| WJXT | |
|---|---|
| Jacksonville, Florida | |
| Branding | Channel 4 (general) Channel 4 News (newscasts) |
| Slogan | The Local Station |
| Channels | Analog: 4 (VHF) Digital: 42 (UHF) |
| Affiliations | Independent LATV (DT3) |
| Owner | Post-Newsweek Stations, Inc. |
| Licensee | Post-Newsweek Stations, Florida, Inc. |
| First air date | September 15, 1949 |
| Call letters' meaning | JaXonville (sounds like Jacksonville) Television |
| Former callsigns | WMBR-TV (1949-1958) |
| Former Affiliations | CBS (1949-2002, sole affiliate) NBC (1949-1957) ABC (1949-1966) DuMont (1949-1955) all secondary |
| Transmitter Power | 100 kW (analog) 976 kW (DT) |
| Height | 293 m (analog) 294 m (DT) |
| Facility ID | 53116 |
| Website | Channel 4's Website |
WJXT ch. 4 is an independent TV station serving Jacksonville, Florida & surrounding communities. It's transmitter is located in the Kilarney Shores section of Jacksonville with the WTLV transmitter. The station broadcasts an analog signal on VHF ch. 4 & a DT signal on UHF ch. 42. Comcast cable runs the station on ch. 3. The station is owned by Post-Newsweek Stations. Ch. 4 broadcasts from studios located @ 4 Broadcast Place on Jacksonville's southbank of the St. Johns River.
History
It signed on September 15, 1949 as WMBR-TV, the 2nd TV station in Florida & co-owned with WMBR-AM. 4 years later, the Washington Post Company bought the stations. WMBR-AM was sold in 1958 & the TV station was renamed WJXT-TV.
WJXT was a CBS affiliate for over 50 years, though it carried secondary affiliations with DuMont through 1955 (when the network shut down), NBC until 1957 (when WFGA, now WTLV, signed on) & ABC until 1966 (when WJKS, now WCWJ, signed on). For much of that time, it was the only CBS station between Savannah & Orlando & was thus carried on many cable systems between Jacksonville & Orlando.
The station had a virtual monopoly on TV in north Florida until 1957, as it's only competition came from a UHF station, WJHP-TV, which signed on in 1953 & went dark in 1956 due to lack of viewership.
After negotiations over a new affiliation agreement with CBS fell through, WJXT became an independent station on July 15, 2002. It now airs syndicated programs as well as locally-produced news programs. WJXT was replaced by WTEV as Jacksonville's CBS affiliate. The station used the Eyewitness News name & format for it's newscasts for many years, but in 2005, the newscasts were retitled as "Channel 4 News". Even though it's a Post-Newsweek owned station, WJXT does not brand itself as "Local 4" like most of it's sister stations that follow the owners "Local Mandate" standard standardization, but "The Local Station" is a close enough mention under the slogan.
HD
On January 14 2009, WJXT became the 2nd local news operation in Jacksonville to broadcast local news in HD. The upgrade saw an introduction of new opens, graphics & music. The new opens were designed in-house @ Detroit, Michigan sister station WDIV. The new on-screen graphics & FOX News Channel-like bug were designed @ Miami sister station WPLG. The music used for the HD newscasts was an updated version of The One And Only with a WJXT Signature by Frank Gari.
Since the HD transition, Channel 4 now uses all robotic & computer operated cameras. A new automated control room system using Miranda Vertigo & Ignite technology was developed as well for their newscasts.
