WGMB-TV

WGMB-TV
Baton Rouge, Louisiana United States

City	Baton Rouge
Branding	Fox 44 (general) Fox 44 News (news)
Slogan	So Fox 44
Channels	Digital: 45 (UHF) Virtual: 44 (PSIP)
Subchannels	44.1 Fox 44.2 The CW
Affiliations	Fox
Owner	Nexstar Broadcasting Group (Nexstar Broadcasting, Inc.)
Founded	September 21, 1990
First air date	August 11, 1991 (1991-08-11)
Call letters' meaning	Galloway Media Broadcasting (former owner) or GuMBo
Sister station(s)	WVLA-TV, WBRL-CD, KZUP-CD
Former channel number(s)	Analog: 44 (UHF, 1991–2009)
Former affiliations	Secondary: PTEN (1993–1996)
Transmitter power	1000 kW
Height	424 m
Facility ID	12520
Transmitter coordinates	30°19′35.4″N 91°16′36.4″W / 30.326500°N 91.276778°W / 30.326500; -91.276778
Licensing authority	FCC
Public license information:	Profile CDBS
Website	www.brproud.com

WGMB-TV ("Fox 44") is the local Fox affiliate for Baton Rouge, Louisiana. It is owned by Nexstar Broadcasting Group, and is sister station to the area's The CW affiliate, WBRL-CD. WGMB also shares facilities and staff with WVLA-TV (channel 33) and KZUP-CD (channel 19). WGMB's transmitter is located near Addis, Louisiana, while broadcasting from shared studios at Perkins Rowe Town Center in Baton Rouge. The station transmits its digital signal on UHF channel 45. The station is seen via satellite through DirecTV, Dish Network and AT&T U-verse and on cable Cox Communications.

History

The station first signed on August 11, 1991, making Baton Rouge the last of the Top 100 Nielsen Designated Market Areas to receive a Fox affiliate. The station was originally owned by the Galloway family, whose broadcast holdings operated under the Communications Corporation of America banner. It took five years to bring Fox to Baton Rouge, as the FCC licensed channel 44 to Baton Rouge in 1983 and several potential buyers sought a license. One company, Parish Family Television expressed an interest in broadcasting an independent station affiliated with the network in 1986 with the call letters WPFT. Delays occurred as Southwest Multimedia of Houston expressed an ownership interest in Parish Family Television and rival company Louisiana Super Communications objected to this sale. After Southwest Multimedia bowed out of the ownership stake, Thomas Galloway of Lafayette purchased the license from PFTV in November 1990. The station installed an antenna on WVLA's tower, bought from future sister station WNTZ's parent company at the time, Delta Media Corporation. From April 1990 to February 1991, local NBC affiliate WVLA aired week-delayed episodes of Fox shows such as The Simpsons, Married... with Children, and In Living Color.

In addition to its Fox affiliation, WGMB also carried several syndicated movie packs including Columbia Pictures' Night at the Movies and Universal Television's Action Pack and was a secondary affiliate of PTEN in its early years of operation. In 1996, WGMB became a sister station of WVLA when Thomas Galloway's son, Sheldon, purchased the NBC affiliate from businessman Cyril Vetter. Sheldon had previously held a stake in WGMB but sold it to his father to make it easier for him to buy WVLA.^[1]

The station originally broadcast from Florida Blvd, until the Galloways purchased WVLA. In 1999, WGMB, along with WVLA, WBBR (now WBRL), and WZUP (now KZUP), moved to their current studios on Perkins Road in Baton Rouge.

In June 2006, owner ComCorp filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. ComCorp said in a press release viewers and staff would see no changes at the station.^[2]^[3]^[4]^[5]

On April 24, 2013, ComCorp announced the sale of its entire group, including WGMB-TV, to the Nexstar Broadcasting Group.^[6] The local marketing agreement for WVLA-TV (which was to be sold to Mission Broadcasting, but it was later withdrawn) is included in the deal. The sale was completed on January 1, 2015.^[7]

The station did not produce a local newscast until 2007; however, it usually broadcast children's events and programming from around the Baton Rouge area in the 1990s as part of its Fox 44 Kids Club. One locally-produced show was Fox Rox Saturday, which aired in the late 1990s on Saturday mornings. WGMB also aired one high school football game each week during the fall from the Baton Rouge area in the early 2000s.

Digital television

Digital channels

The station's digital signal is multiplexed:

Channel	Video	Aspect	PSIP Short Name	Programming^[8]
44.1	720p	16:9	WGMB-DT	Main WGMB-TV programming / Fox
44.2	480i	4:3	WBRL-CW	Simulcast of WBRL-CD

Analog-to-digital conversion

WGMB-TV shut down its analog signal, over UHF channel 44, 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 digital signal remained on its pre-transition UHF channel 45.^[9]^[10] Through the use of PSIP, digital television receivers display the station's virtual channel as its former UHF analog channel 44.

