WLBT facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
WLBT

Jackson, Mississippi United States
Channels	Digital: 30 (UHF) Virtual: 3
Branding	WLBT 3; WLBT News
Programming
Affiliations	3.1: NBC 3.2: Bounce TV 3.3: Circle 3.4: Laff 3.5: Ion Mystery 3.6: Dabl
Ownership
Owner	Gray Television (Gray Television Licensee, LLC)
Sister stations	WDBD, WLOO
History
First air date	December 19, 1953 (71 years ago) (1953-12-19) (current license dates from June 1971)
Former call signs	WJBT (1953–1954)
Former channel number(s)	Analog: 3 (VHF, 1953–2009) Digital: 9 (VHF, 2005–2009) 7 (VHF, 2009–2010)
Former affiliations	Both secondary: ABC (1953–1970) NTA (1956–1961)
Call sign meaning	Lamar Broadcast Television (former owner)
Technical information
Licensing authority	FCC
Facility ID	68542
ERP	535 kW
HAAT	624 m (2,047 ft)
Transmitter coordinates	32°12′49.9″N 90°22′56.5″W / 32.213861°N 90.382361°W / 32.213861; -90.382361
Links
Public license information	Profile LMS

WLBT (channel 3) is a television station in Jackson, Mississippi, United States. It shows programs from the NBC network. The station is owned by Gray Television. Gray Television also helps run two other stations in the area: WDBD (channel 40), which shows Fox programs, and WLOO (channel 35), which shows MyNetworkTV programs.

WLBT's studios are in downtown Jackson. Its broadcast tower is located southeast of Raymond, Mississippi. The station first started broadcasting on December 19, 1953. It became well-known because it was the first TV station to lose its broadcasting license. This happened because it did not serve the public fairly. After that, new owners took over and made it a leader in promoting fairness.

Exploring WLBT's History

WLBT began broadcasting on December 19, 1953. It was first called WJBT. The Lamar Life Insurance Company, which also owned radio station WJDX, started it. WLBT is Jackson's second-oldest TV station. WJTV (channel 12) started earlier in January 1953. A few weeks after it began, the station changed its name to WLBT. This name stands for Lamar Broadcasting Television.

WLBT has always shown NBC programs. This is because its sister radio station, WJDX, was also an NBC affiliate. For a while, it also shared ABC programs with WJTV. This continued until WAPT (channel 16) started broadcasting in 1970. In the late 1950s, WLBT also briefly showed programs from the NTA Film Network.

WLBT and Civil Rights

WLBT became famous for how it acted during the Civil Rights Movement in the 1950s and 1960s. The station strongly supported racial segregation. This was a time when laws kept people of different races separate. Lamar, the station's owner, had close ties to powerful white leaders. They also worked with groups that supported segregation. For example, a group called the White Citizens' Council even had a bookstore in the station's lobby.

The station's manager, Fred Beard, spoke on TV against James Meredith joining the University of Mississippi in 1962. He believed states should decide who could attend their schools. WLBT often ignored news about the Civil Rights Movement. They sometimes pretended there were technical problems to avoid showing NBC News reports about it. The station also gave airtime to people who were against integrating schools and allowing African-Americans to vote.

WLBT even stopped showing NBC programs that talked about racial fairness. They also avoided shows that featured African-American actors. In 1955, civil rights lawyer Thurgood Marshall appeared on the Today Show. WLBT cut off his interview. They put up a sign saying, "Sorry, Cable Trouble." The manager, Fred Beard, later said he stopped the interview because he thought TV networks were spreading "Negro propaganda."

Other TV stations in the South also disliked network news about the Civil Rights Movement. But WLBT kept its NBC connection. This was unusual because NBC usually did not allow local stations to skip its programs. Many NBC stars, like Michael Landon, spoke out for civil rights. WLBT's only competition was WJTV, a CBS station. This situation lasted until 1970.

Over the years, civil rights groups and the United Church of Christ (UCC) complained to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) about WLBT. The FCC gives licenses to TV stations. The FCC warned Lamar several times, but the station did not change. In 1964, the UCC asked the FCC to take away WLBT's license. The FCC first said the UCC could not do this because they did not own part of the station.

The UCC then appealed to a higher court. In 1966, the court, led by Warren E. Burger, ruled that the public had a right to be involved in FCC hearings. This was to protect the public's interest. After this, WLBT made some changes. They fired Fred Beard and hired some black announcers. They also started showing black church services.

