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| Channels | |
| Branding | WREG News Channel 3 |
| Programming | |
| Affiliations |
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| Ownership | |
| Owner | |
| History | |
First air date | January 1, 1956 (69 years ago) (1956-01-01) |
Former call signs | WREC-TV (1956–1975) |
Former channel number |
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Call sign meaning | Variation of original calls, which stood for the Wooten Radio and Electric Company[1] |
| Technical information[2] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 66174 |
| ERP | 906kW |
| HAAT | 313 m (1,027 ft) |
| Transmitter coordinates | 35°10′52″N89°49′56″W / 35.18111°N 89.83222°W /35.18111; -89.83222 |
| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Website | wreg |
WREG-TV (channel 3) is atelevision station inMemphis, Tennessee, United States, affiliated withCBS and owned byNexstar Media Group. The station's studios are located on Channel 3 Drive near theMississippi River on the west side of Memphis, and its transmitter is located nearBartlett, Tennessee.
The station first signed on the air on January 1, 1956, as WREC-TV, and began regular broadcasts the following day on January 2. It was originally owned by electrical engineer and radio dealer Hoyt Wooten (who had applied for one of the first television licenses in the country in 1928), along with WREC radio (600 AM and 102.7 FM, nowWEGR). The call letters stood for Wooten's radio store, the Wooten Radio-Electric Company, where he had founded WREC radio in 1922. It took the CBS affiliation fromWHBQ-TV (channel 13, which had been a CBS affiliate since it started in September 1953), as WREC-AM had been a CBS Radio affiliate since 1929. WREC-TV's original studios were located inside thePeabody Hotel, a noted tourist attraction, in downtown Memphis.
For its first six years, WREC-TV was the only locally owned station in Memphis (WHBQ-TV was owned byGeneral Tire andNBC affiliateWMC-TV was owned byScripps-Howard). However, in 1963, Wooten sold WREC-AM-FM-TV toCowles Communications, earning a handsome return on his original investment of 40 years earlier. In turn, Cowles sold WREC-TV toThe New York Times Company in 1971, marking their first foray into television broadcasting outside of its home city inNew York City. Cowles later sold the radio stations to other interests.[3]
Four years later, the Times Company built new studio facilities for WREG on one of the highest points onChickasaw Bluff, overlooking theMississippi River. The station had long since outgrown the Peabody Hotel, and management felt that building a new studio near the Mississippi would be appropriate since Memphis has long been identified with the river. On March 2, 1975, channel 3 signed off from the Peabody Hotel for the last time, and returned to the air 45 minutes later from the new studios on Channel 3 Drive. The move also saw the station slightly modify its call sign to WREG-TV.[4] Years later, the station also maintained studio space in thePeabody Place shopping center, adjacent to the Peabody Hotel, marking a partial return of sorts to the WREC-TV years. However, the studio was shut down in 2011 when Peabody Place closed.
On September 12, 2006, The New York Times Company announced its intention to sell its nine television stations. On January 4, 2007, the company entered into an agreement withprivate equity groupOak Hill Capital Partners to sell the stations to the Oak Hill-operated holding companyLocal TV,[5][6] the sale was finalized on May 7.[7] On July 1, 2013, Local TV announced that it would sell its stations toTribune Broadcasting (which formed a management company that operated both Tribune and Local TV's stations in 2008) for $2.75 billion.[8] The sale was completed on December 27.[9]
Sinclair Broadcast Group entered into an agreement to acquire Tribune Media on May 8, 2017, for $3.9 billion, plus the assumption of $2.7 billion in Tribune debt.[10][11] The deal received significant scrutiny over Sinclair's forthrightness in its applications to sell certain conflict properties, prompting the FCC to designate it for hearing and leading Tribune to terminate the deal and sue Sinclair forbreach of contract.[12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][excessive citations]
Following the Sinclair deal's collapse,Nexstar Media Group ofIrving, Texas, announced its purchase of Tribune Media on December 3, 2018, for $6.4 billion in cash and debt.[24] As Nexstar already ownedABC affiliateWATN-TV (channel 24) andCW affiliateWLMT (channel 30), the company agreed on March 20, 2019, to divest the WATN/WLMT duopoly toTegna Inc. as part of a series of transactions with multiple companies that totaled $1.32 billion.[25][26] The sale was completed on September 19, 2019.[27]
From its September 1997 debut until December 2024, WREG preemptedCBS Saturday Morning in order to air a three-hour Saturday morning newscast in its place.[citation needed] WREG preempts the Sunday edition of theCBS Weekend News in order to air an hour-long 5 p.m. newscast. It is one of the few stations that preempt a big three network evening newscast (the hour-long early evening newscast inventories ofNorfolk NBC affiliateWAVY-TV andGrand Rapids NBC affiliateWOOD-TV, sister stations of WREG, are also limited in a similar fashion).[citation needed] Over the years, WREG has produced many local programs, such asNews Channel 3 Knowledge Bowl andMid-South Outdoors (later known asNews Channel 3 Outdoors). The station also currently producesLive at 9, a weekday morning program that maintains atalk show-style format and thepublic affairs programInformed Sources, which airs on Saturday evenings and sometimes Sunday nights and discusses current local issues.
