WHTN
WHTN, virtual channel 39 (UHF digital channel 16), is a CTN owned-and-operated television station serving Nashville, Tennessee, United States that is licensed to Murfreesboro. The station is owned by the Clearwater, Florida-based Christian Television Network. WHTN's studios are located on Lebanon Road in Mount Juliet, and its transmitter is located on Lone Oak Road near Gladeville. WHTN offers 24-hour religious programming, much of which is produced either locally or at the CTN home base in Florida.
| Murfreesboro/Nashville, Tennessee United States | |
|---|---|
| City | Murfreesboro, Tennessee |
| Channels | Digital: 16 (UHF) Virtual: 39 (PSIP) |
| Branding | CTN Middle Tennessee (sometimes called "Nashville 39") |
| Programming | |
| Affiliations | CTN (O&O; 1986–present) |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | Christian Television Network, Inc. |
| History | |
| First air date | December 30, 1983 |
| Former call signs | WFYZ (1983–1985) |
| Former channel number(s) | Analog: 39 (UHF, 1983–2009) Digital: 38 (UHF, 2009–2019) |
| Former affiliations | Analog/DT1: Independent (1983–1986) America's Store DT2: CTNi (2008–2017) |
| Call sign meaning | Heart of TeNnessee |
| Technical information | |
| Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 11117 |
| Class | DT |
| ERP | 900 kW |
| HAAT | 250 m (820 ft) |
| Transmitter coordinates | 36°4′58″N 86°25′52″W |
| Links | |
| Public license information | Profile LMS |
| Website | www |
On cable, the station is available on Comcast Xfinity channel 21 and Charter Spectrum channel 10. It is also carried on channel 39 on DirecTV and Dish Network.[1]
History
WHTN signed on as WFYZ on December 30, 1983, with a general entertainment format featuring cartoons, sitcoms, movies and music videos. It was originally owned by Murfreesboro TV Corporation. In 1984, lacking the resources to grow and amidst signal problems in parts of Nashville, the station's management realized it was unable to compete against fellow independent stations WCAY-TV (channel 30, then owned by TVX, Inc., now WUXP-TV) and WZTV (channel 17, then owned by Multimedia). It was bought by businessman Bob Hudson and its callsign changed to WHTN ("Hudson Television Nashville"; the radio station he bought in a nearby area was likewise temporarily changed to WHRD ("Hudson Radio Dickson")). Hudson experimented with long-form, limited-commercial programs such as feature films with only two commercial breaks. This format also failed to gain a sizable audience. By 1985, the station shifted to a 24-hour music video format. Later in 1985, the station was sold to CTN and flipped to an all-religious format at the beginning of 1986.
Digital television
Digital channel
| Channel | Video | Aspect | PSIP Short Name | Programming[2] |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 39.1 | 1080i | 16:9 | WHTN-DT | Main WHTN programming / CTN |
Analog-to-digital conversion
WHTN shut down its analog signal, over UHF channel 39, 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 remained on its pre-transition UHF channel 38.[3] Through the use of PSIP, digital television receivers display the station's virtual channel as its former UHF analog channel 39.
Spectrum incentive auction results
Due to the station's participation in the FCC's 2016–17 spectrum incentive auction, WHTN filed for a construction permit to relocate its digital allocation from channel 38 to channel 16 on October 18, 2019, as a result of the spectrum repacking.
Newscast titles
- News 39 (1983–1985)
- NewsCenter 39 (1985–1986)
References
- CTN-WHTN Channel Table
- RabbitEars TV Query for WHTN
- "DTV Tentative Channel Designations for the First and the Second Rounds" (PDF). Retrieved 2012-03-24.
External links
- Official website
- WHTN in the FCC's TV station database
- BIAfn's Media Web Database -- Information on WHTN-TV