-TV (which signed on in 1953 and went dark three years later), the station had a virtual monopoly on television in northern Florida until 1957, when it lost the NBC affiliation to upstart WFGA (now WTLV).

The Washington Post Company sold off WMBR-AM/FM in 1958, while it kept the television station and had its callsign changed to the current WJXT. WJXT remained a primary CBS and secondary ABC affiliate until WJKS-TV (now CW affiliate WCWJ) signed on in 1966, taking the ABC affiliation and leaving WJXT exclusively aligned with CBS. For much of its tenure as a CBS affiliate, WJXT was the only station affiliated with the network located between Savannah, Georgia and Orlando and was thus carried on many cable systems between Jacksonville and Orlando.

In 2001, WJXT was awarded the local broadcast rights to Jacksonville Jaguars preseason football games, replacing WTLV as the official station for the NFL franchise (WTLV had carried preseason games and Jaguars-related programs since the team's 1995 inaugural season); the deal also included carriage of the team's coaches show and other Jaguars-related television programs. The station had been airing Jaguars games since 1998, when CBS gained national broadcast rights to football games from the NFL's American Football Conference.

Independence

File:WJXT2002.gif

WJXT logo from 2002.

During negotiations between Post-Newsweek Stations and CBS on a new affiliation agreement in early 2002, CBS supplied Post-Newsweek with a list of demands that would have resulted in WJXT no longer receiving monetary compensation for carriage of its programming (as the network was moving toward a reverse compensation model for its affiliates) and the requirement that the station run the entire CBS network schedule in pattern without pre-emptions except for local news emergencies, which station and Post-Newsweek company management believed would come at the expense of local programming.

Rather than give in to CBS's demands, Post-Newsweek Stations announced on April 3, 2002 that it would not to renew channel 4's affiliation agreement with CBS upon its July 10 expiration. This came after speculation arose the year prior that WJXT would become an independent station after its affiliation agreement with CBS was only renewed for one year, instead of the typical four- to eight-year agreements that stations usually obtain from the major broadcast networks. WTEV-TV – at that time owned by Clear Channel Communications and serving as the market's UPN affiliate – later signed an affiliation agreement with CBS two weeks after the announcement on April 23, 2002 to assume the affiliation for the Jacksonville market. The affiliation switch became official at 5 a.m. on July 15, 2002, ending WJXT's 53-year association with CBS. The shift made Jacksonville one of the only United States television markets with all six major broadcast networks at the time (ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, UPN and The WB) having affiliations with only five stations in a six-station market (which remains the case with UPN and The WB's successors The CW and MyNetworkTV in the present day), the only market in which each affiliate of the Big Four networks are controlled by two companies (Gannett currently owns WTLV and ABC affiliate WJXX; at the time, Clear Channel owned both WTEV and Fox affiliate WAWS, Newport Television presently operates the former and owns the latter station outright), and one of the few markets where an analog-era VHF station has no network affiliation while the market's other commercial stations (one VHF and five UHF) do.

As an independent, the station transitioned to a news-intensive schedule that retained all existing newscasts, while tacking on two additional hours to its weekday morning program and adding an hour-long 10 p.m. newscast seven nights a week. WJXT also acquired additional syndicated programming to fill daytime, primetime and late night timeslots that were formerly occupied by CBS programming, as well as SEC college football and basketball telecasts through Jefferson Pilot Sports (now Raycom Sports). WJXT retained rights to Jacksonville Jaguars preseason games for one additional year following the switch, despite AFC football games being moved to WTEV due to national broadcast rights held by CBS and a contract stipulation that reserved the Jaguars the right to move local broadcasts of preseason games and other Jaguars programs to another station if WJXT changed its network affiliation. The team cut ties with WJXT after the 2002 NFL preseason and moved its preseason games to WTEV-TV in 2003.

Even though it is owned by Post-Newsweek Stations, WJXT (unlike most of its sister stations that follow Post-Newsweek's "Local Mandate" branding standardization) does not brand itself "Local 4", though its current on-air slogan "The Local Station" is close enough under the standardization.

Digital television

File:WJXTDTVswitch.png

A WJXT technician shutting down the analog transmitter live on WJXT's The Morning Show.

