Technical Profile: WTJP-TV

TV Technical Profile: WTJP

Channel:: 26
Programming:: 60.1 - TBN; 60.2 - to be: Merit Street Television; 60.3 - TBN Inspire; 60.4 - Smile of a Child; 60.5 - Positiv

Transmitter Location:: [map] [street view] Near Springville, on the St. Clair / Blount County line. Off Sullivan Lane, just south of CR-24.
Power (ERP):: 1 MW
Height Above Average Terrain (HAAT):: 1,079 feet
Antenna:: Omnidirectional
Other Information:: 41 dBu protected contour map, from the FCC.; [FCC]
[FCCdata]
[RabbitEars]; [Wikipedia]

[Facebook] TBN's Facebook page

[Studio] The station's Rosedale Avenue in Gadsden studios can be seen in this view along with various satellite dishes and a microwave relay to the transmitter site.
Station History:: An original construction permit for a new TV station on channel 60 was granted to Sterling Associated, Ltd. in 1982. The permit went through several modifications and also expired at least twice before the station finally got signed on in the summer of 1096, under the ownership of the religious Trinity Broadcasting Network (as "All American TV, Inc.")

Digital channel 26 signed on in April 2003.; This station elected to discontinue analog broadcasts sometime before the new June 12^th deadline. That sometime was apparently April 16^th, as the station is now broadcasting digitally only.; In August 2008 the station received a construction permit to increase power from 150 kW to 1 MW, and raise antenna height and go from a directional to a nondirectional antenna. The new facility debuted in March 2011. In 2014 the JCTV music videos channel was discontinued, and a Christian youth oriented network called JUCE took its place. In 2015, Smile of a Child moved to the —.3 part time and this subchannel is now labeled "COMBO" as it shares time with JUCE. TBN Salsa launched on the —.5 subchannel in its place.

The station filed to operate at lower power in February 2019 due to transmitter failure, with a Special Temporary Authority. The station would go up and down in power due to transmitter issues two more times in 2019. They would not return to full power until May of 2019.

In 2019, JUCE was discontinued, and replaced with TBN Salsa on the —.5 subchannel. In the winter of 2020, TBN Salsa moved to online-only distribution, and a Christian films channel called Positiv replaced it on the over the air multiplex.

On 1 January 2022, TBN re-branded the Hillsong Channel as TBN Inspire.

At the start of February 2024, the TBN Inspire subchannel was replaced with a slide featuring Dr. Phil and a message that Merit Street Television would be launching on 26 February 2024. TBN Inspire moved to the —.3 subchannel, in standard definition. Smile of a Child moved to the —.4 subchannel, displacing the Spanish religious Enlace channel. The —.5 subchannel remains Positiv.