| |
|---|---|
| City | Grenada, Mississippi |
| Channels | |
| Branding |
|
| Programming | |
| Affiliations | 33.1:NBC |
| Ownership | |
| Owner |
|
| WABG-TV,WXVT-LD | |
| History | |
| Founded | February 25, 2010 |
First air date | December 13, 2010 (14 years ago) (2010-12-13) |
Former call signs | W33CT-D (February–May 2010) |
| CBS (DT2, mapped to 15.1; 2016–2017) | |
Call sign meaning | We're NBC for the Delta |
| Technical information[1] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 181137 |
| Class | LD |
| ERP | 15 kW |
| HAAT | 572.8 m (1,879 ft) |
| Transmitter coordinates | 33°22′23.0″N90°32′25.0″W / 33.373056°N 90.540278°W /33.373056; -90.540278 |
| Links | |
Public license information | LMS |
| Website | www |
WNBD-LD (channel 33) is alow-power television station licensed toGrenada, Mississippi, United States, serving as theNBC affiliate for theDelta area. It is owned byImagicomm Communications alongsideGreenwood-licensed dualABC/Fox affiliateWABG-TV (channel 6) andCleveland-licensed low-powerCBS affiliateWXVT-LD (channel 17). The three stations share studios on Washington Avenue inGreenville; WNBD-LD's transmitter is located northeast ofInverness, Mississippi.
Due to the low-power transmission, WNBD-LD's over-the-air digital signal just misses Grenada but covers the major cities in the viewing area.
WNBD-LD is the first NBC affiliate ever based in themarket—prior to its launch, viewers in the region received NBC programming on cable or over-the-air fromKTVE inEl Dorado, Arkansas,WLBT inJackson, and/orWMC-TV inMemphis, Tennessee.[2][3] Tentative launch of the channel was scheduled for between mid-October and early November 2010. It filed an application for a "license to cover" on October 21.[4] The actual sign-on occurred December 13.[5] Soon after WNBD-LD's sign-on, it became available onSuddenlink Communications channel 9, with WLBT and WMC remaining in their channel positions.[6] It was a sister station to Commonwealth Broadcasting Group, owner of WABG-TV. While currentFederal Communications Commission (FCC)must-carry rules do not require carriage of low-powered stations, Commonwealth had the right to require cable systems to carry WNBD as part ofretransmission consent compensation for carrying WABG.
Commonwealth Broadcasting Group agreed to sell WNBD-LD, WABG-TV, andWFXW-LD to Cala Broadcast Partners for $11.7 million on October 30, 2015. Cala is jointly owned by Brian Brady (who owns several other television stations, mostly under theNorthwest Broadcasting name) and Jason Wolff (who owns radio and television stations through Frontier Radio Management).[7] Concurrently with this acquisition, Cala agreed to purchase WXVT from H3 Communications; a month later, it assigned its right to purchase that station to John Wagner.[8] The sale was completed on August 1, 2016.[9] on that date, the station went off the air, with Wagner stating in a filing with the FCC that it was looking for new programming.[10] This resulted in the WXVT intellectual unit, including CBS programming, being moved to a digital subchannel of WNBD-LD and mapped to WXVT's former channel 15. WNBD-LD would serve as an NBC and CBS affiliate until the CBS affiliation moved to WXVT-LD on June 26, 2017.
On January 1, 2017, Cable One (nowSparklight) removed channels owned by Northwest Broadcasting (WNBD-LD, WABG-TV, WXVT and WABG-DT2) after the two companies failed to reach an agreement. On February 1, 2017, the channels were restored to Cable One's lineup under a new carriage deal.
In February 2019,Reuters reported thatApollo Global Management had agreed to acquire the entirety of Brian Brady's television portfolio, which it intends to merge withCox Media Group (which Apollo is acquiring at the same time) and stations spun off fromNexstar Media Group's purchase ofTribune Broadcasting, once the purchases are approved by the FCC.[11] In March 2019 filings with the FCC, Apollo confirmed that its newly-formed broadcasting group, Terrier Media, would acquire Northwest Broadcasting, with Brian Brady holding an unspecified minority interest in Terrier.[12] In June 2019, it was announced that Terrier Media would instead operate as Cox Media Group, as Apollo had reached a deal to also acquire Cox's radio and advertising businesses.[13] The transaction was completed on December 17.[14]
On March 29, 2022, Cox Media Group announced it would sell WNBD-LD, WXVT-LD, WABG-TV and 15 other stations to Imagicomm Communications, an affiliate of the parent company of theINSP cable channel, for $488 million;[15] the sale was completed on August 1.[16]
As of August 2016, WNBD-LD merged its news operation with that of WABG-TV (along with WXVT-LD), under the brand nameThe Delta News. Prior to that, WNBD-LD produced its own evening newscasts with anchor Lakiya Scott.
| Channel | Video | Aspect | Short name | Programming[17] |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 33.1 | 1080i | 16:9 | WNBD-LD | Main WNBD-LD programming /NBC |