As part of the SAFER Act,^[11] WGMB-TV kept its analog signal on the air until June 26 to inform viewers of the digital television transition through a loop of public service announcements from the National Association of Broadcasters.

Due to its signal strength, the station can be seen over the air in a large portion of the Lafayette (Acadiana region) and New Orleans viewing area's.

Programming

Some of WGMB's syndicated lineup consists of: The Middle, The Big Bang Theory, Judge Judy, The Real, and Hot Bench

Newscasts

Original Fox 44 News logo for WGMB

On March 12, 2007, WGMB debuted a local newscast entitled Fox News Louisiana airing weeknights at 9 p.m. In the summer of 2008, the newscast was rebranded as Fox News Baton Rouge. WGMB also produces and pre-records the 9 p.m. newscast for sister station KADN-TV in Lafayette, and formerly did so for KMSS-TV in Shreveport. The KMSS-TV evening newscast is now handled by sister station KTAL. The newscast was expanded to an hour in February 2013.

On August 20, 2007, WGMB debuted Fox News Louisiana AM to counter the national morning shows; the newscast, anchored by Rachel Slavik and Lauren Unger, featured eight weather updates an hour from meteorologist Jesse Gunkel. It also was simulcast on sister station WNTZ in Alexandria, although news from that area rarely made it to the program. On December 2, 2008, WGMB cancelled the AM newscast due to cost cuts; at the same time the station also laid off an undisclosed number of employees. WGMB’s sister station, NBC affiliate WVLA, would continue to air its 6 a.m. local newscast, which precedes Today.

On April 28, 2009, WGMB announced the discontinuation of all locally produced newscasts.^[12] Production of the 9 p.m. newscast was then moved to sister station KETK-TV in Tyler, Texas. WGMB also aired a 30-minute sports program called The Show on Sunday nights at 9 p.m., which was also produced by KETK. On January 3, 2011, WGMB returned to producing its 9 p.m. newscast locally from Baton Rouge.

On September 21, 2015, WGMB debuted a new set and graphics, in line with other Nexstar Fox affiliates KMSS and KARD in Shreveport and Monroe, respectively. The station also adopted the news themes "Inergy" and "Extreme" (the latter also being used simultaneously on rival station WBRZ) in place of the Fox Affiliate News Theme.

On April 12, 2016, WGMB debuted a 5:30pm weekday newscast.

References

↑ Deal struck to sell TV Channel 33, The Advocate, February 10, 1996
↑ TV station parents told to file reorganization
↑ Tvnewsday - Comcorp Ready For Its Next Chapter
↑ TheInd.com - News | Business | Culture - Weekly - Lafayette LA
↑ :: Baton Rouge Business Report :: WVLA, WGMB getting new owners
↑ https://licensing.fcc.gov/cdbs/CDBS_Attachment/getattachment.jsp?appn=101552312&qnum=5040&copynum=1&exhcnum=1
↑ Consummation Notice, CDBS Public Access, Federal Communications Commission, Retrieved 6 January, 2015.
↑ RabbitEars TV Query for WGMB
↑ "DTV Tentative Channel Designations for the First and the Second Rounds" (PDF). Retrieved 2012-03-24.
↑ CDBS Print
↑ "UPDATED List of Participants in the Analog Nightlight Program" (PDF). Federal Communications Commission. June 12, 2009. Retrieved June 4, 2012.
↑ Baton Rouge Business Report - WVLA, WGMB eliminating production of local news

External links

Television stations in Eastern Acadiana and the Florida Parishes, including Baton Rouge and Morgan City

Reception may vary by location and some stations may only be viewable with cable television

Local stations	WBRZ-TV (2.1 ABC, 2.2 News2 Louisiana, 2.3 WX) KJUN-CD (7.1 Ind.) WAFB (9.1 CBS, 9.2 Bounce TV, WBXH-CD 9.4 MNTV) KPBN-LD (11.1 Pursuit Channel) KZUP-CD (19.1 Independent) WBRL-CD (21.1 CW) KWBJ-CD (22.1 Youtoo) WSTY-LD (23.1 The Family Channel) WLPB (27.1 PBS/LPB, 27.2 LPB/PBS, 27.3 Create) WLFT-CD (30.1 Religious/MeTV, 30.2 MeTV, 30.3 GetTV, 30.4 AntTV soon) WVLA-TV (33.1 NBC, 33.2 Laff) WBXH-CD (39.1 MNTV, 39.2 Grit, 39.3 Escape) KBTR-CD (41.1 Independent/This TV) KGLA-DT (42.1 TMD) WGMB-TV (44.1 Fox, 44.2 The CW) W48DW-D (48.1 Daystar) KLWB (TV) (50.1 MeTV, 50.2 H&I→ KDCG-CD)

