united states branding whnt news 19 whnt 2 hd on dt2 whnt 3 on dt3 slogan taking action . getting results . channels digital 19 uhf virtual 19 psip subchannels 19.1 cbs 19.2 whnt2hd 19.3 antenna tv affiliations cbs owner tribune broadcasting whnt license llc first air date november 28 1963 ; 52 years ago 1963 11 28 call letters meaning huntsville 1 former channel number s analog 19 1963 2009 digital 59 2002 2009 former affiliations rtv dt2 ; until 2010 transmitter power 250 kw height 514 m facility id 48693 transmitter coordinates 34 44 19.7 n 86 31 57.9 w 34.738806 n 86.532750 w 34.738806 ; 86.532750 licensing authority fcc public license information profile cdbs website whnt.com whnt tv is the cbs affiliated television station for the tennessee valley area of north alabama that is licensed to huntsville . it broadcasts a high definition digital signal on uhf channel 19 from a transmitter on monte sano . owned by tribune broadcasting a subsidiary of the tribune media company the station has studios on holmes avenue northwest in downtown huntsville . it also has three bureaus decatur sand mountain albertville and shoals florence . contents 1 history 2 digital television 2.1 digital channels 2.2 analog to digital conversion 3 programming 4 news operation 5 references 6 external links history edit whnt ad from 1966 . whnt began operations on thanksgiving day november 28 1963 the first new station to be launched after president john f. kennedy was assassinated . it has been a cbs affiliate for its entire existence and is the only huntsville area station to have never changed its affiliation . the fcc originally licensed the frequency for whnt to the city of fort payne some forty miles to the southeast . the station was founded by a former employee of birmingham station wapi now wvtm charles grisham now deceased who later added two other southern stations wsla in selma alabama and wyea in columbus georgia to his portfolio . in 1980 grisham sold whnt to the new york times company which operated it for over a quarter century . in september 2006 the new york times announced that the company would put its entire broadcast group up for sale with eight other stations affected in addition to whnt . 2 on may 7 2007 whnt became a property of oak hill capital partners which operates the station as part of local tv . on july 1 2013 local tv announced that its stations would be acquired by tribune broadcasting . 3 the sale was completed on december 27 . 4 whnt logo from the late 1970s . whnt s facilities are in downtown huntsville where the station moved in 1987 from its original location on monte sano mountain . the move was prompted by a fire that destroyed rival waff tv s studios then on governors drive five years earlier . for use during an emergency backup broadcast capabilities for news remains at the monte sano site . the transmitter and tower remain on monte sano because the mountain provides the highest elevation in the immediate area . whnt is the only major station in huntsville to operate from a facility actually constructed specifically for broadcasting purposes . waay tv operates from a former gas station waff from a former jewelry store and wzdx from an office building . in 2003 whnt allowed competing stations waay and wzdx to use space on its tower after both stations towers used on waay s property collapsed killing three men . this station first used 16 mm film for most of its commercial and news gathering . in 1979 it switched to the 3 4 inch video tape format . whnt used this system until 1998 when new panasonic dvc machines and cameras were purchased . in october 2010 the station stopped using tape . all cameras now record on digital cards and video playback for all newscasts comes off a digital server . whnt s archives the most extensive in huntsville television go back to 1973 and include a mix of film and video . the film library had been stored at the university of north alabama but has recently been returned to huntsville . in may 2002 whnt became the first station in the huntsville market to broadcast a digital signal and begin broadcasting in high definition on uhf channel 59 . whnt logo from 1986 . until november 25 2008 at 5 p.m. the station offered a 24 hour local weather channel on its second digital subchannel . it then switched to rtv which was later replaced by a similar network antenna tv in january 2011 . whnt clears the entire cbs schedule except for the saturday edition of cbs this morning which airs on whnt dt2 instead . digital television edit digital channels edit the station s digital signal is multiplexed channel video aspect psip short name programming 5 19.1 1080i 16 9 whnt dt main whnt tv programming cbs 19.2 720p whnt2 hd 6 19.3 480i 4 3 antenna tv whnt dt2 logo from 2007 when the subchannel was a 24 hour weather channel . whnt tv became a charter affiliate of antenna tv upon its launch on january 1 2011 it now is carried on digital subchannel 19.3 on april 25th 2016 . whnt2 now whnt2hd will have syndicated programming and the 9 00 pm news with robert reeves along with a simulcast of whnt news 19 noon . analog to digital conversion edit whnt tv shut down its analog signal over uhf channel 19 on june 12 2009 as part of federally mandated transition from analog to digital television . 