KJNB-LD

KJNB-LD

Jonesboro, Arkansas United States
Channels	Digital: 16 (UHF) Virtual: 39
Branding	KJNB Northeast Arkansas Fox (on LD1) KJNB Northeast Arkansas CBS (on LD2) MeTV Northeast Arkansas (LD3-primary) MyNetworkTV Northeast Arkansas (LD3-secondary) Northeast Arkansas News[1] (newscasts)
Programming
Affiliations	39.1: Fox 39.2: CBS 39.3: MeTV/MyNetworkTV
Ownership
Owner	Coastal Television Broadcasting Company LLC (CTA License LLC)
History
Founded	November 22, 2011 (2011-11-22)
First air date	June 1, 2015 (9 years ago) (2015-06-01)
Former call signs	K39LS-D (2011–2014)
Former channel number(s)	Digital: 39 (UHF, 2011–2018), 27 (UHF, 2018–2021)
Former affiliations	Dark (2011–2015)
Call sign meaning	Jonesboro
Technical information[2]
Licensing authority	FCC
Facility ID	187271
Class	LD
ERP	15 kW
HAAT	106.4 m (349 ft)
Transmitter coordinates	36°03′30.0″N 90°56′36.0″W
Links
Public license information	LMS
Website	www.kjnbtv.com
Translator
KJNE-LD
Jonesboro, Arkansas United States
Channels	Digital: 22 (UHF) Virtual: 42
Programming
Affiliations	42.1: Fox 42.2: CBS 42.3: MeTV/MyNetworkTV
Ownership
Owner	Coastal Television Broadcasting Company LLC (CTA License LLC)
History
Founded	December 19, 1994
First air date	December 19, 1994 (1994-12-19) (original incarnation) September 6, 2017 (7 years ago) (2017-09-06) (current incarnation)
Last air date	circa 2010 (original incarnation)
Former call signs	K54ER (1994–2005) K42GX (2005–2011) KJNE-LP (2011–2017)
Former channel number(s)	Analog: 54 (UHF, 1994–2005), 42 (UHF, 2005–2017) Digital: 42 (UHF, 2017–2018)
Former affiliations	TBN (1994–2010)
Call sign meaning	Jonesboro (disambiguation of KJNB-LD)
Technical information[3]
Facility ID	60836
Class	LD
ERP	15 kW
HAAT	167 m (548 ft)
Transmitter coordinates	35°53′27″N 90°40′26″W
Links
Public license information	LMS

KJNB-LD (channel 39) is a low-power television station in Jonesboro, Arkansas, United States, affiliated with Fox and CBS. Owned by Coastal Television Broadcasting Company LLC, the station maintains a small office in the Regions Bank Building in Jonesboro, and its transmitter is located on Highway 91/Southern Avenue in unincorporated Lawrence County, southeast of Walnut Ridge.

KJNB-LD operates translator KJNE-LD (channel 42), serving Jonesboro proper. This station's transmitter is located on County Road 730 north of Jonesboro (on the tower of Arkansas State University's NPR member station KASU).

History

KJNB-LD history

Logo used from June 1, 2015, until November 2, 2017.

The station first signed on the air on June 1, 2015, as the market's second commercial television station, after ABC/NBC affiliate KAIT (channel 8), which signed on the air in July 1963 as an independent station. Until this point, Fox programming was available in northeast Arkansas over-the-air and on cable through WHBQ-TV (channel 13) in Memphis, Tennessee (prior to the former owner Fox Television Stations' purchase and subsequent affiliation switch of WHBQ in 1995, area cable systems previously piped in that station's predecessor affiliates: WMKW-TV (channel 30, now CW affiliate WLMT) from 1987 to 1990, and WPTY-TV (channel 24, now ABC affiliate WATN-TV) from 1990 until it lost the Fox affiliation to WHBQ).^[4] Despite being licensed as a low-powered television station, Waypoint Media secured the affiliation agreement with Fox by promising to provide coverage of at least 93% of the market through its over-the-air signal and through distribution on local cable and satellite providers.^[4]

Logo used from September 1, 2015, until November 2, 2017.

