states branding newschannel 7 panama city cw dt2 wecp tv dt3 slogan coverage you can count on tv now dt2 channels digital 18 uhf virtual 7 psip subchannels 7.1 nbc 7.2 the cw via the cw plus 7.3 cbs affiliations nbc since 1982 also from 1953 1972 owner gray television gray television licensee llc first air date december 1 1953 ; 62 years ago 1953 12 01 call letters meaning james harrison gray founder of gray television sister station s wecp ld wtvy wrgx ld wctv wswg former callsigns wjdm tv 1953 1960 former channel number s analog 7 vhf 1953 2009 digital 8 vhf until 2009 7 vhf 2009 2015 former affiliations independent 1953 abc 1953 1982 ; secondary until 1972 dumont secondary 1953 1955 cbs secondary 1953 1961 transmitter power 67 kw height 261.8 m class dt facility id 73136 transmitter coordinates 30 26 0 n 85 24 51 w 30.43333 n 85.41417 w 30.43333 ; 85.41417 licensing authority fcc public license information profile cdbs website wjhg.com wjhg tv is the nbc affiliated television station in panama city florida . it broadcasts a high definition digital signal on uhf channel 18 or virtual channel 7.1 via psip from a transmitter on sr 20 in unincorporated youngstown . owned by gray television the station is sister to low powered cbs affiliate wecp ld and the two outlets share studios on front beach road sr 30 in panama city beach . contents 1 history 1.1 circle 7 logo 2 digital television 2.1 digital channels 2.2 analog to digital conversion 3 notable former personalities 4 references 5 external links history edit wjhg was founded on december 1 1953 as wjdm tv as was owned by local businessman j.d. manley . it became known by many people as wait just a darn minute a play on its call letters because it would frequently go off the air with technical problems . citation needed at first the station aired local programming such as church services and wrestling and went as an independent outlet for a short period of time before securing a primary affiliation with nbc and secondary affiliations with cbs and abc . mel wheeler purchased the station in 1957 and in 1960 james harrison gray the founder of gray communications bought the station and changed the call letters to the current wjhg tv after his initials . wjhg dropped cbs in the 1960s after wtvy in dothan alabama became the default cbs affiliate for panama city as well . that station s transmitter in bethlehem florida is technically located in the panama city market even though its primary coverage area is the wiregrass region of southeastern alabama . on august 1 1972 wjhg along with then sister station ktve in el dorado arkansas switched its primary affiliation to abc leaving the area without a primary nbc affiliate until wdtb now wmbb signed on in 1973 as the nbc affiliate . 1 in 1982 wmbb and wjhg switched networks with this station going back to nbc . in 1998 wjhg was almost sold when the phipps family sold wctv in tallahassee to gray communications . this would have violated the fcc s pre 1996 ownership rules because wjhg s grade b signal covers the extreme western parts of the tallahassee market . the 1996 telecommunications act allowed for overlapping fringe signals so gray kept wjhg . instead gray ended up selling its flagship station walb tv in albany georgia because its city grade signal overlapped that of wctv s in the southwestern georgia portion of the tallahassee market which was still protected under fcc rules . in 2002 gray bought most of benedek broadcasting s stations including wtvy whose transmitter provides a signal that covers all the way from fort walton beach florida to troy alabama . by this time signal contours were no longer an issue and gray could keep both stations . since both stations had traditionally been available on cable in both the dothan and panama city area wjhg has run wtvy stories that take place in those parts of northwestern florida that are in northern part of the panama city market . meanwhile wtvy has run wjhg stories focusing on panama city and the coast . sometimes wtvy will run its own stories on panama city but wjhg did not cover dothan at all southeastern alabama s default nbc affiliate was wsfa from montgomery . gray launched low powered wrgx ld as a dothan based nbc affiliate on june 1 2013 ending wjhg s availability in the dothan market . 2 on june 28 2010 wjhg began broadcasting their newscasts in 16 9 enhanced definition widescreen . circle 7 logo edit the station used the circle 7 logo as far back as the 1950s without objection from abc . at some point however the network trademarked the logo for exclusive use by its owned and operated stations that shared the channel 7 dial position in several major television markets across the nation . in 1982 when gray communications switched wjhg s network affiliation to nbc abc ordered wjhg to cease using the logo . station manager ray h. holloway produced archival film and still photographs that showed the local station had been using the circle 7 logo longer than the network . in order to bring the matter to a quick and satisfactory end the station elected to modify the logo . the modification was minor the bottom of the circle was left open but enough to pacify executives at abc in new york city who were upset over the station s decision to defect to nbc . however there are non abc stations still using designs similar to the circle 7 logo including two of sunbeam television s stations nbc outlet whdh in boston and fox affiliate wsvn in miami . digital television edit digital channels edit the station s digital signal is multiplexed channel video aspect psip short name programming 3 7.1 1080i 16 9 wjhg hd main wjhg tv programming nbc 7.2 480i 4 3 wjhg cw panama city cw 7.3 cbs sd simulcast of wecp ld analog to digital conversion edit wjhg tv shut down its analog signal over vhf channel 7 on june 12 2009 the official date in which full power television stations in the united states transitioned from analog to digital broadcasts under federal mandate . the station s digital signal relocated from its pre transition vhf channel 8 to channel 7 . 