WBBJ-TV is the ABC

American Broadcasting Company

The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...

-affiliated television station

Television station

A television station is a business, organisation or other such as an amateur television operator that transmits content over terrestrial television. A television transmission can be by analog television signals or, more recently, by digital television. Broadcast television systems standards are...

 for Western Tennessee licensed to Jackson

Jackson, Tennessee

Jackson is a city in Madison County, Tennessee, United States. The total population was 65,211 at the 2010 census. Jackson is the primary city of the Jackson, Tennessee metropolitan area, which is included in the Jackson-Humboldt, Tennessee Combined Statistical Area...

. It broadcasts a high definition

High-definition television

High-definition television is video that has resolution substantially higher than that of traditional television systems . HDTV has one or two million pixels per frame, roughly five times that of SD...

 digital signal on UHF channel 43 (or virtual channel

Virtual channel

In telecommunications, a logical channel number , also known as virtual channel, is a channel designation which differs from that of the actual radio channel on which the signal travels....

 7.1 via PSIP) from a transmitter on Potts Chapel

Chapel

A chapel is a building used by Christians as a place of fellowship and worship. It may be part of a larger structure or complex, such as a church, college, hospital, palace, prison or funeral home, located on board a military or commercial ship, or it may be an entirely free-standing building,...

 Road in unincorporated

Unincorporated area

In law, an unincorporated area is a region of land that is not a part of any municipality.To "incorporate" in this context means to form a municipal corporation, a city, town, or village with its own government. An unincorporated community is usually not subject to or taxed by a municipal government...

 Eastern Madison County. The station can also be seen on Charter

Charter Communications

Charter Communications is an American company providing cable television, high-speed Internet, and telephone services to more than 4.7 million customers in 25 states. By revenues, it is the fourth-largest cable operator in the United States, behind Comcast, Time Warner Cable, and Cox Communications...

 channel 7 and Jackson Energy Authority Broadband channel 8. There is a high definition feed provided on Jackson Energy Authority Broadband digital channel 201 and Charter digital channel 707.

Owned by Bahakel Communications

Bahakel Communications

Bahakel Communications is a Charlotte, North Carolina-based communications company that owns radio and television stations in the United States...

, WBBJ has studios on Muse Street in Jackson. Syndicated

Television syndication

In broadcasting, syndication is the sale of the right to broadcast radio shows and television shows by multiple radio stations and television stations, without going through a broadcast network, though the process of syndication may conjure up structures like those of a network itself, by its very...

 programming on the station includes Wheel of Fortune

Wheel of Fortune (U.S. game show)

Wheel of Fortune is an American television game show created by Merv Griffin, which premiered in 1975. Contestants compete to solve word puzzles, similar to those used in Hangman, to win cash and prizes determined by spinning a large wheel. The title refers to the show's giant carnival wheel that...

, Dr. Phil

Dr. Phil (TV series)

Dr. Phil is a reality/talk television show hosted by Phil McGraw. After McGraw's success with his segments on The Oprah Winfrey Show, Dr. Phil debuted on September 16, 2002...

, Jeopardy!

Jeopardy!

Griffin's first conception of the game used a board comprising ten categories with ten clues each, but after finding that this board could not be shown on camera easily, he reduced it to two rounds of thirty clues each, with five clues in each of six categories...

, and Live with Kelly among others. Jackson can also see ABC programming over-the-air through WPTY-TV

WPTY-TV

WPTY-TV is the ABC-affiliated television station for west Tennessee that is licensed to Memphis. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 25 from a transmitter in the Brunswick section of Arlington. Owned by Newport Television, the station is sister to CW affiliate WLMT and Fox...

 in Memphis

Memphis, Tennessee

Memphis is a city in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County. The city is located on the 4th Chickasaw Bluff, south of the confluence of the Wolf and Mississippi rivers....

, which is not carried on local cable

Cable television

Cable television is a system of providing television programs to consumers via radio frequency signals transmitted to televisions through coaxial cables or digital light pulses through fixed optical fibers located on the subscriber's property, much like the over-the-air method used in traditional...

 providers.

Digital programming

On WBBJ-DT2 and Charter digital channel 135 is a standard definition simulcast of its main signal. On WBBJ-DT3 and Jackson Energy Authority Broadband digital channel 197 is a 24-hour live feed of a NOAA National Weather Service

National Weather Service

The National Weather Service , once known as the Weather Bureau, is one of the six scientific agencies that make up the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration of the United States government...