Throughout the early 1960s into the late 1980s, WREC/WREG claimed to possess the largestfeature film library of any television station in the United States, which was evidenced in its daily (late afternoons and late nights) and weekend programming lineup at the time. The station used some of those features for theme weeks (such as "Godzilla Week" and "John Wayne Week"), which proved to be very popular with viewers. However, like most major network affiliates in the early 1980s, WREG-TV began cutting back on the large number of movies that occupied much of its off-network schedule, a move prompted by the presence ofcable,VCRs, and the emergence of then-independent competitors WPTY (channel 24, now ABC affiliate WATN-TV) in 1978 and WMKW (channel 30, now CW affiliate WLMT) in 1983.
The station presently broadcasts 43 hours of locally produced newscasts each week (with seven hours each weekday,4+1⁄2 hours on Saturdays and3+1⁄2 hours on Sundays).
On June 13, 2011, beginning with the 10 p.m. newscast, WREG-TV became the third station in the Memphis market (behind WMC-TV and WHBQ-TV) to begin broadcasting its local newscasts inhigh definition. The switch came with a refresh of the newsroom set and new graphics, however major technical glitches occurred during the week following the conversion. In mid-2011, the WREG news studio received a major overhaul with the unveiling of a "newsplex" set (designed by FX Group) that occupies a large studio with loft areas and continues into a smaller newsroom area in the back and includes numerous live areas and a set for theLive at 9 program.
The station's signal ismultiplexed:
| Channel | Res. | Aspect | Short name | Programming |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.1 | 1080i | 16:9 | WREG-DT | CBS |
| 3.2 | 480i | NC3A | News Channel 3 Anytime | |
| 3.3 | 4:3 | AntenTV | Antenna TV |
The station became a charter affiliate ofAntenna TV upon its launch on January 1, 2011, and is carried on digital subchannel 3.3.[29]
WREG-TV ended regular programming on its analog signal, overVHF channel 3, on June 12, 2009, as part of thefederally mandated transition from analog to digital television.[30] The station's digital signal remained on its pre-transition UHF channel 28, usingvirtual channel 3.
WREG-TV, along with Little Rock's KTHV, previously served as the default CBS affiliates for theJonesboro, Arkansas, area. WREG's signal can reach at least the Jonesboro area, and it is available onSuddenlink cable,[31] as well as the cable system of Paragould Light Water and Cable in theParagould area. This ended on August 1, 2015, when Jonesboro-based Fox affiliateKJNB-LD signed on the Jonesboro market's first locally based CBS affiliate on its second digital subchannel.[32] This has resulted in the displacement of KTHV from Suddenlink cable, and may also result in the removal of WREG-TV.
WREG-TV also previously served as the default CBS affiliate for theJackson, Tennessee, media market, along with Nashville'sWTVF. This ended on January 1, 2012, when ABC affiliateWBBJ-TV converted its third subchannel into a primary CBS affiliate and secondary MeTV affiliate for that area.[33] In spite of this, both WREG and WTVF remain on Jackson Energy Authority's E-Plus Broadband Cable system.[34]
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** Owned by third parties but operated by Nexstar through various agreements. | ||
