Misplaced Pages

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72-421: Allbritton was the last remaining TV station group to have all of its stations be affiliated with ABC (other than its O&Os) and the last remaining TV station group to have all its stations have an exclusive affiliation deal with one network, rather than having affiliates aligned with any of the all four major broadcast networks. Allbritton was previously a major owner of broadcast television stations; it owned

144-540: A Regional Radiocommunication Conference to abrogate the ST61 plan and to put a new plan for DTT broadcasting only in its place. In December 2005, the European Union decided to cease all analog audio and analog video television transmissions by 2012 and switch all terrestrial television broadcasting to digital audio and digital video (all EU countries have agreed on using DVB-T ). The Netherlands completed

216-607: A virtual channel is defined as part of the ATSC stream metadata so that a station can transmit on any frequency but still show the same channel number. Additionally, free-to-air television repeaters and signal boosters can be used to rebroadcast a terrestrial television signal using an otherwise unused channel to cover areas with marginal reception. (see Pan-American television frequencies for frequency allocation charts) Analog television channels 2 through 6, 7 through 13, and 14 through 51 are only used for LPTV translator stations in

288-494: A "patchy" signal; one cable company serving St. Augustine could not get a clean signal to feed to 24,000 subscribers. A direct link from WJXX to the primary cable company in Jacksonville was not established until December; the station was placed on channel 7 on cable systems, resulting in ingress issues with the over-the-air signal of WJCT on the same frequency and a poor picture even in cable households. Closed captioning

360-545: A 28,000-square-foot (2,600 m ) studio facility. The site was designed to accommodate 100 employees, including a news staff of 60 to begin producing local newscasts for the First Coast. In the interim, a 7 p.m. magazine program, ABC 25 Tonight , began airing as the station's only local program. On December 15, 1997, ABC 25 News debuted from the new studio with 4 + 1 ⁄ 2 hours each weekday of local news programming, most of it simulcast on WBSG-TV. Most of

432-448: A certain number of frequencies by virtue of the ST61 plan, not all of them were brought into service. The first National Television System Committee standard was introduced in 1941. This standard defined a transmission scheme for a black-and-white picture with 525 lines of vertical resolution at 60 fields per second. In the early 1950s, this standard was superseded by a backward-compatible standard for color television . The NTSC standard

504-550: A chain of eight television stations affiliated with ABC , anchored by its Washington, DC flagship WJLA-TV , and NewsChannel 8 , a regional cable television network serving the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. In May 2013, the company put all of its stations for sale, citing a desire to focus exclusively on Politico ; they were ultimately sold to the Sinclair Broadcast Group for $ 985 million. The sale

576-420: A company owned by conservative talk show host Armstrong Williams . The stations would have remained operated by Sinclair under a local marketing agreement. In December 2013, FCC Video Division Chief Barbara Kreisman sent a letter demanding information from Sinclair Broadcast Group on the financial aspects of its "sidecar" operations, and warned that in these three markets, "the proposed transactions would result in

648-571: A consequence, Allbritton filed to erect a new 2,000-foot (610 m) tower in Kingsland, Georgia . WJKS attempted to block this move by making its own application for a tower in Kingsland, though it retracted this request; the FCC rejected WBSG's Kingsland proposal, leading Allbritton to instead increase the height and power of the existing WBSG-TV facility, though this did little to expand coverage to

720-672: A full-market ABC affiliate for Jacksonville by building a full station facility there. The news blindsided WJKS (channel 17), which had served as the ABC affiliate for the First Coast from 1966 to 1980 and again since 1988. The switch was to occur on January 1, 1997, making the Jacksonville switch among the last in a years-long period of national affiliation realignment that had started in 1994. However, WBSG-TV's transmission facility in Hickox, Georgia , did not provide sufficient coverage of Jacksonville, particularly homes south of Interstate 10 . As

