WHLT
Encyclopedia
WHLT is the CBS
-affiliated television station
for Southeastern Mississippi
's Pine Belt
. Licensed to Hattiesburg
, it broadcasts a high definition
digital signal on UHF channel 22 from a transmitter in unincorporated
Northeastern Forrest County
. The station can also be seen on Comcast
channel 10 and in high definition on digital channel 433. Owned by Media General
, WHLT has studios on US 49
in Hattiesburg. Although considered a separate station in its own right, WHLT operates as a semi-satellite of sister station WJTV
in Jackson
. As such, it airs some of that outlet's syndicated
programming.
There are also programs that only air on WHLT while other ones are only seen on WJTV. Shows exclusive to this station include Entertainment Tonight
, The Doctors
, and Divorce Court
. WHLT airs separate legal identifications and commercials from its parent. This station clears all network programming as provided through WJTV except for CBS News Sunday Morning
. That show is preempted in favor of local paid religious programs. It also airs CBS News
Face the Nation
though an hour tape-delay. This is unlike its parent station, WJTV, which shows both programs as fed by CBS from 8 to 10.
, the News-Press & Gazette Company
(then owner of WJTV) launched WHLT in order to take advantage of local advertising and news opportunities in the Pine Belt region. It also allowed the Jackson-based station's signal coverage area to be expanded in Southeastern Mississippi. In 1993, News-Press & Gazette sold several of its outlets (including WHLT and WJTV) to the first incarnation of New Vision Television
. In turn, the company sold its entire station group to Ellis Communications in 1995.
Ellis was subsequently merged into Raycom Media
in 1996 after it was bought out by a media group led by the Retirement Systems of Alabama
(who bought Aflac
's broadcasting group a few months earlier). In 1997, current owner Media General acquired WHLT and WJTV (as well as Savannah, Georgia
's WSAV-TV
) from Raycom in a swap for Richmond, Virginia
's WTVR-TV
. On April 16, 2009, WHLT "flash-cut
" its signal after discontinuing analog broadcasts and began digital-only transmission. It originally applied to flash-cut earlier on February 17 but the Federal Communications Commission
(FCC) denied the station's request.
As a semi-satellite of WJTV, WHLT provides some coverage of its home territory, Hattiesburg and Laurel
. The station inserts a short news and weather update (branded as CBS 22 News) during WJTV's weeknight newscast at 10 that is anchored by WHLT reporter Beth Alexander and "Storm Team 22" Chief Meteorologist Tony Mastro. Otherwise, the station simulcasts local news from WJTV. It does not air that station's weeknight shows at 5 and 6 or weekend broadcasts. WHLT will sometime share video with its parent station for regional coverage of Mississippi. WJTV's newscasts originate from its facility on TV Road in Jackson.
Anchors
Reporters
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...
-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 Southeastern Mississippi
Mississippi
Mississippi is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The name of the state derives from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, whose name comes from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi...
's Pine Belt
Pine Belt (Mississippi)
The Pine Belt, also known as the "Piney Woods", is a region in Southeast Mississippi. The region gets its name from the longleaf pine trees that are abundant in the region.- Geography :The Longleaf Pine belt covers 36 counties in Mississippi...
. Licensed to Hattiesburg
Hattiesburg, Mississippi
Hattiesburg is a city in Forrest County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 44,779 at the 2000 census . It is the county seat of Forrest County...
, 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 22 from a transmitter 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...
Northeastern Forrest County
Forrest County, Mississippi
The median income for a household in the county was $27,420, and the median income for a family was $35,791. Males had a median income of $28,742 versus $20,500 for females. The per capita income for the county was $15,160...
. The station can also be seen on Comcast
Comcast
Comcast Corporation is the largest cable operator, home Internet service provider, and fourth largest home telephone service provider in the United States, providing cable television, broadband Internet, and telephone service to both residential and commercial customers in 39 states and the...
channel 10 and in high definition on digital channel 433. Owned by Media General
Media General
Media General, Inc. is a media company based in the Southeastern United States. Its major properties include newspapers such as The Tampa Tribune, the Winston-Salem Journal, and the Richmond Times-Dispatch, as well as numerous television stations, such as flagship station WFLA-TV.The company was...
