_Logo.png){kind=logo} _Logo.png){kind=logo} | |
| |
|---|---|
| Channels for KJNB-LD | |
| Channels for KJNE-LD | |
| Branding |
|
| Programming | |
| Affiliations |
|
| Ownership | |
| Owner |
|
| History | |
| Founded |
|
First air date |
|
Last air date |
|
Former call signs |
|
Former channel numbers |
|
Call sign meaning |
|
| Technical information[2][3] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID |
|
| Class | LD |
| ERP | 15kW |
| HAAT |
|
Transmitter coordinates | |
| Links | |
Public license information |
|
| Website | www |
KJNB-LD (channel 39) is alow-power television station inJonesboro, Arkansas, United States, affiliated withFox andCBS. Owned by Coastal Television Broadcasting CompanyLLC, the station maintains a small office in theRegions Bank Building in Jonesboro, and its transmitter is located onHighway 91/Southern Avenue inunincorporatedLawrence County, southeast ofWalnut Ridge.
KJNB-LD operatestranslatorKJNE-LD (channel 42), serving Jonesboro proper. This station's transmitter is located onCounty Road 730 north of Jonesboro (on the tower ofArkansas State University'sNPRmember stationKASU).
_Logo.png){kind=logo}
The station first signed on the air on June 1, 2015, as themarket's second commercial television station, afterABC/NBC affiliateKAIT (channel 8), which signed on the air in July 1963 as anindependent station. Until this point, Fox programming was available innortheast Arkansasover-the-air and oncable throughWHBQ-TV (channel 13) inMemphis, Tennessee (prior to the former ownerFox Television Stations' purchase and subsequent affiliation switch of WHBQ in 1995, area cable systems previously piped in that station's predecessor affiliates: WMKW-TV (channel 30, nowCW affiliateWLMT) from 1987 to 1990, and WPTY-TV (channel 24, now ABC affiliateWATN-TV) from 1990 until it lost the Fox affiliation to WHBQ).[4] Despite being licensed as a low-powered television station, Waypoint Media secured the affiliation agreement with Fox by promising to provide coverage of at least 93% of the market through its over-the-air signal and through distribution on local cable and satellite providers.[4]
_Logo.png){kind=logo}
On August 1, 2015, KJNB-LD signed on a second digital subchannel, carrying programming from CBS (as the Jonesboro area's first locally based CBS affiliate). Previously, the default CBS affiliates wereKTHV inLittle Rock,KOLR inSpringfield, Missouri, andWREG-TV in Memphis over the air and on cable, as well asKFVS-TV inCape Girardeau, Missouri, viaDirecTV. The station also announced plans to sign on KJNE-LP as asatellite station to expand the station's coverage.[5]
On September 1, 2015, KTHV was replaced with KJNB-LD2 on the Jonesboro areaSuddenlink cable system, but WREG remains on the lineup.[6]
KJNE-LD was previously K54ER channel 54 and later, K42GX; during both instances, the station served as anowned-and-operated repeater of theTrinity Broadcasting Network, with all programming retransmitted from a satellite feed. K27FC, a defunct low-power station, also served as a TBN translator. In 2010, TBN closed down many of its low-powered repeaters due to ongoing economic problems. Many of these repeaters would be donated by TBN to the Minority Media and Television Council (MMTC), an organization designed to preserve equal opportunity and civil rights in the media.[7][8]
The MMTC would later sell K42GX, along with three other translators in three other markets to New Moon Communications. They were WZMC-LP inJackson, Tennessee, WDON-LP inDothan, Alabama, and KUMK-LP inOttumwa, Iowa. New Moon had the intent to convert them to NBC affiliates.[9][10]After the transaction, on June 14, 2011, K42GX changed the station's callsign to KJNE-LP. The intent of KJNE-LP was to bring a local NBC affiliate to the small Jonesboro market. NBC was available locally on cable via eitherWMC-TV in Memphis,KYTV-TV in Springfield, orKARK-TV in Little Rock. For decades, WMC-TV serves as the default NBC station for Jonesboro.