792-434: A good first impression. Furthermore, historically, ABC had usually not performed well in the Jacksonville market. In 2003, Charlie Patton, television editor for The Florida Times-Union , noted that "Jacksonville never acquired the ABC habit". Total-day ratings trailed the other major network stations in Jacksonville as well as WJKS—which had become WJWB, one of the nation's top WB affiliates—though they were on an upswing by

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864-532: A graduated program. The first centre to experience analog switch-off was the remote Victorian regional town of Mildura , in 2010. The government supplied underprivileged houses across the nation with free digital set-top converter boxes in order to minimize conversion disruption. Australia's major free-to-air television networks were all granted digital transmission licenses and are each required to broadcast at least one high-definition and one standard-definition channel into all of their markets. In North America,

936-582: A news team. The former was finished first, but FCC authorization to activate the new antenna was delayed; pressure by local U.S. representative Tillie Fowler helped WJXX secure FCC authorization for its permanent facility in September, in time for the Jacksonville Jaguars ' first home game on Monday Night Football . Meanwhile, Allbritton acquired a parcel of land on A. C. Skinner Parkway, visible from J. Turner Butler Boulevard , to build

1008-515: A regular schedule of experimental television programmes . However, these early experimental systems had insufficient picture quality to attract the public, due to their mechanical scan technology, and television did not become widespread until after World War II with the advent of electronic scan television technology. The television broadcasting business followed the model of radio networks , with local television stations in cities and towns affiliated with television networks , either commercial (in

1080-547: A semi-satellite of WJXX , which replaced WJKS as Jacksonville 's ABC affiliate upon its 1997 sign-on). In June 1998, ABC parent The Walt Disney Company entered into negotiations to purchase the eight Allbritton stations and its local marketing agreements involving fellow ABC affiliates WJSU-TV (now WGWW ) in Anniston, Alabama and WJXX in Jacksonville, Florida , for a reported offer totaling more than $ 1 billion;

1152-646: A sequential assignment of television station call signs across the United States in 1989, Clay Television received the call sign WYDP. The station remained unbuilt due to financial difficulties. In December 1992, after offering WYDP to the Clay County school board, Clay Television filed to sell the construction permit to the University of North Florida . The university proposed to partner with public television station WJCT (channel 7) to build WYDP as

1224-634: A specification laid out by the ATSC has become the standard for digital terrestrial television. In the United States, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) set the final deadline for the switch-off of analog service for 12 June 2009. All television receivers must now include a DTT tuner using ATSC . In Canada, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) set 31 August 2011 as

1296-592: A student-run TV station if the Florida Board of Regents would approve the financial outlay. On February 16, 1996, Allbritton Communications Company announced it would purchase WBSG-TV (channel 21) in Brunswick, Georgia , north of Jacksonville in Glynn County , for $ 10.5 million. Allbritton simultaneously announced that its entire station group would either renew their existing ABC affiliations or—in

1368-478: A tough task establishing WJXX in the market. Due to the affiliation switch and construction of WJXX being brought forward to prevent ABC from losing much of the Jacksonville market for a two-month period, attention was diverted to the installation of temporary facilities. The seven months of inadequate transmitter coverage of Jacksonville and the even longer stretch without a direct feed to the cable company confused and alienated viewers just as channel 25 needed to make

1440-482: A year of delays, Sinclair's deal to acquire Allbritton was approved by the FCC on July 24, 2014. Sinclair completed the acquisition on August 1; WHTM would be operated under a "hold separate agreement" until the sale of that station was completed to Media General on September 2. Allbritton launched Politico , a political news website and newspaper on 2007, the day of the 2007 State of the Union Address . It

1512-417: A year, causing a decline in viewership, and several key news personalities defected to Action News. Rob Mennie, who assumed the post of news director in 2014, noted of the newsroom as he encountered it, "This was a station ... I'll just use the word confused. They didn't know who they were. ... They were trying to figure out what makes us tick." The station's signal is multiplexed : WJXX began broadcasting

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1584-426: Is owned by Tegna Inc. alongside NBC affiliate WTLV (channel 12). The two stations share studios on East Adams Street (near EverBank Stadium ) in downtown Jacksonville; WJXX's transmitter is located on Anders Boulevard in the city's Killarney Shores section. Though plans for an Orange Park television station dated to 1977 and the construction permit to 1988, it took upheaval in the city's ABC affiliation to induce

