WNGH-TV
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WNGH-TV, virtual channel 18 (VHF digital channel 4), is a Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) member television station serving Dalton, Georgia, United States that is licensed to Chatsworth.[1] Owned by the Georgia Public Telecommunications Commission, it is a sister station to National Public Radio (NPR) member WNGH-FM (98.9 MHz). The two stations share transmitter facilities at Fort Mountain State Park east of Chatsworth. WNGH-TV is operated as part of the statewide Georgia Public Broadcasting (GPB) television network.
Despite its UHF frequency, the height of WNGH's transmitter gives it one of GPB's largest coverage areas.[citation needed] It penetrates for some distance into the area of Chattanooga, Tennessee; Chatsworth and Dalton are part of the Chattanooga media market. It provides at least secondary coverage as far north as Athens, Tennessee, and as far south as metro Atlanta's north-northwestern suburbs, many of which can no longer receive GPB's flagship station, WGTV (channel 8). Two translator stations help bring the signal to the mountainous parts of the service area. Some network program duplication occurs with WTCI-TV (channel 45), the main PBS station for the Chattanooga area.
History
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The station made its first broadcast on January 30, 1967, as WCLP, a National Educational Television (NET) and Georgia Educational Television network affiliate. It was Chattanooga's first educational television station, joined by WTCI-TV in 1970. On February 2, 1979, the station branded itself as WCLP-TV. In 2002, WCLP's digital signal started on channel 33.
On April 15, 2008, WCLP-TV changed its call sign to WNGH-TV, to match GPB's new local FM-radio station, WNGH-FM. The FM station's transmitter was moved to the same broadcast tower as the TV station atop a mountain within Fort Mountain State Park.
Due to equipment failure in 2008, the station's analog signal operated at reduced power (1,500 kW, 30% of normal) until it switched entirely to digital.
Translators
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WNGH has broadcast translators which extend the station's coverage into areas blocked by distance or terrain, notably by the north Georgia mountains. All of these translators have been located near the state's border regions with Alabama, Tennessee, and North Carolina.
Currently,[when?] only the W12DK-D translator is operating, under a broadcast license which covered its construction permit in December 2009.[clarification needed] It is atop Brasstown Bald, the highest point in the state, which is anticipated to be shared by the 97-watt GPB radio station WBTB FM 90.3.
W12DK-D replaced two other stations:
- W04BJ in Young Harris, Georgia, an analog station permanently off-air since a May 2008 equipment failure
- W50AB in Hiawassee, Georgia, which was rejected for a digital license in May 2007, as it was then covered by W04BJ's broadcast range
Four other stations near Alabama had their analog licenses and digital applications or construction permits canceled, apparently at GPB's request:[citation needed]
- W27AA in Draketown, Georgia, which was canceled in November 2006
- W65AD in Cedartown, Georgia, which was canceled in September 2007
- W35AA in LaFayette, Georgia, which was canceled in July 2007
- W51AB in Flintstone, Georgia, which was canceled in September 2002
This was the largest number of translators assigned to any of the GPB stations. Two others are currently assigned to primary (parent) station WGTV, though all stations simulcast at all times.
Digital television
Analog-to-digital conversion
WNGH-TV shut down its analog signal, over UHF channel 18, on February 17, 2009. This was the original target date in which full-power television stations in the United States were to transition from analog to digital broadcasts. The station's digital signal remained on its pre-transition UHF channel 33.[3] Through the use of PSIP, digital television receivers display the station's virtual channel as 18, its former UHF analog channel.
On September 3, 2019, the station changed from UHF channel 33 to VHF channel 4, after winning several million dollars in the reverse auction portion of FCC auction 1000.
References
- ^ "WNGH TV | Local TV Channel 18 (CHATSWORTH, GA)". NoCable.org. Retrieved August 25, 2019.
- ^ "RabbitEars TV Query for WNGH". Archived from the original on August 11, 2014. Retrieved July 31, 2014.
- ^ "DTV Tentative Channel Designations for the First and the Second Rounds" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on August 29, 2013. Retrieved March 24, 2012.
External links
- GPB Website
- GPB stations map – includes WNGH coverage area
- Template:TVQ
- Template:BIA