This station's digital signal is multiplexed:

Channel	Video	Aspect	PSIP Short Name	Programming
4.1	720p	16:9	WJXT-HD	Main WJXT programming
4.2	480i	4:3	WJXT-TH	This TV
4.3			WJXT-LA	This TV

Analog-to-digital conversion

On June 12, 2009 at 8:55 a.m. during its broadcast of The Morning Show, WJXT turned off its analog transmitter and converted its broadcasts exclusively to digital television, remaining on its pre-transition UHF channel 42. However, through the use of PSIP, digital television receivers display the station's virtual channel as its former analog channel 4. WJXT anchor/reporter Melanie Lawson reported live from WJXT's transmitter site in Kilarney Shores as a veteran station technician pushed the "plate off" button in the building at the base of the transmitter. The WJXT analog signal had been broadcast from that site for over two decades following a failure on the original transmitter tower at the station's studios. The station's digital transmitter also broadcasts from the same site, alongside the digital transmitters of NBC affiliate WTLV and ABC affiliate WJXX. Several monitors at WJXT's southbank studios were reported by on-camera talent to have gone out upon the digital switchover.

News operation

File:WJXTHDPROMO.jpg

WJXT station ID from 2009.

WJXT currently offers a total of 47½ hours of local news programming each week (with 8½ hours on weekdays and 3½ hours on weekends); in regards to the number of hours devoted to locally-produced newscasts among Florida television stations, this places WJXT in third place behind Fox stations WTVT/Tampa and WSVN/Miami. Because of the ownership structure of the Jacksonville market's Big Four network affiliates, WJXT is the only area television station whose news department operates independently from the other stations in the market (WTLV and WJXX have jointly produced their newscasts since WTLV owner Gannett's 2000 purchase of WJXX and the resulting consolidation of their news departments, and WAWS transferred production duties of its news department to SSA partner WTEV following that station's 2002 affiliation switch to CBS).

The station used the Eyewitness News format for its newscasts for 38 years from 1967 to 2005, when its newscasts were retitled to the current Channel 4 News. WJXT was the dominant news station in Jacksonville for almost half a century, in part because many of its personalities have been at the station for ten years or more. Its evening news team of anchors Tom Wills and Deborah Gianoulis, chief meteorologist George Winterling and sports director Sam Kouvaris were together for 22 years from 1981 until Gianoulis' retirement in 2003 – one of the longest-running anchor teams in the nation at the time.

On January 14, 2009 beginning with its noon newscast, WJXT became the first television station in Jacksonville to broadcast their local newscasts in high definition (unlike most stations that transition their newscasts to HD, certain newscasts did not transition until later dates: the 5 and 6 p.m. newscasts would not begin broadcasting in HD until two days later on January 16; the weekend newscasts on January 17 and the weekday morning, and 10 and 11 p.m. newscasts went HD on January 26 and 28, respectively). The upgrade saw the introduction of new on-air graphics (opens were designed in-house at Detroit sister station WDIV-TV, while the graphics were designed at Miami sister station WPLG) and news music (commissioning an updated version of the "WJXT News Theme", a customized package that was composed specifically for the station by Frank Gari, and was originally used from 1995 to 1997), as well as the upgrade to robotic and computer-operated cameras for studio segments within its newscasts, the automation of its control room using the Miranda Vertigo system and Ignite technology.

On April 23, 2009, George Winterling announced he would semi-retire after nearly 47 years as chief meteorologist at WJXT. Winterling remains with the station in a meteorologist emeritus role, seen only during severe and tropical weather coverage and as a fill-in for other meteorologists. On May 20, 2009, Winterling stepped down as meteorologist for the station's 6 and 6:30 p.m. newscasts.

On May 21, 2012, WJXT and Metro Jacksonville, a news and discussion blog on local urban issues, announced a content partnership. Under the agreement, Metro Jacksonville will format content for WJXT's News4Jax.com website on a self-branded page. The mutually beneficial partnership provides WJXT with more web content and provides Metro Jacksonville with a wider audience.