1656-1043: Is used while testing their DTT platform. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, the Advanced Television Systems Committee developed the ATSC standard for digital high-definition terrestrial transmission. This standard was eventually adopted by many American countries, including the United States, Canada, Dominican Republic, Mexico, Argentina, El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras; however, the four latter countries reversed their decision in favor of ISDB-Tb . The Pan-American terrestrial television operates on analog channels 2 through 6 ( VHF -low band, 54 to 88 MHz, known as band I in Europe), 7 through 13 (VHF-high band, 174 to 216 MHz, known as band III elsewhere), and 14 through 51 ( UHF television band, 470 to 698 MHz, elsewhere bands IV and V ). Unlike with analog transmission, ATSC channel numbers do not correspond to radio frequencies. Instead,

1728-478: The Washington Evening Star from 1975 to 1978 when Time Inc. purchased the paper from Allbritton (the "Evening" part of the name was removed by the end of the 1970s); the paper shut down in 1981. Terrestrial television Terrestrial television , or over-the-air television ( OTA ) is a type of television broadcasting in which the content is transmitted via radio waves from

1800-825: The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to allocate channel 25 to Orange Park, a community in Clay County, Florida , 12 miles (19 km) south of Jacksonville . The FCC allocated the channel in January 1980, and in October, Clay filed an application for a construction permit to build the proposed station. Principals in Clay Television consisted of Richard Fellows, a former city manager in Green Cove Springs and Orange Park; his son; and three Clay County physicians and their wives. A second application

1872-511: The Gannett Company , owner of WTLV, announced it would purchase WJXX from Allbritton. The deal was initiated after Allbritton approached Gannett about a possible sale. The new duopoly rules barred cross-ownership of two of the top four television stations in the same market, a restriction that typically prevented Big Four network affiliates from coming under common ownership. However, WJXX's fifth-place finish in total-day ratings allowed

1944-525: The VHF and UHF bands. Since radio waves in these bands travel by line of sight , reception is generally limited by the visual horizon to distances of 64–97 kilometres (40–60 miles), although under better conditions and with tropospheric ducting , signals can sometimes be received hundreds of kilometers distant. Terrestrial television was the first technology used for television broadcasting. The BBC began broadcasting in 1929 and by 1930 many radio stations had

2016-702: The Cunningham-owned Fox affiliate in Charleston to acquire Allbritton's WCIV , WHTM-TV , and WBMA-LD , while also creating a new duopoly between the ABC and CW affiliates in Birmingham), as well as foregoing any operational or financial agreements with the buyers of the stations being sold to other parties. However, in May 2014, Sinclair disclosed in an FCC filling that it was unable to find buyers for

2088-467: The US) or government-controlled (in Europe), which provided content. Television broadcasts were in greyscale (called black and white ) until the transition to color television in the 1960s. There was no other method of television delivery until the 1950s with the beginnings of cable television and community antenna television (CATV). CATV was, initially, only a re-broadcast of over-the-air signals. With

2160-603: The United States. Channels 52 through 69 are still used by some existing stations, but these channels must be vacated if telecommunications companies notify the stations to vacate that signal spectrum. By convention, broadcast television signals are transmitted with horizontal polarization. Terrestrial television broadcast in Asia started as early as 1939 in Japan through a series of experiments done by NHK Broadcasting Institute of Technology . However, these experiments were interrupted by

2232-533: The WMAL stations of their grandfathered protection. Allbritton opted to sell the Star Company's non-television assets. Both WMAL-TV and WLVA-TV changed their call letters to WJLA-TV and WSET-TV , respectively in 1977, due to FCC rules at the time that prohibited TV and radio stations in the same market, but with different ownership from sharing the same call letters. In May 1994, Birmingham ABC affiliate WBRC