 Doppler

Pulse-doppler radar

Pulse-Doppler is a 4D radar system capable of detecting both target 3D location as well as measuring radial velocity . It uses the Doppler effect to avoid overloading computers and operators as well as to reduce power consumption...

 weather radar

Weather radar

Weather radar, also called weather surveillance radar and Doppler weather radar, is a type of radar used to locate precipitation, calculate its motion, estimate its type . Modern weather radars are mostly pulse-Doppler radars, capable of detecting the motion of rain droplets in addition to the...

 with audio from NOAA Weather Radio

NOAA Weather Radio All Hazards

NOAA Weather Radio All Hazards is a network of radio stations broadcasting continuous weather information directly from a nearby National Weather Service office. It is operated by the NWS, an agency of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration within the United States Department of...

. To satisfy the Federal Communications Commission

Federal Communications Commission

The Federal Communications Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, created, Congressional statute , and with the majority of its commissioners appointed by the current President. The FCC works towards six goals in the areas of broadband, competition, the spectrum, the...

 (FCC) E/I

E/I

E/I, which stands for "educational and informative," refers to a type of children's television programming shown in the United States. The Federal Communications Commission requires that every full-service Terrestrial television station in the U.S. show at least three hours of these television...

 child programing requirement, the service airs shows targeted toward the age group on weekends. WBBJ will replace the weather radar feed with a new CBS

CBS

CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...

 affiliate on January 1, 2012, returning the network to Jackson for the first time since 1967.

WBBJ's digital signal on UHF 43 is multiplexed:

Channels	Name	Video Display resolution The display resolution of a digital television or display device is the number of distinct pixels in each dimension that can be displayed. It can be an ambiguous term especially as the displayed resolution is controlled by all different factors in cathode ray tube , flat panel or projection...	Aspect Aspect ratio The aspect ratio of a shape is the ratio of its longer dimension to its shorter dimension. It may be applied to two characteristic dimensions of a three-dimensional shape, such as the ratio of the longest and shortest axis, or for symmetrical objects that are described by just two measurements,...	Programing
7.1	WBBJ-DT	720p 720p 720p is the shorthand name for 1280x720, a category of High-definition television video modes having a resolution of 1080 or 720p and a progressive scan...	16:9 16:9 16:9 is an aspect ratio with a width of 16 units and height of 9. Since 2009, it has become the most common aspect ratio for sold televisions and computer monitors and is also the international standard format of HDTV, Full HD, non-HD digital television and analog widescreen television ...	Main WBBJ programming / ABC
7.2	WBBJ-DV			7.1 with SAP/Descriptive Video Service
7.3	WBBJ-WX	480i 480i 480i is the shorthand name for a video mode, namely the US NTSC television system or digital television systems with the same characteristics. The i, which is sometimes uppercase, stands for interlaced, the 480 for a vertical frame resolution of 480 lines containing picture information; while NTSC...	4:3	Doppler weather radar & NOAA Weather Radio (to be CBS)

History

The station signed on March 6, 1955 as WDXI-TV, Jackson's first television station. It operated an analog signal on VHF channel 7, and was a CBS

CBS

CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...

 affiliate owned by Aaron Robinson along with WDXI radio

WDXI

WDXI is a radio station broadcasting a news talk information format. Licensed to Jackson, Tennessee, USA, the station is currently owned by Gerald W. Hunt and features programing from Citadel Media and Business Talk Radio Network....

 (1310 AM). Cy Bahakel

Cy Bahakel

Cy Nesbe Bahakel was an American politician. He was a North Carolina state senator and a media magnate. He was a member of the Democratic Party....

 bought the station in 1966 and changed the call letters to the current WBBJ-TV (as Robinson's estate held on to WDXI radio). Since then, WBBJ has had the longest ownership tenure of any station in Tennessee

Tennessee

Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...

, surpassing stations in much larger markets

Media market

A media market, broadcast market, media region, designated market area , Television Market Area , or simply market is a region where the population can receive the same television and radio station offerings, and may also include other types of media including newspapers and Internet content...

 in the state.

Soon after Bahakel took over, in January 1967, the station dropped CBS in favor of ABC (which WDXI-TV had carried as a secondary affiliation for some time beforehand); since then (and until the launch of WBBJ's CBS-affiliated subchannel), Jackson has received CBS programming from WREC-TV/WREG-TV

WREG-TV

WREG-TV is Memphis, Tennessee's CBS television affiliate, operating on digital channel 28, and uses PSIP 3 as its virtual channel. The station is owned by Local TV, which took over all of the television stations formerly owned by The New York Times Company on May 7, 2007. Its transmitter is...

 in Memphis. Like many of the stations that operated in analog on channel 7, the station has used various versions of the circle 7 logo over the years; since 2003, WBBJ has used the original, ABC-trademarked version.