- Channel 4 Newscasts already in HD:
- Channel 4 News @ Noon (started in HD on January 14, 2009)
- Channel 4 News @ 5 (started in HD on January 16, 2009)
- Channel 4 News @ 5:30 (started in HD on January 16, 2009)
- Channel 4 News @ 6 (started in HD on January 16, 2009)
- Channel 4 News @ 6:30 (started in HD on January 16, 2009)
- Channel 4 Weekend Newscasts (started in HD on January 24, 2009)
- Channel 4 Newscasts that will broadcast in HD, soon:
- Channel 4's The Morning Show (will be in HD on January 26, 2009)
- Channel 4 News @ 10 (will be in HD on January 28, 2009)
- Channel 4 News @ 11 (will be in HD on January 28, 2009)
DTV
The station's DT channel, UHF 42, is multiplexed:
DT channels| Virtual Channel |
Video | Aspect | Programming |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4.1 | 720p | 16:9 | WJXT programming / independent HD |
| 4.2 | 480i | 4:3 | WJXT programming / independent SD |
| 4.3 | 480i | 4:3 | LATV |
News Team
News Anchors
- The Morning Show (5-9 AM)
- Bruce Hamilton - anchors all 4 hours
- Melanie Lawson - anchors the 5 AM hour
- Casey Black - anchors the 6 AM hour (also anchors "Channel 4 News @ Noon")
- Staci Spanos - anchors the 7 & 8 AM hours
- Evenings
- Tom Wills - Channel 4 News @ 5, 6 & 10 PM
- Mary Baer - Channel 4 News @ 5, 6 & 10 PM
- Rob Sweeting - Channel 4 News @ 5:30, 6:30 & 11 PM
- Jennifer Waugh - Channel 4 News @ 5:30, 6:30 & 11 PM
- Weekends
- Adam Landau - anchors all newscasts (morning & evening)
Weather Meteorologists
- George Winterling (Chief Meteorologist) - Channel 4 News @ 6 & 6:30 PM
- John Gaughan (Senior Meteorologist) - Channel 4 News @ 5, 5:30, 10 & 11 PM
- Richard Nunn - The Morning Show & @ Noon
- Rebecca Barry - Weekends (Mornings & Evenings)
Sports Team
- John Dunlap - Weekend Sports Anchor/Sports Reporter
- Sam Kouvaris - Sports Director/Weeknights
- Sean Woodland - Sports Reporter
Reporters
- Jennifer Bauer - General Assignment Reporter
- Diane Cho - General Assignment Reporter
- Steve Douglas - Morning Show Reporter
- Scott Johnson - General Assignment Reporter
- Adam Landau - General Assignment Reporter
- Vic Micolucci - General Assignment Reporter
- Dan Leveton - General Assignment Reporter
- Vickie Pierre - General Assignment Reporter
- Jim Piggott - Investigative Reporter
- Nikki Preede - Morning Show Reporter
- Ayesha Faines - Morning Show Traffic Reporter/General Assignment Reporter
Producers
- Mimi Wachholz - Channel 4's The Morning Show @ 5 AM
- Kyle Sieg - Channel 4's The Morning Show @ 6 AM
- Stacey Readout - Channel 4's The Morning Show @ 7 AM
- Shannon Norwood - Channel 4's The Morning Show @ 8 AM
- Michelle Benabe - Channel 4 News @ Noon
- Tachana Johnson - Channel 4 News @ 5 PM
- Eric Wallace - Channel 4 News @ 5:30 PM
- Matt Stawarz - Channel 4 News @ 6 PM
- Alisha Ludwick - News @ 6:30 PM
- Aaron Sanders - Channel 4 News @ 10 PM
- Chanel LeBlanc/Kelly McCleary - Channel 4 News @ 11 PM
- Lacey Halpern - Channel 4's The Morning Show, Weekends
- Chanel LeBlanc - Channel 4 News @ 5 PM Saturday & Channel 4 News @ 6 PM Weekend
- Kelly McCleary - Channel 4 News @ 10 PM, Weekends
- Matt Kingston/Kevin Talley - Sports/End Zone
Photographers
- Jan Artley
- Josh Beauchamp
- Alphonso Campbell (Chief Photographer)
- Kelvin Carthon
- Mark Clanton
- Skip Cull
- Tommy Garcia
- Jeff Garrison
- Marty Hamrick
- David Hickox
- Matt James
- Dean Rodden
- Jim Segina
- Randy Sell
- Chris Shriver
- Jeff Sweeney
Editors
- Merin Avery
- Micah Barnes
- Ashley Barnette (Chief Editor)
- Stephen Butters
- Andrew Franklin
- Mark McCombs
- Jamie Rothman
- Sean Sorel
- Jessica Tucker
- Clayton Vandiver
News/Station Presentation
Newscast Titles
- WMBR-TV Telenews (1949–1954)
- Telenews (1954–1958)
- NewsNight (1958–1960s)
- The Six O'Clock News/The Eleven O'Clock News (1963–1967)
- TV-4/Channel 4 Eyewitness News (1960s–2005)
- Channel 4 News (2005–present)
Station Slogans
- Television 4 Eyewitness News, in SuperColor (1967–1979)
- The Eyes of Jacksonville (early 1970s)
- WJXT, As Far as the Eyes Can See (mid 1970s)
- We're The Eyewitnesses! (late 1970s)
- Jacksonville's #1 News Team (early-mid 1980s)
- We'll Take You There (mid 1980s-1992)
- Your Good Friends (late 1980s-early 1990s)
- First in News Around the Clock (late 1980s–1990s)
- TV-4, We'll Take you There (late 1980s–early 1990s)
- The One & Only Channel 4 (1990s–2005)
- The Local Station (2005–present)