On August 1, 2015, KJNB-LD signed on a second digital subchannel, carrying programming from CBS (as the Jonesboro area's first locally based CBS affiliate). Previously, the default CBS affiliates were KTHV in Little Rock, KOLR in Springfield, Missouri, and WREG-TV in Memphis over the air and on cable, as well as KFVS-TV in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, via DirecTV. The station also announced plans to sign on KJNE-LP as a satellite station to expand the station's coverage.^[5]

On September 1, 2015, KTHV/Little Rock was replaced with KJNB-LD2 on the Jonesboro area Suddenlink cable system, but WREG/Memphis remains on the lineup.^[6]

KJNE-LD history

As a TBN translator

KJNE-LD was previously K54ER channel 54 and later, K42GX; during both instances, the station served as an owned-and-operated repeater of the Trinity Broadcasting Network, with all programming retransmitted from a satellite feed. K27FC, a defunct low-power station, also served as a TBN translator. In 2010, TBN closed down many of its low-powered repeaters due to ongoing economic problems. Many of these repeaters would be donated by TBN to the Minority Media and Television Council (MMTC), an organization designed to preserve equal opportunity and civil rights in the media.^[7][8]

As a silent station

The MMTC would later sell K42GX, along with three other translators in three other markets to New Moon Communications. They were WZMC-LP in Jackson, Tennessee, WDON-LP in Dothan, Alabama, and KUMK-LP in Ottumwa, Iowa. New Moon had the intent to convert them to NBC affiliates.^[9][10] After the transaction, on June 14, 2011, K42GX changed the station's callsign to KJNE-LP. The intent of KJNE-LP was to bring a local NBC affiliate to the small Jonesboro market. NBC was available locally on cable via either WMC-TV in Memphis, KYTV-TV in Springfield, or KARK-TV in Little Rock. For decades, WMC-TV serves as the default NBC station for Jonesboro.

In September 2012, New Moon placed all its stations (including KJNE) up for sale.^[11] Jackson's WZMC-LP ^[12] and Ottumwa's KUMK-LP had their licenses canceled at New Moon's request,^[13] while WDON-LP (now WRGX-LD) in Dothan signed on as an NBC affiliate after its sale to Gray Television. However, WNBJ-LD, another station unrelated to WZMC-LP, signed on in the Jackson, Tennessee, area to serve as an NBC affiliate for the area in October 2014. This was followed on January 24, 2018, by the relaunch of Fox affiliate KYOU-TV's second subchannel as the new NBC affiliate for the Ottumwa area.^[14]

Foiled plan for an NBC affiliation

Four days after Christmas Day 2014, it was announced that KAIT, the ABC affiliate in the Jonesboro area, would begin broadcasting NBC programming on a subchannel on January 26, 2015.^[15] NBC was already taken, but plans for KJNE to become affiliated with any network were still all but terminated. Of the four stations New Moon Communications acquired in 2011, KJNE was the only station still under New Moon's ownership and with an active license.

Satellite and translator of KJNB-LD

In June 2015, Waypoint Media announced that it would be acquiring KJNE-LP. On July 29, 2015, Waypoint Media announced in a press release that KJNE-LP would serve as a satellite and translator of KJNB-LD when it returned to the air, with Fox programming airing on 42.1 and CBS airing on 42.2.^[5]

The station was issued its license for digital operation on September 6, 2017, at which point it changed its call sign to KJNE-LD.

Sale to Coastal Television

In July 2021, Waypoint announced that they would sell nine of its television stations, including KJNB-LD and KJNE-LD, to Cumming, Georgia–based Coastal Television for $36.9 million. The sale was completed on January 4, 2022.^[16]

Programming

Main channel (Fox)

In addition to the Fox network schedule, syndicated programs broadcast on KJNB-LD/KJNE-LD include The People's Court, Maury, TMZ, Family Feud, and The Big Bang Theory.^[17]

KJNB-LD2 & KJNE-LD2 (CBS)

The station's second subchannel carries the entire CBS schedule.^[18]

It is one of the few CBS affiliates in the Central Time Zone that air the soap opera The Young and the Restless at 11:30 a.m.; filling the 11 to 11:30 time slot with an episode of 25 Words or Less.

Syndicated programming includes The Drew Barrymore Show, Family Feud, and The Rachael Ray Show.^[19]

KJNB-LD3 & KJNE-LD3 (MeTV & MyNetworkTV)

In addition to Fox and CBS programming, KJNB-LD/KJNE-LD operates the Jonesboro market's MeTV affiliate on its LD3 subchannel.^[20] On weeknights, KJNB-LD3 and KJNE-LD3 also carry programs from the MyNetworkTV programming service, filling in programming for all time slots outside of the MyNetworkTV programming schedule with the MeTV schedule.^[21][22] There is now local branding (via a separate logo) indicating this subchannel's secondary MyNetworkTV affiliation status, as well as network promotions and a mention of it on the schedule listings section of the station website and in the TV Lineup listings within the Ritter Communications website.^[23][21] In 2015, the MyNetworkTV website listed K30MF-D to become the MyNetworkTV affiliate for the Jonesboro area in the near future;^[22] however, the addition of the programming service to KJNB-LD3 and KJNE-LD3 on September 3, 2018, means that Waypoint Media, LLC (not DTV America Corporation/HC2 Holdings) picked up the MyNetworkTV affiliation in the Jonesboro market. Prior to September 3, 2018, the default MyNetworkTV affiliates in Jonesboro were KPMF-LD of Memphis, Tennessee, and WDKA of Paducah, Kentucky.

