WEMT

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WEMT
Greeneville / Kingsport / Johnson City / Bristol, Tennessee - Virginia
Branding	Fox Tri-Cities
Channels	39 (UHF) analog, 38 (UHF) digital
Translators	43 W43BO Marion, VA
Affiliations	FOX
Owner	Esteem Broadcasting, LLC (Managed by Bonten Media Group)
Founded	November 8, 1985
Former callsigns	WETO-TV (1985-1989)
Former affiliations	Independent (1985-1987)
Transmitter Power	500 kW (analog) & 1,000 kw(digital)
Website	Fox Tri-Cities

For the acronym of WEMT, see Wilderness emergency medical technician.

WEMT channel 39 is an affiliate of the Fox Television Network for the Tri-Cities area, with the transmitter located in Greene County, Tennessee and studios in Bristol, Virginia.

[edit] History

On November 8, 1985 WETO-TV, signed on the air Channel 39. The broadcasting antenna is atop Camp Creek Bald, on the Greene County-Madison County, North Carolina boarder. The Channel 39 on the dial had previously been used for years as a translator rebroadcasting channel for WKPT-TV in Kingsport, so that UHF station could get an effective signal into Greene and Hamblin Counties. At the time of sign-on, WETO--TV was owned by East Tennessee's Own, Inc. -- a Taft Broadcasting subsidiary (^{[citation needed]}). The station had a general entertainment format of cartoons, sitcoms, old movies, and religious programming. In 1987 WETO-TV was sold to the TVX Broadcast Group (^{[citation needed]}) and became an affiliate of the Fox network on May 3, 1987. In 1988, WETO-TV was sold to Michael Thompson and this ownership was known as MT Communications. The station was renamed WEMT, originally used by Bangor, Maine ABC affiliate WVII-TV. Also then sister stations 30 WCAY (becoming WXMT and today is WUXP) Nashville and 30 WMKW (becoming WLMT) Memphis were also sold to MT Communications.

All three MT stations were Fox affiliates but Fox had a group deal with TVX stipulating any stations TVX sold could lose Fox affiliation. In Nashville Fox moved to competitor 17 WZTV and in Memphis to competitor WPTY. So WXMT and WLMT both lost Fox affiliation. But WEMT was the only independent entertainment station in the Tri Cities and Fox had nowhere else to go so they remained on Fox 39 WEMT.

In 1992 Mass Media Communications acquired WEMT along with WLMT, and was sold again in 1996 along with WLMT to Max Media Properties, LLC. WLMT Memphis though was managed by WPTY owner Clear Channel Communications. In 2000 Clear Channel would buy WLMT Memphis. Sinclair Broadcast Group which managed 30 WXMT/WUXP Nashville (sold to another owner in the early 90's) brought the station in 2000. WEMT began digital service in 2001 on channel 38. So, until recently, 30 WUXP was again a sister station of WEMT.

On February 8, 2006, Sinclair sold WEMT to Aurora Broadcasting, Inc. [1]

WEMT's local newscast, Fox Tri-Cities News at 10 started on September 19, 2005, produced by WCYB-TV.

On September 11, 2006, Fox Tri-Cities News at 10 extended its original 30 min. newscast to an hour long.

In mid-December 2006, as a result of Bluestone Television's acquisition by Bonten Media Group, Esteem Broadcasting acquired Aurora's stock in the station, counting as a sale. Esteem would then pay USD$1.4 million in outstanding debt.

[edit] Newscasts

• Fox Tri-Cities News at 10 (10:00- 11:00 p.m.) Weekdays: Rebecca Pepin and Paul Johnson, news and sports , Dave Dierks, weather. Weekends: Harlow Sumerford, news, Marcus Lynch ,weather, and Jenna Herb ,sports.

[edit] External links

• Fox Tri-Cities
• Query the FCC's TV station database for WEMT

Fox Network Affiliates in the state of Tennessee
WHBQ 13 (Memphis) - WJKT 16 (Jackson) - WZTV 17 (Nashville) - WEMT 39 (Greeneville) - WTNZ 43 (Knoxville) - WDSI 61 (Chattanooga)
See also: ABC, CBS, CW, i, MyNetworkTV, NBC, PBS and Other stations in Tennessee