, WHLT has studios on US 49
U.S. Route 49
U.S. Route 49 is a north–south United States highway. The highway's northern terminus is in Piggott, Arkansas, at an intersection with U.S. Route 62. Its southern terminus is in Gulfport, Mississippi, at an intersection with U.S. Route 90. US 49 is approximately 516 miles in length.It...
in Hattiesburg. Although considered a separate station in its own right, WHLT operates as a semi-satellite of sister station WJTV
WJTV
WJTV is the CBS-affiliated television station for Jackson, Mississippi. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on VHF channel 12 from a transmitter in Raymond. The station can also be seen on Comcast channel 13 and in high definition on digital channel 433. Owned by Media General, WJTV has...
in Jackson
Jackson, Mississippi
Jackson is the capital and the most populous city of the US state of Mississippi. It is one of two county seats of Hinds County ,. The population of the city declined from 184,256 at the 2000 census to 173,514 at the 2010 census...
. As such, it airs some of that outlet's 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.
There are also programs that only air on WHLT while other ones are only seen on WJTV. Shows exclusive to this station include Entertainment Tonight
Entertainment Tonight
Entertainment Tonight is a daily tabloid television entertainment television news show that is syndicated by CBS Television Distribution throughout the United States, Canada and in many countries around the world. Linda Bell Blue is currently the program's executive producer...
, The Doctors
The Doctors (2008 TV series)
The Doctors is an American syndicated talk show airing daily in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Ireland, Sweden and Finland. It debuted on September 8, 2008. The hour-long daytime program is produced by Phil McGraw and his son Jay McGraw and is distributed domestically and globally by CBS Television...
, and Divorce Court
Divorce Court
Divorce Court is a judge show about cases which only involve divorcing couples. Out of the shows currently airing in the court-themed genre, Divorce Court is the oldest...
. WHLT airs separate legal identifications and commercials from its parent. This station clears all network programming as provided through WJTV except for CBS News Sunday Morning
CBS News Sunday Morning
CBS News Sunday Morning is an American television news magazine program created by Robert Northshield and original host Charles Kuralt. The program has aired continuously since January 28, 1979 on the CBS Television Network, airing in the Eastern US on Sunday from 9:00 to 10:30 a.m...
. That show is preempted in favor of local paid religious programs. It also airs CBS News
CBS News
CBS News is the news division of American television and radio network CBS. The current chairman is Jeff Fager who is also the executive producer of 60 Minutes, while the current president of CBS News is David Rhodes. CBS News' flagship program is the CBS Evening News, hosted by the network's main...
Face the Nation
Face the Nation
Face the Nation with Bob Schieffer is an American Sunday-morning political interview show which premiered on the CBS television network on November 7, 1954. It is one of the longest-running news programs in the history of television...
though an hour tape-delay. This is unlike its parent station, WJTV, which shows both programs as fed by CBS from 8 to 10.
History
In June 19871987 in television
The year 1987 in television involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 1987.For American TV schedule, see: 1987–88 United States network television schedule.-Events:-Debuts:...
, the News-Press & Gazette Company
News-Press & Gazette Company
The News Press & Gazette Company is a media company based in St. Joseph, Missouri, wholly owned and operated by the Bradley family. It is presided by Brian Bradley and David R. Bradley, with Hank Bradley , Eric Bradley and Kit Bradley serving on its Board of Directors. All are descendants of...
(then owner of WJTV) launched WHLT in order to take advantage of local advertising and news opportunities in the Pine Belt region. It also allowed the Jackson-based station's signal coverage area to be expanded in Southeastern Mississippi. In 1993, News-Press & Gazette sold several of its outlets (including WHLT and WJTV) to the first incarnation of New Vision Television
New Vision Television
New Vision Television is a broadcast company based in Los Angeles, California. The company owns or manages 18 television stations in medium sized markets.-New Vision I:...
. In turn, the company sold its entire station group to Ellis Communications in 1995.
