WHDF
CityFlorence, Alabama
Channels
BrandingNorth Alabama's CW 15; News 19
Programming
Affiliations
Ownership
Owner
WHNT-TV
History
First air date
October 28, 1957 (1957-10-28)
Former call signs
WOWL-TV (1957–1999)
Former channel number(s)
  • Analog: 15 (UHF, 1957–2009)
  • Digital: 14 (UHF, 2001–2019)
  • NBC (1957–1999)
  • UPN (1999–2006)
Call sign meaning
Huntsville, Decatur, Florence[1]
Technical information[2]
Licensing authority
FCC
Facility ID65128
ERP21 kW
HAAT431 m (1,414 ft)
Transmitter coordinates35°0′9″N 87°8′9″W / 35.00250°N 87.13583°W / 35.00250; -87.13583
Translator(s)WHNT-DT 19.2 (UHF) Huntsville[3][4]
Links
Public license information
Websitewhnt.com/north-alabamas-cw/

WHDF (channel 15) is a television station licensed to Florence, Alabama, United States, serving as the CW outlet for the Huntsville area. It is owned and operated by network majority owner Nexstar Media Group alongside CBS affiliate WHNT-TV (channel 19). Both stations share studios on Holmes Avenue Northwest in downtown Huntsville, while WHDF's transmitter is located southeast of Minor Hill, Tennessee.

In addition to its own digital signal, WHDF is simulcast in 720p high definition on WHNT-TV's second digital subchannel (19.2) from a transmitter on Monte Sano Mountain.[3][4]

History

The station began on October 28, 1957 as WOWL-TV, based in Florence. The station was owned by Richard "Dick" Biddle's TV Muscle Shoals, Inc.[5] Up until late 1999, that station broadcast NBC programs to northwestern Alabama and portions of southern middle Tennessee and northeastern Mississippi; it also carried some popular CBS shows like the soap opera As the World Turns.

WOWL-TV always faced competing NBC affiliates in Huntsville/Decatur (in later years WAFF, channel 48) or even Tupelo (WTVA), whose signals reached much of its broadcast area. However, it retained viewership in northwest Alabama (Florence, Sheffield, Muscle Shoals, Tuscumbia and areas known as "The Shoals" in recent times and referred to as "The Quad Cities" years ago) by offering local newscasts, which for most of the station's 40-plus years were the only newscasts concerned specifically with northwestern Alabama. Over time, though, with the Huntsville stations, especially WAFF, expanding news bureaus of their own into the Shoals in the 1980s and 1990s, WOWL-TV lost much of its traditional advantage.

By the late 1990s, this duplication had progressed to the point that the station could no longer focus solely on northwest Alabama and remain viable. The owners opted to sell to outside interests, who dropped NBC in favor of UPN in the fall of 1999, making WAFF the sole NBC outlet in north Alabama. Shortly before that, on July 19, the call letters were changed to the current WHDF, with a move of the transmitter and tower to Giles County, Tennessee. The new tower transmitted from a location high enough to provide a coverage area comparable to the other north Alabama stations, while remaining within 15 miles (24 km) of Florence as required by FCC regulations.

In 2004, Lockwood Broadcast Group acquired WHDF. Lockwood provided content delivery and back-office function from the company's headquarters in Virginia. Completed in 2007, the "hub" facility has remotely operated WHDF since that year.[6]

Logo as "The Valley's CW", from 2006 to 2020

In September 2006, both UPN and The WB ceased operations. A single new network, The CW, replaced those two struggling entities. WHDF, the UPN affiliate, was granted the northern Alabama affiliation rights for the new network earlier that year, and rebranded as The Valley's CW at midnight on July 27, 2006. (The former WB affiliate, meanwhile, became WAMY-TV, affiliated with MyNetworkTV.)

Local employees at WHDF's Florence and Huntsville facilities totaled fewer than ten, according to Census business statistics in 2010.

On July 15, 2018, Lockwood Broadcast Group reached an agreement to sell WHDF to Nexstar Media Group for $2.25 million; Nexstar concurrently took over the station's operations through a time brokerage agreement.[7] The sale was completed on November 9,[8] creating a duopoly with Fox affiliate WZDX (channel 54).