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2304-490: The affiliation switch A date of April 1, 1997, was eventually fixed for WBSG-TV to assume the ABC affiliation in Jacksonville. However, those plans were changed in January 1997 when, with little warning, WJKS started extensive preemptions of ABC programs as part of its transition to become Jacksonville's affiliate of The WB. Of 22 prime time hours offered by ABC, WJKS was refusing to clear 12 + 1 ⁄ 2 hours as well as any new programs introduced by ABC; channel 17 aired

2376-535: The anchors came from outside the market, having last worked in such markets as Orlando , Boston , and Atlanta ; Donna Savarese moved from a job in Hartford, Connecticut , to work at WJXX. In March 1998, WBSG-TV ceased producing full-length 7 and 11 p.m. newscasts, with southeast Georgia news instead provided from Jacksonville as inserts into WJXX's newscasts; 11 jobs were lost. In June 1998, ABC parent The Walt Disney Company entered into negotiations to purchase

2448-755: The beginning of the World War II in the Pacific. On February 1, 1953, NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corporation) began broadcasting. On August 28, 1953, Nippon TV (Nippon Television Network Corporation), the first commercial television broadcaster in Asia was launched. Meanwhile, in the Philippines, Alto Broadcasting System (now ABS-CBN Corporation ), the first commercial television broadcaster in Southeast Asia , launched its first commercial terrestrial television station DZAQ-TV on October 23, 1953, with

2520-754: The case of stations in Charleston, South Carolina ; in and around Birmingham, Alabama ; and WBSG-TV in Brunswick—switch to ABC. At the time, WBSG-TV operated as an affiliate of The WB and also had a news department producing local newscasts covering southeast Georgia, though it was not considered the WB affiliate of record in Jacksonville; the local newscasts had gone on the air with the station in April 1990 and been cut back to early and late evening airings by 1996. Allbritton announced that it would repurpose WBSG-TV as

2592-494: The construction of channel 25, which began broadcasting in February 1997. The launch was two months ahead of schedule; final transmission facilities were not built out for another seven months, and signal issues alienated viewers in Jacksonville, a market already comparatively weak for the ABC network. Even though the founding owner, Allbritton Communications , built studios and started a local news team, WJXX made little headway in

2664-515: The date that terrestrial analog transmission service ceased in metropolitan areas and provincial capitals. In Mexico, the Federal Telecommunications Institute (IFT) discontinued the use of analog terrestrial television on 31 December 2015. WJXX WJXX (channel 25) is a television station licensed to Orange Park, Florida , United States, serving the Jacksonville area as an affiliate of ABC . It

2736-590: The deal. The news came as a surprise to employees, who counted on Allbritton's commitment to building itself up in Jacksonville despite low ratings. It became apparent within a month that WTLV's recently expanded facilities and newsroom would form the core of the combined operation and that most of the combined operation's staffers would be WTLV holdovers. Staffers started to leave WJXX in sufficient numbers that WJXX's general manager, Lewis Robertson, warned that employees from other Allbritton stations might have to be seconded to Jacksonville to maintain station operations in

2808-627: The defect on its application, citing uncertainty about processing practices, and ultimately granted a construction permit in October 1982; the former action was vacated by the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in 1987 and remanded to the FCC. The FCC reviewed the action in 1988; deeming that continuing the lengthy comparative hearing was not in the public interest as Orange Park had continued to wait for new TV service, it upheld Clay's victory. As part of

2880-475: The eight Allbritton stations and the LMAs with WJXX and WJSU-TV , reportedly offering the company more than $ 1 billion to acquire them. The sale would have made WJXX the first commercial station in Jacksonville to be an owned-and-operated station of a network. Negotiations between Disney and Allbritton broke down when the former dropped out of discussions to buy the stations the following month. Allbritton faced

2952-574: The elimination of the grandfathered status of certain local marketing agreements and thus cause the transactions to violate our local TV ownership rules." It was asserted that the deal might be legal only if the affected stations were operated under shared services agreements. Sinclair restructured the deal in March 2014, choosing to sell its existing stations in Harrisburg ( WHP-TV ), Charleston ( WMMP ) and Birmingham ( WABM ) and terminate an SSA with

