Technical Profile: WJTC-DT

TV Technical Profile: WJTC

Channel:: 35
ATSC 3.0 Programming:: 44.1 - Independent HD
3.1 - WEAR // ABC HD
15.1 - WPMI // NBC HD
Transmitter Location:: [map] [street view | alt. view] [bird's eye] Just east of CR-87 in Baldwin County, south of I-10. Along the aptly-named Channel 44 Road. FM station WPCS is also on this tower.
Power (ERP):: 1 MW
Height Above Average Terrain (HAAT):: 1,490 feet
Antenna:: Directional
Other Information:: 41 dBu protected contour map, from the FCC. (FCCdata.org Link); [FCC]
[FCCdata]
[RabbitEars]; [Wikipedia]
[Facebook]; Owned by Deerfield Media, operated via LMA by Sinclair Broadcasting
History:: Licensed to Pensacola, WJTC came on the air in 1984 as an independent. Call letters stood for the last names of the three owners. It ambitiously tried lots of local programming and even local news, but when that got expensive and the ratings came up nil, they settled into the usual mix of syndicated shows and movies. The station's been through several owners and heavy financial losses. In the early 90's, Clear Channel bought all of the assets of the station and put in a local marketing agreement (LMA) with their other station in the area, Mobile's WPMI. WJTC picked up some syndicated programming off WPMI after it moved from Fox to NBC affiliation, and at one time even shared studio space with WPMI on Azalea Road in Mobile.; In July 2009 it was announced that this station would be picking up the ESPN-created "SEC Network" for collegiate sporting events. In late September (2009?) the station switched from broadcasting in the 1080i format to 720p. In late 2012 the station was sold, along with WPMI to Sinclair Broadcasting (operating the station via a local marketing agreement (LMA) with Deerfield Media) from Newport Television. Grit TV was added as a subchannel in late December 2014. In October 2017, Grit was added to WFNA's -.4 subchannel; it's unknown if it will remain here or will be replaced with something else.

The station received a permit from the FCC to relocate from RF channel 45 to 35 as part of the repacking process in July 2017.

The station added Dabl to the —.3 subchannel in October 2019.

The station moved to its post-repack RF channel 35 slot in the spring of 2020. The station announced in the summer of 2020 the need to re-scan for over-the-air viewers, first a date in August, then 22 September 2020. In September 2020, the FCC proposed a fine against this station for failure to negotiate a carraige agreement with AT&T (DirecTV and U-Verse) in good faith. The fine, if ratified, would be $512,228. The re-scan date was delayed again due to Hurricane Sally, pushing it to 21 October 2020. On that date, the station's programming moved to subchannels on WPMI's broadcast, and this station began transmitting a selection of programming in ATSC 3.0.

The FCC fined Deerfield Media in July 2021 for failing to make good faith retransmission negotiations with AT&T. A total of $1,024,456 was applied to Deerfield's Mobile entity for WPMI and WJTC.