Only 24 days after the acquisition of WHDF by Nexstar closed, on December 3, 2018, Nexstar announced it would acquire the assets of Chicago-based Tribune Media—which has owned CBS affiliate WHNT-TV since December 2013—for $6.4 billion in cash and debt. Because WHNT and WZDX rank as two of the top four stations in the Huntsville market, FCC regulations prohibit common ownership of both stations. (Furthermore, any attempt by Nexstar to assume the operations of WHNT through local marketing or shared services agreements while also retaining control of WZDX would have been subject to regulatory hurdles that could have delayed completion of the FCC and Justice Department's review and approval process for the acquisition.) As such, Nexstar opted to keep the higher-rated WHNT and designate WZDX as one of the stations to be sold to Tegna to resolve the ownership conflict. (As WHDF station does not rank among the top four in total-day viewership, it could be retained by Nexstar with its duopoly partner.)[9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18] The acquisition of WHNT was approved by the FCC on September 16 and was completed on September 19, 2019.

Technical information

Subchannels

The station's digital signal is multiplexed:

Subchannels of WHDF[19]
Channel Res. Aspect Short name Programming
15.1 1080i16:9WHDF-DTMain WHDF programming / The CW
15.2 480i4:3WHDF2Court TV
15.3 WHDF3Rewind TV

Analog-to-digital conversion

WHDF shut down its analog signal, over UHF channel 15, on June 12, 2009, as part of the federally mandated transition from analog to digital television.[20] The station's digital signal remained on its pre-transition UHF channel 14,[21] using PSIP to display WHDF's virtual channel as 15 on digital television receivers.

References

  1. ↑ Nelson, Bob (October 18, 2008). "Call Letter Origins". The Broadcast Archive. Retrieved October 31, 2008.
  2. ↑ "Facility Technical Data for WHDF". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
  3. 1 2 "Huntsville, AL - HDTV". May 14, 2023.
  4. 1 2 "TV Listings- Find Local TV Listings and Watch Full Episodes". September 2017.
  5. ↑ TV Factbook American Radio History
  6. ↑ "lockwoodbroadcast.com". Archived from the original on March 24, 2004.
  7. ↑ "Application for Consent to Assignment of Broadcast Station Construction Permit or License". CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved July 24, 2018.
  8. ↑ "Consummation Notice". CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved November 13, 2018.
  9. ↑ "Acquisition of Tribune Media Company" (PDF). Nexstar Media Group. December 3, 2018.
  10. ↑ Mark K. Miller (December 3, 2018). "Nexstar Buying Tribune Media For $6.4 Billion". TVNewsCheck. NewsCheck Media.
  11. ↑ Peter White; Dade Hayes (December 3, 2018). "Nexstar Confirms $4.1B Tribune Media Acquisition To Become Leading Local TV Station Owner". Deadline Hollywood. Penske Media Corporation.
  12. ↑ Gerry Smith; Nabila Ahmed; Eric Newcomer (December 3, 2018). "Nexstar to buy WGN owner Tribune Media for $4.1 billion". Chicago Tribune. Tribune Publishing. Bloomberg News.
  13. ↑ Arjun Panchadar; Sonam Rai (December 3, 2018). "Nexstar to buy Tribune Media for $4.1 billion". Reuters.
  14. ↑ Jon Lafayette (December 3, 2018). "Nexstar Announces Deal to Buy Tribune for $6.4B". Broadcasting & Cable. NewBay Media.
  15. ↑ Adam Jacobson (December 3, 2018). "It's Official: Nexstar Takes Tribune In Billion-Dollar Stock Deal". Radio-Television Business Report. Streamline-RBR, Inc.
  16. ↑ Harry A. Jessell; Mark K. Miller (December 3, 2018). "Nexstar To Spin Off $1B In Stations". TVNewsCheck. NewsCheck Media.
  17. ↑ "Nexstar Media Group Enters into Definitive Agreement to Acquire Tribune Media Company for $6.4 Billion in Accretive Transaction Creating the Nation's Largest Local Television Broadcaster and Local Media Company". Nexstar Media Group. December 3, 2018. Retrieved December 3, 2018.
  18. ↑ "Nexstar Media Group Enters Into Definitive Agreement To Acquire Tribune Media Company". Tribune Media. December 3, 2018. Retrieved December 3, 2018.
  19. ↑ "RabbitEars.Info". rabbitears.info. Retrieved August 13, 2023.
  20. ↑ List of Digital Full-Power Stations
  21. ↑ "CDBS Print". Retrieved August 13, 2023.
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