4 on december 19 2012 wjhg received a construction permit to move from vhf channel 7 to uhf channel 18 previously occupied by panama city sister station wecp . 5 wjhg s move to digital channel 18 retaining virtual 7 and wecp s to channel 29 virtual 18 took place on may 21 2015 with the fcc issuing the station s license on june 5 2015 . notable former personalities edit jake bell sports anchor reporter feature reporter 2000 2002 kristen berset anchor producer now at wusa tv in washington earl hutto news sports anchor 1960s 70s ; retired u.s. congressman 6 shepard smith anchor reporter now at fox news david steele sports anchor mid 1970s ; now with sun sports and the nba s orlando magic references edit http www.americanradiohistory.com hd2 idx business magazines archive bc idx 72 ocr 1972 09 25 bc ocr page 0032.pdf search % 22ktve % 20abc % 201972 % 22 phillips greg may 6 2013 . dothan getting nbc affiliate . dothan eagle . retrieved may 13 2013 . 1 dtv tentative channel designations for the first and the second rounds pdf . retrieved 2012 03 24 . http licensing.fcc.gov prod cdbs pubacc auth files 1500105.pdf h.r. 5107 . government printing office . retrieved 26 september 2013 . external links edit wjhg tv newschannel 7 query the fcc s tv station database for wjhg v t e television stations in the eastern florida panhandle including panama city stations wjhg 7.1 nbc 7.2 the cw 7.3 cbs 7.4 accuwx wmbb 13.1 abc 13.2 metv 13.3 escape 13.4 laff wecp ld 18.1 cbs 18.2 mntv 18.3 accuwx wpfn cd 22 youtoo wpgx 28.1 fox 28.2 bounce tv 28.3 grit wpct 46.1 tourist 46.2 retro tv wbif 51.1 daystar wfsg 56.1 pbs defunct wpaf 2 ind w06cq 6 ind wweo cd 24 fn w34dh 34 silent see also dothan tv florida broadcast television areas by city fort myers gainesville jacksonville miami orlando pensacola panama city tallahassee tampa st. petersburg west palm beach v t e broadcast television in southeast alabama including dothan and ozark reception may vary by location and some stations may only be viewable with cable television local stations wdiq wgiq 2.1 43.1 pbs apt wtvy 4.1 cbs 4.2 mntv metv 4.3 the cw 4.4 nbc wjjn ld 5 ind fn wdhn 18.1 abc 18.2 escape 18.3 laff wrgx ld 23.1 nbc wdfx 34.1 fox 34.2 bounce tv 34.3 grittv adjacent locals panama city wjhg 7.1 nbc 7.2 the cw 7.3 cbs wecp ld 18.1 cbs 18.2 mntv jtv 18.3 accuwx wbif 51.1 daystar montgomery wsfa 12.1 nbc 12.2 bounce tv 12.3 grittv wdsf ld 19.1 mntv drtv 19.2 buzzr 19.3 gettv waxc ld 31.1 retro tv waao ld 40.1 retro tv wiyc 48.1 cozi tv v t e nbc network affiliates in the state of florida wesh 2 daytona beach orlando wptv 5 west palm beach wtvj 6 miami wjhg 7 panama city wfla 8 tampa wnbw 9.1 gainesville wtlv 12 jacksonville wbbh 20 fort myers wtwc 40 tallahassee see also abc cbs cw fox ion mynetworktv nbc pbs other stations in florida v t e gray television abc network affiliates kcrg kgns 1 kjct knoe 1 kolo kota khsd ksfy kaby kpry kspr 2 wbko whsv wjrt wtok wtvg wvaw cbs network affiliates kalb 1 kgwn kstf kktv kmvt knoe knpl koln kgin kosa kwch kbsd kbsh kbsl kwtx kbtx kxii kxjb kylx wagm 1 wcav wctv wswg wdbj wecp wibw wifr wiye wkyt wymt wrdw wsaw wsvf 1 wtvy wvlt the cw network affiliates 1 kbtx kcwy kgwn kstf kjct knoe kscw ksfy kaby kpry kwtx kxjb kycw kylx wagt wbko wbxx wjhg wkyt wmtv wqcw wswg wtok wtvg wymt fox network affiliates kevn kiit kndx kxnd ksvt kxii 1 wagm wahu wbko 1 wluc 1 wova wsvf wzaw mynetworktv affiliates 1 kktv kosa ksnb kxii kyes wahu wctv wecp whsv wibw witn wrdw wsaw wsaz wswg wtok wtvy wiye wvlt nbc network affiliates kalb kcwy kfyr kqcd kmot kumv kgns kkco knop ksnb ktuu kvly kytv wagt weau wilx witn wjhg wluc wmtv wndu wowt wrgx wsaz wtap other stations tel kgns 1 kkco 1 uni kdcu 3 ind. k17dl d 4 acquisitions benedek broadcasting hoak media schurz communications 1 these stations except for kscw & wqcw broadcast these networks on their digital subchannels . 2 owned by schurz communications gray operates kspr through a ssa . 3 owned by entravision communications gray operates kdcu through a jsa . 4 owned by branson visitors tv ; gray holds a 50.1 % interest in this company . retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title wjhg tv & oldid 742972283 categories nbc network affiliatestelevision channels and stations established in 1953television stations in panama city floridagray television1953 establishments in floridahidden categories all articles with unsourced statementsarticles with unsourced statements from june 2016 navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to wikipediawikipedia store interaction helpabout wikipediacommunity portalrecent changescontact page tools what links hererelated changesupload filespecial 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