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3024-414: The fall 1999–2000 television season. News ratings, despite a product considered superior to that WJKS had produced as an ABC affiliate, lagged longtime Jacksonville news leaders WJXT and WTLV; one bright spot was the market's only local newscast at 7 p.m. On November 15, 1999, the FCC legalized television station duopolies —the common ownership of two stations in one market. The next day, November 16,

3096-500: The help of Radio Corporation of America (RCA). By the mid-1990s, the interest in digital television across Europe was such the CEPT convened the "Chester '97" conference to agree on means by which digital television could be inserted into the ST61 frequency plan . The introduction of digital terrestrial television in the late 1990s and early years of the 21st century led the ITU to call

3168-404: The interim until Gannett took control. The FCC approved the purchase on March 16, 2000. Gannett took control the next morning, and about 36 WJXX employees—including 13 in news—joined the new combined WTLV operation, which immediately began simulcasting newscasts on both stations before relaunching on April 27 under the umbrella brand of First Coast News . Newscasts continued to be broadcast at

3240-404: The latter company, named Tegna . After the merger, continuing a trend already set by WTLV, the gap in viewership between First Coast News and market leader WJXT slowly closed to create tough competition in the Jacksonville market. The combination of WTLV and WJXX also surpassed WJXT in total revenue. In 2002, the news department of Fox affiliate WAWS (channel 30) expanded to accommodate

3312-491: The latter two stations had been involved in an affiliation deal between Allbritton and ABC that was reached in response to the May 1994 affiliation deal between New World Communications and Fox that affected WBRC in Birmingham, Alabama . Negotiations between Disney and Allbritton broke down when the former dropped out of discussions to buy the stations the following month. In May 2013, reports surfaced that Allbritton

3384-450: The move of the CBS affiliation to WTEV-TV (channel 47). The two stations rebranded as WFOX-TV and WJAX-TV in 2014 and their news as Action News as part of a wholesale change which included the firing of the previous main anchors. The Action News revamp improved ratings at the traditional third-place news operation in Jacksonville just as First Coast News remained without a news director for

3456-484: The newspaper or the broadcast properties in Washington as a condition of the purchase. By this time, the FCC had tightened its rules on cross-media ownership, and had all but banned one person from owning newspapers and broadcast properties in the same market while grandfathering existing combinations. However, due to the way Allbritton's takeover of the Star was structured, the FCC considered it an ownership change and stripped

3528-625: The old 405-line system, while UHF was used solely for 625-line broadcasts (which later used PAL color). Television broadcasting in the 405-line system continued after the introduction of four analog programs in the UHF bands until the last 405-line transmitters were switched off on January 6, 1985. VHF Band III was used in other countries around Europe for PAL broadcasts until the planned phase-out and switch over to digital television. The success of analog terrestrial television across Europe varied from country to country. Although each country had rights to

3600-717: The potential use of WJLA's NewsChannel 8 as a base to launch a national cable news channel. The planned acquisition was hit with a number of pitfalls due to conflicts between already Sinclair-owned or controlled stations in Allbritton's markets, and the FCC's recent actions involving local marketing agreements (LMAs) and joint sales agreements . Sinclair would have sold its existing stations in several Allbritton markets— WABM and WTTO in Birmingham, Alabama and WHP-TV in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania to Deerfield Media , and WMMP in Charleston, South Carolina to Howard Stirk Holdings,

3672-480: The property fell through before a consortium of investors acquired the building in 2002 and leased it to cellular company VoiceStream Wireless. On June 29, 2015, the Gannett Company split into two separate companies, with one side specializing in print media and the other side specializing in broadcast and digital media. WJXX and WTLV—along with Gannett's other television station properties—were retained by

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3744-424: The ratings. The problems caused by the early launch proved insurmountable, leading Allbritton to sell WJXX to Gannett, owner of WTLV, just as common ownership of two stations in a market was permitted. Gannett merged the two stations at WTLV's studios in 2000 and began to simulcast nearly all local newscasts under the name First Coast News . In 1977, a group known as Clay Television, Inc., was formed and petitioned