Ellis was subsequently merged into Raycom Media
Raycom Media
- History :Although Raycom Media dates its birth to 1996, the core of the company was formed in 1992 when Atlanta native Bert Ellis formed Ellis Communications. He eventually controlled 13 television stations and two radio stations....
in 1996 after it was bought out by a media group led by the Retirement Systems of Alabama
Retirement Systems of Alabama
Retirement Systems of Alabama is the administrator of the pension fund for employees of the state of Alabama. It is headquartered in Montgomery, Alabama. David G. Bronner is the chief executive officer....
(who bought Aflac
Aflac
Aflac Incorporated is the largest provider of supplemental insurance in the United States, founded in 1955 and based in Columbus, Georgia. In the United States, Aflac underwrites a wide range of insurance policies, but is perhaps more known for its payroll deduction insurance coverage, which pays...
's broadcasting group a few months earlier). In 1997, current owner Media General acquired WHLT and WJTV (as well as Savannah, Georgia
Savannah, Georgia
Savannah is the largest city and the county seat of Chatham County, in the U.S. state of Georgia. Established in 1733, the city of Savannah was the colonial capital of the Province of Georgia and later the first state capital of Georgia. Today Savannah is an industrial center and an important...
's WSAV-TV
WSAV-TV
WSAV-TV is the NBC-affiliated television station for the Coastal Empire of Southeastern Georgia and the Lowcountry of Southern South Carolina. Licensed to Savannah, it broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 39 from a transmitter in Pooler, Georgia...
) from Raycom in a swap for Richmond, Virginia
Richmond, Virginia
Richmond is the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia, in the United States. It is an independent city and not part of any county. Richmond is the center of the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Greater Richmond area...
's WTVR-TV
WTVR-TV
WTVR-TV, virtual channel 6, is a CBS television affiliate based in Richmond, Virginia owned by Local TV, the broadcasting arm of Oak Hill Capital Partners...
. On April 16, 2009, WHLT "flash-cut
Flash-cut
A flash-cut, also called flash-cutover, is an immediate change in a complex system, with no phase-in period.Some telephone area codes were split immediately, rather than being phased in with a permissive dialing period. An example is telephone area code 213, which was split into 213 and 714 all at...
" its signal after discontinuing analog broadcasts and began digital-only transmission. It originally applied to flash-cut earlier on February 17 but 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) denied the station's request.
Newscasts
Laurel, Mississippi
Laurel is a city located in Jones County in Mississippi, a state of the United States of America. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 18,393 although a significant population increase has been reported following Hurricane Katrina. Located in southeast Mississippi, southeast of...
. The station inserts a short news and weather update (branded as CBS 22 News) during WJTV's weeknight newscast at 10 that is anchored by WHLT reporter Beth Alexander and "Storm Team 22" Chief Meteorologist Tony Mastro. Otherwise, the station simulcasts local news from WJTV. It does not air that station's weeknight shows at 5 and 6 or weekend broadcasts. WHLT will sometime share video with its parent station for regional coverage of Mississippi. WJTV's newscasts originate from its facility on TV Road in Jackson.
Anchors
- Linda Allen - weeknight news
- Byron Brown - weeknight news
- Erin Pickens - weekday morning and noon news
- Beth Alexander - weeknight Hattiesburg/Laurel news cut-in and WHLT reporter
- Tony Mastro (AMSAmerican Meteorological SocietyThe 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) - Chief Meteorologist seen weeknights - Ken South - weekday morning and noon meteorologist
- Jason Hurst - weeknight sports and sports reporter
- Larry FedoraLarry Fedora-References:...
- Southern Miss Sports Today host - John Cox - Southern Miss SportsSouthern Miss Golden EaglesThe Southern Miss Golden Eagles represent The University of Southern Mississippi in Division I athletics. The teams compete in Conference USA....
Today host
Reporters
- Kip Smith - Chief Videographer
- Jerry Brooks - photojournalist
- Melissa Faith Payne
- TJ Werre - sports
- Tracy Armbruster
- Chris Williams
- Ross Adams
- Eric Walker