Technical Profile: WMBP-LD

TV Technical Profile: WMBP-LD

Channel:: 31
Programming:: 31.1 - // WALA Fox 6.1
31.2 - Telemundo
31.3 - Outlaw TV
31.4 - MeTV Toons
31.5 - The 365
Transmitter Location:: [map] [street view] Located east of Spanish Fort, east of the intersection of US-31 and Jenkins Pit Road. Co-located with WALA-DT and WFNA-DT.
Power (ERP):: 15 kW
Height Above Average Terrain (HAAT):: 1,050 feet
Antenna:: Nondirectional
Other Information:: 51 dBu protected contour map, from the FCC.; [FCC]
[FCCdata]
[RabbitEars.info]; [Wikipedia]

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[Image] A screenshot of WMBP 31.4 showing the Telemundo Atlanta logo prior to the start of a newscast. Note the 4:3 center-cut image crops out some of the image. From September 2022.
[Image] A screenshot of WMBP 31.4 showing the Telemundo Atlanta 11 pm (Eastern) newscast starting. Note the 4:3 center-cut image crops out some of the image. From September 2022.
Owned By:: Gray Television Licensee
History:: This facility dates back to an original construction permit issues to Landover 2, LLC for a low power digital TV station on RF channel 43 in Laurel, Mississippi. It was never built out, but was assigned the W43DS-D call sign.

In May 2021, a displacement application was filed for RF channel 31 from a site north of Hattiesburg, Mississippi. That same month, the license was transferred to Lowcountry 34 Media, LLC. They filed a license to cover for the facility in July 2021, when the FCC assigned it the W31FB-D call sign. The station then proceeded to "hop" from Hattiesburg to Mobile via a series of permits granted between July and September 2021. It's unclear if the station ever actually came on the air at all from any of these locations.

The station was sold to Gray Television, owners of WALA and WFNA, in March 2022. They immediately applied to change the transmit site from the AT&T Long Lines tower off Highway 59, north of Stapleton, to their WALA TV tower in Spanish Fort. That was granted at the end of March 2022. They also applied to change the call sign to WMBP-LD at the end of August 2022. On the last day of that month, it was briefly reported on air, relaying WALA Fox 10 on 31.3 in HD and a feed of Telemundo's Atlanta affiliate on 31.4 in 4:3 center-cut SD. On 1 September 2022, Gray applied to raise the antenna height slightly, while decreasing the power output to maintain basically the same coverage area. The station was reported on air again on 6 September 2022, and a license to cover was filed on 13 September 2022. In early November 2022, the station was granted a permit to change from a horizontal to elliptical polarization while also bumping power up to 15 kW. Shortly afterwards, the station requested an Engineering STA for 11.3 kW from a lower antenna height, with the new elliptical antenna paired to the old transmitter.

In April 2023, the station was noted to have updated its PSIP to show virtual channel 2.— instead of 31.—. A license to cover for the 15 kW facility was granted on 9 May 2023. Shortly thereafter, the station reverted back to a PSIP of 31.—.

At the start of August 2023 the station was temporarily taken off the air due to a lightning strike at the WALA-TV tower. It appears the outage lasted approximately one month.

A new channel called Outlaw TV was added in January 2024. In mid-June 2024 the station added MeTV Toons. In mid-September 2024 they also added The 365, which had previously been broadcast on sister station WALA-DT. It was relocated to make way for a regional sports network run by Gray for the New Orleans Pelicans basketball team.