WAPT

WAPT, virtual channel 16 (UHF digital channel 21), is an ABC-affiliated television station licensed to Jackson, Mississippi, United States. The station is owned by the Hearst Television subsidiary of New York City-based Hearst Communications. WAPT's studios and transmitter are located on Channel 16 Way in southwest Jackson. On cable, the station can be seen on Comcast Xfinity channel 4, Cable One channel 16 and Vicksburg Video channel 9. There is a high definition feed provided on Xfinity digital channel 431, Cable One digital channel 1016 and Vicksburg Video digital channel 225.

WAPT
Jackson, Mississippi
United States
ChannelsDigital: 21 (UHF)
Virtual: 16 (PSIP)
Branding16 WAPT (general)
16 WAPT News (newscasts)
MeTV Jackson (on DT2)
SloganThe One to Watch
Programming
Subchannels16.1: ABC
16.2: MeTV
Ownership
OwnerHearst Television
(Jackson Hearst Television Inc.)
WDSU, WVTM
History
First air date
October 3, 1970 (1970-10-03)
Former channel number(s)
Analog:
16 (UHF, 1970–2009)
Call sign meaning
We're American Public Television
(reference to former owner American Public Life Insurance Company; not related to American Public Television)
Technical information
Licensing authority
FCC
Facility ID49712
ClassDT
ERP1,000 kW
HAAT332 m (1,089 ft)
Transmitter coordinates32°16′41″N 90°17′40″W
Links
Public license information
Profile
LMS
Websitewww.wapt.com

History

The station began broadcasting on October 3, 1970 with a rerun of Stagecoach West. Prior to its debut, ABC was relegated to off-hours clearances on NBC affiliate WLBT and CBS affiliate WJTV, save for a brief period from March 1954 until June 1955 when WSLI-TV 12 was a standalone ABC affiliate before combining forces with WJTV, which had aired on channel 25. In fact, by the 1960s, Jackson was one of the largest markets, if not the largest, in the U.S. with only two network stations by the 1960s, even though it had been large enough on paper to support three full network affiliates by the 1950s. It has long been speculated that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) delayed granting licenses to any potential broadcasters in central Mississippi because of WLBT's blatant bias against African-Americans in news coverage and advocacy against the civil rights movement.

A more likely reason, however, has to do with geography. The Jackson market is a fairly large market, covering a large swath of west-central Mississippi. Jackson had been allocated only two VHF frequencies—channels 3 and 12, occupied by WLBT and WJTV respectively. UHF stations initially didn't cover large stretches of territory very well. Even after the FCC mandated all-channel tuning in 1964, it took a long while for UHF to be a viable option to cover large areas. With Jackson sandwiched between Baton Rouge to the south and Monroe–El Dorado to the west with Alexandria (southwest), Columbus (northeast), Greenville (north), Hattiesburg (southeast) and Meridian (east) all in close proximity, it is not likely there would have been room to drop in a third VHF allocation in Jackson.

WAPT was founded by the American Public Life Insurance Company, an insurer which is still in business today but is now an affiliate of American Fidelity Assurance. American Public Life sold the station to Clay Communications in 1979. That company then sold its television stations—WAPT, plus KJAC-TV (now KBTV-TV) in Port Arthur, Texas, KFDX-TV in Wichita Falls, Texas and WWAY in Wilmington, North Carolina—to Price Communications in 1987. Price Communications sold three of its stations—WAPT and then-sister stations WZZM-TV in Grand Rapids, Michigan and WNAC-TV in Providence, Rhode Island—to the newly founded Northstar Television Group in 1989. Northstar Television was bought out by Argyle Television Holdings II, a company which was formed in late 1994 by a group of managers and executives who left the first incarnation of Argyle Television (the former Times-Mirror Broadcasting) after that company sold all of its stations to New World Communications, in January 1995.

In August 1997, Argyle merged with the Hearst Corporation's broadcasting unit to form what was then known as Hearst-Argyle Television (now Hearst Television after the Hearst Corporation became sole owner of the group in mid-2009).

