WJXT

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WJXT
Jacksonville, FL
Branding Channel 4
Slogan The Local Station
Channels 4 (VHF) analog,
42 (UHF) digital
Affiliations Independent
Owner Post-Newsweek
Founded September 15, 1949
Call letters meaning Jaxonville (sounds like Jacksonville) Television
Former callsigns WMBR-TV (1949-58)
Former affiliations CBS (1949-2002), NBC (secondary, 1949-57), ABC (secondary, 1949-66) & DuMont (Secondary: 1949-55)
Website www.news4jax.com/

WJXT, channel 4 is an independent television station serving Jacksonville, Florida and surrounding communities. Its transmitter is located in Jacksonville.

[edit] History

It signed on September 15, 1949 as WMBR-TV, the second television station in Florida and co-owned with WMBR-AM. Four years later, the Washington Post Company bought the stations. WMBR-AM was sold in 1958 and the television station was renamed WJXT-TV.

WJXT was a CBS affiliate for over 50 years, though it carried secondary affiliations with DuMont through 1955 (when the network shut down), NBC until 1957 (when WFGA, now WTLV, signed on) and ABC until 1966 (when WJKS, now WCWJ, signed on). For much of that time, it was the only CBS station between Savannah and Orlando, and was thus carried on many cable systems between Jacksonville and Orlando.

The station had a virtual monopoly on television in north Florida until 1957, as its only competition came from a UHF station, WJHP-TV, which signed on in 1953 and went dark in 1956 due to lack of viewership.

At the behest of the Nixon administration, the FCC investigated the Post's entire broadcasting group, including WJXT, because of the Post's role in exposing Watergate. However, this intimidation tactic failed and the Post kept its broadcasting licenses.

After negotiations over a new affiliation agreement with CBS fell through, WJXT became an independent station on July 15, 2002. It now airs syndicated programs as well as locally-produced news programs. WJXT was replaced by WTEV as Jacksonville's CBS affiliate. The station used the Eyewitness News name and format for its newscasts for many years, but soon after dropping CBS, the newscasts were retitled as "Channel 4 News: The Local Station". Even though it is a Post-Newsweek owned station, WJXT does not brand itself "Local4" like most of its sister stations that follow the owners "Local Mandate" standard standardization, but "The Local Station" is a close enough mention under the slogan.

[edit] Newscasts

Most newscasts air Monday-Friday unless otherwise noted

  • Channel 4 News - 5AM-7AM
  • The Morning Show - 7AM-9AM (7 days a week)
  • Channel 4 News at Noon - NOON-12:30PM
  • Channel 4 News at Five - 5PM-5:30PM
  • Channel 4 News at 5:30 - 5:30PM-6PM
  • Channel 4 News at Six - 6PM-6:30PM (7 nights a week)
  • Channel 4 News at 6:30 - 6:30PM-7PM
  • The Ten O'Clock News - 10PM-11PM (7 nights a week)
  • Channel 4 News at Eleven - 11PM-11:30PM

[edit] External links