In September 2012, New Moon placed all its stations (including KJNE) up for sale.[11] Jackson's WZMC-LP[12] and Ottumwa's KUMK-LP had their licenses canceled at New Moon's request,[13] while WDON-LP (nowWRGX-LD) in Dothan signed on as an NBC affiliate after its sale toGray Television. However,WNBJ-LD, another station unrelated to WZMC-LP, signed on in the Jackson, Tennessee, area to serve as an NBC affiliate for the area in October 2014. This was followed on January 24, 2018, by the relaunch of Fox affiliateKYOU-TV's second subchannel as the new NBC affiliate for the Ottumwa area.[14]
Four days afterChristmas Day 2014, it was announced that KAIT, the ABC affiliate in the Jonesboro area, would begin broadcasting NBC programming on a subchannel on January 26, 2015.[15] NBC was already taken, but plans for KJNE to become affiliated with any network were still all but terminated. Of the four stations New Moon Communications acquired in 2011, KJNE was the only station still under New Moon's ownership and with an active license.
In June 2015, Waypoint Media announced that it would be acquiring KJNE-LP. On July 29, 2015, Waypoint Media announced in a press release that KJNE-LP would serve as a satellite and translator of KJNB-LD when it returned to the air, with Fox programming airing on 42.1 and CBS airing on 42.2.[5]
The station was issued its license for digital operation on September 6, 2017, at which point it changed its call sign to KJNE-LD.
In July 2021, Waypoint announced that they would sell nine of its television stations, including KJNB-LD and KJNE-LD, toCumming, Georgia–based Coastal Television for $36.9 million. The sale was completed on January 4, 2022.[16]
In addition to Fox and CBS programming, KJNB-LD/KJNE-LD operates the Jonesboro market'sMeTV affiliate on its LD3 subchannel.[17] On weeknights, KJNB-LD3 and KJNE-LD3 also carry programs from theMyNetworkTV programming service, filling in programming for all time slots outside of the MyNetworkTV programming schedule with the MeTV schedule.[18][19] There is now local branding (via a separate logo) indicating this subchannel's secondary MyNetworkTV affiliation status, as well as network promotions and a mention of it on the schedule listings section of the station website and in the TV Lineup listings within theRitter Communications website.[20][18] In 2015, the MyNetworkTV website listed K30MF-D to become the MyNetworkTV affiliate for the Jonesboro area in the near future;[19] however, the addition of the programming service to KJNB-LD3 and KJNE-LD3 on September 3, 2018, means that Waypoint Media,LLC (notDTV America Corporation/HC2 Holdings) picked up the MyNetworkTV affiliation in the Jonesboro market. Prior to September 3, 2018, the default MyNetworkTV affiliates in Jonesboro wereKPMF-LD of Memphis, Tennessee, andWDKA ofPaducah, Kentucky.
The station's news department launched July 17, 2017, under the branding ofNortheast Arkansas News. Prior to that, neither its Fox nor CBS subchannel broadcast local news, choosing instead to air syndicated programming. As of 2017, KJNB-LD/KJNE-LD aired 7½ hours of local newscasts each week, all on weekdays. The newscasts aired at 6 and 10 p.m. on the CBS subchannel and at 9 p.m. on the Fox subchannel.
Lon Tegels, a 30-year veteran at various television stations, includingWXXV-TV inBiloxi, Mississippi, became KJNB's first news director. Sarah Blakely became the station's inaugural news anchor, broadcasting from a Waypoint-owned studio in Little Rock, airing segments from Jonesboro-based reporters Simone Jameson and Alexis Padilla.[1][21] Blakely also anchored similar newscasts on sister stationsWPBI-LD andWPBY-LD inLafayette, Indiana.[22] Waypoint Media's centralized news operation, known asNews Hub since June 2019, was purchased by Coastal Television in July 2021.
The stations' digital signals aremultiplexed:
| Channel | Res. | Aspect | Short name | Programming | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| KJNB-LD | KJNE-LD | ||||
| 39.1 | 42.1 | 720p | 16:9 | KJNB | Fox |
| 39.2 | 42.2 | 1080i | CJNB | CBS | |
| 39.3 | 42.3 | 480i | Metv | MeTV/MyNetworkTV | |