Newscasts

On August 1, 2007, WBBJ debuted new graphics, logo, music, and an updated weather set. The station, which had been using Frank Gari

Frank Gari

Frank Gari is a popular singer and songwriter from the late 1950s and early 1960s. His best known songs as a performer are "Utopia" , "Lullaby of Love" and "Princess" , all of which hit the U.S. Top 40 in 1961. He co-wrote with Roger McGuinn the song Beach Ball for Bobby Darin...

's "Image News" music package since 1999, switched to "In-Sink" by Nashville, Tennessee

Nashville, Tennessee

Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...

-based company 615 Music

615 Music

615 Music is a broadcast production music company based in Nashville, Tennessee. 615 Music composes television news music packages and custom image campaigns for many television networks around the world. 615 Music also operates out of Los Angeles...

. Also on this date, the weeknight 5 o'clock newscast dropped the Live at 5 branding and returned to ABC 7 Eyewitness News

Eyewitness News

Eyewitness News is a style of news broadcasting used by local television stations in different markets across the United States. It refers to a particular style of television newscast with an emphasis on visual elements and action video...

 at 5. Local radio station

Radio station

Radio broadcasting is a one-way wireless transmission over radio waves intended to reach a wide audience. Stations can be linked in radio networks to broadcast a common radio format, either in broadcast syndication or simulcast or both...

 WFHU

WFHU

WFHU is the callsign for the radio station out of Henderson, Tennessee. and is owned and overseen by Freed-Hardeman University. It broadcasts with an effective radiated power of 10,500 Watts. The station is run by a select number of students, overseen by a staff General Manager...

-FM 91.5 simulcasts that broadcast. The ninety minute weekday morning show became Good Morning West Tennessee. Unlike most ABC affiliates, WBBJ still does not offer a full, two-hour weekday morning newscast.

Station slogans

• "The Spirit of West Tennessee" (late 1980s–1999, general)
• "The News Source of West Tennessee" (1994–1999, news)
• "West Tennessee's News Source" (1994–1999, news)
• "Live. Local. Latebreaking." (1999–2007)
• "West Tennessee's News Channel" (2007–present)

News team

Anchors

• Tom Britt - weekdays at 11:30 a.m. and weeknights at 5 p.m.; also producer
• Brad Douglass - weeknights at 6 and 10 p.m.
• Modupe Idowu - weekend evenings; also weeknight reporter and weekend producer
• Caitlyn Jones - weekday mornings; also reporter
• Keli McAlister - weeknights at 6 and 10 p.m.
• Joe Sullivan - weekday mornings; also reporter
• Daniel Wilkerson - Saturday mornings; also weeknight reporter

7 Eyewitness News Storm Team

• Gary Pickens - chief forecaster; weeknights at 5, 6 and 10 p.m.
• Mike McEvoy (AMS
  American Meteorological Society
  The American Meteorological Society promotes the development and dissemination of information and education on the atmospheric and related oceanic and hydrologic sciences and the advancement of their professional applications. Founded in 1919, the American Meteorological Society has a membership...
  
   Seal of Approval; member, NWA
  National Weather Association
  The National Weather Association is an American professional association with a mission to support and promote excellence in operational meteorology and related activities...
  
  ) - meteorologist; weekday mornings and weekdays at 11:30 a.m.
• Ryan Hoke - weather forecaster; Saturday mornings
• Brittany Patterson (member, AMS; member, NWA) - meteorologist; weekend evenings

Sports team

• Greg Hammond - sports anchor; weeknights at 6 and 10 p.m., also sports reporter
• Adam Wells - sports anchor; weekend evenings, also sports reporter
• Tabitha Hampton - assignment editor and occasional sports photographer

Reporters

• Emily Cassulo
• Ryan Cleek - videojournalist
• Gil Hollingsworth - chief photographer
• Casey Palmer - videojournalist

Notable former staff

• Lew Jetton
  Lew Jetton
  Lew Jetton is an American blues guitarist and singer, who also spent many years as a meteorologist and local television personality...
  
   - reporter, weather, and sports anchor
• Anne Pressly - reporter (one month)
• Courtney Friel
  Courtney Friel
  Courtney Friel is an American entertainment reporter for the Fox News Channel. Currently, she contributes to a number of different entertainment related programs for the network's website, FoxNews.com...
  
  - news anchor