7 the station s digital signal relocated from its pre transition uhf channel 59 which was among the high band uhf channels 52 69 that were removed from broadcasting use as a result of the transition to its analog era uhf channel 19 for post transition operations . the station was originally going to move to channel 46 but received late permission from the fcc to move digital broadcasts to channel 19 following the closure and license cancellation earlier in the year of florence station wyle which was to have broadcast on digital channel 20 . programming edit syndicated programming on whnt includes rachael ray ellen and the dr. oz show . news operation edit whnt has been noted for live coverage of breaking news such as the shooting death of a huntsville police officer the 2006 huntsville bus accident 8 and the solving of a thirty year old murder case in september 2007 . generally speaking over the years whnt has always been competitive in terms of ratings with rivals waay and waff . in fact this station is the only one among the three major network affiliates in huntsville to have never finished in last place in the nielsen ratings . since fall 2004 whnt has used the armor doppler weather radar system in weather forecasting along with its own weather radar at its transmitter site . on august 18 2008 whnt became the first television station in huntsville to begin broadcasting all of its news programs in digital 16 9 widescreen . although not truly high definition when launched the broadcasts match the ratio of hd television screens . on april 13 2009 starting with the weeknight 5 o clock show the station stopped using the newschannel 19 name and became whnt news 19 . beginning on february 1 2010 whnt added a weeknight prime time newscast at 9 on whnt dt2 referenced on air as whnt2 . 9 it competes with fox affiliate wzdx which also airs a 9 p.m. newscast which is produced by waay . whnt also previously aired an hour long newscast at 7 a.m. on whnt2 but discontinued it in september 2010 . in november 2010 whnt added a sunday evening prime time newscast at 9 p.m. on whnt2 . following the major tornado outbreak of april 27 2011 whnt introduced a 6 30 p.m. newscast . on august 18 2010 during the 10 p.m. newscast whnt became the first station in huntsville to begin airing news segments in full high definition . the first segment was a sunset scene in huntsville s big spring park . 10 on february 2 2011 whnt upgraded its newscast productions to full high definition . during the two month transition to hd the station s newscast originated from another part of the building while the studio was completely renovated for the first time since 1987 . whnt s newscasts are in high definition from both the studio and field like many of whnt s local tv stablemates . this makes whnt the only station in huntsville to be fully hd . also all of the station s file video since october 2010 is in high definition . 11 in addition to its main studios it operates bureaus covering the shoals and decatur northwestern alabama and sand mountain northeastern alabama . references edit nelson bob 2008 10 18 . call letter origins . the broadcast archive . retrieved 2008 10 31 . ny times co. sell tv group to equity firm for 530m ; second equity group to buy a media business in two weeks . newsinc . via highbeam research january 8 2007 . channick robert july 1 2013 . acquisition to make tribune co. largest u.s. tv station operator . chicago tribune . retrieved july 1 2013 . company completes final steps of transaction announced in july tribune company 27 december 2013 rabbitears tv query for whnt programming changes coming to whnt2 on monday april 25 and the launch of whnt3 . whnt.com . retrieved 2016 04 22 . list of digital full power stations 1 archived november 30 2006 at the wayback machine . alabama set your local edition 2011 11 01 . huntsville alabama entertainment news music movies tv & more . al.com . retrieved 2013 01 08 . 2 archived september 5 2010 at the wayback machine . 3 archived january 31 2011 at the wayback machine . external links edit whnt news 19 query the fcc s tv station database for whnt tv v t e television stations in northern alabama including huntsville decatur florence and the shoals reception may vary by location and some stations may only be viewable with cable television local stations wxfl ld 10.1 dream tv wtzt cd 11.1 cozi tv whdf 15.1 cw whnt tv 19.1 cbs 19.2 whnt2 hd 19.3 antenna tv whiq wfiq 25.1 36.1 pbs apt 25.2 36.2 world 25.3 36.3 create wmjn lp 29.1 heartland 29.2 retro tv waay tv 31.1 abc 31.2 wx 31.3 qvc over the air wnal ld 32.1 pbj w17dj d 38.1 3abn 38.2 3abn proclaim 38.3 dare to dream 38.4 3abn latino 38.5 3abn radio 38.6 3abn radio latino 38.7 radio 74 wbcf ld 39.1 me u tv 39.2 youtoo america 39.3 biz tv waff tv 48.1 nbc 48.2 bounce tv 48.3 grittv wyam ld 51.1 launch tv 51.2 azteca 51.3 wyam am simulcast wzdx 54.1 fox 54.2 mntv asn 54.3 metv 54.4 escape whvd ld 67.1 daystar adjacent locals wmae 12 pbs mpb wngh 18 pbs booneville ms gpb dalton ga cable channels wamy 8 mntv defunct stations wyle 26 the wb s h jtv w46cf 46 w59cf 59 ubn w64bj 64 tbn w67co 67 tbn via wtjp tv gadsden al see also memphis tv nashville tv chattanooga tv atlanta tv birmingham tv tupelo tv v t e cbs network affiliates in the state of alabama wtvy 4 dothan wkrg 5 mobile waka 8 montgomery wrbl 3 auburn wmdn 24 demopolis whnt 19 huntsville wiat 42 birmingham see also abc cbs cw fox ion mynetworktv nbc pbs other stations in alabama v t e tribune media corporate directors bruce karsh chairman peter liguori president and ceo chandler bigelow cfo tribune broadcasting tv stations by primary 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