Cable channels	Metro 21 Cox 4 Catholic Life

Adjacent locals	Lafayette KATC (3.1 ABC, 3.2 The CW, 3.3 Grit) KLFY (10.1 CBS, 10.2 GetTV, 10.3 Ion Television) KADN (15.1 Fox, 15.2 NBC → KLAF-LD, 15.3 MNTV) KDCG-CD (22.1 Heroes & Icons) KLPB (24.1 PBS/LPB, 24.2 PBS Kids/Encore, 24.3 Create) KXKW-LD (32.1 ASN, 32.2 AntTV) KLAF-LD (46.1 NBC) KLWB (50.1 MeTV, 50.2 Heroes & Icons→ KDCG-CD) New Orleans WWL (4.1 CBS, 4.2 Justice, 4.3 Decades) WDSU (6.1 NBC, 6.2 MeTV) WVUE (8.1 Fox, 8.2 Grit) WYES (12.1 PBS, 12.2 PBS Kids/World), 12.3 Create) WHNO (20.1 LeSEA, 20.2 WeatherNation TV, 20.3 Cozi TV) WGNO (26.1 ABC, 26.2 Antenna TV, 26.3 Escape) WLAE (32.1 Public Ind., 32.2 MHz Worldview, 32.3 CatholicTV, 32.4 V-me) WNOL (38.1 CW, 38.2 This TV, 38.3 Comet) KGLA (42.1 TMD) WPXL (49.1 Ion, 49.2 Qubo, 49.3 Ion Life, 49.4 Ion Shop, 49.5 QVC, 49.6 HSN) WUPL (54.1 MNTV, 54.2 MundoMax) Alexandria KALB (5.1 NBC, 5.2 CBS, 5.3 The CW) WNTZ (48.1 Fox/MNTV, 48.2 Bounce TV, 48.3 Escape, 48.4 Laff) Jackson, Mississippi WLBT (3.1 NBC, 3.2 Bounce TV, 3.3 Escape) WJTV (12.1 CBS, 12.2 The CW, 12.3 Ion Television) WMAU (17.1/17.2 PBS/MPB, 17.3 Create, 17.4 MPB Music Radio)

Defunct	KHMA 11 (Houma, Ind.) WCBZ 7 (The Family Channel)

Fox Network Affiliates in the state of Louisiana

WVUE 8 (New Orleans) KARD 14 (West Monroe) KADN-TV 15 (Lafayette) KVHP 29 (Lake Charles) KMSS 33 (Shreveport) WGMB 44 (Baton Rouge) K47DW 47 / K61GO 61 / K51FO 52¹ (Alexandria/Hicks/Leesville)

¹ Stations are repeaters of WNTZ-TV Natchez, MS

See also ABC CBS CW Fox Ion MyNetworkTV NBC PBS Other stations in Louisiana

Nexstar Broadcasting Group

ABC	KAMC² KCAU KMID KODE² KQTV KSVI KTVX WATN WAWV² WDHN WEHT WIVT WJET WMBB WOI WSYR WTVO² WUTR² WVNY² WWTI

CBS	KGPE KLAS KLBK KLST KOLR² KREX / KREG / KREY KTAB KXMB / KXMC / KXMD / KXMA WCIA WFRV WHBF WJMN WMBD WROC WTAJ WYOU²

The CW	KASN² KASW KCWI KGCW KGET¹ KUCW KXMB / KXMC / KXMD / KXMA WBRL WCWJ WLMT WTVW² WWCW WWTI¹

Fox	KADN KARD KCIT² KHMT² KFQX KFTA³ KFXK⁶ KJTL² KLJB⁵ KLRT² KMSS⁵ KPEJ⁵ KWKT WFFF WFFT WFXP² WFXR WFXV WGMB WJKT WLAX / WEUX WNTZ WQRF WYZZ⁴ WZDX

MyNetworkTV	KARZ KCPN² KGJT KJBO² KADN¹ KOZL KSHV⁶ KTPN / KLPN⁶ KYLE WZDX¹ WCIX WLMT¹ WNTZ WPNY WTVO¹ ²

NBC	KADN¹ KAMR KARK KETK KFDX KGET KLAF KNWA KRBC² KSAN² KSEE KSNF KTAL KTSM KTVE² KVEO WBGH WBRE WETM WTWO WVLA⁶

Other	Telemundo KKEY - KTAB¹ Independent station KZUP Independent station/Heroes & Icons WHAG TV CMS company Lakana Online ad company Yashi

Acquisitions	Communications Corporation of America Grant Broadcasting Newport Television West Virginia Media Holdings

¹ These stations broadcast these networks on their digital subchannels. ² Nexstar operates these stations owned by Mission Broadcasting. ³ Sale of the station to Mission Broadcasting is awaiting FCC approval. Nexstar will continue to operate the station. ⁴ Nexstar operates WYZZ owned by Cunningham Broadcasting. ⁵ Nexstar operates this station owned by Marshall Broadcasting. ⁶ Nexstar operates this station owned by White Knight Broadcasting.

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