3816-464: The remainder, as well as ABC's network news and soap operas . The preempted shows were replaced with syndicated shows and programming from The WB. Even though 70 percent of Jacksonville television households subscribed to cable, those that did not and could not receive WBSG-TV were at risk of losing all access to ABC network programming. The scramble to ensure the First Coast would retain access to ABC programming led ABC and Allbritton agreed to accelerate

3888-538: The same time on each station, including the WJXX 7 p.m. newscast. WBSG-TV was not included, and Allbritton converted it to programming from the Pax network; its owner, Paxson Communications Corporation , then purchased WBSG-TV, which is now WPXC-TV . It took nearly two years for Gannett to dispose of the mothballed A. C. Skinner Parkway studio, with its prominent clock tower visible from Butler Boulevard. Two attempts to sell

3960-492: The signal is transmitted to the receiver from an overhead satellite ; cable television , in which the signal is carried to the receiver through a cable ; and Internet Protocol television , in which the signal is received over an Internet stream or on a network utilizing the Internet Protocol . Terrestrial television stations broadcast on television channels with frequencies between about 52 and 600 MHz in

4032-431: The south. By August 1996, when the FCC approved the upgraded Hickox facility, the affiliation switch had been put off until at least February, and WJKS had given up its fight to remain with ABC. We've been put in a position where we need to accelerate the process so we can get the people in Jacksonville the programs they want as quickly as possible. Leonard Firestone, general manager, WBSG-TV, on throwing forward

4104-417: The switch from April 1 to February. Allbritton reached a deal to resurrect the long-dormant WYDP license, which had been sold in the interim to WRP L.P., under a local marketing agreement and build an interim facility to provide network coverage to Jacksonville, particularly the southern and western portions of the market. On February 9, 1997, channel 25 came to air under new WJXX call letters. It became

4176-667: The switchover by 2012 due to technical limitations; the rest of the EU member states had stopped analog television transmissions by the end 2012. Many countries are developing and evaluating digital terrestrial television systems. Australia has adopted the DVB-T standards and the government's industry regulator, the Australian Communications and Media Authority , has mandated that all analog transmissions will cease by 2012. Mandated digital conversion started early in 2009 with

4248-578: The terrestrial (Earth-based) transmitter of a TV station to a TV receiver having an antenna . The term terrestrial is more common in Europe and Latin America, while in Canada and the United States it is called over-the-air or simply broadcast . This type of TV broadcast is distinguished from newer technologies, such as satellite television ( direct broadcast satellite or DBS television), in which

4320-572: The third station in Jacksonville to affiliate with ABC; WTLV had carried the network from 1980 to 1988. Simultaneously, WBSG-TV joined ABC as a semi-satellite of WJXX. For viewers in Georgia dependent on the WBSG-TV transmitter, the switch went well; that station alone continued to air its regional newscasts. Viewers in the Jacksonville area relying on the interim WJXX installation from the final transmitter site, north of Lake Asbury , were greeted with

4392-702: The three affected stations, requiring changes to its transaction. In Harrisburg, Sinclair chose to retain WHP-TV, and instead sell WHTM to Media General . However, in Charleston and Birmingham, the company proposed to shut down stations entirely so it could maintain legal duopolies; surrendering the licenses for WCIV and the full-powered repeaters of WBMA-LD (WJSU and WCFT), and moving their ABC programming to Sinclair's existing stations WMMP and WABM respectively—which would planned shift their existing MyNetworkTV programming to digital subchannels , these station would since move ABC affiliation to digital subchannel. After nearly

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4464-563: The transition in December 2006, and some EU member states decided to complete their switchover as early as 2008 (Sweden), and (Denmark) in 2009. While the UK began to switch off analog broadcasts, region by region, in late 2007, it was not completed until 24 October 2012. Norway ceased all analog television transmissions on 1 December 2009. Two member states (not specified in the announcement) expressed concerns that they might not be able to proceed to