In 2005, Sacha Baron Cohen appeared as his Borat character in a news interview, while secretly filming a segment for the movie of the same name. After the film's release, Dharma Arthur, a news producer for WAPT, wrote a letter to Newsweek saying that Borat's appearance on the station had led to her losing her job: "Because of him, my boss lost faith in my abilities and second-guessed everything I did thereafter...How upsetting that a man who leaves so much harm in his path is lauded as a comedic genius." Although Arthur has said she was fired from the station, she told the Associated Press that she had resigned.[1] She said that she checked a public relations website that Borat's producers gave her before booking him.[2]

Digital television

Digital channels

The station's digital signal is multiplexed:

Channel Video Aspect PSIP Short Name Programming[3]
16.1720p16:9WAPTMain WAPT programming / ABC
16.2480iMeTV-JXMeTV

Analog-to-digital conversion

WAPT shut down its analog signal, over UHF channel 16, on June 12, 2009, as part of the federally mandated transition from analog to digital television.[4][5] The station's digital signal remained on its pre-transition UHF channel 21, using PSIP to display WAPT's virtual channel as 16 on digital television receivers.

Programming

Syndicated programming on WAPT includes Wheel of Fortune, Judge Judy, Live with Kelly and Ryan, and The Ellen DeGeneres Show, among others. Jeopardy!, which is usually paired with Wheel of Fortune in most markets, airs instead on NBC affiliate WLBT; Jackson is one of the few markets where Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune are carried on separate stations.

In 1971, WAPT started broadcasting local news, weather, and sports Monday through Friday evenings following the ABC Evening News. The broadcast, which aired at 5:30 p.m., was called The Case-Jefferies Report. A 10:00 p.m. news broadcast was later added. This was later moved to 10:30 when the station began broadcasting the syndicated comedies Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman and Forever Fernwood at 10 instead, as an attempt to counter-program the newscasts on WLBT and WJTV, whose ratings were well ahead of WAPT at the time. Other syndicated programming, such as The Addams Family, Hee Haw Honeys, and The Andy Griffith Show filled that time slot following the cancellations of the comedies set in Fernwood.

In 1972, the station began a series of horror movies airing on Saturday evenings. These were hosted by "Scartisha", a female character whose true identity remains a mystery to this day. In 1973, the station's sports anchor, Dick Thames, was killed in a plane crash as he was preparing a news story.

As with ABC's other Mississippi affiliates, WAPT was one of 45 affiliates that declined to carry NYPD Blue in its first season[6] and stuck to their decision until January 1995.[7] WAPT also pre-empted "Don't Ask, Don't Tell", an episode of Roseanne which featured a lesbian kissing scene.[8][9]

News operation

WAPT currently broadcasts 26 hours of local newscasts per week with four hours of news aired on weekdays and three hours seen on weekends. On April 30, 2011, WAPT debuted weekend morning newscasts to bookend the weekend editions of Good Morning America.[10]

Unlike most ABC affiliates, WAPT does not currently carry a midday news show during the week. In 2008, however, WAPT announced its intention to begin a noon newscast offering a third option in the time slot. It has since dropped the program from the schedule most likely due to inconsistent viewership and tough competition from WLBT and WJTV.[11] The station operates a Baron Services VHD 250 Doppler weather radar next to its studios that is known on-air as "Storm Shield 16". There is a live video feed of this radar available on WAPT's website. In addition, all newscasts are streamed online.

References
  1. Carlson, Erin (13 November 2006), 'Borat' Victims Upset at Being Duped, washingtonpost.com
  2. "Dharma and … Borat? A 'Victim' Complains". Fox News Channel. 2 November 2006. Retrieved 17 March 2007.
  3. RabbitEars TV Query for WAPT
  4. http://www.clarionledger.com/article/20090206/BIZ/902060338/-1/frontpagetabmodule-1V
  5. List of Digital Full-Power Stations
  6. https://articles.latimes.com/1993-10-26/entertainment/ca-56198_1_nypd-blue
  7. https://www.radiodiscussions.com/showthread.php/561361-Retro-South-Mississippi-Tues-Dec-27-1994
  8. https://www.radiodiscussions.com/showthread.php?689615-Network-shows-that-never-aired-or-were-dropped-in-some-markets-due-to-controversy
  9. https://www.radiodiscussions.com/showthread.php?543123-TV-Shows-That-Had-Trouble-In-Certain-Regions-Of-The-County/page3
  10. WAPT Morning News Expands To Seven Days, TVNewsCheck, May 2, 2011.
  11. http://www.clarionledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080222/NEWS/80222035
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