Technical Profile: WZDX

TV Technical Profile: WZDX

Channel:: 18
Programming:: 54.1 - Fox; 54.2 - My Network TV; 54.3 - MeTV
54.4 - ION Mystery
54.5 - True Crime Network
54.6 - Quest TV
54.7 - —
54.8 - The Grio
54.9 - Comet
Transmitter Location:: [map] [street view] On the west side of Monte Santo Boulevard, just south of Rowe Drive SE. On the American Tower Company tower, where it shares space with WAAY-DT and WZDX-DT.
Power (ERP):: 522 kW
Height Above Average Terrain (HAAT):: 1,723 feet
Antenna:: Directional
Other Information:: 41 dBu protected contour map, from the FCC. (FCCdata.org Link); [FCC]
[FCCdata]
[RabbitEars]; [Wikipedia]

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[Studio] Google Photos image of the station's studio on Memorial Parkway.
[Studio] Street View imagery of the station's studio on Memorial Parkway.

Owned by Tegna
History:: Came on the air in 1985 as an independent with the slogan, "We're Taking You To The Top!" according to Wikipedia. The channel didn't take Fox affiliation until 1990, but did air some Fox-carried specials from time to time. At one time was an affiliate of the now-defunct PTEN - Prime Time Entertainment Network, a short-lived "fifth network" in the mid 90's. After launching Huntsville's second digital broadcast, the station added then cable-only "WAWB-TV" to the digital subchannel for non-cable viewers. This is now My Network TV and sloganed as "WAMY-TV". WZDX was co-located with WAAY on a tower that collapsed in 2003, killing three workers.; This station elected to keep analog broadcasts on until the new June 12^th 2009 deadline.; In July 2009 it was announced that this station would be picking up the ESPN-created "SEC Network" for collegiate sporting events. In June 2011 the station upgraded from its previous 200 kW of power to 700 kW. The station's -.2 subchannel carries the Huntsville market's My Network TV affiliation, and the -.3 has the retro-television themed MeTV network. In August 2016 it was discovered that several sites are claiming MeTV will be replaced with Laff at some point in the future. In late August 2016 the station added a fourth subchannel featuring Escape TV, part of a deal between Katz Broadcasting the station's owners, Nexstar Broadcasting.

At the end of July 2017 the station received a permit to relocate from RF channel 41 to 18 as part of the FCC repacking process.

In early 2019 it was reported the station was carrying a simulcast of sister station WHDF in Florence, mapped to virtual channel 15-1 and running in 1080i, but it only seemed to last a few days before being pulled. In March 2019 it was announced that Tegna would be acquiring the station along with several other Nextstar stations across the country, contingent on the Nextstar-Tribune deal being completed.

The station moved to its post-repack RF channel 18 on 13 March 2020. Escape became CourtTV Mystery in 2020.

The station added True Crime Network and Quest TV in the fall of 2021.

In July 2022, the station added two more networks, Twist and The Grio, for a total of eight networks!

In February 2022, CourtTV Mystery rebranded as ION Mystery after Scripps acquired the ION networks.

At the end of December 2023 the Twist network was shut down. It was replaced by the True Crime Network in January 2024 until another network could be located to occupy the space.