4536-423: The widespread adoption of cable across the United States in the 1970s and 1980s, viewing of terrestrial television broadcasts has been in decline; in 2018, it was estimated that about 14% of US households used an antenna. However, in certain other regions terrestrial television continue to be the preferred method of receiving television, and it is estimated by Deloitte as of 2020 that at least 1.6 billion people in

4608-431: The world receive at least some television using these means. The largest market is thought to be Indonesia , where 250 million people watch through terrestrial. By 2019, over-the-top media service (OTT) which is streamed via the internet had become a common alternative. Following the ST61 conference, UHF frequencies were first used in the UK in 1964 with the introduction of BBC2 . In the UK, VHF channels were kept on

4680-561: Was approved by the FCC on July 24, 2014, following a year-long delay to address improper duopolies in certain markets that would result from the purchase. The company was formed in 1975 when Joe Allbritton bought controlling interest The Washington Star Company, including its television and radio stations– WMAL-AM - FM -TV in Washington; WLVA-AM - TV in Lynchburg, Virginia ; and WCIV in Charleston, South Carolina . The Federal Communications Commission required him to sell off either

4752-579: Was exclusively being used in the Americas as well as Japan until the introduction of digital terrestrial television (DTT). While Mexico has ended all its analog television broadcasts and the United States and Canada have shut down nearly all of their analog TV stations, the NTSC standard continues to be used in the rest of Latin American countries except for Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay where PAL-N standard

4824-522: Was forced to run WBRC as an ABC affiliate for over a year after the sale, as WBRC's affiliation contract with ABC did not expire until August 1996. Before WBRC became a Fox owned-and-operated station , Allbritton purchased WCFT-TV and WJSU-TV , and made them full power satellites of WBMA-LP ; this prompted Allbritton to sign a groupwide affiliation deal with ABC which caused WCIV and Brunswick sister station WBSG-TV (now Ion Television O&O WPXC-TV to become ABC affiliates. The latter had joined ABC as

4896-466: Was planning to sell its television stations; the move came as a result of the increasing success of Politico, which "continues to carry no debt, funds all investment with operating income and will still turn a profit, again, in 2013." On July 29, 2013, the Baltimore -based Sinclair Broadcast Group announced that it would acquire all of Allbritton's stations for $ 985 million. In particular, Sinclair eyed

4968-549: Was received for the channel in early 1981 from Orange Park Florida T.V., a company majority-owned by Malcolm Glazer . In 1982, an FCC administrative law judge refused to grant the construction permit and returned both applications. Clay Television had experienced a cumulative change of 50 percent of ownership, which, per the judge, required refiling; Orange Park Florida T.V. was "basically and technically unqualified" because its antenna site did not meet minimum spacing requirements to other stations. The FCC then permitted Clay to cure

5040-460: Was sold to New World Communications , which signed an affiliation agreement with eleven other stations which would become Fox affiliates. WBRC, along with Piedmont Triad ABC affiliate WGHP , were placed in a blind trust in the fall of 1994, as the FCC prohibited a company from owning more than twelve television stations at the time. Both stations were sold to Fox directly in July 1995, but Fox

5112-412: Was spun out to Capitol News Company , a company separately and still owned by Allbritton, in 2009. Allbritton launched Washington-area local news web site TBD in 2010. The site merged the web pages of the company's television stations, WJLA-TV (Channel 7) and its cable sibling, NewsChannel 8. Jim Brady, a former Washington Post editor, ran the site. Allbritton shut down TBD in 2012. Allbritton owned

5184-470: Was unavailable, even for ABC network programming, for nearly six months. In April, Allbritton filed instead to buy WJXX outright while leasing WBSG-TV, paying $ 5 million for channel 25. The deal was concluded in September. The rush job of ensuring the partial continuity of ABC programming in the Jacksonville area was completed, leaving Allbritton with three remaining tasks: installing the permanent transmitter facility, constructing local studios, and hiring

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