In 1967, the FCC again decided in favor of Lamar. The UCC appealed again. This time, the Appeals Court said Lamar's actions were too bad to fix. In 1969, the court ordered the FCC to take away Lamar's license. Lamar appealed, but lost in 1971. WLBT is one of only two TV stations ever to lose its license for not following FCC rules on fairness.

While the FCC looked for a new owner, a non-profit group called "Communications Improvement, Inc." took over. This group had both black and white members. They kept the WLBT name and its NBC affiliation. They promised to make the station fair and open. Most of the original employees stayed. But new managers, including some of the first African American TV executives in the South, changed the station into a fair news source.

WLBT's Growth Today

WLBT became one of the first TV stations in the South to focus on local investigative news. They created a weekly 30-minute show called Probe. This show won many awards. In 1976, it won a George Foster Peabody award for a story called "Power Politics in Mississippi."

In 1979, several groups that wanted the license joined together. They formed TV-3, Inc. This group, mostly led by black members, was given the license. They took control of the station on January 9, 1980. In 1984, one of these groups, Civic Communications, bought out the others. Frank Melton, who later became mayor of Jackson, became the CEO.

In 2000, Melton sold WLBT to Liberty Corporation. Later, Liberty merged with Raycom Media in 2006.

Sale to Gray Television

On June 25, 2018, Gray Television announced it would merge with Raycom Media. This deal meant Gray Television would own WLBT, WDBD, and WLOO. The sale was approved on December 20, 2018. It was completed on January 2, 2019. This merger gave WLBT new sister stations in nearby cities. These include KNOE-TV in Monroe, Louisiana, and WTOK-TV in Meridian.

WLBT Tower Collapses

WLBT has had two major tower collapses. On October 23, 1997, three workers were replacing wires on WLBT's 1,999-foot (609 m) tall tower. The tower collapsed, and the three workers died. The collapse knocked WLBT and the local PBS station WMPN off the air for several hours. WLBT started broadcasting again using a smaller, 100-foot (30 m) tower. This tower only reached about half of its usual viewing area. A new 2,000-foot (610 m) tower was finished in 1999.

The 1997 collapse was not the first time WLBT's tower fell. On March 3, 1966, the Candlestick Park Tornado hit the original tower and transmitter building. This tornado was one of only two F5 tornadoes in Mississippi's history. WLBT engineers used the same smaller standby tower after this collapse. A replacement tower was built later in 1966. This new tower was one of the tallest buildings east of the Mississippi River. It was used until the second collapse in 1997.

WLBT's Programming

WLBT shows many popular syndicated programs. These include Jeopardy!, Entertainment Tonight, RightThisMinute, and Inside Edition. Jackson is one of the few places where Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune are on different stations. Wheel of Fortune airs on WAPT.

After 1971, WLBT stopped showing two programs. One was the miniseries Freedom Road, which was filmed nearby. The other was the cartoon show God, the Devil and Bob. This cartoon was stopped because some religious groups did not like it.

WLBT News Coverage

For most of the last 30 years, WLBT has been the top news station in Jackson. It has the only helicopter in the market used for reporting breaking news and traffic. In March 2008, the station started a 4 p.m. weekday newscast. This was the first of its kind in Jackson. In October 2010, WLBT began broadcasting its local news in high definition (HD).

When American Spirit Media took over WDBD, WLBT started producing WDBD's newscasts. This happened on November 12, 2012. WLBT now produces all of WDBD's news programs. However, the 10 p.m. news on WLOO (formerly WUFX) was stopped. This was because it would compete with WLBT's own news. WDBD also added Saturday and Sunday evening news shows.

All newscasts on WDBD are made at WLBT's studios. They use different on-air graphics to show they are Fox-branded newscasts. WLBT and WDBD share many of the same news reporters and anchors. They work together as one news department called Mississippi News Now.

Former News Staff to Know

• Woodie Assaf – He was a weather reporter from 1953 to 2001. He was the longest-serving weather reporter in the United States.
• Randall Pinkston – He was a reporter and anchor from 1971 to 1974. He later became a CBS News correspondent.

Technical Information

Digital Channels

WLBT's digital signal is divided into several subchannels:

Switching to Digital TV

WLBT stopped broadcasting its old analog signal on June 12, 2009. This was part of a national change to digital television. The station's digital signal moved to VHF channel 7. However, viewers had trouble receiving the signal on channel 7. So, on January 14, 2010, WLBT moved to UHF channel 30. The old channel 7 transmitter was then moved to its sister station, WDAM-TV, in Laurel–Hattiesburg.