News/station presentation

Newscast titles

• Your Esso Reporter (1949–1954)
• Telenews (1954–1958)
• NewsNight (1958–1963)
• The Six O'Clock News/The Eleven O'Clock News (1963–1967)
• TV-4/Channel 4 Eyewitness News (1967–2005; from 1997 until the station became independent in 2002, WJXT used NewsChannel 4 as its general branding, while Eyewitness News continued to be used as the newscast branding)
• Channel 4 News (2005–present)

Station slogans

• "Television 4 Eyewitness News, in SuperColor" (1967–1969)
• "The Eyes of Jacksonville" (early 1970s)
• "WJXT, As Far as the Eye Can See" (mid 1970s)
• "We're the Eyewitnesses!" (late 1970s)
• "Jacksonville's Number One News Team" (early-mid 1980s)
• "We'll Take You There" (mid 1980s-1992)
• "Your Good Friends" (late 1980s-early 1990s)
• "First in News Around the Clock" (late 1980s–1990s)
• "TV-4, We'll Take You There" (late 1980s–early 1990s; used in image campaign using Frank Gari's "We'll Take You There")
• "The One and Only Channel 4" (1990s–2005)
• "The Local Station" (2005–present)

News team

Current on-air staff

Anchors

• Kumasi Aaron - weekend mornings on The Morning Show; also weekday reporter
• Mary Baer - weeknights at 5, 6 and 10 p.m.
• Bruce Hamilton - weekday mornings on The Morning Show (5-9 a.m.) and weekdays at noon
• Kent Justice - weekends at 6, 10 and 11 p.m.; also weekday reporter
• Nikki Kimbleton - weekday mornings on The Morning Show (7-9 a.m.); also weekday reporter
• Jason Law - weekend mornings on The Morning Show; also weekday reporter
• Melanie Lawson - weekday mornings on The Morning Show (4:30-9 a.m.)
• Adrienne Moore - weekends at 6, 10 and 11 p.m.; also weekday reporter
• Staci Spanos - weekday mornings on The Morning Show (6-9 a.m.)
• Rob Sweeting - weeknights at 5:30, 6:30 and 11 p.m.
• Jennifer Waugh - weeknights at 5:30, 6:30 and 11 p.m.
• Tom Wills - weeknights at 5, 6 and 10 p.m.

The Weather Authority

• George Winterling (AMS Certified Consulting Meteorologist Seal of Approval) - chief meteorologist emeritus; hurricane/severe weather expert and fill-in meteorologist (longtime chief meteorologist from 1962 until semi-retirement in 2009)
• John Gaughan (AMS Seal of Approval) - chief meteorologist; weeknights at 5, 5:30, 6, 6:30, 10 and 11 p.m.
• Rebecca Barry - meteorologist; weekend mornings on The Morning Show and weekends at 6, 10 and 11 p.m.
• Blake Matthews - fill-in meteorologist; also weather producer
• Richard Nunn (AMS Seal of Approval) - meteorologist; weekday mornings on The Morning Show (4:30-9 a.m.) and weekdays at noon

Sports team

• Sam Kouvaris - sports director; weeknights at 5, 5:30, 6, 6:30, 10 and 11 p.m.
• Michael Kelly - sports anchor; weekends at 6, 10 and 11 p.m., also weeknight sports reporter

Traffic

• Ashley Mitchem - weekday mornings on The Morning Show (4:30-9 a.m.); also general assignment reporter

Reporters

• Elizabeth Campbell - fill-in reporter
• Elizabeth Cate - general assignment reporter
• Kristen Cosby - fill-in reporter
• Karen Hershey - fill-in reporter
• Scott Johnson - general assignment reporter
• Vic Micolucci - general assignment reporter/mobile journalist
• Tarik Minor - general assignment reporter
• Chris Parenteau - general assignment reporter
• Jim Piggott - investigative reporter
• Erica Rakow - general assignment reporter
• Ashley Townsend - fill-in reporter
• Emily Turner - general assignment reporter
• Hailey Winslow - general assignment reporter

Notable former on-air staff

• Deborah Gianoulis - anchor/reporter (1979–2003; ran for Florida Senate Democratic bid in 2010, now chairwoman of non-profit educational advocacy group Save Duval Schools)
• Bill Grove - WJXT's first official news anchor (1952–1980)
• Bryan J. Kelly - traffic reporter (now announcer for World Wrestling Entertainment and its developmental territory Florida Championship Wrestling as "Byron Saxton")
• Steve Kroft - investigative reporter (1975–1977; now with CBS News as correspondent for 60 Minutes)
• Randall Pinkston - reporter (1974–1976; now with CBS News)
• Toni Yates - weekend anchor (now at WABC-TV in New York City)

External links

• WJXT website
• WJXT mobile
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• The WJXT building is at coordinates 30.312542°N 81.649275°W / 30.312542; -81.649275 (WJXT building)