News operation

Logo of "Northeast Arkansas News" (which has been being used ever since the July 17, 2017, launch of the station's news department).

The station's news department launched July 17, 2017, under the branding of Northeast Arkansas News. Prior to that, neither its Fox nor CBS subchannel broadcast local news, choosing instead to air syndicated programming. KJNB-LD/KJNE-LD presently airs 7½ hours of local newscasts each week, all on weekdays. The newscasts air at 6 and 10 p.m. on the CBS subchannel and at 9 p.m. on the Fox subchannel.

Lon Tegels, a 30-year veteran at various television stations, including WXXV-TV in Biloxi, Mississippi, is KJNB's first news director. Sarah Blakely is the station's inaugural news anchor, broadcasting from a Waypoint-owned studio in Little Rock, airing segments from Jonesboro-based reporters Simone Jameson and Alexis Padilla.^[1][24] Blakely also anchors similar newscasts on sister stations WPBI-LD and WPBY-LD in Lafayette, Indiana.^[25]

Technical information

Subchannels

The stations' digital signals are multiplexed:

Channel		Video	Aspect	Short name		Programming[26][27]
KJNB-LD	KJNE-LD			KJNB-LD	KJNE-LD
39.1	42.1	720p	16:9	KJNB	KJNE	Main KJNB-LD/KJNE-LD programming / Fox
39.2	42.2	1080i		CJNB	KJNEDT2	KJNB-LD2/KJNE-LD2 / CBS
39.3	42.3	480i		Metv	Metv	KJNB-LD3/KJNE-LD3 / MeTV & MyNetworkTV

References

1. 2 TV stations in Arkansas set to launch joint weeknight newscast
2. "Facility Technical Data for KJNB-LD". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
3. "Facility Technical Data for KJNE-LD". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
4. "Jonesboro Gets New Fox TV Affiliate". Talk Business. June 7, 2015.
5. "CBS makes debut in northeast Arkansas"
6. "Suddenlink Cable Channel Lineup Jonesboro, Arkansas" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on April 2, 2015. Retrieved November 10, 2015.
7. FCC document: “COMMENTS OF LPTV ENTREPRENEURS”, December 17, 2010
8. MMTC Website
9. "Jonesboro to Gain NBC Affiliate" Arkansas TV News Watch (July 1, 2011)
10. Malone, Michael (June 28, 2011). "New Moon Brings NBC to Four Tiny Markets". Broadcasting & Cable. Retrieved June 28, 2011.
11. Per radiotvdeals.com/ radiotvdeals.com
12. "Request for Cancellation of License, WZMC-LP, Jackson, TN, Facility Id. 68047". CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. July 30, 2013.
13. Northpine.com: March 2014
14. "KYOU to Bring Local NBC Affiliate to Ottumwa-Kirksville Area". KYOU-TV (Press release). American Spirit Media/Raycom Media. January 8, 2018. Archived from the original on August 22, 2018. Retrieved September 2, 2018.
15. "KAIT Says It Will Launch An NBC Affiliate". Arkansas Business. December 29, 2014. Retrieved December 29, 2014.
16. Jacobson, Adam (January 4, 2022). "Coastal Completes Its Waypoint Radio/TV Purchase | Radio & Television Business Report". Retrieved July 18, 2023.
17. KJNBLD (KJNB-LD) TV Listings, TV shows and schedule - Zap2it
18. "WHAT'S ON". KJNB. Retrieved October 13, 2021.
19. KJNBLD2 (KJNB-LD2) TV Listings, TV shows and schedule - Zap2it
20. "Where to Watch MeTV In Jonesboro". © 2018 MeTV National Limited Partnership. Retrieved September 4, 2018.
21. "Northeast Arkansas/Southeast Missouri Cable TV Channel Lineup". © 2018 Ritter Communications. Retrieved September 1, 2018.
22. "MyNetworkTV Affiliate List". Archived from the original on November 3, 2015. Retrieved September 3, 2018.
23. "kjnb / WHAT'S ON". Waypoint Media, LLC (© 2018 Jonesboro TV, LLC). Retrieved September 5, 2018.
24. New Jonesboro TV news launched Monday night
25. "WPBI bursts onto local TV news scene". Purdue Exponent. Retrieved August 6, 2017.
26. RabbitEars TV Query for KJNB-LD
27. RabbitEars TV Query for KJNE-LD

External links

• Official website